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Rant #?? .... Use of Range Finders & Slow Play

I'm not a "good" golfer by any sense of the word, but I use a Neo-X gps watch for all my distances. I know my average club distances and would be lost without it. Now that I'm accurate enough to land my approach shots on the green I find that I need it to land those shots. My watch died last week near the end of my round and I found myself coming up short on a few approach shots when I was fine during the rest of the round. The watch is always on and always updating so it's much faster than an app or range finder. But it's not as accurate as a range finder, so it doesn't upset me when people take a little more time to break out the range finder.

I'm not a pro, so I don't get too upset with myself or others out on the course. In fact, if I hit a horrible shot I typically laugh and laugh at my friends when they screw up. I'd expect the same from them. It's all good natured fun and serves as a reminder to stay relaxed during the round.
 
I use a GPs. I might look at it on the tee, to verify the length of the hole. That's because, My senior group plays from the forward tees and sometimes we have no distance marker. But I don't do that if I am hitting first. In that case, I just tee my ball and hit it, usually taking no practice swings. Otherwise, I only bring it out from 150 in. This is because, I'm having to learn to club myself all over again. Even with the GPS, if I am with a fast foursome, I can play a round in just over 3.5 hours. That should be fast enough for anyone
 
golfinnut said:
Idiotic people that should not be playing golf are what stress me out.
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out of all the crazy things said in this thread, the one thing I really take exception to is the phrase above. There is absolutely nobody who shouldn't be playing golf. There are people who can't play for some physically limiting reason, and there are people who can't play *well*... but every able bodied person should be *allowed* to play golf. I have met and played with a bunch of very different and differently skilled people on the course. All ages, races, shapes, and sizes. I can only think of twice that I've been paired with someone I really didn't want to be on the course with. And neither of those people was particularly bad at golf, they just had bad attitudes.

So, I guess if there *is* one type of person who shouldn't be playing golf... it's the type who can't get over their own issues and just enjoy the time on the course. Even then I wouldn't begrudge you your right to play. But I would suggest a different hobby.
 
HuntGolfVols said:
Also I don't pin hunt I go for middle if the green.
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I never used to either, but now that I know my distances (with the aid of a rangefinder), I now know that I can hit a particular wedge or iron to a certain distance and get it to roll to the pin. Doesn't always work, but I have that confidence now to go for it.



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I'll use mine once I am 200y and in, all the way down to 40-50. Inside 100y I typically use one of two clubs and while I have a good feel for how hard to swing for an 80y or 50y or 40y shot, I'm not there yet to automatically see the distance. So if I am not holding anybody up, it does nothing but help me to take 15 seconds and laser a target.
 
I'm confused. My handicap varies from high teens to low twenties...am I allowed to use a rangefinder? I do use one as it happens, so am I am idiot? I occasionally dribble a ball off the tee and skull a chip over the green, so should I be banned from the game?
I never hold anyone up, but occasionally I'll get paired with someone who practically runs from ball to ball. Just because I don't do that, am I basically the devil incarnate?
Admittadly I shouldn't have even mentioned anything - because I've only been playing a couple of years I'm unlikely to have a clue about anything.
 
HarlettoScara said:
I'm confused. My handicap varies from high teens to low twenties...am I allowed to use a rangefinder? I do use one as it happens, so am I am idiot? I occasionally dribble a ball off the tee and skull a chip over the green, so should I be banned from the game?
I never hold anyone up, but occasionally I'll get paired with someone who practically runs from ball to ball. Just because I don't do that, am I basically the devil incarnate?
Admittadly I shouldn't have even mentioned anything - because I've only been playing a couple of years I'm unlikely to have a clue about anything.
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correct. the only people who should venture out onto the links are those who can shoot par on a bad day and have been doing so for at least a few decades. Golf as a sport should be wrapping up pretty soon.
 
I don't think the rangefinder was the root cause of slow play.....you can only play so fast when you are topping shots and hitting into the woods or OB. I would have just suggested that the group play ready golf. I tell my buddies that and other than being on the green I don't really care if you are furthest from the hole. If you are ready play the shot.
 
Everyone I play with has a rangefinder and our regular round time is under 4 hours. I'll use it on any shot I feel needs to not go past a certain yardage. It takes less than 5 seconds and I hit the ball. I've even done this in a duffed drive that only went 150. I want to know if a bunker is in play, what can I do to take it out of play.
 
I have a buddy I play with and yesterday he lasered a shot from 25 yards, I was like can you laser my putt for me, it look like 20 feet but it might be 20 feet and 3 inches lol
 
Maybe you should buy him a GPS watch instead!
 
Thanks for the entertainment over lunch. This thread has cracked me up. I love it.

I've actually gotten to where I turn off my gps during my round and use my golf shot app for scorekeeping purposes only. I go off of the red, white, and blue yardage markers most time and estimate and will break out my rangefinder when I within about 130 or so. If I top our chunk a ball, I rarely need to range it again, I have a pretty good feel for how far it went and since I'm topping, or chunking what's the likelihood that I will now hit the perfect shot and exact yardage. Pretty slim.

But all that being said, I agree with the masses, the devices are probably not slowing down play as much as other things. The slow play was probably more due to the fact that he was topping, skulling, chunking and in general hitting the ball way more than other golfers. Let's face it, it takes me more time to hit my 8 shots on a par 5 than it does you to hit your 4, 5, or 6 shots on the same par 5.

He paid for the equipment and the round, he gets to choose whether or not he uses it. If he's not falling behind the group in front or holding up people behind, it's really not that big of a deal. He probably spent more time looking for the wayward shot or the ball hiding in the rough between the men's tee box and the ladies tee box than using distance measuring devices.

Relax, chill, enjoy the moment with your friend, make a couple of new friends and enjoy the outdoors. Then once you've made him your friend you can teach and coach him on the proper way to play golf based on over 40 years of experience.
 
baldguy said:
I can only think of twice that I've been paired with someone I really didn't want to be on the course with. And neither of those people was particularly bad at golf, they just had bad attitudes.
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My bad dude.

I go away a couple of days & find this just waiting for me. It's like Christmas.
 
I use my rangefinder and GPS APP on my phone all the time...no not on every shot or even every hole, but either way it takes a lot less time than walking off distances like we used to do


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I volunteered at the NCAA Women's Golf Championship last week. Every player that I saw over the week would pull a rangefinder and verify the yardage on every shot. Did not impact their pace at all. Granted they are significantly better than the avg player, but the point is that a slow player will be slow regardless. Would you prefer that he stepped off the yardage from a sprinkler head instead?
 
I am guessing this was just a bad day on the course and the OP's playing partner was just super slow. Slow play in general drives me nuts and I am guessing he is the same, this should have been in the Rant thread but it's not.
 
Matthew said:
My bad dude.

I go away a couple of days & find this just waiting for me. It's like Christmas.
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Lol you know I wasn't talking about you. We need to tee it up soon. Rangefinders and all

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baldguy said:
Lol you know I wasn't talking about you. We need to tee it up soon. Rangefinders and all

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I'm tied to the house the next few weekends but I need to see your new club. I should be able to make something work after the 12th.


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I agree with those that say it's the player more than the device that causes the slowness typically. I've played with guys that are pretty darn quick that used a rangefinder or gps each shot. I use my rangefinder a good bit, but that doesn't slow me down anywhere near as much as when I lose my swing and just can't seem to keep the ball in front of me.
 
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