 Hi I am interested in buying some sort of device to help me judge my distances on the course.These devices seem to range in price from£19.99 for a seemingly simple device like the Bushnell Golf Scope to ones costing hundreds of pounds any advice would be gratefully accepted.Ps had some really great help on the merits or not of the Qlink thanks again saved a deal of money.
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 Used to have the bushnell, very expensive and not easy to zap the pin, I sold it and bought the cheaper Nikon 500G, which is much lighter and its much easier to aquire a pin - I would definately recommend the Nikon. I also have a Golf Plus GPS, which I rarely use as the Nikon give me accurate pin distances which the GPS can never do.
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 I have to agree with M3W, i have the Bushnell Pinseeker and you need a very steady hand to get a reading on the flag but saying that it is alot easier to get a reading on trees, bunkers etc. To be honest i havent used mine alot, its a pain keeping getting it out and its not the lightest or smallest gadget you will ever own. Hope this helps
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 Hi, I have used a Bushnell Laser Yardage Pro (Old model) and it is superb. It is the best bit of gear I have ever bought. I use it on every round (Our club allows them in comps) as it gives very accurate distance control and is absolutely brilliant when playing a new course, I rarely bother with a course planner. I agree monster3wood in that it can be a bit tricky to get a distance from the flag, especially on a calm day when the flag in not flapping about. All I do then is take the distance from either the front of the green to see what distance I have to carry or the back of the green to see how far I can safely go. Would highly recommend the Bushnell from my personal experience as mine is over 4 years old and has not missed a beat (Will probably not work the next time I go to use it). I also tried a GPS system but found the accuracy of the distances it gave me varied where as the laser is spot on every time. I suppose its horses for courses and all the GPS users will swear by them but for me its laser every time.
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| Edited: 25/10/07 11:38 |
 I guess that most of the top end laser rangefinders and the gps will give you accurate figures. The benfit of the GPS is that the figure is updating as you walk, so as you get to your ball, you already know the yardage and probably the club you will choose. With a reangefinder, once you have got to your ball, just must then takerout the rangefinder. Try and obtain your yardage while the wind is blowing the pin all over the place, only then do you get your desired yardage. Horses for courses.
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 I had a Bushnell, hated it, could never seem to be able to target the flag, then the battery cover snapped off. Replaced it with the Nikon 500G 2 years ago and its the best bit of golf equipment I've ever bought. One thing I like over the GPS is it gives the exact yardage to the pin whereas the GPS gives a yardage to a specified point on the green (front, middle, back etc), on small greens doesnt matter but on 45yd long greens can make a difference. One odd thing with the Nikon, it doesnt seem to use any sort of power! The original battery in it still shows full charge after 2 years of pretty heavy usage.
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Think there was some concern about the differing magnification factors used by various laser range finders. Some recommend the higher magnification to help target the flag better from distance. Others argue more magnification = more hand wobble and so difficult to keep on the flag. Some suggest getting the lighter and small model, while others prefer the heavier ones.
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| Edited: 25/10/07 19:11 |
 I also have the Nikon 500G and it's very very good. GPS and Laser offer different methods to get to the same point. I like the laser as you don't need to keep updating courses before you play them. Once you've bought the laser that's it. I also agree with Creo on the battery, I'm still going strong on the first battery.
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Do the laser range finders stake into account if you are on a slope, sorry if this a stupid question, i have never even seen one!
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Some do, some don't. Be careful if you're looking at this option on them as I believe that even if your club approves them for use in competition, they are still illegal in the eyes of the R and A. They have to be straight forward distance only to be legal.
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Andrew - The latest Bushnell does take into account slope, but as SBL says even if a rangefinder is allowed by local rule the ones with slope are NOT allowed, so all in all if you ever wish to use one in a competition its generally best to get one without the slope facility. Having used rangefinders for 3 years now I can say I don't really yearn for a slope option, just having an accurate distance to the target is enough, there are so many variables in each golf shot - wind, humidity, the lie, how dirty the ball is, how you are playing etc etc that elevation difference is just one of them to take into account when factoring your club choice and shot selection. From my own experience and everything I have read, one really cannot go wrong with the Nikon 500G.
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Many thanks to all you guys for your valued opinions.given a lot to think about
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