Will a Golf GPS Unit Improve Your Game?

What's the Best?

The short answer to this question is YES. There is no doubt that a golf GPS will improve your game. Now I’m going to share   with you how thousands of golfers around the world are playing to a lower handicap, saving up to an hour per game and loving the new technology.

Golfers will spend thousands of dollars buying the latest clubs - drivers are the favourite, or the latest ball that will go further with more control. It all seems to be about getting more distance with your clubs. What is it that drives golfers for longer shots?

In reality the longer your drive is, the shorter your approach shot, and the shorter your approach shot the easier it is supposed to be. Well that is until the short shot changes from a full shot to a pitch or a chip. Then suddenly the average golfer freezes like a rabbit in a car's headlights. 
 
Distance is important but only as much as you know how far you want to hit the ball and how far you can hit the ball. Sounds crazy but we do not generally try and reach a par 4 with our tee shot. No instead we play for position. For most golfers that "position" is a far from the tee and as close to the hole as possible. I question whether this is good strategy. If you watch any of the pro tournaments you will see that they do not always take a driver off the tee. The British Open is a classic example of where they play for position. 

 
What has this got to do with using a golf GPS?

A golf GPS will improve your game if you understand its purpose and use it correctly. A golfer's most challenging aspect of the game is judging the distances of various parts of the golf course.  In addition to the importance of knowing how far you are from the hole, it is also important to know the distances of different parts of a fairway are as well as managing your game effectively.  A golf GPS unit can give you an advantage in this regard. But more importantly a golf GPS will tell you how far you hit each club in your bag. 

Using the "shot distance" feature it is very easy to determine how far you hit each club in your bag. Let me give an example: you're standing on the first tee with your golf GPS in hand. The GPS tells you that this is a par 4 - 382 meter hole and the distance to the beginning of the fairway is 157 meters. So as usual you whip out your drive and smash it down the middle. You are ecstatic with your tee shot. Using the shot distance function you press a button usually titled "mark" and proceed to where the ball has finished up. Once there you again press "mark" and you are now told that you beat that sucker a massive 250 meters - it felt a lot further. Slightly disappointed that it wasn't quite as far as you would have hoped you note that the distance mark on the nearest sprinkler head - 12 meters further than your drive says 100 meters. That makes you 112 meters from the hole according to the sprinkler. But wait - the golf GPS says you are 132 meters from the hole. So obviously the golf GPS must be wrong, right? Wrong! 
 
You take out a pitching wedge and play a three quarter swing based on the sprinkler head markers and come up short. Not only short but you are almost 2 club lengths short. Does this sound familiar? 
 
Now let's trust the golf GPS and play an 8 iron instead. Nice easy swing and your ball carries to the centre of the green. Surprise, surprise and a mental note to self or use the shot distance function to remember that you hit your 8 iron 132 meters. Do not bother remembering that your three-quarter pitching wedge went exactly 112 meters. Just use the shot distance function to confirm it for your own piece of mind. 

Play the rest of the round using the shot distance feature and you will soon find out exactly how far you hit each club. You will also soon find out that most distance markers on golf courses are inaccurate for a variety of reasons - the major reason being the method by which they were established. 
 
However even if they are accurate we are not always in the fairway - even the pros can't do that - and so we then have to calculate how far we are from the hole. Not so with a golf GPS. Simply read off the distance and know exactly what distance you have left. Selecting your club becomes easier as you now also know exactly how far you hit each club. Knowing these two factors builds confidence and removes any negative thoughts. Now it is simply a matter of putting club on ball! 

 To illustrate my point, perhaps you are on a fairway with a hard dogleg, and you do not want to over drive the corner and make it harder to hit the second shot towards the green. By using your golf GPS unit, you can closely estimate which club to use off the tee to land in the middle of the fairway or to either side, giving you the best possible position for the next stroke. 

Naturally, a golf GPS unit will only be of use if a golfer is any good at the game. Knowing you are standing 136.2 meters from the centre of the green will not help you hit the ball straight or keep it from flying into the water or sand trap on either side of the green. However, a golf GPS unit can help you find out how far into the woods your ball penetrated. 
 

A golf GPS will further improve your game if you use it for some course management. Let's go back to that first par 4, the one that is 382 meters away. Let's assume you have used your GPS a few times and know your club distances. You also know that the club you feel most confident with is your trusty 6 iron. You can hit that beauty 160-165 meters ninety nine out of a hundred times. Well now the game takes on a whole new meaning because if you want to play your 6 iron for your second shot on this particular hole you need to hit your tee shot 217 meters. That's no longer a driver but a 3 wood instead. 
 
And your three wood is much easier to hit than the driver. 
 
So what if the rest of the players in your group out drive you? You have a plan of action which on average has a great chance of succeeding where as the big hitters may just come up short on their second shots. This changes the entire way you used to play golf, before you used to just hit the ball as far as you could, as close as you could to the hole.

 However, utilising the shot distance feature and knowing which club to use, makes golf a far more strategic game. You can now work out your plan of attack before you reach the course and the best possible way to reach the hole in the least number of strokes. Your mates won't know what hit them. 

Not only will the golf GPS unit improve your game, but it will increase the speed the game is played.  Knowing how far the green is can eliminate the need for other time consuming information gathering techniques. You won't have to refer to any books, brochures or look for markers for the distance; it is all done for you. You can simply play faster and more efficiently, while still maintaining the quality of your game. It is considered by many in the golfing community, that doing activities in the course of the game that cause it to slow down is in bad taste. Moreover, that is the main reason why golf GPS units are now allowed in competition due to their ability to speed up the game. Golf GPS simply makes life easier for golfers. 
 
Having this sort of confidence to manage your game and play to your strengths is where a golf GPS can improve your game.
Distance is important but only in as much as aware of it and not who can hit it the furthest. There is no section on the score card where it is required that you note how far you hit your drive. There is only one entry recorded and that is the score for the hole! 

Discover for yourself how a golf GPS can improve your game you'll wonder why you never thought of getting one before.

iGolf are one of the world leaders in golf GPS units and are often deemed by golfing experts and golf enthusiasts alike that they are the best in the world. I myself prefer the iGolf Neo GPS due to its great range of features and low price. To find out why I and others are wrapped about this little device, please visit iGolf_Australia ‘s listings.

This guide has been written with credit to Lawrence Bredenkamp, a qualified golf coach and a mad keen golfer.

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