Rangefinders

[Baynative]

rangefinders are great! but you still have to hit the ball.

That brings me back to what our pro said when asked about rangefinders during a clinic. --- "If you can put a bath towel on the range at 165 and hit it consistently with a couple of different clubs, you're ready for a range finder." His unmentioned follow up was probably going to say - if you can't hit the towel, maybe some lessons would be a better use of your money-

[Fourputt]

That brings me back to what our pro said when asked about rangefinders during a clinic. --- "If you can put a bath towel on the range at 165 and hit it consistently with a couple of different clubs, you're ready for a range finder." His unmentioned follow up was probably going to say - if you can't hit the towel, maybe some lessons would be a better use of your money-

I strongly disagree with his opinion. I may not control my distances perfectly, but knowing that I have the right club for the shot when I address the ball goes a long way toward greater confidence, and being confident in my club choice removes at least one doubt that might affect my swing. You don't have to be a PGA pro before accurate distance information can help to improve your game.

And the head pro at my home course agrees with me....

[Baynative]

And I agree with you and your pro. Anything in this game that gives you confidence and aids concentration is a good thing.

That said: Given the inconsistency of my game, the only way a range finder would help is if I carry it in my left pocket and it helps me get my weight transferred to my left side.

[juanrjackson]

check these out. I think they are Chinese.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DIGITAL-7-x-GOLF...3A1|240%3A1318

[JessN16]

check these out. I think they are Chinese.

I think those are just fancied-up versions of those rangefinders that have a set of lines that you line up to the flag and it approximates your distance.

I actually used to use one of those things for some time and it's decently helpful on a course with no markers whatsoever, but it's only good from 180 in and it's often off by as much as 20 yards. Save your money. BTW, I just bought a Bushnell for $140 this past week and love the thing. So did the other guys in my group. Jess

[bcp]

That brings me back to what our pro said when asked about rangefinders during a clinic. --- "If you can put a bath towel on the range at 165 and hit it consistently with a couple of different clubs, you're ready for a range finder." His unmentioned follow up was probably going to say - if you can't hit the towel, maybe some lessons would be a better use of your money-

I disagree. Even if you are not able to accurately hit to a given distance, you have a much better chance when you know your correct yardage. While many variables exist that must align to hit an accurate shot, at least you can eliminate one by knowing your yardage.

[Baynative]

... if you are not able to accurately hit to a given distance, you have a much better chance when you know your correct yardage. .

As I said earlier; I am in favor of anything that provides confidence. If interpreting yardage from course markings is not sufficient, then I won't argue whether the money spent on a range finder is justifiable.

[hamletsdead]

I have one in my bag all the time, but usually only pull it out on those courses where distance markers are irregularly placed. There's one course I play that has no markers inside 100 yards, so it comes in real handy when you're thinking sand wedge vs. gap wedge and don't feel like guess-timating.

[Fourputt]

As I said earlier; I am in favor of anything that provides confidence. If interpreting yardage from course markings is not sufficient, then I won't argue whether the money spent on a range finder is justifiable.

I spend too much time in places where there are no course markings, or at least far enough away from them that my estimates can be quite a bit off. That's one thing that has become apparent to me since I started using my Bushnell. I can be 30 yards to the side from a sprinkler head and estimate the gain or loss on the arc (using the hole as the center of the circle), then take a sighting with my rangefinder and discover that my estimate was off by as much as 10 yards. And I've always been very good at estimating distances just by looking at the 150 markers when I'm more or less on a good line to the hole. But the farther off to the side I am, the worse my judgment becomes.

I've also found my Bushnell to be valuable in determining layup distances. I use it to both measure for a layup to a good club distance from the green, and to be certain that the club I have in hand won't get me into trouble by hitting too far. I like the flexibility of being able to measure from any point to any other point at need, and not be at the mercy of the programming of a GPS.

[jaragon126]

So iacas, you prefer rangefinder or GPS units?

[iacas]

So iacas, you prefer rangefinder or GPS units?

Isn't it pretty obvious? I only have one in my sig, after all.

[1UnderU]

I'm in the market for either a Range Finder or a Slow Motion Vid camera to tape the swing. I have a feeling the cam is a better investment for my game. I don't have much trouble with distances, most of the time its not that hard to find markers. Plus everytime I play w/ someone who has a ranger finder I usually know the yardage before they do, just be estimation and looking at a marker. By the time they take it out, line it up etc, I'm saying about 125 right, and they usaully concur.


On another note, I played last weekend with a guy who used his range finder on the fringe! Like under 10 yards, said he was a big follower of Dave Pelz and had his wedges/chips dialed down within a .5 yard. I thought he was nutz because I'm more of a feel player but hey, they guy shot a 85 to my 89. To each his own.

[gnu155]

I have the ViewTI Golf app on my Iphone. It works pretty good. gives me the same yardage as the course carts with the GPS built in.

[jaragon126]

Isn't it pretty obvious? I only have one in my sig, after all.

Sorry, I made the newbie mistake of not reading before posting!

[bogeyhitter25]

Most courses I play have tons of yardage markings. But it'd be so cool to get one. Even if it is just a cheaper one.

[JoelDuffer]

The USGA is just trying to preserve the game! There is no need to "rag" on them for not allowing rangefinders. The pace of play issue is not how people are looking for yards markers. It is people (that are 36 handicap) standing over the ball for more than 5 minuets and then banging the club after they hit a bad shot! Golf can be slow but not because people have to find there own yards. Its beacuse a 36 handicapper expects to hit every green and when he/she doesnt they spend an hour wining about the bad shot!

O.K This one made me mad. Unless you are naturaly gifted, a lot of us (36 hdcp'rs) started with a high hdcp. I hope that I never run into the likes of you on a course. "To the moon with you". Snobs like you grind my @%$. Maybe your efforts would be put to better use helping high hdcp players with the game instead of beating us up. (I'm OK now, I have vented, sorry.)

I would like to have a range finder so I could find my club/yardage average. That way I "wont" beat up on sprinkler heads.(or other peoples heads) OOps there I went again) 2 cents & change. JDB

[jaragon126]

Funny story yesterday while I was inside the golf shop paying for my round ... a guy walks in with a SkyCaddie GPS unit & was asking around if anyone knew how to work them. I guess he couldn't get the thing to recognize the course he was at or it wasn't showing the greens properly or something was wrong.

That made up my mind for me that if I ever do get a distance measuring device I'm going to get a rangefinder rather than a GPS. The rangefinders don't require you to pay a subscription fee and you don't have to bother with trying to download new courses & all that jazz. A rangefinder is just one up front cost, no subscriptions, and it'll work on any course you can ever go to.

A buddy I was playing with had a rangefinder that he used occasionally during our round ... not on every shot. Looked pretty cool, although he dropped it a while back so it's a bit broken. He's definitely going to be getting another one versus a GPS unit though. He said that when he does find a yardage marker on the course, the marker is pretty close (probably within 1-4 yards) to what his rangefinder tells him so it's not like the course yardage markers are wrong. I guess it just saves you the hassle of having to look for markers & walk off yardages - which saves time ... but unless everyone on the golf course is using them to save time then you still have 5-6 hour rounds

At this point, it's all about the cost. I know that getting a rangefinder is probably not going to help me play golf any better ... it's more like a new toy that'll be fun to play with. As some of my other posts have mentioned though, I'm playing crappy golf right now so maybe the money that I would spend on a rangefinder is better used for lessons at this point?

[golfbarefoot]

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure the USGA only allows rangefinders for competition that do not factor in slope/elevation etc, so definitely Che k before you invest in an expensive new one you mentioned coming out this year with additional functionity.