Golf GPS Devices

[406bogeys]

Anyone have any experience with any of these things. I recently played at a course that has a GPS system in every cart and found it very helpful to know the exact distances from where i was. Im curios if something like a sky caddie would be worth it. Anyone?

[MiniBlueDragon]

Yes it definitely could be worth it.

[406bogeys]

I found in the one round that i used one it really helped with my club selection which in turn helped with my score. I could see where a two or three hundred dollar device might be worth it, especially if i am consistently trying to lower my score. Are their any favorite devices? Laser range finders or gps devices?

[MiniBlueDragon]

Lasers and gps's are personal preference to be fair. I know of people who can't use or dislike laser range finders and people who dont think gps's are accurate enough. I'd suggest trying out a free gps on mobile phone if you have an iOS or Android device and see how you like it before shelling out on a full gps device. Swing By Swing is my personal favourite.

[parsnates]

I had a sky caddie and found it slow and time consuming.   Seemed I was always waiting for it to catch up and sometimes it was difficult to load up in the first place.

I now I use the Garmin wrist watch version.  My game is not good enough to tell you if it is accurate to the yard, but it does help me make a quick and easy club selection.  Especially helpful when your eye is fooled into thinking you are 60 out and you're really 100.  Very easy to use, very responsive, loads quickly, no subscription needed.  Just a quick glance at my watch to see front, middle, back numbers.  It doesn't have distances to other features such as bunkers, lakes, etc (sky caddie did). You can measure the distance your shot traveled and it does have an odometer feature if you want to know how far you've walked. Oh, and yeah, it tells you what time it is.

It would be ideal to also have a laser range finder to supplement and tell me how far to the other side of the fairway when I'm hitting back out of the trees.

[406bogeys]

I will be giving this a try on my iOS device the next time that i play. I hoping this is somewhat accurate because it is a significantly smaller burden to my pocketbook.

[wolfsburg2]

I use skydroid, which used to be free. I've turned a few guys onto it and it's a buck or two now.

[irishmike27]

I use the Callaway upro go. It's definitely been worth the $120 I spent on it. Not very fancy, but the yardages to front middle and back seem to be accurate enough. I find it most helpful when playing from the wrong fairway. For my purposes, GPS is the way to go. It's quick and eliminates a lot of guesswork and I think it helps speed things up-especially when riding.

[lumpuckeroo]

My 2 cents worth.  There are pro's and con's to all of the devices, I'm a fan of GPS, I currently use the Skycaddie SG5. I have used my iPhone and had one of the first rangefinders for golf and like the simplicity of a golf specific GPS unit.  I did not like the time it took to use a rangefinder, however, mine was an older version and the new ones are more simple than mine to operate and easier to get a distance to the flag.  I did not like using the iPhone because the screen is not made for direct sunlight like a GPS unit, my Skycaddie is seen best with the sun shinning directly on the screen.

There are some pit falls with the Skycaddie, only 20 courses can be on the unit at one time, so if you are playing a new course you have to download it to you account and sync it to your unit.  I've had to play a couple of times with out it because I forgot to do this.  However to me the pluses out weight the minuses, it is water resistant, works better in direct sunlight, can be clipped on a bag, cart, or push cart and much more rugged than a cell phone.

[Mr3Wiggle]

I personally use a Bushnell laser rangefinder.  I like it.

Question for those that like GPS systems.  Do you find the device's accuracy to be compromised on overcast days?

[inthecup]

I had/have a upro. It recently crapped out. I got a shycaddie sgx. I also borrowed a friends laser. My home course has prisms in the pins which is awesome for the laser. If there is no prism it can be difficult to get a lock. I prefer gps. The upro and sgx give you all the distances. When you want to lay up it is easy get the distance. It is also easy to see all hazards. If it is a course you are unfamiliar with it also helps. I also like the ability to track score, fairways, putts on the device. In answer to your question yes either device will certainly help. With a upro and the sgx I can get within 2 yards of the laser. I am not good enought for that to matter.

[David in FL]

  Mr3Wiggle said:

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

Question for those that like GPS systems.  Do you find the device's accuracy to be compromised on overcast days?

Not at all.

[David in FL]

I use the U Pro and like it fine.....screen is a little small, but that's a trade off for the nice small size of the unit which I carry in a little cell phone pouch on my hip.  Always there but completely out of the way.

I also carry a laser.

2 different items and both have their uses.  The GPS doesn't know where the pin is exactly so it can't give you an accurate distance to the pin, but the laser can't always help you to determine where the pin is in relation to the rest of the green or hazards.  Neither can it always be used to determine lay up yardages or carries, nor can it give you a distance on a blind shot.

Both are handy.  Neither mandatory.

[Topper]

  parsnates said:

Originally Posted by parsnates

I now I use the Garmin wrist watch version.  My game is not good enough to tell you if it is accurate to the yard, but it does help me make a quick and easy club selection.  Especially helpful when your eye is fooled into thinking you are 60 out and you're really 100.  Very easy to use, very responsive, loads quickly, no subscription needed.  Just a quick glance at my watch to see front, middle, back numbers.

Same here.  I just ordered (but not yet received) a gps watch for the same reason.  My depth perception stinks and a lot of courses use plaques instead of posts which are hard to see.  Not to mention the fact that I'm often in some God-forsaken part of the course.  It will be some time (if ever) that I'll need laser-like accuracy.  BTW, my watch will provide distance to hazards!