Has using a rangefinder improved your scores?

weeicemon

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Curious if you have seen your actual scores come down. For me, the big benefit would be in really understanding how far I hit each club so I can game plan better.

I played a course recently that I have only played a couple of times before. I had a few occasions where I was a wedge out from the green, but misread the distance and flew the green. It drove me nuts because both the drives and the approach shots were really well struck - just had the wrong damn club.

How has using a rangefinder changed your game?
 
If more courses had yardages markers, idk if you would need a rangefinder/gps but knowing the actual distance is huge for me. 1 club is often the difference between on the green and in the woods.
 
I've had mine in my bag for the last 5 years. I wouldn't say it has helped me improve, but I do like to know an exact distance occasionally, especially when I'm at a spot where I might be in between clubs.

I'll tell you where it helps the most - at the driving range. I like to know the exact distance of the flags. The posted distances at my two local ranges are often not correct.
 
I think it has. I now know how far hazards are, so I can play long more often.
And I also have a "dial-in" distance.


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It definitely has for me. I love my Bushnell. I hate the thought of playing a round with out it. Prior to getting one I used a GPS off of my phone that worked well too. I still prefer the rangefinder though over the GPS.
 
Helps me the most when I am in another fairway due to a bad drive. Nice to be able to figure out a layup distance or hazard distance.
 
Absolutely helps me - especially if at first glance I am between clubs I like to "laser" the front bunker / portion of green and go from there..
 
It's not something I really pay attention to; however, I shot my low league 9 hole score for the year on Tuesday night and left the rangefinder in the bag. Instead I used my GPS watch and played to the middle distance when the flag was on the front; and the back distance when the pin was middle or back.

I have no idea if there is a correlation, or if I'll leave it in the bag tonight, but food for thought I guess.
 
Helps me a lot. I don't have very good depth perception, so I can't always tell if a pin is front, middle or back.
 
I think, for me, it depends on the course. If I'm playing a course that lends itself more to bomb and gouge ("bomb" being relative for me), but for courses that are tighter, and where I need to play to a position, I find having the rangefinder to really help out, using it to get distances to a treeline, or a corner. In general, hitting into the green, I don't find it to be much better than a GPS with front-back-center distances, unless the course doesn't do a good job distinguishing between pin positions with the flags.
 
Helps me a lot. I don't have very good depth perception, so I can't always tell if a pin is front, middle or back.
They are usually colored or numbered on the card/in the cart no?
 
I can't quantify it, but I know that in rounds where I did not have my laser I lost a ton of confidence in my game. I have questionable depth perception that doesn't help the matter much either.
 
Definitely does for me. A course I play pretty frequently isn't marked all that well (basically 200, 150, 100 and nothing on sprinklers), so I would end up guesstimating yardage a lot and occasionally pull the wrong club. The rangefinder has definitely helped me avoid that pitfall, and it's also given me a very good sense of how far I actually hit certain clubs.
 
i think it has helped me make a better club selection but it hasn't helped me lower my scores. I have been using a laser range finder for 2+ years and my scores were bad and good until I dedicated myself to getting better at golf and improving my swing.
 
They are usually colored or numbered on the card/in the cart no?

A bunch of the courses around here, including my league course, seem to decide on colors or patterns of flags randomly. And we have a couple really deep greens where you're on the wrong tier if you guess wrong.
 
I find it's helpful for poorly marked pin positions/flags. I use mine sparingly as I've been trying to aim more for the middle of greens and relying on my GPS much more. I'll still pull it out every once in a while though if I'm in between or can't tell exactly where on the green the flag is.
 
This is my first year using one, I think it has improved my game some.
 
I like knowing my yardage to the hole. I find it especially useful in picking a club when there are tiered greens. I know if the pin is on the front bottom tier I definitely don't want to be long and vice versa. Is it absolutely necessary no but it is very useful. Knowing the pin placement and using a GPS is probably just as good. The problem is a lot of the courses I play up here don't tell you what the pin placement is. And there's no signage telling you what color flag means what (if they are different colors).

All that said, knowing the yardage to the pin doesn't mean I'm going to fire at the pin and not just go to the middle of the green. That just depends on the situation or trouble that is there. Middle of the green is fine, pin high IMO is better. Depending on the size of the green there could be a 2-3 club difference in a front and back pin. Some sort of distance aid (GPS or Rangefinder) is very helpful in picking the right club IMO. Those touch shots I know lots of folks that don't use their rangefinder or GPS and just rely on feel and they do pretty darn good.
 
Id like to think it has made at least a little impact on my game. I feel confident with it and really like knowing exact yardages even if i dont hit them every time. I wouldnt want to play without one now haha
 
I see the benefit with it. Hard to use when I haven't played now in almost 8 weeks. But the benefits seem great if you don't have gps in your carts
 
I got my V3 around Memorial Day. Had borrowed one once a few weeks before that. On my home course I've been averaging 90 for the last couple years. The other local course I call a muni, its shorter, flatter, mostly down and back type holes all stacked up. There I probably average an couple strokes better but only play it a couple times each year. Away from home my game doesn't always travel, usually closer to the 97-103 range.

So over the last 6+ weeks I've played ten 18 hole rounds and an extra 9 once (replayed the front away from home). Of the travel rounds, I've gone 95-91 in back to back days at a new (to me) course, then a 98 at the course the next time (just last Friday in sloppy conditions). 97-91 playing 36 in one day at a new (to me) course. And shot an even 100 at a tough course, followed by a 43 replaying the front.

I've only played the local muni once and it was an ugly round but when I added it all up an 85, my lowest in a couple years there. The next day I shot an 86 at my home course and just last weekend an 84 at the home course. So that's my 3 best rounds in the last 3 years just since getting the rangefinder. I think the other rounds were 90's or 91's at my home course...

What does it all mean? I dunno... I really haven't been driving the ball all that well. I can only think of two of the 11 rounds that I felt positive about my driving after the round. Now greens have gone from spring soft to firm at the end of May to flat out soggy over the last couple weeks. I've stuck more shots on greens the last month or so and that I attribute to the rangefinder.

I was always ok at estimating distances or pacing them off from markers on the course. Now its stress free. Just shoot the pin and choose a club. So my thought process goes straight to making a shot rather than hoping I've got it right or close. And when I hit one right and it lands close to my target I know that club was right for that distance. So I think my confidence is building based on that alone.

In conclusion, L-O-V-E the rangefinder! Wish I'd never started playing driver roulette a couple years ago and stuck with what I had and bought a laser then...
 
By knowing the exact distance to the flag I am more confident in my shot, I think being more confident leads to lower scores over all.
 
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Let's put it this way--the first time I talked yardages with my coach, he said the next $300 I spent on golf needed to be on a rangefinder.

It's hands-down the best money I've ever spent improving my game outside of lessons. You can't really play golf without some sense of how far you are from your target and what club will get you that distance. You can eyeball it, but a rangefinder makes that so much simpler.
 
Often, yes.

A bunch of the courses around here, including my league course, seem to decide on colors or patterns of flags randomly. And we have a couple really deep greens where you're on the wrong tier if you guess wrong.
I think I'm with you both. "Blue flag, blue is back, there's NO WAY that flag is on the back. What was the yellow flag again?"
 
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