Review of BBGPS GOLF - Free Blackberry app

Hawk

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http://www.bbgpsgolf.com/

This is a free app that can be downloaded over-the-air to your Blackberry. It uses the GPS chip in the phone to provide distance information. One important thing to know is that it will not work with the Curve 8330 or Pearl 8130 on the Verizon network. This is because Verizon chose to not to unlock the GPS feature on these phones. It does work with later versions.

A couple months ago I told White Rhino that I would let him know my thoughts on this app after I used it. I thought I would share my review with the rest of the board in case anybody else was interested.

Courses
The website says there are currently 8,097 courses fully mapped in the database. This app actually lets you map your own courses using Google and Bing maps or using the Blackberry on the course. You can also add the course using Google maps and then refine your tee/pin/hazard locations with the handheld if needed. You can add reference points at the tee, the front, back, and middle of the green, and any other spot you think would be helpful. For example, I add way points at bunkers, dog-legs, lay-up spots, and water hazards.

I tinkered around quite a bit with this and would highly reccommend using the Google map interface to add courses. It's a much easier interface and the coordinates are accurate. Bing maps actually look better to the eye while you are adding a course, but the coordinates are not always correct and there is not a way to actually view the course in Bing after you add it. I would also reccomend taking the time to watch the how-to videos on the website.

The only downside to this system is that you rely on the quality of the Google map. It is basically impossible to map a course (unless you use the Balckberry on the course) if there is cloud cover in your view. Also, you will need to know the layout of the course (have a scorecard) so you know which holes are where.

Features
This app offers a simple way to check distances on your Blackberry. It will give you distance to any way point that is part of the course map. It will alway give an "as-the-bird-flies" distance, so you will have to remember that on dog-legs, etc.

There is a feature that you can measure shot distance by marking your starting location and where the ball ends up. You can also add the clubs in your bag to the program and it will keep a tab on how far you hit each club if you choose. I used this a few times during my round.

This app will also keep track of your score and statistics if you want it to. If you choose to use this feature, the app will ask you questions after each hole like, "did you hit the fairway", "did you hit the green", and "how many putts". I used this feature, but somehow erased all of the info after I was done. Next time I will probably not use it because it drains the battery and I can just as easily use a score card.

You can download Google maps to your handheld and the app will actually open the course so you can see an overhead view if you desire. I personally did not use this feature since I had a scorecard, but I see where it could be useful.

This app is very customizable in that you can choose the features you want to use in the options menu.

GPS Performance
First of all, let me say that the distances on this app were very accurate. I actually stood on the 100 yard marker a few times and it was within 3 yards each time. However, you have to remember that it is only as accurate as the map of the course. If the way-points are not in the correct place, the GPS will not be accurate. If you see discrepancies, you can edit the way-point locations using the Blackberry. I did this a few times because the tees were not in the same locations I thought.

I set the GPS to refresh every 6 seconds, this is the longest amount of time you can choose. I never had any problems getting a quick lock once I was at my ball. This app did not slow me down at all. I actually walked 18 holes in slightly less than 3 1/2 hours.

Other notes
One big issue for people with mobile-device GPS apps is battery drain. I use a Blackberry Storm, which is know for being a huge battery hog. I am happy to report that I was able to finish all 18 holes without draining the battery. I was even able to make a 10 minute phone call when I was done. There are some step that you can take to increase battery life while using this app.

  • Set the backlight on the phone to time-out in 10 seconds.
  • Set the GPS refresh rate to 6 seconds.
  • Don't use the scoring feature.
  • Make sure you don't have any other apps running the background.
  • Don't use the phone for anything else if you can during your round.

I really liked this app. It is not as refined as the subscriptions GPS programs, but it worked for what I needed. Plus, it was FREE, which is a huge plus as far as I'm concerned. I'm hoping that it will help me improve my game by taking some of the guess-work out of club selection. I will add more to this as I continue to use it. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions. Also, I can help you with learning to map courses if you would like.
 
Thanks for this, I have updated my home course, and sent it to a bunch of friends for them to use as well. I was considering getting the onPar GPS but if I can get this for free I can spend the money on clubs/beer

Now I just have to wait for the course to open!
 
Great writeup! Too bad I have the Curve 8330 on Verizon. :banghead:
 
I've tried using this on my phone (I've got the Storm), its not easy for me and it drains your battery to no avail. But I've got a Golf Buddy that I use instead :)
 
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Great writeup! Too bad I have the Curve 8330 on Verizon. :banghead:

Thanks Claire! From what I've heard, you can use a Bluetooth to circumvent the issue, but I don't know how that works. There are support forums on the website that might be able to help. I'm guessing it's a pain though.

I've tried using this on my phone (I've got the Storm), its not easy for me and it drains your battery to no avail. But I've got a Golf Buddy that I use instead :)

It sounds like you've found a good alternative! I found that it did use a lot of battery, but that can be mitigated with the tips I posted. Also, I have a habit of just looking at my phone off and on. I forced myself to stop that so the screen didn't have to light up except when I needed it to.
 
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thank you for the review hawk i will try this out.

No problem :act-up:

Hope that it works as well for you as it did for me. Let me know if you have any questions after you try it. Also, there is a forum and the app designer will help you troubleshoot.
 
Nice review, I used this a few times due to the fact it was a free app. One of the courses wasn't marked very well so there were issues with yardages and some important stuff was not mapped(bunkers, hazards, ect). One course I play regularly wasn't on there at the time. It was a solid app for free! I won't spend the time mapping a course myself because I play several difference courses and I am there to play not work.

However, I went ahead and paid the $40 for a year for the Golflogix app. If you have a Blackberry you can afford the $3.33 a month, :D. I did a head to head comparision with two dedicated Golf GPS units against the GolfLogix app and found the results to be extremely good with the golflogix app.

Here is a review I did on it. My Golflogix for Blackberry Review - The Hackers Paradise

Since I posted the review I did the side by side comparission against the two GPS units for every shot over 18 holes and like I said before it was highly accurate. Ocassionally all three units would show a different yardage but it was never more than 2-3 yards between the three units.
 
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Thanks for the info Craig Mac. I've heard of Golflogix as well, but haven't ever tried it out. It looks like it is much more refined graphically than BBGPS Golf. The main reason that I haven't bought a GPS unit or app is that I've had to closely monitor my discretionary spending since my son was born. Right now the GPS isn't a priority item, so free is just the right price :banana: One of these days I'd like to buy a handheld unit.

I definitely agree that I wouldn't map out a course using the handheld. It was much easier using Google maps on my PC at home. I think trying to map a course while playing would seriously slow down the user's round. Not to mention the poor people behind him/her.
 
Understandable Hawk and for free it is worth using. I really wanted more after using it and the scorecard/stats features with the GolfLogix was a big selling point for me!

I guess I am fortunate to have the Curve 8900 with the holster because it really puts a minimal drain on my battery when I use the holster when using an app like these over a period of time. I think I played the round and didn't have to charge my phone until the following day.
 
Understandable Hawk and for free it is worth using. I really wanted more after using it and the scorecard/stats features with the GolfLogix was a big selling point for me!

I guess I am fortunate to have the Curve 8900 with the holster because it really puts a minimal drain on my battery when I use the holster when using an app like these over a period of time. I think I played the round and didn't have to charge my phone until the following day.

Wow, that is impressive! I may look into a holster for my Storm now.
 
Understandable Hawk and for free it is worth using. I really wanted more after using it and the scorecard/stats features with the GolfLogix was a big selling point for me!

I guess I am fortunate to have the Curve 8900 with the holster because it really puts a minimal drain on my battery when I use the holster when using an app like these over a period of time. I think I played the round and didn't have to charge my phone until the following day.

I also have the golflogix app but my big gripe is the battery drain. I could not get past 9 holes without the battery on the phone draining. Seemed kinda useless to me. I liked the app but he battery usage killed it.
 
Wow, that is impressive! I may look into a holster for my Storm now.

It came with the phone and it shuts off the screen when it is in the holster. So the app stays connected and running the entire time and only displays when out the holster. Battery drain seems to be the biggest drawback to smartphone GPS apps, but with some tweaking you can get a full 18 out of them.

I think I could easily get 36 holes out of mine.
 
I use BBGPS app and love it. At my level I only need basic yardages to help with club selection. I usually check out any new course on Google Earth prior to playing. Simple to use, I've added 2 courses and updated a few as well.
 
I used this all last year. The course mapping is really easy. Takes about 20 mins. The magnetic holster is the way to go. I was able to play 36 and still had about 20% battery charge left. I could never get the scoring part to work right though. My storm would freeze 2-3 times a round so I just turned that part off. This was just as accurate as the skycaddy that all my buddies use. Justin, the developer was very good about answering questions or fixing problems. Just turned in my storm for a droid so I'm trying out skydroid. This is a free app also, but has a cool feature that you press a spot on the course map and it will tell you how far away you are. I tried it last nite at home and it told me I was 982 yards from the 1st tee. Just waiting for the weather to be nice when I'm off to try this out.
 
Just a little follow-up on this. I was able to test the app again over 18 holes. The course was using temporary greens, so the GPS was basically useless. However, I did use it while pretending the greens were in their normal spots for every hole (just for testing) and I did track the distance of many of my shots.

My round took about 2-1/2 hours and when I was done my battery charge was still at 75%. I turned off every feature except for the GPS and set my backlight to time-out at 10 seconds. I did make sure that my battery was fully charged prior to playing.
 
Just a little follow-up on this. I was able to test the app again over 18 holes. The course was using temporary greens, so the GPS was basically useless. However, I did use it while pretending the greens were in their normal spots for every hole (just for testing) and I did track the distance of many of my shots.

My round took about 2-1/2 hours and when I was done my battery charge was still at 75%. I turned off every feature except for the GPS and set my backlight to time-out at 10 seconds. I did make sure that my battery was fully charged prior to playing.

2.5 hours for 18 holes? Not here in SoCal!! Unless maybe if I play at mignight. :laughing:
 
2.5 hours for 18 holes? Not here in SoCal!! Unless maybe if I play at mignight. :laughing:

Well, to clarify, it's a short course and I was walking by myself. Also, it was temporary greens, so I didn't spend any time missing putts :clap:
 
I just used this for the first time last night. I played an entire 18 holes, in about 3 hours, and used this app the whole time. My BB Curve was fully charged before I went out, and after the round, the battery was drained 15-20%. I had it updating the GPS every 6 seconds and it turns the screen off after 10 seconds.

I didn't use it to track my scores or anything, just to give me yardages. It was helpful as every par 3 was playing from Temp tees, and this worked quite well for that. As hawk says, it is useless for temp greens, but for the 16/18 real greens it was FANTASTIC. I may need to get a holder for it, so I don't have to keep digging it out of the cart when I need it.

The GPS app was pretty darn good, Very accurate, and easy to use. I will be using this a lot in the future. Thanks for pointing this out Hawk!
 
Glad that it worked so well for you. I really need a holster too. I keep it in my pocket and it's a pain to try to get it out with a gloved hand.
 
At the beginning of the season I grabbed GolfLogix, $40 for a year and there are literally tons of courses, I have yet to come across one that is NOT covered and I live in the boonies! I'm a big fan, I've compared the yardages given on GolfLogix with our on cart GPS systems and every single time it's right on within a yard or two. You can't go wrong with GolfLogix! Battery life can be an issue but I changed my background brightness and only use GolfLogix for yardages, not stat tracking or keeping score and I can make it walking 18 with plenty of spare.
 
Thanks Hawk, I actually have this on my blackberry but haven't used it yet since we only play the Par3 courses and its really not necessary to have a GPS for small courses :D
 
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