Rangefinders

[jaragon126]

Ya definitely golfbarefoot, if I do get one it's going to be one without slope/elevation. I think iacas uses the Leupold GX-I, and on the Golfsmith website it says that one is "Tournament legal". The Leupold GX-II says it can measure "uphill/downhill angle, temperature and elevation" which I believe is a no-no for competition. The GX-II doesn't say anything about being "tournament legal" so I take that to me that it is NOT legal

Some of the other rangefinders on Golfsmith's website are confusing though. They say that they measure slope, but they also say they are "USGA legal".

[Topanga]

I don't use a rangefinder, maybe I'm more of a purest but I think it takes away from the game. I've found my distance preception has become good over the years. I estimate the yardage and confirm it with a marker and it's usually darn close, of oourse wind and elevation will always come into play.

But this is just me, alot of my friends use them and love them. I say what ever makes you enjoy the game more go for it. For me it's using my eyes.

[jaragon126]

I definitely think it's good to be able to get yardages on your own without the use of tools, but it's fun to play with new gadgets

I don't ever find sprinkler heads with yardages on them ... either there is no yardage or it has been broken off. So I usually use the 100,150,200 yard stakes on the sides of the fairways to guess where I'm at. Where things get tricky for me is when I'm in the trees & am not very close to the stakes on the sides of the fairways.

[Topanga]

I agree, I'm a techy also, I'm always switching out clubs, trying new shafts, different length putters etc I've used rangefinders and they are fun and "maybe" help my score. I just enjoy the game more without it. I do think they're a great idea on some courses where they're mounted in the cart. You can choose to use them or not but it does speed up play

[jaragon126]

I can see where it speeds up my process of looking for yardages ... but I still have to wait for the other people in my group to golf as well as the other thousands of people on the course that are golfing, so unless EVERYONE on the course used a distance measuring device I don't think I'll see my weekend 5-6 hour rounds get any shorter just because I use a rangefinder.

[iacas]

I just replaced the battery in my GX-I today. Have had it nearly two full golf seasons on the original battery.

[jaragon126]

Stop rubbing it in iacas ... you are going to force me to get the GX-I some day soon!!

For tonight though, I get to go spend $165 on a lesson at GolfTec