GPS in Ireland

[mdannolfo]

Hey guys,

Heading to NW Ireland in early May. Currently use a laser at my club but I am thinking it would be more useful to have a gps in unfamiliar courses. Playing all links courses - Strandhill, co Sligo, Carne, Enniscrone, and the island in Dublin.

 

Went to Scotland few years ago and distance to pin wasn't that important. Distance to front of green was key. I expect the links in Ireland to be about the same.

 

Even though requested caddies in Scotland, we didn't always get one - 50 percent of time we did.

I had golfshot gps on my phone and bought stroke saver at each course and navigated ok. I got wacked with data fee and could have bought a gps. Negotiated att back to reasonable fee.

 

So, really don't need gps at my home parkland course. I am thinking garmin g6 or. 7 for trip. G7 can't be used for usga events, but I don't think I play any. Play in tourneys at my club - can I use g7 for those? Should ask my pro I guess.

 

Any advice would be great . Thanks

[roboref]

I don't know if you would consider it. But for my trip to Scotland last year I bought a Callaway Upro and at that time it had a pretty disappointing record of ease of use as far as syncing up courses and glitches. But I bought one anyway on ebay for $50 and downloaded my 50 Pro mode courses. The actual overflights of each hole were very useful and I much preferred a GPS to laser as some greens would be blocked by dunes. Plus it was very precise to hazards for lay-ups etc. If, and I mean if, you are tech savvy and willing to be experimental, I would go that way, even though Callaway is not going to support any additional syncing or upgrading of courses. it still has the the database of 27,000 course , but not the overflight actual courses other than 50 at the end of 2014. But at the cost of half a caddie, I really liked it and will be using it this year for my trip to Ireland.

[mdannolfo]

That's a great idea. I don't really need the gps at home, and for 50-60 for a new unit on eBay, it makes perfect sense.

Thanks again and I'm buying a unit now!

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

I've used a Neo+ (the clip-on, not the watch) at a couple courses in England. Worked fine but after a couple rounds I quit with it. It was breezy and during a drought so the ball was bouncing ridiculously far on almost every shot.

But that's not the GPS's fault. As far as I could tell it worked perfectly.

If I could play a rock-hard, bone-dry links course every day in a 12-15mph breeze I'd gladly sell my laser rangefinder. Hard to have more fun on a golf course than under those conditions.

I refuse to forego yardage information under normal conditions because it would seem silly to land a perfectly-struck shot 40-50 feet from the hole just because I didn't know the yardage. But the return on that information gets pretty small when you're landing 8-iron shots 40 yards short of the green and hoping they'll stop before they run off the back.

Another thing you don't need in those conditions is a scorecard in your hand!

[mdannolfo]

After thinking about it, I think I'm going to go with a G6. They Callaway is an attractive offer becuase it is so cheap, but I don't need to fight it trying to figure out how to install courses and get everything right, plus the subpar battery life scares me when we have two rounds planned for a few days. The screen on the G6 looks good and I can use it for tournament play at my course, with my laser. I'l be freaking Mr. Gadget.

I think I'll take just the G6 with me to Ireland and leave the laser at home.

In Scotland we played Cruden Bay, Royal Aberdeen, Moray Old, Royal Dornoch, Old Course, Crail and Lundin Links. It was a great trip and my scores, as a 6 or 7 or whatever I was then, were not even close to my home scores. I was happy to break 90. First round at Cruden the wind was blowing 40 sustained with gusts to 50 plus. It was insane. I'd never seen a ball move so much in the air! Day at Crail was blowing that hard too. Rest of the rounds seemed breezy with winds in the 20s and 30s. As I learned to flight it lower, land it short and watch it run, my scores slowly came down to the mid to low 80s for many of the rounds. Felt like I was really playing and thinking my way around to shoot those scores. I can beat it around at home and shoot high 70s (par 70, 125 slope course). Links golf is a different animal and you just have to accept you won't score like you do at home. Then again, you play these courses once and move on... tough to score on any course that way unless it is a resort course with wide open fairways and flat greens. I love resort courses, but I love links courses more. They will beat you up, but strolling around the dunes chasing the ball around is the best!

[Shemp]

Not for nothing, but the last time I went over, 2012, the caddies were wearing Garmin S1s. I brought a skycaddie with me, but hardly used it. I have a Laser and an S3 but when I go over in July I'll only bring the S3.