Say NO! to gps/yardage computers

[Jcp907]

Club technology has "nothing" to do with computer technology and yardage GPS. Please don't tell me that a GPS is the same as 460cc drivers or cast vs blades. Why are you saying my bag is b***t I think my combo as nothing to with computer tech. I'm sure I'm starting a flame but with you tech/computer guys, Golf is not a tech thing it's a great natural game. Yes, tech helps the sport but it's still the swing and swinger not the computer that determines easy 6 or full 7

Clubs that are designed in CAD, or produced on CNC machines have much to do with computer technology. Of course GPS is different than clubs altogether, however, the level of technology in clubs and GPS is similar in my opinion.

Yardages are available to me without a GPS. Using a GPS is a timesaver for me. It also helps tremendously when it comes to determine how far I am hitting it on a given stroke. I have a couple of holes that must not be mapped properly. I am using a 2.5 Lite. For instance, I have a green 15' down, that plays longer than the GPS yardage, and another green that is about 10' up that plays about 25 yards shorter than GPS yardage. This throws the old school character right in my face!

[Shindig]

Club technology has "nothing" to do with computer technology

So, Bob Vokey is doing his drawings on blue paper and with pencils and just the ideas in his head?

Please don't tell me that a GPS is the same as 460cc drivers or cast vs blades.

No, very few people hit their golf ball with their GPS unit. But they're both very new technologies, relative to golf . If you want golf the way it was invented - not to be confused with the way it's meant to be played - then you need to go find that course we were talking about a few weeks ago, where people still play with hickory shafts.

[out_in_30]

i grew up having to walk yardages off.. and since I did it so much I got pretty good at it and it comes natural to me as part of a pre shot routine.. The GPS finders are great IMO although I do not own one.. it enables a player to focus on other crucial aspects of a well executed golf shot i.e. the swing and the club selection... Having an accurate yardage is so important and this is what the GPS finders do. for people that say its a natural game and we should stick to it.... my response is that things evolve. Life as we know it has evolved immensly since the 1600s when golf was first being played. Golf has evolved just the same and all the new technology that emerges should be embraced as they have been by the golfing world.

[SubPar]

I'm with the OP. Actually I don't care what YOU do, as long as it isn't slowing things down (but I do think GPS can) but I spend enough time looking at a glowing rectangle at work or home, I don't want to when I'm golfing.

While some of my friends are searching for marked sprinkler heads and stepping of yardage, I just glace at my iGolf and tell them what the yardage is. Which do you think takes more time?

SubPar

[Taylor Shrake]

DRIVER Titleist 909D2 UST Proforce AXIV Tour Black 79

My greenfinder makes the game enjoyable for me, because its easier to play. By the looks of your clubs you also enjoy some modern technology. If you feel like swatting a feather filled golf ball with a cane then go for it. I will enjoy my clubs that make the game playable but a person who plays for fun

[Jay-Bird]

i grew up having to walk yardages off.. and since I did it so much I got pretty good at it and it comes natural to me as part of a pre shot routine.. The GPS finders are great IMO although I do not own one.. it enables a player to focus on other crucial aspects of a well executed golf shot i.e. the swing and the club selection... Having an accurate yardage is so important and this is what the GPS finders do. for people that say its a natural game and we should stick to it.... my response is that things evolve. Life as we know it has evolved immensly since the 1600s when golf was first being played. Golf has evolved just the same and all the new technology that emerges should be embraced as they have been by the golfing world.

I was going to say this exactly. Well, not

exactly , probably less eloquently.

While some of my friends are searching for marked sprinkler heads and stepping of yardage, I just glace at my iGolf and tell them what the yardage is. Which do you think takes more time?

I walk. So on my may to my ball I'm stepping off yardage. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have a laser/gps/whateva' but I don't see them as necessary or as time saving.

[out_in_30]

I walk. So on my may to my ball I'm stepping off yardage. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have a laser/gps/whateva' but I don't see them as necessary or as time saving.

well they are 200+$!! thats my reason right there. better things to spend 200 or more on right now IMO.. when the price drops a bit ill consider it.. for now I dont mind 'manually' obtaining my yardages in the slightest.

[Msokol13]

First off....I do not own either of these devices so I am not biased in my opinion.

What I am...is able to observe. I cannot tell you how many guys walk around like lost puppies on the fairway, after about 2 minutes they get their yardage and take a 2 second swing...only to duff it 10 yards in front or...if they do make solid contact come up short or go too long.

I would much rather look ahead, see a guy laser the pin or have the gps figured out....take that time that he would have used walking off yardage to make sure that he grabs the right club, and make a good preshot routine as he doesnt feel rushed compared to the guy that wasted a minute trying to get the exact yardage

[is2linda]

GPS is pretty much the same as yardage book. I do agree that there are people that take forever configuring it. Learn it at home, then take it to course, dont buy it then go right away.

I dont know why hes so upset with a simple GPS system, its like carrying your own caddie everywhere. I dont want to be the guy that runs back and forth to see the yardage stick. So many haters in this world...

[PiustheDrGolf]

Well. I have GolfShot, iPhone app. that does GPS & Scorecard with instant Statistics.

I've played almost 20 years and got used to measuring yardage by naked-eyes with help of 100/150/200/250 marks. For last 2 months, I do check GPS yardage but just a quick glance to confirm my instant measurement. Mostly I use the GPS apps to track what I shoot and how I shoot. That is happening between green and next hole's teebox.

Having read the original posting, I have thought about what gets impacted by the GPS/Scorecard unit for me. It is making golfing more self-centric/selfish. I noticed the unit has made me less socialize with my golf buddies by looking at the unit. Hole to hole I do record scores into the unit (I did with paper scorecard before but with the unit, I do more thoroughly). I still make good conversation with peers but not 100% dedicated. More and more I think about it, it DOES make me selfish. BUT... what if I play 4-men scramble? The GPS unit will be a awesome tool for the game and socialization.

Well... it all depends on individuals and how he/she uses it.

[Topanga]

You guys have it wrong. When I'm refering to new tech I'm not talking about clubs and balls, I'm talking about high tech yardage i phones, gps, etc. I'm more than happy with a ball that is longer and spins more. I know that it would create a discussion but I still say there is WAY MORE enjoyment looking at the pin and estimating the yardage with your eye, markers or not. Also from experience golfers with computer yardage gps spend TOO much time checking yardage and it actually slows down the pace of play. Why should the human eye be replaced by a machine!!

[Fat Slice]

Yawn. I feel stupid for posting in this thread earlier.

[CalBoomer]

I also say NO! to caddies who earn 10% of my pro winnings so that they can walk the course for several days measuring the distances from every bush and tree. Give me a break. Why should poor duffers like us have to give up something that every pro has--accurate distances.

[misty_mountainhop]

Most people play the same courses over and over and therefore know the yardages on those courses anyway. I can't for the life of me see the need for GPS except on a new(ish) course. Each to their own though and for better or worse, they're here to stay. IMO, they should never have been allowed but there you go.

One point is they're just another technological aid for people who appear to think they can buy a good round. Latest driver, new putter, new ball, GPS etc. I'm aware I'm tarring everyone with the same brush here!

One reason I think they're a backward step (apart from slowing everything down - in my experience of playing with people using them), is a lot of courses use various design tricks and always have done to make golfers THINK; GPS removes the requirement to do this in the same way.

Finally, they're a waste of time in the main because most people have maybe 5% chance of hitting the ball well enough for the exact yardage to make any difference what-so-ever.

On a different note, conflating the OP's bag with the theme of his post and using that to rubbish his point is pretty sad.

[billysandy]

I agree with all the people on this thread about your custom shafts and all the new expensive clubs you have. If that is ''playing the game like it used to be played''...then GPS' are fine.

[jldavis73]

THE ONLY THING A GPS UNIT IS CAPABLE OF DOING IS GIVING CORRECT YARDAGE. All the arguments that you have to "think" less on the course or that it takes longer to play a round of golf with them are ridiculous. The golfer still has to decide on the proper club for a specific yardage and then execute the swing. Jack "The Hammer" Hamm plays with a GPS for God's sake! Powwww!

[TheLauncher]

Well said Misty from the UK.



The regrettable part for me, and presumably for the OP, is that an essential human element of the game, estimating the distance and judging the right swing, is being taken out of the equation with GPS and rangefinders. IMO, it makes the game a little too mechanical, as it goes beyond the ability of the naked eye to provide reliably accurate distances and elevations. As opposed to other technological improvements in equipment, the devices actually perform the task of the human eye, in a way that exceeds it's natural ability. No other piece of equipment that I know of performs the function of the human body (although you might say that your driver or putter took a crap . How is essentially robotic eyesight that far away from a robotic aiming device or alignment aid? I certainly wouldn't want a robot to swing for me, why would I want it to perform the other essential tasks of the game?

And while I am intrigued by how GPS or a rangefinder might improve my game, I also know that some of my best or at least most enjoyable shots have been the ones where my judgement has come into play the most, like a long pitch to an elevated green, or a drive to that exact part of a dogleg.

Look, the things aren't inherently evil and I'm all for improvements in technology that can do things more quickly and accurately than humans can. But I've always thought of the inherent error involved in human judgement as an essential element in making any game fun. I'll leave laser eyesight to the marksmen and exacting tolerances to the engineers. When I golf I want to have fun, and for me that's not being preoccupied with exact yardages, but sensing the right play, albeit semi-consciously, accounting for wind, temperature, humidity, distance, elevation, how I'm feeling that day,etc. Not to mention what I might miss while peering into a "glowing rectangle," as others have said, like the great shot of a friend, a deer crossing the fairway, or a moment to reflect on my game and tha conditions that affect it that day.

[David in FL]

I get a perverse pleasure out of telling someone the yardage to a pin before they can shoot it with their rangefinder. Most are amazed that I can do so within a yard or two of what they get.

Having said that though.....it's important to know the correct yardage, whether to the pin or to carry a hazard. If a laser or gps makes that easier for someone, so be it. Especially if it speeds up their decision making and moves them along faster......