53 replies to this topic

[baseballfrk8998]

Solutions Etcetera, on 02 April 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

baseballfrk8998, on 02 April 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

Solutions Etcetera, on 02 April 2012 - 10:15 AM, said:

I suppose this assumes you can always get the cart right by the ball; plenty of places where I play where this is not the case. What do you do when it is paths only?

True enough, I wasn't considering that. If it's paths only then I'm usually walking as that almost defeats the purpose of a cart.

Most of the places I play it is carts only. And my home course (even in the middle of Summer) has numerous roped off places you can't get the cart to. This is because it is a mountain course and they want to limit the chances of some idiot rolling the cart on steep slopes.

At the end of the day I suppose it depends on where you play, and if you can walk, as to whether a laser is too inconvenient (and of course if you really need the extra accuracy). For me, I like that the GPS watch gives me nothing more to fiddle with/think about than the shot at hand.

Of course I may just be too easily distracted.  

You make a good point because in a cart or carrying it's super easy to use a RF. It takes me less than 10 seconds to pick it up and lock on to a flag when using it. If playing a course where it's cart path only I suppose it  could be a hassle to put it in your pocket and carry it around. Luckily, I use the GX-3i and it's relatively small so it never really becomes an issue for myself.

My main issue is that I've never used an actual stand alone GPS device. I've used GPS apps on my iPhone and they've been off up to 10 yards before. I'm 100% sure that the stand alone devices would be more accurate, I've just never invested in one.

[raynorfan1]

Fore Triple Bogey, on 24 March 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

Thinking about switching out of the GolfLogix GPS and into a Bushnell Rangefinder.

While I have experience with both - what are your opinions of going the GPS route or the Rangefinder route?  Seems to me like more people are on one side of the fence or the other and rarely have mixed emotions...

There is also a downside to laser that I haven't previously addressed - it tells you the distance to the flag.

Unless you have your distances dialed it can be an issue. If you laser the pin @ 155 and it's at the back, you might well find your ball off the back; likewise, if it's 155 and at the front, you can easily come up short. It definitely takes an adjustment period - in my first several rounds with the laser, I missed a few greens with good shots because the pin location and distances worked against me. If your goal is to hit the green, the F/M/B of a GPS can be better information than the exact distance.

[MrHack]

raynorfan1, on 02 April 2012 - 02:54 PM, said:

Fore Triple Bogey, on 24 March 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

Thinking about switching out of the GolfLogix GPS and into a Bushnell Rangefinder.

While I have experience with both - what are your opinions of going the GPS route or the Rangefinder route?  Seems to me like more people are on one side of the fence or the other and rarely have mixed emotions...

There is also a downside to laser that I haven't previously addressed - it tells you the distance to the flag.

Unless you have your distances dialed it can be an issue. If you laser the pin @ 155 and it's at the back, you might well find your ball off the back; likewise, if it's 155 and at the front, you can easily come up short. It definitely takes an adjustment period - in my first several rounds with the laser, I missed a few greens with good shots because the pin location and distances worked against me. If your goal is to hit the green, the F/M/B of a GPS can be better information than the exact distance.

Thanks for this tid bit. I just picked up a Bushnell 1600 and played a course I didn't know and realized it had some serious blind shots. It also had a par 3 over water where the pin was up front and only 4 yards from the water!!!  I'm seriously considering taking it back for a gps. I just downloaded golflogix for $20 yesterday. Might just use this instead and return the rangefinder and not get the SGX.  Decisions decisions!!!!

[DaveLeeNC]

MrHack, on 02 April 2012 - 03:09 PM, said:

SNIP
Thanks for this tid bit. I just picked up a Bushnell 1600 and played a course I didn't know and realized it had some serious blind shots. It also had a par 3 over water where the pin was up front and only 4 yards from the water!!!  I'm seriously considering taking it back for a gps. I just downloaded golflogix for $20 yesterday. Might just use this instead and return the rangefinder and not get the SGX.  Decisions decisions!!!!

I carry both a laser and GPS (basic GPS - NEO).

I mostly rely on the laser but had thought that it would be nice to know when (for example) the pin is only a couple paces from the rear of the green. My experience is that the GPS (combination of both mapping accuracy and basic GPS accuracy) just isn't accurate enough to 'reliably alert a golfer' to such a situation. My GPS in my area is no better than 5 yards even if the mapping is perfect (which it most certainly is not).

GPS still has value to me, but laser is the tool that I would absolutely HATE to give up.

dave

[Dixie Flatline]

MrHack, on 02 April 2012 - 03:09 PM, said:

raynorfan1, on 02 April 2012 - 02:54 PM, said:

Fore Triple Bogey, on 24 March 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

Thinking about switching out of the GolfLogix GPS and into a Bushnell Rangefinder.

While I have experience with both - what are your opinions of going the GPS route or the Rangefinder route?  Seems to me like more people are on one side of the fence or the other and rarely have mixed emotions...

There is also a downside to laser that I haven't previously addressed - it tells you the distance to the flag.

Unless you have your distances dialed it can be an issue. If you laser the pin @ 155 and it's at the back, you might well find your ball off the back; likewise, if it's 155 and at the front, you can easily come up short. It definitely takes an adjustment period - in my first several rounds with the laser, I missed a few greens with good shots because the pin location and distances worked against me. If your goal is to hit the green, the F/M/B of a GPS can be better information than the exact distance.

Thanks for this tid bit. I just picked up a Bushnell 1600 and played a course I didn't know and realized it had some serious blind shots. It also had a par 3 over water where the pin was up front and only 4 yards from the water!!!  I'm seriously considering taking it back for a gps. I just downloaded golflogix for $20 yesterday. Might just use this instead and return the rangefinder and not get the SGX.  Decisions decisions!!!!

Not to quibble, but how would the GPS be that much better?  You can see that the flag is 4-5 paces from the water.  You got a dead on accurate reading to the flag.  So you know flag -5 is water and flag +5 is safety.  Just because you laser the flag, doesn't mean that that's the yardage you have to play the shot. I have had an SG5 for about 6 years and I am about to switch to a laser.  My frequent cart partner in our Saturday game has a laser and I use his more than the SkyCaddie.

[MrHack]

[/quote]
I was just using this as an example. Of course I knew to hit it longer. But on more than a few situations, we couldn't see the hazards around doglegs, lay ups, and other blind situations. Don't get me wrong, I like the laser but I'm being temped by the fact that I can see the layout of the hole and all the yardages to and fro!!  That's all.

[ChuckN69]

Thinking about switching from sky caddie to laser, this definitely helps.

[golfpros1]

If you want pin point accuracy, then laser is no brainer.  But I think for the majority of golfers, the gps is just more convenient. It gives you a better overall picture of the hole, like where to lay up, or the fat part of the green to work from, etc.  There's just more to golf then the distance to the flag, even though having that information is very important.  I think the laser proves to be the most useful in practice,  quite honestly.  I guess in a perfect world you'd have both.

[TML]

i have a leupold GX-3.  When someone in my group has a GPS, they are always asking me for the yardage.  Always.  Seems they are like me ...... having the exact yardage to the pin or exact yardage to a bunker, are like facts....there is no guessing.

[TML]

Solutions Etcetera, on 02 April 2012 - 11:05 AM, said:

dcmidnight, on 02 April 2012 - 10:50 AM, said:

Maybe its me but it just took me longer to lock into a pin then it did to take a quick glance at the gps.

It is not just you. I play with a guy who uses a laser and it easily adds 30+ seconds to his pre-shot routine; longer if the cart can not be driven directly to the ball.

Hmmm… where are those folks from the pace of play threads complaining about 3+ hour rounds?  

30 seconds?  I grab the distance as soon as I get to the tee or the ball, wait for my playing partners to hit and several minutes later it's my turn to hit my ball.  Tell your friend to play ready golf.  Our 4-some plays a leisurely round of golf in under 3 hrs 30 mins.

[golfpros1]

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:08 PM, said:

i have a leupold GX-3.  When someone in my group has a GPS, they are always asking me for the yardage.  Always.  Seems they are like me ...... having the exact yardage to the pin or exact yardage to a bunker, are like facts....there is no guessing.

and as soon as you come to a blind shot or dog leg, you always ask them for yardage. lol

the best gps products are pretty accurate.  it's absolutely correct that lasers are very very accurate, and these days even to 1/10 of a yard, but a few yards short or long wont mean much to almost everyone I can think of that tees it up.  Front/middle/back is all they need, and the vast amount of info from tee to green just can not be duplicated on a laser equally. I dare say anyone that can hit a shot closer when they know it's 172 yards versus 169 yards is in a league I'm not familiar.

so basically, people need to buy both.

Edited by golfpros1, 10 April 2012 - 10:26 PM.

[TML]

golfpros1, on 10 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:08 PM, said:

i have a leupold GX-3.  When someone in my group has a GPS, they are always asking me for the yardage.  Always.  Seems they are like me ...... having the exact yardage to the pin or exact yardage to a bunker, are like facts....there is no guessing.

and as soon as you come to a blind shot or dog leg, you always ask them for yardage. lol

the best gps products are pretty accurate.  it's absolutely correct that lasers are very very accurate, and these days even to 1/10 of a yard, but a few yards short or long wont mean much to almost everyone I can think of that tees it up.  Front/middle/back is all they need, and the vast amount of info from tee to green just can not be duplicated on a laser equally. I dare say anyone that can hit a shot closer when they know it's 172.5 yards versus 169 yards is in a league I'm not familiar.

if you honestly have used both, then I'll say it's your opinion.  But our 4'some has owned both and somehow the lasers are constant, while GPS's are here today and gone tomorrow.

[golfpros1]

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:20 PM, said:

golfpros1, on 10 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:08 PM, said:

i have a leupold GX-3.  When someone in my group has a GPS, they are always asking me for the yardage.  Always.  Seems they are like me ...... having the exact yardage to the pin or exact yardage to a bunker, are like facts....there is no guessing.

and as soon as you come to a blind shot or dog leg, you always ask them for yardage. lol

the best gps products are pretty accurate.  it's absolutely correct that lasers are very very accurate, and these days even to 1/10 of a yard, but a few yards short or long wont mean much to almost everyone I can think of that tees it up.  Front/middle/back is all they need, and the vast amount of info from tee to green just can not be duplicated on a laser equally. I dare say anyone that can hit a shot closer when they know it's 172.5 yards versus 169 yards is in a league I'm not familiar.

if you honestly have used both, then I'll say it's your opinion.  But our 4'some has owned both and somehow the lasers are constant, while GPS's are here today and gone tomorrow.

Funny enough, I just recently purchased a gx3i.  I found it a little difficult to shoot pins on first try, so I felt it slowed me down.  It was incredibly accurate without question, but I can tell already that the info from the gps to every conceivable point on the hole along with ariel views, etc, were quickly missed.  A laser just can not give you all the info a gps can.  But for practice, it's very important to own.  I think in a perfect world a person would own both.

[Solutions Etcetera]

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

30 seconds?  I grab the distance as soon as I get to the tee or the ball, wait for my playing partners to hit and several minutes later it's my turn to hit my ball.  Tell your friend to play ready golf.  Our 4-some plays a leisurely round of golf in under 3 hrs 30 mins.

You are obviously very passionate about lasers, but if you can't admit a GPS is faster and more convenient, you're not being objective about the pros and cons of both.

Edited by Solutions Etcetera, 11 April 2012 - 05:49 AM.

[Andy L]

I agree solutions etc it is simply not possible for laser to be faster than GPS unless you have significant signal issues.  There is no way to be faster than glancing at my GPS clipped to my bag or push cart before I make a club selection.

I will say that many of these graphic GPS devices can lead to more fiddling and over analysis which could add time, but that's a user issue.

[ladahl]

I have both while I pay the basic GPS with front/middle/bacl distances, and a V2.

I have always been a GPS guys, but since going with the laser I find I rarey touch my GPS anymore (only for blind shots)..  My scores have also improved a ton!  If could only choose one, it would be the lasrer by a long shot.

Solutions Etcetera, on 11 April 2012 - 05:48 AM, said:

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

30 seconds?  I grab the distance as soon as I get to the tee or the ball, wait for my playing partners to hit and several minutes later it's my turn to hit my ball.  Tell your friend to play ready golf.  Our 4-some plays a leisurely round of golf in under 3 hrs 30 mins.

You are obviously very passionate about lasers, but if you can't admit a GPS is faster and more convenient, you're not being objective about the pros and cons of both.

[TM_HOYER]

I own both but only use one depending on the situation. If I am playing a course that I play all the time and already know what clubs I need to use to avoid hazards, put the ball in the best place for the next shot, and know the green layout, then I use laser to get yardage to the pin. If I am playing a course I have never played or play infrequently, I use GPS to figure out the yardage I want to hit the ball and determine course management.

[baseballfrk8998]

Solutions Etcetera, on 11 April 2012 - 05:48 AM, said:

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

30 seconds?  I grab the distance as soon as I get to the tee or the ball, wait for my playing partners to hit and several minutes later it's my turn to hit my ball.  Tell your friend to play ready golf.  Our 4-some plays a leisurely round of golf in under 3 hrs 30 mins.

You are obviously very passionate about lasers, but if you can't admit a GPS is faster and more convenient, you're not being objective about the pros and cons of both.

Agreed. A GPS is likely faster in most situations but I really enjoy the laser for an exact yardage to the flag. The courses that I play have red/white/blue flags so I never have to worry about where the flag is in relation to the green. If I shoot 147 on a front flag then I'll pull out the 150 club. If I shoot 147 on a back flag I'll pull out the 140 club.

[Wayneo]

TM_HOYER, on 11 April 2012 - 09:23 AM, said:

I own both but only use one depending on the situation. If I am playing a course that I play all the time and already know what clubs I need to use to avoid hazards, put the ball in the best place for the next shot, and know the green layout, then I use laser to get yardage to the pin. If I am playing a course I have never played or play infrequently, I use GPS to figure out the yardage I want to hit the ball and determine course management.

+1 here.

[TML]

Solutions Etcetera, on 11 April 2012 - 05:48 AM, said:

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

30 seconds?  I grab the distance as soon as I get to the tee or the ball, wait for my playing partners to hit and several minutes later it's my turn to hit my ball.  Tell your friend to play ready golf.  Our 4-some plays a leisurely round of golf in under 3 hrs 30 mins.

You are obviously very passionate about lasers, but if you can't admit a GPS is faster and more convenient, you're not being objective about the pros and cons of both.

I only commented on your playing partner taking 30 seconds to get a yardage.  GPS is faster but is no more accurate than seeing the red, white and blue yard sticks/sprinkler heads on the course.

If it takes him 30 seconds to get the yardage, I would say your friend is just slow period.

[golfpros1]

TML, on 11 April 2012 - 08:21 PM, said:

Solutions Etcetera, on 11 April 2012 - 05:48 AM, said:

TML, on 10 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

30 seconds?  I grab the distance as soon as I get to the tee or the ball, wait for my playing partners to hit and several minutes later it's my turn to hit my ball.  Tell your friend to play ready golf.  Our 4-some plays a leisurely round of golf in under 3 hrs 30 mins.

You are obviously very passionate about lasers, but if you can't admit a GPS is faster and more convenient, you're not being objective about the pros and cons of both.

I only commented on your playing partner taking 30 seconds to get a yardage.  GPS is faster but is no more accurate than seeing the red, white and blue yard sticks/sprinkler heads on the course.

If it takes him 30 seconds to get the yardage, I would say your friend is just slow period.

the top gps devices are generally within +/- 2 yards of actual yardage, and provide an infinite amount of information about a golf hole that a laser will never be able to do.  In fact, GPS is so accurate it's used for some of the top engineered military weapons to hit designated targets with a variety of weaponry.  A laser is very accurate, to 1/10 of a yard, but again, no where near as useful when obtaining a strategy for any hole.

Edited by golfpros1, 11 April 2012 - 08:48 PM.

[Eternal]

This is an awesome thread. Me personally, I've never owned either until yesterday when I picked up a SkyCaddie SGX. The main seller for me was the price, since I had a coupon it made the price a little bit better. Didn't realize how expensive lasers were but it all makes sense. I guess everybody has their own preference but each has their separate pros and cons.

[Solutions Etcetera]

TML, on 11 April 2012 - 08:21 PM, said:

If it takes him 30 seconds to get the yardage, I would say your friend is just slow period.

It takes him 30 seconds to retrieve it from his bag, walk to ball, sight it, and walk back to his bag to return it.

[ladahl]

This isn't likea iron cover/no iron cover thread......  Either unit is great!

But if you use iron covers and a GPS on a belt clip......______________