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GPS vs Range Finder

SuperStroke
Gianna1025 said:
We're you watching the Bushnell infomercial on TGC when you started this? LOL!


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LOL. no I didn't even know that was on, baby duty in the mornings so no golf channel for me until atleast 10 lol
 
IceJack said:
There is a long thread on this somewhere... this will most likely be moved when a mod sees it.

Long story short, I use both. GPS for a quick distance to the green, rangefinder for trees, bunkers, exact to the pic, and for tournaments.

There really is no true way to determine which is "better." One is better for some while the other is better for some. The Bushnell hybrid is a great option if you want both in one compact device. I think the GPS is a little more convenient and the top tier ones give loads of measurements and have loads of other cool features. But I would not say better. They are both great for speeding up slow play :)
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thanks for the info, i was just wondering, my GPS works great and is pretty on point, plus i like the gps option that marks my ball and gives me my distance on each shot, i just figured i would get better info here than any other place, before i thought about purchasing a rangefinder, thanks Ice
 
I started with a rangefinder a few years ago and then switched to a GPS. Both of the selling points, but I have no plans to go back to a rangefinder. The GPS does it all for me and there is no standing around and trying to key on something a couple of hundred yards a way. GPS makes it all very easy.
 
I prefer the GPS. The fact that they can be off by 10 yds gives me a great excuse when I actually hit the sweet spot with a iron on approach and fly the green.

" Darn GPS is Off ! "

In all seriousness I love mine but sometimes when I forget it I feel lost out there. Part of me feels like I need to pay more attention to getting a yardage and teaching myself what that distance feels like both visually and mentally instead just grabbing a club and swinging away. Sometimes I just get a number, grab a club and swing away without absorbing the feel of that distance. I often wonder if using the laser would be a little more of a visual/cognative way of doing it and pay dividends with overall course management and sensory function.
 
Merged with a huge thread on the subject.
 
KevvDogg said:
thanks for the info, i was just wondering, my GPS works great and is pretty on point, plus i like the gps option that marks my ball and gives me my distance on each shot, i just figured i would get better info here than any other place, before i thought about purchasing a rangefinder, thanks Ice
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A range finder first without a doubt. I have had one since they first came out. The only thing you can't measure is how far it is to cut off the corner of the dogleg. Apart from that you can measure to anything you can see on the course.
Spend some $$ though and get one that has a continuous scan feature. Works better than point and click point and click on each object.
 
Tedfroop said:
A range finder first without a doubt. I have had one since they first came out. The only thing you can't measure is how far it is to cut off the corner of the dogleg. Apart from that you can measure to anything you can see on the course.
Spend some $$ though and get one that has a continuous scan feature. Works better than point and click point and click on each object.
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thanks for that info im defnitely looking for one, and i guess i shoudl spend some $ to get a good one. I mean my GPS is great but it is off from time to time i just thought the rangefinder was more accurate.
 
I was finally able to use my Bushnell Tour v2 non slope today and LOVED it. I found it especially useful when in the 50 to 170 yard range. I also used it to see the distances to ponds and bunkers. It was very easy to use and quick as well.
 
Golf GPS or Laser Rangefinder

Golf GPS or Laser Rangefinder

I'm looking in to purchasing a measuring device for golf to aid my game especially due to the fact that I have lots of Open competition on courses I have never played.

My question is which is better and why is it better? Also which specific device is the best in its field?


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Hope I merged this before Kmac saw it, haha. Don't forget to use the search function.
 
I have used and still own a Bushnell V2 tour rangefinder for the year and has been a great investment. Only issue I have is part of my course has areas where you can't see the pin and sometimes with the fog the rangefinder can't lock onto the flagstick. For this reason I have bought a GPS which is fantastic. I like the way I can quickly see distance to the front centre and back, so know how much green and margin for error I have. However, on a few holes from 150 yards in I tend to use my rangefinder to get the exact distance so i can score close. To be honest, if you can have both get both, but if just the one I would say GPS.
 
I'm absolutely loving my rangefinder. I don't think I could golf without it anymore. To me knowing a flag is 95 yards away versus 78 yards is huge.

I did learn one thing last weekend though - they don't work in the fog!
 
I won a garmin approach watch at a tournament raffle. While it is sweet, im thinking hard about trading in on either the approach g6 or a range finder.
I like that the g6 shows layup arcs, hole pictures with flyovers, and it will keep club distances by averaging your shots. But, I believe the range finder would b dead on, no questions asked accurate. So it's a question of guaranteed accuracy or lots of features.
Of course the watch I won is free and does some cool stuff itself. And, it should be simple to use thus speeding play. What to do, what to do...
 
I have both the Garmin watch and range finder and have used traditional GPS. I rank them in this order with what I found to be advantages or disadvantages.

1. Garmin watch (ease of use. Less time searching for distances)
2. Rangefinder (pinpoint accuracy but can be troublesome hitting pin. Great for carry distances over bunkers and hazards)
3. traditional GPS (good if you are into uploading stats to program)

I like combo of watch and RF to get distances over hazards best.

TapAhoy!
 
I was in the same dilema until I purchased the Bushnell Hybrid about a month ago and have really enjoyed it. Honestly it is the best of both worlds. GPS when you just need a quick yardage, or want to see how much room you have in the front or back of the pin. Range finder when you want an exact yardage. Also, they (Bushnell) have a $100 rebate going on right now for the Hybrid so that helps too.
 
I use a GPS....I was about to buy a range finder....a buddy had one he was selling and I carried it for several weeks, but I found that I used the GPS 80-85% of the time....I could glance at it and get 4 or 5 yardages at once....left bunker front, left bunker carry, water carry, 150 yard layup 100 yard layup

All at the same time....got a blind shot? wanna know what's over the hill...look at the GPS

I hear the exact yardage to the pin argument...but my Callaway UPro has the touch screen where I can touch and drag to anywhere and get a yardage...so the pin is in the back right corner...okay touch and drag....I promise I will be within a yard or 2 of the laser and its alot easier and it keeps my score, my stats and everything.

Find me a rangefinder that does that.
 
IMO the GPS better for course strategy ie, blind tee shots, layups and blind spots, but when your in scoring range the range finder is better. I initially had the skycaddie and had issues with the downloads. I traveled a lot and if i didn't download the exact course in the area i was SOL. I then switched to the golf buddy when i was visiting a Kansas area and the friend i was playing with was able to pull up a little known "mom and pop" type course up on his golf buddy system. I now have a rangefinder that i find more useful when trying to score and clearing bunkers and water.
 
My combo of Neo GPS and rangefinder is great for knowing >100 distances with the GPS and <100 distances with the RF, however is does neglect the problem of not having a sight line. I'm not a huge stat guy and I prefer to use my brain for course management and not let a device do it, so distance is all I really need. Plus in a tournament when a GPS is not allowed it's nice to have the rangefinder.

Plus the darn GPS only holds 10 courses, and some of the courses I play have 3-4 9 hole courses which takes up a slor per 9, so it's nice to have the laser when I didn't download the course.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
I use a GPS....I was about to buy a range finder....a buddy had one he was selling and I carried it for several weeks, but I found that I used the GPS 80-85% of the time....I could glance at it and get 4 or 5 yardages at once....left bunker front, left bunker carry, water carry, 150 yard layup 100 yard layup

All at the same time....got a blind shot? wanna know what's over the hill...look at the GPS

I hear the exact yardage to the pin argument...but my Callaway UPro has the touch screen where I can touch and drag to anywhere and get a yardage...so the pin is in the back right corner...okay touch and drag....I promise I will be within a yard or 2 of the laser and its alot easier and it keeps my score, my stats and everything.

Find me a rangefinder that does that.
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That was arguably one of the biggest selling features for me on GPS vs Rangefinder. What is over that hill, and how far is it until I'm in it?

Having that knowledge has added a TON of confidence to my tee game at courses I've never played before.
 
Well, I am almost solidly in the hybrid gps/rangefinder camp now, assuming the GPS can give you distances hazards, etc. in addition to the green. I have had a rangefinder for over a year, and I have been biased against GPS for several reasons. But, I found a Bushnell XGC+ on sale for $99.99 (it was a display model), and Bushnell is currently running a $100 rebate on the XGC+, so I just might windup getting this baby for free.

The XGC+ is preloaded with tons of courses, and gives you F/M/B of the green as well as a few landmarks on the hole. Plus, you can download detailed maps of courses, and you get the first 50 for free. So, today I was playing Georgia National for the first time, so I downloaded the map.

Loved the GPS on the tee. I could measure distances to all the hazards and really plan where to hit my drive, plus I could accurately measure my drive distances.

For approaches to the green, I preferred the rangefinder. Our pin sheet just wasn't trustworthy: I should have been able to get the GPS distance to center of the green and used the pin sheet to add or subtract the appropriate distances, but on several holes the pin sheet was off. Plus, if you were way off to one side of the fairway, it was tough to gauge exactly where the pin was in relation to your position.

So, I really favored the combo, but even that was only because I was not familiar with the course. Once I play the course a dozen times or so, I will be much more familiar with the location of hazards and I won't need the GPS off the tee so much.

I also just got supremely lucky on one hole: It was a dogleg right with a bunker in the corner of the dogleg. Using the GPS, it looked like I needed to carry a drive about 230 to clear the bunker, so I went for it. I kind of popped the ball up, but it looked like it came down on the other side of the bunker. I drove out to find my ball exactly in the middle of the fairway, and only about 135 from the center of the green. BUT, my total drive distance was only 235, so obviously the bunker was shorter than it looked on the GPS. However, there was a SECOND bunker hidden behind the bunker I had carried that was not depicted on my GPS, and I must have just barely missed that one a little to the left.

Whatever, I still made par, and I never would have attempted that drive without the GPS image.
 
Now that I have both I will join in with - both. My new Garmin Approach G6 GPS is easy no mess no fuss pull up and look at the yardage. Nothing to pull out, put away and no need to look at a bunch of things. Yardage to the front and back, which are sometimes difficult to shoot with a laser, to the green side bunkers, water everything is all there.
Score keeping is easy and track able and can be done in several formats like stroke, skins, or Stableford. So too is shot distance etc. I really didn't mess with this last time out as it was the first time I used it.
My laser range finder has its place too. Not being a low handicap player I do get in trouble. Figuring out where to go to get out of trouble is half the battle. You can't do that with the gps (at least I don't know how). That means it too has a place in the bag.
 
I've got both a Rangefinder and Golfshot GPS app on my iPhone. The combination is killer. If you want precise yardage, Range Finder is exactly what you need, but if you need the layout of the hole, how far is a bunker / water or whicher, Golfshot GPS has it all. I keep my phone on the whole round, so all the statistics are up to the second every step / movement I make.
 
Dont have either but i need to as its costing me alot of shots at the moment hitting the wrong club! to make it worse I played with a guy who had one and the 150 yards markers are wrong at my course when comparing with a rangefinder
 
I'm still on the fence, I want one or the other before Saturday. Trying to decide between an Approach G6 gps or Bushnell V2 rangefinder.
 
Assuming you have a decent smartphone, it seems like there are enough viable GPS apps out there to compliment a good rangefinder. Even at $30 for the "best" smartphone GPS app, it make sense to me.
 
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