Rangefinder or No?

[kcd38]

Want to get some feedback on the topic of rangefinders. I have used GPS apps before and they have been somewhat beneficial but sometimes when I play I do not have service. Have you guys found that rangefinder improve your club selection? Are they worth the price?

[aquapig]

Don’t know how I ever played without one. Especially if you play a lot of different courses.

[Sam Bennett]

In my experience of using a rangefinder. I would say that a rangefinder is very beneficial to plotting your way through a hole as you can measure anything in which you are to lay up/carry/go for. It is a lot more accurate than a GPS. I personally have the Bushnell TourV4 slope which is great as you can switch in and out of slope for competitive rounds and practice. The slope feature is really enlightening. In an ideal world I would have both a range finder and gps as a rangefinder works on line of sight and you can’t always see the pin/thing you want to lay up to which is the only downfall of a laser where a GPS has the upper hand.

[AcmeGolf]

Absolutely worth the price...I belong to a club that has GPS on the cart, but I often find a discrepancy of 8-15 yards. This does not even take into account using the slope feature. There are several force carries over sand and water, so it makes a huge difference to have the right yardage.

[sheldonjhacker]

Once ya go rangefinder, you'll never go back ! :nyam:

[Whit1969]

I have used the range finder and the GPS apps, but honestly I am old school and rely on marking off my own yardages. Most of the courses I play have front, middle, and back marked on the sprinkler heads. I mainly just want to know the front yardage and then go from there. Honestly though I have a really good eye for seeing the yardage. My partner uses his range finder on every shot and most of the time I am within five yards of his measurement just by looking at it.

[Naptime]

Def yes for me. I often need yardage to specific things like hazards etc and it's quick. Literally under 10 secs.

[Joelsim]

I have used the range finder and the GPS apps, but honestly I am old school and rely on marking off my own yardages. Most of the courses I play have front, middle, and back marked on the sprinkler heads. I mainly just want to know the front yardage and then go from there. Honestly though I have a really good eye for seeing the yardage. My partner uses his range finder on every shot and most of the time I am within five yards of his measurement just by looking at it.

 

Not quite so easy when you don’t know where the pin is positioned on the green. In which case a rangefinder is a necessity if you want to get close. The number of times I’ve looked at the middle of the green GPS yardage, chosen the right club, hit it perfectly and then found I’m 5-8 yards away as the pin is at the back or the front has persuaded me to invest in one.

[Shifty76]

Depends a bit on the course you play the most.

Flat course with accurate yardage markers and easy to see pins? Probably no need.

 

Elevated / lowered greens, especially with greens where you can't tell if the pin is front, middle or back? SUPER handy.

 

My home course is mostly the former, and I'm pretty good at eyeballing within a yard or two of what my playing partners shoot with their rangefinders, but we have a few holes where you need to add a club or two due to the incline, and I'd be lost without a slope adjustment on those ones. Not to mention that you can't even tell where the pin is exactly on some of them due to the slope.

[Joelsim]

Depends a bit on the course you play the most.

Flat course with accurate yardage markers and easy to see pins? Probably no need.

 

Elevated / lowered greens, especially with greens where you can't tell if the pin is front, middle or back? SUPER handy.

 

My home course is mostly the former, and I'm pretty good at eyeballing within a yard or two of what my playing partners shoot with their rangefinders, but we have a few holes where you need to add a club or two due to the incline, and I'd be lost without a slope adjustment on those ones. Not to mention that you can't even tell where the pin is exactly on some of them due to the slope.

 

Must be my age as I have absolutely no idea where the flag is located on a green any more than 50 yards away.

[theboypinoy]

Once you get one, you'll wonder how you ever got along without one.

 

Additionally, I like it better than GPS.

[mantan]

LOL, it's 2018. That's a question I remember around here a decade ago. In this day and age, there is no question about it. There are GPS watches and apps on your phone, but the flexibility of a rangefinder can't be beat. From quickly measuring different targets on the course to measuring flags at the driving range.

[aypeeone]

I just bought my first one yesterday on eBay due to the 15% off deal.

 

I’m excited to receive it but I also think it’ll be really beneficial for the range as well so I can work on specific yardages.

[scott_Donald]

gps on my phone for new courses to get the feel of the distances of each hole.

 

Rangefinder for every shot over 50 yards now, I could not play without it. I am useless at yardages now by my eye.

[Double Dutch]

A laser range finder is absolutely brilliant. Especially inside 100 yards it’s very useful to know the exact distance to the pin.

However there is something of a break-in period where you’ll be hitting every iron to the pin, but after a few rounds you’ll start to realise that depending on the hole location it’s better to hit short or long.

[GSDriver]

GPS gives general distances, laser gives more exact. We use both, but rely on laser more than anything.

[radiman]

I love having a rangefinder. I have had mine for about 4-5 years. I initially had a SkyCaddy SG5. I do kind of miss some of the info it would provide. All hazard distances were easily listed. It would track stats and link to my Sky Golf account. I could go check a range of available stats which was nice. Could probably do the same on a phone, but I'd rather have a dedicated GPS device if I were to go that route again. The yearly subscription cost could be a turn off. I won't consider a change until my laser quits working. At that point I will analyze available options and make a decision, but I would definitely get another distance measuring device of some sort. They each have their trade offs and benefits.

[Turmoil35x]

I've tried multiple phone apps for gps distances, but always go back to the rangefinder. Can never seem to trust the GPS units in the carts either since the pin locations are wrong 75% of the time.

 

A laser range finder is absolutely brilliant. Especially inside 100 yards it's very useful to know the exact distance to the pin.

However there is something of a break-in period where you'll be hitting every iron to the pin, but after a few rounds you'll start to realise that depending on the hole location it's better to hit short or long.

 

This is one flaw to a range finder. You get the exact yardage to a pin, and it always tempts you to play that exact number. I've found it better to shoot the flag for a yardage, and then estimate the yardage I want to play with based on the location off the pin.

[Mikey5e]

I have a Bushnell Neo XS watch that I really like. I find myself often times reaffirming distances with a person who happens to have a rangefinder in my foursome. I often times say to the rest of us a few yards either way doesn't matter for our ability, but none the less, I generally pay attention to the distance from the person who has the rangefinder. Three reasons I don't have a rangefinder yet,

1-cost

2-losing it

3-breaking down out of warranty

[Shilgy]

I've tried multiple phone apps for gps distances, but always go back to the rangefinder. Can never seem to trust the GPS units in the carts either since the pin locations are wrong 75% of the time.

 

A laser range finder is absolutely brilliant. Especially inside 100 yards it's very useful to know the exact distance to the pin.

However there is something of a break-in period where you'll be hitting every iron to the pin, but after a few rounds you'll start to realise that depending on the hole location it's better to hit short or long.

 

This is one flaw to a range finder. You get the exact yardage to a pin, and it always tempts you to play that exact number. I've found it better to shoot the flag for a yardage, and then estimate the yardage I want to play with based on the location off the pin.

Well sure-ya still gotta think! A lot of comments on how they are old school and their yardage markers have front middle back. What about off the tee and there is a bunker you are wondering if you should fly, lay up or go around? Second shots on par fives same thing. How far to the lay up zone? How far to the flag for lay up? Sprinkler heads don't get numbered back far enough. When they first came out I thought the same. Had all the sprinkler heads that came into play memorized so why bother. But they are good for much more than just shooting pins.

[ronnbee]

Bushnell neo watch is perfect

[Golf64]

I've had an S2 watch for a while now. I think I would stick with a watch if I were to replace it?! ;)

[fway123]

I honestly prefer the ease of using a rangefinder to pulling out my phone and opening the app everytime I want a yardage. I think it's made me more accurate for sure with my club selection

[kdog25]

I’ll never be without one for as long as I play. GPS/phones can be very useful on new courses particularly on blind shots. I would imagine we’ve all hit one we thought was good only to find a hazard so gps/phone apps are great for stuff like that. But overall I’ll take a rangefinder all day every day.

[craz-e]

I would very much struggle without one now, so quick and easy to use.

[Frisco Kid]

I use my laser on the range mostly, but my GPS watch is much more convenient on the course. Leaves a bit of human element to calculate actual distance to the pin.

[jlebeane13]

I use both my range finder and golf logic GPS app. Trying to get distances to water hazards or bunkers that I cant seem to get accurately locked into with a range finder or have a clear visual of to hit with a range finder is where I utilize my app. The rangefinder tho is what I use all the time to hit the pin with for my distances.

[benclab]

I've used a golf specific GPS and a rangefinder and I like the GPS a lot more. Give you yardage to everything even things you can't see. Plus it's a quick glance, had mine for 3 years never had an issue and you can move the pin to see front edge, back edge locations as well.

[J_Tizzle]

Range finder is the best money you’ll spend on golf.

 

GPS is nice if you’ve never playbEd a course for specific carries or target style golf. But for your normal day to day golf. Rangefinder all the way.

[gbartko]

My experience is that it takes too much time and I found a range finder cumbersome to use. For me it’s not life or death and a golf buddy clipped to my bag is good enough. I think Golfshot Plus on my iPhone is a great tool if I need a specific distance to a hazard or whatever.

 

Where I did find the laser useful was on the range as they are always moving the tees but the distance markers stay static.