Is there a Golf Gadget You’d Love to Test?

Is there a Golf Gadget You’d Love to Test?

Is there a golf gadget you’d love to test? What is it and why would you want to test it?
David Wixson, PGA Master Professional
Golf Program Instructor
Keiser University College of Golf

I would like to own a laser rangefinder like the Bushnell, which can provide golfers with a precise yardage to the hole location on the green.

I have used a Sky Caddie GPS yardage device in the past and liked it, but it only provides yardage to the front/center/back of the green. It might show something like 150 Front, 165 Middle and 180 Back. This can be very helpful, but the Bushnell Rangefinder can pinpoint the exact yardage to the hole. In the aforementioned example using the Sky Caddie, it is good to know that the Front is 150 and the Middle is 165 so you can hit your 160 club and be pretty close if you can see the flag is between front and middle. However, on some long greens, there might be 150 Front and 175 Middle and the actual yardage is 170. Hitting the 160 club would still put you reasonably close, but knowing it was actually 170 exactly would mean hitting a longer club and potentially having a much shorter putt. Certainly, for better players who can control distance more precisely, this is an advantage.

In addition, many times the course may color code the flags so that a white flag means middle, red front, and blue is back. This is sometimes deceiving, however. The flag may be white and the Sky Caddie might read 165 Middle, but the hole is actually 170 and on the front of the back tier of the green, just over a rise. If you hit 165 in this instance the ball is short of the tier and can roll even further away from the hole down the slope. Whereas if you know the hole is 170, you would choose a club that goes at least 170, not 165. Other great uses of the Bushnell are being able to check how far it is to carry bunker or water hazard, which many of the portable GPS devices cannot do.

If you’d like to study with David Wixson and other PGA Master Professionals, contact The College of Golf today.