I ditched the Rangefinder -- and played much better

Played a round yesterday afternoon. REALLY windy day here in Pittsburgh as a big storm was blowing into town -- but wanted to work on hitting better shots into the teeth of the wind. Really struggled after making four straight pars. Realized that I was relying too much on rangefinder distance -- that frankly didn't matter when hitting into a 2 club wind. So I put it away. Played a total of 30 holes and after putting the rangefinder away, I proceeded to play one of the best rounds of the year and finished the last 21 holes under par.

Our club has yardage markers at 100, 150, 200 and 250. It is my home course, and I play it several times a week. Maybe that is why it wasn't such a big deal to do away with the laser -- but I really think for us amateurs, the exact number gets in the way.

Was it just a fluke? Not sure, but curious whether anybody else has had a similar experience.

I panic and get all sweaty if my battery dies.

Seriously though, I shoot the pin but then figure out the front distance and go from there. I think a lot of people shoot the pin but don't really consider where the pin is or what side to err on. I do love the range finder when a pin is tucked over a bunker. It's surprising how much room you often have but doesn't look like it.

I haven't played without one in a long time but should give it a whirl.

Most amateurs would probably be better served by a device that just gives front, middle, and back of the green distances. Most aren’t consistent enough to need yardage down to one foot accuracy and most would score better not shooting for the pins anyway.

Until an amateur has achieved a certain level of proficiency in their distance control, they should generally be shooting at the middle of green. Courses with giant greens would be an exception, but if you know the front and back distances and the general pin placement, you can make a pretty good educated guess on huge greens. If the course has no pin sheet and no position marking flags that’s a real problem, but unusual.

I’ve got a laser and a golf buddy gps unit that gives front middle and back. Even as a near scratch player, Most of the time I just use the golf buddy if I know the course and the pin positions or I have a pin placement sheet for the day.

Laser is still extremely useful on an unfamiliar course or a course with giant greens.

Seriously though, I shoot the pin but then figure out the front distance and go from there. I think a lot of people shoot the pin but don't really consider where the pin is or what side to err on. I do love the range finder when a pin is tucked over a bunker. It's surprising how much room you often have but doesn't look like it.

Agree; I've found myself getting lazy, shooting the pin, and picking a club without considering really any other factors. It's a much healthier routine to shoot the pin, understand where it is on the green, and use that to inform club selection - rather than just brainlessly going off the number.

I panic and get all sweaty if my battery dies.

 

Seriously though, I shoot the pin but then figure out the front distance and go from there. I think a lot of people shoot the pin but don't really consider where the pin is or what side to err on. I do love the range finder when a pin is tucked over a bunker. It's surprising how much room you often have but doesn't look like it.

 

I haven't played without one in a long time but should give it a whirl.

Laughed when I read your first line. I was exactly the same way.

I am a 6 handicap -- and I typically shoot every yardage for iron shots. However, as a 51-year-old guy who has played for 40 years, I grew up by pacing off yardages and then reading a pin sheet. Maybe this was just going old school, but it forced me to concentrate more on how I wanted to hit each shot and less on the number. Found my distance control was far better than I expected.

Try it. You might be surprised at the results.

Most amateurs would probably be better served by a device that just gives middle of the green distance. Most aren't consistent enough to need yardage down to one foot accuracy and most would score better not shooting for the pins anyway.

 

I've got a laser and a golf buddy. Most of the time I just use the golf buddy if I know the course and the pin positions.

 

Laser is still very useful on a new course or a course with giant greens.

Totally agree.

The number of everyday non-competitive amateurs who can consistently control their shots within even 5 yards is extremely small. And 5 yards is giving them the benefit of the doubt. I've actually seen double digit handicappers use a range finder from 20-30 yards.

Most amateurs would probably be better served by a device that just gives middle of the green distance. Most aren't consistent enough to need yardage down to one foot accuracy and most would score better not shooting for the pins anyway.

 

I've got a laser and a golf buddy. Most of the time I just use the golf buddy if I know the course and the pin positions.

 

Laser is still very useful on a new course or a course with giant greens.

 

Totally agree.

 

The number of everyday non-competitive amateurs who can consistently control their shots within even 5 yards is extremely small. And 5 yards is giving them the benefit of the doubt. I've actually seen double digit handicappers use a range finder from 20-30 yards.

Problem is most average golfers don’t know how far they carry a shot. All they know is total yardage after roll. Which is helpful laying up or off a drive but not into a green.

Rangefinder numbers into a green aren't worth spit without context. Pin sheets and yardage markers are still very important for deciding whether to club up or down. For most cases, GPS is sufficient as long as it is accurate within a few yards.

That said, I like the ability to shoot random hazards or bunker lips or just that big tree that I want to use as a line.

Most amateurs would probably be better served by a device that just gives middle of the green distance. Most aren't consistent enough to need yardage down to one foot accuracy and most would score better not shooting for the pins anyway.

 

I've got a laser and a golf buddy. Most of the time I just use the golf buddy if I know the course and the pin positions.

 

Laser is still very useful on a new course or a course with giant greens.

Pretty much this. Can't afford a rangefinder yet, but I use the 18Birdies app to see distances to front middle and back of the green, focusing on the middle primarily. Although, if I forget to charge my phone, no biggie. I can (usually) gauge distances well based on feel, even though I legitimately have no depth perception :pardon:

Most amateurs would probably be better served by a device that just gives middle of the green distance. Most aren't consistent enough to need yardage down to one foot accuracy and most would score better not shooting for the pins anyway.

 

I've got a laser and a golf buddy. Most of the time I just use the golf buddy if I know the course and the pin positions.

 

Laser is still very useful on a new course or a course with giant greens.

 

Totally agree.

 

The number of everyday non-competitive amateurs who can consistently control their shots within even 5 yards is extremely small. And 5 yards is giving them the benefit of the doubt. I've actually seen double digit handicappers use a range finder from 20-30 yards.

Even though the actual distance we hit is inconsistant, that doesn't mean it's not better to know the actual yardage to the pin, to bunkers, etc. No reason to compound your error by not positioning your dispersion pattern where you have the highest likelyhood of success.

I never used to play with one of them. This year my buddy who has one would ask me how far I had. I would reply ohhh around 150.... usually get a response like nope... 120 or 180.... I now use one. It does help me but I only need a distance within 10 yards. If I ever get to a plus handicap I may worry about exact distances but at a 4 my dispersion is varied.

What ever works for you. For me, I really like having some numbers. I shoot the pin, and carry over bunkers/water etc. to how much landing room I have and understand where the 'miss' is.

Something I also don't think people thin about is use the range finder will help you work out you distances for future rounds.

Recently my range finder died just before a round. I figure it cost me about 5 strokes as I was at course I never played before and I found myself in a few area's with no markings.

Having learned to play in the pre-range finder/GPS days, I have always just relied on course markers and experience. I find having a firm number is helpful for me just a handful of times during a typical round. As a result, my range finder stays in my bag the vast majority of the time.

I wouldn't want to make that conclusion with such a small sample size. Some rounds I just ask one of my partners with a GPS to give a distance to the center of the green or other times will not use the laser just for a change. If I know the course well, it's not a course where being beyond the pin is very disadvantageous and it's not tough to tell where the pins are on the green it works OK. I still prefer to know the distance to the pin within 5 yards. I just round whatever the number is to the nearest 5 and don't always go pin seeking.

Most amateurs would probably be better served by a device that just gives middle of the green distance. Most aren't consistent enough to need yardage down to one foot accuracy and most would score better not shooting for the pins anyway.

 

I've got a laser and a golf buddy. Most of the time I just use the golf buddy if I know the course and the pin positions.

 

Laser is still very useful on a new course or a course with giant greens.

 

Totally agree.

 

The number of everyday non-competitive amateurs who can consistently control their shots within even 5 yards is extremely small. And 5 yards is giving them the benefit of the doubt. I've actually seen double digit handicappers use a range finder from 20-30 yards.

 

Even though the actual distance we hit is inconsistant, that doesn't mean it's not better to know the actual yardage to the pin, to bunkers, etc. No reason to compound your error by not positioning your dispersion pattern where you have the highest likelyhood of success.

You are absolutely correct. Error is error no matter the source. More error means worse proximity to hole unless you have psychological issues using precise yardage vs coarse yardage in determining a club to hit. Math can't address poor thinking unfortunately.

For me, rangefinders are too much work.

GPS seems much easier.

I like having my golf watch. Middle of the green should always be my target anyway.

The only time I would really like to have a rangefinder would be to shoot forced carries etc. My watch will show me those numbers but it takes a lot of clicking around.

I think the habit of using a rangefinder is probably not conducive to the "considered" approach to playing the game. Making judgements is a lot of the challenge and fun of it IMO. I see too many guys shoot a distance and immediately grab a club and set up over the ball to hit their stock shot.

As Tiger demonstrates all the time, there are many ways to hit an iron shot that will travel a certain distance.

Been playing with a rangefinder for a season now. While I will use it for full club distances (100-250), I find it most helpful for the sub-100 range, and even sub-50 range, where there generally are no on-course markers.

I actually do practice reading and hitting specific distances in that range, so to me knowing something is 40 vs 55 is very helpful instead of just guessing (and I'm not going to take the time to pace off that distance - that'd be slow and silly.)

Been playing with a rangefinder for a season now. While I will use it for full club distances (100-250), I find it most helpful for the sub-100 range, and even sub-50 range, where there generally are no on-course markers.

 

I actually do practice reading and hitting specific distances in that range, so to me knowing something is 40 vs 55 is very helpful instead of just guessing (and I'm not going to take the time to pace off that distance - that'd be slow and silly.)

I tend to agree that the most useful rangefinder can be is in that 60 - 100 yard range. Just a little bit outside the range where I'm going to play by sight/"feel", and far enough where being off by 15% is a material difference in how you'd play the shot.

The course I play has very ungulating greens and hitting the center of the green usually puts you in 3 putt territory if you don't get on the right tier. But most other courses I usually play for the center.

I also average 2 GIRs per round so what do I know

I think range finders and gps are fine so long as they are used in the context of intuition. What's the conditions, wind, moisture? How is the body & swing doing? Pumped, not so much? Lie? Yardage is small aspect of club decision and that can change round to round and hole to hole. I don't use either but will probably buy a range finder on next "big" purchase.

Depends on ability and strategy. I'm a conservative player (11 hdcp) who is just trying to find fairways and get as many GIR as possible. I don't fire at pins until I am inside 100 yards and if I'm that close, I don't find a rangefinder or GPS helpful - I just need to know if the pin is front, middle, or back. Knowing the exact distance to a pin might make me overthink. I rely a lot on my judgement and course markers. I have a very simple GPS (VoiceCaddy) that tells me distance to the center of the green and that is about all I want to know. I'll "cipher" the rest based on conditions (wind, moisture, elevation, etc.)

I think the range finder is important to have if the course doesn't provide you a detailed yardage book and/or does not mark pin position as front, middle or back.

If they dont give you a scorecard with the day's position or color code the flag, just knowing distance to center is/could leave you with some very lengthy putts. I always like to know what my distance is relative to pin positions when I'm in between clubs. Back flag and it's at the bottom end of that irons distance? Really important to know, so I know to either take one less club and hit it full to try and get middle green or to take a smooth swing with my current club if there isn't much danger of going long.

I use a garmin s3 and a rangefinder. I found my scores improved immediately after adding the rangefinder. Not sure if it was just confidence or what, but I was definitely carding lower rounds. The GPS is probably sufficient for longer approaches where we aren't all that precise anyway, but a rangefinder is really helpful in the scoring zone, especially when you're playing courses with large greens.

Mine is really worth the $ on courses I haven't played before - gullies and hills distort distance perception and make it hard to trust even a yardage stick. Also great for measuring dogleg and forced carry distances. Once I know where the 100 and 150 yards stakes are I can usually guess within 5 or so yards, which is close enough for my game.

95% of my misses are due to poor strike and flight, rather than simply mis-clubbing. Even if you get it a full club wrong you should be on front or back fringe.

It really doesn't matter how you get yardage information, but it does matter that you believe it and commit to it. Range finders will help on unfamiliar courses, very deep greens, courses that don't have different colors for the pins, elevation changes where the yardage is hard to judge, hitting from places where you should not be etc.Quite often I wear a Garmin S1 and keep the range finder handy.

I’m waaaay better at hitting wedges 60/70/80/90/100 yards than I am at eyeballing a yardage. I can’t get a device that hits the shots for me but I sure am gonna take advantage of a device that gives a precise yardage.

There are no down sides to removing judgement and getting a lasered yardage.

Say my error rate is +/- 5 yards in carry under 100 yards. Why would I add in an additional error rate of +/- 5 yards on yardage estimation.............golf is hard enough.

The difficulty i have is lasering a pin and forgetting to factor in the hop and stop. Carrying 120 to a 120 pin isn’t good when the greens are firm

Maybe the OP just has a hard time factoring wind......

Wouldn't ever play without my rangefinder. I play very strategically. The yardage to pin is just one factor in club and shot selection. Short and back pins require more than just the pin yardage.

how can accurate info be bad? Shoot the flag, see if it front middle or back, play for some room and fire at it. All you are going to do is guess the yardage anyways so why not know what it is?

Wouldn't ever play without my rangefinder. I play very strategically. The yardage to pin is just one factor in club and shot selection. Short and back pins require more than just the pin yardage.

This.

Clearly the better player has more control over his distance and the yardage to the flag is more important than to the higher handicapper who has poor distance control.

Further, especially on strange courses, there is info the GPS' don't/'can't give you. Just yesterday I played an unfamiliar course with a dogleg left par 5. White stakes along the right side and a big tree at the corner.

I'm not a big hitter; 230-235 max carry but I can hit it high or low. If that tree is 40-50 feet high and 150 off the tee, no problem. If that tree is ~190 or so off the tee, I need to factor that in. The first time I played that hole I "bunted" it - a soft high drive and it drifted right a little bit and just went OB. This time, still not comfortable with the carry over the corner and without "looking around", hit it straight down the throat with a full swing. Straight up the fairway,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and OB by a few yards. My fault of course but shooting that OB stake probably would've made a difference.

Similarly a par 5 I can't reach in 2 has a tree at the left corner right in line with the green that I have to shoot to see just how far I need to go to get PAST that tree to take it out of play if I pull the ball too far left. I then take a club that if I hit well, would be PAST that tree even if I come close to it.

Another important factor is that front flag tucked behind a bunker,,,,,,,, and how much room there is. GPS can't tell me that unless it's a golf cart GPS where the course has something in the hole itself for the cart GPS to accurately know that distance.

Agree with HatsforBats. Don't have any idea what the OP was going for with such a small sample size. 1 round with high wind and he played well. :dntknw: