SG5 vs Golf Buddy Tour

[dbelletrutti]

Anybody have any insight on these products? I'm looking for a GPS unit and have narrowed it down to these two. I'm wondering if anyone has used either of these and can tell me the differences, if any? I know the Golf Buddy has no yearly fee and stores more courses, but am I missing naything else? Thanks.

[phil75070]

I have not used either, but having owned and used the SkyGolf SG2 for the last4-5 years I think I can speak to the SG5 features. The big things about SkyGolf are the number of courses that are already pre-mapped, and their "Intelligreen" feature which does two things, rotates the green to your orientation and with movable "crosshairs" allows you to estimate distance to the pin or frony and back yardages at any point or on any line into the green. Biggest drawback is their annual subscription fee and the unit cost for the SG5.

 

Golf Buddy I only know about ny reading about it. It appears that the pre-loaded courses only contain front, back and center yardages, no distances to hazards, bunkers, etc. It appears you have to map those yourself. Secondly, it does appear to provide front, back and center yardages based on your position relative to the green, but I don't believe you have anything "movable" to provide estimated distance to the pin or to other points of the green or lines of play. Perhaps someone who owns one can clarify these two points.

 

Might I suggest you consider an alternate unit, the Golf Guru? I replaced my SG2 (nothing wrong with it, just looking for something new) about 6 weeks ago and could not be happier with a unit. It has an equivalent to the Intelligreen feature but the points rotate around the green relative to your position instead of the green rotating, it can pick up more satellites and is WAAS enabled which leads to increased accuracy, the unit price is $249 and there is no annual subscription fee. The list of courses they have mapped is growing but admittedly their weak point right now. It is the only GPS I know of that if you do map a course yourself (or in the near future edit a downloaded course) you actually map the outline of the green, not just mark front, center and back points! It does NOT have a color screen, but can track your score and basic stats, which are uploadable to a 3rd party paid membership site for handicap calculation and stat tracking.

[Gsco]

Both are $429. I'd wait to see if the upro is the real deal or not. It's $399 + courses, but it could be great.

[nickwestenberger]

I see you posted this question in April - did you ever buy one and if so what is your opinion now. I've got the same question now you had then.

 

Thanks, Nick

[Unteachable]

I bought the sg5 holiday pack from tgw 3 weeks ago and love it. It works perfectly. The holiday pack is on sale today at tgw for 365, which is about 30 dollars less than what I paid. It includes the unit, leather case, travel case, car charger and home charger.

[nickwestenberger]

Thanks a lot; this decision has been driving me crazy but I think I am going for the SG5 also.

[golf_fanatik]

Thanks a lot; this decision has been driving me crazy but I think I am going for the SG5 also.

 

 

I did buy the Golf Buddy Pro (black/white unit) but the distances given were very unstable and it took some time to lock them. I ended up returning it and buying a SG5.

 

However, I don't use it much and may sell it.. so let me know if you want to get one at a good price (membership and screen protector included).

 

You may want to look at the Guru as well.

[nickwestenberger]

I wound up buying the SG5 off of ebay ($316 new great price) - loaded onto my computer very easily - downloaded coarses easily - took it out to the course the other day (overcast and misty) - it fired up and locked in and worked perfectly - distances all seemed very accurate - only problem, the length of my drives was consistently short by 50 yards ;) - very happy with it so far.