When should you buy a rangefinder?

[CammyWhyte51]

just wondering as I was considering buying a rangefinder but wasn't sure if it would benefit me. I am a 12 handicapper and hit my clubs a fairly consistent distance each time. Also does it dramatically slow down your pace of play?

Are they worth the large price tag? Will it have an impact on my scores?

 

 

any feedback is appreciated, thanks.

[drewtaylor21]

For me it speeds up play. No more searching for yardage markers and walking off distances from them to your ball. Much easier with a laser.

Additionally, the use of a rangefinder on the driving range has made a significant difference for me in my wedge game, where distance control is paramount. Definitely worth it in my opinion, especially since you can find a used/older model for pretty reasonable prices!

[vsteel1991]

i got one when i didn't have a handicap lol got a bushnell tour v2 for $180 brand new on black friday a few years ago and i help me figure out my wedge shots 100 and in so much quicker than i thought possible. playing to about a 12 now and i feel like the range finder helped me so much

[Nessism]

I absolutely love my rangefinder. To measure is to know! I'm completely reliant on it now, which isn't a good thing per say, but what can you say? No guessing.

[cristphoto]

A rangefinder helps on strange courses. I can measure distances to doglegs, fairway bunkers, or anything else I'm trying to avoid (or hit). I personally use the Bushnell Z6 and it's great. It's small enough to fit right in my pocket so I'm not slowed down at all. You will never regret getting a laser.

[cfmgolf]

Got mine a few years ago. Found it sped up play vs slowing down. Definitely saves strokes on a regular basis. Highly recommend getting one. Bushnell has deals going on now, and will also have more deals around Father's Day. You will love it. Take the plunge.

[Edaw68]

Well worth it. Much quicker and more accurate than pacing off or guessing distances. If you play a course with anything but tiny greens, you'll be surprised how much of a difference pin position makes on distance. If you hit your clubs consistent distances then the rangefinder is even more worth it.

[mjracer]

I just got mine this season and I don't know how I ever played without one. I think that golfers shouldn't be afraid that they are not good enough for these devices or worry about pace of play. They help you manage the course and as has been said, they really speed up play. You know when you should measure and when its ok to play the shot based on feel after just a few rounds.

[avgjoe]

the short answer is, when you decide you want/need one

[Cuki]

You will absolutely love using a rangefinder, and you will look back at this thread and laugh to yourself.
Yes, all the above, speeds up your play, but the most noticeable thing for me is the fact that you will go straight to a club and you are filled with confidence. You will just hit that shot without any doubts.

I do recommend a slope rangefinder too if play recreational golf like me.

[richbryce]

I got mine about 2 years ago. I cant play with out it now

[Wknd_Warrior]

For some reason I always get funny yardages from people using those things. I'm more comfortable getting a number from the usual markers. Some players are efficient in scoping out a pin, others it seems like it slows things down.

[ed8t]

Used a GPS for the last 5 years, just picked up my first rangefinder last summer. I use both on the course now. GPS for quick yardages to the front, centre, back of the green. Rangefinder to hazards and readings inside 100 yards. It's great to hone up your wedge game on the range.

[CammyWhyte51]

Thanks for the replies! been really helpful in me making a decision.

the bushnell tour v2 and v3 are the ones i have been looking at. The v2 is cheaper and seems to be almost identical to the v3 apart from the Jolt technology. So i will probably opt for the v2.

[Hateto3Putt]

I've never met anyone who regretting getting a rangefinder.

Get one for all the reasons posted above.

[Unteachable]

Sorry to thread jack slightly but I have a question for you rangefinder users. I have always had and loved a gps but thought about going to a rangefinder.
Is it easy to shoot and get distances to things other than the pin? Examples would be just a random spot in the fairway or a hazard or bunker. Also, what is scan mode.?

[Sawgrass]

I like mine so much that I go to the trouble of carrying a spare battery for the upsetting annual occasion where the old battery wears out. That's devotion!

[Sawgrass]

[quote name='DBU-LSU' timestamp='1432820597' post='11642470']
Sorry to thread jack slightly but I have a question for you rangefinder users. I have always had and loved a gps but thought about going to a rangefinder.
Is it easy to shoot and get distances to things other than the pin? Examples would be just a random spot in the fairway or a hazard or bunker. Also, what is scan mode.?
[/quote]

I use both a laser and a gps watch. So neither has a "map." I've discovered that the laser is more accurate than the watch, so I use that most often, but the watch helps out on blind shots. Getting the distance to a bunker is challenging, but you get used to, say, hitting the sand and estimating how far back you should hit to miss it, or how far forward to clear it. The occasional inaccuracy of the gps (at least on my course) makes me shy away from relying on it completely.

[Cuki]

That's the cool thing about rangefinders too, not just locking in a pin. I use it when I need to know an exact yardage to a bunker or hazard, actually anything that I think I need to know about before selecting a club for my shot, that does indeed sometimes include a random piece of turf somewhere up the fairway. It will mostly get used when you are playing a shot in to the green, but there are occasions, tee shots and par 5's where it is nice to know that you don't have too much or too little club.

Don't be afraid also to spend a little more money on the newer models, they are super fast with great optics and cool features. Trust me, your new rangefinder will get used a lot, don't cheap out on it.

[Edaw68]

[quote name='CammyWhyte51' timestamp='1432820096' post='11642424']
Thanks for the replies! been really helpful in me making a decision.

the bushnell tour v2 and v3 are the ones i have been looking at. The v2 is cheaper and seems to be almost identical to the v3 apart from the Jolt technology. So i will probably opt for the v2.
[/quote]
I've got a V2, works great. I don't see the value in the jolt technology, since it's almost always pretty easy to tell based on old fashioned yardage markers if I'm getting a reading in error off of a tree or something behind the target.

[quote name='DBU-LSU' timestamp='1432820597' post='11642470']
Sorry to thread jack slightly but I have a question for you rangefinder users. I have always had and loved a gps but thought about going to a rangefinder.
Is it easy to shoot and get distances to things other than the pin? Examples would be just a random spot in the fairway or a hazard or bunker. Also, what is scan mode.?
[/quote]
Not sure what scan mode is, but it's pretty easy to get readings to anything that contrasts. White sand in bunkers is easy (just estimate how much more or less the carry/lay up needs to be as Sawgrass said above), trees aren't bad as long as there aren't a bunch of them really close to each other. Random spots in the fairway are harder, it helps if there is a prominent knob or bump or something like that.

[GWD]

Get one when you get tired of:
>missing greens long or short
>hitting into hazards or traps by mis-clubbing
>going on a golf vacation or to a new course
>get tired of roaming around looking for marked sprinkler heads
>find out that the GPS on equipped carts is not that accurate
>listening to your spectator wife yap (reading yardages keeps her busy)

The Jolt feature on the Bushnell Pro7x gives my wife confidence that she has the correct reading. Many courses have the reflecting prisms on the flags just for rangefinders. Also, the 7x magnification makes the pin easier to find on long shots. (Read the reviews on the link below.)

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Golf-Laser-Rangefinder-JOLT/dp/B00HQE9DD8"]http://www.amazon.co...T/dp/B00HQE9DD8[/url]

Edit: Reading prominent items on a course is fine. Things like cart path signs, barber poles, trees, people, carts, bunker lips, far shore of a lake, and the like are easy.

But trying to read a ball in the fairway, or some other small object, is difficult and often inaccurate. Locate a perpendicular feature and read to that. If you want to find the drive distance, for example, note something near the tee box, like a ball washer, and measure from the ball back to the object.

[andre2you]

I'm kinda in the same boat, I've been using GPS devices for years, (though I did own a laser years ago but gave it to my dad the day after I bought it) and now that my game has improved I want to be more accurate to the pin as there are some days when the GPS just seems off. I'm seriously thinking a Tour X for fathers day. If the rain stops, I may just pick up one today and try it. I can always return it if I don't think it helps.

[cristphoto]

I played in an outing today and two of the players had GPS and I had my Bushnell Z6. I was getting actual yardage to pins while their units gave front, middle, back distances. It was interesting seeing the disparity in readings. More interesting was seeing the different GPS readings when the two were standing side by side. One guy had a watch and the other a hand held unit.

[andre2you]

[quote name='andre2you' timestamp='1434127261' post='11739268']
I'm kinda in the same boat, I've been using GPS devices for years, (though I did own a laser years ago but gave it to my dad the day after I bought it) and now that my game has improved I want to be more accurate to the pin as there are some days when the GPS just seems off. I'm seriously thinking a Tour X for fathers day. If the rain stops, I may just pick up one today and try it. I can always return it if I don't think it helps.
[/quote]

So, I went ahead and purchased a laser (leupold GS4i) and played 18 holes with it (a 9 hole golf course played twice). I had my gps watch and I used the laser to get distances to the pin. Though the gps watch was accurate, knowing the distances to the pin helped me the most (I play this course quite a bit and come up short a lot). I was more consistent getting to the green in regulation than I had been in quite a while. I bought the laser just to try it out for 30 days and to see if it really helped, well it did! Now I have to find a way to convince the wife, that I need this.

[sheppy335]

I think it is a great piece of equipment all golfers should have in their bag.