Rangefinders have been around since the 1950s when Bushnell created the first laser rangefinder. Now rangefinders come in all different shapes and sizes from lasers to GPS units and watches. You can even find applications for your smart phone or smart watch.
Rangefinders are being used by all level of player from the very beginner to the professional. it is great tool to get exact yardages to the pin or even hitting areas. PGA tour caddies use rangefinders to find yardages for their players during practice rounds so they know with exact precision where each pin is on each green for every round. 
What a great benefit when you can stand on the tee box and see that it’s 250 yards to the edge of the fairway bunker. What a game booster knowing that you can lay up short of the bunker with a 3 iron tor try to take driver down the middle of the fairway. How nice is it to know that you have 225 to carry the water hazard down the left side? All great benefits of a rangefinder.
Want to help speed up play? A rangefinder is a great tool to get yardages quickly and accurately. Now you don’t have to find the sprinkler head in the fairway and pace off the steps to get a yardage to the middle of the green. No more guessing as to how far the back pin is from the middle of the green. The rangefinder will give you the exact yardage in seconds and help you speed up play!!
The Laser Rangefinder
The laser rangefinder has been around for many years. It is the oldest method of finding precise yardages. Bushnell started the laser finder and many companies have now joined in. Callaway, Nikon, TecTecTec, and Garmin are just some names you may be familiar with.
The laser rangefinder is fairly easy to use. They are like binoculars where you look through a scope and put the object you want to find to yardage to in the target. When you have the object locked in the target, you push a button and you get the yardage to that object. You can also use them like binoculars if you want to see where your ball landed on the green if you are having issues seeing where it ended up.
If you are looking for exact yardages with variables incorporated in to it, there are rangefinders on the market that take in to account elevation change. Now these are not legal in tournament play, but you can use them with your buddies (as long as you don’t tell them).
Many rangefinders are lightweight and come with a carrying pouch that you can hook on to our bag. Sizes are fairly consistent throughout the industry where they are 3.75 x 2.75 x 1.5 approximately.
GPS Units
GPS units have been around for a while now. The units are a square or rectangle device that gives you the yardage to the front, middle, and back of the green.
With these devices, you will need to download the course you are playing that day to get the yardage on the screen. Almost every course is available for download. Bushnell, Garmin, and SkyCaddie are some of the main players in the GPS realm of rangefinders.
Depending on how much money you want to spend, some of these units have the course map and hole map as a visual for you. These will give you more than the just the yardages to the front, middle, and back of the green. You can look on the hole map and it will provide yardages to certain spots throughout the hole. Fairway bunkers, water hazards and 100, 150, 200 yard marker on the hole for example. Nice features to have!
GPS Watches
Instead of the GPS square unit, GPS rangefinders also come in a watch form. They are basically the same idea as the square unit, but in wearable form. They do tell time as well and have some other features like an odometer that the square unit does not have.
Some watches will also connect to an app where you can download your round information and keep track of your statistics throughout the year. You can keep statistics by course and even share your results with others. Scorecards are also available on some watches making it easier to keep track of your round and no addition necessary!
Depending on the watch, you can also get notifications from your smart phone. If you receive a text, it can be sent to your GPS watch while your phone is tucked away in your bag so you won’t miss an important message while enjoying your round.
Battery life can range from 8-20 hours depending on what mode you are in. The more you ask your watch to do, the quicker the battery will run down. If you are simply using it as a normal watch for time, the battery life can be quite long.
Apps
There are several apps you can download to your smartphone. Some do not exactly provide the same experience as a GPS unit or watch, however as an alternative option, they can get the job done. There are apps range from free to upwards of $20. It all just depends on the level of functionality you are looking for.
Make the Game More Enjoyable
There are many rangefinders on the market today that can help you make the game more enjoyable.
The precision player will want to look at a laser rangefinder that can provide pinpoint accuracy to the flag or the edge of a water hazard.
The GPS units (squares or watches) are perfect for anyone that wants to see the layout of the hole and get an approximate idea on how far certain areas of the course are. They are great for finding yardages to the front, middle, and back of the greens along with yardages to specific marks on the hole like a fairway bunker.
Whatever type of rangefinder you decide you go with it, the game will be more enjoyable and hopefully help speed up play within your group. Take the guessing game away from a game that is already hard enough. The rangefinder provides all the information you need to help you select the right club on each and every shot. No more guessing as to how far the hazard is or how far to carry a bunker. The information you need to make the right club choice is at the palm of your hands or on your wrist.
