SkyCaddie Touch - How do you use it

DZClark · August 2, 2017

I am a tech geek, I admit that on the front end. I have used Game Golf, Arccos (still have it) and use a laser to shoot distances AND.....I have a SkyCaddie touch.

Last week on vacation, I played a course that gave me a yardage book when I checked in. As I was flipping through it, I found that I learned alot about each hole as I was flipping through it. As I continued through the round, I found that I was using the physical yardage book more and more, especially standing on the tee box, as it provided me distances to certain locations, etc. From there I used the laser to figure out where I wanted to be on the green, maybe glancing at the skycaddie a couple of times as I exited the cart.

It got me to wondering, am I just not using the SkyCaddie to its full advantage. I know people on here swear by it, but I wonder if I am not using it to its full advantage. Anyone here a "super user" who wants to help me figure out how to make it more than just a front/middle/back device? I am trying to "be smarter" on the course and would love others insight.

larrybud · August 3, 2017

Perhaps bust open the user manual?

DZClark · August 3, 2017

Perhaps bust open the user manual?

Great advice, thanks. Actually, I have read the manual (granted, it's not the first thing I normally do, but I have now) and I know how to do all the functions.

Evolved · August 3, 2017

Switch out of basic mode and scroll down. It will show you the lay up options and distances to hazards. That being said the touch version sucks. Not touch models are better.

redrover69 · August 3, 2017

LOL Who reads manuals????

Argonne69 · August 4, 2017

I've been a Skycaddie user for over a decade, and the Touch is my 5th or 6th model. I play 60 to 70 courses a year, with ~50 of them being first visits. Having hole layouts, and green shapes is a key component of scoring.

I start with the HoleView. I generally zoom in one level to get a better view of the landing area. I want to see the distances to the bunkers on either side of the fairway, as well as the carry distances over the bunkers. If it's a short hole, I'll consider hitting less than driver, and position the cursor to give me a preferred distance to the center of the green, which also gives me the distance to that point.

On doglegs, I'm looking at the distance to the rough that's through the fairway. I may have to club down from driver. If the corner of the dogleg can be cut, I want to know the distance to carry the corner. Is it worth a try? If there is a forced carry along the inside leg of the dogleg. I'm looking at various points to see how much I can bit off.

Many architects will try to fool you with bunkering that doesn't come into play. If I think a bunker looks a bit odd, I'll check the distances to see if my hunch is correct.

Water hazards that cross the fairway, or fairways that end also need to be analyzed. I generally hate when a designer takes the driver out of your hand on the tee, but when it's encountered, I want to know the safe distance to avoid the junk.

On the par 5's, I'm obviously looking around the green to see if it's worth going for it in two. If not, then what's a good layup point? Many par 5's pinch the landing spot, so a quick zoom allows me to see if I need to lay back from the danger.

Greens. I always start by positioning the cursor on the estimated pin location. I then want to see the distance to the front of the green, and the back of the green, on a line through the flagstick. If the distance between those two points is small, you're basically looking at a sucker pin. I then move the cursor left/right to find the fattest part of the green. Is this a safer option?

I'll also be looking for multiple tiers and/or false fronts. If the pin is on a tier, how far is the carry to the tier.

Around the greens the IntelliGreen feature can be really useful when you're coming in from a severe angle when the green isn't quite round.

Basically, it's about course management. That's why I've stuck with a GPS, and avoided a laser, which is a one trick pony in my opinion. Knowing the exact distance to the pin is less important than knowing the carry distances to the front and back of the green, which is nearly impossible to get with a laser. Also, when blind shots are involved, a laser is useless.

larrybud · August 4, 2017

Perhaps bust open the user manual?

Great advice, thanks. Actually, I have read the manual (granted, it's not the first thing I normally do, but I have now) and I know how to do all the functions.

You think they put some "hidden" functions that only GolfWrx users know about or something? lol

DZClark · August 7, 2017

I've been a Skycaddie user for over a decade, and the Touch is my 5th or 6th model. I play 60 to 70 courses a year, with ~50 of them being first visits. Having hole layouts, and green shapes is a key component of scoring.

I start with the HoleView. I generally zoom in one level to get a better view of the landing area. I want to see the distances to the bunkers on either side of the fairway, as well as the carry distances over the bunkers. If it's a short hole, I'll consider hitting less than driver, and position the cursor to give me a preferred distance to the center of the green, which also gives me the distance to that point.

On doglegs, I'm looking at the distance to the rough that's through the fairway. I may have to club down from driver. If the corner of the dogleg can be cut, I want to know the distance to carry the corner. Is it worth a try? If there is a forced carry along the inside leg of the dogleg. I'm looking at various points to see how much I can bit off.

Many architects will try to fool you with bunkering that doesn't come into play. If I think a bunker looks a bit odd, I'll check the distances to see if my hunch is correct.

Water hazards that cross the fairway, or fairways that end also need to be analyzed. I generally hate when a designer takes the driver out of your hand on the tee, but when it's encountered, I want to know the safe distance to avoid the junk.

On the par 5's, I'm obviously looking around the green to see if it's worth going for it in two. If not, then what's a good layup point? Many par 5's pinch the landing spot, so a quick zoom allows me to see if I need to lay back from the danger.

Greens. I always start by positioning the cursor on the estimated pin location. I then want to see the distance to the front of the green, and the back of the green, on a line through the flagstick. If the distance between those two points is small, you're basically looking at a sucker pin. I then move the cursor left/right to find the fattest part of the green. Is this a safer option?

I'll also be looking for multiple tiers and/or false fronts. If the pin is on a tier, how far is the carry to the tier.

Around the greens the IntelliGreen feature can be really useful when you're coming in from a severe angle when the green isn't quite round.

Basically, it's about course management. That's why I've stuck with a GPS, and avoided a laser, which is a one trick pony in my opinion. Knowing the exact distance to the pin is less important than knowing the carry distances to the front and back of the green, which is nearly impossible to get with a laser. Also, when blind shots are involved, a laser is useless.

Thank you so much for the response. I think maybe I am not giving it the time. I like the zooming in one level. At the overview level it just didn't give me "enough". Thanks again!

DZClark · August 7, 2017

Perhaps bust open the user manual?

Great advice, thanks. Actually, I have read the manual (granted, it's not the first thing I normally do, but I have now) and I know how to do all the functions.

You think they put some "hidden" functions that only GolfWrx users know about or something? lol

Nothing hidden, but in addition to hitting nothing but 340 yard drives and 200 yard butter cut 7 irons, I figured no one would have explored (shoot, should have worked in "no one would have gamed a GSP better than") the uses of the Skycaddie more than GolfWrx users.

Argonne69 · August 7, 2017

Perhaps bust open the user manual?

Great advice, thanks. Actually, I have read the manual (granted, it's not the first thing I normally do, but I have now) and I know how to do all the functions.

You think they put some "hidden" functions that only GolfWrx users know about or something? lol

Nothing hidden, but in addition to hitting nothing but 340 yard drives and 200 yard butter cut 7 irons, I figured no one would have explored (shoot, should have worked in "no one would have gamed a GSP better than") the uses of the Skycaddie more than GolfWrx users.

This is GolfWRX. Everyone hits 300+ yard drives, so nobody really cares about fairway bunkers that require 270 yard carries. Lol.

Also, nobody cares about the fact that the pin is in a sucker position with only 15 yards to work with. They're lasering the flag, and launching sky high 9 irons to within 3 feet.

Argonne69 · August 7, 2017

Thank you so much for the response. I think maybe I am not giving it the time. I like the zooming in one level. At the overview level it just didn't give me "enough". Thanks again!

Maybe it's my aging eyes, but I find that I often have to zoom in 2 levels to get a good view of the landing area. The HoleView does provide distances to/over fairway bunkers, and through the fairway, but the font is hard to read. I really wish they had an option to increase the font size. Better yet, a 1 inch larger screen, and a larger battery, would be nice. I like the form factor, but I'd rather have a bigger screen and battery. Similar to the mobile phone market, they seem to be chasing the ever smaller form factor at the expense of battery life and readability.

The range arcs can be useful for an initial glance, but I generally tap off the fairway to toggle the actual distance to the landing point, and to the green.

vernon · October 9, 2017

I can totally relate to the "aging eyes" comment. So much so, in fact, that I've started using the SkyCaddie Mobile Premium version on my iPhone 6S almost exclusively as it is WAY easier to see. Since most courses I play now provide USB charge ports in their carts, the battery drain is no longer a factor so I figured, Why not?

For the last few weeks we've even been using an iPad mini which is even easier to see and the additional battery life allows us to play 18 holes AND play music or stream radio with or without utilizing the charge port feature.

While we're giving up a couple of Touch features (intelligreen comes to mind) but the larger screen and the ability to easily move the cursor from point to point seems to more than make up for this "sacrifice".

We employ a Ram Mount bracket to secure either the iPhone or iPad mini to the windshield and away we go. Makes for easy viewing and checking basic yardages at a glance while easily being able to maneuver the cursor when seeking more detailed information.

Curious if many others have also chosen to go this route?

It does seem crazy that I have an almost new SkyCaddie Touch that I don't even take with me anymore...........