What kind of range finder do you have in your bag? I usually use the Swing U app but it's slow and I don't completely trust it, so I'm looking to add a laser range finder to the bag. I'm not looking to get the top of the line Leupold, but I am willing to spend enough to get something that is clear and picks up the pin easily. Any suggestions?

I currently have a Raythor. It does the job and was pretty cheap on Amazon.

Mileseey on Amazon

Callaway 200. Had some negative reviews on Amazon but I have had zero problems.

I'm not sure who needs more than the Bushnell Phantom. For $100 you get front, middle, and back and distance to hazards all in a nice compact device that can go in your pocket or sticks to your cart.

How does it get the course information?

Don't spend over $100.

My wife bought me the TEKTEKTEK VPRO500S

Up to 500 yards
Hold to scan yardage.
$150 on Amazon

jj9000 said:

---

CaddyTek laser with Slope from Costco.

I think I paid $99 for it, and it's every bit as good as the Bushnell I had for years.

---

This.

another rec for the CaddyTek from Costco. Use it every round. easy, accurate, and has slope adjustment.

I've had this one for years. Got all my buds using it too.


https://smile.amazon.com/AOFAR-Rangefinder-Flag-Lock-Vibration-Waterproof/dp/B07SQXKPW2/ref=dp_prsubs_1?pd_rd_i=B07SQXKPW2&psc=1

Wosports H100. On the cheap side, and has gotten the job done for me for the last year.

mike_ags_fan12 said:

---

My wife bought me the TEKTEKTEK VPRO500S

Up to 500 yards
Hold to scan yardage.
$150 on Amazon

---

I'll second anything TecTecTec. Out of Houston, great customer service, and a reasonable price point.

Matsui said:

---

How does it get the course information?

---

Downloads it from wherever you are.

+1 more on the CaddyTek from Costco

TMfrisco said:

---

I'm not sure who needs more than the Bushnell Phantom. For $100 you get front, middle, and back and distance to hazards all in a nice compact device that can go in your pocket or sticks to your cart.

---

I had a garmin front middle back device. When I got an actual range finder, my scores improved. Knowing how far you really are to the pin makes club selection easier.

I've lost 3 Bushnell. Went with caddytek from Costco and it's great .

GoGoGo from Amazon has been great for me. Just shy of one year and no complaints.

TMfrisco said:

---

I'm not sure who needs more than the Bushnell Phantom. For $100 you get front, middle, and back and distance to hazards all in a nice compact device that can go in your pocket or sticks to your cart.

---

I carry a laser and a GPS (Garmin Approach G80). The GPS is useless for shooting random stuff on the hole that you need distance to, like the group in front of you that might still be in range. Or the backside lip of that oddly shaped greenside bunker that isn't the one the GPS uses. Or the distance to the tree on the other side of the fairway past the dogleg corner. Etc, etc. GPS also doesn't work on the practice range. I can shoot any target I want to on the range to help figure out carry distances with any club. GPS is not a substitute for a laser.

I have an old Bushnell Hybrid GPS/Laser rangefinder. I don't think i've ever used the GPS function, it was just the cheapest laser rangefinder i could find at the time. Works well enough for what i need.

I also got a Bushnell Wingman for Christmas. I really just wanted it for the bt speaker function, and it has a magnet built in to stick it to the cart. But the GPS features are actually pretty cool too.

As a guy who only plays with a Garmin watch and doesn't have a rangefinder I've realized it does no good if the course you're playing doesn't somewhere designate pin placements.

Even if it's just different color flags for front/middle/back my watch is useless if I have no idea where the pin is.

Hence why I'm following this thread.

I was impressed with the Costco Caddytek. Don't really have anything to compare to.

Coming from a watch, I didn't find it slowing me down at all. Like mentioned above, shooting random stuff was nice. (Like thinking that group ahead is 300 out, double-checking, and realizing they're only 240)

aggietony2010 said:

---

I was impressed with the Costco Caddytek. Don't really have anything to compare to.

Coming from a watch, I didn't find it slowing me down at all. Like mentioned above, shooting random stuff was nice. (Like thinking that group ahead is 300 out, double-checking, and realizing they're only 240)

---

Here's a comparison article. The Caddytek is one of the budget picks.

https://golfsidekick.com/gear/best-golf-rangefinder-reviews/

I carry a Leupold GX-5i3 Digital Golf Rangefinder. The fog setting really works. Very confident in both yardage and slope yardage. It gives me the feeling of trust.

Rubble said:

---

TMfrisco said:

---

I'm not sure who needs more than the Bushnell Phantom. For $100 you get front, middle, and back and distance to hazards all in a nice compact device that can go in your pocket or sticks to your cart.

---

I had a garmin front middle back device. When I got an actual range finder, my scores improved. Knowing how far you really are to the pin makes club selection easier.

---

I find that very interesting and I have opinions on this matter that may not be popular.
1. Very, very few golfers practice enough to know how far they actually hit clubs outside maybe a 10 yard range
2. Even fewer of those golfers consistently hit the ball to the distance (not length, but accurate length) they even think they do with much consistency
3. I find lasers even less necessary if you play the same course most of the time and know the features of the course
4. I find lasers somewhat helpful for playing new courses, but reverting back to my first 2 opinions - front, middle, and back - are more than enough for the vast majority of golfers. If most just took the yardage to the center of the green and tried to hit it there, they would be better off.
5. I feel like the use of lasers has slowed down the game - I know all the arguments for it actually speeding up the game, but anecdotally I don't find that to be accurate
6. The best golfers I have ever played with could score because of their "feel" for hitting shots - "It's 140 yards into the wind and I am going to hit a punch/draw 7-iron short of the green and roll it to the pin" - that kind of thing

I've played golf for a long time and have had a handicap as low as the mid single digits and even though I can't play to that now, I still find the above to be mostly true. In addition, I am friends with one of the Bushnell reps in Texas and have never wanted for any of their products. The last laser he gave me has never left the box and I use the Phantom or Wingman exclusively. I just don't see the need for the accuracy of a laser for the vast majority of golfers - if you tell them it is 150, 163, 177 and the pin is somewhere in the front or back of the green and tell them to hit it 155 or 165, they probably can't hit it to that distance with any consistency anyway.

Just my thoughts on the matter and if somebody wants the accuracy of a laser, there are plenty of options out there and it sounds like the Costco one is no more expensive than my preferred Phantom so why not get it if that is what you think you need.

G Martin 87 said:

---

TMfrisco said:

---

I'm not sure who needs more than the Bushnell Phantom. For $100 you get front, middle, and back and distance to hazards all in a nice compact device that can go in your pocket or sticks to your cart.

---

I carry a laser and a GPS (Garmin Approach G80). The GPS is useless for shooting random stuff on the hole that you need distance to, like the group in front of you that might still be in range. Or the backside lip of that oddly shaped greenside bunker that isn't the one the GPS uses. Or the distance to the tree on the other side of the fairway past the dogleg corner. Etc, etc. GPS also doesn't work on the practice range. I can shoot any target I want to on the range to help figure out carry distances with any club. GPS is not a substitute for a laser.

---

See my other response on the matter. But, I agree, it isn't a substitute for what you use your laser for. However, most of what you use it for is "information overload" for 95% of golfers.

I have a BIL who is a very consistent golfer and hits the ball well - as long as the distance he has to the pin "fits" the length he hits a certain club. He hasn't been able to take the next step getting to a very low single digit at his club because he hasn't learned to "take something off" or "jump on one" or "take an extra club and knock it down". This prevents him from getting the ball closer to the hole on a consistent basis. I blame this on the fact that he shoots a yardage every time and tries to fit his club selection to that yardage instead of looking at a shot and trying to figure out how he is going to get a ball to that spot. I've tried to get him to try playing non-competitive rounds without any measuring device to try to work on that skill.

I think if you progress and get better, GPS and rangefinders help. When I first went to a GPS device many years ago, it was definitely helpful. As I progressed to a low single digit, a rangefinder is much more useful to me than a GPS.

There's no one-size-fits-all. I play with other good golfers who are happy with the little clip-on GPS that fits on the bill of their hat. Most of the guys I play with, though, use rangefinders.

I don't think it slows play, at least in the groups I play with. Pull up to the ball and you've got a distance in about 5 seconds. On a strange course I might shoot something else aside from the pin, but that doesn't take any longer than me trying to stand there and figure something out without the benefit of a rangefinder.

TMfrisco said:

---

Rubble said:

---

TMfrisco said:

---

I'm not sure who needs more than the Bushnell Phantom. For $100 you get front, middle, and back and distance to hazards all in a nice compact device that can go in your pocket or sticks to your cart.

---

I had a garmin front middle back device. When I got an actual range finder, my scores improved. Knowing how far you really are to the pin makes club selection easier.

---

5. I feel like the use of lasers has slowed down the game - I know all the arguments for it actually speeding up the game, but anecdotally I don't find that to be accurate
6. The best golfers I have ever played with could score because of their "feel" for hitting shots - "It's 140 yards into the wind and I am going to hit a punch/draw 7-iron short of the green and roll it to the pin" - that kind of thing

---

5. It takes much more time to find a yardage marker, pace off to your ball, check the pin location, and then take a shot than it does to shoot the pin and take a shot. I have also had GPS be 10+ yards off from a laser measurement.

6. This has nothing to do with rangefinders

I use te same rangefinder that i Bowhunt with. Some rf made by sig sauer. Paid 178 on the way to the ranch for it in december. Has angle compensation which i think is about the equivalent of slope. Overall have been happy

I got the Costco model mentioned earlier. Works great.

powerbelly said:

---

TMfrisco said:

---

Rubble said:

---

TMfrisco said:

---

I'm not sure who needs more than the Bushnell Phantom. For $100 you get front, middle, and back and distance to hazards all in a nice compact device that can go in your pocket or sticks to your cart.

---

I had a garmin front middle back device. When I got an actual range finder, my scores improved. Knowing how far you really are to the pin makes club selection easier.

---

5. I feel like the use of lasers has slowed down the game - I know all the arguments for it actually speeding up the game, but anecdotally I don't find that to be accurate
6. The best golfers I have ever played with could score because of their "feel" for hitting shots - "It's 140 yards into the wind and I am going to hit a punch/draw 7-iron short of the green and roll it to the pin" - that kind of thing

---

5. It takes much more time to find a yardage marker, pace off to your ball, check the pin location, and then take a shot than it does to shoot the pin and take a shot. I have also had GPS be 10+ yards off from a laser measurement.

6. This has nothing to do with rangefinders

---

I guess I have been extremely fortunate to having played with very few people who ever took enough time to find markers and step of yardages - both good and bad players. I cannot vouch for any other GPS and this isn't an "Ad" for Phantom, but I assume all the newer GPS units are much more accurate than older ones. Mine is never off from what guys who use lasers get.

6. I think it does. I think really good "shot makers" concern themselves much less with exact distance than "how do I get the ball to the hole". Very few shots are played in a round where you need to know "How far is it to clear that hazard (sorry, penalty area)".

My whole point was to say that very few golfers - and it is borne out by handicaps - have the skill necessary to need/use the exact information provided by a laser.

Rangefinders helped my game immensely. I'm by no means a pin seeker but my game is at a point where I do know what I hit each club +/- 5 yards. My misses are controlling left or right now and very rarely distance. My goal is to get it pin high and the RF helps me do that on a more consistent basis.

I've had a tectectec from Amazon for years. It still 'works' but the last digit on the yardage is a little fuzzy. Thought it was just the battery but it's not. In the market for a new one and will probably try the Costco.

I don't "need" a laser, but it's the quickest way (for me) to get the most basic information I want from the fairway. I use to use GPS watch and then a phone, and it just got frustrating throughout the round, making sure I was on the correct hole, making sure it was charged, etc.

As for the comment on skill. The guy you're talking about, not needing the exact yardage to the pin...does that same player need front/middle/back info? For some players, weaker players, having too many yardages in their mind may screw them up even more. And to your point, if they don't hit it within 10 yards of their target consistently, than knowing ANY yardage won't be beneficial.

As an inconsistent player and striker, I still find the range finder the quickest way to get the info I need and particularly to avoid bad misses. If I'm at a number where I'm between two clubs, it's nice to be able to shoot that back or front of the green (depending where the trouble is) and see if that trouble is in my 10-15 yard range for each club.

A sprinkler head might give you front/middle/back. GPS might too, but it's just way easier to pick the point I want to carry and shoot it. I don't need to know the pin is exactly 123, I know that's overkill for my abilities, but the rangefinder is still the quickest way to find out the back pin is 123, but that drop off the back of the green is 130, PW can get there, so that tells me the GW to the center of the green is the play that takes a big number out of play.