[Iron head covers!🙈]

8 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

I have a friend who uses iron headcovers. I can't tell you how many times we had to backtrack to find one he left on the course. He even dropped one between the golf bags on a cart and he had to take the bag off to get to it so he could protect his 5-year-old club. It doesn't always happen but when it does it's aggravating. 

 

1 minute ago, SlowNLow said:

If anyone wants to use iron covers, I certainly can understand and respect their choice.   Protecting the clubs and prolonging their value, definitely a good idea.

For me, I'd be dropping them, losing them, putting a wet, dirty club inside of them, putting the wrong cover on the wrong iron, etc.     I'm always dropping wood head covers, towels, ball markers, once and while a golf glove will disappear.   

That annoying guy who was to go back 2 holes to find a head cover, that is me.  

Gravity rules.

 

Yep, but the head cover isn't the issue, it's awareness and organization. I know-I know, lots of people don't want to have to think about anything when they're trying to concentrate on golf... and I get that. Those absolutely should try to eliminate extraneous things from their thought process; we ALL appreciate that, especially when they won't give up on a $1 item they dropped 2 holes back! When I first joined my league, one of the guys was telling me a story about constantly forgetting/losing something nearly every time he plays (he doesn't use covers). Before he finished the sentence, the ranger walked into the club house and asked if anyone lost a cell phone; yep, it was his!

[Iron head covers!🙈]

I've used iron covers for most of my life, but usually just for transport. When I played with clients, before retiring, and in more upscale venues, I'll take them off when I open the bag but put them back on before loading them back in the car. Like tony@CIC, my irons look like new after year's. Recently I've started walking again and found that the clanking bothers me, mostly because I'm thinking about how nicked up they're getting. So, I changed from my Club Glove covers (pretty thick and very protective) to some low-cost thin neoprene that are less obtrusive and lighter weight (Hey, every ounce counts when you're carrying!!) and put them back on between shots. Honestly, I don't spend a lot of time doing that which is one of the criticisms of using covers. There's already way too many things players dink around with that slows everything down. After a shot, I grab my bag then wipe off the club and put the cover back on while walking. 

[Does anyone walk anymore?]

My wife and I have been walking the last several months for overall health, so I've been walking whenever I play 9 holes. I want to build up to walk all 18 holes, but I also have some foot issues that keep me from doing that now. I've never liked pulling a cart, although I've never tried any of the newer versions or a self-propelled, so I have a lightweight carry bag that I use. 

I do think walking helps me to focus better. A few of us will play an early 9 where I ride before our league 9 where I walk, and I notice that I'm calmer before a shot when walking. Possibly I'm just more exhausted! 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

31 minutes ago, PhilM75072 said:

With regard to that 9i, my understanding of the algorithm with the V3 was that a shot had to travel at least 5 yards. Could that have changed with the X5? Also, in regard to the 6i, I believe the algorithm was that two shots with the same club had to be at least 45 seconds apart. Was that a factor in your case?

I didn't know about the 45 sec feature, but I'm certain it was well over that. I had to wait for a playing partner to hit his shot before my 2nd with the 6 iron. Thanks!

[Shot Scope Users Group]

I played my 4th 9-hole round using the X5 yesterday (I've GOT to find a way to play more 18 hole rounds!!!) in mostly sunny to mostly cloudy skies in mid-Michigan. This was the most problematic round I've had; it missed two shots completely. One was a 6 iron punch-out from the base of a tree that went about 50 yards. I coincidentally used the same 6 iron for the next shot, but it was well away from my punch-out so it shouldn't have thought it to be the same shot. The 2nd was a 9 iron that only went about 10 yards after I hit underneath the ball raised up on a tuft a grass. I switched to my wedge for the next shot and that was the one recorded. I'm using the new tags that came with the X5 so tags shouldn't be an issue. 

I couldn't find it again, but I remember reading something about the X5 using AI to learn the user's patterns to cut down on inadvertent shot detection such as when you swing a club away from the ball to stay loose. I don't know if that's at play here or if I completely misread it. 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

23 hours ago, tony@CIC said:

On that point in both the video and the instructions it says when you start the gps/tracking you can set the tee box - I have not had that functionality come up. 

I've only had one tee box appear at either of the 3 courses I've played with the X5, not the range of tee boxes at the course. I was thinking that it corresponded back to tee boxes you've used in posted rounds, but that doesn't appear to be the case as I've used 2 different tees at one of the 3 courses.

[Shot Scope Users Group]

An update on my 3rd time out with the X5. It had a great deal of difficulty finding the course, the same course I've played 2 other times with no other course in between. It initially faulted out after about 10 minutes; it just went back to the "Play Golf" screen. Tried again and it found it in a couple of minutes. While not cloudless, the sky was mostly sunny at the time. Everything went smoothly from there. 

Played 10 holes (one warm-up hole waiting for others to arrive, emphasis on "warming up"!!) with the 9 hole round lasting 1 hr 53 mins. It had 71% remaining battery. Prior to the .84 firmware update, I had 78% battery remaining after playing 9 holes that took 2-1/2 hours. I know it wasn't apples-to-apples since yesterday was 10 holes, but it was still less time in the GPS/Track mode since the 10th hole took less than 15 mins including walking to and from that tee and green. The battery life is still fine, it just doesn't seem to be as good as before the .84 update on my X5.

I had one other anomaly. Before heading out, I wanted to connect the X5 and app to check for updates. It wouldn't connect. So I tried a series of easy to more involved steps learned from prior work arounds with the V3, and it took wiping out the app data (in Android, you go to the app in settings where you can wipe the cache or data without uninstalling the app itself), then signing back into the app before it would connect. I turned the X5 off/on with each step I took, but I did not have to unpair it; that would have been the next step.  I only bring this up because until this happened, the X5 and app never faulted in any way when trying to connect or sync rounds/courses.

I'm still learning my way around things while playing but I wish there was a quicker way to get to the pause function. I used to complain that it took too long to press & hold the button on the V3 to pause it, and that was only 3 seconds with one button push. Sheesh, I need to learn to shut my mouth!!! 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

4 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

. Sorry I can't help you with the  phone issues - I am surprised since I know a bunch of guys that use your operating system and the SS app. Maybe @MattF can help you. 

Even though I having issues with the X5, I love the watch and all of the new features. Knowing SS they're diligently working on the firmware(?) issue. 

If I remember right, he has a Pixel phone which doesn't have the same issue. I usually buy Pixels myself, but I didn't like their offering at the time I needed one. It does seem to be something funky with Samsung's One UI 5 (it worked before that time), but my contention is that no one else whose apps I use has the same issue. Anyway I, too, am still a fan and really like the X5, much more so that any of the other 4 devices I've owned (1 Arccos, 3 Shot Scope). Thanks!

[Shot Scope Users Group]

10 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

Of course you could go to the 'darkside' and switch to an ios phone .

And here I thought you liked me!!!  Actually, I used to be pretty negative about Apple products in general. But now they have reasonably priced phones that offer features/workability/customizations (I'm not sure of the best descriptor here) I would like, but I'm not about to change my entire ecosphere to buy one. And, not to beat a dead horse, but the Shot Scope app is the ONLY app of the nearly 200 apps on my phone that can't figure out how to play nice with One IU5. My guess is that they only need to want to fix it.

[Shot Scope Users Group]

5 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

Interesting question. First off, I'm left handed so wearing the watch on my right hand and I've used the watch 2 other times and it worked just fine. Additionally I did not disable the lock feature. If I had I might be able rationalize the inadvertent closure of the round - but even then I normally get an end prompt so I would have had to click it at least twice. The other issue is why after restarting at the turn did the battery show in the red. BTW that was later confirmed when I charged it - that the the battery was almost empty . The previous time that I played 18 with it, I had no issues with the watch and the battery at the end of 18 had enough juice to play at least another 18. What would have caused the battery to drain so quickly.  

Also nothing unusual in the settings that I've set up - scoring is on along with the auto putting mode. Lastly as reported previously I'm just using the FMB functions so not even scrolling through the hazard and pin placement screens. 

I'm so observant, it's painful! You only have your left-handed play mentioned in two places so I can't really be expected to pick up on that!  Yep, that makes perfect sense.

The battery drainage is a huge question. I'm still of the opinion, although I still have more testing to do, that the .84 firmware update not only didn't help my battery usage, it made it worse. Not drain-the-battery-in-minutes worse, but worse. I know SS monitors this blog and it'd be nice if they could comment on some of the issues.

Although I'm still waiting for ANY comment or, preferably, an update that makes the SS app display text correctly on my Samsung/Android 13/One UI5.1 phone, a problem since November of last year. I know, I know... I'm a broken record. But it's still a pain-in-the-a$$ and I've never seen or heard anything from SS about it. 

Thanks for the update!!

[Shot Scope Users Group]

18 hours ago, tony@CIC said:

On the course, the X5 shut down the GPS Tracking on it's own - no prompts - it just went to the clock screen. 

 

1 hour ago, MattF said:

I suspect that a lot of the shutting off issues may be caused by right handers wearing a glove. I have noticed that the top button is pretty sensitive to touch and since I don't wear a glove, I haven't had an issue with the watch going back to the watch face or shutting off "by itself".

I'm curious whether either of you had the lock feature turned off for golf? I'm assuming that's one of the reasons SS has separate lock functions for golf and watch.

[Shot Scope Users Group]

13 hours ago, PhilM75072 said:

I live close enough to a private golf course that I was able to test something out this afternoon at home. I have noticed the watch being very sluggish responding to swipes while on the course, if it responds at all. So I went into settings and changed the golf lock option to disable. I went into the front yard and hit the GPS and Track option. After it found the course, I started swiping right and left and the watch was very responsive, changing screens practically instantly. I wonder if the responsiveness is somehow tied to the device having "lock" enabled or disabled (yes, I unlock the device on the course before swiping). Since you have to swipe to change screens, and now they have the vibration and warning if the crown button is pushed too long, what would be the disadvantage of playing with it "unlocked"?

Interesting. I noticed sluggishness when swiping occasionally as well. I'm supposed play tomorrow and will give the "disable lock" a try to see if I get any unintended swipes. 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

18 minutes ago, PhilM75072 said:

I think you misunderstood. That was the remaining battery life after EACH round, not the two rounds combined. The rounds were on two consecutive days, and I charged the watch overnight between rounds.

Geez, I'm so dense. Yes, I did misunderstand. Thanks for clarifying. That's still better than I got, though. 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

22 hours ago, PhilM75072 said:

That was 18 holes each on two separate days, NOT 36 holes in one day. However, keep in mind I don't interface with the watch much, and my rounds typically take less than 2:30. I think both will impact how much battery is used.

That's still very impressive battery life, even if it got to "rest" in between rounds . 

I did get to play yesterday. It was very cloudy and cold, never got above 50 degrees.  But the good news was that it was windy, too!!! We played the back side at Huron Breeze on the east coast of mid-Michigan and since we were the only 5 out there, we played as a 5-some. I walked but the others took carts. And it was very slow; 2:40 for the 9 holes (believe me, I was not the hold up!). Anyway, my X5 worked very well. It missed one shot placement in a bunker that it called rough. But I would still judge battery life as a little worse compared to pre-.84 update, I had about 62% left vs. 78% before. In fairness, it was substantially cloudier yesterday and we even had a couple minor sprinkles so it could have been working harder to connect to the satellites. I judge its accuracy as outstanding! The couple of times I doublechecked distances with my laser range finder on a flag around the center of the green, they were within a yard of each other.  But I still don't think the .84 update improved my battery life; I would still have to say it's worse. 

Just for grins, I think I'll try the factory reset trick that used to fix issues with the V3 and H4 to see if anything changes. 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

1 hour ago, PhilM75072 said:

I saw an improvement in battery life after the .84 firmware update. After my first two rounds, I would get home with 50-55% battery life left. After my round yesterday, I had 68% left.

That's great news! Assuming my play doesn't get called off today (weather prediction has worsened substantially over the last 24 hours in mid-Michigan), I'll get to check it out in play. But I have to ask; when you say "After my first two rounds...", do you mean 18 holes or 36 holes? If 18 holes, that's on par with my initial experience. If you mean 36, holy crap, that's outstanding! 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

3 hours ago, tony@CIC said:

Did you have in on gps or gps/tracking so it was trying to acquire a GPS signal?

Unless it's on by default somehow, it was just the watch. I turned it on after placing it on my wrist this morning and it automatically goes to the watch face. But thanks for the suggestion.

As I said earlier, I'm playing 9 tomorrow, so I'll have a chance to see how it works in game mode.

[Shot Scope Users Group]

18 hours ago, MIgregb said:

I'm interested to see whether X5's battery life improves with the latest firmware update. Mine already seemed pretty good!

Well, so far, I'm pretty unimpressed with the latest X5 firmware update that's supposed to improve battery life. First, I haven't tried it playing golf yet, that'll be tomorrow. But before the update I would only lose about 25% of the charge over a 2-day period using it as a watch. Right now, I've already lost 20% since this morning around 9:30 (about 7 hours). I'm looking forward to the next update!

[Shot Scope Users Group]

I'm interested to see whether X5's battery life improves with the latest firmware update. Mine already seemed pretty good!

[Shot Scope Users Group]

19 hours ago, PhilM75072 said:

I got home and despite connection issues I detailed yesterday, I had no issue connecting with the app this morning, synching and uploading my round. I had 58% battery life left when I got home after a 2:15 round of golf and that 20-30 minutes prior to teeing off.
 

Just over 2 hours for 18 holes? I thought they frowned on using jet packs on the golf course!!! 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

4 hours ago, Ambo9838 said:

My X5 watch arrived after my pre order. The GPS will not connect. Contacted Shot Scope, later that evening received an email with a Firmware Update. Uploaded this to the watch... still unable to connect to GPS. Anyone else had a similar issue, or have a solution? Otherwise it will be returned for a working replacement.

Crap, that's too bad! It took mine quite a long time to connect the 1st time, but I just went outdoors at my house to see if it would find satellites even being 2 miles from the closest course, and it did. It took less than a minute to determine that there weren't any courses close by meaning it connected to a satellite. As long as you are at least outdoors, it should be finding a satellite. Sorry for your troubles. So far I like the X5 much better than either the V3 or H4. 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

I got my 1st (9 hole) round in the books, and I'm very pleased with the X5. It took a couple of holes to get familiar with the manual putting routine and learn the unlock procedure, which is changed a bit with yesterday's firmware update. But the X5 captured all shots and seemed to place them in the right places (i.e., bunker shots were in the bunker, tee shots were on the tee boxes, etc.). The course was awfully busy (an 80 deg April Friday in Michigan, go figure!!) so it took almost 2-1/2 hours to play the 9, but it had 78% battery life when completed. The instructions said to turn on the GPS/Track function 5 mins ahead of time and it took every bit of that if not more. I hope that was an initial time needed to locate satellites for my geographical location and not something needed every time, but I very pleased with the X5.

This is the 1st wearable I've owned that tracked steps so I was curious how many the nearly 3000 yard 9 holes would be; 8174 for anyone curious 

[Bump and run]

There's no question that the situation should rule what options you have, but I was always a bump & run guy, and I got pretty good at it. But I got intrigued with chip shots even when a bump & run was very doable. I got decent at it (for my handicap) too, and I can even pull of respectable flop shots. It's fun to see a ball hit and check up. I can't tell you how many times my playing partner would start hooting & hollering about my shot that he thought was going to run screaming off the green only to have it check and stay.  But truth be told, I seem to be able to control the bump & run better resulting in shorter putts. And as putting is my greatest weakness and the single biggest reason for my very mediocre handicap, I'm going back to the bump & run as my go-to shot, unless I don't have a reasonable choice. 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

12 minutes ago, nupezb said:

I’m considering moving on from Arccos and getting the X5. What is the battery life? I have an upcoming golf trip where I will play several 36 hole days. I would plan to charge the phone between the rounds. 
 

I didn't get mine until after I played Monday, but I plan on playing tomorrow so I'll let you know. I'm curious about how the battery holds up as well. 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

18 hours ago, MIgregb said:

Quick observation & a question regarding the X5. I, too, had no issue with either the initial firmware update or syncing courses. In fact, this is the 1st time among the 4 different SS devices that I could sync more than 2 courses without having to do log-outs and/or resets. I did 8 updates, one at a time of course, without a hic-up. Well done Shot Scope!

However, I am frustrated with how difficult it is to get the X5 into the watch mode. When I turn it on, it defaults to the "connect" mode and the only way I can get to any other screen is to go to the shut-down command and swipe up a bunch of times. It eventually goes to the settings screen where I can then hit the return button sending it to the watch face. I initially thought something was wrong because swiping up from the connect screen or the shut-down screen did nothing. I just kept at it until it worked. Anyone figure out an easier method?  

Ok, so it turned out to be an app problem setting up the X5 and not an X5 problem. I could not get the app to move through the tutorial so I would skip through it. I could still update the firmware and courses, so I didn't suspect anything was amiss. Trying the old trick of un-installing/re-installing the app enabled me to get through the tutorial and complete the set-up. Now, once I turn on the X5 and wait 3 seconds, it goes directly to the watch screen.  Problem solved. 

I hope to put the X5 through its paces tomorrow. 

[Shot Scope Users Group]

Quick observation & a question regarding the X5. I, too, had no issue with either the initial firmware update or syncing courses. In fact, this is the 1st time among the 4 different SS devices that I could sync more than 2 courses without having to do log-outs and/or resets. I did 8 updates, one at a time of course, without a hic-up. Well done Shot Scope!

However, I am frustrated with how difficult it is to get the X5 into the watch mode. When I turn it on, it defaults to the "connect" mode and the only way I can get to any other screen is to go to the shut-down command and swipe up a bunch of times. It eventually goes to the settings screen where I can then hit the return button sending it to the watch face. I initially thought something was wrong because swiping up from the connect screen or the shut-down screen did nothing. I just kept at it until it worked. Anyone figure out an easier method?