I've had the use of a 'Golf Caddy GPS' for about 10 months. IMHO it's not bad and seems to be quite accurate. I now use the Sureshot GPS and find it superior in all aspects except one - battery life! Where the Caddy was good for a few rounds without charging, the Sureshot only lasts 5 hours between charges. That's OK you might say, however, me and my golf mates quite often play more than one round in a day and it doesn't last. That said, I still prefer it to the Caddy. We also did a small experiment last week to see if it saved time on the round. On average it took just over a minute per hole to work out the distances for the next shot using traditional methods while the Sureshot took seconds. The course was familiar to us, so maybe the times were not totally accurate, however, we worked out that using the GPS saved us about thirty minutes on the round. Not a very scientific study I admit, but interesting none the less.
If you are serious about your golf, there is only one GPS system to consider the Skycaddie, it is the only unit that has professionaly mapped courses, as yet there may not be as many as we would all like but they are making good progress,the reason for this is because each of the Skycaddie courses has been mapped by either a young professional or a very low handicap golfer,by walking the course as a top caddy would days before a tournement,the mapping is accurate and detailed,this can only be achieved by mapping a course on foot. All of the hazards, carries run outs are recorded,even the short cuts and run outs for the big hitters are included. Safe Fairway and lay up targets are plotted to give you landing areas avoiding the hazards,and the incredible "Intelligreen" gives you an accurate front,middle and back to the green from the angle that you are attacking, this is achieved because the mapper has walked around the green and recorded it,so it is the exact shape not a stock "green shape", this green osolates on the screen, so you will see the angle and the exact yardage or meters to the front middle and back from where you are, no more guessing. The Skycaddie is used on the PGA EuroPro Tour, these guys are making their living from golf, they need a device they can trust to be accurate and detailed, this is why they are using the Skycaddie, it is the nearest thing to an actual caddy, no ariel photos, no high handicapper mapping whilst he is playing, the Skycaddie is without doubt the professionl GPS device even if it isnt in colour, anyway 150 yards in black is the same as 150 yards in yellow!! Tell your course to get mapped if it isnt already, then you will be able to use the best device for speed of play accuracy and enjoyment. Check out the web site and als check out the EuroPro site, see what the users are saying, that will convince you if I havnt.
SG3 is great and a huge seller in the US. It hasnt got to the UK yet, but when the SG3 gets there, it is well worth the expense. If your course hasnt been mapped for this system yet, all you have to do is contact them and they can come and do it. Yes there are fees, I think I pay like 39.00 USD for the year, but I can make 10 fold that off my buddies with the correct distances. No, I dont work for Sky caddie, I just think it is a great product, and I use to have a bushnell laser finder.....Tough to line up the flag after a night of drinking,,,you need a steady hand.
I have a number of SG3 available to anyone who wants them. They are brand new and still in the box. They go on sell in the UK for 229 sometime in the month of February. I would be more than happy to work with anyone who wants them in terms of shipping in getting away from the taxes and such.
I bought a bunch of them for some guys on MG and the exchange went great. I want to get rid of them ASAP, taking up some room in my office. I am willing to send them over for 185 GBP which includes VAT and shipping. When I come over in June I will just let people ask me for whatever they need and I will just bring it accross the pond. I have great contacts with Mizuno and Cobra.
Just to vouch for Derek, I bought one of the SG3's from him back in January. Excellent piece of kit.
When I bought it, I was a little sceptical about the number of courses available in the UK, it was at 612. I checked this morning and the figure is now at 730 and rising at about 4 courses per day.
The SG3 is easy to use and looks the dogs bollo**s.
If you need any information about them please feel free to drop Derek or myself a line.
I was in the States last week, had a game after borrowing a set of clubs from Edwin Watts Golf Shop, took out the SG4 and dropped only four shots! THE REASON......SG4 gave me the yardage, hazards and Target on a course I had never seen before, I select the club and hit the ball,no messing. When I do go a bit off line I get the Front Middle and Back of the Green from my attack angle, no guessing, select the club trust the yardage and well well another par! I have to take some credit for my game, because whilst it is a brilliant piece of kit, the SG4 only gave me the yardage and course details I still had to hit the ball with the right club and in the right direction, but with this baby in my hands I had the confidence to select my club and execute my shots, no guessing, or indecision, just trust it and go with it, It worked wonders,This thing will help me lower my handicap of that I am sure.
Derek, keep in touch, as have been banging my head against the wall trying to decide which one to buy, the SG3 have a few of my local courses so may as well take you up on your offer. What part of the country are you going to be, will you post or we collect?
Jahmoo, If you want more courses in your area mapped, just call the Skycaddie guys, they will always try and get the courses done for you as quick as possible.
what is the difference between the SG3 and SG4? have to say I'm seriously tempted. Furthermore I'm pretty sure I won't be struck down for daring to use an electronic version of a yardage chart. Any of you anti GPS etc bods want to try the experience I had last week?
Played the new course at La Cala in Spain called Europa. If anything this one is even more carved out of mountain sides than the others. Usual set up, cliffs one side, ravines the other and a fairway in the middle. Problem was that many of the fairways seemed to feed down to the ravines. So, we get to the course, and the buggy GPS isn't up and running yet, no course planners available and there are a ton of blind shots with no directional markers. Net result, we all lost more balls than usual, people unable to complete shots properly as their confidence got shot and a general lack of enjoyment. To be fair 2 of the guys played well but they both got going from the off. All of us would play the course better, and differently, second time round once we knew where we were going.
For me, even more useful than GPS, would have been direction posts and one of those yardage books with the pro's tips. Either way the experience of a new course with poor information, and auto lost balls if off line, really wasn't a bundle of laughs.
