Best value rangefinder?

technodub

Im playing off a handicap of 9 and drive the ball quite well so for most pars 4's in left with a lofty club , i have a pitching wedge 52degree wedge and a 56.. Problem is i find distance markers unreliable on alot of golf courses so in order to take my game to the next level i was wondering which is the best range finder and were is the best place to buy them? Obviously lookin for some good value too as money does not grow on the trees in my garden
Cheers in advance for any help!

Tones69

technodub wrote: »

Im playing off a handicap of 9 and drive the ball quite well so for most pars 4's in left with a lofty club , i have a pitching wedge 52degree wedge and a 56.. Problem is i find distance markers unreliable on alot of golf courses so in order to take my game to the next level i was wondering which is the best range finder and were is the best place to buy them? Obviously lookin for some good value too as money does not grow on the trees in my garden
Cheers in advance for any help!

Ive the Bushnell V2 Tour which i find great, should get one for about €270

newport2

I use a Skycaddie and a Bushnell 1500 at times too. If I was replacing them, I think the best value GPS is a Bushnell Neo, you can pick them up on Ebay new for about €100. Give you front, middle and back of green yardages. Pre-loaded with 16000+ courses and no subscription. My other half wants one and was thinking of getting her one of these.

mike12

http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?30431-Hillman-Laser-Range-Finder-TM-800&daysprune=365
http://www.uksportimports.com/catalog/golf-equipment/rangefinders
This one has gotten great reviews on the golf monthly forum.
Mike

Daithio12

technodub wrote: »

Im playing off a handicap of 9 and drive the ball quite well so for most pars 4's in left with a lofty club , i have a pitching wedge 52degree wedge and a 56.. Problem is i find distance markers unreliable on alot of golf courses so in order to take my game to the next level i was wondering which is the best range finder and were is the best place to buy them? Obviously lookin for some good value too as money does not grow on the trees in my garden
Cheers in advance for any help!

I play off 8 and have tried both laser and GPS and without doubt the laser is pinpoint accurate, but it has limited usability and for that reason I went with GPS.
I bought the golf buddy world platinum, which has every course preloaded and has no recurring charges, and with a glance of the screen I can see yardages to front, back and middle of green, plus off the tee I can see yardages to reach and to clear hazards, so for my money the GPS is far superior because of its functionality.

Blazer

Bought the Garmin S1 approach which is a GPS based watch.
Comes pre-loaded with over 7,000 European courses (updated every 3 months or so) and cost me about €170.
Reason I went for the watch instead of a fully loaded GPS was that it's handier for me to wear etc.
I could see myself buying a GPS unit and being too lazy to use it if it's on the bag etc.
Now I can just glance down at my hand and see in an instance the range.
It doesn't give you the pin range but the front/middle/back of the greens.
Also features an odometer and measure your shot etc..
Battery life is only about 8 hours though so if you were playing 2 rounds of golf it could be pushing it unless you fully charged it the night before.
Couple of the mates were slagging me over buying it as they said it was pointless but the next game we played everyone of them was constantly asking me the range Changed their minds afterwards




Garmin have a S3 version out which features touchscreen and you can move the pin around the green to give your more accuracy etc but so far I've only seen it available for the US and it's about €350.

TheDoc

Picked up the SkyCaddie 4 for €60 shipped.

Few guys I've played with had them and they were accurate and just easy to use and read.

Something like a €20 a year sub for using on your course, sounds the business. Da picked one up too.

Bought mine of Ebay

Guys that were using them bought them new for like €200 or something when they first came out, they are two generations old I think but really what more do you need from your rangfinder,

(Albeit automatically tweeting a driver over 300yrds would be unreal)

mike12

It all depens on what u want from the lazer the OP was looking for wedge distances so without a doubt the Laser is the way to go if you want distances to the flag.
Mike

technodub

Allthough its mainly for the distance it would be handy having yardages to bunkers and hazards realistically though i would for settle for something cheap thats fairly accurate! cheers for the help guys gonna try do some research on the ones you have mentioned!

cadobady

mike12 wrote: »

It all depens on what u want from the lazer the OP was looking for wedge distances so without a doubt the Laser is the way to go if you want distances to the flag.
Mike

I would agree with this. i have a bushnell 1600 and it great for any shot 130yds or less but sometimes on the longer shots like 170 yd par threes i would prefer to have the golf buddy gps on my bag. Its less conspicuous and gives instant info.

the laser takes a little longer to tag the pin. Also i think the laser would be more useful on larger greens because of the accuracy of the distances and when you are 110 yds out - 5yds can make all the difference

newport2

cadobady wrote: »

the laser takes a little longer to tag the pin. Also i think the laser would be more useful on larger greens because of the accuracy of the distances and when you are 110 yds out - 5yds can make all the difference

Essential for playing the 12th at the European Club. Green is over 125y from front to back, so GPS suggests somewhere between a wedge and a 3 wood!

SuprSi

newport2 wrote: »

Essential for playing the 12th at the European Club. Green is over 125y from front to back, so GPS suggests somewhere between a wedge and a 3 wood!

The green is 125 yards long?! :eek:

newport2

SuprSi wrote: »

The green is 125 yards long?! :eek:

Yep. You'd settle for a three putt!

golfnut1

newport2 wrote: »

SuprSi wrote: »

The green is 125 yards long?! :eek:

Yep. You'd settle for a three putt!

So the rangefinder would be handy for the putting too!!

GreeBo

cadobady wrote: »

the laser takes a little longer to tag the pin. Also i think the laser would be more useful on larger greens because of the accuracy of the distances and when you are 110 yds out - 5yds can make all the difference

Only if you can hit the ball to within 5 yrds on command...I think most of us cannot.

TheDoc

TheDoc wrote: »

Picked up the SkyCaddie 4 for €60 shipped.

Few guys I've played with had them and they were accurate and just easy to use and read.

Something like a €20 a year sub for using on your course, sounds the business. Da picked one up too.

Bought mine of Ebay

Guys that were using them bought them new for like €200 or something when they first came out, they are two generations old I think but really what more do you need from your rangfinder,

(Albeit automatically tweeting a driver over 300yrds would be unreal)

Both arrived ( one for me and one for Dad) and they are quality, for €60, probably the best bargain in my bag.

Da used one today and said it was spot on, and just stupidly good.

Said he hit mostly everything pin high, nothing short. And also found a few dodgy markings on the course!

TheDoc

Holy ****balls

Against pretty much every natural feeling I had last night, using this GPS for the first time, I decided to trust in it.

I was pin high or past the pin every shot into the green, where typically if I wasnt pin high I would be short.

There was a number of instances I just didnt believe it. On the 16th last night my gut told me I was about 165 maybe 170yards and that would be a 6 iron for me. That is too the front.

The pin was in the middle and the GPS indicated I was 180 to the front, but 200 to the centre.

From the rough I opened the face on my five wood a little and got a nice strike that went just past the pin.

There was other instances where I was dead on cert to be at the 100, but it was telling me it was actually 120, or in some cases 80.

Absolute game changer, to have that sort of pinpoint accuracy I've never had before. I just need to trust in it now, I was always a "feel" player, picking the club that felt right.

I definitly eased off some shots last night thinking I'd be too big, but it wasnt the case. Need to develop the trust and make sure to hit full shots, cause this thing was spot on

Did I mention it was €60?

trololol

charlieIRL

I've had similar experiencs with mine the last 2 rounds as well. Where i used to be short on a few holes i was hitting greens. On a few holes I actually went over the green but that was mainly down to getting more roll on a bone dry course and firm greens.

kopkidda

TheDoc wrote: »

Holy ****balls

Against pretty much every natural feeling I had last night, using this GPS for the first time, I decided to trust in it.

I was pin high or past the pin every shot into the green, where typically if I wasnt pin high I would be short.

There was a number of instances I just didnt believe it. On the 16th last night my gut told me I was about 165 maybe 170yards and that would be a 6 iron for me. That is too the front.

The pin was in the middle and the GPS indicated I was 180 to the front, but 200 to the centre.

From the rough I opened the face on my five wood a little and got a nice strike that went just past the pin.

There was other instances where I was dead on cert to be at the 100, but it was telling me it was actually 120, or in some cases 80.

Absolute game changer, to have that sort of pinpoint accuracy I've never had before. I just need to trust in it now, I was always a "feel" player, picking the club that felt right.

I definitly eased off some shots last night thinking I'd be too big, but it wasnt the case. Need to develop the trust and make sure to hit full shots, cause this thing was spot on

Did I mention it was €60?

trololol

Which one did you get and where?Also does it come pre loaded with ireland courses?

TheDoc

Ebay, think I linked above

You pay a sub, €29 a year and you can download courses from Ireland and UK to store on your GPS.

It also records my rounds and uploads them online, pretty decent

charlieIRL

TheDoc wrote: »

Ebay, think I linked above

You pay a sub, €29 a year and you can download courses from Ireland and UK to store on your GPS.

It also records my rounds and uploads them online, pretty decent

how come my sub is €36 a year???

TheDoc

charlieIRL wrote: »

how come my sub is €36 a year???

Might be 29 pound maybe?

charlieIRL

TheDoc wrote: »

Might be 29 pound maybe?

must be!

Keano

Cheers for the tip Doc. Just ordered one shipped for €60. Have tried various ones on my mobile but will be nice to have a dedicated device and see if it can start improving my scores.

TheDoc

Used again today and was spot on

Tweaky

TheDoc wrote: »

Ebay, think I linked above

You pay a sub, €29 a year and you can download courses from Ireland and UK to store on your GPS.

It also records my rounds and uploads them online, pretty decent

Can't seem to find that link. Do you mind reposting please. Thanks.

TheDoc

Tweaky wrote: »

Can't seem to find that link. Do you mind reposting please. Thanks.

Appears he is out of stock

http://stores.ebay.com/Rock-Bottom-Golf

Drop him a mail asking when his next batch is in

Stupidly good device, me and the old fella thoroughly chuffed