Golf GPS System - recommendations?

[KYTeacher]

We just spent the longest amount of time in The Villages since we purchased last summer and was out golfing every day possible! It was so much fun and we met some very nice people. A few of the guys I played with had rangefinders and I would now like one...recommendations please.

What do you use (like)?
General cost?
Any annual or subscription fees?
Best place to purchase?

Thanks so much in advance for your responses!

[schotzyb]

The most popular seems to be the Golf Buddy which is preloaded with ~25,000 courses. No annual fee. Just turn it on at the 1st T box and it will automatically dtect the course and hole #. Golf Buddy features 3 different models with the cheapest ~$250 and the most expensive ~$350-$400

[PJOHNS2654]

I have had Golflolgix because of the Garmin Name. It was somewhat accurate in FL but did not work well at all in the White Mountains of NH.

I have been using Sky Caddie SG5 model for about two years and it is very accurate everywhere. Originally sold for $429 now available for $199 Highly recommend it. Yearly subscrtiption is $49 for all states plus you can keep your score and your stats can be uploaded to their web site.:BigApplause:

[renrod]

The most popular seems to be the Golf Buddy which is preloaded with ~25,000 courses. No annual fee. Just turn it on at the 1st T box and it will automatically dtect the course and hole #. Golf Buddy features 3 different models with the cheapest ~$250 and the most expensive ~$350-$400
I had a Golf Buddy, it worked just fine but the font was too small, couldn't read it without reading glasses, which I don't wear playing golf. Sky Caddie SG5 is my choice, can load 20 courses which takes care of the Championship courses here.

[DaleMN]

I got a super deal on a Callaway UPro Go. No annual fee. Had all the Villages courses, including the executive. Paid $150 on Ebay and got $50 rebate. That's a while ago so probably not still availabe.

[Tom Hannon]

I paid $199 for Golf Buddy Tour. It has all the courses in TV. Why spend an extra $100 on the Golf Buddy Premier unless you play lots of golf outside the United States. BEWARE!!! I hear some GPS only have Championship courses on them. I used the Golf Buddy Tour the other day. As practice I walked across my lawn to the 7th tee at Redfish Run and the GPS said, Redfish Run- hole 7

[eweissenbach]

I bought a Sonocaddie gps three years ago on ebay for $120. You can download up to five courses for free. There are other options for unlimited downloads.

[Oren L Miller]

$29.95 ap for most phones. Mine is on my IPhone. No update fees and it gives both picture views and yardage views. Thousands of courses. Will give you a map to the golf course. GPS very accurate and mails your scorecard home to you when you are done if you want or allows you to post it on FB. :highfive:

[KYTeacher]

$29.95 ap for most phones. Mine is on my IPhone. No update fees and it gives both picture views and yardage views. Thousands of courses. Will give you a map to the golf course. GPS very accurate and mails your scorecard home to you when you are done if you want or allows you to post it on FB. :highfive:

Thanks to all who have responded - if there are other ideas, please keep them coming!!!

The phone app - does it included all the execs as well as our championships? I play both in TV and found it very helpful when playing with the guys who had them.

[jebartle]

The most popular seems to be the Golf Buddy which is preloaded with ~25,000 courses. No annual fee. Just turn it on at the 1st T box and it will automatically dtect the course and hole #. Golf Buddy features 3 different models with the cheapest ~$250 and the most expensive ~$350-$400


Posted on all bulletin boards....We have a golf buddy and it is nice to just show up and turn it on....Think we have owned them all, sky caddie the first, G1, G5 all requiring downloads and annual fee...Ugh.....U-pro had nice overhead view of hole, but the golf buddy platnium has a great touch screen ability, only complaint is the screen is sometimes hard to see in the shade, better to read in the sun with many options (yardage from and to traps/water)....I'm sure many will tell you the most accurate is the bushnell, although many friends tell me that you have to have a steady hand to zero in on flag....

[Oren L Miller]

Thanks to all who have responded - if there are other ideas, please keep them coming!!!

The phone app - does it included all the execs as well as our championships? I play both in TV and found it very helpful when playing with the guys who had them.

I am moving to TV in April and haven't used it there yet. I will try it out in Dec when we come back down to finalize the house part. Lot is already picked out. SANIBEL!!!!!!!

[KYTeacher]

I am moving to TV in April and haven't used it there yet. I will try it out in Dec when we come back down to finalize the house part. Lot is already picked out. SANIBEL!!!!!!!

We drove around Sanibel while we were down latter part of June and 1st week of July - another fantastic Village! Let me know...not returning to TV until Christmas so probably won't rush out to purchase one...

[ajbrown]

I am happy with the one below (nothing too fancy). It runs on my BlackBerry. It is as accurate as the phone's GPS which is better than me. I have found the yardage matches up with expensive units when I play with other folks. If I recall it was $29'ish. No maintenance fees, no cost at all after purchase, unless you change phones. Details on the web site:

http://www.nrange.com

My buddy got an app for his Droid for $10 which did the same ..

If I was to spend hundreds of dollars to know my yardage, I would get a laser range finder where I could get yardage no matter where I am. i.e., driving range. It is accurate to one yard, just my opinion....

[Biker Dog]

Just upgraded from Sky Caddie SG2 to the newest SGX. The most accurate gps I have ever used. More features than the average golfer will ever use.

Try it on demo days and you will buy one.:BigApplause:

[l2ridehd]

Any reviews for the different golf apps for the iPhone? I have a sky caddie SG5 and it works really well, but then your carrying that and the phone. It would be really nice to have it on a single device. And that cost is $129 for 3 years of service.

Questions would be:

accuracy
battery hours impact
update fee's
original cost
number of courses
cover executive & championship
ease of use
features
distance to traps, water, etc
any other comments

Thanks

[lcmca]

Callaway UPROMX is brand new with 25000 courses no annual fee and costs $199 we have 2 and a sky caddie 2.5 will be selling

[logdog]

I just bought a new Garmin Approach G3 for less than $200 after rebate. Rebate expires at the end of this month. Has all Villages courses. Free updates. No subscription costs.

[schotzyb]

Callaway UPROMX is brand new with 25000 courses no annual fee and costs $199 we have 2 and a sky caddie 2.5 will be selling

Doesn't all of Callaway's GPS's have a one time activation fee? How much is this fee?

[DaleMN]

Doesn't all of Callaway's GPS's have a one time activation fee? How much is this fee?

Nope....only for one of the features which shows graphic of green, any hazards and distances to hazards, front, middle and back of green. It's $50 one-time for all courses...it was free for one course when i bought it so i have my home course on that program. Nice feature...may consider upgraded to all courses in the future.

[ldj1938]

I got a super deal on a Callaway UPro Go. No annual fee. Had all the Villages courses, including the executive. Paid $150 on Ebay and got $50 rebate. That's a while ago so probably not still availabe.

They have redone their website and it is a total mess. You may get a download, but the next time you go there online it may delete all of your courses and then not let you download anything. Stay away! I have one and I can't even log on!

[ukgolfer]

I'm sure that sky caddie is the only company that employ golf pro's to actually walk all of the courses and plot them via gps this makes them all accurate yardages

[memason]

I recently downloaded an interesting app for my Android phone. It's called CaddieDroid. What's different is that it has no courses to download and simply uses a satellite view of the course. Since it is only using GPS and the satellite view, it will show any course you happen to be standing on.

Rather than give you yardages, it allows you to input how far you hit each club in your bag. On the display, there is a stick pin where you are standing. When you select a club, it draws a circle to show how far you hit that club. You can tell if you'll hit the green or if your normal distance will put you into a bunker, etc. You can also track you club distances and it will present you with an average for that club and a circle.

The link to the app is below. It's free and again, there are no courses to download....

Enjoy....


https://market.android.com/details?id=jp.sharakova.app.android.golfcaddie&feature=search_result

[jebartle]

The most remarkable thing about some of the GPS units, is when you have two identical units in the same foursome, BUT different yardages....This happened three times (different days) with skycaddie.....For the average Joe, probably doesn't matter but they do advertise that theirs is the MOST accurate....

[LittleDog]

The most remarkable thing about some of the GPS units, is when you have two identical units in the same foursome, BUT different yardages....This happened three times (different days) with skycaddie.....For the average Joe, probably doesn't matter but they do advertise that theirs is the MOST accurate....

And I have a Callaway Upro and it's just as accurate as the SkyCaddie. I don't think that walking the courses as SkyCaddie advertises makes them any more accurate than the other gps's

John

[Loveithere]

I recently downloaded an interesting app for my Android phone. It's called CaddieDroid. What's different is that it has no courses to download and simply uses a satellite view of the course. Since it is only using GPS and the satellite view, it will show any course you happen to be standing on.

Rather than give you yardages, it allows you to input how far you hit each club in your bag. On the display, there is a stick pin where you are standing. When you select a club, it draws a circle to show how far you hit that club. You can tell if you'll hit the green or if your normal distance will put you into a bunker, etc. You can also track you club distances and it will present you with an average for that club and a circle.

The link to the app is below. It's free and again, there are no courses to download....

Enjoy....


https://market.android.com/details?id=jp.sharakova.app.android.golfcaddie&feature=search_result

That sounds interesting. Downloading all these golf courses sounds archaic to me. There should be some sort of measuring device where you could just point to the tee flag and get accurate yard readings. Maybe laser beam?

[ukgolfer]

There is...... they are Laser rangefinders, I had a bushnell one it was good, but only if you can see the flag, sometimes it picked up other things , the sky caddie's are much better.....especially if you are like me and spend some of your time in the trees, bushes etc

[logdog]

That sounds interesting. Downloading all these golf courses sounds archaic to me. There should be some sort of measuring device where you could just point to the tee flag and get accurate yard readings. Maybe laser beam?

Downloading the courses lets you see distance to bunkers and other hazards. Allows you to plan your shots better. Now if we could just download a better swing...

[ljones190]

It appears I am in the minority and I love gadgets but I think they are a waste of money for most golfers. I wonder how many would say that a GPS system helped their game( saving strokes). If a person who shoots 90 then shoots 85 great, but I would guess it has no positive impact on scores.

[Jim 9922]

It appears I am in the minority and I love gadgets but I think they are a waste of money for most golfers. I wonder how many would say that a GPS system helped their game( saving strokes). If a person who shoots 90 then shoots 85 great, but I would guess it has no positive impact on scores.

The man who dies with the most toys wins!
My sins are old cars and they don't help much on the golf course.

[hedoman]

Had the skycaddie but it became obsolete quickly. Played a number of times here and the guys I was with had various devices. When I played in a group where nobody had one my game suffered horribly. I went out and got the Golf Buddy. Pound for pound it is the most accurate and easiest to use. Quickest to get an accurate measurement, uses more satellites to triangulate and knows where you are. I have tried the phone apps but they hardly last 9 holes before draining my battery. Golf buddy has 10 hours on a charge.

There are many devices as I have used/demo'd SkyCaddie, UPro and Freecaddie (IPhone free App). They are all god but I love my Golf Buddy and went to Market Night to get a nice faux leather holster for it (perfect fit)

[jebartle]

Unless you are a walker and then you are saving steps, works for me!



It appears I am in the minority and I love gadgets but I think they are a waste of money for most golfers. I wonder how many would say that a GPS system helped their game( saving strokes). If a person who shoots 90 then shoots 85 great, but I would guess it has no positive impact on scores.

[jebartle]

The ole boy bought every gps known to mankind and we love Golf
Buddy....little hijack, where was your home in NC, we lived in Morganton..




Had the skycaddie but it became obsolete quickly. Played a number of times here and the guys I was with had various devices. When I played in a group where nobody had one my game suffered horribly. I went out and got the Golf Buddy. Pound for pound it is the most accurate and easiest to use. Quickest to get an accurate measurement, uses more satellites to triangulate and knows where you are. I have tried the phone apps but they hardly last 9 holes before draining my battery. Golf buddy has 10 hours on a charge.

There are many devices as I have used/demo'd SkyCaddie, UPro and Freecaddie (IPhone free App). They are all god but I love my Golf Buddy and went to Market Night to get a nice faux leather holster for it (perfect fit)

[elevatorman]

This site will let you see all the different systems in one place http://www.tgw.com/promo/golf/gpsGuide/gpsGuide.jsp Price may or may not be good. Site also lets you compare different units.

[hedoman]

The ole boy bought every gps known to mankind and we love Golf
Buddy....little hijack, where was your home in NC, we lived in Morganton..

Charlotte '75-79 Daughter and son in law live in Chapel Hill

[normgreg]

I have Golfshot for the Iphone. Its has very accurate distance readings. The cost is $29.95 with no annual fees. Has pictures of the entire hole, which has come in handy when you can't see the pin. It has other companion Apps to analize swing & weak parts of your game.
The only drawback, doesn't have all the exec. courses. So I can't use it there to keep score. Excellent App!

[mbikowski]

Has anyone tried to download Bonifay the Villages into the Golf Buddy. I tried but it looks like a duplicate of the other Bonifay Country club in "Bonifay Fl". Maybe i did something wrong but I was hoping to see Destin and Fort Walton come up under our Bonifay.

Thanks for your help

[KYWildcat]

I believe that Bushnell's range finder is about as good as anything if you are willing to pay the price, but.... out at Bass Pro Shop, they have range finders for hunters. They are almost a duplicate of the Bushnell model except it does not have the golf symbol when you "zero" in on the flag. Everything else is the same except it cost $120.00 and you get a $10 rebate. I like the range finders since you can "zero" in on a fairway bunker or a particular tree.
And you do not have to worry about what course you need to "dial in" or pay an annual fee.

[hedoman]

Has anyone tried to download Bonifay the Villages into the Golf Buddy. I tried but it looks like a duplicate of the other Bonifay Country club in "Bonifay Fl". Maybe i did something wrong but I was hoping to see Destin and Fort Walton come up under our Bonifay.

Thanks for your help

Played Bonifay yesterday and no luck with Golf Buddy.......Sky Caddie has it to download but I would like to add it to my GB

Bonifay is stunning BTW!

[rjn5656]

Skycaddie 5. You can load 20 courses, and can easy change them. Inventory has all the florida course on or off TV location, plus all the executive courses.

[John_W]

I believe that Bushnell's range finder is about as good as anything if you are willing to pay the price, but.... out at Bass Pro Shop, they have range finders for hunters. They are almost a duplicate of the Bushnell model except it does not have the golf symbol when you "zero" in on the flag. Everything else is the same except it cost $120.00 and you get a $10 rebate. I like the range finders since you can "zero" in on a fairway bunker or a particular tree.
And you do not have to worry about what course you need to "dial in" or pay an annual fee.

I have the Callway/Nikon LR1200 golf rangefinder. It works great and I often find when I play with golfers using a GPS they are sometimes 5 or 10 yards off because they don't know the exact position of the pins. The rangefinder I can just grab it and in a couple of seconds I know the exact distance to the flag. The only drawback is when you might have a blind shot, which isn't too often down here except maybe on a dogleg.

When I bought mine the Callway LR550 was $299 and the LR1200 was $499, the 1200 means it has a 1200 yard range although when you get above about 250 yards it's hard to hold it steady enough to hit a small target such as a flag. I found my LR1200 new in the box on eBay for $279 with shipping included from a dealer named 'Golfetail', they always have great bargains on eBay. That was almost half price and I've never had a bit of trouble with it.

[LittleDog]

Has anyone tried to download Bonifay the Villages into the Golf Buddy. I tried but it looks like a duplicate of the other Bonifay Country club in "Bonifay Fl". Maybe i did something wrong but I was hoping to see Destin and Fort Walton come up under our Bonifay.

Thanks for your help

I played golf last week with a guy who had a golf buddy and he told me that Bonifay is now available for download. He said he contacted customer support when Bonifay opened and he said it was available the next day.

John

[mbikowski]

jrheydt Thank you.

[zcaveman]

I play with a lot of people that have these Golf GPS devices. But I don't know why. I can pretty much figure the distance to the hole from the markers and the stakes.

The only thing that I have notice is that the players with these GPS devices slow down play.

I walk to the tee and it says 300 yards. The guy with the GPS then walks over and proclaims to all of us that it is 295. What does that matter? Do I need a between club at that difference?

Z

[cabo35]

I have the SkyCaddie SGX and a Bushnell rangefinder.

I really look impressive taking measurments and confidently reading off distances to my playing partners.

My golf game still sucks.

[ajbrown]

I play with a lot of people that have these Golf GPS devices. But I don't know why. I can pretty much figure the distance to the hole from the markers and the stakes.

The only thing that I have notice is that the players with these GPS devices slow down play.

I walk to the tee and it says 300 yards. The guy with the GPS then walks over and proclaims to all of us that it is 295. What does that matter? Do I need a between club at that difference?

Z

I can only speak for myself. I find the GPS useful as it seems most of the championship courses have removed the markers that were at 25 yard intervals on BOTH sides of the fairway. All you are left with are maybe a 50 (plate), the 100 (plate), 150 (pole) and 200 (plate) which can be hard to locate depending on the course.

The GPS is even more useful when I find myself in the wrong fairway.... calculating the square root of a**2 + b**2 is much slower than having a GPS :laugh:

I bought a $30 app for the BlackBerry which is accurate enough for me.

[tjbailey61]

:undecided:I have played a lot of golf with the Skycaddies (various versions and over 300 rounds) and became a convert to the Bushnell laser rangefinder a couple of months ago. I was concerned with being able to read the display numbers since I now need reading glasses for nearly everything. The display is easy to read (without glasses) and it picks up the flag very well. Also - no downloading courses, no annual fees, no battery charger (I always carry an extra battery with the range finder), no searching for satellites (always a problem on cloudy days), and no descrepancies on yardages between similar devices (it happens quite often). The only negative with the laser range finders is if you don't have a clear view of the flagstick (hills, etc.) However, Florida is a pretty flat state so it shouldn't be a problem on TV courses. I agree with one of the other posters - try them all out and pick what works best for you. For the individual who sees no use for them, they do speed up play on all courses since there is no need to "walk off" the yardage from the fairways!!

[John_W]

...I walk to the tee and it says 300 yards. The guy with the GPS then walks over and proclaims to all of us that it is 295. What does that matter? Do I need a between club at that difference?
Z

Actually, I've never seen that happen. On a par 3, yes, it happens everytime. Today for example, the par 3 blue tees on the ground it said 138, my rangefinder indicated 145. With the wind in my face, for me that the difference between and 8 iron and a 7 iron. I think it's pretty important, but then again I like breaking 80 and I never did that before I owned a rangefinder.

[hedoman]

The only thing that I have notice is that the players with these GPS devices slow down play.



Z[/QUOTE]

It actually speeds up my play as I don't have to search for sprinkler head markers and pace off distances or drive around looking for something more than the 150 yard poles. I guess as a 9.3 index it means a lot to me.....
Slow up play? Not sure I can agree on that. What slows up play is slow play!

[ijusluvit]

Any reviews for the different golf apps for the iPhone? I have a sky caddie SG5 and it works really well, but then your carrying that and the phone. It would be really nice to have it on a single device. And that cost is $129 for 3 years of service.

Questions would be:

accuracy
battery hours impact
update fee's
original cost
number of courses
cover executive & championship
ease of use
features
distance to traps, water, etc
any other comments

Thanks


As poster said above, here's another vote for Golfshot, a one-time $29.95 app for your I-Phone. I've only used it once, but it is terrific. I've had a Golf Buddy Premier which I like a lot, but couldn't resist trying Golfshot. Very accurate, thousands of courses, including all in TV, Gives photo of entire hole layout from the tee, then from the exact point of each successive shot. Distances to and away from every hazard. And exact pin locations - distance to, and past the pin etc.etc. It works quickly so you do not have to wait when addressing your ball. There is a well done 36-page instructional download which teaches you how to use all the features quickly and easily. I'm North now and can't wait to get back and use it more. I'd love to hear if others are as enthused as I am.

[dkrhardy]

The only thing that I have notice is that the players with these GPS devices slow down play.



Z

It actually speeds up my play as I don't have to search for sprinkler head markers and pace off distances or drive around looking for something more than the 150 yard poles. I guess as a 9.3 index it means a lot to me.....
Slow up play? Not sure I can agree on that. What slows up play is slow play![/QUOTE]

I agree. Looking for a marker takes more time than a glance at a screen. And if you do happen to end up a bit off the fairway, markers are non-existent.

Don

[cologal]

We just spent the longest amount of time in The Villages since we purchased last summer and was out golfing every day possible! It was so much fun and we met some very nice people. A few of the guys I played with had rangefinders and I would now like one...recommendations please.

What do you use (like)?
General cost?
Any annual or subscription fees?
Best place to purchase?

Thanks so much in advance for your responses!

I have mostly owned the SkyCaddie series, in total 3 different models, but tired of paying the subscription fees. Last year I bought the Garmin SG watch which displays the yardages to the front, middle and back of the green. No subsription charge. If you want more information then that I would recommend the Garmin G6, the latest model, very small but packed with information...it will tell you automatically how far that trap is from where you are standing. No fees. Got one as a birthday present in August love it!!!! These models when new were right around 300.00

[John_W]

I bought a new Golf Buddy Tour on eBay about 4 months ago for $150 w/free shipping. Works good, courses are preloaded. Bonifay wasn't loaded but I went to their website and downloaded from there. I wear glasses to read but I don't have any problem seeing Golf Buddy without glasses. I just checked eBay and you can still find them for that price new. There is no subscription fees, everything is there and newer courses are on their website.

http://di1-3.shoppingshadow.com/images/pi/16/fc/f3/87283895-450x450-0-0_Galileo+Golf+Buddy+Pro+Tour+Permanent+Cart+Mount .jpg

[WildGary]

I have the golf buddy. Love it. It's my second one. Upgraded. Now I have the Platinum and sprung an extra $50 for the golf cart mount. But to be honest, being the geek I am, I have a Droid Razr and downloaded a few free apps to check them out. They are within a foot of the golf buddy, great resolution, bigger screen, etc. Go with the smart phone apps.

[rp001]

The little Bushnell neo plus works great for distance to green and bunkers...Great customer service...I broke two buttons off and asked where to send it for repair..They sent me a new one and told me to keep the old one, which still works fine..

[PJOHNS2654]

I have the golf buddy. Love it. It's my second one. Upgraded. Now I have the Platinum and sprung an extra $50 for the golf cart mount. But to be honest, being the geek I am, I have a Droid Razr and downloaded a few free apps to check them out. They are within a foot of the golf buddy, great resolution, bigger screen, etc. Go with the smart phone apps.

I have the same phone but can't read the screen in bright sunlight.

[Santa]

I like my Skycaddie. Now if I can only figure out how to use it.:)

[red tail]

I like my Skycaddie. Now if I can only figure out how to use it.:)

Amazon.com: GolfBuddy Voice GPS Rangefinder: Sports & Outdoors

love this little guy!!!

[Santa]

Amazon.com: GolfBuddy Voice GPS Rangefinder: Sports & Outdoors (http://www.amazon.com/Golf-Buddy-GolfBuddy-Voice-Rangefinder/dp/B0077RH91M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347822632&sr=8-1&keywords=golf+buddy)

love this little guy!!!

Do you give lessons on how to use it!:bigbow:

[red tail]

Do you give lessons on how to use it!:bigbow:

you just turn it on,clip it to thebill on your cap and it talks to you. will tell you what hole and how far to the pin. has every golf course in the world.

[elhky]

Hey there, welcome from another Louisville transplant. I have an Iphone app called Skydroid, $1.99 . All the Villages courses are there except Bonifay, I think. Works great and is as accurate as most expensive GPS units I've seen. For that price, you could use it while you decide on another.

[RVRoadie]

I use AirVue golf on my iPhone. $10. Very happy with it. Does not yet have Bonifay. They rely on Google maps satellite pics, so waiting for those updates. They will usually add a new course within 24 hours if you make the request via email.