Laser vs GPS, which do you prefer?

[westy]

Now that's a first post right there!

 

I'd agree to an extent, however those people are the same ones who wait for their playing partner to hit a shot before pulling a club and deciding what they are doing I reckon. It's not the gizmos fault it's the lack of manners and knowledge of some players.

 

I reckon I spend less time considering clubs now and pacing out yard ages from the nearest marker.....

[Blade]

Neither. They create slow play. There is no doubt about it. Every player who uses one wastes a few minutes of time. I have an app on my phone but found I was wasting too much time - hauling it out, switching it on, putting on my reading glassed, trying to find the right hole, etc.etc.

 

I tested with a mate with a GPS. I called his distance before he read it - I was no more than 3 yards out at the worst and was often within 1 yard. These players who want exact yardage are only kidding themselves as no player can hit within a yard from 150 yards out.

 

If a course is well marked there is no necessity for a measuring device. Lets speed up play!!

Baloney. It takes longer to find a marker and step it off to your ball than push a button.

[BK in TEXAS]

......however those people are the same ones who wait for their playing partner to hit a shot before pulling a club and deciding what they are doing I reckon. It's not the gizmos fault it's the lack of manners and knowledge of some players.

Exactly.  The majority of people I've met on the course have no idea how to do the little things that speed up play a lot.

[Dropking]

Baloney. It takes longer to find a marker and step it off to your ball than push a button.

Then your course is not WELL marked! We have 100, 150 and sometimes 200 markers that are very visible. I have never "stepped it off" as there is no need to. By the time I reach my ball I know 99% of the time exactly what type of shot I am going to hit and which club I am going to use. Perhaps I have a feel for distance as conditions can play havoc with raw numbers and I am often hitting shorter or longer irons in than what pure yardage would indicate.

 

I tend to find that players who rely heavily on exact yardage do not have a feel and generally can only play one way, that is their standard full shot.

[BK in TEXAS]

I tend to find that players who rely heavily on exact yardage do not have a feel and generally can only play one way, that is their standard full shot.

Which is 99.9% of all golfers.

 

Besides....I've noticed the golfers I've played with using a laser or GPS are faster than without.  Give them a hard number ....... they grab a club.  Make them think/consider/worry about the distance ...... it usually takes a lot longer.

 

Like westy implied.....it's not the arrow.....it's the indian.

[RookieBlue7]

Hmm... Guess touring pros have no skill. They use lasers to find their yardages for their yardage books.

 

There are always the Debbie downers that have said lasers and GPS slow down play. Meanwhile they never cite cart etiquette, methods to speed up play such as splitting distance between cart partners balls or one walking ahead with 3 clubs. They don't mention that those persons reading putts from behind the ball, hole, from the side then plumb bobbing too waste far more time. Or the 9 practice swing guy (had one of those the other weekend. Beginner playing in a prime Saturday time, which shouldn't have been booked in the first place. Group of 3 that didn't use cart etiquette, took 9 practice swings each, and were as slow as it gets. We called the pro three times to get him to send a ranger out to speed them up. Didn't work. We just sat down and are after 9. Letting them get a jump on us. Caught them by 13. Choppers are more responsible for slow play than any laser or GPS.)

 

If one knows how to navigate a course and not waste undue time, the laser or GPS won't slow them down.

[revkev]

For sure it's the player not the device that slows play. I prefer a laser but I have a gps on my phone that works fine. I can figure out what part of the green the pin is on so I may not have the exact yardage but its close enough for my skill level. I rarely shoot at a pin anyway. I prefer a safer spot on the green. Even when I have the yardage to the pin I'm considering if long, short, right or left is the best place to be.

[Sluggo42]

I found the laser to make the GPS look dumb... I was actually disappointed the gps was so far wrong...

[SMRT]

Neither. They create slow play. There is no doubt about it. Every player who uses one wastes a few minutes of time. I have an app on my phone but found I was wasting too much time - hauling it out, switching it on, putting on my reading glassed, trying to find the right hole, etc.etc.

 

I tested with a mate with a GPS. I called his distance before he read it - I was no more than 3 yards out at the worst and was often within 1 yard. These players who want exact yardage are only kidding themselves as no player can hit within a yard from 150 yards out.

 

If a course is well marked there is no necessity for a measuring device. Lets speed up play!!

 

I also have to disagree with your theory. If it works for you, great. For me, I look at the screen for the number, front, center, and back then decide what is the safe place to be, then grab a club. On days I forget my GPS I have to find a marker (if there are markers), estimate my distance from the marker, then question the estimate, then grab a club.

I have only been playing for 3 years so the distance estimates may come easier as I play longer but for now my GPS speeds my game up a lot.

[Dropking]

Hmm... Guess touring pros have no skill. They use lasers to find their yardages for their yardage books.

 

 

 

Touring pros have heaps of skill and can hit precise distances - handicapped golfer can not - pros are also painfully slow. Look guys I am not saying measuring devices dont have their place but from my experience in this country - South Africa - they slow down play. I would probably bring out my App on a badly marked course!!! Perhaps I need to get a V3!!!!!!!

[Sluggo42]

Touring pros have heaps of skill and can hit precise distances - handicapped golfer can not - pros are also painfully slow. Look guys I am not saying measuring devices dont have their place but from my experience in this country - South Africa - they slow down play. I would probably bring out my App on a badly marked course!!! Perhaps I need to get a V3!!!!!!!

Yes, it's obvious, you need a V3. Haha

But kidding aside, you would love it within the first 3 holes...

[Shambles]

I got myself a NEO X and am very happy with it, mostly for the convenience of reading distances off my wrist. I like that a lot more than having to carry a gadget in a holster and since I am no longer able to see enough detail in distances, the GPS is a giant help and allows me to play much more quickly. In the past I used a rangefinder but did not like the weight and thew same was true for the GPS thingy in hand. Both were good enough accuracy wise but clumsy to carry. I much prefer the GPS Watch which feels weightless and automatically switches holes as you go through the course and also automatically measures as you go through  the fairways. I have not yet tried whatever other features come with the NEO X but I really don't feel any need for any more information as I have a pretty good idea of how far I hit each club and if I miss, it's the Caddy's fault.

 

 

 

Shambles

[revkev]

I found the laser to make the GPS look dumb... I was actually disappointed the gps was so far wrong...

How so? The gps does whats intended giving yardages to front, back and center. Those yardages are very accurate. It's up to the player to interpret them however. The player might be stupid as in assuming that the middle number is the pin number when it's up front or missing an oddity in green configuration. It may also give yardages to key points, layups, hazards and such.

 

The laser gives an accurate yardage to a particular point. However the player must still interpret the data received. There is a ridiculous gps commercial where Peter Jacobson is over the green because he shot a tree? Really? You can't tell the difference between 175 and 138 visually?

 

Bottom line is that both devices do their job well and when used properly make play more enjoyable and faster. If ever it happens it's the player that's stupid not the device.

[BK in TEXAS]

I got myself a NEO X and am very happy with it, mostly for the convenience of reading distances off my wrist. I like that a lot more than having to carry a gadget in a holster and since I am no longer able to see enough detail in distances, the GPS is a giant help and allows me to play much more quickly. In the past I used a rangefinder but did not like the weight and thew same was true for the GPS thingy in hand. Both were good enough accuracy wise but clumsy to carry. I much prefer the GPS Watch which feels weightless and automatically switches holes as you go through the course and also automatically measures as you go through  the fairways. I have not yet tried whatever other features come with the NEO X but I really don't feel any need for any more information as I have a pretty good idea of how far I hit each club and if I miss, it's the Caddy's fault.

 

 

 

Shambles

I bought myself the Skycaddie watch last night as a celebratory present.  Went with the watch for much of the same reasons you noted.  I figure I'll be playing all sorts of new courses in the upcoming year so it should come in handy :-))

[Sluggo42]

How so? The gps does whats intended giving yardages to front, back and center. Those yardages are very accurate. It's up to the player to interpret them however. The player might be stupid as in assuming that the middle number is the pin number when it's up front or missing an oddity in green configuration. It may also give yardages to key points, layups, hazards and such.

The laser gives an accurate yardage to a particular point. However the player must still interpret the data received. There is a ridiculous gps commercial where Peter Jacobson is over the green because he shot a tree? Really? You can't tell the difference between 175 and 138 visually?

Bottom line is that both devices do their job well and when used properly make play more enjoyable and faster. If ever it happens it's the player that's stupid not the device.

I dunno why rev, but my golfshot was up to 20 yds different. It could be pin placement, but I can't really see where the pin is sometimes. The golf cart GPS on the other hand was quite close to the laser. Maybe it takes a better understanding of greens and such, but on a new course that's not so easy. Compared to a 5 second point and shoot that's exact, in my humble opinion, the laser is way more accurate. I suppose you are correct in the basic equation, but not knowing and not being able to see the greens layout doesn't make the user stupid either. Perhaps it wasn't the best choice of words for the description...

[filbert]

I use a Neo+ and am kinda lost without it.  My eyes are not what they used to be.  Not wandering around looking for a sprinkler is a good deal for me.  

 

As far as slowing things down or speeding up the game, it makes my game faster.  I walk up to the ball watching the gps stabilize so its ready way before I am.  If my drive is in the woods, I know the distance off the tee so I am not looking for a lost ball 230 yards out when my average drive is 210 and knowing a slice cut even more off the distance.  And since I can sometimes be playing from the next fairway over and can't see the pin, a laser would be useless to me.  

[revkev]

Stupid is a bad choice of words just as less accurate is. So taken and no offense meant on my part.

 

My point is that in either case the user is a part of the equation. Some find a laser very difficult to use for a wide variety of reasons. But even if it's not you still have to properly use the information that you've received without wasting time. Exact yardage to the pin means nothing unless one can hit it that exact every time. Of course none can. That's why touring pros get other numbers too like to carry the bunker or aim at that target not the pin, etc. With our greater margins of error we may well be better off with a gps always aiming for the fat of the green. Most of Those units will give that info where a laser won't.

[Sluggo42]

I suppose the best way would be to get a quick reading from both, and then try to make the smartest, safest shot.

Now with my new 'mp-64's, my distances will probably be different then the 825 pro's, so I'll be hurting for a game or two anyways. It was so windy at the range today I couldn't get a feel on distances. But I could have had a plate of crab and lobster with all the buttah I was drooling all over the place lol...

[Sluggo42]

Yes, why does it take so long to play anymore?

Yesterday morning a group of older gents went out at the crack of get-go, and were about 4 groups ahead of me. They were dreadfully slow due to them all shooting 100+. And standing over each shot like the Ryder cup depended on it, after their 3-5 half-speed practice strokes. Then of course, the greens and putting was even worse. So one group pretty well ruined the whole course for 5 hours...

[TWShoot67]

I use both, SGX and Leopold GX4. But on my home course I use my Leopold GX4 just to get exact yardages when i'm in a bad spot off the tee... most times it's by eye and just knowing from thousands of previous rounds at home course. I like the SGX to see hidden bunkers on a strange course or just to get a feel of the layout of a new hole never played before. 

[TWShoot67]

Yes, why does it take so long to play anymore?

Yesterday morning a group of older gents went out at the crack of get-go, and were about 4 groups ahead of me. They were dreadfully slow due to them all shooting 100+. And standing over each shot like the Ryder cup depended on it, after their 3-5 half-speed practice strokes. Then of course, the greens and putting was even worse. So one group pretty well ruined the whole course for 5 hours...

Heck sounds like every weekend round at my home course if some strange group gets squeezed in by our Cheap owner who tries to tell us they had a tee time ... when all along this owner is such a dick that we know he just squeezes them in even if its peak season and all the members paid for their permanent tee times. But thats how it is when you don't have the money to afford a Country Club membership. I'm lucky enough to play in the GAP ( Golf Association of Philadelphia) and get to play some pretty sweet tracks in real competition and its a joy to play golf at a real course and have marshals that actually do their job and make slow players move along or let better players play through. you hardly ever see any group allow faster players through as everyone or almost everyone has the attitude that I paid and i can play the way I like to and you can wait.... so while I and my playing partners loose any rhythm that we might have had up until we reach the dreaded slow hacker group. And before anyone thinks i'm against guys who can't break 90/100 or whatever score... I'm not! When I first played this game i started playing as a bogey golfer and have through a lot of hard work gotten my handicap down to as low as 1 still play at the same pace of play I played then..... and if I was ever holding up a single or a group of really good and fast golfers I let them play through. I never ever see anyone let us play through in the last 5-7 years. people have just gotten very arrogant on the golf course. They paid so they'll do whatever they like if no one enforces anything. Someday i hope to join a real club.

 

 

PS: sorry for getting off topic but sometime devices go hand in hand with pace of play.

[Shambles]

I bought myself the Skycaddie watch last night as a celebratory present.  Went with the watch for much of the same reasons you noted.  I figure I'll be playing all sorts of new courses in the upcoming year so it should come in handy :-))

 

I think it's a prime candidate for the future, though I must confess I am rather slow to adopt new technology. Eyeballing, once learned, is easily the most convenient. However golf course architects have had more than enough time to develop and build in optical traps to fairways that lend themselves to it. GPS and Laser easily bypass learning and optical traps. Electronics are improving in giant steps and are truly reducing the game to just a question of how well do you swing.

 

 

Shambles

[revkev]

Also, and these are just my thoughts, and I realize that there are more people playing the game today, yet for all I the time saving that I hear about, why is the game taking longer than ever and all of their supposed value sure the hell hasn't migrated to the score card, LMAO. I realize that there are more variables than measuring devices though my point Is simply that the more variables that you introduce into the equation(golf round), the more ya complicate the equation.

I mean, what would all of these chops shoot if they walked offa the first tee with just their bag, clubs and balls, LMFAO?

Yep, super duper high tech drivers, irons which add all of this distance & could double as a construction tool and measuring devices, LMAO, they've definitely helped the average chop shoot better scores, lol.

This is JMHO based on observations, lol

Fairways & Greens 4ever

I have to respond to this one. Because all those guys who hit it 285 don't hit it straight.

 

Seriously we know that the game was great with hickory shafts and dead balls. Since not as many people played and the ball didn't go as far and the courses were way shorter rounds went quicker. Let's face it we aren't going back.

 

The thread is about which device is better or which to use. I would argue that both provide adequate amounts of info to make the game more enjoyable or more painful for everyone else if abused. Like you Richard I'm old school I can eyeball how to play a hole and fit my shots in most of the time. It's more fun to have the info in the palm of my hand though. I'm going to start a thread on how to sipped up play.

[wrightman90]

Is this a laser or GPS? http://www.golfbay.com.au/collections/easygreen/products/easygreen-easy-800-laser-rangefinder or do you mean laser range finder vs golf gps watch?

[Sluggo42]

Is this a laser or GPS? http://www.golfbay.com.au/collections/easygreen/products/easygreen-easy-800-laser-rangefinder or do you mean laser range finder vs golf gps watch?

That link doesn't work for me...

But anyways, there are gps units of all sorts, laser beam rangefinders of all sorts, and hybrids that incorporate the two technologies into one.

[RookieBlue7]

That link doesn't work for me...

But anyways, there are gps units of all sorts, laser beam rangefinders of all sorts, and hybrids that incorporate the two technologies into one.

Sluggo, he has 2 posts and both are links to that site.  Either he works there or owns it.  Trying to get a free plug in for the site he's posting links to.  I call it like I see it... SPAM

[Sluggo42]

Oh huh, thanks rookie...

 

Shame on you spammer.... Tsk tsk...

[Blade]

I didn't see his other post. But from the brain dead post he made here, that was my guess. That wasn't even a good excuse of a post to put that link in. That crap insures I will never buy a thing from that site. A good site doesn't need dishonest spammers creeping around legitimate sites to get people there.

[Sluggo42]

 

 

I do know that there's not one guy usin either of em that admits to takin longer than they did pre-measuring devise, and most claim that it quickens the game for em, yet look at the ave time for rounds.

 

It's ridiculous.

 

Though that's another matter for another thread.

 

Have a good week Bro

 

 

Fairways & Greens My friend,

Richard

Compared to locating a yardage marker, walking to it and then pacing off to your ball, then looking for the flag and then trying to do the math, compared to a glance at your gps, or a 5 second laser zap and knowing your yardage, what takes longer?

 

Neither of these gizmos are what's making the game slower in my humble opinion. It only takes one group to completely ruin the course with rediculous slow play. Then the lack of any Marshall's to actually instruct them to speed up their play is the problem. I honestly don't know why people feel entitled to play at a snails pace. It's always the same. They all go ball to ball, each guy take numerous practice swings, then takes a swipe, and off to the next guys ball and repeat the process. When they finally all get on the green. Everyone marks their ball, and the furthest away starts his march around the green for a 360 view green read, then 3-4 putts. It's taking etiquette to the nth level.

 

It's usually only one group that ruins the day for everyone behind them, not the gadget users.

 

As to whether or not they are making the scores better, haha. Think of it as a fish finder on a bass boat. You make know the fish are either there or not there with the fish finder, but you still need to see if you can make them bite your bait. But, your odds are better putting your bait where the fish are.

I think that by always knowing yardage, correct yardage, that you will eventually develope a more realistic idea of which club to hit. If you actually hit the correct iron with a decent swing, your odds eventually improve. S I so think scores can improve with the gadgets. But again, you still have to put a swing on the ball, just like you need to cast your bait close to a fish...