Sureshot GPS in competition

LarMan

Hi

I recently purchaced a SureShotGPS and was wondering if anyone else has bought one and if so have you been able to use it in competition at your club. I believe they are allowed by the R&A subject to local rules.

I wonder are clubs allowing them.

Woodgate

LarMan wrote: »

Hi

I recently purchaced a SureShotGPS and was wondering if anyone else has bought one and if so have you been able to use it in competition at your club. I believe they are allowed by the R&A subject to local rules.

I wonder are clubs allowing them.

I'm in Waterford and most of the clubs allow them in competition.

LarMan

Checked with my club and they have no local rule for it so I can use it in competition.

Mister Sifter

What do you make of these contraptions larman? Do you find it helps much?

Woodgate

LarMan wrote: »

Checked with my club and they have no local rule for it so I can use it in competition.

Would it not be that there has to be a local rule allowing them?

NuFlyer

I would have no use for one on my home course, as I know the yardage and club selection on every hole. If I was playing away I would see the use of one, especially in clubs where distance markers are a bit scarce.

copacetic

do people find that these help? the accuracy of gps is only to 10 metres or so, how can they help you with yardages?

would be much more interested in a decent laser range finder...

jampotjim

copacetic wrote: »

do people find that these help? the accuracy of gps is only to 10 metres or so, how can they help you with yardages?

would be much more interested in a decent laser range finder...

Give me a old fashioned yardage book and I'm happy...

Use to collect them even have one from Agusta (Friend got it for me) but lost them over the many moves over the last few years :mad:

slumped

these devices are against the rules of golf unless your club has a rule that PERMITS them

Be wary!

fatheadsgt

Has anyone used one of these. I was thinking of getting one but dont know if i'd be better off getting a range finder.

SalthillGuy

My understanding is that those devises cannot be used under any circumstance in a golf competition.
A club cannot introduce a local rule that is at variance with the rules of golf.

ShriekingSheet

SalthillGuy wrote: »

My understanding is that those devises cannot be used under any circumstance in a golf competition.
A club cannot introduce a local rule that is at variance with the rules of golf.

Not at all.

The rules of golf state:

"...a Local Rule may be introduced allowing
the use of distance measuring devices; previously authorised by
Decision only."

Myksyk

I see the English GOlf Union will allow them in all championships from 2009. The Europro tour curently allows them too. Shrieking sheet is right, a recent amendment to R&A rules allow their use if a local rule applies. I think it's only around the corner to free use of them as the major Unions allow them in championships ... you're only getting the info that is freely available to pros from their caddies. Also, GPS is generally much more accurate then 10 meters, usually a meter or so ... my in-car gps can tell when I've moved from outside my house to outside next door and can show me travelling in between!! Re info, I would argue that no matter how well you know your course you couldn't have the amount of info at hand in a gps. Sureshot also allows the collection of a host of useful stats.

Mister Sifter

Anyone any feedback on using one of these things?

ShriekingSheet

Graeme1982 wrote: »

Anyone any feedback on using one of these things?

I've only use the Yardage finder type you look through and click on the flag. Worked really well but didn't like the delay of taking it out of the bag each time. Have seen the GPS ones work and they're brilliant. Yardage is just there on your bag and changes as you walk.

SalthillGuy

The GPS one is the only way to go.
The pro caddies and many low handicaps use them now.

WHIP IT!

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

I've only use the Yardage finder type you look through and click on the flag. Worked really well but didn't like the delay of taking it out of the bag each time. Have seen the GPS ones work and they're brilliant. Yardage is just there on your bag and changes as you walk.

The Viewfinder can give you the exact yardage to the flag though SS, correct? While the GPS presumably can't if you're not "pointing and aiming" it as such, it can only give u to front of green I would assume?

I have to say I always play better on courses that give you a Pin sheet. It's a common mistake of the club golfer (particularly a mid-high handicapper like myself) to misjudge distance and pull the wrong club. Even when I'm conscious of checking where the pin is, I find it hard to judge the actual distance.

Played Palmerstown House a fortnight ago, on one hole the green slanted quite sharply towards us, making the pin look closer than it was. I was in a fourball (hcp 3, 10, 11 & 15) and we were all caught out by the distance until we checked the pin sheet (and promptly all went back to our respective bags for a club or two more!!)... the pin was on 42yds but from the fairway looked no more than 25-30 on.

Sorry for the ramble, my point being - when the figure is down there in black and white it makes a huge difference to me personally, I guess depth perception is not my strong point!

ShriekingSheet

WHIP IT! wrote: »

The Viewfinder can give you the exact yardage to the flag though SS, correct? While the GPS presumably can't if you're not "pointing and aiming" it as such, it can only give u to front of green I would assume?

I have to say I always play better on courses that give you a Pin sheet. It's a common mistake of the club golfer (particularly a mid-high handicapper like myself) to misjudge distance and pull the wrong club. Even when I'm conscious of checking where the pin is, I find it hard to judge the actual distance.

Played Palmerstown House a fortnight ago, on one hole the green slanted quite sharply towards us, making the pin look closer than it was. I was in a fourball (hcp 3, 10, 11 & 15) and we were all caught out by the distance until we checked the pin sheet (and promptly all went back to our respective bags for a club or two more!!)... the pin was on 42yds but from the fairway looked no more than 25-30 on.

Sorry for the ramble, my point being - when the figure is down there in black and white it makes a huge difference to me personally, I guess depth perception is not my strong point!

Yeah you're dead right Whip It. But the GPS gives you the depth of the green, yardage to front and yardage to back. So given that you can target a portion of the green quite easily but as you say, get it wrong by 5 yards and you're aiming 15 feet away from the off.

The viewfinder is certainly more accurate but I guess the GPS is more practical and you're more likely to use it more frequently - for every shot in fact - with pretty much zero delay.

Funnily enough, I've found as I've moved through the 7-6-5 h'cap range, I'm aiming for the middle of greens with more shots, or at least a more conservative target area. Having the distance to the front and depth of the green is ideal for this. You can divide the depth into quarters of approx 8 yards and aim for the one the pin is in. Maybe it's a mental quirk but as a non-tour player, I like the idea of hitting a 7 iron at the centre of an 8 x 5 yard patch of green, rather than trying to dial in 171 yards. I'm not saying I'm gonna be happy with an 8 yard miss, or that I won't know the to-the-flag yardage within two or three yards, but the whole idea helps me play more consrvatively and I've scored better.

In a way it contradicts the Rotella "specific target" idea, but in a way it doesn't...

From shorter range obviously I'd be more exact and attacking.

I think on paper, the viewfinder is better, I just prefer the idea of the GPS, almost soley because it takes no time to use. I'd imagine tour caddies use the viewfinder.

Myksyk

The sureshot GPS gives you exact yardage to front, middle and back of green as well as to greenside and fairway bunkers, trees, rocks, water, mounds, run-outs, dog-legs, bridges and 'other hazards'. The main shortcoming of the laser range finders is that you can only measure the distance to what you can see and aim at through the lens; there are no such shortcomings with the gps which can tell you pretty much everything about, for example, a green and the surrounding hazards, even if you can't see any of them. So for example you can tell the size of a bunker in front of a green you can't see using the gps which will tell you the yardage to the front of the bunker and the yardage to carry it - a laser finder will be of no help to you here.

WHIP IT!

What kinda bread are we talkin for one of these lads? Anywhere online or up north you'd get one cheaper?

DoctaDee

I pulled one off ebay, think it was around $180. Great thing about Sureshot compared to Skycaddie etc - is there's no sub fee and on last checking there were close to 300 courses mapped in Ireland. I think at it's most accurate it's +/- a yard, for the hacker 2 yards out isn't gonna kill yer game.

Nearly sure Sureshot is used on the EuroPro Tour .. will it help get the ball in the hole ? .. it's a gadget pure and simple

Myksyk

On www.sureshotgps.com the new 8800 model is €349 but you can get it for €240 on www.motocaddy.com ... mine arrived this morning. What I like about it is that if your course only has some of the detail on it (I can see that mine doesn't have all bunkers etc) then you can easily edit the course as you play it adding up to 15 different info points per hole including lay up points, run out areas, all bunkers, trees etc. You can also map your own course from scratch if it's not available as a professionally mapped download. There's no reason your own mapping wouldn't be as good or better. Chances are it's available as a download anyway - there are 293 Irish courses available. GPS Signals are acquired within a minute.

DoctaDee

The 15 mapped points per hole is a bit of overkill I haveta say. What you do find is that player mapped courses that are uploaded to the website are shortly followed by a professionally mapped one. Brought it to Spain & Florida with me.

Played in a team scramble in Rathcore with it - only me & my buddy knew I had it, his invited guest hadn't a clue. I had it secreted in the hood, mate would say how far do ya think the pin is .. 170 or so ? .... peek into the hood .. "nah Tom nearer 173" .. his guest was well impressed with our judgement of distance

Myksyk

Brought it over to the course yesterday and mapped it. It was already mapped but I could update it including the exact front, centre and back points for each green. I added in my own lay up points, run-outs bunker carrys etc. Did the whole thing in less than two hours. Played the course in the afternoon ... found the gadget great. Particularly useful on par threes off winter tees for exact distances. It's also going to be really useful in measuring my average distances for each club particularly my wedges. I hit a few 3/4 and full swings with my SW and LW and was able to mark the hitting point and carry point (or pitch mark point) so it's already giving me clearer information on this. Easy to use, easy to edit. Met the owner of the club when I was mapping who was wondering what the heck I was doing. He thought the gadget was a great idea. I said I had emailed the committee for a ruling on its use in competition. He saw no problem himself (as he said, it doesn't take the shot for you) but I'll have to wait and see.

Mister Sifter

Myksyk wrote: »

Brought it over to the course yesterday and mapped it. It was already mapped but I could update it including the exact front, centre and back points for each green. I added in my own lay up points, run-outs bunker carrys etc. Did the whole thing in less than two hours. Played the course in the afternoon ... found the gadget great. Particularly useful on par threes off winter tees for exact distances. It's also going to be really useful in measuring my average distances for each club particularly my wedges. I hit a few 3/4 and full swings with my SW and LW and was able to mark the hitting point and carry point (or pitch mark point) so it's already giving me clearer information on this. Easy to use, easy to edit. Met the owner of the club when I was mapping who was wondering what the heck I was doing. He thought the gadget was a great idea. I said I had emailed the committee for a ruling on its use in competition. He saw no problem himself (as he said, it doesn't take the shot for you) but I'll have to wait and see.

How much did you pay and where did you buy it from Myksyk? My interest in gettign one is growing...

Myksyk

Bought it here on www.motocaddy.com who are doing it for £199 (c.€240) and who are the European distributors. I bought a car charger with it too for a few quid extra.

Now one thing which isn't great is that it isn't waterproof and (while it comes with a cover) they don't seem to have a rainproof cover option for it (not surprising perhaps when you see that it is an Aussie product)! They say the cover protects it from getting wet in rainy conditions but you get the sense they mean 'girly-Aussie-type-rain' as opposed to '6-months-non-stop-bucketing-Irish-rain'!!

Anyway, you can get around this easy enough. I brought a zip-lock freezer bag out with me yesterday and put it in it when it pi**ed ... it still worked perfectly!!! I'm sure there are more aesthetically pleasing ways to waterproof it which I'll be exploring.

Check out EBay either.

Swinging Looney

Jaysus I'd be shocked if the Pro's were using these yokes at all. On any average day GPS will only be accurate to 10 meters or so but quite often it is significantly worse. And the ultimate accuracy is entirely out of the control of the unit manufacturer. Considering that they want accuracy of +/- 1 yard at times how could any GPS device be useful?

Just cos the unit shows you a distance to the nearest yard doesn't mean it is accurate to within one yard at all!

Mind you, I'd be fairly sure that yardage markers at many clubs these days have probably been sited according to a GPS device's readout, so even they are probably off too!!

Myksyk

Granted GPS devices can be off but 10 meteres would be a bad case scenario not an average day particularly as most current devices use WAAS or DGPS to enhance accuracy. My marked locations from yesterday differed only by a max of 1 metre today. I'll take that and see how it goes into the future.

SalthillGuy

Given that the device is GPS, are there seasonal, or climatic variations.?
The satellite can only be geostationary to a point.