Rangefinders etc.

[4jag]

Anyone tried any of the following yardage helpers on the course?

1) Cheap scope style (<$30) - estimates yardage based on height of pin in viewfinder.

2) Handheld Laser-based rangefinders (eg Bushnell Pro Tour approx. $500) - measures laser beam bouncing off target (eg. flag)

3) Handheld GPS device attached to Palm or Handspring PDA (eg. SkyGolfGPS approx. $600) - uses GPS satelites to determine golfer position relative to pre-determine spots on the course.

I'd be interested in hearing feedback on any of these devices.

I'm always looking for new golf toys for the bag. And yes, I know I can't use these in tournament play.

[gumby]

dont know about the expensive ones, but the cheap
one that u sight the pin with sorta kinda works
as long as the course is totally flat..put a
hill or something in the way and there goes any
accuracy

[bigeasy6]

I own a pair of yardage bino's made by Bushnell, the yardage pro 400 series. They are a pretty sweet toy to carry in the bag if you don't mind dishing out the coin $$$$$*%@#! Other than that I have nothing really negative to say about the product. The way I understand they work is by sending laser pulses out, have them reflect off the target, and depending on how quickly they are received back would calculate your yardage. The only limitation is maximum readable yardage which in this case happens to be 400 yards and the fact that if your target isn't very reflective it can be frustrating to try and get a reading. Lastly, if you don't have a steady hand this is not the toy for you.

[spidey]

Bushnell makes a whole line of yardage pros... maybe 4 or 5 of them... I wonder what the price ranges are in Cdn$?

[Noodles]

I have the Bushnell 400 and it works great. The best thing to do on the greens is wait until the group in front of you is taking the pin out and then laser the guy, or gal, with the flag. It gives you a reliable reading to the cup. Sometimes it is hard to sight the flag, especially if it is not windy

[MooseKnuckle]

Why would anybody want to spend over $500 for one of these things? Why can't people just use their eyes and a little common sense. If your mom could hit the green by throwing a rock from where you are, don't use a driving iron.

I just find there are too many people out there with too much money (me working towards being one). To me, these things are a total waste, but hey, that's me.

[4jag]

Why do guys spend $750 on a driver, $10 grand on a watch or $70 grand on a car? Because they can.

My timex and my mazda protege will have to do me, I did splurge on my driver and if I had the cash I would buy a Bushnell rangefinder.

[spidey]

Yeah, me too. If I could find a Bushnell for $200, I'd buy it in a flash. Do I need it?... probably not. But it would be nice, for a change, to know exactly how far away my targets are. It would also be nice to know exactly how far my drives go, and my 5 irons, and my 9 irons. I don't need it in order to keep going golfing, but I know that the better I know my distances, the more pins I'm going to have a chance of hitting.

[em69]

"Why do guys spend $750 on a driver, $10 grand on a watch or $70 grand on a car? Because they can"


Not really. Most people spend more than they can afford.