Was given a Virtual Caddy Golf Scope for xmas. Its one of those types where you look through lens and line up a horizon bar with the bottom of the flag stick, and then move another bar to the top of the flag stick, it then tells you what the yardage is to the flag and a suggestion for what club to use to get there. The problem I’ve run into is, there is no PGA standard for the height of a flag stick, so are these measurements worth the powder to blow them to you know where. I’ve used it a couple of times and it been in the ball park, but how can you trust something thats based on an inconsistency. If this question is too dumb to even bother answering I’ll understand. But curiosity got the better of me.

Del

Del

The only range finder I have used it was just a case of fixing it on a specific target. I’m not sure whay the length of the flagstick would make a difference but not having used the type you mentioned I am at a loss to understand exactly how it works and what the variables are.

You are right when you mention the variation in flagsticks although things seem to be getting better in that regard. It is very frustrating to play a course that uses smaller than standard sticks

Thanks for the info Bruce, I know what you mean regarding the flag sticks. It’s really strange, in that everything else in golf is regulated to the nth degree, but nobody can seem to make up their minds regarding a set height for flag sticks. I’ll try and explain a little better how the range finder works. When you look through it, it has an artificial horizon at the bottom of the lens. This your supposed to line up with the bottom of the flag stick. Then there’s an adjustable bar that you can elevate or lower. Your supposed to line this bar up with the top of the flag stick, when your happy with the adjustment, you can read the yardage off of a built in graph, it also recommends a club to carry that yardage. The problem as I see it, if theres no consistency in the length of flagsticks how can this thing possibly give you accurate yardages. Crazy eh!

yeah i had one similar.. basically a monocular with verticle line to one side of the “view” which had suppossed distances marked on it. works on the basis that as things further away look smaller.. but flags look smaller from above or below so its useless on a slope.
i found it useless full stop actually…..as i could hardly hold it still enough …. and as you said flags are all different sizes..

i used it a few times and ended up just guessing anyway, or finding the nearest marker and stepping it out to my ball..

felt like i had made a great purchase at the time… so much for shopping on the net after a few beers!
ha
cheers
gm

Your supposed to line this bar up with the top of the flag stick, when your happy with the adjustment, you can read the yardage off of a built in graph, it also recommends a club to carry that yardage.

At what point in time did this wonderful contraption work out your ball striking capability, let alone your capability as a golfer to be able to suggest a prefered club to you. Hope its sitting on the mantlepiece at the moment to remind you and others of what not to buy to assist you in the foibles of golf.

You’ve got to get a Bushnell Pinseeker, otherwise you’re wasting your time.

They work awesome and are +/- 1m, Quite expensive too.

http://www.bushnellgolf.com...

Are range finders legal in comps or only for social play?

As of this month I believe measuring devices (inc. GPS devices)are legal in competition rounds as long as only provide distance information.
Any other information they provide, such as weather, wind speed etc. (whether used or not) can result in an automatic disqulaification.
I only found this out last weekend after a playing partner (and golf club G.M.) trialled one.
Not sure of the exact wording of the rule though.
Hopefully someone out there may be able to provide a more thorough explanation.

Sorry suspect.
My knowledege of the rangefinder rule is not terribly accurate.
Refer to post in rule of golf forum.

you could probably calibrate that sort of range finder to the height of a course’s flags maybee stand use it at 150m and see how far the flag stick is off the gradations engraved on the lense.
but I cannot see that using this would actually be an improvement on your own eyes