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Is there anyone out there that does NOT use a rangefinder?


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I use one, and my ydg is better becuz of it......I know exactly how far I hit each club and how far I hit partial shots.....I had a range finder for few years and it got lost.....so I played without for 6 months cuz they're expensive, and than I just got another one....it for sure helps........I cant believe how far off the GPS on carts and my own guessing is at times......as much as 10yds and 5yds alot of times.....in a 200 yd shot not such a big deal but in a 130yd shot very much a big deal........eliminating mistakes, and narrowing down finer details makes one a better player imo, when you don't have alot of strokes to throw away everything counts.........I play the game very fast, I don't take alot of time but certain things are important to me and I want to know.......iron play is much better with one vs without, I know this much.......

 

Iron play is strength and from 150 yds I expecting to ball on green and from 130 and in pretty tight to pin if it's accesibile....of course it doesn't always happen......aim small miss small

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I've tried half a dozen GPS units over the years. Early generation SkyCaddie, wow what a crappy piece of hardware. Bushnell Neo. The handheld one that Callaway had for a couple years then dropped. A Garmin S1 watch. Now a Bushnell Ghost. There was another one in there somewhere between the SkyCaddie and the Callaway, can't recall what it was, maybe a different watch.

 

Anyway, I have yet to find one that is consistently "dead on". There's a thing they all do from time to time that drives me crazy. First they'll take a few seconds when I stop walking to settle down on a distance. Which is fine. But then once it has given the same distance for a few seconds, I'll hit the shot and look back at the display. At least a handful of times per round it will have changed by 3, 4, 5 yards while I was hitting my shot.

 

So when I used the Bushnell Ghost I just treat it as a convenient, approximate yardage indication. I look at it while I'm still walking, don't bother waiting for it to settle down and try not to look again after I've hit my shot. I don't want to see it changing its mind like that. I just glance at it when I'm nearly next to my ball, round down to the next lowest 10 yards and go with it.

 

But when I'm at my home course I generally know my "approximate" yardage give or take 10-15 yards without needing a GPS. So I leave it at home and just carry a laser for the few shots each round where I want to know my carry over a bunker or whether a flag is front vs. middle of the green. Sure wish I could find one of these mythical beasts...the GPS that immediately gives a correct distance as soon as I stop walking.

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I had never considered a rangefinder until I came to WRX.

 

After reading all the threads on the merits and ease of use, I think I may replace my GPS with a rangefinder for next season.

 

The only drawback is you must have a line of sight from where you're standing to some targetable feature. A laser does not work if you can't see the spot you want to target.

 

Other than that IMO laser is 100% better in every way than GPS.

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I don't use one. For me, the precise yardage doesn't matter that much. I use my eyes to get a feel for what club to hit.

 

Now, it would be nice to know distances of things to lay up on or carry out there. The stuff you can't see.

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Don't have such a thing as fixed or accurate yardages for my clubs so my GPS is really just a guide for courses that I don't play on often or at all. Most courses I do play have sprinkler distances in the middle of the fairway anyway. My philosophy is:

more technology = less fun, unless you're heavily into competition and coin is changing hands.

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TM R7 425 driver 11.5

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Cobra King Hyper Steel #7 wood

BB Heavenwood # 9 wood

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For fun rounds, gps or just using the scorecard/sprinkler heads is fine. I think if you're really looking to shoot the lowest score, you'll want to know exact distance to flag in comparison to front and back of green and also exact yardages for layups on par 5s or recovery shots. After caddying with a pin sheet, I realized how useful that information could be for approach shots. I'm not that good so center of the green yardage is good enough for fun rounds but I also subscribe to aim small, miss small so I want to have a specific yardage I'm looking to hit. Just easier to have conviction in your number if you use the rangefinder.

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My philosophy is: more technology = less fun, unless you're heavily into competition and coin is changing hands.

 

So are you using the feathery balls or Gutta-Percha? :)

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Current Bag:

TM R7 425 driver 11.5

Cleveland Launcher #4 wood

Cobra King Hyper Steel #7 wood

BB Heavenwood # 9 wood

Titlelst DCI Black O/S irons 7 8 9 W SW, Lovett chipper

McGregor putter

Titleist Tour Soft balls

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I agree that I don't have a level of control that needs an exact yardage, but I always like to have a ballpark. Especially when my drives leave me in no man's land.

 

I've played every hole at my home course well over a thousand times yet I still occasionally find myself in a new spot from where I have no idea how far it is to the green. Remarkable.

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A laser is essential when hitting your approaches from adjacent fairways. It helps

to shoot the right pin too.

 

Hey Rad, good on you that you can hold a laser still enough to get a good reading at your age ;-o. I can't. I like my gps app. I use it mainly when I'm in no man's land between or away from the fairway markers, or as you said off the fairway. Nice thing about gps is that it can mark without line of sight..

 

LOL, I was.........well I have a Garmin GPS watch but I sometimes hit the ball

where a laser gives me a more accurate number, especially with some of the

large, weird shaped greens on the Trail, where what is considered front, middle

and back by the GPS may be just wrong.

 

I'm not talking 3-5 yards but as much as 15-20 yards I have been off when

compared to the laser rangefinder. I can't tell you how many times on a par 3

I would just look at my watch and gauge the pin distance and grab a club,

then a compadre lasers the pin and announces a number 15 yards different

than what I had guessed.

 

That isn't always the case but it does happen enough that I've lost trust in

my Garmin watch.

 

I have a RF and one of my frequent playing partners has a GPS. There are a couple spots on the course where sometimes the GPS gives wonky yardages (confirmed by using the RF). up to 10, sometimes (but rarely) 20 yeards off. not sure if its hills or trees or just proximity to lots of lost golf balls, but there are a couple clear zones on the course where i'm wary of the GPS and always laser it off. Otherwise, i tend to just go with the GPS unless i want to get agressive going for the pin. Usually center of green distance is more important to me than the distance to the pin as i can get in more trouble going for the pin than the center. In any case, my experience is that the GPS isnt just randomly inaccurate, its usually inaccurate in just certain places where i guess it doesnt pick up signal well or sthg.

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I agree that I don't have a level of control that needs an exact yardage, but I always like to have a ballpark. Especially when my drives leave me in no man's land.

 

I've played every hole at my home course well over a thousand times yet I still occasionally find myself in a new spot from where I have no idea how far it is to the green. Remarkable.

Thats golf. It brings you back for next round B)

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  • 1 month later...

I have a rangefinder and am getting a G6 for Christmas and I'm more than excited about it. My rangefinder is on the fritz, and even with "pinseeker technology" it still takes some serious skill to get the pin. Not being able to tell hazard distance, esp at an unknown course, can be detrimental to a round.

 

Once I get my GPS I'll still probably use the range finder just for exacts but I'm going to play the first few rounds just with GPS. I want to see if me knowing front/middle/back is better than knowing exact distance.

 

I hated having to hunt for sprinkler heads, but when I did I just played to center green and hoped from there.

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Our temps have been all over the place recently. It can change 20 degrees or more from one round to the next and the fall winds can come from unusual directions and be rather gusty. So until the cold weather settles in to stay (some time between Thanksgiving and Christmas) I don't really have a handle on my club yardages.

 

So the last two rounds I just left the rangefinder at home. Since I play the same course 120+ times a year I seldom shoot more than a handful of distances per round anyway. A few times this weekend I guessed real well on shots I normally would have lasered. But one time it cost me. By eyeball it looked like a basic 45-50 yard 3/4 swing lob wedge over a bunker to the hole near the back of the green. I hit the shot just like I wanted and it flew 10 yards past the flag, took one hop and scurried down the slope over the green. Double bogey. I paced it off after the shot...38 yards. Oops,

 

For me at my home course where we have 100-150-200-250 plates in the fairways I should in theory be fine with no yardage aid.. In practice I'd say about one disastrous misjudgment like that in two rounds is about the cost of not measuring. So that's two strokes every other round. About a shot per round is my answer to how much the rangefinder saves me AT MY HOME COURSE I'VE PLAYED 1,500 TIMES.

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I have swingXswing on my phone. I've used it for a few years. Gives front middle back, slope, scores, stats, keeps a handicap etc..

Other than sometimes not locking in as has been mentioned it's nice not to have to deal with multiple devices although I sometimes wish I had a LRF

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I use a laser but could live without it EXCEPT for good yardages to the pin inside 100 yards. I really need that info - other than that it is mostly a convenience thing.

 

dave

, if you think about it, all the PGA professionals get the exact yardage from their caddies. It is really a good thing to have those yardages especially as you get closer to the hole.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't use one... I use a GPS watch mostly to know yardage to a bunker or to carry water or something like that.

 

quite honestly, I can usually guess the yardage within 5yds +/- (years of playing football and shooting as a hobby) or when I get to my ball, I can look at the flag and say "this is a 8i" or "this is a 4h", etc...

 

I used to carry one to the range but the 2 courses I practice at are very consistent with their yardages and the markers.

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Hey guys!

 

Great discussion going here and some solid advice!

 

I’ve set myself a budget of $250 for my first rangefinder and am still not sure which one to get.

 

I’ve been reading some reviews on this site http://hitgolfing.com/ and am considering the Bushnell V3 or the Nikon Coolshot20.

 

Does anyone here actually own either of these? What are your experiences?

 

Thanks a lot for the tips!

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