GPS Golf Guru - Any thoughts on this?

[reeves_]

My course requests were in the 800's and were done last week. I had to wait two weeks, but all four of my requests were done in this two week period, so I didn't mind the wait.

 

The courses were mapped very well from what I can tell at home going through each course. TO and CLEAR for fairway bunkers, distances to fairway when a waste area or water had to be cleared, and layup distances. Even distances to cart paths if they ran across the fairway were mapped.

 

The lay up distances were a little random, any combination of 200, 150, 100 and even a 300 yard lay up distance were mapped. Personally I would be interested in 100 and 150 yd lay ups primarily and really just need it on par 5's, but it seemed a little random which layup distances were mapped on each hole. Maybe once I get out and play I can better understand how they went about it, and once I can edit downloaded courses I can just add these extra mapped points on my own.

[larryinharlem]

Could the amount of time to get courses mapped be due to the number of courses that people request. Are people really going to play 62 different courses in the next coming months. Maybe if we only ask for the courses that we need the lead time to get them done would be less. Then when you think that you may play a course next week you could request it and they would have it for you by then. Just my opinion.

 

I agree!!!! Keep in mind they guarantee the first one in a week, so obviously those have priority. Other courses will be mapped when they can get to it.

[ed1]

Three Items:

 

 

1) I played my first round with Golf Guru yesterday. I can’t add too much more than what has already been said, but I will say that this is one fantastic product. All the positive statements already posted on this forum are “right on”. It does everything as stated. Next week I hope to play with my buddy who has a Sky Caddy so we can compare units. I will give another update about the Guru and differences between both our units.

 

 

2) I couldn’t wait to open my Guru upon arrival. Of course one of the first things I did was to check about 15 of the courses I play in the Sacramento area to see if they were “targeted”. I went through every hole on each course. Many courses only had mapped greens but no “targets”, or so I thought, I WAS WRONG!

 

 

I also looked at Bodega Harbour Golf Links, as I will be vacationing there in a few weeks and again I only saw mapped greens. WRONG AGAIN.

 

 

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE 2 BARS IN THE SIGNAL METER. The following excerpt is from the Guru user manual Sec. 3, 3.1.

 

“The Golf Guru will display 2 bars when the unit is ready to be used”

 

 

 

If you don’t have 2 bars you are not getting an accurate signal and therefore are not getting accurate course information.

 

 

After looking again at these same courses (w/ 2 bars) I now noticed there were targets. For example, Bodega Harbour had eleven holes mapped with targets.

 

 

3) Just finished upgrading to version 1.12. Thanks for the “heads up” on this one.

Emailed their support and they responded quickly and sent me 3 zipped files.

 

 

New Version:

 

Added New Target Types

 

- OB – Out of Bounds

 

- GS Bunker – Green Side Bunker

 

- Mound – For Grass Mound

 

- Flag - For people who want to mark driving ranges

 

 

30 targets per hole

 

 

- Number Order – You can order your targets 1^st, 2^nd,…..6^th

 

- And other features also…..

 

 

Try new version out on course tomorrow.

 

 

Ed

[Gozz]

How did you get Ver. 1.12? I just connected to their utility and it states that 1.11 is the latest ver.

[TheBigGun]

Does anyone use the Guru in the UK. I was told by their customer support that they'd map the courses I play if i requested them, so unless anyone can think of a reason for me not to give one a try I think I'll order one soon. Am I missing anything?

[h2ohzrd]

See this post about v 1.12

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=161695

[golfgame]

How did you get Ver. 1.12? I just connected to their utility and it states that 1.11 is the latest ver.

I got if from them via Email. Suggest that you Email them and request it. Even after 1.12 is downloaded it still states that 1.11 is the version available. Reason being that when you get 1.12 you are directed to a beta site for the upgrade. You have to be approved by them to get it. Your Guru s/n needs be on the beta site in order to download. That would require contact with tech support if they have not invited you to download.

 

I have attached a PDF from Guru that details the new features.

[pflogger]

I'm an early Golf Guru believer, and I have absoutely loved their course mapping capability. I wanted in on this V1.12 beta testing so I emailed support and received the files. I haven't tested it yet, so no report on functionality. I did give them a call to dig a little deeper into any other features of this version and have a couple of other tidbits about the software.

 

It now has yards and meters selection.

 

They added a feature that asks you if you are sure you want to delete a course file or round file before it is actually deleted (I accidentally deleted a mapped course file once).

 

There was a problem in the rename course feature when you went to rename a user mapped course file. If you did not go to the "Save Course" selection before going to other display pages, you could lose your entire course map (careful if you are running 1.11). I think now you're ok if you just hit "Save" when adding a target. You still must save the course to have the changes take affect.

 

These are the only things I could remember in addition to features already called out in earlier threads. The beta version was only allowed out after they could not find any obvious bugs in employee units.

 

I hope this version works. I'll post something after I try it, but may not get to until Thursday or Friday. If somebody else gets to try it out, let us know what ya think. I still think their customer service is DA BOMB! I'm going to go now and submit about a hunnerd new course map requests ;) . Oh wait...I don't need to do that anymore!!!

[cuejunky]

FYI, I just picked up a great slip case for my Guru. Its made by Just Wireless for the Treo 650, fits perfectly and it rotates.

[drewman523]

good news / bad news

 

good news - mapped about half the greens at my private course. Came out great, very easy to do did not take much time at all. Plan is to map the rest of the greens and some targets then report back.

 

bad news - My club has just taken the Orwellian move of outlawing all GPS devices. It was previously only disallowed for tournaments, but is now fully restricted. Makes no sense, sux, but that is what I have to deal with. My plan now is to surreptiously map the rest of the greens and some key targets and enter it into a yardage book.

 

I play 90% of my golf at this club, so my use of this great device just got slashed. But my loss should be your gain. I'll gladly sell it here and avoid the ebay BS for any interested party. due to scheduling, it may take me another week or so to finish mapping out the rest of the course, but after that, it will be on the market.

 

In perfect condition, and I also added the invisibleshield recommended by another member (which I also recommend, although application is a little tricky).

 

I'll report back when I'm done mapping...

[phil75070]

FYI, I just picked up a great slip case for my Guru. Its made by Just Wireless for the Treo 650, fits perfectly and it rotates.

 

Can you provide a link, picture, model number, something more to identify it?

 

Thanks!

[reeves_]

Anyone have any thoughts on this pouch? Thinking it may work:

 

http://shop.treonauts.com/smartphone-exper...e/4A25A519A.htm

[ed1]

The link below shows pictures of this case. The SKU number listed is for the product "Just Wireless". I have used this case and it works great. The Guru fits perfectly. When ridingin a golf cart I place it in a cup holder. It is easy to take out, get the yardage information and easy to place back into the case. When carrying my bag I secure the case using the rotating clip, and clip the case to an inside side pocket where I have easy access. It is secured and again it is easy to remove and place back after getting your yardages.

 

 

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?s=...t&p=1041245

[JMG_02]

Just adding that I ordered my yesterday. Actually I had won it on an ebay auction, and I emailed and asked them to throw in a car charger along w/ the GPS. A quick reply said that actually it would be cheaper to just buy it over their website (if the auction gets over $230 and you want a charger). So I asked if I could just void the auction and i'll just buy direct, and I got a reply that said I should've heard about the great customer service from Golf Guru and hopefully that helped in swaying my opinion to go with Golf Guru, and to reinforce that, he threw in the charger for no additional charge (basically because I paid almost the full amount for the GPS).

 

Anyway, he said it should ship today....one bummer though, I live in TX so I got an extra $21 in taxes...but the bright side is I should get it tomorrow!! Will post a follow up once I get to play with it.

[cuejunky]

FYI, I just picked up a great slip case for my Guru. Its made by Just Wireless for the Treo 650, fits perfectly and it rotates.

 

Can you provide a link, picture, model number, something more to identify it?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Looks like ed1 took care of it. Thanks ed1!

[XC967]

Can you edit or add to the company mapped courses yet?

[cuejunky]

The new firmware is available to people willing to beta test it. Remeber that beta testing does not ensure a stable product. I have used the course edit feature and I think its great. Remebr this, the course you are playing is loaded and what you are actually editing is the course file. In other words dont expect you edits or additions to show after you make them. If you are not using the scoring or stats feature then you could just reopen the course file and your change will be there.

[masterli]

Just ordered mine w00t! B-day gift from the wife :yes:. After reviewing all the gps devices I decided on the gps golf guru but was a little apprehensive given it wasn't a well known company. This thread helped me pull the trigger. Great info on here and I hope I have the same experience as others.

 

Now I'm in search of a case that I can attach to my bag and glance at yardages. i mostly walk and would prefer not to have it clipped on or in my pocket. looks like one of those blackberry cases someone mentioned may work. would love to hear if anyone has actually tried them.

[rcncgolf]

Beta spots filled as of 2 days ago, was disapointed given early adopter & requestor of this particular feature (post#12) & now masses know of it! Oh well, hopefully all goes well and released to the masses shortly. (update - rec'd beta unsolicited shortly after post -was not meaning to covertly secure, but happy to test out)

[XC967]

Just bought one on ebay, Too bad about the beta being full I am interested in editing. I am planning on testing against the Neo I have now but that will be hard not being able to edit, my only comparison may be middle of green.

[Gozz]

Just bought one on ebay, Too bad about the beta being full I am interested in editing. I am planning on testing against the Neo I have now but that will be hard not being able to edit, my only comparison may be middle of green.

 

Why? If the Neo gives front, middle and back so will the Guru.

[cuejunky]

I think you will find that the Guru is more accurate and much easier to use and hold. If you were to map your own course you will see the true merits of the Guru. Allowing up to 30 points per hole, the Guru will allow you to map "To" and "Clr" distances for what ever you like. The Guru also has the green zense and this is a valuable tool for us weekend warriors. I dont know about you guys but my ball seldomly lands smack dab in the middle of the fairway and its nice that I can see how much green I have to wotk with. I have personally tried the SG2 and the GolfLogix units and was not impressed by either. No, there arent many courses mapped, but thats the beauty of it. As a the community grows, so will the database and just think - NO subscription - not now - not ever. I love my Guru and would not trade it for any of the other GPS unit on the market today.

[XC967]

Gozz,

 

If the Guru doesn't have same points mapped for hazards and front / back of green is a little subjective as to exactly where the point is mapped.

[JMG_02]

Okay, my experience hasn't been glowing so far....maybe its just user error.

 

I tried to map my course today, and something seemed really odd. I could map the green just fine, and click save. However, when adding a target (water, tree, etc) after I marked it, I would go to click "save" and the whole unit would just turn off and I would lose everything I had already mapped. However, this is not what the directions say to do, it says to click "save" to save the target. So I guessed that I just had to "back" out of that target screen...so, all of the targets I mapped might be in vain if I didn't save them. However, I did finish the 18 holes (at least the greens, I guess).

 

So now, I want to play it. Is there something I have to do now in order to play it? All 18 greens have been mapped, and were mapped in order...there are checkmarks next to each green. However, on the start up screen I click "next" and it says there are no courses on my guru. I did the Guru Utility and even "uploaded" it onto my page and I can see it on myguru on the website, but....I still can't access it and play it.

 

I've always thought of myself as pretty tech savvy, but I'm a little confused...can't figure out what i'm doing wrong.

 

(I've emailed support, i'll update when I get a response)

[phil75070]

JeffG, I think someone else had a problem similar to this and it had to do with how they named the course, using special characters like slashes or hyphens or something if I recall correctly. What was the name you gave the course?

[ed1]

""So now, I want to play it. Is there something I have to do now in order to play it? All 18 greens have been mapped, and were mapped in order...there are checkmarks next to each green. However, on the start up screen I click "next" and it says there are no courses on my guru. I did the Guru Utility and even "uploaded" it onto my page and I can see it on myguru on the website, but....I still can't access it and play it.

 

I've always thought of myself as pretty tech savvy, but I'm a little confused...can't figure out what i'm doing wrong.

 

(I've emailed support, i'll update when I get a response)

 

This post has been edited by JeffG_02: Yesterday, 10:47 PM ""

 

 

 

Jeff,

 

I haven't mapped a course (yet) so I am not speaking from experience. Do you think that maybe after you "uploaded" and it appears in you course list that (with Guru Utility on) you should now "download" to get your course on your Guru?

 

Let us know after you talk with their tech support.

 

Ed

[JMG_02]

Yeah, thats what I thought. Although, when I try to download it, it won't download. So I mapped all 18 greens but it still doesn't show up in playable courses.

 

However, I did talk to tech support and figured out the problem. Just what Phil said, it all stems from the long name. I had the course named Clarksville Country Club. So, when you are self mapping a course (and this is on ver 1.11 software...the update will fix it), name it just one word. Whenever I tried to add a target, it just froze up and turned off and deleted everything I had already mapped.

 

The email I got from tech support told me to rename it and try it again. Well, I renamed it (at least I thought I did) to Clarksville, and tried it again. Again it froze up and turned off, this time..it erased the WHOLE course I had mapped out yesterday. I didn't know that when you rename the course, just b/c you hit "save" up there, you still have to click on "course" and then click "save course". So after I clicked "save" and just backed out, tried to add the target, then it froze...I lost everything.

 

SO, I learned two things...when you rename a course...after you click "save", make sure you click "course" and scroll down and click "save course"..otherwise it won't save. Two, name your courses something one-worded. Makes everything easier.

 

I've started a new course, and now just have to go out there sometime and re-do everything. Tech support was very friendly and helpful, sent an email last night about 10:30, had a response when I woke up this morning and they were even there when I called about 45 minutes ago. Hopefully the new update will fix all of this.

[larryinharlem]

Everyone: I found the best way to map a course is to sit at the house and enter all the targets before you go out to the course. Just make sure you have at least two bars on the receiver or it will not allow you to start. Once you have the course data entered, go out to the golf course and mark all the targets... explain to the pro you need a cart for an hour or so and finish the mapping. You may want to go out on a weekday late or early when noone is on the course. Easy... when naming the course, do not put any spaces in the name...

[MajorPain]

Yes, I agree. The easiest way to map a course is to do the preliminary work at home. In fact the process I have used is:

1 - Get the scorecard (with the hole layout)

2 - Get online and go to maps.google.com (yahoo also has maps)

3 - Fire up the Guru and wait until you get two bars.

 

a) Start by adding the course name (again without ANY spaces - one word is best)

b) Add each hole and Par

c) then go to your maps website (Google or Yahoo) find the course in satellite mode and zoom in as far as possible.

 

Now, using the combination of the scorecard and satellite, you should be able to map targets like bunkers and features (water, etc.) in the correct order).

 

I have used this method and it only takes about 30 minutes to pre-map a course (all but the greens). Then when I get to the course, I can set the target "marks" and map the greens. Very quick to do.

 

Tip - Make sure to add a GREEN target and just "map" it once on the course. Takes very little time and you can still add an occasional *new* target as you go but the process is very smooth doing it this way.

 

I hope this helps. I have been playing with my Guru for only a few weeks but I love it. The ability of the unit to lock on to signal is amazing.

 

Just mark me down as another satisfied consumer and Guru zealot :lol:

[cuejunky]

How is the beta version working out for those got to get it? I tore my calf muscle and I will not be able to get back out for at least 6 months. I got to play 11 holes till I blew my leg. I thought the edit feature was nice and easy to use. Anyone have any feedback?