Just read your Post on Forum Colinski, since your posting Skycaddie have added at least another 200 courses, how do I know that? I have been talking to them at their UK office, at this time the guy there tells me they are mapping in the UK, Sweden,Denmark,Italy, Spain,Portugal and Mallorca, later they will be in Turkey,Dubai,France and Germany at the rate of about 140 courses a Month.
They are fully aware that other GPS systems claim to have more UK maps than them but they say that in time these systems will be be found to be too inaccurate as most of them are now. Just think about how many courses change their layout, albeit a bunker,lake or move a Green, Skycaddie work with the Club and will go and upgrade, the other systems wouldnt even know where the course was, they didnt go there in the first place and the maps that are available to them will only get updated now and then, the last one was updated in 2000 that is the maps they are using now, I know because I had a Sure Shot before I changed to Skycaddie, they even admitted it to me but wouldnt give me my money back!! so I sold the thing on ebay.
If you need a course mapping or want to know where they are mapping give them a call I am on first name terms with them and they always try to get courses mapped as soon as possible.
In what way does it "seem like cheating" any more than course guides, yardages on the score card, 150 yard markers and directions to the next tee. Pro's map the course and - more importantly - greens in infinitesimal detail in their practise rounds. Is that cheating too?
Personally I play as well (or poorly) with or without mine. The main benefit for me is that it speeds up play as I don't have to pace out distances.
I have asked Skycaddie to map courses as have my friends and I know they've recently done some of the courses we play. I also appreciate that it takes time as its more labour intensive.
Oddly enough, I was just looking as the new SG5 on the Skycaddie (US) site. I see it can be pre-ordered from 118golf. Must resist, must resist.....
Out of Bounds, you are out of touch, as agolfer you need to know how far the target is, most courses give you as many clues as they can with markers or the good old Stroke Saver, these are all to help you with your yardage.
Have you ever seen a pro without a caddy, do you think that good low handicap golfers guess how far they have to the green??
Do you think you can improve your own handicap without knowing how far, and if you dont know how far how can you know which club?
All golfers need to now how far, and if a small hand held device can give that information it cannot be deemed as cheating any more than the guy who thinks he can buy the game buying the latest biggest most forgiving driver,especially as we all should know that all he will achieve is a few extra yards into the rough most of the time, and in the same way the yardage device can give the information but it cant hit the ball for you, or direct the ball to the correct target, but it can speed up your game, give you confidence in club selection and confirm how far you acctually hit the ball.
Lets hope the PGA and the R&A get behind rangefinders and stop this constant debate,lots of clubs are introducing the local rule to allow rangefinders and I see the PGA have adopted the Skycaddie as its official rangefinder, that is all good enough for me.
I'm looking at buying the sky caddie SG5. I was previously drawn to the sureshot as it has the ability to record shot information. But for course detail the caddie seems the best bet. The only worry being the lack of courses at the moment
My question is where and when to buy it. The golf show is on at the NEC next weekend, will these devices be there does anyone know ?
I have a sureshot, purchased on EBaY from the USA , went great for 2 months. Now it wont start, Does any body repair these items ? or now where I should go for repair ?