GPS, Watch, or Rangefinder for Junior Use?

[hangontight]

My son (9) gets lazy and will just eyeball his yardage...no good. We have a rangefinder, but admittedly its a little hard to lock in, especially for him, and I can see why he doesnt like to use it. I am thinking of trying a simple GPS watch. Efficiency is also important - he plays fast, but fiddling around with the rangefinder when he does use it adds noticeable time to his routine. I am thinking a quick glance at the watch would be quicker. One downside I can think of is that I dont think GPS watches have actual pin (?) - which isnt that big of a deal....unless he has a short wedge he should be going for middle of green anyway.

Anyone have any luck getting their kids to use a GPS Watch or device? Model Reccomendations?

[BFD3]

My kids (11 and 8) each have the Bushnell Phantom. Both say they can’t keep their hands steady enough to use a rangefinder. My son never uses his because I’m with him whenever he plays. My daughter uses hers only during tournaments since she can use the Bushnell GPS app that is included with the Phantom when she’s playing with friends. It gives more detailed course information and allows you to measure shot distances

[heavy_hitter]

We have a Bushnell Hybrid. Best of both worlds. Rangefinder and GPS unit on the side.

Why is it hard to lock in? All of them anymore have a vibration when it locks on?

The one thing that we have started using is Greens Books. Helps you with where to land the ball on the green to always give you uphill putts.

[CactusGolf]

The S20 might be a good option. Relatively easy to use and he would be able to grow into the more advanced features (hazards/move flag/measure shots). Really easy to see distances at a glance and not cost-prohibitive.

[leezer99]

My son has a really old GolfBuddy GPS thing he used to use early on. It's so old it literally only gives you front / middle / back but works great. For $20 on ebay it was a purchase I knew would help and I wouldn't worry about him losing it. He now uses a Bushnell rangefinder almost exclusively.

[shantanu1203]

Garmin watches are great if you are lazy - pretty accurate and helpful and also helpful with figuring out what club to hit from the tees.

[hangontight]

Its a older nikon - bare minimum design, no vibration lock. I dont understand why he cant get a reliable read, he just cant. Maybe because he is 9, maybe its just him. Either way, thats what I got. He is a feel players so less info the better, Front Middle Back would be perfect for now.

[tiger1873]

Have a few laser finders. We have a garmin, and 2 bushells including the hybrid bushnell.

 

I don't like the hybrid bushnell because it basically a phantom gps unit built in and the battery always seems to be dead for the GPS part. If you don't mind charging it all the time there is nothing wrong with it.

 

I ended up recently buying The new bushnell V5. It has a red light when you lock on the flag and even more important it sticks to the golf cart so easy access when practicing.

 

The garmin is very good for practice rounds since it gives you the layout and distances to all the hazards. Biggest issue with the garmin is it is crazy expensive and the battery can go dead on it after a few rounds.

 

If you are looking for one Item for a junior buy a laser finder it's more accurate and you will use it a lot more then you think. GPS units are great but I view them as more supplemental and there pretty cheap you can buy them for around $100.

 

For a young junior golf buddy works great just push a button and it gives the yards. These are great for young kids as there extra simple.

[Oqvist]

I bought laser finder first then I found Shot scope V3. gps watch is way superior for me though this one was twice the cost. There is more cheap range finder then golf watches these days?

You wont get exact distance to pin as there is no way gps can know that have to extrapolate where the flag appear to be but tbh for someone that just shoots for the green trying to get close to the flag it seldom matters. When in an angle where it´s hard to spot where the flag is on the green the range finder comes in play. But then you are rarely so far away the chance you are going to hole it is slim. Also use my range finder for lay up shots when there is no point going to far so there is occasions where it does things the watch can´t. My watch do give distance to all hazards though so it do overall great.

But main issue I have with the rangefinder is that it promotes slow play. It takes time bring it up and get an accurate read often take several attempts even with AI for pin detection. It´s not always working on mine anyway. A bit dependent on visibility don´t do well in fog or rain.

GPS can sometime mess up also though very rarely. If I would forego one absolutely rangefinder. It just get used way to little even though sometimes it does feel invaluable.

[heavy_hitter]

100% Disagree. Rangefinders speed up play if anything. If you have a hard time getting an accurate read, you don't have a good rangefinder. Go to an AJGA event!! Every single uses a rangefinder and pace of play is fine.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

Both of mine have busnell v4 with jolt. Daughter used to have the nikon 20 without volt and she had to get three reads. With the volt its a lot faster.

The one thing I will mention is she gets really tired (still a newer player). At the end of rounds I see the range finder in the netting of the cart just waiting to bounce out.

I reminded her sunday. I never say negative after a tournament. If that range finder is missing I want my 300 dollars back.

[Oqvist]

How can bringing up a rangefinder save time?

[heavy_hitter]

It literally takes less than 10 seconds to shoot a flag location. There has been chatter on Pro tours about letting them use a rangefinder to save time. If they don't have the rangefinder they will walk to the nearest sprinkler head to find the yardage and then walk back. How is that saving time. They will then spend more time looking in their yardage books if they are carrying them. Like I said, every kid in an AJGA event is using a Rangefinder. Just about every kid in every tournament is using a rangefinder because they save time.

[tiger1873]

Have you actually used a Rangefinder?????????????? Just shaking my head I guess you should just pull out a random club???? Sometimes things people say shock me.

[Oqvist]

Yes I have one. For me it goes quicker take up the club and hit it then picking up a rangefinder. Aim it. Put it back inte bag then pick the club out. If you dont understand why the routine with rangefinder takes and dont save time I dont know who is dumb.

[heavy_hitter]

Maybe because you don't play tournament golf at the level these kids do? If they are using a GPS device, more than likely it is going to be used to supplement the rangefinder. Many of the kids are also going to have a Greens book in their pocket. A GPS device really is just giving them more information. They will have the flags premarked in the greens book. They will shoot the flag to get a distance, then they determine where they want to land the ball on the green looking at the greens book all while deciding what type of shot they want to hit. All of this takes less than their 45 seconds of allotted time. Rounds in most cases are from 4 to 4 1/2 hours walking. Monday my sons group was the first off. They finished the front 9 in 1 and a half hours with my kid being -2 and the other two well above par. They made the turn and had tow wait 45 minutes for the Hole 10 starters to finish teeing off. So tell me again how using a rangefinder takes more time? We aren't talking about Weekend hackers struggling to break 90. We are talking about highly skilled kids that rarely have to chase their ball from outside of the fairways.

[Oqvist]

Yes of course. I wouldnt want to play on the tour because of slow play due to use of rangefinders and other constant measurements before taking the shot. I am an amateur that would like 18 holes take no more then 4 hours. Rarely the case though.

Also as an amateur the accuracy of GPS tend to be good enough most times.

[tiger1873]

The average weekend golfer needs to use a range finder more often. I am pretty sure it will speed up rounds. Most people are clueless on their distances a range finder saves strokes which makes a round go quicker. If you ask most people they will tell you they hit a 7 iron 200 yards instead of reaching for that 5 wood.

[heavy_hitter]

When riding and we can play through people it takes us 2 and a half hours to play 18.

Walking tournament are always going to take at least 4 and a 1/2 hours.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

I cannot recall a higher level kid using a GPS device. Its as you mentioned usually a lock on the pin.

Example: 155 flag, 145 front I want to land it 150 and have an uphill putt. Probably takes most kids 5 seconds to compute it.

[heavy_hitter]

Main reason behind kids not using a GPS device is they will be shamed.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

 

[BloctonGolf11]

My kid uses a Izzo Swami 6000 GPS for 90% of his shots. He loves it, it sits on the handlebar of his cart, and it is very accurate. If he needs an exact read he pulls out the rangefinder. Getting the GPS has sped up his game quite a bit.

[MB19]

My father and I each just bought the V5 Tour, and it so-far-so-good. 

 

It's everything I needed for my kids--waterproof, easy to use, easy on batteries, built well, comes with a protective case.

 

I also considered buying a Leopold because they make quality glass that won't fog up, but at the end of the day the V5 just seemed like a no-brainer for something I'm going to use quite a bit over the next few years.  Hopefully when the kids are old enough to self-caddy, these things hold up for a few seasons.

[leezer99]

1 hour ago, MB19 said:

My father and I each just bought the V5 Tour, and it so-far-so-good. 

 

It's everything I needed for my kids--waterproof, easy to use, easy on batteries, built well, comes with a protective case.

 

I also considered buying a Leopold because they make quality glass that won't fog up, but at the end of the day the V5 just seemed like a no-brainer for something I'm going to use quite a bit over the next few years.  Hopefully when the kids are old enough to self-caddy, these things hold up for a few seasons.

The Bushnell is amazing. We use the V4 shift and used to have the V3 before that. Only upgraded because someone stole the V3 out of my sons cart at a junior event. 

[MB19]

3 hours ago, leezer99 said:

Only upgraded because someone stole the V3 out of my sons cart at a junior event. 

Duuuude...

[leezer99]

3 hours ago, MB19 said:

Duuuude...

True story. At the putting green it was in the little basket thing and when we went back it had walked away. 

[heavy_hitter]

10 hours ago, leezer99 said:

True story. At the putting green it was in the little basket thing and when we went back it had walked away. 

That is nuts.

[hangontight]

12 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

That is nuts.

9 YO Boy,  friend of my son had his Driver stolen at Worlds this year.  Pinehurst Clubhouse.  Was putting on the green after his practice round on the eve of R1, came back - Gone.  Probably another kid.  

Edited August 21, 2020 by hangontight