[Bolsadd]

What is the best golf buddy to buy? Why?

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Bolsadd

What is the best golf buddy to buy? Why?

I don’t buy my golf buddies. I try to beat them in golf so they have to buy me a beer after the round.

[Tom M]

Originally Posted by Bolsadd

What is the best golf buddy to buy? Why?

I still have my old GolfBuddy Pro (discontinued) which is many years old. Works great! No need to pay to get course updates. The newer ones don't look as appealing to me, but it appears they have the same features.

If that's the case I'd highly recommend it. The shot distance tracker is fantastic so you can measure your shot from the tee to verify that you have your club distances dialed in and can spot trends in driver distance, etc.

I don't personally care for the watch and would get the basic version (if mine ever broke).

I also have a laser rangefinder and use that for wedges, but sometimes there are hills or trees that prevent a line of site range finder and the GPS is very handy.

[Two Bills]

Whatever happened to looking at the course yard marker, adding or subtracting the paces either side, picking a club, then hitting the ball?
They will be launching drones and weather balloons next.
No wonder it takes hours to complete a round!

[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Whatever happened to looking at the course yard marker, adding or subtracting the paces either side, picking a club, then hitting the ball?
They will be launching drones and weather balloons next.
No wonder it takes hours to complete a round!

So using current tech is slower than pacing off yardages? I don’t think so.

[Rollie]

If you have a smart phone, the are many apps available.

Rollie

[dewilson58]

Voice 2 is great.
Accurate & responsive.
I did not want to wear a watch, mostly in 95 degree heat.

I had a prior version & is was much slower.

[PoolBrews]

The Golf Buddy WTX+ is a top of the line GPS watch. It offers distances to middle, front and back of green. It also will measure the actual distance of a shot, and has full color layouts of each hole with distances to hazards (i.e. sand traps, water). You can show just the green, and set where the pin is for accurate distances. I love it - have had no issues at all with it!

That being said - I'm getting a new one. I'm getting their latest version that now has slope in it as well. The new watch is $299... if you're interested, I'm selling the old one for $90 (it's still $229 new).

[John_W]

I had a Golf Buddy Global I paid $150 for a dozen years ago and a Callaway/Nike Range Finder, I found I use the rangefinder almost every shot. When TV opened Evans Prairie and Belle Glade and other new courses the Golf Buddy I had to download the courses, plus it was always a hassle to look for it in the cup holder or wherever I stuck it.

Two years ago I bought the Garmin Approach GPS wrist watch at Jim's Golf Shop for $129, that's all I use now. It's great, no matter where I go I just look at my wrist. I thought it might irritate me having something on my wrist, but it's the same hand area that you're wearing a glove, I don't even know it's there. It has all the courses I play, even when I go off campus.

I was just looking it up and it's now only $99 at Dick's and until the end of today (11/30) Dick's has 25% off on the top of the website page.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/garmin-approach-s10-golf-gps-watch-18gmnupprchs10xxxgps/18gmnupprchs10xxxgps?sku=19251782&camp=CSESG_927 00048881081380_lia_pla-507470809421&segment=&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzZL-BRDnARIsAPCJs71p_BAVW8ZGhzaToKStmmyQrcCJFcaTDM-z89tObl4z6leat1Z1MX8aAkv4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Polar Bear]

I use SwingU on my iPhone. Very good.

[LouG@619]

I use the free app VPAR on my phone. Works great shows trees, sand traps. Gives you your yardage to front. Center, and back of green. Did I mention free,?

[OBRight]

I use SwingU on my phone as well, works great for me

[Fredman]

I have a golf buddy wtx which does a good job. I never understood the need for a range finder they are slow to measure and hold up play. Who is good enough to need the exact yardage

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Fredman

I have a golf buddy wtx which does a good job. I never understood the need for a range finder they are slow to measure and hold up play. Who is good enough to need the exact yardage

Everyone in the group ahead of me.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by Fredman

...Who is good enough to need the exact yardage

Do you play championship courses where your approach shot is from the fairway on 14 of the 18 holes or executives courses where you're always hitting off a tee with a yardage marker? That's one big difference right there.

I don't know how you can play a serious game, or score good if you don't know the distances of your individual clubs. In which case, you need to hit the range. I'm only 5'9" 150 and 70 years old. My PW is exactly 103 yards if I hit it full and good. My 9 iron is 110, my 8 is 122, my 7 is 135, my 6 is 145 and my 5 if 159 and my 4 iron is 169 and my 4 hybrid is 179. So if the distance is between those ranges, I have to know to take some off or hit it harder. My drives average 210 on the fly 220 total distance. It's more of exact science if you want to play correctly. I started playing when I was 12. In January when I'm paying $65 for 18 holes, I'm not going out to mess around. Unfortunately I only play one day a week, so my scoring is not where I want it, I'm averaging between 76 and 84 from the whites.