Keep GPS or get rangefinder

[clubhousehero]

Thanks everyone!  I'm keeping the GPS.

I guess the way i understood it was cell phone reception was indicative  of GPS reception.   Stupid me...

Anyway,  I am grateful for the present but i know she would rather me return it than have it sit in my closet and never be able to use it. Or only use it less then 1/3 of the times i play.  And honestly, i feel the same way about anything i get her.

[Danattherock]

You keep it up, you will be getting ties and socks.

[goblue107501]

First of all, I am a big rangefinder guy.  The specifics and debates have been beat to death on here for the last couple of years, so I won't get into that.  To summarize, I find them faster, easier, and way more accurate to the flag.

Secondly, the guy at Dick's is an idiot who only wants to sell a golf rangefinder.  Any rangefinder will work on the golf course.  True, the golf ones are a little easier to use thanks to the pinseeker functions, but that doesn't mean a hunting one won't find the pin.  It just might take an extra 2 seconds.  As long as a rangefinder can pick up a tree or hillside to about 300 yards, and be capable of hitting a flag inside of 200 it will work just fine.  The only thing you have to watch out for is that some of the hunting rangefinders are geared to bow hunting and only have a range up to 75-100 yards, so obviously those wouldn't work well for golf.  I have been using an old, made-for-hunting rangefinder for the past several years and have had very few problems with it getting me the distance I need.

If you had a $300 credit at a golf store, that should be plenty to buy the Bushnell V2 or the lower-end Leupold, both of which would work fine anywhere.  You don't need to spend $450 unless you just want the bells and whistles.

[wrx_junki]

A girlfriend gave my friend a birthday gift and it was a Scotty Cameron so he has gamed it ever since but has not putted well and ended up just tossing it in the basement. If she's that great of a significant other, I'm sure she won't mind that you are trading up for something that will make you happy. I always let my significant other know whole heartedly that whatever gift I give is exchangeable since I am not the best judge or listener at all times. Of course there is some disappointment in the gift buyer but I'll give that up for making the other party happy.

[Dentman]

Rangefinder for me hands down... Since getting the bushnell V2 am hitting many more GIR... I tried a gps but it doen't get you pin distance. You can be off 20-30 feet on every approach shot you make... I think it's much more important to get the right pin distance.. A gps is good for courses you never played before. Once your off the Tee it's really not that important. Plus I can use it at the range to really dial in my shots.

[msd3075]

Originally Posted by Dentman

Rangefinder for me hands down... Since getting the bushnell V2 am hitting many more GIR... I tried a gps but it doen't get you pin distance. You can be off 20-30 feet on every approach shot you make... I think it's much more important to get the right pin distance.. A gps is good for courses you never played before. Once your off the Tee it's really not that important. Plus I can use it at the range to really dial in my shots.

What does having the pin distance have to do with hitting greens in regulation? If anything, going after the pin and only using the distance to the pin will more than likely result in you missing more greens (ie. going after "sucker" pin placements).

Unless you are a pro (which none of us are), you should never be going after the pin every single time. You should instead get yardages to the front and back of that area of the green and hit the club you are the most consistent at hitting a distance between those two yardages. To get these type of yardages, you can either use a GPS unit to get all of them upfront (albeit maybe not as perfectly accurate) or use the a rangefinder to get the pin distance and then determine how many paces it is from each edge of the landing area.

At the end of the day, whether you use a GPS unit or a rangefinder should be completely irrelevant.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by msd3075

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dentman

Rangefinder for me hands down... Since getting the bushnell V2 am hitting many more GIR... I tried a gps but it doen't get you pin distance. You can be off 20-30 feet on every approach shot you make... I think it's much more important to get the right pin distance.. A gps is good for courses you never played before. Once your off the Tee it's really not that important. Plus I can use it at the range to really dial in my shots.

What does having the pin distance have to do with hitting greens in regulation? If anything, going after the pin and only using the distance to the pin will more than likely result in you missing more greens (ie. going after "sucker" pin placements).

Unless you are a pro (which none of us are), you should never be going after the pin every single time. You should instead get yardages to the front and back of that area of the green and hit the club you are the most consistent at hitting a distance between those two yardages. To get these type of yardages, you can either use a GPS unit to get all of them upfront (albeit maybe not as perfectly accurate) or use the a rangefinder to get the pin distance and then determine how many paces it is from each edge of the landing area.

At the end of the day, whether you use a GPS unit or a rangefinder should be completely irrelevant.

I bolded the part I agree with, but not sure why the extra calculations and estimations are necessary. If the pin is right at the front of the green and it's at 152 yards, I'm pulling my 155 yard club. If the pin is tucked behind a huge pot bunker or water hazard and that pin is 152 yards away, I'll aim a bit to the side and try to hit the ball closer to 160 yards. It's not rocket science. But then again I'm not a 3.8

[msd3075]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

I bolded the part I agree with, but not sure why the extra calculations and estimations are necessary. If the pin is right at the front of the green and it's at 152 yards, I'm pulling my 155 yard club. If the pin is tucked behind a huge pot bunker or water hazard and that pin is 152 yards away, I'll aim a bit to the side and try to hit the ball closer to 160 yards. It's not rocket science. But then again I'm not a 3.8

All I was trying to say is that you should never just point a rangefinder at the pin, get the exact yardage, and then play whatever shot you have that will hit the ball to that exact yardage. The distance to the hole should be just one of many other things you look at when deciding what shot to play.

I know this is a bit off topic and I apologize in advance for that, but to me unless you are a near-scratch golfer, you should never go after the pin and should 90%+ of the time go for either the center of the green or the fattest part of the green near the hole. Most golfers would be amazed at how quickly their scores drop if they try this for a few rounds.

[omar06]

Return the GPS and get an iPhone.  Many great golf GPS apps (2 in particular DistanceMap and GolfLogix). I love mine, I can record my sing at the range with the camera, use it as a GPS on the course, and call in my beverage order before I hit the turn;-)

[jakatan]

Originally Posted by omar06

Return the GPS and get an iPhone.  Many great golf GPS apps (2 in particular DistanceMap and GolfLogix). I love mine, I can record my sing at the range with the camera, use it as a GPS on the course, and call in my beverage order before I hit the turn;-)

A jack of all trades is a master of none.  I'm sure Phone GPS's work okay, but the courses I play at all have issues with cell phone reception.

I recently purchased a Callaway uPro refurbished for $109.  Like others have said, the ability to hit to within a yard of the pin is not an ability we (especially myself) have as golfers.  That is something the professionals do.  My GPS lets me know everything I could care to know, and quickly, as well.  Just a glance down and I'm good to go.

[ghalfaire]

I am a fan of the GPS myself.  It gives you a lot more information than just distance to the Pin.  The GPS isn't as accurate as the laser range finders but for we 2 digit handicaps it is accurate enough.  Even though the laser is more accurate it requires steady hands to ensure your are targeting what you think your targeting, especially at longer yardages and with greens surrounded by trees (I have seen a few shots over the green because of this).

But I guess it is a Chevy Vs Ford argument and it boils down to what you like.  The laser is more accurate (+/- a few inches for good ones) and the GPS is probably accurate to +/- meter (3 feet) and dependent upon how accurate the course survey was performed.  In my experience the GPS is more helpful in giving a lot more information that isn't always possible with a range finder.  Like distance to a hazard and distance required to clear a hazard, etc.  So keep and use the gift as I bet you'll find it useful on the course.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by msd3075

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dentman

Rangefinder for me hands down... Since getting the bushnell V2 am hitting many more GIR... I tried a gps but it doen't get you pin distance. You can be off 20-30 feet on every approach shot you make... I think it's much more important to get the right pin distance.. A gps is good for courses you never played before. Once your off the Tee it's really not that important. Plus I can use it at the range to really dial in my shots.

What does having the pin distance have to do with hitting greens in regulation? If anything, going after the pin and only using the distance to the pin will more than likely result in you missing more greens (ie. going after "sucker" pin placements).

Unless you are a pro (which none of us are), you should never be going after the pin every single time. You should instead get yardages to the front and back of that area of the green and hit the club you are the most consistent at hitting a distance between those two yardages. To get these type of yardages, you can either use a GPS unit to get all of them upfront (albeit maybe not as perfectly accurate) or use the a rangefinder to get the pin distance and then determine how many paces it is from each edge of the landing area.

At the end of the day, whether you use a GPS unit or a rangefinder should be completely irrelevant.

For most close approaches, I prefer having the accurate distance to the hole which I get with a laser too, but that doesn't mean that I use that number blindly.  I also take into consideration the relative position of the hole on the green, and using both pieces of information I plan my shot accordingly.  In most cases, I just prefer to have that distance with the precision I get from the laser.  When that precision is irrelevant (like when I'm more than 150 yards from the green), then I'm more likely to just glance at the center distance on my GPS.

[pcourtney]

I started to become conscious of using my Bushnell, don't know why, perhaps the golf I play now is more recreational and so I gave the Bushnell Tour V2 to my younger brother and bought a GPS, as long as I know the yardage to the front of the green, and the back of the green, I'm good to go :-)

[ronbo25]

rangefinder for me.  it is fast, accurate, and batteries last much longer.  Had a sonocaddie gps and returned it for rangefinder.

My playing partner has a gps and is always asking me for yardage to the flag.  couldn't take my bushnell away from me.  I also can't play a round without it.

[Blades4me]

I perfer a range finder and think it is much more versatile than a GPS unit.

[TourSpoon]

My GPS friend asks me to shoot the flag for him every time his approach is inside 150, which is quite often.  The rangefinder gives me the best information.  The best thing that I like about his GPS is how it calculates lay-up yardages for him and it can handle blind shots.  Other than that, I can shoot any knob, trap, bank, etc. It allows for better decision making and has improved my game.

[NM Golf]

I have both a GPS and a rangefinder. I find myself using the rangefinder less and less. First, using a GPS is a lot faster one look and I know my yardage. Second I always wear sunglasses and I find it a pain in the ass to constantly take off my glasses to look through the rangefinder. I have found my distances off the GPS to be within a yard or two from my rangefinder, for example my GPS might say 150 middle 170 back. I can basically determine that if the pin is back it is around 160 yards. Now if I lasered it I might find it to be 162 or 158, but your a better golfer than me if those 2 yards are going to throw you off, and I am a scratch golfer. I keep my rangefinder around for things like yardages to trees and such that don't show up on the GPS.