Using a rangefinder / GPS

[Eeryck]

Everyone,

I am getting a rangefinder for Christmas this year the Leupold GX-I, mostly due to all the good info on this site.

This opens Pandora's box as I am an Engineer and tech always captures my interest, even when it is only marginally useful.

A few of the courses that I play are very poorly marked and about a dozen times per round I find myself wondering what the distance is to the green. It seems that in these cases a GPS would make more sense as a quick glance would get me what I am looking for within the accuracy that I need.

I really have been focusing on the short game though so I think the higher accuracy rangefinder makes sense for those <100 yard shots.

I just don't want to become one of "those guys" who holds things up using the rangefinder all the time. I realize that I normally have a moment or two while waiting for others in the group to shoot which is the ideal time to take distance.

Just looking for some ettiquette / common usage on the rangefinders and if they are predominatly more usefull near the green or if when a course is not marked well is it a chore to find distance from the pin?

Thanks,
-E

[Fat Slice]

Eyeball the distance and take a few possibly appropriate clubs to the ball along with the rangefinder. It's a quick process to get a read and then choose a club. It won't slow you down, don't worry.

[jmoc]

I'm a GPS kinda guy. No mess no fuss, you just look at the screen and pull a club (of course you still need to calculate wind, up/down hill, etc). Played with a guy last week who had a rangefinder, he hops out of the cart and sets up his tripod and levels it out (just kidding), anyway, he hops out and does his shot and says 343, I'm looking at my Skycaddie and it says 282, I look at the sign and it says whites at 280, I look at the tees and they are a couple yards past the white dot in the ground, so I tell him what my Skycaddie says, He takes another look and says, "Ooops, I must have been hitting the trees behind the green". He did that a couple of times. It wasn't even windy, I can't imagine trying to hit a pin with a laser at 100 yards on a windy day in Kansas, much less 300 yards.
I like getting the distance to bunkers and water and the carry distance too. Also dogleg distance, etc. GPS gives you all that at a glance, I just leave it clipped on the side of my bag. Whenever you want distance from the rangefinder, you have to pull it out, steady it on the target, get the distance and then guess on how much green you have in front and in back of the pin. However, to each his own ..... jmoc

[PiKapp23]

I started playing with a GPS unit last spring and have found it more useful for shorter distances than longer distances. It's easy to see course markings most of the time for 100, 150 and 200, but inside 100 yards it can become a guessing game as some course architects are really good at doing thing to deceive you, not to mention sometimes a huge difference between the front of the green and the middle and/or back. I looked at laser and GPS and went GPS because I've seen too many people with the lasers slowing things down trying to lock onto a particular target. With my GPS I simply pull it off my belt, look at the distances to front, middle, and back of green and I'm ready to go.

I hope the laser helps your game. I know for me, GPS has definitely helped.

[jmoc]

I really have been focusing on the short game though so I think the higher accuracy rangefinder makes sense for those

On a side note, I don't know about the group/guys you generally play with, but my group, if I pulled a rangefinder out at 46 yards and pinged the pin, I'd better drop it within 3 feet or I'd never here the end of it. But I can check the GPS as I'm pulling my wedge and no one's the wiser. I've even had guys ask the short range yardage before, but I doubt they would ask if I had to pull a rangefinder. That's my additional two bits

.... jmoc

[Eeryck]

On a side note, I don't know about the group/guys you generally play with, but my group, if I pulled a rangefinder out at 46 yards and pinged the pin, I'd better drop it within 3 feet or I'd never here the end of it. But I can check the GPS as I'm pulling my wedge and no one's the wiser. I've even had guys ask the short range yardage before, but I doubt they would ask if I had to pull a rangefinder. That's my additional two bits

Haha... good point! Fortunately many of the folks I play with are not that good either. Though I hope to go within about 15' of the pin to start next year, getting to the 3' range by before hell freezes over.

For the most part I am thinking this is going to be for those times where I was not watching when I walk past the 100 yard marker or just generally space out between shots and have no clue how far I am away. Bring the focus back to the game and take some of the guess or "Where was the last yardage marker?" out. -E

[Eeryck]

I guess the other thing about a GPS that causes me some concern is that I would probably constantly check distance and it seems it would kill the little feel that I have in my game.

-E

[Fat Slice]

...also need to add that not all rangefinders are the same. Some can fix on the target very quickly. If you had to constantly fuss and re-train the laser to get a reading...I could see how that might slow things down. I don't have that problem with my newer Bushnell pinseeker 1500.

[Fourputt]

Everyone,

When you get a little practice with the rangefinder, it will take no more than about 10 seconds to get all the info you need for whatever object you want to shoot. You won't be holding up anyone, especially if you take care of that while waiting for the group ahead of you to clear, or waiting for others in your group to play.

I like getting the distance to bunkers and water and the carry distance too. Also dogleg distance, etc. GPS gives you all that at a glance, I just leave it clipped on the side of my bag. Whenever you want distance from the rangefinder, you have to pull it out, steady it on the target, get the distance and then guess on how much green you have in front and in back of the pin.

To jmoc: I can take a sighting to a tree, then a bunker lip, and then a hazard bank, and shoot all 3 in under 15 seconds. And I can do all that even when the guy who programmed your GPS didn't see the necessity. I can probe the irregularities in a lakeshore for carry distances when I'm not in the position that the GPS is set to read. GPS carry distances are usually set to a single point on the hazard that is the ideal carry from a fairway lie... if I'm trying to figure it out from way out in the rough, that number and point may be totally irrelevant for the shot I'm facing.

As far as how much green.... your GPS can't even tell you exactly how far the flagstick is from you. You don't have any more idea than I do how much green you have.... you are just guessing. On the courses I play, the flags are either color coded for front-middle-back, or the course provides a pin sheet for the daily placements, so with the laser I will know exactly my distance to the hole, and I have a very good idea of how much green I have to work with in front or back of the hole by knowing its approximate location from the pin sheet. Even with a pin sheet, you still have to guess how far from the programmed GPS coordinates the hole is actually located. Both systems have their strengths and weaknesses. Anyone who thinks that his system is the only perfect one is being shortsighted. I may get a GPS (I'm considering the Golf Logix, but I'm watching the development on all of them) next year, but for the time being, my Bushnell laser is getting the job done in fine fashion. Even if I get the GPS I won't can the laser... I'll keep both for the best possible mix of information.

[Eeryck]

Both systems have their strengths and weaknesses.

Now that I have committed to one system, that is the other thought that kept going through my head is which is better in what situation. Oh well, no use in fretting at this point. I will just get the new toy and see how it goes and try not to slow anyone down.

I do know one thing for sure though. I will know all the distances to everything from everything else in my office on 12/29 when I get back to work. On 12/25 I am sure I will be scanning everything in my house. -E

[SubPar]

I use both. The GPS gives me green front and back numbers and the range finder gives me the exact distance to the pin if I need it A range finder is also good for odd yardages like to trees, front of a trap, players in the fairway, etc. A range finder is good to have at the driving range as well.

Some greens are huge and just knowing how far to the front or back is not good enough. There is one hole I play where a white flag one day is 1-1.5 clubs more or less than a white pin on another day.

SubPar

[iacas]

he hops out and does his shot and says 343, I'm looking at my Skycaddie and it says 282, I look at the sign and it says whites at 280, I look at the tees and they are a couple yards past the white dot in the ground, so I tell him what my Skycaddie says, He takes another look and says, "Ooops, I must have been hitting the trees behind the green". He did that a couple of times. It wasn't even windy, I can't imagine trying to hit a pin with a laser at 100 yards on a windy day in Kansas, much less 300 yards.

Why he'd be getting a distance for anything over about 215 yards is beyond me...

And I'm not one of those "shaky people" - I have little to no trouble sighting in on a flag from 215 yards away, wind or no wind. Proper technique might help, but heck, I've measured things while walking sideways to my golf ball... can be done. Maybe it was that two months I spent learning to march and play a trumpet at the same time.

[Eeryck]

Maybe it was that two months I spent learning to march and play a trumpet at the same time.

Crap, I guess I will get a GPS... I don't have two months or any desire to play the trumpet to learn to better use a rangefinder!

Next thing I know it will be recommended to walk and chew gum at the same time to play golf at all. Thanks for all the posts so far by the way. -E

[denver_nuggs_15]

I think GPSs are such more valuable. You can locate the pin on the green display on a GPS anyway (I forget the function's name). With your 36.3 handicap, you should pretty much go for the middle all of the time...not the pin.


Let me just show you a situation that would not be possible with just a rangefinder. Par 3...Bunker guarding the pin...135 middle, 147 pin (located pin on the display green), 143 to clear the bunker and make the green, 153 back directly behind the pin. With all that knowledge, your options expand. I hit an 8 iron 145, but if I miss hit it will not go 143 so I won't make the green and I'll be in the bunker. I hit my 7 iron 155, so I'd be off of the back. What do you do? You can fully assess the situation with all of the knowledge.

However, what if you have just a rangefinder and the course's yardage to the center? 147 pin, 135 middle. What now? You'd have to zap a hole lotta stuff to get as much info as the GPS.

[mkrolewski]

I use a gps and really love it.

As an observation, being a engineer type guy, I sat down and did the math on GPS with on the 3 points for a green - F/C/B. And then experimented with variations on pin placement on wide or narrow greens on how accurate is the GPS if you are x yards to the center. Interestingly, if you are over 100 yards out, the errors is 1-2% pretty much where ever the pin is relative to the center of the green which equates to a few yards error. So this type GPS's measurement is better than most peoples ability to hit a shot.

Inside 100 yds especially where the pin is on the oposite side of the center line of the green from your position, you start to get to larger errors, up to half the width of the green. My precision is much better than that.

I have a GPS with an intelligreen-like feature, so it reduces these errors.

So, assuming you are using a laser finder, it's precision and ease of use is most valuable when you are in close ie under 100 yds. Some gps do not transmit distances when inside 30 yards (at least when I first looked at them). You might find laser finder really useful.

Again a lot of this has to do with what you are expecting or need. Personally I cannot determine any distance correctly. So I need lots of assistance for any shot, distance to dog legs, etc. I use my gps almost every shot except putting where I pace it off.

[SubPar]

...So, assuming you are using a laser finder, it's precision and ease of use is most valuable when you are in close ie under 100 yds. Some gps do not transmit distances when inside 30 yards (at least when I first looked at them). You might find laser finder really useful...

Exactly. Mine gives me readings down to 25 yards and I have checked it against know distances up to 200 yards and it is always +/-2 yards, which is better than if you stepped it off. If you can afford it, you can always use both.

My GPS gives me F-C-B yardage, but what if you have a red flag over to the right or left and the green is an odd shape. Is it better to have the exact yardage to the pin, or just to the front and center and back of the green? Obviously more information is better. If the pin is near the front and you want to leave the ball below the hole if possible, would it be good to know just how far it is from the front edge to the flag? If anyone thinks having the FCB numbers and the exact distance to the pin is not useful, their standards are too low. I may only use the finder 4-5 times in a round, but it is always to get valuable distances that the GPS won't provide. SubPar

[BigDave]

I use a GPS and love it. Once you get used to playing with one you find it hard to play without it.

I think it would be handy to have a laser range finder for figuring out exactly how far away those flags on the range really are when practicing.

[pshizz]

im confident about getting a leupold gx-I as well, just looking for good deals right now.