Is a laser rangefinder really necessary?

[High Plains Driver]

ok,

 

keep sucking at golf, see if i give a f***

 

Now that is some value added content.

[sheldonjhacker]

Necessary, no. Great to have-yes !!! :superman:

[tbowles411]

Necessary? No. But it does make it better and a little faster for me.

[LUMA]

GPS imo is a waste of money. I regularly shoot par or better rounds with a $160 Nikon Coolshot rangefinder.

 

No it's not necessary.... but with that being said, if I didn't have a laser finder, my scores would be dramatically higher. I don't have the luxury of being on tour and having a caddy with an up to date yardage book day to day. I need to know my yardages within 2 or 3 yards. When attacking a pin, 5 yards is a lot.

[Krt22]

How do you know a spot is 50-140 yards away at the range? Do you pace it off wearing a helmet?

 

you dont need to know yardages, you just need to try to hit those spots....

 

i used the term yardages bc after hitting that many golf balls to random spots you learn to know your own yardages....and 25 to 50 yards, anyone here could figure that distance out.....

 

if you want to hit to yardages on the range you can do that too.....its all the same thing...

 

the idea is to hit a ball to different distances using the same club....

 

I see I see, I have had it wrong all of these years. Here I was taking all this time dialing in given distances for certain irons/clubs like the pros when in reality the actual distance each club goes it goes is not important. Really makes you wonder why we have so many clubs in the first place

[DZClark]

I think if you spent enough time (i.e. lots and lots of time) just swinging various clubs at various targets without ever knowing a distance you would eventually get good at guessing what shot you need for a given target.

 

But to get good enough to do that uphill, downhill, on blind shots, to flags tucked behind bunkers, on holes with "dead ground" you can't see between yourself and the green and all the other oddball visuals you encounter on a golf course...

 

Well "lots and lots of time" probably doesn't do it justice. If you made a habit of doing that in play and in practice you'd be pretty darned good at it after a few decades I guess.

 

Yet not a single golfer among the hundreds and hundreds playing on various professional tours does that instead of using yardage books, pacing off from landmarks and yes, using laser rangefinders. That tells me it simply isn't worth the effort unless you're just wanting to prove it can be done. it's the old gag about bringing a sword to a gunfight. It's not that the swordsman lacks impressive skills, it's just that he can't compete with the guy who can shoot him dead in two second flat from 50 feet away.

 

do you think i was talking about tour pros?? professionals are on another level....

 

i'm writing on a forum to someone with a 17 handicap....

 

why does everyone on this site try to debunk basic fundamentals with inane comparisons to tour pros?

 

 

NYC, I have scanned this "debate" and have gone from one end of the spectrum to the other on you (granted its all based on internet forums and in real life we would probably be best golf buddies). You say "why does everyone ....debunk basic ....inane comparison to tour pros" ......dude read up to your first post here. The OP ask a question and YOU mention the great ball strikers who I believe (before my time) were all tour pro's.

 

It's ok to admit you are not always spot on, it's ok to admit you have an opinion that others may disagree with.

 

OP as for me, I love my laser, I equally love my Skycaddie (professionally measured with boots on the ground), I love my arccos app that tells me how far I hit the ball...and just to top it all off, i often carry a yardage book. Fear not, I don't use them all on a single hole (well, ok, maybe if I am really confused), but each piece of technology has a place.

 

Imagine a minute that 22 handicap player who is looking for a sprinkler head that shows 240. Arn't we all a little better off when he can glance at his watch, or even shoot the trees behind the flag instead of pacing off the yardage. I know I am thankful for the technology.

[Rosco1216]

How do you know a spot is 50-140 yards away at the range? Do you pace it off wearing a helmet?

 

you dont need to know yardages, you just need to try to hit those spots....

 

i used the term yardages bc after hitting that many golf balls to random spots you learn to know your own yardages....and 25 to 50 yards, anyone here could figure that distance out.....

 

if you want to hit to yardages on the range you can do that too.....its all the same thing...

 

the idea is to hit a ball to different distances using the same club....

 

So practice hitting to a brown patch on the range, then to a bunker, then to a stake, all with the same club. The distance to all those is irrelevant and don't need to know how far they are so when I get to the course and see a pin that appears about the same yardage as the stake that was on the range and proceed to hit it long into the bunker. Oops it must have been the distance to brown spot on the range, not the stake. Yardage is irrelevant because I "felt it".

[Sean2]

I prefer the range finder: point and shoot. No battery issues, no fiddling around trying to make sure you are on the correct hole, etc.

[NYC243]

How do you know a spot is 50-140 yards away at the range? Do you pace it off wearing a helmet?

 

you dont need to know yardages, you just need to try to hit those spots....

 

i used the term yardages bc after hitting that many golf balls to random spots you learn to know your own yardages....and 25 to 50 yards, anyone here could figure that distance out.....

 

if you want to hit to yardages on the range you can do that too.....its all the same thing...

 

the idea is to hit a ball to different distances using the same club....

 

I see I see, I have had it wrong all of these years. Here I was taking all this time dialing in given distances for certain irons/clubs like the pros when in reality the actual distance each club goes it goes is not important. Really makes you wonder why we have so many clubs in the first place

 

 

my response was in regard to north butte saying "I'm not sure I'll live long enough to figure out how to hit one club each distance, I'm stuck down on the basic-survival level."

 

this is why i suggested how to practice at a RANGE, and explained how hitting different clubs in the way i described could help that.

 

did i say pros do that? did i say to do that on a course?

 

you seem to take great pride in following threads i participate in, quoting things out of context, just to inflate your own ego and offer nothing....

[JeffreySpicoli]

How do you know a spot is 50-140 yards away at the range? Do you pace it off wearing a helmet?

 

you dont need to know yardages, you just need to try to hit those spots....

 

i used the term yardages bc after hitting that many golf balls to random spots you learn to know your own yardages....and 25 to 50 yards, anyone here could figure that distance out.....

 

if you want to hit to yardages on the range you can do that too.....its all the same thing...

 

the idea is to hit a ball to different distances using the same club....

 

I see I see, I have had it wrong all of these years. Here I was taking all this time dialing in given distances for certain irons/clubs like the pros when in reality the actual distance each club goes it goes is not important. Really makes you wonder why we have so many clubs in the first place

 

 

 

my response was in regard to north butte saying "I'm not sure I'll live long enough to figure out how to hit one club each distance, I'm stuck down on the basic-survival level."

 

this is why i suggested how to practice at a RANGE, and explained how hitting different clubs in the way i described could help that.

 

did i say pros do that? did i say to do that on a course?

 

you seem to take great pride in following threads i participate in, quoting things out of context, just to inflate your own ego and offer nothing....

 

Has anyone welcomed you to Wrx? If not, I wonder why?

[NYC243]

How do you know a spot is 50-140 yards away at the range? Do you pace it off wearing a helmet?

 

you dont need to know yardages, you just need to try to hit those spots....

 

i used the term yardages bc after hitting that many golf balls to random spots you learn to know your own yardages....and 25 to 50 yards, anyone here could figure that distance out.....

 

if you want to hit to yardages on the range you can do that too.....its all the same thing...

 

the idea is to hit a ball to different distances using the same club....

 

I see I see, I have had it wrong all of these years. Here I was taking all this time dialing in given distances for certain irons/clubs like the pros when in reality the actual distance each club goes it goes is not important. Really makes you wonder why we have so many clubs in the first place

 

 

 

my response was in regard to north butte saying "I'm not sure I'll live long enough to figure out how to hit one club each distance, I'm stuck down on the basic-survival level."

 

this is why i suggested how to practice at a RANGE, and explained how hitting different clubs in the way i described could help that.

 

did i say pros do that? did i say to do that on a course?

 

you seem to take great pride in following threads i participate in, quoting things out of context, just to inflate your own ego and offer nothing....

 

Has anyone welcomed you to Wrx? If not, I wonder why?

 

i thought this is how this place worked....?

 

we're all experts, hit 400 yard drives, have the most expensive equipment and have 26 handicaps....

[Krt22]

How do you know a spot is 50-140 yards away at the range? Do you pace it off wearing a helmet?

 

you dont need to know yardages, you just need to try to hit those spots....

 

i used the term yardages bc after hitting that many golf balls to random spots you learn to know your own yardages....and 25 to 50 yards, anyone here could figure that distance out.....

 

if you want to hit to yardages on the range you can do that too.....its all the same thing...

 

the idea is to hit a ball to different distances using the same club....

 

I see I see, I have had it wrong all of these years. Here I was taking all this time dialing in given distances for certain irons/clubs like the pros when in reality the actual distance each club goes it goes is not important. Really makes you wonder why we have so many clubs in the first place

 

 

my response was in regard to north butte saying "I'm not sure I'll live long enough to figure out how to hit one club each distance, I'm stuck down on the basic-survival level."

 

this is why i suggested how to practice at a RANGE, and explained how hitting different clubs in the way i described could help that.

 

did i say pros do that? did i say to do that on a course?

 

you seem to take great pride in following threads i participate in, quoting things out of context, just to inflate your own ego and offer nothing....

 

Unfortunately I cannot read your mind, if your response was to someone else I am not sure why you quoted me. I am not sure how you can consider it out of context when I am directly replying to what you post.

 

And you seem to like making inflammatory posts while pushing your off-base opinions as the gospel and when others offer rebuttal you go completely off topic.

 

At the end of the day knowing how far a target is from you and knowing what club(s) you can hit to get the ball there are completely unrelated.

[Shilgy]

 

Has anyone welcomed you to Wrx? If not, I wonder why?

 

i thought this is how this place worked....?

 

we're all experts, hit 400 yard drives, have the most expensive equipment and have 26 handicaps....

No that is not how it works. You have been here 8 days and have about a dozen argumentative belittling posts on this thread alone. Yes there is plenty, even too much at times, bickering on golfwrx. But it is usually a back and forth between members that have met up numerous times in the past on various subjects. No one is saying you cannot have an opinion but it might serve you better to just cool it a titch to start.

 

That said Welcome to WRX! :welcomeani:

[Krt22]

Judging by how feisty this fellow is, I'd venture to say this is not his first Rodeo on golfwrx...

[JeffreySpicoli]

Judging by how feisty this fellow is, I'd venture to say this is not his first Rodeo on golfwrx...

 

You read my mind.

[North Butte]

Some people get nicer after they've been around the block a time or two. Or at least try their best to.

[JeffreySpicoli]

Some people get nicer after they've been around the block a time or two. Or at least try their best to.

 

Some get nastier. Especially after a couple of drinks.

[nsxguy]

How do you know a spot is 50-140 yards away at the range? Do you pace it off wearing a helmet?

 

you dont need to know yardages, you just need to try to hit those spots....

 

i used the term yardages bc after hitting that many golf balls to random spots you learn to know your own yardages....and 25 to 50 yards, anyone here could figure that distance out.....

 

if you want to hit to yardages on the range you can do that too.....its all the same thing...

 

the idea is to hit a ball to different distances using the same club....

 

I see I see, I have had it wrong all of these years. Here I was taking all this time dialing in given distances for certain irons/clubs like the pros when in reality the actual distance each club goes it goes is not important. Really makes you wonder why we have so many clubs in the first place

 

 

my response was in regard to north butte saying "I'm not sure I'll live long enough to figure out how to hit one club each distance, I'm stuck down on the basic-survival level."

 

this is why i suggested how to practice at a RANGE, and explained how hitting different clubs in the way i described could help that.

 

did i say pros do that? did i say to do that on a course?

 

you seem to take great pride in following threads i participate in, quoting things out of context, just to inflate your own ego and offer nothing....

 

169 posts in 8 days. 21 per day !!! Truly prolific.

 

Especially considering the highest post counts around here average around 7 posts per day; except for the top PPD king who's around 10 PPD.

 

Wonder how many you've ticked off in such a short time......... does "bull in a china shop" ring a bell ?

 

[Rosco1216]

Some people get nicer after they've been around the block a time or two. Or at least try their best to.

 

Some get nastier. Especially after a couple of drinks.

This made me spill my beer ?‍♂️

[NYC243]

thanks all....

 

my apologies for coming off too strong....

 

:swoon2:

[jdl]

I prefer the range finder: point and shoot. No battery issues, no fiddling around trying to make sure you are on the correct hole, etc.

 

Hmm....my range finder uses a battery and in the 18 months I've owned it I've had 2 times when I went to check a yardage and found that battery was dead. No warning at all. So now I carry a spare.

[Krt22]

I just played a few rounds at courses with GPS built into the cart. One was consistently off by ~20yrds (I was using my laser) while the other was within 1-3 yards. The course that the carts were way off had cement greens with lots of trouble if you were short or long. Very happy I had the laser with me

 

YMMV

[vjtexp]

I use the Golf Logix app and it works well to center of green

[agoose10]

Fresh opinion/scenario here. I have never used anything but yardage on sprinkler heads and I am about an 8 handicap. I thought to myself "no I don't need a ___" I've always done it the basic way. This year I played in a league with a buddy and I hated that every shot I needed to ask for the range. It took away from the nostalgia of each round.

 

That being said - I saw my handicap lower to a 5. Yep - I'm in the market for a rangefinder now.

[andrue]

I have a G3 and whilst it's what I use most of the time I use a laser finder when chipping which seemed to help me a lot.

 

I bought a Shotsaver Laser Range Finder and it does the job for very little cost. I've had it over a year and it's still going strong on the supplied batteries. Not bad for less than £100 (less than $130).

[Kmac]

I use mine every round almost every hole. Could I play without it? Sure but I wouldnt even think about it.

[Rosco1216]

Just wait until the day when your batteries run out and you don't have extra in your bag. Makes you wonder how you ever played golf without it back in the day.

[nsxguy]

I have a G3 and whilst it's what I use most of the time I use a laser finder when chipping which seemed to help me a lot.

 

Just when I'd thought I'd heard/seen it all,,,,,,,,,,,,, :swoon:

[JerseyBoy]

Modern Golf Pros have always had a range finder. They call them "Caddies".

 

I don't have a "Caddy". I'm also very new to the sport and would prefer to use the little time I have to practice at the range as efficiently as possible.

 

I have never been and will never be good at "eyeballing" distances.

 

I have Grint on my phone and am not crazy about it as I find the yardage based on my buddy's Range Finder is not terribly accurate. I also can't use Grint at the Range.

 

I'm saving for a Rangefinder. It will help calm my OCD when trying to figure out how my distances compare for each club. Since the flag distances at my favorite range are less than accurate, I think my mental health will be improved with a Range Finder.

 

On the course I just HAVE TO know how far that tree at the tip of the dogleg is. I know I'm not nearly good enough to hit it that far or in that general direction. I still HAVE TO know the distance.

 

Is it necessary? About as necessary as it is for me to play with Titliest Pro V1s, which I don't, but I bet a lot of people here do even though they don't get them for free. Are we really talking about "HAVE TOs", though?

 

Here's a tip. Try one. If you like it, get it. You only live once. Eat dessert first.

[Neurotica]

I feel naked without mine. It's absolutely necessary for me.