Rangefinders

[Fourputt]

Baynative,

If it helps you make a more confident swing, then you are more likely to make a better shot, thus it DOES help even a bogey golfer. Like you, it doesn't mean that I'm going to make a great swing on every shot, but I am more likely to do so when I feel certain that I at least have the right club in hand. And all the silliness about not adjusting for other conditions is just dumb. You have to make those adjustments when pacing from yardage markers, why would you stop doing it just because you have more accurate distance yardages from your rangefinder? I'm going to like my Nikon ProStaff 440, I can see that already and I haven't even used it on the course yet. Like others have said, the short game from inside of 100 yards is where I expect to get the most value from it.

[Matt P]

Ok, sounds good to me. Golf is about whatever works.

I agree, Golf is about whatever works, within limits...footwedge works, but probably beyond limit. Anyway, I would like to get one, although I will probably miss the green more often than not. I have a high handicap (I only really got back into golf played with my friends in high school last season) but I have been improving and one of my goals this season is to learn my club distances and I believe a rangefinder can help. Now if I can only convince my brother-in-law he needs to buy one.

[InTheTwenties]

I've been looking at a few and I've also considered skycaddie. But I heard that they are making a skycaddie version that will track your shots (to help zero in on club selection), and to keep your scores and track your handicapp. It shouldn't be that hard to create that version. A few lines of code, some memory...

When they start selling that one I will be getting one. For now, I'll use yardarge markers.



.

[golfchief]

I've been looking at a few and I've also considered skycaddie. But I heard that they are making a skycaddie version that will track your shots (to help zero in on club selection), and to keep your scores and track your handicapp. It shouldn't be that hard to create that version. A few lines of code, some memory...

When is this new model coming out?

[joeb]

I rarely use mine to get a distance to a flag; trsuting the sprinkler heads more. Things such as elevation change/precip DO affect accuracy and sometimes it will pick out an object (like a tree) behind a pin unless the course has reflectors in the stick. However, the things are great off the tee (and for layups) to get distances to objects such as bunkers or to the end of the fairway and I love having mine for that use; especially at a new course. No need to buy anything fancy; you can get a perfectly good one for $150. If you want to bargain shop, look in hunting sites as the rangefinders for hunters are the same; just in camo.

[shortgame85]

I rarely use mine to get a distance to a flag; trsuting the sprinkler heads more. Things such as elevation change/precip DO affect accuracy and sometimes it will pick out an object (like a tree) behind a pin unless the course has reflectors in the stick. However, the things are great off the tee (and for layups) to get distances to objects such as bunkers or to the end of the fairway and I love having mine for that use; especially at a new course. No need to buy anything fancy; you can get a perfectly good one for $150. If you want to bargain shop, look in hunting sites as the rangefinders for hunters are the same; just in camo.

The Bushnell Pinseeker 1500, which generally sells for around $399, is designed to to read the distance to an area designated inside a circle in the viewfinder. A laser is shot to the object, bounces back and the measurment in yards or meters is determined and clearly diplayed. The Pinseeker 1500 can easily distinguish a flag from a tree or a sand trap and the flag need not have a relector on it. It is more accurate than any sprinkler head will ever be, unless the flag just happens to be placed precisely the distance from the point which the sprinkler head is located corresponding to the yardage mark on the head, which is highly unlikely. I've used the Skycaddie a couple of times and it is nice in some respects, but you must get a clean signal for the GPS to operate and you must have a subscription to a service. I'm not familiar with laser rangefinders other than the Pinseeker. But after reading reviews about it, as well as reading reviews about other distance measuring devices, I bought the Pinseeker. I can use it anywhere, it is tough, I don't need a signal from the sky or a subsciption to a service, just a line to the object to which I'm measuring the distance and a battery. It is very accurate. I don't use it on every shot, mostly on approach shots or determinig distance to an obstacle, but it has been worth every penny I spent on it. Oh, and did I mention that it is easy to operate? Just press one button twice; that's all there is to it. It's nothing fancy, just useful.

[i-Guy]

I am really interested in buying a range finder because I think it can help with yardages and club selection. Have you all seen the new one in conjunction with Nikon http://www.callawayrangefinders.com/lr800.htm . However, I have a few questions as follows because I have never used one of these before:

1) Your on the driving range hitting balls. Can you laser in on your ball to see how far you hit a club?

2) You want to lay up on a Par 5 (hate doing that ). Can you pick out a spot in the fairway and get a yardage or do you have to have somehting verticle (tree, etc.) to aim at?

3) Are they better if the flag does have a reflector?

I assume they are best used aiming at a flag for an approach shot or a Par 3 but I was just wondering about those other things. Thanks for any help

[iacas]

1) Your on the driving range hitting balls. Can you laser in on your ball to see how far you hit a club?

Not really. Most ranges have enough signs and other things you can aim at that you can estimate pretty well. If you hit the ball a little closer to the 150 mark but between the 150 and the 173, you can guess it's probably about 158.

2) You want to lay up on a Par 5 (hate doing that

If by "vertical" you mean a little bump or swale in the fairway, that'll work. Or pick a tree that's off the fairway but at the same distance and hit it with the laser.

3) Are they better if the flag does have a reflector?

That would imply I've had trouble getting a flag to reflect back. I haven't. So if "works every time" could be improved, maybe they would work better with a reflector.

I assume they are best used aiming at a flag for an approach shot or a Par 3 but I was just wondering about those other things. Thanks for any help

Yeah, don't aim at the flag STICK itself like some people do. It'll work, but not as well nor from as far away. Just hit the flag.

In some ways, it's really kind of amazing how range finders work, given the amount of "other" light out there.

[joeb]

I guess what is good about this site is the perspective of people with different experiences. I have not had the same success as Erik has with "working perfect every time". It is easier to aim at the flag, but that does not work if there is no wind or if the wind is at your back and the flag is blowing away from you. In those instances, if there are reflectors in the stick itself I have found them to be of much assistance.
I agree with him, however, concerning lay-ups; they are GREAT for that.

[golfchief]

I've also found if a group is in front of me to laser the person taking out or putting the flag back. yardage within a couple of feet is good enough for me.
Be ready though some people are pretty quick getting away from the green.

[Silvertree]

I am really looking forward to trying one.

[dubs7]

At my home club (Lakeview CC)they have a special for the igolf GPS caddie for $259.99. That includes free shipping, subscription to igolf.com, Lakeview CC already preloaded and an extended warrenty.

My question is...how does this one compare to the skycaddy or other similiar products?

Thanks

Don

[iacas]

At my home club (Lakeview CC)they have a special for the igolf GPS caddie for $259.99. That includes free shipping, subscription to igolf.com, Lakeview CC already preloaded and an extended warrenty.

We haven't reviewed the iGolf units yet, Don, and I'm not sure we plan to. The SkyCaddie products certainly cost a bit more. There's usually a reason for that, but as you know, sometimes the reason is "because we can."

[P3R3]

Anyone have experiance with this one? Alot of the courses in my area are poorly marked, and I am sick and tired of hitting hazards which I don't know the distance on.

http://amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00005AXIY/...pf_rd_i=507846

[dzclarkcpa]

I have had my rangefinder for a month now. And honestly, I can't imagine how I played without it. Granted, now I don't hit the ball any better, but at least I know when I fly it over the green, its because I hit it bad, not because i added bad.

I still use the GPS on the carts, or the sprinkler heads, to give me front, back, center, but nothing like knowing the distance to the pin.

Now, someone tell me how to stop feeling like an idiot when I know the yardage and still misclub!

[hurley9192]

I have the Bushnell 1500 tourney edition and it is awesome. I can laser off the front of a bunker and back of it, off trees, markers and the flag. I can laser to the bunker near the green and the flag and get a distance over the bunker to the hole. The slope edition gives extra info so it's not legal in a tournament.

As for the range, I can laser off my ball to get a yardage as well, which really helps. My wife bought me a new one on ebay for $308 in the box. It's worth it if you don't play a course with GPS and doesn't have the fees that the skycaddies have.

[Guest]

I think rangefinders/GPS are great! I've always been good at judging distances from course markings, but after I played a course that had GPS, about 5 years ago, I loved it so much I wanted it everywhere. It makes the round go a lot quicker. You take no time to figure out the distance, just time for wind and elevation. I researched it a little and decided on trying the Starcaddy GPS system with my PDA. One main reason I didn't like the laser rangefinders was line-of-sight. What happens when you can't see the flag? Another reason was you can't get distances to other objects, like traps, creeks, etc. Cost was another factor. The PDA GPS solution is $300-400, but you are getting a PDA as well!

I've since gone from Starcaddy to Intelligolf. Starcaddy worked well, but one thing I didn't like was having to buy the maps. They're $20 each and it's OK when you're just playing one or two courses on a regular basis, but I started playing lot of other courses and didn't want to keep buying maps. Also you can't change any of the coordinates.

With Intelligolf, you can set up the maps yourself and change any of the coordinates, if they aren't accurate, or if you want to add a distance to a trap or creek, etc. You can do this either on the course or from home using internet-based satellite maps. I set up a course map for a course I play most regularly, using the coordinate from Google Earth. I've since played the course about 10 times and the accuracy is always right on. In fact I've even found a couple of areas where the markers on the course are wrong.

Also, one of the best things about it is it's record-keeping. You can record exact distances (from GPS) for all of the shots you hit and then, later on, see what your average distances were, for all of your clubs.

To me the PDA/GPS setup is way better than the skycaddie thing for a couple of big reasons. One, you can do the record-keeping thing. Two, it costs roughly the same, but with the PDA/GPS you have a PDA that can be used for all sorts of other things. I also use my PDA/GPS for car navigation, and it beats having one built into the car because I can take mine into any car!

[hurley9192]

If you play a course on a regular basis where you have blind shots, the laser range finder probably isn't going to help as much. However, you can laser to trees, rocks, creeks and bunkers if you can see them. I went with the laser rangefinder because I don't play as hilly of a course where there are tons of blind shots. It's definitely cheaper, you can take it anywhere and don't have to subscribe to anything.