GPS APPS on the course

[9wood]

Do you use a gps app on the course?

Which app?

Has it made you shots more accurate?

Has it lowered your score or handicap?

[acetoolguy]

I have never taken my phone on a course.

Shoot me if I ever do.

[Fourputt]

Do you use a gps app on the course?

Which app?

Has it made you shots more accurate?

Has it lowered your score or handicap?

I find phone apps impractical because of the limited battery life on most phones.  Some won't even last a full 18 hole round, and pretty much all of them need immediate recharging as soon as a round is over.  Add an extra 9 holes and you're usually out of juice.  For that reason I use a stand alone GPS (Garmin Approach G6) for golf.

[meenman]

My phone is too big to fit in a drink holder and cost too much to use it on the course

I have tried the phone GPS apps when I broke my skycaddie and was waiting for a replacement - never finished a full round using any of them. (tried phone and watch apps)

[Valleygolfer]

Do you use a gps app on the course? Which app? Has it made you shots more accurate? Has it lowered your score or handicap?

I used to use apps for yardage, and found golf shot and golf gps range finder the best at the time. Now I primarily use my laser but if I cannot see the flag I use golfshot for the yardage since I still use it to keep my scores. The yardages are usually pretty close if you wait until the gps triangulated. I can't Golf without a yardage finder now though.

[bkuehn1952]

Do you use a gps ... on the course?

Has it made you shots more accurate?

Has it lowered your score or handicap?

A Garmin G3 with rechargeable AA batteries.  I think understanding the yardage to the front/middle/back of the green is very helpful. A GPS or laser doesn't hit the shot for you but having a fairly accurate yardage does help.  You still need to account for elevation change, wind, and intervening obstacles.

Prior to the GPS I would walk the course and count paces from whatever marker (200,150,100) was located behind my ball.  Certainly not perfect but good enough for me.  Now I no longer count the paces.

Another useful purpose for the GPS is measuring one's shot.  When I flush an 8 iron, I can measure the shot and learn my "well struck" yardage.

I believe the GPS has saved me some strokes here and there but it has not radically changed my game.

[Fourputt]

The other thing that keeps me from using a phone app is the difficulty of seeing it in sunlight.  I find it to be virtually unreadable, whereas my Garmin is designed to be read in bright light, without turning up the screen brightness.

[Sassafrass]

I've been using GolfLogix during my rounds.  It has been very helpful on selecting the right club. It definitely has helped me hit better approach shots.

I haven't had any problems with screen glare or my battery dying mid round.  Yesterday I played 18, and started the round at 68% battery.  At the end of the round i was at 30ish percent battery life left.

[9wood]

I have never taken my phone on a course.

Shoot me if I ever do.

Someone in another thread said that a phone would come in handy if you encountered some jerks on the course because you then could call the club house and have them send out the ranger to solve that sort of problem.

[DrvFrShow]

I take my phone on the course to order a hot dog and soft drink at the turn. Place the order before I tee off on the 9th hole.... It's ready by the time I'm at the clubhouse.

[acetoolguy]

Someone in another thread said that a phone would come in handy if you encountered some jerks on the course because you then could call the club house and have them send out the ranger to solve that sort of problem.

I guess I've been lucky and never run into that situation. At least once a month somebodies phone in the cart or bag rings while someone in the group is trying to make a shot. When the golf gods shine on us, its the owner of the phone.

They also seem to feel that the noise it makes while on vibrate does not count as noise.

To those golfers who bring phones on the course and respect their fellow golfers, my thanks.

[dkolo]

Battery life on my iPhone 6 is for crap and I still manage 18 holes using Game Golf with around 60% battery left. I use it for tagging my shots and GPS if I forget my Garmin at home. I prefer the Garmin because it's a little faster at giving me a number but the Game Golf isn't exactly a hassle. Upside of the app is it gives you satellite imagery of the hole so you can get info about bunkers and green shapes when you don't have good line of sight.

[Fourputt]

Battery life on my iPhone 6 is for crap and I still manage 18 holes using Game Golf with around 60% battery left. I use it for tagging my shots and GPS if I forget my Garmin at home. I prefer the Garmin because it's a little faster at giving me a number but the Game Golf isn't exactly a hassle. Upside of the app is it gives you satellite imagery of the hole so you can get info about bunkers and green shapes when you don't have good line of sight.

My Garmin gives me all of that too.

[dkolo]

My Garmin gives me all of that too.

Yeah, I have the old G3. It's great for yardages but not much more since the map is a drawing. But I had the GPS before I started using apps for golf that gave yardages. Knowing what I know now, I'd save the $150 by using the Game Golf app and put that money towards a driver or something.

[PJCdude]

SwingBySwing

It's great for stats, it keeps an (unofficial) handicap and uses GPS for yardages.

You can manage how much data it uses up but when putting it on medium or low usage, it will take time to find your correct yardage. It's not perfect, but it's free and I like it.

[krupa]

I use the free version of GolfLogix.  The free version gives yardages to center-of-green and lets you keep score which is all I really want.  I'm probably hitting more greens from 125 yds and in because I make better club choices knowing the yardage.  (I'm terrible at estimating distance.)

The other features of GolfLogix and the Game Golf app (like club tracking) take too much interaction and I don't want to pull my phone out after every shot.

[MrDC]

I play with a guy that does, he's always standing there staring at the thing.

I'll stick with the Golf Buddy, just hit the button for yards and play.

[Moppy]

The other thing that keeps me from using a phone app is the difficulty of seeing it in sunlight.  I find it to be virtually unreadable, whereas my Garmin is designed to be read in bright light, without turning up the screen brightness.

Exactly. A digital paper screen like on the Kindle, that is designed to be readable on the beach without using too much power would be great. I can read my fishfinder in the direct sun, for example, but it is hooked up to a twelve volt automotive like power source  so power is not the problem. A golf app for the Kindle, that you don't have to keep turning on after the screen has been idle for a few seconds, and that you could read in full sunlight would be great. I think a lot of the wasted time is just restarting the app every time you want to use it.

I play with a guy who says it does't slow him down once he learned to use it. Let's just say opinions differ on that.

I would rather use a laser rangefinder and pencil and paper for score keeping.