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Do you use a rangefinder?


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  1. 1. Do you use a rangefinder?

    • Yes
      31
    • No
      38


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Yeah ... 'cept that isn't exclusive to short knockers. ;)  I like having a laser, but I see the virtues of both.  When I play with my brother (who has a skycaddie) or on courses with GPS in the cart, I am consulting them often - for exactly the reason you describe.

Neither is better or worse, they are both very useful in slightly different ways.

You can easily shoot the ground in front of the bunker. If there is a tree near the front side, just shoo that. You don't want to come with in 5 yards of a bunker, so be conservative as well. If you know the bunker is like 15 yards long, then just shoot the backside and then subtract 20 yards.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Yeah ... 'cept that isn't exclusive to short knockers. ;)  I like having a laser, but I see the virtues of both.  When I play with my brother (who has a skycaddie) or on courses with GPS in the cart, I am consulting them often - for exactly the reason you describe.

Neither is better or worse, they are both very useful in slightly different ways.

You can easily shoot the ground in front of the bunker. If there is a tree near the front side, just shoo that. You don't want to come with in 5 yards of a bunker, so be conservative as well. If you know the bunker is like 15 yards long, then just shoot the backside and then subtract 20 yards.

Yeah - I've done that and found out too late that the laser picked up the far lip, or caught a  small mound 20 yards short of it.  When you're dealing with a water hazard from the tee 200+ yards away, I want to be more certain than that.  When shooting a piece of flat ground from any significant distance, it's a crap shoot.

And before you say anything, I had a laser before I ever bought a GPS.  I carried a Bushnell Tour V2 along with my GPS for a couple of years, and found that the full featured GPS gave me everything that the laser did, and was actually a more useful tool than the laser.  Also easier, faster and I'm more certain that I'm get the distance to the object I want.

The only time a laser was a better choice for me was the one time I played a course that wasn't in the GPS database.  That was several years ago and a few thousand courses have been added since, so it's unlikely to be an issue now.  If by chance it does come up, then I go old school, the same way I did it for my first 30 years playing.

My GPS is a handy tool which helps me manage my play and saves me strokes, but it's not a necessity.

Screenshot of a typical hole on a Garmin Approach G5.  You can touch the screen to zoom in and place a target anywhere you want.  I've found that the trees are placed quite accurately for use in planning a shot.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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If you are a 20 handicap, I can understand that it doesn't make much of a difference.

Actually I think they make a huge difference. See its a feedback thing for learning... measure the 117 yard shot to a front sloped green, hit PW and watch it stick at 120. Or hit Gw and see it stick at 110 and learn how far you can fly the club. Pretty quick its teaching how far a pw draw can go or a pw cut shot is short. Suddenly there are 3 fairly accurate shots for each club in the bag because of starting with some basic but accurate distances. Also, the gaps become glareing and specific, like the 213 yard par three that you just dont have the right club for, but thought you did. And absolutely dont forget this site, where you begin to realize the guys talking driver distances dont always have an accurate tool and, are, to be polite, using estimated distances from the score cards or sprinkler heads.

Tom R.

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Actually I think they make a huge difference. See its a feedback thing for learning... measure the 117 yard shot to a front sloped green, hit PW and watch it stick at 120. Or hit Gw and see it stick at 110 and learn how far you can fly the club. Pretty quick its teaching how far a pw draw can go or a pw cut shot is short. Suddenly there are 3 fairly accurate shots for each club in the bag because of starting with some basic but accurate distances. Also, the gaps become glareing and specific, like the 213 yard par three that you just dont have the right club for, but thought you did. And absolutely dont forget this site, where you begin to realize the guys talking driver distances dont always have an accurate tool and, are, to be polite, using estimated distances from the score cards or sprinkler heads.


Pretty sure @Zeph ngue in cheek there because of the irony of a 20 handicap calling everybody else stupid for wanting to know the correct distances.

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I would like to eventually but Im in no way good enough just yet. Just gimme the Front/Middle/Back and bunkers and Im good for now. My Iphone App does that.

Ron :nike: GOLF Embracing my Angry Black Male :mad:

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I would like to eventually but Im in no way good enough just yet. Just gimme the Front/Middle/Back and bunkers and Im good for now. My Iphone App does that.


I figure the more information I have the better my decisions will be. That of course doesn't guarantee that I'm actually going to be able to hit the shot but at least it wouldn't be from a bad decision based on lack of knowledge.

I would love to have a GPS like @Fourputt justified the expense in my mind because I'm just not playing often enough at courses where I would need it, and I'm not even sure if those features are available on the course I play.

Most of my playing partners have range finders and I have a basic GPS and either of those are fine on a course we know like the back of our hand.

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Pretty sure @Zeph had tongue in cheek there because of the irony of a 20 handicap calling everybody else stupid for wanting to know the correct distances.


Yeah. More an attempt to halt the discussion I guess. I got my own rangefinder during my 20's-ish handicap and I've loved it ever since. Definitely useful if you want to improve on distance control and general scoring.

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  • 2 years later...

Im thinking about getting one, as I am starting to hate when I walk up to a green and realize the pin was in the front and I could have clubbed down to cover my landing zone better. I've been contemplating to just start running halfway to the green at an angle so I can see the pin location better.

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old thread but still a gentle reminder that a RF would be helpful, not-with-standing the argument(s) about slowing the game down e.t.c. I can not agree or disagree having never tried one, but did notice that in a foursome, might "possibly" speed up the game by one person determining the distance for all.

"James"

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I use a rangefinder, but the only times i really do is when I'm playing on courses I've never played at before or if i have a really unusual angle into a green. (like from the fairway on the adjacent hole...) When I'm playing courses i know, i don't use distance devices at all. I tend to just use my eyes and feel. 

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I use both.   I use Golflogix and have a Leupold GX-2i2.   I still use Golflogix to veryify the distances because the range finder is new.  I learned a valuable lesson though.   I was just using the range finder in a practice round and measured 129 yards.   I hit a very good 129 shot and it went over the green.   I thought it couldn't be right so I hit another, it also went over the green.   I was shooting the ranger finder at a tree behind the green instead of the flag.   

As I become more comfortable with the range finder, I'll use it exclusively.   It is nice to be able to shoot it at any object and get the distance.   It works anywhere.  

From the land of perpetual cloudiness.   I'm Denny

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3 hours ago, cutchemist42 said:

Im thinking about getting one, as I am starting to hate when I walk up to a green and realize the pin was in the front and I could have clubbed down to cover my landing zone better. I've been contemplating to just start running halfway to the green at an angle so I can see the pin location better.

Don't most courses have differently colored flags to indicate front/back/middle?

  • Upvote 3

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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12 minutes ago, iacas said:

Don't most courses have differently colored flags to indicate front/back/middle?

Or a daily pin sheet.  I really can't remember the last time I played a course that didn't have something...

In David's bag....

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Anyone recall or advise what they do in Scotland and/or Ireland?  I don't recall getting a pin sheet at any course.  I think the Old Course has one color flag going out and another color going in.  The few rounds where I had no caddie, I sort of recall needing to just eyeball whether it was front/back/middle.  Maybe the yardage markers had the yardages to front/back and middle.  I really don't recall.

Jeez, getting old is hard!

Brian Kuehn

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I think I may get one next year...I used GolfLogix for a bit and now use Swing x Swing. I use it more to track my stats than for actual distances

Driver: :callaway: Rogue ST  /  Woods: :tmade: Stealth 5W / Hybrid: :tmade: Stealth 25* / Irons: :ping: i500’s /  Wedges: :edel: 54*, 58*; Putter: :scotty_cameron: Futura 5  Ball: image.png Vero X1

 

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19 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

Anyone recall or advise what they do in Scotland and/or Ireland?  I don't recall getting a pin sheet at any course.  I think the Old Course has one color flag going out and another color going in.  The few rounds where I had no caddie, I sort of recall needing to just eyeball whether it was front/back/middle.  Maybe the yardage markers had the yardages to front/back and middle.  I really don't recall.

Jeez, getting old is hard!

I think I remember getting a pin sheet at the Old Course, but that's the only one.  In Ireland we didn't get any pin sheets, for sure.  The Old Course does have different colors for inward and outward holes, white going out and red coming home, if I remember right, but that doesn't help much for the depth of the pin on the really flat terrain.  A number of the yardage books showed depth of green in one way or another, but we were still eye-balling (or lasering) the depth of the flag.  The problem with the laser on those courses was getting too involved with the pin distance, when you really needed to land the ball 10 or 20 or even 30 yards shorter and let it bounce and roll.

Dave

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My primary source of distance are fairway markers and walking out large paces to my ball. I feel like this is as good of an estimate as any.

I will use a rangefinder for quick distances basically to the pin only if I'm not in the fairway and/or I'm at an awkward angle to the green, and when I don't really care too much about my score - which is most of the time.

If I'm in a 4-some, only 1 of use will use a rangefinder or any GPS devices and we basically walk off paces between that spot and our own ball (well... at least that's what I do). 

If I'm really serious about a round, I will use the GolfPad GPS app to actually get distance to the center of the green. I believe it's very accurate (within 1-2 yards) - I only do this because my courses don't have very good pin placement indicators except for some only if you're riding in a cart they'll have a pin sheet hole-by-hole. But since I don't cart most of the time, I have no idea where the flag is.

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5 hours ago, iacas said:

Don't most courses have differently colored flags to indicate front/back/middle?

I must be unlucky then, I've played about 8 different courses in the Wpg/Man area and have never had that feature.

My main course I play is pretty ghetto, but i've played at courses that $60 rounds that still never had different coloured flags or pinsheets posted.

Edited by cutchemist42
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