Skycaddie or phone GPS

**ElWagonne** · January 21, 2010

Need some advice here....should I renew my SkyCaddie membership or get one of these golf gps apps for my phone. Has anyone tried out both and can offer some sort of review on the performance.

Thx,

aints fan stuck in the Metroplex

**woodzie264** · January 21, 2010

the phone GPS app's are great, but since I'd rather not get my phone wet or muddy (when raining, etc), I use it only as a backup when my Golf Logix battery dies...

**Fourputt** · January 21, 2010

the phone GPS app's are great, but since I'd rather not get my phone wet or muddy (when raining, etc), I use it only as a backup when my Golf Logix battery dies...

Good point. I've also read that there can be battery life issues with the phone apps.

**lcfd42** · January 21, 2010

I'd stick with the skycaddie until the battery issues are ressolved. Although I played this past weekend with a guy whos yardage was 10+ yds off to my SG5, be careful of that as well.

**lumpuckeroo** · January 22, 2010

I have a SG5, my brother has been using an app on his blackberry, one round and his battery is shot, I can get 4 rounds with mine before needing to recharge. His app only gave front, middle, back on greens, SG5 will give distance to any spot on the green. I am sold on having a golf specific GPS and not using a phone app. Now if you only golfed a couple of times a year, that would be a different story.

**Yukari** · January 22, 2010

I use FreeCaddie on my iPhone. I like to map the course myself so I know exactly where the yardage is related to. A buddy of mine has Skycaddie, and when I compared the yardage with my iPhone app, it was only 1 or 2 yard difference at most and most of the time, the yardage was exactly the same.

My other buddies have GolfLogix app on their iPhone, which is better then FreeCaddie (but has with FreeCaddie, there is no fee--ever, unless you buy the pro version), and they work great as well.

As for the battery issue, I have not had any problem. A fully charged iPhone will last the entire round and with 1/3 battery left over at the end, if I use it extensively.

Personally, I hate paying yearly fees for SkyCaddie.

**Fourputt** · January 22, 2010

I use FreeCaddie on my iPhone. I like to map the course myself so I know exactly where the yardage is related to. A buddy of mine has Skycaddie, and when I compared the yardage with my iPhone app, it was only 1 or 2 yard difference at most and most of the time, the yardage was exactly the same.

And that's a down side as far as I'm concerned. What do you do if the phone isn't fully charged? Or your buddies want to go another 9 holes

And how do you play a course you've never had a chance to map? Another issue... mapping takes time. What about the people playing behind you while you wander from bunker to bunker doing your mapping? Do whatever bakes your cake, but for $2.50 a month I'll gladly pay the fee for my GolfLogix GPS. Used in conjunction with my V2 laser I get to use the best of both.

**Yukari** · January 22, 2010

And that's a down side as far as I'm concerned. What do you do if the phone isn't fully charged? Or your buddies want to go another 9 holes

Mapping is done on a computer using satellite images. It only take about 10 minutes at most. As long as you know which course you're going to play, you can map it ahead of time.

As for the battery, I don't use the GPS that much. Like I said, only when I use it full time does the battery drain to about 1/3. Often after the round, I find that my battery only drained 10-20% at most, because most of the courses you don't need to use the GPS 100% of the time. Besides, I always carry a spare battery (in iPhone, it is another battery that acts as a charger). BTW, GolfLogix GPS also makes apps for iPhone.

**Crey23** · January 22, 2010

I have a SG5, my brother has been using an app on his blackberry, one round and his battery is shot, I can get 4 rounds with mine before needing to recharge. His app only gave front, middle, back on greens, SG5 will give distance to any spot on the green. I am sold on having a golf specific GPS and not using a phone app. Now if you only golfed a couple of times a year, that would be a different story.

All tha you hear is right...but if you are a blackberry power user, ie you tinker with system versions and applications, it absolutely rocks!

I have a Blackberry 8900 running BBOS 5.0.411I can go the entire weekend with a charge, including a round of golf! I'm using Golf Logix application an it is very nice and accurate. I have found that most courses I play (munis) are way off on tee distances, but I'm within a 3 yards from markers. As for the battery issue, there are two things to consider, depending on your phone. (1) If you are using a blackberry, you must upgrade your system in order improve your battery life. (2) If you are running an iPhone...don't! All iPhones are drained from the use of the GPS, apparently there is nothing that has been done from an operating system patch to improve that, so if you have an iPhone keep the skycaddie. With said, the main reason that I play my phone gps versus a dedicated one is cost. I can pay $40 annual membership for my phone, and have all I need on the course with me in one device. I test drove several phone gps aps (Golf Logix, nRnage, Green Finder, Accel ...) and liked Golf Logix the best, not only from the interface, buyt it keeps stats of my game (while I'm playing) and syncs them to their page on the net. The downside, you can't export to other HC calculators such oobgolf or Scorecard 2.0. Since you already have the unit, and you still have to renew your membership, I would do that. I would on the other hand recommend to get a scorecard app for your phone such accel golf (free) or Golf Scorecard ($2.99). These are pretty good at keeping your stats and provididng nice summaries at the end of the round. I hope this helps.

**clubchamp** · January 23, 2010

or instead of going through all this just buy a golf gps plus its just another toy. I got a callaway upro for xmas and so far it is really awesome. I was very anti gps but this thing has impressed me greatly.

**meenman** · January 23, 2010

I have the skycaddie sg5 and a g1 android phone.

I installed freecaddie just to see what it was about. There is no way my phone would last a 4 hour round using it.

As far as the freecaddie - all it has is distances to the green (front, middle and back) where the skycaddie has all the distances for hazards, bunkers, etc.

There was about a 5 yard distance between the 2 - using yardage markers, the skycaddie was more accurate.

It is just another case of you get what you pay for.

**Yukari** · January 23, 2010

I have the skycaddie sg5 and a g1 android phone.

Actually, if you get freecaddie pro version ($19 one time charge), you get the distance to hazards, bunkers, and any other place that you map.

ruready · January 23, 2010

I use both SG5 and iPhone with GolfCard all the time when I play. I use SG5 to get the yardage and use the iPhone only for electronic score card. At the end of the round, the scores can be uploaded to oobgolf.com or emailed to your buddies. The nice thing about an iPhone is that the courses are downloaded over the air on the 3G network. With SG5, it has to be downloaded ahead of time from your computer.

But if I were to pick only one, I'd go with SG5. It currently has a built-in scorecard but not as elegant as an iPhone score card apps.

**topspin4hand** · January 23, 2010

Good point. I've also read that there can be battery life issues with the phone apps.

I have AirVue Golf for the Iphone. It has distances to hazards, traps and greens (front, middle, back). If you turn off your incoming data (or whatever the instructions tell you) you don't even go thru half a battery during a round. However, I have found about 3 of the 20 or so courses in my area have made some sort of change to the course that wasn't recorded on Google Earth and thus the software. I'll likely switch to an actual device but out of principal I hope to avoid annual subscription fees.

**Fourputt** · January 23, 2010

Although I understand the reluctance to pay an ongoing fee, the systems with annual subscriptions seem to do a better job of keeping their course files up to date, which stands to reason since they are actually getting paid a fee for doing so. Almost every course I've downloaded for my GolfLogix has had at least one update in the year that I've had the unit. They notify you by email when they update one of the courses you have downloaded, then as soon as you start the software, it asks if you want to update those courses. I like to do business with a company that makes a point of good communications and customer relations.

**ElWagonne** · January 24, 2010

My main hangup is the subscription fee really. I kinda don't want to pay $50 just so I can have the right to download some courses back home in LA. If SkyGolf had a deal where you could download any course in a state neighboring your home state for say....$40, I'd be cool....and if their customer service was a little better too.

**Fourputt** · January 24, 2010

My main hangup is the subscription fee really. I kinda don't want to pay $50 just so I can have the right to download some courses back home in LA. If SkyGolf had a deal where you could download any course in a state neighboring your home state for say....$40, I'd be cool....and if their customer service was a little better too.

GolfLogix gives you the whole world for the same price as your home state - $29.95.

**BonoVox** · January 24, 2010

With said, the main reason that I play my phone gps versus a dedicated one is cost. I can pay $40 annual membership for my phone, and have all I need on the course with me in one device. I test drove several phone gps aps (Golf Logix, nRnage, Green Finder, Accel ...) and liked Golf Logix the best, not only from the interface, buyt it keeps stats of my game (while I'm playing) and syncs them to their page on the net. The downside, you can't export to other HC calculators such oobgolf or Scorecard 2.0.

Thanks for the recommendation. I downloaded Golf Logix today on my BB Bold. Went and hit some balls at my home course today and walked a couple of holes to test it out. So far so good. Playing a round tomorrow so give more feedback then. Funny thing is I live pretty close to the course. Well according to Golf Logix 595 yards from the second green. LOL (which is accurate)

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