Wayward golfers turn to GPS devices

By STEVE MILLER
Scripps Howard News Service
Monday, June 11, 2007

We can thank technology for a lot of things. Among them, some great summer jobs.

Imagine being hired to walk the best golf courses with a GPS backpack, pinging the distances back to satellites for the makers of a slew of GPS golf yardage-finders now available.

One of the most high-tech gizmos in a sport that loves gizmos, GPS range finders are leaving the shelves faster than a downhill putt at Augusta. And unlike many of the self-help golf widgets on the market, a GPS can help your game whether you're a low handicapper or someone who dwells in the high teens (not unlike your tester for this story).

The principle is simple -- use global positioning technology to tell golfers how far they are from the hole, or with some devices, how far they are from obstacles such as sand traps and water.

Sean Walsh, golf buyer at Colorado Ski & Golf, says the systems are a hit with duffers and accomplished players alike. "They're very popular, especially around Father's Day," he said.

Walsh prefers the GPS to laser range finders because of the additional information users get. He'd have one himself, he says, if they were less expensive. The units typically cost $200 to $350.

A luxury to be sure, but with Father's Day less than a week way, we thought we'd take a couple of the available devices out for a spin on a local track and see what all the buzz is about.

Both of the handhelds we tried use their Web sites as a clearinghouse for the course information they have. Users pay an annual fee for access. You select the course you want, and the device downloads the information via USB and the included software.

For the price of a new driver -- less in a lot of cases -- a GPS might be worth a look as that next addition to your quiver, or as a gift for the golf-obsessed father in the family.

Web site/ fees

iGolf.com

- $29.99/year

- International content is very limited.

- PC only -- no Mac.

skycaddie.com

- $29.95/year for state

- $49.95/year for country

- $59.95/year for world

- Content is extensive.

- PC only - no Mac.

Ease of setup, ease of use

iGolf.com

We needed to trash and reinstall the software twice before an important USB function took hold. You can track your handicap from the Web site, but the green fees info was incorrect for the courses we saw.

skycaddie.com

Standard PC installation of the software without any glitches. Intuitive Web site for finding and downloading courses. Clicking on the "course info" link takes you to another site where you need to search again for your course.

What the GPS can do

iGolf.com

- Reports distance to the front, center and back of the green; hole number and handicap.

- Users can manually map locations on courses.

- Measures length of shots.

skycaddie.com

- Reports yardages from tee to green, as well as the yardage to hazards along the fairway; hole number and handicap. Once within your chipping distance, the iGreen feature lets users adjust the pin placement on the green to get the yardage estimate.

- Users can manually map locations on courses.

- Measures length of shots.

What it can't do

iGolf.com

- Does not report distances to hazards along the fairway unless you manually map hazards and save them with the downloaded course info.

- Does not count strokes

skycaddie.com

- iGreen won't tell you how a green breaks (you'll have to pay a real caddie for that), and your close-in yardage is only as good as your estimate of the pin's location.

- Does not count strokes

Does it improve your game?

iGolf.com

- When you're in range to reach the green, iGolf can eliminate the guesswork in club selection -- no worries about choking up, taking a little off or trying to kill it. Speeds play by giving you distance at a glance -- no more searching for sprinkler heads, or trying to calculate the likely distance.

skycaddie.com

- All the benefits of the iGolf but with distances to hazards all along the fairway, which is a huge plus. That information makes the SkyCaddie useful at any stage of the hole, not just when you're in range of the green.

Time-consuming to use?

iGolf.com

Just a glance gives you the distance, though you must manually advance the handheld from hole to hole. Manually mapping the distance to hazards even for courses you download is too time-consuming. How many times would you have to play the course to map all the useful yardages?

skycaddie.com

The large numbers and easy-to-understand information update as you work your way down the fairway. That eliminates scrolling through a list of hazards you're already safely past. A quick glance gets the next yardage and hazard data. It automatically advances to the next hole as you approach the tee.

Price

iGolf.com

$229.99

skycaddie.com

$349.95

The score

iGolf.com

Admittedly, the SG4 is the top of the line and easily outclasses the iGolf in this comparison. But SkyCaddie offers four models, and the SG2, for $259.99, has a smaller display but all the features of the SG4 in the same price range as the GPS Caddie.

skycaddie.com

Easy to use and practically on autopilot, the SkyCaddie makes rounds more enjoyable and quicker, to the delight of the ranger and the foursome following.