Are Rangefinders contributing to slow play?

[Mr. Desmond]

If they have JOLT or are quick, they speed up play. I let my playing partners tell me the laser off the tee. When a partner is near me (within 30 yards)  and doesn't have a finder, I give him his approx  yardage - that speeds up play.

Finders help - hazards, etc. Slope can help - had a 10 yard downhill difference this weekend on one hole.

Useful, and speeds up play. People just need to be intelligent in their use.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Mr. Desmond

[Hacker James]

10 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

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Useful, and speeds up play. People just need to be intelligent in their use.

That is asking a lot!

[saevel25]

I think the people who get irked by rangefinders are those who gauge their distance with their eyes. I played golf with a handful golfers who play the same course once or twice a week for years. They trained themselves to know yardages by sight on those courses. I kept up with them just fine. Most of the time I get my yardage while other people are hitting. I never felt like I was slowing them down. If I had to give an estimate, it takes me 3-5 seconds to get a yardage.

13 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

Useful, and speeds up play. People just need to be intelligent in their use.

I can not think of a shot were it would slow down play to the point it would be a detriment to the pace of play of other golfers on the course. I can not really think of a time when not to use it. Maybe when putting?

[Mr. Desmond]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

I think the people who get irked by rangefinders are those who gauge their distance with their eyes. I played golf with a handful golfers who play the same course once or twice a week for years. They trained themselves to know yardages by sight on those courses. I kept up with them just fine. Most of the time I get my yardage while other people are hitting. I never felt like I was slowing them down. If I had to give an estimate, it takes me 3-5 seconds to get a yardage.

I can not think of a shot were it would slow down play to the point it would be a detriment to the pace of play of other golfers on the course. I can not really think of a time when not to use it. Maybe when putting?

People can overuse it leading to slow play - they start lasering hazards, front of green, flag, back of green, etc. on same shot - the OCD Player. Sometimes, it may be useful for a bunker in front of green, but if you are 120 yards or less out, let's hit it -- most of us arent' that precise in ballstriking - we just want to be on the green.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Mr. Desmond

[saevel25]

50 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

People can overuse it leading to slow play - they start lasering hazards, front of green, flag, back of green, etc. on same shot - the OCD Player.

You are talking a very small fraction of golfers. I've never seen one rangefinder user spend an exorbitant of time pinging different spots.

Normally it would take me 3-5 seconds to ping the flag. That includes taking my rangefinder out of the bag or cart. While I have it out it might take me 2 seconds at most to ping a bunker face. So lets say I want to ping the flag, the back of the green, front of the green and the face of a bunker. That's 10-13 seconds. I would probably only need to do that once every few rounds. Golf courses are not that complicated.

54 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

but if you are 120 yards or less out, let's hit it -- most of us arent' that precise in ballstriking - we just want to be on the green.

I've seen people who are inside 120 yards come up 20 yards short before on decent strike. Maybe they hit one way over the green. It happens way more often than a golfer spending too much time using a rangefinder. If they had the proper yardage they would probably be left with a much easier short game shot at worst.

[NM Golf]

Being old enough to remember watching people retreat 25 yards backwards in order to step off their yardage from the 150 marker, I would say rangefinders have helped increase the pace of play much more than they have hurt it. Slow players will be slow no matter what, and for reasons we have repeatedly discussed on here. 

Personally I would like to see them used to speed up play on TOUR.

Edited December 4, 2017 by NM Golf

[Mr. Desmond]

56 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

You are talking a very small fraction of golfers. I've never seen one rangefinder user spend an exorbitant of time pinging different spots.

Normally it would take me 3-5 seconds to ping the flag. That includes taking my rangefinder out of the bag or cart. While I have it out it might take me 2 seconds at most to ping a bunker face. So lets say I want to ping the flag, the back of the green, front of the green and the face of a bunker. That's 10-13 seconds. I would probably only need to do that once every few rounds. Golf courses are not that complicated.

I've seen people who are inside 120 yards come up 20 yards short before on decent strike. Maybe they hit one way over the green. It happens way more often than a golfer spending too much time using a rangefinder. If they had the proper yardage they would probably be left with a much easier short game shot at worst.

I'm not saying, don't use a rangefinder - I'm saying don't overuse it like an OCD golfer.

[saevel25]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

I'm not saying, don't use a rangefinder - I'm saying don't overuse it like an OCD golfer.

OCD is subjective. How long do I have before you would get on my case on a course?

The situation you are specify is rare and honestly is pretty much a non-issue.

[Golfingdad]

2 hours ago, Mr. Desmond said:

People can overuse it leading to slow play - they start lasering hazards, front of green, flag, back of green, etc. on same shot - the OCD Player. Sometimes, it may be useful for a bunker in front of green, but if you are 120 yards or less out, let's hit it -- most of us arent' that precise in ballstriking - we just want to be on the green.

I occasionally use mine when I'm in the vicinity of 40-70 yards.  I have a reason - because I know that my "full swing" pitch shot goes 50-55 - but I will also admit to feeling a little silly and chuckling at myself as I'm doing it because it might look funny to some people.

Still, it takes 10 seconds max, but more importantly, if a player is not a slow player it's usually something that is done before it's even their turn at all.  So often times the amount of time spent on measuring distances and choosing clubs is irrelevant entirely because it's not even on the critical path of the rounds timeline.

[Mr. Desmond]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

OCD is subjective. How long do I have before you would get on my case on a course?

The situation you are specify is rare and honestly is pretty much a non-issue.

That's a bit aggressive ...lol.

Why would you think I get on anyone's case? Sounds like someone has gotten on your case. Not my issue.

My playing partners think I'm amusing. I have a game on Sat and Sun, with two younger guys and a guy a bit older than me. We have fun - I ask for a read and give others a read. 

If there is a bunker in front of the green, admittedly, I will sometimes  look at how much I have to clear it, although with my game, I should not even take the chance of being too cute. Just put it over the flag or to the side.

22 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

I occasionally use mine when I'm in the vicinity of 40-70 yards.  I have a reason - because I know that my "full swing" pitch shot goes 50-55 - but I will also admit to feeling a little silly and chuckling at myself as I'm doing it because it might look funny to some people.

Still, it takes 10 seconds max, but more importantly, if a player is not a slow player it's usually something that is done before it's even their turn at all.  So often times the amount of time spent on measuring distances and choosing clubs is irrelevant entirely because it's not even on the critical path of the rounds timeline.

Oh, I said "over use it," which means use the laser, but let's not laser the birds, the bees, the flowers and the trees... I find the JOLT tech gives some assurance and speed.

[jkelley9]

Wow 41 of us voted #3 and zero other votes. Didn't see that one coming!

They're a tool to speed up play, I think. To the contrary of having a rangefinder, people would fuddle more over distances. Even when I used my GPS there's a 5% chance that my location didn't update correctly or is lagging and I could be way off, leading me to second guessing every now and then. With a laser, that doesn't happen. Point, shoot, grab club, and proceed to hit it into the bunker. 

[David in FL]

38 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

I occasionally use mine when I'm in the vicinity of 40-70 yards.  I have a reason - because I know that my "full swing" pitch shot goes 50-55 - but I will also admit to feeling a little silly and chuckling at myself as I'm doing it because it might look funny to some people.

Still, it takes 10 seconds max, but more importantly, if a player is not a slow player it's usually something that is done before it's even their turn at all.  So often times the amount of time spent on measuring distances and choosing clubs is irrelevant entirely because it's not even on the critical path of the rounds timeline.

Yep.  I'll absolutely use it in the 40+ yard range, and also admit to feeling foolish at times.  

For a relatively good player though, it's not so silly when you realize that misjudging your yardage by 10 yards can add 30 feet to whatever putt you ultimately have.

[Groucho Valentine]

I voted yes, but its not a big factor. I dont think enough people use range finders to really make a big difference in the whole picture of things. But players who have them, seem like that want to use them ALL of the time, even when they dont have to. I was playing with a dude once that was shooting yardages for green side shots, and thats where shit can slow down. Do you really need to know your pitch or chip is 14 yards? Probably not...

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by Groucho Valentine

[rehmwa]

Just to be clear - it's the best tool in my bag.  I'd use it to putt if I bothered to carry it to the green.

Speeds up play - I'm pretty good at hitting my yardage (not so good at hitting my line).  So I hit more greens - that's faster.

I never have to go 'find' a yardage marker.  that's faster

I'm not good at estimating distance, nor do I care to try to learn that skill.  faster

If I hit something off line, I'll scan something at my shot distance - I FIND errant balls much faster as I know where to look - ridiculously faster.

I see a protest votes finally in the "yes, a little bit" offering.  I'd like to understand the misguided and twisted rationalization logic of these voters and am guessing they just have rangefinder envy and probably think a nice watch and matching shoes to belt makes them a better club member.

Edited December 4, 2017 by rehmwa

[NJpatbee]

I have played with a few golfers that have "misused" the range finder slowing up our foursome a touch - not a big factor but it can be annoying.  Most of the golfers I play with are double digit handicaps like myself, and we are just not that accurate.  I am fine using the distance markers or sprinkler heads.  I have had the occasion where two golfers no better than myself both have range finders and have to shoot their distances as well as the rest of the group and then argue over whether the distance to the pin is 152 or 154.  It makes no difference for any of us in our group since we cannot control our distances the way a scratch or better golfer can. 

But that is the exception and I understand how a range finder can speed things up for some golfers if wisely used.  For myself I could see it for distances to lateral hazards or forced carries, but I have no plans to purchase one. 

[Kalnoky]

Recently played with a couple guys who thought the Range Finders slowed the game down. They had a little "three stooges" routine, impersonating a clown with a rangefinder wasting time. One of these guys had a GPS watch and he would read the distances off to the rest of us. It was very efficient.

When I'm playing alone I like taking readings all over the golf course with my rangefinder. Not just the pin, but the bunker, the front of the green, the stakes, etc. It does help a lot. For a while mid-summer I was without one and it hurt my scores, mostly because I would trust my eyes instead of the yardage markers. 

FWIW the Bushnells with the "pin seeker" technology are much quicker than some of the others. I have a Nikon now it definitely takes longer. It feels like I have a palsy when I look through that thing lol.

[No Mulligans]

GPS watch for courses I'm familiar with, Bushnell rangefinder for courses I'm not familiar with.   Neither slow down the pace of play.  It's the slow players somewhere ahead that I'm often waiting on that are slowing the pace. 

[RickK]

My answer is NO, does not slow down play (unless you have no clue how to use it).  I have both a GPS device and a laser rangefinder.  I rarely pull the rangefinder out of my bag.  I do play a lot of different golf courses during the year.  If I am familiar with the course then the GPS device is probably all I need.  If I am playing a course that has lots of doglegs or stuff that my GPS device does not show, then I will use the rangefinder to shoot those targets and get an idea where I need to hit the ball. 

I would say that 98% if the time, I rarely ever use the rangefinder to shoot the pin on a green.  I have distance on the GPS to front/middle/back and if I have a general idea where the pin is located, that is really enough info to proceed. 

It really does not matter what device you use if you get the yardage and you are still waiting in the fairway on the group ahead of you.  it can't speed you up or slow you down at that point.