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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,955
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I was golfing yesterday afternoon and noticed one of my playing partners had one of these GPS handheld devices, from memory I think it was a Skycaddie which on the face of it looks very good and easy to navigate. Upon returning home I decided to take a look at turning my Blackberry Curve 8900 into a similar device but unfortunately due to the amount of fee based / free apps avalible I am really unsure about which one to opt for. I have so far narrowed my selection down to the fee paying GolfLogix programme http://www.golflogix.com/WebSite/BlackberryCurveHome.aspx which is around $35.00 per year (not to sure about the conversion back into pounds sterling probably best not looking what with the weak pound at the moment!!!) Basically I like the look of this as it appeared to show a general course layout with icons identifying hazards and ultimately it had various local courses within my area (Glasgow) pre loaded unlike some text based systems I have seen so far. Has anyone used this programme or indeed anything similar too it? If so I would be grateful for any comments / advice you may have in order to get the best from my mobile phone out on the course. Kind Regards Dale Strachan
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,955
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Hi Dale,
I use a Callaway RangeFinder which I like but am considering also getting a GPS solution because I like seeing the entire picture of the hole with all distances.
I've seen (and used) the Skycaddie system several times and they are good. Also a while ago I played a round (as opposed to played around) with a guy who was using a golf app on an iPhone. It looked pretty good (probably as good as Skycaddie) but it wasn't free (I think he said £30 per year) and also he said there were a few minor problems ie it's not waterproof and it drains the battery pretty fast (18 holes is okay if you're not using it for every shot and all your playing partners shots).
So, I guess it's horses for courses situation - if money is no object then probably Skycaddie or one of the other dedicated machines at £200-£300 but if you've already got a Blackberry or an iPhone then £30-£40 gets you the golf GPS application which is probably as good a GPS solution but with the minor problem of weather proofing and possible battery life over the round.
I'd be interested in what you decide and how it works out.
Pete.
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Steve South
Handicap: 15
Surrey
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 27
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Hi Dale, I used the golf logix app on my HTC Touch Pro yesterday. It looks really nice, and works really well giving you a lot of useful information. Like Pete says, one problem is phones aren't generally waterproof and it rained for the back 9, so it didn't get much use after that. The battery issue isn't too worrying, you can pick up an mobile charger for under £20 which will give you more than enough juice. Also, it isn't immedately clear on the golflogix webstie, but when you download it it is free for 24 hours. So definitely give it a go before you spend any money on something else! Steve
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Steve South
Handicap: 15
Surrey
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 27
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This is the kind of charger I was talking about, a bargain for under £10! http://www.bestofferbuy....m=cse&utm_campaign=gbase
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,955
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I use my Garmin etrex. I grab the grid ref from the net and key it in. It's a bit of a pain, but only needs to be done once for each hole.
Mike Peacock
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Richard Wheatle...
Handicap: 17
London
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Where do you get the grid ref from Google Earth?
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,955
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I use this site: http://homepage.ntlworld...tagridref/html/index.htm Move the marker to the point you want a reference for. You can zoom in and it will go down to a 10 metre square reference which is near enough.
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TSG
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