Beginners guide to Golf Rangefinders

I love golf. 

I play whenever I can, rain or shine most times. My buddies and I like to get around to as many different courses as we can.

While some of my friends belong to private or semi private golf clubs, the rest of us kind of prefer having the option of moving around as opposed to playing the same home course over and over again. I guess it’s a challenge kind of thing. However I must admit that course knowledge plays a big part in ones game.

Conversely knowing distances around the course is a big part of course knowledge. In my opinion it’s just not enough to gage distance by sprinkler heads or traditional 200, 150 and 100 yard markers.

Pin placement changes every day, sometimes twice a day. So what can give the best advantage or at least level the playing field when you need the accurate range between you and the pin on any give day?

Enter the era of the Golf Rangefinder. These devices provide accurate distances at a push of a button usually with a + or – 1 yard tolerance.

Many different optics manufacturers i.e. Leica, Simmons, Nikon, Bushnell, Leupold, Opti-Logic, and Osprey are adding Golf rangefinders to their product lines. I have personally tried the Bushnell Yardage Pro Legend Waterproof Rangefinder and was generally happy with the accuracy and ergonomic design of this unit. Other more sophisticated rangefinder products include a host of Golf Gps units. For instance the SkyGolf SkyCaddie is state of the art Golf GPS that boasts a patented IntelliGreen technology, which allows golfers the opportunity to measure full depth of green, distances for all targets and hazards from any approach angle for over 16,00 golf courses. Needless to say, this is what I want in my golf bag. If you already own a handheld GPS there are several services i.e. Intelligolf, (www.intelligolf.com) and iGolf (www.igolf.com) that offer scoring statistics, sidegames, shot tracking, all on your own Gps enabled cell phone, PDA, Palm Treo or Blackberry handheld. Data from past games can be matched to your home synced to give you broader statistics and chart you handicap, penalties and putting average.

In closing, These devices make it a lot more fun playing the unfamiliar or semi familiar courses if you get around as we like to do during our golf season. Also they surprise you as to how helpful they actually can be. As they can as high as $400 or even more, you want to look around and ask a lot of research before you commit to making a purchase.

Web sites like golfpinseeker.com offer a convenient on stop browsing environment of hundreds of different Golf Rangefinders and Golf GPS units and much less than retail prices. So be sure to look around before making your purchase. In the end get out there and have fun. Golf is a wonderful game and weather you’re a handicap 12 like I am or handicap 20, A good Golf rangefinder or Golf GPS is sure to help your game.