This article will seek to educate you on the differences between a golf GPS system and a golf laser rangefinder.  There is an extreme difference in price.  But there is also a large difference in functionality.

Price:  The golf GPS system is generally more expensive than the golf laser rangefinder.  However, this also equates to the technology involved in each device and what it does for you.

Use:  The laser rangefinder requires you to aim a laser at the spot you wish to get the distance to.  This requires having a direct line of sight with no obstacles.  The golf GPS system allows you to pull up the information on a computer screen with no aiming involved.  This is very useful when there are slopes in the land, trees, or any other obstacles.  It also allows you to measure a much greater distance than the laser rangefinder.

Ease of Use:  To use a laser rangefinder, you have to have a steady hand.   If your hand shakes at all, this can ruin your results.  You also need good vision to accurately line up the laser.  Finally, you have to acquire a target before you take a measurement.  With a golf GPS system, you just select the spot on the course you want to measure to and press a button.

All of these features can help you improve your game.  You’ll have a lot more confidence that you’ll hit the shot you are aiming for with a golf gps system as opposed to a laser rangefinder.  So which should you get?

Go with the golf GPS system.  You won’t be disappointed.

With the Sky Caddie brand, you get the only golf gps rangefinder used on professional tours. You do have to get the monthly membership to get access to the most up to date golf course plans. However, they are the most accurate. If you are a serious golfer, this can be an expense worth having.

Now, if you don’t want to pay the annual fee, there a number of competitors that have entered the market. They have products that are just as good, without the annual subscription. There may be some variation with accuracy, but unless you travel to multiple golf course around the world, a model such as this one by Golf Guru may suit your needs just fine.

Some people have found that they can download apps to their cell phone or iphone. These are definitely less expensive. However, they do tend to eat up the battery life quickly. Also, the cell phone is not as rugged or waterproof like an actual golf caddy GPS.

Overall, there are quite a few good models on the market today. You can easily find a golf caddy GPS that suits your needs and your budget.

Go vs. Golf

The main difference is the price – the Golf is slightly more expensive.  The Golf Pro also features a slightly larger screen.

The biggest difference is in the programming.  Both come with a basic course overview, but both offer upgrades.  The Golf offers you pro mode, which allows you to see the hole from an aerial, color view.  (This is what is pictured to the left.)  The normal screen mode is a bit more cartoonish.

This feature costs an additional $10 per course, or you can buy a lot of credits at a time and pay about $2.50 per course.

The uPro Go also has an upgrade available – Go mode.  This costs $49.95 to activate as a one time fee.  Go mode gives you virtual green mode and Anypoint view screens.  This allows you to pinpoint any spot on the screen and measure to it.  Distances are then updated as you move around the hole.  It also allows for changing pin locations.

uPro Go Review

The uPro Go is rated slightly higher than the Golf.  While the Golf does have the satellite imaging (with a fee), the Go is very useful with Go mode.  With this feature, the price tends to be about the same.

The Go comes preloaded with 18,000 courses from the US and Canada.  However, there are some courses that are not mapped, especially in Canada.  You can search their site to see if your course is available here.  Courses are added all the time, but it can be a pain if your course is not already there.

One nice thing about the uPro Go is it gives you the distance to the front and the distance to carry each hazard.  This can really come in handy.  It also has auto hold advance and an easy to use interface.

There were a few complaints about the device as well.  Some people said the screen was hard to see in the direct sun, while others did not have any problem with it.  There is not scorekeeping on the unit, and the joystick can be hard to manipulate if you have larger hands.

Callaway uPro Golf Review

The Callaway uPro Golf is also highly rated overall, although it does have more negative reviews.  A lot of people were disappointed that the screen shown in the picture was not what you get unless you purchase the course.  It does seem a bit like false advertising to me, too.

However, the device itself is very good.  The screen is a little larger and easy to see.  It really gives you a lot of information.  The measurement feature in particular was very helpful.  The size of the device itself is very small and light.

There were some drawbacks to this device.  It was very slow to download new courses, and seemed to lag between screens.  Also, the device goes to great lengths to save battery life.  In fact, it shuts down the screen almost all the time!  So that can get very annoying.  Buying the individual courses can get expensive, but they are helpful for difficult areas.

With this unit, you get five course for free.  It holds up to ten courses.   You can download more at anytime for a $30 fee.   You can play about four rounds of golf per charge.

In a Sonocaddie V100 review on Amazon, one owner said,

“I purchased this GPS over the winter and just had my first chance to try it out, I could not be more pleased. This GPS was very easy to read, gave very accurate yardage and helps to speed up your game, no looking for markers. One course that I play was not mapped so I contacted Sonocaddie, a person actually answered the phone, I e-mailed a scorecard to them and had the course for download in 3 days.”

Overall, this little GPS unit gives you the information you need at an affordable price!  Read more about it at Amazon.

Golf Buddy Plus

The Golf Buddy Plus is the basic model.  It’s not cheap though, with a cost up to $200.  It has a simple small black and white screen, and holds 1000 courses at a time.  You get unlimited access to download up to 14,000 courses from their site.

This model automatically displays distance to the front, center, and back of the green as you move.  This seems to be accurate for most golf course, although a few seem to be off (a common complaint across all models of the Golf Buddy).  Their data comes from satellite images, so it is not the absolute best out there, compared to similar devices like the SkyCaddie.

Overall, it is a decent, affordable model.  However, if you want to save money, there are lower cost units available, such as the Swami.

Golf Buddy Pro

This model is the bestselling on Amazon, closely followed by the Golf Buddy Tour.  The Pro and Tour models are very similar.  This one has a black and white screen, and a 12 hour battery life.  The device holds 20,000 courses, and all courses in North America are available.  There is no yearly fee to download additional courses.

Most people seem to like this model in the reviews.  Most of the time it was accurate, with a few exceptions.  The biggest complaint was about customer service – like most companies, they seem to have outsourced it.

Golf Buddy Tour

The Tour is slightly more expensive than the Plus.  It holds the same number of courses, but comes with a color screen and a 14 hour battery life.  If you really want a color screen, you may want to upgrade.  Otherwise, the Plus works just fine.

Golf Buddy World Platinum

The highest end Golf Buddy is the World Platinum model.  This one comes with access to 40,000 courses around the world.  It has a color touch screen, which is a nice feature.  However, it does cost significantly more than the other versions.  If you golf around the world, this may be a good fit for you.

So, to sum up these Golf Buddy reviews, the best rated device among these four is:  The Golf Buddy Pro!  This was closely followed by the Tour.

Garmin GPS Golf Systems – The Garmin Approach G5 GPS is considered to be one of the best out there.  It has a full color, touch screen.  It’s sturdy, waterproof, and light.  You can use it to calculate exact distances and plan your next shot.  It is a one time cost as well, allowing you to download all the courses you want for free.

This particular system gets good rankings all around.  You can read more reviews here.

Another popular model is the Golf Buddy Tour.  This one lacks some of the bells and whistles of the Garmin.  There is no touchscreen, and it is not as colorful.  But it is very functional, at a significant price savings.

The Golf Buddy has no annual fee.  You are simply able to download any course that you are interested in, and the device holds up to 20,000 courses.  It also has automatic course recognition, which means it automatically pulls up the course you are on.

Next we have the Callaway Golf Upro Go.  It is significantly less expensive, but it also has less features.  The Upro comes with 18,000 golf courses preloaded across the United States and Canada.  One thing  you must get with this unit is Go Mode.  This is an extra $50,but without it, it’s just a less than average GPS.  With Go Mode, you get distances updated as you move closer to the hole.  This feature is already included in the previous two models.

Of course, no list would be complete without the Skycaddie.  This is the official golf GPS system of the PGA.  It has the largest verified golf course database in the world, so you are guaranteed the most accurate information.  The only problem is you have to pay an annual subscription.  But that starts at just $29.95 a year, so this could be well worth it if you are a serious golfer.

Finally, we have some cheap golf gps systems to round out our list.  The most popular system that is less than $100 is the IZZO Swami 1500 Golf GPS Unit.  This system simply calculates your distance from front, center, and back of green whenever you are standing under the open sky.

The Swami holds up to 10 courses at a time.  It requires an annual subscription to access their database of golf courses.

These are the top five best golf GPS systems currently.  Please feel free to compare golf GPS systems in the comments!

One of the best things about this system is there is no subscription fee.  You can download all the golf courses you want from Garmin’s site, which is a nice feature.  It also has a nice color screen, which makes it easier to see the course.

When you first use the Garmin, you can see the entire golf course, and know exactly what you need to do to reach the green in regulation, even if you’ve never been there before.  You can use it to determine the distance to the next bend to better choose your club.

Another nice feature is the touch screen.  You don’t have to use any confusing buttons to figure out the distance to the next green.  Just touch the screen.

The rechargeable batteries last about two rounds.  It does have a nice feature that remembers which page you were on if you have to change batteries in the middle of a round.  It also is water resistant, so you can play in the rain, if you want.

One drawback is it doesn’t let you skip holes.  So if you are looking at hole 10, and want to see hole 2, you have to go through 8 other pages to get there.  That is a bit of a pain.

You can read more reviews about the Garmin Approach G5 GPS by clicking here

With most other games like baseball for instance then if you want a quick game of that you’ll need a bunch of friends and you’ll be running around tiring yourself out to play a game, with golf then you can just relax and walk around with some friends and enjoy the scenery while you play. You still need to put in the effort to learn the skills you need and practice them if you want to win though, and below we reveal two unconventional ways to improve your golf score:

Meditation:

Golf does require a lot of mental discipline if you want to play it well. You have to be able to tune out any noise around you, whether that is traffic noise or just your golf buddies trying to put you off your swing! You need to keep your body relaxed so that tight muscles don’t ruin your swing, you need to focus on the ball to make sure your swing connects with it correctly, all while under pressure to get the shot right.

For some people then they won’t even think about all this, and it will come to them as easy as taking a breath, but for the rest of us then we need a little help to keep ourselves focused and relaxed. Meditation is a great way to learn how to focus and relax, you can actually learn it easily from a book, but it will take a few tries before you can actually get your mind to settle down. Once you can focus and clear your mind though meditation then you will probably really enjoy it, and you should be a lot calmer and more focused throughout your day. Then when you are playing golf you can use the same techniques to help you relax and focus as you line up a shot.

Work your core:

I said earlier that golf is not too strenuous, but it does take a toll on your core body muscles even if you are not running around all the time like in some sports.

You use the core muscles of your body for everything from standing straight, to bending over, to sitting down, and especially when you swing a golf club, yet we hardly ever work on this area. I am not just talking about doing thousands of situps either, I mean working the whole area, so your lower back, the muscles alongside your main ab muscle and all the rest so you have a strong core that can support your spine, protect your organs, and help you put more power into your swing. So take some time to look up some exercises for your core muscles and slowly start to work on them, then in a few weeks time you can show off your more powerful swing when you are down the course!

If you want to improve your golf game then you need the best golf irons for your playing style, find out more information at TheBestGolfIrons.com.

We thought you might be interested in turning your present ”smartphone” into a GPS Golf Rangefinder especially if you golf and you haven’t already purchased a standalone handheld GPS range finder. Many golfers have been using this Greenfinder service now for about 2-3 years and they requested a product review from an number of bloggers to compete with the big guns.  We figured that maybe someone out there who golfs might want to try this free trial. Greenfinder GPS Software can save you several hundred dollars on yet one more electronic device that you have to carry with you on the golf course and keep charged up!

This download software uses your existing BlackBerry, iPhone 3G, Droid, Palm Pre and produce a great GPS service for golfers to use on the course. It turns your existing smart GPS enabled cell phone into a golf green rangefinder!  If you play golf it’s worth evaluating the free trial and its, a whole lot less expensive than mainstream products, and just as accurate for the amateur golfer!! Make sure you take advantage of the promo code available at the sites highlighted above where we found the original product review. The free 5 round trial we took convinced us that it was every bit as accurate as a $300 rangefinder.  Well worth reading the reference review article.

What we really like about GreenFinder is that the company is small and is relying on both its products and social networking on the web to promote their cell phone app. They have stiff competition now from very large marketing firms on the Golf Channel who have also caught on that more golfers would prefer NOT to be carrying extra electronics with them on the course. Check this out if you have time. We think you will be impressed.

Although this will be short, do not underrate the information that it contains. As in life, golf isn’t necessarily about fashioning big changes, but little adjustments which can make all the difference. As in all things, there is a sequence, an order in which everything works best, and the Putt is one of those things that work much better if you follow that proper order/ sequence.

In your putt sequence, one of the first things that you are going to want to do, is decideut on the path the ball will travel, and this definitely needs to be done before the shot. When you are in the process of figuring your line, pay close attention to the area of the green inside a three foot radius of the hole. This is where your ball will be rolling slowly, and any break that will happen will most likely be more pronounced. You really need to figure out where your ball should be when it enters that “red zone” to use a football game term.

 All you want/need to be thinking about during the stroke, is how hard to hit the ball, not where. You can ensure how far the ball will go, by how far you bring back your putter during the back swing.

Once you hit the ball, the distance that the swing goes past the original ball striking position of your golf swing, should be exactly the same as the length of your back stroke.

You should think about putting the ball with just fair to middling power to hit the ball about one foot pass the whole if you were to miss. With your ball passing by the hole and remaining in “Gimmee ” territory, make sure you observe the break as it goes past the whole. This is important because it will give you the line you need for the “easy” tap in.