GolfShot gps (iphone)

[wvuwhat]

Short Review

I hope this is the right forum to put this in, if not I apologize.

To preface, I've been looking at Skycaddies, GolfLogix, and various rangefinders since they became legal for tournament play a few years back. I was just always so hesitant to drop 250+ on something I didn't know would help. Enter GolfShot on my iphone. I have my iphone with me at all times, so it was a no brainer to try this out, especially at 29.99.

I've played 5 rounds so far and I have found it to be extremely spot on. It was within a yard or two of one of my buddies rangefinders all day long. It gives you just about any distance you could want (bunkers, carry's, front/back/middle of the green) and the greatest thing is if you go to the aerial view, you can tap and drag to any spot on the hole and it'll tell you distance to that from where you are, and then from that location, to the green.

I played one round at a course I have never played before, so the aerial view was extremely helpful. I could see if there was something that I wanted to avoid off the tee.

Tracking stats has been something I've always kind of done, but would get lazy and not do it every round, thus making my observations kind of a moot point. Well, now I have something that will keep my score, gir's, putts, what I hit off of tees, if I hit the green, if I missed the fairway left, right, or short, sand saves, and penalty strokes. Basically, the only information that I care about.

I've also been able to input and keep scores and stats for anyone else in my 4-some. I can also put in their emails and they will get an email of their scorecard and stats. I never thought I'd use it, but I actually "shared" one of the my rounds to Facebook and Twitter, only because it was sub 70.

Battery Life: This was one of my main concerns. I am happy to report that I am able to charge my phone up at night and hit the course with 98%-100% battery life on my iphone 4 and by the end of the round, I'm still over 50%. I was extremely surprised.

I have no affiliation with this company, just wanted to get the word out and let people know that there are other options to rangefinders/gps that are out there. I imagine a lot of people on here have iphones, so at 29.99 you're paying 10% of what you would and you'd have to carry an additional device around. And, the best thing is they have over 35,000+ courses and their ads say that if you have a course that isn't in their database they will get it mapped within 10 days. And, the 29.99 is a one-time fee, no paying every year like GolfLogix on the iphone (which is why I never upgraded from their lite version, I think they wanted something like 30-40 a year).



*Word of warning, one of my buddies bought this app for his Droid X (Android Market) and he said it didn't compare to my version, he was upset paying the same 29.99 that I did and getting a worse version.

[noddy]

Thanks for the review, agreed it could be awesome but for some reason for me the gps on my iphone 4 can be anywhere from 5-50 yep thats right FIFTY metres out. Last week standing on the tee of a par 3 which I know is about 160m and golf shot told me I was 212m from the centre of the green. Absolutely useless

[Colorado Mobile]

I have not tried this version but I have tried several different golf GPS apps and on my phone they are all over the place as far as accuracy. None compare to my SGX, glad you found somthing that works.

[noddy]

I find excatly the same as you CO, then sometimes I come across something like the OP and wonder if I'm doing something wrong?! I want it to work as good as it look put nope. Thinking about a sonocaddie v300 when the budget allows for it!

[mudfish]

I have used Golfshot for over a year, and I am impressed with the accuracy. It's not spot on, but never more that 3-5 yards off. with my game 3-5 yards doesn't make that much of a difference, but for some on here it may. I just got my iPhone 4 and haven't used it on there yet, but for my old 3G a round of 18 would use up about 75% of the battery.


I have come to love it and used it for over 40 rounds last year.

[ThreeOnParFive]

I read several places about accuracy issues with the iPhone's GPS and 3G. This info came out prior to the iPhone 4 so not sure if it still applies but it was recommended by folks scattered around the web to disable 3G prior to doing things that need GPS. Ever since then, I've just always done this and mine GolfShot has been rather accurate as well on my 3GS. Sometimes it's annoying that it takes a good 60 seconds to settle in on a distance but when it does, the distance is always good. Turning off 3G will significantly improve battery life.

[sheldonjhacker]

I've had Golfshot GPS on my iPhone since it came out. Love it-works VERY well! Super accurate and love the stats.

 

[NWS Alpine]

Some of you guys having issues with golfshot might want to take your phone to Apple for a replacement. If you can't get the blinking blue dot with google maps then something is wrong. If you don't get the blinking blue dot that follows you when you are driving etc then you are using aGPS not GPS. Assisted GPS is the cell tower triangulation and is not accurate enough for any golf GPS app. I had an iPhone 4 that was very slow to get yardage and it was way off. I took it to Apple and got a replacement and now it locks instantly and I'm within 2-3 yards from my Leupold GX-3.

[SHIVAN]

Some days it's spot on, some days it's off tremendously. I typically use it for yardages when I am off in the rough, or tried a shorter route that didn't work out.

One time it told me I was 170yds away, and I was inside of the 100yd marker but about 35-50yds from the center of the fairway. So I should have been reading 105 or so yds, but wanted to know for sure.

I knew 170 wasn't right. Since then, I trust it, but I do a quick sanity check first.

[dcmidnight]

I have found a major source of inaccuracy in these programs is how the courses are mapped. In the program I use (SkyDroid) it allows you to go online and see the course mappings and if needed change the mapped points. On one particular course last week I noticed a hole that was 60 yards off on the yardages - which I found very hard to believe since the rest of the day they had been spot on. So I went online and looked at the mapping. Well whoever mapped the course incorrectly mapped the green next to this one instead of the right one. Easy enough to do if you are mapping from aerial maps and not taking your time and/or dont know the course. So now prior to playing I will spend @ two minutes and buzz through the course map just to make sure.

[aaronsnow]

I'm using it on an iPhone 4G and haven't had any issues with the yardage being way off. It's usually very accurate (accurate enough for me anyway). I can't play golf without it!!

[QuadzillaXXX]

This is probably a dumb question, but I really have no idea how these things work.

Are the courses basically preprogrammed?

[aaronsnow]

Yeah, they are. When you get to the course, you hit the "play golf" button and it brings up a list of courses based on your location. Select which tee you're playing from and you're all set!

[Wayneo]

Quad,
The GPS points are pre-programmed. The points on a course never move during a round. The front of the green is always the same place, the center, the back. They never move. Neither do traps, or water, etc.

Those GPS co-ordinates are the things programmed in for each course. The GPS satellites know where YOU are, and tell the unit/software.

Because the software knows where those points are, and where you are, a quick calculation tells you how far you are away from each.


** some GPS units will allow you to move/rotate the front of the green to match where you actually are, which in turn will give you even better yardages if you're off to the side as an example.

[QuadzillaXXX]

that's pretty damn cool, thanks guys

wonder which of the courses near me are actually in there now lol for $30 it's worth a shot though

[SHIVAN]

[quote name='QuadzillaXXX' timestamp='1299523320' post='3033484']
that's pretty damn cool, thanks guys

wonder which of the courses near me are actually in there now lol for $30 it's worth a shot though
[/quote]


http://golfshot.com/GolfCourses

Take a look and find out. I've found them pretty comprehensive in my area.

[QuadzillaXXX]

[quote name='SHIVAN' timestamp='1299523722' post='3033505']
[quote name='QuadzillaXXX' timestamp='1299523320' post='3033484']
that's pretty damn cool, thanks guys

wonder which of the courses near me are actually in there now lol for $30 it's worth a shot though
[/quote]


[url="http://golfshot.com/GolfCourses"]http://golfshot.com/GolfCourses[/url]

Take a look and find out. I've found them pretty comprehensive in my area.
[/quote]

wow that's incredible, not only every course I play but even the pitch and putt courses

thank you

[sheldonjhacker]

as for battery life with the iPhone 3GS...if you follow the directions, you will have 25-40% left on your battery after 18 holes....you do NOT need an iPhone 4's better battery time. I have a 3GS and NEVER get close to running out of battery over a round of golf if I charge it before I play.

 

[peterhunt100]

I've been using this app since I had an iPhone 3G, then I had it on my 3GS, now I have it on my iPhone 4.

I recently organised an event on the "Twenty Ten" course at the Celtic Manor and as part of the package each fourball was given a sky caddie to use during their round. My iPhone was around 1 to 2 yards out each time in comparison to the sky caddie. The app cost me £17.99 way back when and I would recommend it to anyone who has an iPhone. I never play without it.

I can get to the course, play 18 using this app on every shot and still have 50% battery when I home.

Best app on the iPhone bar none.

[byronk]

I've been using golflogix on my iphone 4 because it was free, and it does work well. I just never know whithout reading stuff like this if its worth it to upgrade. Thanks for a great post, now I can upgrade to the golfshots and know im getting somthing that will do what I want it to.

[Ktown]

+1 for Golfshot. I have a Garmin and I never use it anymore. I also appreciate the fact that it emails me detailed stats after my round. If you put your golf buddies into your phone, it will email them the scorecard as well.

[jerryo]

Anyone on here running this on a 3G? Also, I will be moving over to Verizon when iPhone 5 arrives so will I have to pay another $29 or will the app transfer over?

[ThreeOnParFive]

[quote name='jerryo' timestamp='1300406168' post='3065267']
Anyone on here running this on a 3G? Also, I will be moving over to Verizon when iPhone 5 arrives so will I have to pay another $29 or will the app transfer over?
[/quote]

No...any iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad you sync to the same iTunes or any other iTunes that's you've authorized with your account will work. The apps use DRM based on your iTunes account, not any since device.

[scifisicko]

Ive had it for a while on my 3G. I ended up buying a dedicated device (Sonnocaddie). Im envious of the guys that can use it, my problems are probably specific to me as a dummy user....most notably i never got around to setting it up properly, so it seemed to always be asking me to enter my score for the previous hole (then it wanted the other players scores as well) rather than just give me a yardage (!) and it wouldn't move on to the next hole until you did the scoring for the previous hole(s). i would not look at it for 2 or 3 holes then have to enter 2 or 3 scores to get up to where it could give me a yardage. When i was setting up for my approach to the first, it would still want me to complete stuff from the last round before it would give me a yardage. The other problem was that it would completely drain my battery (from 100% to 0 in 3/4 of a round). Apparently if you turn stuff off (in settings) its better but i couldnt remember what to turn off. Also there was some battery saving standby setting, but when i used it, by the time it reactivated and gave me a distance i had already hit the shot. I much prefer the Sonnocaddie, just look at it and there is your yardage. Battery lasts 3 rounds and you still have a phone to ring your wife and tell her you need to be picked up after too many drinks.

[finalist]

The OP mentions legal for tournament play... Golfshots is not legal for tournaments. Because it's based on a smart phone the user can access illegal info which means DQ. Dedicated GPS devices such as the uPro, Skycaddie, etc are legal because they are dedicated and will not provide illegal info.

Overall I LOVE golfshots on my iphone4. It's accurate, clear, big screen, and the stats are amazing. I only wish the yardages populated as fast as on my uPro.

[Nike Markiie]

I purchased a Mophie Battery Extender for 100 bucks and I use the App and have it all the entire time. By the time im done with a round i turn on the mophie extender until i can charge my phone fully. The mophie extender is good for 2 full charges. Best 130 bucks I've spent.

I have owned a SGX also.....i'd take the golfshot anyday.

[FarFromScratch]

I've got the android version of Golfshot and have a question. I have it set on auto-handicap as I don't currently have a handicap, will it tell me a handicap after I've played X number of rounds?

[finalist]

[quote name='finalist' timestamp='1300422049' post='3065980']
ll I LOVE golfshots on my iphone4. It's accurate, clear, big screen, and the stats are amazing. I only wish the yardages populated as fast as on my uPro.
[/quote]


quick update...

I realized I was pushing the Home button after each read on my iPhone which slows down the yardage marking time when you wake it back up. I should only be hitting the sleep button at the top of the phone between shots. Hitting the Home button means the app has to start back up which slows down reading times.... So only hit the sleep button and all is great.

[Macklessdaddy]

[quote name='FarFromScratch' timestamp='1301349161' post='3097117']
I've got the android version of Golfshot and have a question. I have it set on auto-handicap as I don't currently have a handicap, will it tell me a handicap after I've played X number of rounds?
[/quote]

sadly for android this feature is broken,they told me it would be fixed in a future update over 4 months ago

[mathc38]

Best golf gps for the money you pay...Golfshot!