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Distance Challenge!

Maddog701

Maddog701

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LeRoy NY
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14.2 ghin
I have been thinking of posting this for awhile now. I am going to challenge players to test themselves on the course regarding shot distance.
On more than a few occasions while playing with six4three5 I have come with in a yard or been right on the number using my eye when he was using his range finder. He would just look at me and shake his head.

My challenge is this, if you use a range finder, do not use it during a round this year, use your eye and yardage markers provided by the course you are playing. Come back to this tread and post your results/thoughts on how you played!

If you do not use a range finder, use one during a round this year. Come back and post your results/thoughts on how you played!


If you are a "sometimes" range finder, pick one way and stick to during a round and post results/thoughts on how you played.

This should be interesting. I also know the people in the north will not be able to do this for sometime due to weather but the people in the south can get the ball rolling on this one.

Thanks, looking forward to seeing the results.
 
Fun challenge.
I actually did this last week (not on purpose).
Score was similar (going at middle of the greens helped).
Time was slower, since I had to pace everything off.
 
Great idea and I will give this a shot
 
I do not have a rangefinder, but I'll try to borrow one to try, it should be fun.

I usually play with a GPS watch, and I feel lost when I forget it, I am not very good and guessing distances. and there are not a lot of marked sprinkler heads in the woods....

JB said:
Fun challenge.
I actually did this last week (not on purpose).
Score was similar (going at middle of the greens helped).
Time was slower, since I had to pace everything off.
Click to expand...

yeah, I have heard you were a slow player...
 
It will be a while but I like the thought and will update the thread when I can.
 
Id definitely need some yardage marker help cause my depth perception is awful
 
I've always been good at eyeing my distances without the aid of rangefinder. I'll do this next time out.
 
Played like this a few rounds ago when I did not have my phone for gps. It was my home course so it did not affect me at all. I already new my normal distances and what clubs I would hit. I either hit the same clubs as normal or went up one or down one based on conditions. Score was around the same as normal.
 
I usually wear my GPS watch but many times I was in a rush to make my tee time and forgot it. At my home course it's no biggie since I pretty well know where I am within 5-10 yards. On a course I don't know (without gps) you'll see me eyeballing a marker/pin/green etc and have gotten fairly good at it. One of my friends actually looks to me for a number unless he is sitting in an obvious position and on occasion I'll tell him which club instead of yardage based on my observations of his game that day. We actually joke around that I can give him the club advice better than I can pick my own.

I'll pay a little attention when I get out shortly to check my accuracy.
 
ddec and I played quite a bit of this type of golf towards the end of the season in 2015--not necessarily on purpose, but more a case of both of us forgetting to charge/bring our distance devices.

I'd say scores didn't change much, but just having to play the round "different" was definitely an adjustment. It's a fun challenge, which I accept, and I'll be back to post in this thread in a few​ months. Ha.
 
I'm going to give this a try. I play with a guy who is pretty good at determining distances without walking them off.
 
I just bought my first ever distance measuring device (laser range finder) about a year ago after using yardage markers and feel for 36 years. I very rarely ever pull it out at my home course, but when I do, it just pretty much confirms what I would have estimated anyway. I do find it useful playing unfamiliar courses though. Do I need it even on those courses, no, as I could just find the yardage markers and step it off or eyeball it myself. Does the range finder help me shoot lower scores, once again no.
 
I'll be interested to see the results, I know from my own experience that I'm terrible at judging distances. I mean awful, and not even consistently awful. Playing in a league last year I'd ask the guy with a rangefinder "160 yards?" "Nope, 190".. next hole I'd be 10 yards long, or 15 yards short. That is why I have a rangefinder of my own now. I know there are some people who can read distances well, I am not one of them.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else discovers.
 
When I first started playing golf I played every shot by just looking at the hole, never checking yardages. I was actually really good at gauging distance. I'll have to do this again this spring, good idea!
 
Rangefinders, gps and the like we're not even thought about when I started about 40 years ago. The only thing we had was yardage markers and bushes on the sides of fairways that we knew the yardage of. When I use a rangefinder now I have a number in my head and am just verifying it or getting an exact number to clear a bunker.
 
Sox Fan said:
I just bought my first ever distance measuring device (laser range finder) about a year ago after using yardage markers and feel for 36 years. I very rarely ever pull it out at my home course, but when I do, it just pretty much confirms what I would have estimated anyway. I do find it useful playing unfamiliar courses though. Do I need it even on those courses, no, as I could just find the yardage markers and step it off or eyeball it myself. Does the range finder help me shoot lower scores, once again no.
Click to expand...

I would agree with this very much. If I played the same course a lot, I wouldn't bother much with my range finder. When I am playing new courses a lot (which is the norm for me, I have played on six courses this year and 4 were absolutely new to me and the other two I'd played once, at least a year ago), it is much easier to use a range finder to estimate distances accurately.
 
There are times when I do this unintentionally and scores are somewhat similar.

But if I am trying to shoot a score, or posting a score for handicap considerations, I politely decline. I want every tool available to me to play my best golf. It would be like asking players to try to play barefoot, just to see if scores vary.
 
I'm excited to try this. I want to get better at knowing my distances without always relying on the range finder. There's times I can't always shoot the pin, like elevate blind green or possible tree in the way so it's something I want to get better at.
 
O'Carroll said:
ddec and I played quite a bit of this type of golf towards the end of the season in 2015--not necessarily on purpose, but more a case of both of us forgetting to charge/bring our distance devices.

I'd say scores didn't change much, but just having to play the round "different" was definitely an adjustment. It's a fun challenge, which I accept, and I'll be back to post in this thread in a few​ months. Ha.
Click to expand...

I had hope before this past weekend and the next two days that we were out of the woods, but unfortunately I think you're right. I was hoping for an early start to this year but I just don't see it happening anymore.
 
mikedean441 said:
Id definitely need some yardage marker help cause my depth perception is awful
Click to expand...

Yep. Me too. I'm actually looking forward to using my newly purchased Bushnell Tour X & know exact distances for a change. But I;m game to try this.

I think the other thing to measure is the time for each type of round. I realize there are other factors that affect the time other than using/not using a range finder, but it might be interesting to compile some data on this.
 
Six4three5 said:
I had hope before this past weekend and the next two days that we were out of the woods, but unfortunately I think you're right. I was hoping for an early start to this year but I just don't see it happening anymore.
Click to expand...
We're in the midst of a "winter storm" which will last through the morning commute...BUT then it's supposed to hit F'n 55° tomorrow! It was -9° when I left my house this morning.
 
My handicap was actually lower back when I had neither a rangefinder or a GPS. Go figure. It just took longer having to step things off, but I know I was better.
 
Challenge accepted..just not this weekend!

It really is nice to have an exact number in my head.
 
Do you want me to use it on every shot? I have a range finder and probably use it maybe two or three times a round. Mainly on Par 3's and that's usually when playing with friends so I can help them out. But for the most part when playing by myself I don't use it at all. So I can get by with or without it no problem.
 
Distance Challenge!

I don't have a rangefinder. It's not because I don't like them or don't want one, but because I'm too cheap to buy one. If there are 150 markers I can get by okay. If there aren't I end up guessing a lot, because I'm not gonna hold the show up while I search for a sprinkler head.

As far as my eyeball estimates go, they're wildly inaccurate.

The next round I play with my brother in law I'll use his and report back.
 
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