We've launched the new forums! Read more here

GPS Accuracy comparison?

SuperStroke
AndrewG

AndrewG

New member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
437
Reaction score
3
Location
South Wales, UK
Handicap
13.7
Hey all, long time, no post - so here goes :)

Just renewed my club membership this morning, and picked up the new members handbook with fixture list, local rules updates, etc, and noticed a section on 'Distance Measuring Devices". As a long time proponent of GPS being allowed in competition play, I've not been willing to buy one because they just weren't allowed at my club.

Well all that has now changed!! Apparently they are now allowed, as long as gradient or environmental details (wind, temp, etc) are not measured... So, that now means I'm in the market for such a device, but I've read a load of reviews on the various current models, and the one thing that I would have thought was the most important thing is always missing - the accuracy!! I don't mean the 'theoretical' accuracy that the GPS circuitry SHOULD give you, but the real world accuracy that the device provides...

No-one as far as I can tell has done a side-by-side accuracy comparison - using some sort of professional-grade GPS device as a benchmark (like something a civil engineer or surveyor would use). My phone for instance has GPS, and when I borrowed a golf GPS device, I did such a comparison, they NEVER had the same value!

Any thoughts? (Also, any suggestions for devices to look at would be most welcome)
 
We have tested most of them and I have yet to find one that is head and shoulders better than another in terms of accuracy. However the smartphone programs we have tested have not stood up in comparison to a stand alone GPS, in features, battery life, speed and even accuracy in many cases.
 
All of them say they are accurate +-1 yard or +-3 yards and I know on the course comparing Bushnell & Leupold rangefinders they are always within 1 yard of each other. When my friends use their different GPS systems they are always within a couple of yards of each other. Just how accurate do you need to be? +-3 yards is so much better than my ability, but I am comfortable pulling my club with the provided yardage. I think you would be happy with the accuracy of anything you choose.
 
In my opinion, phone apps only do one thing better than standalone GPS units. Kill your battery.
 
DawgDaddy said:
All of them say they are accurate +-1 yard or +-3 yards and I know on the course comparing Bushnell & Leupold rangefinders they are always within 1 yard of each other. When my friends use their different GPS systems they are always within a couple of yards of each other. Just how accurate do you need to be? +-3 yards is so much better than my ability, but I am comfortable pulling my club with the provided yardage. I think you would be happy with the accuracy of anything you choose.
Click to expand...

I can usually hit my irons to sub-yard accuracy, so really I'm looking for a device that deals in inches, rather than feet or yards...

Joking, of course, tbh, a device which just tells me which hole I'm meant to be playing would save me 4 shots a round... :)

Cheers JB - I'll try and dig out your reviews on here... Annoyingly, I can't do a search for GPS, because the search word is too small!!
 
AndrewG said:
I can usually hit my irons to sub-yard accuracy, so really I'm looking for a device that deals in inches, rather than feet or yards...

Joking, of course, tbh, a device which just tells me which hole I'm meant to be playing would save me 4 shots a round... :)

Cheers JB - I'll try and dig out your reviews on here... Annoyingly, I can't do a search for GPS, because the search word is too small!!
Click to expand...

But you can on the home page. :act-up: And if you prefer forum, try the company names such as Bushnell, OnPar, Upro, etc...
 
Hawk said:
In my opinion, phone apps only do one thing better than standalone GPS units. Kill your battery.
Click to expand...

lol.... Yes that is true. Our regular Saturday Foursome all have a GPS . They only one that never match up is our buddy with the Smart phone App. He always has some crazy distance usually more than 4 -5 yards off the tee. I love my SG5 , along with my Buddy's Bushnell we always get a good distant.
 
AndrewG said:
I can usually hit my irons to sub-yard accuracy, so really I'm looking for a device that deals in inches, rather than feet or yards...

Joking, of course, tbh, a device which just tells me which hole I'm meant to be playing would save me 4 shots a round... :)

Cheers JB - I'll try and dig out your reviews on here... Annoyingly, I can't do a search for GPS, because the search word is too small!!
Click to expand...

Try the Bushnell hybrid it is a GPS and Laser in one.
 
DawgDaddy said:
All of them say they are accurate +-1 yard or +-3 yards and I know on the course comparing Bushnell & Leupold rangefinders they are always within 1 yard of each other. When my friends use their different GPS systems they are always within a couple of yards of each other. Just how accurate do you need to be? +-3 yards is so much better than my ability, but I am comfortable pulling my club with the provided yardage. I think you would be happy with the accuracy of anything you choose.
Click to expand...

DawgDaddy,

What type of range finder were you using in GA with us? That seemed to be pretty spot on. I pulled the right club almost every time you shouted out yardage.
 
Mardin said:
DawgDaddy,

What type of range finder were you using in GA with us? That seemed to be pretty spot on. I pulled the right club almost every time you shouted out yardage.
Click to expand...

Leupold GX-1 is the one I use, I got a super deal on it brand new a couple of years ago. My buddy bags the Bushnell 1500 and we are neve more than a yard different and usually we have the same reading. If you are shopping for one, just got to the golf shop and chose the one that appeals to you, as I said above, there are no bad choices.
 
I use a Nikon laser that sat in our lost and found for an entire season. that was two years ago.

I just changed the battery for the first time last week. it is fantastic! measures to the 1/2 yard. lol. I find it to be accurate. I test it against GPS's from the shop and other lasers and it's always within a yard or two.

also....it HIGHLy durable. I toss that thing around like mad.

I highly recommend.
 
I use the OnPar GPS mostly because of the overhead viewing feature (similar to the Upro). So far it has been pretty accurate the couple of times I have brought it out. If you do get a GPS- make sure you can get distances to any given point. You can thank me later.
 
If you have an android phone there are several free apps that can perform this function. I have FreeCaddie on my droid2. It's pretty accurate. There aren't any maps but it gives you the distance to the center, front and back of the green.
 
Are you talking about just GPS devices or Range Finders too?
I had some trouble with a SkyCaddie a few years back giving me wrong yardages, therefor I ditched the SkyCaddie for the Bushnell Tour V2.
I feel more comfortable with something I control.
 
Interesting to hear people hating on the phone GPS apps. Last week I played 18 with a friend that has a Bushnell laser rangefinder so I got a chance to compare accuracy. My iPhone 4 with Golfshot was only +/- 2 yards compared to the rangefinder. What a lot of people fail to realize is you must keep your GPS active and that the app is giving you distance to the center, not the flag.

Oh, and after a 5 hour round of use on every hole, my battery was %50.
 
Horton said:
Interesting to hear people hating on the phone GPS apps. Last week I played 18 with a friend that has a Bushnell laser rangefinder so I got a chance to compare accuracy. My iPhone 4 with Golfshot was only +/- 2 yards compared to the rangefinder. What a lot of people fail to realize is you must keep your GPS active and that the app is giving you distance to the center, not the flag.

Oh, and after a 5 hour round of use on every hole, my battery was %50.
Click to expand...

Were all the flags you played right in the center of the green? Otherwise how would you know if you were 2 yards off?
 
JB said:
Were all the flags you played right in the center of the green? Otherwise how would you know if you were 2 yards off?
Click to expand...

Most of the time he would shoot the green front and then I would compare those numbers. A few times, I moved the Golfshot reticule to the spot on the green where the flag was while he shot the flag but that introduces some possibility for human error on my part.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top