Anyone else consider giving up the rangefinder.

[jordan2240]

My last few rounds, I decided to bag using my rangefinder because I just didn't feel like messing with it, and I've found my distance control simply by playing off the score card distances and the 150 marker and eyeballing it has actually been better.  I think one of the reasons for this is that when using the rangefinder, I have a tendency to try to be too precise, and I don't often hit my clubs very consistently anyway.  Now, I understand that you folks who consistently hit your clubs specific distances might benefit from knowing exactly how far you need to hit the ball, but I'm thinking that most of us weekend hackers really don't benefit much from rangefinders, and we could speed up play by bagging them.  Most of the guys I play with always want to know what distance they have to the flag, but I don't think they really have any idea how far they hit each club, and also duff the ball more often than not, so they'd really be better off just using a few clubs they can hit and not worrying about the distance.

 

Anyone else ever decide to bag the rangefinder?

[Soloman1]

Not only did we not have range finders, we had to walk off distances from 150 yard bushes and sprinkler heads of courses that had them marked.

 

The horror!

 

How did ever survive? And we walked. Can you imagine walking a golf course?

 

And we had to change balls every few holes because those pesky Balata Tour 100's would get out of round. I don't know how we did it. It was like humans crossing from Asia to North America by walking down through Alaska.

 

But wait, there's more. Now how much would you pay for this? You also get the ginsu knives!

 

We had wooden clubs! Can you imagine that?

 

And if that's not enough, we had leather, heavy shoes that looked like this:

 

 

[MPAndreassi]

5 minutes ago, Soloman1 said:

Not only did we not have range finders, we had to walk off distances from 150 yard bushes and sprinkler heads of courses that had them marked.

 

The horror!

 

How did ever survive? And we walked. Can you imagine walking a golf course?

 

And we had to change balls every few holes because those pesky Balata Tour 100's would get out of round. I don't know how we did it. It was like humans crossing from Asia to North America by walking down through Alaska.

 

But wait, there's more. Now how much would you pay for this? You also get the ginsu knives!

 

We had wooden clubs! Can you imagine that?

 

And if that's not enough, we had leather, heavy shoes that looked like this:

 

 

 

 

[nsxguy]

45 minutes ago, jordan2240 said:

My last few rounds, I decided to bag using my rangefinder because I just didn't feel like messing with it, and I've found my distance control simply by playing off the score card distances and the 150 marker and eyeballing it has actually been better.  I think one of the reasons for this is that when using the rangefinder, I have a tendency to try to be too precise, and I don't often hit my clubs very consistently anyway.  Now, I understand that you folks who consistently hit your clubs specific distances might benefit from knowing exactly how far you need to hit the ball, but I'm thinking that most of us weekend hackers really don't benefit much from rangefinders, and we could speed up play by bagging them.  Most of the guys I play with always want to know what distance they have to the flag, but I don't think they really have any idea how far they hit each club, and also duff the ball more often than not, so they'd really be better off just using a few clubs they can hit and not worrying about the distance.

 

Anyone else ever decide to bag the rangefinder?

 

No chance.

 

The rangefinder is not just for shooting flags. It's also invaluable for shooting objects off the tee. That fairway bunker you may or may not want to carry, the distance to (and through) a dogleg, distance to a cross fairway penalty area, distance to carry water in front of a green. etc., etc., etc,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

And those are even on a course I'm familiar with. The rangefinder is invaluable on strange courses - for all the same reasons. 

[MPAndreassi]

All joking aside, sometimes the range finder falls under the paralysis by analysis category and it’s best to ditch it. Especially if you play the same courses often and have a good feel for the distances. 

[Soloman1]

LOL

[flaghunting1987]

1 hour ago, jordan2240 said:

My last few rounds, I decided to bag using my rangefinder because I just didn't feel like messing with it, and I've found my distance control simply by playing off the score card distances and the 150 marker and eyeballing it has actually been better.  I think one of the reasons for this is that when using the rangefinder, I have a tendency to try to be too precise, and I don't often hit my clubs very consistently anyway.  Now, I understand that you folks who consistently hit your clubs specific distances might benefit from knowing exactly how far you need to hit the ball, but I'm thinking that most of us weekend hackers really don't benefit much from rangefinders, and we could speed up play by bagging them.  Most of the guys I play with always want to know what distance they have to the flag, but I don't think they really have any idea how far they hit each club, and also duff the ball more often than not, so they'd really be better off just using a few clubs they can hit and not worrying about the distance.

 

Anyone else ever decide to bag the rangefinder?

 

I won't give up the rangefinder...It's not about being precise or not by walking it off, for me and the group I play with it's about pace of play. We play early and around 3.5 hours. Who wants to wait on every shot? Not many of us...

[ThinkingPlus]

No.  The only way to learn how to hit precise distances is to know precise distances.

[RSinSG]

I can’t think of one reason why I would benefit from not using a rangefinder. 

[Gary Gutful]

2 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

Not only did we not have range finders, we had to walk off distances from 150 yard bushes and sprinkler heads of courses that had them marked.

 

The horror!

 

How did ever survive? And we walked. Can you imagine walking a golf course?

 

And we had to change balls every few holes because those pesky Balata Tour 100's would get out of round. I don't know how we did it. It was like humans crossing from Asia to North America by walking down through Alaska.

 

But wait, there's more. Now how much would you pay for this? You also get the ginsu knives!

 

We had wooden clubs! Can you imagine that?

 

And if that's not enough, we had leather, heavy shoes that looked like this:

 

 

Are they Nikes?

Edited November 28, 2020 by Gary Gutful

[Sean2]

One of the best purchases I ever made was a range finder. 

[theboypinoy]

My game's only benefitted from using a rangefinder 🙂

[jordan2240]

8 hours ago, MPAndreassi said:

All joking aside, sometimes the range finder falls under the paralysis by analysis category and it’s best to ditch it. Especially if you play the same courses often and have a good feel for the distances. 

True.  Perhaps it's because I've been playing the same course frequently recently that I'm not finding it necessary.  It certainly has come in handy at times, though I suspect some folks worried about specific distances on the golf course aren't quite at the point in their games where they need to (I know I play with several).

[Socrates]

There are a lot of players that likely shouldn't be using a range finder.  They don't have the consistency in their game to hit a specific club a specific distance.  Approximate distance is plenty good enough.  Even more so when you play the same course the majority of the time.  There are times and courses where I don't use the range finder because I know the yardages.  And then there are times when weather conditions dictate the shot and yardages are kind of useless.  That all being said, I wouldn't like to go to course where I've never played before and not have my laser with me.

[uitar9]

Don't have a range finder but do use a watch. Good enough for this hacker. Its quick and easy. Just checking the tour stats, approach 125-150, Furyk's at 11 feet, but it's sort of around 15 feet.  At this stage of my life/game, knowing back, middle and front is enough. I know my yardages, when I hit it cleanly. I'm happy to average 30 feet from 125-150.

 

 

[ThinkingPlus]

While this statement is probably obvious to everyone I just want to make sure everyone is on the same page.  Unless someone is affected psychologically by having more precise distance to the target, proximity to the hole will always be better with a laser rangefinder regardless of swing proficiency.

[SEP1006]

11 hours ago, nsxguy said:

 

No chance.

 

The rangefinder is not just for shooting flags. It's also invaluable for shooting objects off the tee. That fairway bunker you may or may not want to carry, the distance to (and through) a dogleg, distance to a cross fairway penalty area, distance to carry water in front of a green. etc., etc., etc,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

And those are even on a course I'm familiar with. The rangefinder is invaluable on strange courses - for all the same reasons. 

 

 

DITTO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dlygrisse]

I have a range finder and a small GPS.  More and more I prefer just to know front, middle, back yardage.  

[Fairway14]

12 hours ago, jordan2240 said:

My last few rounds, I decided to bag using my rangefinder because I just didn't feel like messing with it, and I've found my distance control simply by playing off the score card distances and the 150 marker and eyeballing it has actually been better.  I think one of the reasons for this is that when using the rangefinder, I have a tendency to try to be too precise, and I don't often hit my clubs very consistently anyway.  Now, I understand that you folks who consistently hit your clubs specific distances might benefit from knowing exactly how far you need to hit the ball, but I'm thinking that most of us weekend hackers really don't benefit much from rangefinders, and we could speed up play by bagging them.  Most of the guys I play with always want to know what distance they have to the flag, but I don't think they really have any idea how far they hit each club, and also duff the ball more often than not, so they'd really be better off just using a few clubs they can hit and not worrying about the distance.

 

Anyone else ever decide to bag the rangefinder?

 

Your thinking here makes good sense.

A well known golf story is about Peter Jacobsen coming out as a pro and asking his new caddie Fluff Cowan for exact yardages (Cowan had been giving him 5 yard increments instead of to the exact yardage). When Jacobsen complained Cowan told him "you are not that good to need exact yardages".

[Fairway14]

10 hours ago, RSinSG said:

I can’t think of one reason why I would benefit from not using a rangefinder. 

 

The primary problem with range finders is that players using them tend to go at flags. For consistently low scoring aiming for the middle of greens is usually the best sense strategy.

I remember following Mark O'Meara for 18 holes during a US Open round. He did not aim at a single flag all day long and shot 67. The discipline he used to play only at the middle of the greens, , even on a day when his swing as at his best and he could put the ball wherever he wanted, was incredible to see.

[Fairway14]

12 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

 

 

And if that's not enough, we had leather, heavy shoes that looked like this:

 

 

Spikes are/were a significant benefit to playing golf shots.

Heavy weight supportive footwear, especially pairs with Goodyear Welt construction, are much better for posture, walking, longevity etc... than the light weight cement construction athletic styled disposable junk footwear being sold today as "golf shoes".

[jordan2240]

1 hour ago, ThinkingPlus said:

While this statement is probably obvious to everyone I just want to make sure everyone is on the same page.  Unless someone is affected psychologically by having more precise distance to the target, proximity to the hole will always be better with a laser rangefinder regardless of swing proficiency.

Not sure what you mean exactly.  Do you mean proximity will be better with a laser rangefinder vice GPS?  I don't have a GPS, but compared to my golf buds who do, I think I prefer the laser rangefinder because of the ability to shoot distances to landmarks and such.  Plus, their GPS devices seem to get lost at times.  On the other hand, knowing front/back/middle might be more useful than just knowing pin distance.  Nonetheless, I'll probably spend the off-season not using a rangefinder of any kind just to see if my theory of playing off the tee markers and 150 marker works just as well for me, though I'll have to play a few different courses to test it properly.

[ThinkingPlus]

Just now, jordan2240 said:

Not sure what you mean exactly.  Do you mean proximity will be better with a laser rangefinder vice GPS?  I don't have a GPS, but compared to my golf buds who do, I think I prefer the laser rangefinder because of the ability to shoot distances to landmarks and such.  Plus, their GPS devices seem to get lost at times.  On the other hand, knowing front/back/middle might be more useful than just knowing pin distance.  Nonetheless, I'll probably spend the off-season not using a rangefinder of any kind just to see if my theory of playing off the tee markers and 150 marker works just as well for me, though I'll have to play a few different courses to test it properly.

Yes.  Also better than walking off distances to sprinkler heads or other yardage markers.  Way better than guessing yardage with the Mark I eyeball.  The difference in proximity may not be huge, but the better the distance accuracy the better the proximity.  You also get better feedback on how far you hit each club.  There are no downsides to better "distance to target" accuracy.

[LeoLeo99]

I have both laser and GPS watch.  Almost always use the watch.  I shoot my best scores aiming for the middle of the green with the club that will get me to the back of the green but not over it.  I fully understand how the higher precision messes up my game.  The more I'm just taking stock swings and the less I'm choking up  a half inch to hit a butter cut to a front right pin the better I play.  

[FakeClubPro]

I do not have one but for new courses they seem like a good idea.  I had a group in front of me on a muni a few months ago.   The guy lost his rangefinder and was going back looking for it.  He asked as I was behind them and by myself.  The other three are poking around looking.  The was almost accusatory like I found it and kept it.  It pissed me off and soured me on range finders.  Seems like one other thing you can lose.

[Fairway14]

1 hour ago, LeoLeo99 said:

I have both laser and GPS watch.  Almost always use the watch.  I shoot my best scores aiming for the middle of the green with the club that will get me to the back of the green but not over it.  I fully understand how the higher precision messes up my game.  The more I'm just taking stock swings and the less I'm choking up  a half inch to hit a butter cut to a front right pin the better I play.  

 

Smart golf !

[doctorgriffo]

1 hour ago, FakeClubPro said:

I do not have one but for new courses they seem like a good idea.  I had a group in front of me on a muni a few months ago.   The guy lost his rangefinder and was going back looking for it.  He asked as I was behind them and by myself.  The other three are poking around looking.  The was almost accusatory like I found it and kept it.  It pissed me off and soured me on range finders.  Seems like one other thing you can lose.

I have the same rangefinder I got for Xmas In 2005. It is huge - I look like Luke Skywalker scanning the horizon for sand people - but it works perfectly and is hard to lose. I’ve left it on the course maybe a dozen times and always got it back because I don’t think anyone wants to keep something that needs two hands to operate...

[FakeClubPro]

47 minutes ago, doctorgriffo said:

I have the same rangefinder I got for Xmas In 2005. It is huge - I look like Luke Skywalker scanning the horizon for sand people - but it works perfectly and is hard to lose. I’ve left it on the course maybe a dozen times and always got it back because I don’t think anyone wants to keep something that needs two hands to operate...

😅  Hopefully the sand people are not at your local course sand traps.   Good story.

[llewol007]

I have a range finder but one of the best things I came across was an app that gave me distance and actual distance with slope included. It showed me how way off I was when there was any elevation change

[5baytjd]

16 hours ago, jordan2240 said:

My last few rounds, I decided to bag using my rangefinder because I just didn't feel like messing with it, and I've found my distance control simply by playing off the score card distances and the 150 marker and eyeballing it has actually been better.  I think one of the reasons for this is that when using the rangefinder, I have a tendency to try to be too precise, and I don't often hit my clubs very consistently anyway.  Now, I understand that you folks who consistently hit your clubs specific distances might benefit from knowing exactly how far you need to hit the ball, but I'm thinking that most of us weekend hackers really don't benefit much from rangefinders, and we could speed up play by bagging them.  Most of the guys I play with always want to know what distance they have to the flag, but I don't think they really have any idea how far they hit each club, and also duff the ball more often than not, so they'd really be better off just using a few clubs they can hit and not worrying about the distance.

 

Anyone else ever decide to bag the rangefinder?

Just sold rangefinder on the bay.  Wasn't using it since I got my ShotScope.  For me, knowing front, middle and back is quite enough; and with the performance stats provided by ShotScope, I also know how far I hit each club (average, playing average, and longest).

 

In addition I fire up The Grint app on my phone which shows yardages to dog-legs, etc., and the required yardages to clear them and get to the green.  I just have the free version still, and it is VERY beneficial when playing a new course.