109 replies to this topic

[herkyjerk]

Ask anybody how far they drive the ball and you will get anywhere from a 20-50 yard BS factor.  I never considered myself in that group, always try to be honest.  Played my first round with Sky Caddie SG4 yesterday.  A week ago I would have said I hit driver 260-280.  After yesterday I have to revise it to 240-260 average.  I hit an absolute bomb on one hole, that a week ago I would have said oh yeah 290 easy.  Get up to it & SG4 mark says 272.  THIS WAS A BLAST, and came up 272.  Anyone else get exposed by the Sky Caddie distance buzzkill?  

[edwelly]

At my home course, we have 3 9 hole course - 1 of the 3 is much shorter 9 holes. On the first hole it is 361 to the green. I have hit a couple that left me a 3/4 sand wedge in. Now my full SW is 100 yards, so I figure about 80-85 yards. So I skycaddie the yardage thinking 270-280 range - I am all pumped up only to find a 255 drive. Still hit a 3/4 wedge shot to the middle of the green.
I will think that most 300 yard drives we read about are really 270-280'ish. I would love to have 270 drives all day long

[toddnt]

Thats the best feature of the Sky Caddie! I to thought I bombed a drive 300(with roll) and when I got up to it, it 270. I like to use that feature with my irons and wedges to dial it in, so off to the range I go!

[idrive400yards]

sky caddies are great, but for the people that ACTUALLY get their drives measured by a real person is alot more accurate!

[05_g35]

I too have a experience to share.  

I always said that I hit the ball 300 yards.  I really thought that I did.

I got the Skycaddie for Christmas.

I have been absolutely bombing the ball this year.  On my home course, I am consistently 30 - 40 yards longer than I was last year.

SkyCaddie says this year that I am hitting about 305 yards on average, so last year, I was 270ish.

It feels good now, but I feel like a fool for saying I could hit it 300 yards last year.

[jcjr34]

I'm glad you all confirmed my Sky Caddie wasn't broken! I too thought I hit a long (at least in my eyes..) drive only to find out that the Sky Caddie revealed an actual yardage of 20 yards less.

[laseranimal]

I will remind all that GPS's are sometimes off by as much as 15 meters(50 feet) which comes out to about 16.67 yards

Edited by laseranimal, 15 March 2007 - 02:36 PM.

[joneser]

laseranimal, on Mar 15 2007, 03:35 PM, said:

I will remind all that GPS's are sometimes off by as much as 15 meters(50 feet) which comes out to about 16.67 yards

I know that this has been documented in the past but I can tell you that my skycaddie was never more than 1-2 yds different than the courses markings or the laser when tested.

[ckay]

Just remember the saying "If you have to tell people you are good, you probably aren't" and that applies to people who say they are long.

[asmooth7]

+1!    But *those* posts are good for a chuckle...

ckay, on Mar 15 2007, 04:33 PM, said:

Just remember the saying "If you have to tell people you are good, you probably aren't" and that applies to people who say they are long.

[pjammer13]

You can add me too the list of the humbled by the Sky Caddie. I used to say I was a 300 driver but it is more like 280ish when I mark the ball with the GPS.

CP

[daihori]

Yeah, I thought I was averaging about 270-280 before I got my sky caddie and was even wondering why in the world some of the tour pros like Jim Furyk and Luke Donald average only 275-285.  I was so wrong.  I am now finding that my max drive is about 275 (even wind assisted, and of course with some roll), and the average is about 255 with my ss of about 98mph.  Well, I am now actually pretty happy because the numbers that I see seem to make more sense and I am finally breaking 80.  I really can't thank Sky caddie enough.  Only wish it was cheaper!

[mr_divots]

I have a Pinseeker 1500, and have played with people that have the SkyCaddies. They seem to be very accurate, so I don't think the +/- 15 yards applies to the Skycaddies. I have seen some cart-mounted GPS systems that have been off by as much as 25 yards, however. I was shocked.

I've hit some drives and people will say "that must be 320." Rarely is it over 290. That's really busting one for me. The lengths the pros AVERAGE is really something.

Does the SkyCaddie have a function to track a number of drives to determine an average? That would be cool if it did.

[Big Ben]

That's funny; I used my Sky caddie SG-3 for the first time this week and couldn't believe it. Granted it's still winter here but averaged 256 all day; that's much shorter than I thought. I'm going to win many bets with this thing; ten bucks already this week.

[laseranimal]

joneser, on Mar 15 2007, 05:26 PM, said:

laseranimal, on Mar 15 2007, 03:35 PM, said:

I will remind all that GPS's are sometimes off by as much as 15 meters(50 feet) which comes out to about 16.67 yards

I know that this has been documented in the past but I can tell you that my skycaddie was never more than 1-2 yds different than the courses markings or the laser when tested.

I was merely suggesting that everybody tack on 15 yards to what the skycaddie tells you you hit your drive    That way if the skycaddie tells you you hit your drive 275 then adding 15 yards due to the "error" you'd have an "actual" distance of 290

[golfware]

Yeah, it makes people realize that they don't need an X flex...  like myself included..

I have hit 300 yard drives before with my Skycaddie telling me 300 yards, and it's LONG.  Seriously LONG.

I've also hit some outstanding drives that I thought were LONG, to find out they were 272-275, which in all honesty, is long anyways...

Great device!!

I love mine...

[thenewbie]

well, we all know that our longest drives can easily turn into fish tales.  golfers have never been known for "perfection" or "honesty" when it comes to actuall "numbers".  BUT, as someone who actually does take it well over 300 on a regular basis, I can tell you how I measure.  take how long the hole is from the tee and just subtract how much you have left.  then, since there's so much estimating involved (unless your ball is sitting on top of a sprinkler head, haha), I always subtract or round down to the nearest tenth.  yesturday I had 65 yards left on a hole measuring 419.  so, after some math I'm confident that I can say I took it 350 and be sure I'm not exagerating.

that sounds reasonable right?

[HEMIPHIL]

I haven't tried a Skycaddie yet. I have a few holes on my home course where I check out my driving distance once in a while. The one's I use are a mixture ( all par 4's & fairly straight ) SW wind prevailing wind. When I bust one I'm between 265 - 270. That's basically no to little wind, either helping or hurting. Obviously downwind an into the wind the numbers will reflect distance gain, or loss. I'm usually hitting from about the same yardage most days. I just think some people don't know how far 300 YARDS is!!! Quick exaple......last fall, one of my regular guys in our foursome said " You got a hold of that one " to which I said " How far do you think it is? " He said " About 290 " I said " You're going to be suprised" ( I did put a good pass on it too ) The hole that day mesaured 350 yards straight away par 4... so we checked the marker location before we left the tee box ( 2 yards back of the stated 348 ) So we measured it....total = 265 yards. He was totally surprised. I wasn't. I wanted to say " You must really feel like a short hitter?" He's too good of a friend to say that to. *300 YARD drives are not as common as everyone thinks.*

[wildwilly911]

jcjr34, on Mar 15 2007, 02:09 PM, said:

I'm glad you all confirmed my Sky Caddie wasn't broken! I too thought I hit a long (at least in my eyes..) drive only to find out that the Sky Caddie revealed an actual yardage of 20 yards less.

its not broken

laseranimal, on Mar 15 2007, 02:35 PM, said:

I will remind all that GPS's are sometimes off by as much as 15 meters(50 feet) which comes out to about 16.67 yards

in open view ill bet its within 3 yard of actual yardage technology is great isnt it.

[HarboursideTC]

I am getting older and can't afford to lose any more distance off my drives.  I guess I won't be buying one of them Sky Caddie gizmos.

[tlflanders]

thenewbie, on Mar 15 2007, 07:00 PM, said:

I always subtract or round down to the nearest tenth.  yesturday I had 65 yards left on a hole measuring 419.  so, after some math I'm confident that I can say I took it 350 and be sure I'm not exagerating.

that sounds reasonable right?

If the hole doesn't have an elevation change from the tee to the green and if the hole is straight on then there is a good chance. Is there a dog leg on that particular hole? If you are cutting the dog leg, then likely you aren't hitting the ball 350. Holes are measured in straight lines from point to point. This is why so many here have mentioned that they aren't hitting the ball as long as they thought. The Sky Caddie measures from the tee box to where the ball ends up in a straight line from what I understand.

TL

[AcesAZ]

Are you guys saying all these courses are juiced up like 10 percent? If I play a straight away par 4 400 yards, and hit it to the 100 yard marker, how far did I hit it?

[rkruff]

thenewbie, on Mar 15 2007, 05:00 PM, said:

well, we all know that our longest drives can easily turn into fish tales.  golfers have never been known for "perfection" or "honesty" when it comes to actuall "numbers".  BUT, as someone who actually does take it well over 300 on a regular basis, I can tell you how I measure.  take how long the hole is from the tee and just subtract how much you have left.  then, since there's so much estimating involved (unless your ball is sitting on top of a sprinkler head, haha), I always subtract or round down to the nearest tenth.  yesturday I had 65 yards left on a hole measuring 419.  so, after some math I'm confident that I can say I took it 350 and be sure I'm not exagerating.

that sounds reasonable right?

No that is actually incorrect.  Hole yardages are always measured through the center of the fairway.  If you cut the corner on a dogleg, you cannot subtract your distance left from the yardage on the card to determne how far you hit the ball....Remember the Pythagoreum Theorem for calculating the length of the hypotenuse on a triangle.

[rkruff]

WannaBePro, on Mar 15 2007, 07:32 PM, said:

Are you guys saying all these courses are juiced up like 10 percent? If I play a straight away par 4 400 yards, and hit it to the 100 yard marker, how far did I hit it?

Noone is saying the courses are juiced up 10%....where did you get that from?   What we are saying is that if the hole was a straight away 400 yard hole with no elevation change and you have 100 yards left, then you hit it 300 yards.  If the hole was a dogleg, then you hit it less than 300 yards.

[br61]

Ha, internet is full of guys who thinks they can hit it further that they actually can, I hope it's a reality check for many of you guys.

I know I hit my drives around 260-270 yards on the average but I did hit a drive of 345 yds yesterday in front of three WRX members, but I needed a double big cart path bounces to achieve that.

[AcesAZ]

rkruff, on Mar 15 2007, 11:01 PM, said:

WannaBePro, on Mar 15 2007, 07:32 PM, said:

Are you guys saying all these courses are juiced up like 10 percent? If I play a straight away par 4 400 yards, and hit it to the 100 yard marker, how far did I hit it?

Noone is saying the courses are juiced up 10%....where did you get that from?   What we are saying is that if the hole was a straight away 400 yard hole with no elevation change and you have 100 yards left, then you hit it 300 yards.  If the hole was a dogleg, then you hit it less than 300 yards.

I thought this was quite obvious. I never even try to measure my drives on doglegs for that reason. I remember a story of a guy that said he hit his drive 350+ on a severe dogleg hole and I told him it was inaccurate. He could still not understand it. LOL  

BTW-My quote about the juiced up courses was just a joke. LOL

[mr_divots]

WannaBePro, on Mar 15 2007, 11:12 PM, said:

rkruff, on Mar 15 2007, 11:01 PM, said:

WannaBePro, on Mar 15 2007, 07:32 PM, said:

Are you guys saying all these courses are juiced up like 10 percent? If I play a straight away par 4 400 yards, and hit it to the 100 yard marker, how far did I hit it?

Noone is saying the courses are juiced up 10%....where did you get that from?   What we are saying is that if the hole was a straight away 400 yard hole with no elevation change and you have 100 yards left, then you hit it 300 yards.  If the hole was a dogleg, then you hit it less than 300 yards.

I thought this was quite obvious. I never even try to measure my drives on doglegs for that reason. I remember a story of a guy that said he hit his drive 350+ on a severe dogleg hole and I told him it was inaccurate. He could still not understand it. LOL  

BTW-My quote about the juiced up courses was just a joke. LOL

I think you would need to know how the local/state golf association measured the hole to be able to accurately judge driving distance. Even on holes that can appear very straight to the eye, the golf association may have measured the "optimal" route on the hole to play from point A to point B, and then to point C (the green.) That can add yardage on the card that is not there when you play the hole as the crow flies. I've measured many holes that appear very straight, but the yardage measures shorter than what is listed on the card. Just my experience.  

[joneser]

I love using my skycaddie to bring people back down to planet earth.  I have a buddy who started golfing 4 years ago.  He plays 4 times a week and loves it.  He is somewhat of a musclehead but he is improving.  When we talk he tells me how he was hitting 300+ yd drives.   He shoots high 40's-low 50's and can hit the ball fairly hard (rarely strait).    If we both hit the ball well, I will be 10-20 yds by him.  I have hit a few balls that we both know were struck well and I will usually measure that drive and make sure he sees what a 280 yd drive looks like.  Someday I am hoping that it registers with him that he is not hitting it 320 if he is 10-20 yds behind me on his well hit drives and I rarely have on get out past 300.  

Last year early in the year we played on a couple of cold, rainy day and I almost had to turn off the skycaddie because I was getting depressed.  Getting it out there 250 was almost impossible.  

In any case, its a great tool and I would not go without one.

[crew_138]

Yep skycaddie rules! How long is everyone's battery lasting? My said time for recharge after 2 rounds. By the way I find it to be very accurate, no more than 3yds off. Coolest gadget yet and a time saver compared to the laser.

[tlflanders]

I know what that is like. A buddy of mine has played golf about 5 times total. Not a golfer to say the least but very athletic. He tried to tell me that he has hit a 3 iron 300 yards. I always tell him that we can go out any time and I will hit a 5 iron past his 3 iron, let alone my 3 wood or driver. Even when I tried to explain to him how courses are measured, he disagreed and insisted that he was hitting the ball well and that he did hit it 300 yards. I didn't matter if it was on a dogleg. I think that I will have to take him up on his bet. It is going to be great because he hates losing and being wrong almost as much as I do. He also tends to get very bitter. Oh well.

TL