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GPS/Rangefinders??

aceillini

Long live "THE CHIEF"
Aug 23, 2006
176
0
I have been considering a GPS or Rangefinder and wanted to know...Who here uses them?And which one do you use?Pro's & Con's.Are they worth the money for the average golfer?
 

MGP

Clubmaking Ho
Supporting Member
Apr 21, 2007
1,996
24
There are quite a few threads already about this, you can search on GPS and rangefinder and probably find all the opinions you want.

Me, I have a SkyCaddie SG3 and love it. It's like an electronic yardage book and it helps me a lot when I play. I play a lot faster with it too since I don't need to look for yardage markers or pace any yardage off. Also great for layups as it has distances to layup areas, to clear bunkers, water hazards, etc.

Rangefinders are good too, a little less versatile in my opinion. Then again I'm not usually interested in the exact distance to the pin as I am in a lot of the other things the GPS tells me. I'm usually a lot more interested in front and back distances on the green and almost all golf GPS units will give you that. Of course if you don't get good satellite reception GPS isn't as accurate. I played this entire last season and never lost WAAS (enhanced accuracy mode reception) on my SG3 except once when I was under some massive trees.

One other thing -- if you don't have a detailed course map for the courses you play (4-star course for SkyCaddie) then you are probably better off with a rangefinder. It will always find the exact distance to the pin, except maybe in heavy fog.
 

Pa Jayhawk

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2005
7,196
62
Country
United States United States
Having owned both, here is my take on them.
http://www.shottalk.com/forum/equipment-talk/11102-range-finders-vs-gps-compared.html
To me they are worth the money, actually to me they are worth the money to own both if you have the money to do so. If you have to decide on one I would say if you play one or two courses the majority of the time and can get a GPS with those courses with more points than just front~back~center of the green, they are the way to go. If you play many different courses on a consistent basis, then a Range finder will probably be more convenient to meeting your golf needs. I keep both in my bag and have even been known to use both at the same time during a round.

edit 1 - BTW, a good way to answer the question on being "worth the money". When you go to a course, will you spend $5 for a yardage book? This is what got me to originally buy a range finder. To me it doesn't matter the caliber of golfer. A really good golfer would probably say it is a must, where as many average golfers may say it was worth the money out of convenience. Not to mention that not all courses have yardage books. I am not a great golfer, but will certainly spend money for convenience. In doing so it will usually make me a better golfer if used properly.
 

titaniummd

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2006
53
21
I have been considering a GPS or Rangefinder and wanted to know...Who here uses them?And which one do you use?Pro's & Con's.Are they worth the money for the average golfer?

I have a laser rangefinder.

The advantages:
No annual subscription
Can be used on the driving range or for other activities to determine distances outside of golf
Easy to use and more life from a battery

Disadvantage:
Less accurate on assessing hazards like sandtraps or bodies of water.
 

Pa Jayhawk

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2005
7,196
62
Country
United States United States
I have a laser rangefinder.

The advantages:
No annual subscription
Can be used on the driving range or for other activities to determine distances outside of golf
Easy to use and more life from a battery

Disadvantage:
Less accurate on assessing hazards like sandtraps or bodies of water.
Just to comment, most of the GPS systems do not require the annual subscription, that is mainly Skycaddie. For example, the igolf I own has one but is not necessary if you want to do your own courses, then it is not annual and is simply based on how many courses you download. None of them even have my home course and the reason I bought one with 11 programmable points per hole. So I got 50 credits as part of the initial $30 membership ($35 now) to download to my PC as part of the initial subscription. Which in all likelyhood will last me 3-5 years. After downloading every course I may play in my area or where I commonly visit I still have about 15 left. You can then purchase 25 additional credits for $10. By doing the initial membership it also extended out the warranty on the device.

While the Range Finder does have a few advantages on a range, it should be noted that many of the courses that can be downloaded from Skycaddie include the Driving range if the course has one. Although for me I could actually program as many points as I want on the range, although I would have to go out there the first time and take maybe 5 minutes to set it up. Which may be a problem on a crowded range. So there are certainly possibilities. In consideration, the price of my GPS with the initial membership was identical to the price of my Range Finder. Again though, the Range Finder is a distinct advantage on the range.

The Range finder definitely puts the GPS to shame on battery life, because the GPS must be on all the time. I have only changed the battery in my range finder once in 3 years. But for me that is not a big issue because mine uses rechargeable AA batteries so I just keep a couple extra pairs in my case.

IMO, I would say the most notable advantage of the GPS is uphill shots without a doubt. Simple convenience is second. Trying to get front and back of green is almost impossible, or even an accurate estimate on a flag if it does not have a reflector is pretty frustrating with a range finder.

The most notable advantage IMO of the range finder is being able to get exact distances to any point on the course if the point is within view.

I will say that on a new course I usually have both the range finder and GPS out in the beginning and by the end of the round I rely on the Range Finder and the GPS is usually only used for uphill shots. Where on course I am really familiar with and play the most, like my home course, the Range finder never comes out of the bag.

One other thing I don't think I mentioned in the other thread I linked, the GPS has a distinct advantage in very cold weather. The range finder is very finicky in the cold. I do already use a Lithium Battery. While the GPS does bounce around by a few yards in the cold, the Range finder will many times just not give a reading until about the 10th try. Probably going back to the comment on battery life. The GPS is on all the time, the batteries are warmed up. Although I may go through a full pair of batteries in one round.
 
OP
aceillini

aceillini

Long live "THE CHIEF"
Aug 23, 2006
176
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
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thanks for all the replies...they are very helpful.ESP.Jayhawks link.I knew there was a topic on this but must have missed it in my search.I would like to know though if there are more users than non-users of these type of devices or are people still relying on guesstamation?
 

VictPlaya

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2008
1
0
After reading a few threads on this forum, i've taken the plunge and picked up the Sky Caddie SG2.5 GPS.

I went with the GPS units rather than laser Range finders so i can get exact wedge distance yardages for learning the "finesse swing" in the Peltz Short Game Bible.
 

extremeVFT03

golfaholic
Supporting Member
Apr 22, 2007
909
15
Country
United States United States
i have the SG5 and love it. i was suprised that all the coures i play where 4star and the skycaddie even tells me what the distances are to the flags at the driving range. i got a really good deal on mine and really like the color screen.
 

nixdad

Well-Known Member
Mar 4, 2008
352
0
Does anyone have the Golflogix or has anyone used one? Thoughts on that piece of equipment?
 

goatster

SUPER SOAKER
Feb 20, 2005
2,360
2
i had this same quandry most of the winter.

ended up with an SG 2.5. the only chance i have had to use it was at our league meeting.so now i know its 511 from my spot at the end of the bar to the center of the first green.
 

JArmour

Go VOLS!
Jan 2, 2008
1,069
0
Yeah Im all about it but, how do I know it's going to work as good as skycaddie?
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
It would be nice to know how much they charge per course. Also, a list of available courses would be nice.
 

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