Should I buy a rangefinder?......

[Kye123]

For one I only roughly know how far I hit my clubs, for two I'm probably ten yards out from that prediction, for three where do I start? Finally does it improve your game?

[Itsjustagame]

It improves your game if you play with more confidence. Go ahead and get one. It won't hurt your game.

[Dr.Frankenputz]

Do it.

[Kye123]

Any recommendations

[the dentman]

You can't go wrong with bushnell.. If you play in the rain be sure to get one of there weatherproof models..

 

I have 2 of them and probably going to buy the new X2 because I want to try the slope edition.

 

I use it on every approach shot and really helps with 50-75 yard short game shots.. My vision doesn't judge those yardages well and lazer helps me hit them.

[WBGolf]

Absolutely! Get 1 and use it to figure out your yardages, especially for the shorter clubs. I can't stress enough how much that helped me. Combined with an accurate distance to the pin, it became almost an entirely different game.

[cfmgolf]

Precision pro is a lower cost alternative that watches these boards closely. Great customer service and my buddy that has one really likes it. Decent rebates right now also.

[golfgirlrobin]

I've used a gps watch for years and really liked it. I tend to think that front, middle, back is more than enough information for those who haven't developed any consistency with how far they hit their clubs.

 

That being said, I recently started using a Bushnell Tour V4 rangefinder and find it very accurate and easy to use. For not a ton of money, it's been a really good purchase.

[BrianMcG]

I have a bushnell ghost. Cheap and easy. Gives accurate distances to front, middle and back of greens and also to hazards. I keep it in my pocket.

[tjl48]

I have a pebble watch I use with game golf along with a range finder. For the most part I just use the watch. I use the range finder a few times a round if I can't see where on the green a pin is, there is a lot of slope, or to find distances to hazards.

 

If I had to choose one I'd choose the watch. It is just so much quicker.

[Precision Pro Golf]

Precision pro is a lower cost alternative that watches these boards closely. Great customer service and my buddy that has one really likes it. Decent rebates right now also.

 

Until the end of June, we are offering a $30 rebate on our NX7 ($199) and a $50 rebate on our NX7 Pro ($249) with slope and pulse vibration.

[Boricua Golf]

I got a Bushnell Tour V3 Slope edition as a gift, I've always used a watch GPS app (Golf Pad GPS), the difference in accuracy, I now know how far I "really" hit my clubs and the slope version helps with real distance to any target...I would definitely get one!!!!

[jimb6golf]

Never used a rangefinder as I had gps app on my phone. But that becomes tiresome as you wait for the satellite to make up its mind about the distance plus you can't track how far you are hitting clubs at the range either. So I finally took the plunge, but bought a Scoreband Pulse model. Only used it once and it's really much faster getting yardage than with the gps. Could never see paying the outlandish prices that Bushnell charges when both Scoreband and Precision Pro offer models that are very similar for less than half the price. And although I originally wanted the slope feature my local pro talked me out of it. And recent MGS surveys agree with the best value models as well. I'm looking forward to the ease and speed on the course and to dialing in distances better at the range too.

[Duke of Hazards]

I have a pebble watch I use with game golf along with a range finder. For the most part I just use the watch. I use the range finder a few times a round if I can't see where on the green a pin is, there is a lot of slope, or to find distances to hazards.

 

If I had to choose one I'd choose the watch. It is just so much quicker.

 

I would say this summarizes me as well. In general GPS is quicker, but sometimes you can't get GPS/data and other times, the course may be mapped incorrectly. With laser, you point and shoot and there is no doubt. My recommendation is to have both.

[Pcola Ken]

I was hesitant to get a rangefinder for some reason, but it has been one of the best golf purchases that I have ever made. I like it better than the GPS and have found it more accurate. A side benefit that I found was being able to shoot distances to flags on the driving range. It has been really helpful during range practice.

 

I went with a Bushnell with no slope. If I were to lose it or break it, I would buy another one immediately.

[cjblake09]

Yes! Best thing i have bought in the last 2 years. Basically gave up on my Sky Caddie.

[macnewma]

It is also very useful on the range. The most important clubs to know your distances with are your wedges and short irons. Laser a few of the close markers at the range and you can dial in your distances before playing. If your range or short game area has close pins like 30-50 yds you can also work on partial shots. That comes in very handy.

[rjr25]

I bit the bullet and got one last year. Didnt want to make the plunge on a bushnell so got this during amazon prime day for around $120 I think and have been very happy with it. It doesn't do slope but when I play with my buddies, yard for yard it matches their pricier bushnell models. Their customer service is great as well

 

https://www.amazon.com/TecTecTec-VPRO500-Golf-Rangefinder-Binoculars/dp/B00OMXN0Z8

 

In general, I think I will pair this with a watch or something like the Callaway Eclipse or Bushnell Neo on the bag to get quick readouts when I want it and save the finder for shooting exact pins or hazards. I am not good enough to need exact yardages all the time

[leejohnkieh]

I also finally bought one for this year (bushnell v4). it saves so much time on the course for me. makes my decision making a lot easier. I say get one

[Tony B]

It will definitely improve your game. At worst, I simply cannot hurt. I will tell you, I estimate a distance every time I walk up to my ball, and I'm usually off by at least 5-10 yards most times after I laser the distance to the flag. Many times that's a full club off.

 

Although it's valuable to see distances to the pin.. it's even more valuable to get distances to hazards. For example, there's a long par 5 at my home course, with a fairway bunker in play for the 2nd shot if you are laying up, and a green side bunker in play on the 3rd shot. I routinely laser the far edge of each bunker to see what distance minimum I need to carry the ball to avoid them. I then choose a club that will FOR SURE get me over the bunker. If I hit a crappy drive, and I can't quite carry the fairway bunker comfortably, I laser the front edge of the bunker and take a club that I know will leave me short.

 

A laser helps tremendously with decisions that save strokes.

[gotaholen1]

Bushnell is a game changer. Must own for anyone that is less than a 18 handicap in my opinion.

[bazinky]

Rangefinders can be quite the eye opener. When I fist got mine, it was pretty shocking how bad I was at estimating yardage inside of 100 yards. Also, be prepared to find out exactly how far you and your buddies ACTUALLY hit the ball. It may be a bit emasculating ...

[Z1ggy16]

My advice as a guy who JUST lost my rangefinder, and having to go back to mobile app GPS:

 

You probably don't need a laser if 1) you aren't that great. I'm talking single cap who knows how far they hit a shot to within 2-3 yards, and can replicate that shot almost always or 2) Have a pretty good app where you can lock on spots/targets from birds-eye-view.

 

After going back to my app the past 2 rounds and not getting exact measurements from laser... my score did not suddenly skyrocket up because I only got front/mid/back green distances. Almost always I aim center green unless I'm very close and feel as if I can stick it really close. I'm not accurate enough to take my 160 yard club, and swing 5% less and get it to stick at 156. It's going 160 and that's about it. It might end up going 156, but not because I told it to.

 

Most good apps can record the distances you are hitting during a round and let you work up a long term bag gapping over time.

 

 

TLDR; Unless you are accurate to the 2-3 yard range very often, I find it unnecessary.

[Tcann32]

I will echo what the poster above me said. It really can be very eye opening to find out the real distances vs the distances you've estimated. You can be adjacent to the 150 stick but in the rough, and you're hitting from 180 vs 150.

 

That being said, I have played this season without one thus far and there's been a few times that I've really under estimated a distance, but outside of that, it's also been kinda freeing. I'm getting a better and better idea of how far I hit my clubs based on visualization and not just whats on the range finder. Last round for instance, I was in a spot with a shorter approach and I was staring the flag down and just thinking it had to be a mid flight, 58*. It just felt right, and I hit the shot to within two feet! A friend I was playing with was under ten yards ahead of me, with a laser, and he had a range finder and shot the flag at just over 90 yards, which meant I hit my 58* wedge to within two feet from around 100 yards. Never, ever would I pull my LW for a 100 yard shot, let alone one that was over 100 yards. Two holes later, same thing but with my SW, and it was to within 6" of the hole (my wedge game was great that day). Only this time, when I asked him to laser the distance after I had hit, it was 10 yards UNDER what I would usually hit my SW to. If I had a range finder at the time, I would've taken my stock shot for a stock distance and ran with it vs hitting my two best shots of the round.

 

Before having a range finder, I always had pretty good touch, and I think they can take some of that away, if you just base your shots on what the yardage you see on the "screen". I would say though, that I do know how far I hit my clubs on a base line, what a 3/4 swing distance is, etc.. But I am having a good time playing by feel right now. The times I wish I had one most: Par 3's, as it's harder to judge the difference between 185 and 195 from that far out, and when cutting corners or forced carries where the yardage markers don't account for taking the short cut over the pond, but rather the fairway around it. I also think that practicing without one gives you a better idea at how to judge these things. It helps slow me down a little too, which is a good thing, but you have to learn to be confident in the shot you've chosen based on your estimation, which I honestly find I do more now than I did before, when using a range finder. If I had 153 to the pin and knew that exactly, I'd make a hard swing with a 9i, or a soft 8i, and would deliberate on the shot to choose too much, etc. Now, if I'm a pace or two in front of, or behind the 150, I'll hit a 9i (obviously after considering conditions, forced carries, etc.), if I'm more than a pace or two behind the 150, and the pin isn't in the front, I'll hit an 8i. It's really helped me hit more greens in regulation vs trying to hit the exact number I have in my head. I'm not good enough to try and be too precise, and I definitely have gotten caught up in that in the past.

 

The BIGGEST time I do want to get another one for: Range practice. When I have one with me, I still go out and hit to flags and yardage markers while warming up, and then I'll see what the distance was. Basically, I tune myself into hitting a 65 yard pitch shot by feel, and then I find out that that's how far I was hitting that swing, vs finding the yardage and trying to swing differently to hit it, if that makes sense.. I don't use gps apps that often as they're generally only good to find the distance to the middle of the green, and I can do that within a few yards based off yardage markers. I know you can drag the pin location around and what not, but that's more distracting to me than anything.

[saksittb]

I had purchased a TecTecTec from Amazon for $149 and used it for two rounds. I played with a friend who had a Garmin S2 watch on the second round and it quickly forced me to initiate a return with Amazon. I threw out all the "buts" i could to compare the rangefinder against his watch, and every time the S2 won. It was faster, accurate, and just efficient. The only issue was that you couldnt check the distance to a specific location anytime you wanted. His watch, a little older granted, had dog leg and lay up options, but no bunker distances. I just ordered a Bushnell Neo Ghost and will be using it wednesday and comparing to his watch again.

[purdy]

Yes, definitely get a rangefinder. Buy a good used Leopold, bushnell or nikon

[Hotdocta]

Range finders are the best. Like many on here have said, it is shocking how far off gps distances can be. The other part of it that I love is that it has become part of my Pre shot routine. Looking through the range finder calms me.

[whr]

No affiliation on the below, just thought I'd pass it along since there's not a better deal out there than this if you jump on it now...Leupold GX-2i2....$167 shipped if you use code P20MEMDAY and sold by Budgetgolf. TGR (slope), lifetime warranty, waterproof, pin-hunter 2 tech, fog mode, etc.

 

http://www.ebay.com/...QgAAOSwsW9Y3Dpy

[clos8]

I was in the same boat. Got a range finder and it totally made my game change, especially when hitting onto the greens

[B.D.O’C]

Trying to sell my Garmin S6 and will be picking up a Nikon Coolshot 80vr