Are Rangefinders contributing to slow play?

[sjduffers]

13 hours ago, iacas said:

All that Matt said, yeah.

My Leupold will beep when it gets a really strong signal, but that is almost always when it finds the prism on a flagstick.

Yup. I turned the beep off on my Leupold, as the visual indication in the viewfinder is enough: a square surrounds the flag (or is it the number? I can't remember which and I've used just today..). I was just pointing out that various models have features built-in to signal a lock on a reflector, whether they call it Pinseeker (Bushnell) or not...

13 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Vibration will just drain the battery. I turn it off. The vibration doesn't necessarily confirm flag readings. It could register that you got a yardage. At least that is what mine did with my Bushnell Volt.

Well, that's just a bad implementation. I don't need to know I just got a yardage: i can read the damn number in the viewfinder, can't I? LOL.  If you are gonna buzz, buzz for something useful: you've got a yardage off of a reflector. There, much better.

13 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I do recommend getting a golf rangefinder and not a hunting rangefinder. I believe most golf rangefinders are designed to pick up a flag easier than with other rangefinders.

Absolutely. Golf rangefinders give preference to the foreground object (the flagstick) whereas hunting rangefinders give preference to the background (the deer hiding in the trees).

[Big_in_Belgium]

I played a late round two days ago and had to think of this thread.
For the last four or five holes there was some fog forming and I couldn't use my rangefinder.

I noticed two things:
1) I was surprised how off I was on guessing distances (relatively), even though this is my home course and I play it every week

2) if I was not in the middle of the fairway, it took me some time to find a marker or sprinkler head and pace off the distance.

So I voted no, they do need slow down play. 

[gjsuicide]

In all my rounds of golf I only remember seeing 2 people use a rangefinder. Myself and my buddy. It seems people who take their game more seriously will probably own and use one; and people who take their game seriously probably play a little better and in turn faster. So I believe there could actually be a correlation between faster play and range finding.

Some might say that really poor play doesn't necessarily mean slow play. This could be true in some cases. However, if a real hack is truly playing by the rules and keeping a real score, then every duff/lost ball/hazard/OB/4 putt/etc. definitely contributes to slow play.

[The Hook Meister]

No they are not! What bslows play is the player, once they get the distance they have no idea what club to use because they have no idea how far they can hit each club. When thy have to allow for the wind  and other factors like elevation they get lost in a fog. Don't hate the equipment hate the player. The equipment can give you the info you still have to figure out how to use it.

[Piz]

One could argue that slow play contributes to the use of range finders; as they give one something to do while waiting.  

[Buckeyebowman]

I would hope not! Much like GPS on the cart, you point and shoot and know what your yardage is. You don't have to hunt around for Kirby markers or sprinkler heads.