Golf GPS Gadgets

Hi,

I recently played with someone who had a skycaddie....GPS device.

I was very impressed with the product and i can really see the advantages of using this type of product for the someone who is serious about golf. Although the price is a huge negative.

However i was just wondering what peoples experiances or views were. I guess they have the marmite touch(love em, hate em). Given the crazed marketing and gimic approaches of golf manufactures today i really can see these becoming a standard piece of equipment for most players in years to come and wondered whether i am alonein that thought.

Has anyone got a similar product, are they as good as they seem ?

hi Oli

cant see the point of them myself (im sure others will disagree) but Id rather spend the cash on a shiny new club lol

I guess they are helpful if you are skilled enough to perhaps attack the flag etc - i dunno- im just happy hitting the green and then praying for a 2 putt all the time

One of the courses that i play has them built into buggys so ive used them on my more lazier rounds.

Im still in to minds about them, on one hand im a techno freak so i can see the plus points and where it would help your game (Hazards, pin yardages, carries etc) . But on the other hand, i think that it takes somthing out of the game (call me old fashioned) as knowing your yardages and being able to read the course is a skill in itself. 

Having said that i honestly think that its going to be a standard feature in the comming years.

Also What does the rules say about them? just out of intrest.

Unfortunately, Danny, the rulemakers, in their wisdom, have deemed them legal.

Thank you, David, for that up to the minute info.

I only have 1 comment.

I've used the GPS Buggy devices which are very useful for knowing the hole and the possible hazzards. 

I've only used them twice and that was when playing in our Company Golf Days and don't know the course. 

Our club has GPS on the buggies so I suppose it must be allowed at our place.

I don't think they speed up play at all, it is the length of time some golfers stand over the ball, rooted to the spot for what seems an age, before they actually hit it. This also spreads to their times on the greens, whether it be a 30' or 30". Then you add in the leaving of the trollies in the wrong place around the green and the slow amble up the fairways.

I think they will take away the skill and fun of the game. The skill required to judge distance is  learnt over long periods, like an apprentice learns his trade. Satisfaction and praise from fellow competitors on a perfect shot will be lost, beacause this gadget told you how far to hit the ball.

This will create lazy golfers who will not be thinking about playing the game and course, they will  just be looking at the gadget to chose their next Iron.

The fun of playing a new course is not knowing whats round the corner, it makes you think about your shot, do we want each course to provide us with a fly by video of each hole at every Tee Box?? - It may happen, then we will see how slow play is.

Technology is great but lets not take away the fun and banter between us when the wrong club is selected, this is a game of fun. We are not going to make the ryder cup team this year, so what's it matter if we under estimate the front of the green by 10 yards?

We may as well all go and play indoors on simulators, banging the balls onto a projection screen.

I started to read your post Dave, the you added different colour text nd I got confused and lost the will to live.

Still to many wordy things.

If you asked me the yardage of any hole on my course I cold not tell you as I have never looked. I stand on the tee, no  matter what course it is and take in all that I need to know for the first shot, when I get to that I use my eyesight again to see what my options are and proceed accordingly, it might mean  a lay up short of a lake, or a shot to one side of the fairway to allow an easier shot for the next, and if I feel that I can reach the green without having to force it then I will take it on.

I have issue 82 dated March 2008 of the "Tee Times" magazine and on page 24 there is an article which is headed "Electronic rangefinders get the go-ahead Magic Eyes are legal in PGA events.

It then shows all the different makes including the sureshot and skycaddie, even their latest model which comes with 'IntelliGreen' TM as standard, allowing players to view all aspects of the green from any position.

Whether this ruling is going to apply to amateurs or not I do not have a clue especially after reading the email to Chris from the R&A.

I am with you, Chris, on this as I have seen these devices in action and quite honestly they do not appear to help the average golfer. The reason is that even though a player may know the distance he hits the ball on a nice calm day, he does not know how far the club goes in a 10mph wind, a 15mph wind or even a thirty mph wind, as well as all the different combinations in between and directions of the wind.

I would rather play with the method I have always employed and that is to judge the distance with my eyes, not by yardage, but by the club necessary to do what I intend. That might be a variety of different scenarios depending on how I see the shot.

From what I have seen of my friend with all the gizmos including a sureshot is that the only knowledge he gains from it is the distance, his problem being that he cannot hit any club a consistent distance, or play a shot weighted to the conditions at the time, he just lacks the feel.

I won one in a comp' and use it in the driving range now and again, but on the course.. never. To me , its me against the course any help working round the rules of golf is just not golf. The rules should just ban them on the course, FULL STOP.  

the pros have used gps systems for years.  they use caddyaid which gives the huge amounts of info that pros want.  it's also the dearest i've seen.

for ordinary mortals the gps should help speed of play and boost confidence and that improves your game.

sureshot gps was warned against because it has facilities built in which are not permitted, even if turned off.  guess golfers are not trusted after all.

in my opinion the r and a  should have said either yes or no and not sat on the fence.

progress happens - clubs,balls etc.   deal with it and move on.

i am biased as i just bought a skycaddie 2.5 and even on my own course it has given me some different perspectives.  my opinion - it will be ratified and one day we'll wonder what all the fuss was about

rant over

completegolfer.co.uk sells the skycaddie 2.5 for £159

American golf at irvine also at this price.

they are v.popular and selling out quickly

Just looking at buying a Sky Caddie 2.5 but my local course isnt on the list and neither can I find it on the request list. Any ideas how I can request this before I buy or maybe someone could tell me if I'm just stupid and College Pines Worksop is on

Perhaps a gps would help with your spelling of my name, Mr Doncaster.

Dave,

I am also unsure about your comment on buggy's not being allowed in comps. How would people with walking disabilities or those much older than us be able to compete???

I can believe this in a Tour event etc but not an amatuer comp??

John. 

I was surprised when watching the PGA the other week.  A viewer sent in a question asking why the caddies carry the bags rather than using a trolley.  I always assumed that trollies weren't allowed in professional comps because they hammer the grass flat.  However Peter Allis said they didn't use them because they were too awkward to manoeuvre with so many people around implying that there was not a ban on them.  Anyone know if this is correct.

On GPS it is not something I would ever use.  150 yard marker and a bit of pacing will do for me.  As someone else pointed out there are too many other factors like wind, lie of the land, softness of the ground that come into play to make exact yardages worthwhile.  Also while watching the PGA I was amused by one golfer discussing with his caddie whether it was 109 or 110 yards to the pin. 

I have caddied on the challenge tour and trolleys are widely used there.

I use an SG-5 sky caddie its only an electronic course planner . It can only tell you yardages so i see no issues with legallity, it cant help you swing the club.

It's a lot quicker to use than a course planner ,waterproof  more reliable than some maker posts ,which keep being moved by green staff when mowing,and then guess where it was when replacing it!Even with a gps gadget  compared to pro's  our course info  is miles behind theirs . We play a new course we play it as we see it with or without a planner,They on the other hand know where the pins are going to be for the four days, have practice rounds where they hit several different shots into each hole , putt from everywhere so they know the best place to land for for easier putts.Play week in week out on immaculatly prepared couses , greens and bunkers. Also Pro's are allowed to use range finders that give you exact yardages to pins a gps unit can't do that. 

 How can something that gives you the same info as a course planner be considered  illegal?? my thoughts are that it can't.

I must admit i probably  dont rely on it much on my own course but find it a god send on new  or infrequently  played courses.

I'm thinking about getting one of these when I go back to the states next month and for half the price of the UK where I now live.  I just started to research this product tonight and am looking for information on the SG5 model.

But as I try to read through all this for information on the skycaddie device itself, I found more discussion of the rules, etc.

Why do pros go out with a yardage book full of notes and yardages?  They measure it right and use it in competition.  Most of us don't have caddies that walk around and measure these courses so I see nothing wrong with using one.

I am not a long hitter and rarely hit a tee shot over 200 yards on a good day.  So my second shot becomes even more important to know yardage because I know how far I can hit all my fairway woods (when I actually hit the shot I intend).  And most of the courses I've played in the UK don't have any markers on the course so I'm completly at a loss as to how far from the green I am on most holes. 

Anyway, back to my research.... 

As the hole is the ultimate target, I have always attacked the flag, when required, even without a GPS or a Bushnell. I cannot see how either of those two devices are essential to attack the flag.

Martin, if you are happy playing the game with the help of these aids, then who am I to argue with you.

I just canot see any advantage in even knowing the distance, as I have never played that way in my life. I use the tools that all golfers of my years were brought up with,

The eyes are a great judge of distance once trained, my golf swing is not  constant in the speed or length but is geared to how I see each shot and how much weight I feel I need to get me the correct distance.

Being capable of playing a large variety of shots with an iron, I probably play the game entirely different to you, but I bet I get more satisfaction.

Hi Oli, I've just come back from Spain where all the markers were in Metres - doesn't seem like a problem add 10% to change to yards, but when marker posts say 100m and fairway markers (on sprinkler heads) nearer the green say 121m what do you do?? At home I use an app on my phone which when it locates a satellite is very good speeds up play because you can take a club to go that distance, it doesn't make you play better but it helps you relax because you know you're not going to be short or long, I'm in favour :-) PS. didn't use phone app. data roaming charges would be cheaper to by a dedicated gps device.