Golf Forums - Sureshot vs Skycaddie

I'm thinking of getting a GPS system and was looking at either a Skycaddie SG5 which I can get 2nd hand for £140.00 or a Sureshot 8800 which I can get brand new for £150.00.  Does anyone have any advice regarding either of these units?

Hi Richard, as you know I've got the SkyCaddie SG5 and I cannot recommend it enough.

I've seen the SureShot but haven't really looked at what it does.

The SkyCaddie SG5 clips onto your belt easily and they also do a trolley holder.

You can keep your score on it and then download it to the website and it will keep your scores for you.

There is a 'Mark Ball' button so you can see how far your drives have gone, or how far you hit each club.

If you haven't bought one before the next time we play together again I'll show you how it works.

Russ

If you have an Iphone you could always take a look at the Golfshot GPS app. For £17.99 it takes a bit of beating

I have iphone. i use Golf card 5.99 and is great for holding stats and a great range finder tracking your handicap and other stats ie putts, G.IR among oter things . Also there is my caddie pro which is a free app and is quick and simple range finder using google maps both are great in there own way

Hi Richard, I'm with Russ on this. I bought an SG5 and I couldn't be more pleased with it. The stats tracking when you save your scores in it is excellent once you upload it to the skycaddie website. I'm using it to keep track of my number of putts, greens in regulation and fairways in regulation.

Great piece of kit.

Another Skycaddie user here. Don't waste your money on a SG5 though. The 2.5 is more than adequate.

I have the SkyCaddie SG5, and I think it is excellent.  It used to lack the ability to track your scores/stats, but that has since been remedied with the latest software update.  So now, not only does it give you the distances, but it also can track your scores and stats - and it automatically downloads them into a web-based analysis tool.  You can see where you're missing the fairway on your drives, for example ... mostly right, mostly left, etc. 

I also found a new use for my SG5 yesterday. I'm been struggling a bit with 'in between club chips' and so went to the chipping green at my club. Using the 'mark ball' feature I could start at the pin and measure 30 yds back to give me the distance that I want to practice.

I did the same thing about three weeks ago.

Was practicing my pitching from 20 to 40 yards.

So I used the 'Mark Ball' function to measure out the two distances from the flag.

Then I threw 100 balls into the air and hit pitch shots.

Russ

Why don't you use TSG to maintain these stats for you ?  

If you enter the detail as part of the 'Enter Scores' process (fairway in regulation, penalty shots, lost balls, bunker shots etc) it not only automatically maintains your playing record and your handicap but also automatically feeds into the 'Game analysis' section giving you all the charts, graphs and 'compare' me options for free!

I'd be very interested in a comparison of the two because I got the Skycaddie SG5 and whilst it's good (and apparently the new version is even better) I did like the marketing blurb for the Shotsaver

Because I have to enter my scores manually into TSG to do this, whereas my skycaddie provides all the funcitionality above and uploads my scores automatically.

If TSG was to build an interface to take scores from my skycaddie then I would consider a switch, but I don't think there's any plans for this

Here's another one which seems to have come from no-where and is getting rave reviews:

- Shotmiser G500 from Optimizegolf

Anyone got one? Is it any good? What's the coverage of UK courses like? What's the cost of downloading UK & European Courses?

I use the SONOCADDIE and is fine for worldwide use.

If the course is not mapped, you get in touch and give them the details and, bingo, there it is a couple of weeks later.

I have just purchased a GolfBuddy World Platinum:

http://www.golfbuddyglobal.com/

I'll be using it on the course for the first time this weekend, replacing my SG5.  It's got amazing features ... there is a touch-screen with a layout of the hole, and you can touch anywhere on the hole and it will give you ditance to any pin or hazard.  You can also move the pin around the green, and it will re-calculate the distance.

It keeps scores (for up to four players), tracks stats, and calculates stableford points.  It can hold 40,000 courses in its memory, there are no annual fees, and you can download updates for free from the web.

I'll post more info once I've had a chance to use it on the course.

David

Not sure what I'm doing with my SG5, Ian ... will keep it for a bit, just to make sure the new gear works out.  If you're interested, let me know.

David

OK - well bear me in mind, as I would be interested!

Speak soon

Ian M

Now that I've used my new GolfBuddy World Platinum for a few rounds, I can give a short review on the device.  I will make some comparisons with my SG5.

What I like about it:

- During a round, it scrolls from hole to hole just like a course guide.  There is a full layout of each hole, and you can tap on any location (it's a touch screen, like the iPhone) and it will give you the distance from where you are to that location - and from that location to the pin.  I found this particularly useful after I've hit a bad shot ... say, a drive that lands in the next fairway.  When I walked to my ball, I could get a precise distance to the green (if I had a shot) ... but if I didn't, and wanted to lay-up to a particular position, I could tap on the point where I wanted to lay up and it would give me the exact distance.  SG5 doesn't have this functionality.

- It has the ball mark feature, so you can measure the distance of your shots.  Just like SG5.

- The scoring module is more sophisticated than the SG5.  For example, you can track the scores for your entire foursome - not just yourself.  You can also choose Stableford scoring mode, input your handicap, and it will calculate your points automatically (great for the mathematically challenged).

- There are two "view" modes:  (1) The entire hole; or (2) just the green.  If you tap on the "green mode" it shows the green and the distance to the front/middle/back (just like SG5).  But if you tap on the pin, you can drag it to any point on the green and it will re-calculate the distance.

- The measurements seem to be a bit more precise than my SG5.  I found the GolfBuddy very useful for pitch shots near the green.  Given that you can move the pin on the screen to where it's actually located on the green, I found it calculated the correct distances (when I checked by pacing them out).

- The unit holds 40,000 courses in its memory, so you don't have to download the course you're going to play next.  Updates are on the website, and you just download the file if there is an update (one file for each country, or one file for each US state).

- You just need to turn it on when you arrive at the course, and it knows which course you are on and selects it automatically.  Which is great, because it takes a long time to manually select a course.

What I don't like about it:

- Battery life is less than the SG5.  I could get 36 holes of play out of my SG5 before I had to re-charge.  The battery indicator was down to only one bar on the GolfBuddy after 18 holes.  Didn't appear that it would go another 18, but I didn't try.

- The scoring module is a bit more cumbersome than the SG5.  You have to tap more buttons to get your score in, which takes a bit longer.  Also, the GolfBuddy doesn't seem to know which holes you've already scored, and it always asked for the score of the hole you are ON.  So if I just finished 14, and walked to the 15th tee box and tried to enter my score, it assumed I wanted to score 15 (which I'm about to play!).

- The screen is a bit smaller and not as bright as the SG5.

- The "mark ball" function (to calculate the distance of your shot) is a bit hidden away in the scoring module.  I like the SG5 better, because it's a dedicated button on the front of the unit.


Overall, I like the GolfBuddy and am happy with my purchase.  Out of 10, I'd give it an 8.5

As an owner of a Sureshot GPS, for a year or so, I would recommend you buy SkyCaddie.
Sureshots is OK, but has let me down too often. The courses cannot be relied upon, as proved to me recently when I went all the way to Celtic Manor and played the Roman Rd Course, a course I had never played before. The first two holes are Par4 followed by a par 3. Not on my Sureshots..2nd hole was a par 5, and the following holes were all over the place. VERY annoying. I have had this a number if times in the past and have complained to the Aussie manufacturer who was sympathetic, but that's all.
The ANNUAL fee is about £23 to download 20 courses, or £30 for 40 courses...IMHO..a bit steep.  You do not get an fly overview of the hole, simply a distance to Front Middle and Back, plus various hazards, and a scorecard feature.  I still do not understand the distance measure feature, and have given up trying.

I now own a, internet pad and have downloaded the Sonocaddie app. For a one off fee of about £21, I have the use of over 30,000 courses worldwide, with free upgrades as and when. The graphics are superb with a fly over view, view of the green, full scorecard for 4 players if needed and distance measure feature, plus a distance from your position to any point on the course feature...all in all a brilliant package.
I had a couple of issues to begin with which were dealt with immediately, so customer service appears to be on the ball.

So, with those who want a dedicated GPS, I would recommend a SkyCaddie, but for those with iPhones and the like... Sonocaddie, and BTW, it is free to download and use for one course, so you can try it out on as many different courses as you like, you simply have to download the course beforehand.  I have looked at other apps., but none are as good as or outperform Sonocaddie IMO.

Hope this helps.

Having re-read David's critique of the GolfBuddy Platinum, It seems that this is also a very serious contender for a dedicated GPS. Packed full of features you don't get with an App.

Hi, I use Skygolf SkycaddieSG5 read some nice about it on Testfreaks aits pretty cheap too and works. Thanks.