The GHIN Mobile app has been updated with GPS, shot tracking, and green heat maps!

[Imp]

2 hours ago, dlygrisse said:

What exactly is a heat map?  How is that different from the map with the arrows showing slopes?  

The arrows are not as plentiful on the heat map, as the black and white "Putt map" display (see attached for screenshots of the 1st hole of a course / color = heatmap).

What the app doesn't have, are numbers seen on many green books, representing speed/severity of break.  

 

 

 

[dlygrisse]

3 hours ago, Imp said:

The arrows are not as plentiful on the heat map, as the black and white "Putt map" display (see attached for screenshots of the 1st hole of a course / color = heatmap).

What the app doesn't have, are numbers seen on many green books, representing speed/severity of break.  

 

 

 

Do the hotter the slope the more severe the slope is?    

[Shilgy]

@ImpI thought the numbers on detailed green reading maps are the degrees of slope? Helps with aim point users was my understanding.  But I really don’t know.

[Imp]

I can tell you, after using it the 1st time today,  the GPS distances to the greens using the green maps, are broken. I'm emailing them now.  

 

 

 

 

[cjblake09]

I used it last weekend with no issues and my rangefinder and the GHIN yardages were spot on.  I did not pay the extra $40 for the green view/ heat map but just general yardages were great.  I did really drain my phone battery though so if the cart does not have a charger port make sure your phone is a full juice before playing.  I could see myself going away from a rangefinder altogether if it keeps working well the next few rounds. 

[Imp]

2 hours ago, cjblake09 said:

I used it last weekend with no issues and my rangefinder and the GHIN yardages were spot on.  I did not pay the extra $40 for the green view/ heat map but just general yardages were great.  I did really drain my phone battery though so if the cart does not have a charger port make sure your phone is a full juice before playing.  I could see myself going away from a rangefinder altogether if it keeps working well the next few rounds. 

 

GPS is great for getting the front/middle/back ranges. Something a laser alone (some have GPS built in) cannot do unless there are bunkers or trees to hit. A laser then pinpoints the target to within that range. Using the two together is invaluable because then you know where the pin is on the green in relation to front/middle/back.

 

It's a bigger mistake to use GPS instead of a rangefinder than GPS *with* a rangefinder. So I would suggest NOT getting rid of it. (And those that only use GPS are missing out on some accuracy)

 

Lasers are accurate to the foot where GPS is +/- 3-5 yards (i.e. 10 to 15 feet), and have been noted to have wider gaps depending on signal strength. That's why you should only use GPS for front/middle/back.

 

Where the heatmap comes in, is knowing where you play it safe. If you play the same course over and over, you should know the greens well already. (I used the heatmaps Friday and ... with the error, found them almost useless on one of my home courses, I knew most of the breaks). 

 

I also played Monday (yesterday) at a course I play once or twice a year, and again, with the error mentioned in a previous post, it was almost useless for distance (right now). Reading a green, did pretty well... once I had the speed down (practice green was faster than the course greens). Looking at the green on approach, showed me where to aim and land the ball. Also, allowed me to try to land some shots short and roll up instead of high wedges... depending on where the pin was located and breaks (that I wouldn't have seen until I was on the green). 

 

Using it for putting? Pull out, autorotate on, look at general direction and go for it. Thing is there was nothing yesterday that I didn't see with my own eyes, that the app would have had me change my mind. And that's where I see it's greatest use... "am I seeing this right". How many times has someone said "it goes left to right" and your eyes see right to left? This will help with the confidence in reading what your eyes are telling you. 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by Imp

[Abh159]

Out of curiosity... has anyone who paid for the heatmaps tried screenshotting and saving them? 

 

Although I play my home club 99% of the time (and I know most of the greens like the back of my hand), I'd like to have them available for when I bring guests out. Maybe even create my own little PDF green map book for the course. 

 

Even though it's only $40, I don't play at other unfamiliar courses enough to use it on a regular basis.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Abh159

[Imp]

1 hour ago, Abh159 said:

Out of curiosity... has anyone who paid for the heatmaps tried screenshotting and saving them? 

 

Although I play my home club 99% of the time (and I know most of the greens like the back of my hand), I'd like to have them available for when I bring guests out. Maybe even create my own little PDF green map book for the course. 

 

Even though it's only $40, I don't play at other unfamiliar courses enough to use it on a regular basis.

Probably breaks some kind of Terms of Use. You can see the screenshots I used above for explanation of an issue.

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by Imp

[vernon]

My Skycaddie subscription expires today.  Gonna give this a shot this afternoon before deciding on whether or not to renew with Skygolf.

[snagy2000]

1 hour ago, vernon said:

My Skycaddie subscription expires today.  Gonna give this a shot this afternoon before deciding on whether or not to renew with Skygolf.

It's been 2+ weeks since I purchased only to find out my green maps are not in the app. I've reached out to them, they acknowledged, but still waiting. Hopefully soon!

Edited August 16, 2021 by snagy2000

[naromgerg]

Wish they would still give you a greenview on the app regardless if you get the breaks on them or not, just to see the shapes. Would be especially helpful on new courses. Seems like a nice upgrade to the app though, and definitely going to make the other apps not necessary to have if you can just play and post a round on the same app.

[Rbsiedsc]

I can’t see this anywhere when I preview a course. Is it possible all the courses around me don’t have greens mapped?

[Imp]

On 8/16/2021 at 12:14 PM, snagy2000 said:

It's been 2+ weeks since I purchased only to find out my green maps are not in the app. I've reached out to them, they acknowledged, but still waiting. Hopefully soon!

I did encounter another glitch after updating the app.... It wouldn't load them for me either. BUT! I did this: go to "More". Select "Enhanced GPS". Select "My subscription". I wanted to see if my subscription was valid still before sending another email. (All info was there) Does it have your subscription info in there? After I did that, it may had re-negotiated/set a flag in the app that I was allowed to load green details after going back to check courses/greens. And now, it works. 

I have also noticed sometimes I have to close the course, and re-load it for it to see the greens again.

[Imp]

32 minutes ago, Rbsiedsc said:

I can’t see this anywhere when I preview a course. Is it possible all the courses around me don’t have greens mapped?

If that's the case there should be a message stating they are not available and submit a request. As I mentioned above, I have had to reload a course more than once for it to actually show. 

[Rbsiedsc]

16 minutes ago, Imp said:

If that's the case there should be a message stating they are not available and submit a request. As I mentioned above, I have had to reload a course more than once for it to actually show. 

Actually that message isn’t there either

[snagy2000]

11 minutes ago, Imp said:

I did encounter another glitch after updating the app.... It wouldn't load them for me either. BUT! I did this: go to "More". Select "Enhanced GPS". Select "My subscription". I wanted to see if my subscription was valid still before sending another email. (All info was there) Does it have your subscription info in there? After I did that, it may had re-negotiated/set a flag in the app that I was allowed to load green details after going back to check courses/greens. And now, it works. 

I have also noticed sometimes I have to close the course, and re-load it for it to see the greens again.

 

I recently got a new phone and its working for 2 of the 3 course combinations. We have 3 nines, Robert, Trent & Jones. The main rotation varies from week to week. One week it will be Robert/Trent, the next it will be Trent/Jones and the following week it will be Jones/Robert. The Jones/Robert green mapping is not working, but the other 2 combinations are working. Sent them a request. It might have something to do with GHIN calling the Jones/Robert rotation Robert/Jones with the holes information set up as Jones/Robert. 

[Imp]

25 minutes ago, snagy2000 said:

 

I recently got a new phone and its working for 2 of the 3 course combinations. We have 3 nines, Robert, Trent & Jones. The main rotation varies from week to week. One week it will be Robert/Trent, the next it will be Trent/Jones and the following week it will be Jones/Robert. The Jones/Robert green mapping is not working, but the other 2 combinations are working. Sent them a request. It might have something to do with GHIN calling the Jones/Robert rotation Robert/Jones with the holes information set up as Jones/Robert. 

I know even on some other GPS apps, you need to do them as separate 9s to get them to work. Is it something like that? Can you do the individual 9s?

 

[snagy2000]

12 minutes ago, Imp said:

I know even on some other GPS apps, you need to do them as separate 9s to get them to work. Is it something like that? Can you do the individual 9s?

 

The only individual 9 it shows is Robert. Maybe if Trent and Jones were in there as individual, it would work smoothly. 

[ilikegolf26]

On 7/27/2021 at 6:42 PM, clover said:

Oh great; can't wait to see guys whipping out their phones on the green, squinting in the sun trying to see their screen so they can "study" the subtle breaks in their 6 foot bogey putt. It's bound to slow pace of play, which is the last thing golf needs. I know the technology was already available elsewhere, but I'm surprised and disappointed that the USGA is lending its name and support to this "upgrade". I guess the potential revenue source outweighs its commitment to pace of play. Ironic that just when the Tour is finally banning green books since it regards green reading as a skill that should differentiate players, the USGA is providing the same maps to every amateur in an app.

I’ve used this feature before. It doesn’t take any longer than if someone squats down to read the green. Usually I do it while the people I’m playing with are hitting their putts anyway. 

[clover]

On 9/14/2021 at 9:53 AM, ilikegolf26 said:

I’ve used this feature before. It doesn’t take any longer than if someone squats down to read the green. Usually I do it while the people I’m playing with are hitting their putts anyway. 

That's great, and to reiterate, I've got no problem with players that use it efficiently. However many don't. We've got a couple of guys in our weekend morning group of 20 that use either a book or app and study it for most putts like Bryson would for the back 9 of the Masters! It got so bad that we've outlawed their use for our weekend morning games. 😀(p.s. those guys were average putters before the book/app and are still missing the same putts they used to!)

[Imp]

2 hours ago, clover said:

That's great, and to reiterate, I've got no problem with players that use it efficiently. However many don't. We've got a couple of guys in our weekend morning group of 20 that use either a book or app and study it for most putts like Bryson would for the back 9 of the Masters! It got so bad that we've outlawed their use for our weekend morning games. 😀(p.s. those guys were average putters before the book/app and are still missing the same putts they used to!)

On greens you play all the time, you should know the breaks and the misses/where to hit it on the approach. It's the infrequent courses that are hard. I appreciate having it because I can look at it as I walk to my approach, do a quick laser and know left right sideways. 🙂

[larrybud]

As someone who bought a few golflogix books, these guys using them for subtle putt breaks are kidding themselves. They aren't nearly detailed enough to get that read. Just trying to identify exactly where you (and the pin) are on a grid which is 3/8" per 5 yards is too difficult, and so you can't get a read after that.

 

They are good for getting overall slope info on approach shots or chips, however. Also, if you know the speed of your greens, you can predict where a ball won't stop. For example, on my home course they generally run 9-9.5, so any slope which is yellow or hotter, the ball will not stop on. Handy when knowing you can take a putt or chip to the edge of a green, knowing that it will come down off a particular slope.

 

However, I've mostly abandoned using them. Took too much of the feel out of a shot.

[Jtgavigan]

I previewed this upgrade. Liked being able to preview a course I hadn't played before, especially the greens. So, I bought it.

 

However,  when I would get to the course, I would select the menu option to play with GPS and after downloading the course, there was no map of the hole and couldn't get to the green map. It said I needed to upgrade. I closed and reopened the app several times and it finally worked. Not sure the gps numbers were right. They definitely seemed off. 

 

Next time I went to play, same thing, except after the first try of playing with the gps and it asking me to upgrade, I just used 18 birdies. So, I emailed support with a screenshot. They asked me to repurchase the app after they refunded me as maybe there was a glitch with their system with regards to my subscription. 

 

I tried it again Thursday with the same issue. So, they ended up refunding me again. 

 

I may let some time pass and repurchase after they get some bugs worked out. Anyone else experience this or is it just me?

[Imp]

On 9/18/2021 at 9:36 AM, Jtgavigan said:

I previewed this upgrade. Liked being able to preview a course I hadn't played before, especially the greens. So, I bought it.

 

However,  when I would get to the course, I would select the menu option to play with GPS and after downloading the course, there was no map of the hole and couldn't get to the green map. It said I needed to upgrade. I closed and reopened the app several times and it finally worked. Not sure the gps numbers were right. They definitely seemed off. 

 

Next time I went to play, same thing, except after the first try of playing with the gps and it asking me to upgrade, I just used 18 birdies. So, I emailed support with a screenshot. They asked me to repurchase the app after they refunded me as maybe there was a glitch with their system with regards to my subscription. 

 

I tried it again Thursday with the same issue. So, they ended up refunding me again. 

 

I may let some time pass and repurchase after they get some bugs worked out. Anyone else experience this or is it just me?

Did you try this also? https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1825843-the-ghin-mobile-app-has-been-updated-with-gps-shot-tracking-and-green-heat-maps/?do=findComment&comment=23798178

 

[Jtgavigan]

1 hour ago, Imp said:

Did you try this also? https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1825843-the-ghin-mobile-app-has-been-updated-with-gps-shot-tracking-and-green-heat-maps/?do=findComment&comment=23798178

 

 

We did check the subscription status and it was active. I think they have a glitch. 

[J Wheazy]

On 8/10/2021 at 1:14 PM, Abh159 said:

Out of curiosity... has anyone who paid for the heatmaps tried screenshotting and saving them? 

 

Although I play my home club 99% of the time (and I know most of the greens like the back of my hand), I'd like to have them available for when I bring guests out. Maybe even create my own little PDF green map book for the course. 

 

Even though it's only $40, I don't play at other unfamiliar courses enough to use it on a regular basis.

I screen capped the heat maps and was warned on my phone not to do it as it is a copyright violation, I think it threatened to disable the feature as well.

[Imp]

16 hours ago, J Wheazy said:

I screen capped the heat maps and was warned on my phone not to do it as it is a copyright violation, I think it threatened to disable the feature as well.

I think they can get in trouble with that, trying to enforce. There are times a screen shot is very necessary, no signal, etc... ask long as you don't re-distribute, you should be fine. Heck, I posted a few in this thread... because it's discussion of an issue, not "HEY LOOK! USE THIS!" Heck, even emailed them back to them when trying to resolve... which they were a) very helpful and b) did resolve it. 

A notice is fine, a reminder. But, there are uses one can create a reproduction, that are still allowed under copyright law. the biggest being... For personal use, not to be distributed.

[mharr]

I tried this (green map / heat map) when it first came out at my home course (Savannah Lakes in SC).  First hole, map showed a break to the right, the putt broke left.  It does not account for grain on Bermuda greens, which is my biggest problem trying to adjust after moving here from Ohio.