Rangefinder or GPS....wheres the best money spent?

[Garthmo]

Well I demo'd the Skycaddie SG5 and the SG2.5 this year and I liked using them so much that I bought my own Skycaddie SG2.5. I like being able to just look at the numbers of where the pin is on the green and where the front and back is and just pull out my club and put it pin high! It's also great to be able to put it in certain places on the fairway to lay up and know which club to use to do it and how far you will have left. Great features, small and all the info you will ever need on the course. And so what if I have to pay some money per year. Whatever...Dont have that one dinner out and that is your membership for the year

[ANTC]

I use myCaddie on my iphone GREAT app, has alot of courses but doesnt have all. weird thing it has one course then it doesnt have the second one at the same place weird but its great pretty accurate distance to the pin and it does have ariel over view which takes a while to load from google maps with out wifi. but i'm always open to better apps lol

[Mr3Putt]

I'm hoping the newer rangefinders with the pinseeking modes will be loads better at giving me ranges to the actual flag.....

It absolutely will! I upgraded from a Bushnell 400 to the Bushnell Medalist (with Pinseeker). WORLDS of difference. I can quickly grab flags now that I never would have considered trying to get before. I was playing with a guy two weeks ago. He pulled out his Medalist, we started talking. His Son gave it to him for a gift, it turns out the Son works for Bushnell as an engineer. The Bushnell employee thought that the Medalist series was the best golf specific Rangefinder the company produces. I found that ironic because it's one of the lowest costing lasers that has the Pinseeker! You can get them all day long for $250. I bought mine on Ebay for even less!

[mdvaldosta]

It absolutely will!

Just ordered a Bushnell Medalist Pinseeker from eBay on that recommendation. Your on the hook!

[Dub]

Sounds great....please keep us updated on how it works for you.

[Mr3Putt]

Just ordered a Bushnell Medalist Pinseeker from eBay on that recommendation. Your on the hook!

I've had mine for a while now, I've found nothing NOT to like about it!

Scale of 1-10, 10 all the way. Keep an extra 9 volt battery laying around, after a year or two, you'll have to replace the battery at a cost of well over $1. Don't worry though, the low battery warning will give you a 3-5 round early LOB flash. Enjoy! PS. When it arrives can ya let us know how far away the neighbors mailbox is????

[Fourputt]

I own both a GolfLogix GPS and a Bushnell Tour V2 laser, and both have their uses.

But if I was to go with just one, it would be the laser. It requires no planning ahead, no subscriptions, the battery lasts me all season, and I'm not dependent on what some programmer decided to include in the hole layout.

Yesterday I played a course on the spur of the moment, a nice little par 3 course, and it wasn't one that I'd downloaded for the GPS, so I took the laser. If I didn't have the laser I'd have been completely at the mercy of the scorecard, and on at least 2 holes I'd have been off by more than 10 yards. On the 6th hole the te tee box was being rebuilt, and the temp tee was 159 yards... card for the regular tee was 195. There are no marked sprinklers on the course, so its the card/sign yardage or you are just guessing. With smallish greens, that made the laser essential if you really expected to shoot any kind of a decent score.

Dub, if I were you, I'd go with a good laser, making sure that it has a pinseeking mode. You can turn that feature on and off as needed, but it's essential for picking the flag out of any background clutter. The laser is just far more versatile than the GPS. The only thing that a GPS does better is on a blind shot, and on most properly constructed courses that is an exception, not the rule. Neither unit is perfect, but the laser is a better, more hassle-free choice if you're only buying one.

And there's no reason that you can't still use the new laser for hunting too.

[Beantown Beancounter]

just picked up the skycaddie 2.5. Weather permitting (thunderstorm may be coming our way) I will hopefully be able to test it out tomorrow...

[Dub]

I own both a GolfLogix GPS and a Bushnell Tour V2 laser, and both have their uses.

Played Wednesday with my father and two other buddies. Both carts were using Bushnell lasers. Dad was using one of the Medalist lasers w/ Pinseeker. I told him about Mr3Putt's statements and he said there had been zero problems he's found with his yet. It was way to simple to scan for the flagstick....it really helped me out a ton....the greens were very receptive and we were able to fire away at many pin locations. I went by Bonaventure Golf today to see if they had one.....had the other Bushnell models....but not the Medalist. I'll keep checking back with them. They did tell me that Bushnell is offering a nice rebate for many of their models. One thing really reinforced the benifit of these handy tools....after our round was over we were getting our bags back in the car....Dad walks over and hands me his GolfLogix....telling me to enjoy it...that he's fed up with tinkering around with it.....he rather use his Medalist. That is a stellar endorsement.

[deafheaven]

My buddy bought a rangefinder this year while I purchased a gps. We played a round today. While the rangeinder with pinseeker was awesome and could read distances to any point on the course, I believe he only pulled it out twice... maybe three times, because it is a more cumbersome and time consuming routine. Me... I used my gps on every hole. Reach into pocket, look at the distance, back in the pocket and grab my club.

[Dub]

My buddy bought a rangefinder this year while I purchased a gps. We played a round today. While the rangeinder with pinseeker was awesome and could read distances to any point on the course, I believe he only pulled it out twice... maybe three times, because it is a more cumbersome and time consuming routine. Me... I used my gps on every hole. Reach into pocket, look at the distance, back in the pocket and grab my club.

Dad keeps his gps case clipped to the handle of his golf bag. During the round he'd not fasten the case. He'd step back and range his distance in less than 3 seconds and then make his decisions. Most of this was done while I was hitting.

I can appreciate the ease of use with the gps units, though....more seemless and streamlined. Either way beats the heck out of stepping off yardages.

[Gunman1]

Laser, it works on every course and is accurate to he inch! Most GPS's you have to locate the flag, impossible to be really accurate. My laser finds the distance of trouble too, and ow far to get around a corner, etc. I've had both, only the laser will do.....

[buttuh]

I have both, and I like the laser rangefinder much better. I can just point at anything and get a reading. The one thing I didn't like about the GPS is that sometimes when it's cloudy out I won't get an accurate reading. Also with the rangefinder I can take to the range and pick up my distances much more acurately than going off of those flags or signs that they have posted.

If you have a Windows Mobile based smart phone with GPS capability, you can go to www.freecaddie.com and get their free golf GPS software. It's completely free and you can map your own courses. I have it on my BlackJack II and I still pull it out to use from time to time.

Now this is purely my observation. I notice that golfers 40 and younger tend to use the laser rangefinder. Older golfers almost always use some type of GPS devices.

[Fourputt]

Played Wednesday with my father and two other buddies. Both carts were using Bushnell lasers.

In defense of the GolfLogix, it really doesn't require any "tinkering" on the course. You turn it on near the first tee and it automatically finds the right course (assuming that you have added that course to the unit

). Hit the scroll up button one time to take you to the first tee and you really never have to touch anything again. I may scroll up or back once or twice during a round when I want to see a feature that isn't on the current display, but mostly it does everything without assistance. It really is the most hands free GPS I've seen yet. Some of them may give you more information, but have to work harder to extract it. More and more I find myself using the GPS for casual rounds, but the laser is the real deal for tournament golf.

[Guest]

My buddy and I just split the Pinseeker 1500 with Slope. I know it is not legal in tourneys, but who am I kidding that shouldn't be a problem. I really debated this, but after one trip to the range and a round with it. The laser rangefinder was the best decision for us. Very fast yardages and the pinseeker mode is really good.

[iWALK18]

I just got my rangefinder (Medalist). First impressions are that i'm impressed, but I almost wish it were heavier.

I'm so psyched to try it out, I've got the day off Wednesday and I'm absolutely going golfing. I can tell you though that the tree down the street is exactly 68 yards from the window in my room... Very valuable information!

[loopy]

Just picked up a Bushnell (I think the yardage pro 450..the hunting version) early birthday present. Dunhams(sp?) had it on sale for $150. I think it made a big difference in my first round using it. Straight away par 4 after my drive I was in the fairway about 5 yds behind the 150 marker, shot the pin with my new toy and it read like 171. Playing into the wind I hit probably the best 5 iron ever and stuck it about 12 feet...lets not talk about the ensuing 2 putt. Overall I think I'll be keeping my range finder instead of going GPS most of the courses around here haven't been walked just aerialed(sp?)

[elvis14]

Been playing with friends who have GPS and range finders of late. For me , I'll buy a GPS unit one day. I really didn't care much for the range finder on the course. Obviously, you can ping any distance with a range finder but the GPS is just so easy to use and gives me the information I want most of the time (front, pin, back, dist to traps and doglegs, etc). My friend that has his Bushnell loves it. My friend that has the range finder loves it. My friend that has the Golflogix GPS loves it. To each their own

Just my $.02.