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| Source: Wikimedia Commons |
As GPS became more popular to help people on the road after the turn of the century, the technology quickly found its way to golf courses. But it wasn't to help golfers find the next hole. Instead, it was designed to inform golfers the exact distance they had left to the pin from wherever they stood.
With the technology improving every day, the GPSs now do even more than just give users the distance left to the hole. Some of the top options on the market, such as Garmin's Approach S6, now track golfers' swing cadence and tempo. This allows golfers to seek help on their swing mechanics from the GPS on their wrist rather than needing to pay even more for professional help.
Technology speeds up pace of play without golfers walking out yardages
While baseball has been scrutinized for its time of game in recent years, golf has always been a notoriously slow sport. Golf won't ever be quick, but GPS has cut down the time between shots with golfers not having to figure out distances on their own. Players can simply look down at their GPS and know the exact yardage they have left to the pin.
Most golf courses expect their 18-hole course to completed in about four hours by a group of four golfers. Most of that time is spent between each shot as swinging a club takes only about one second. So the best way to speed up the sport is by cutting down the time between shots.
Andrew Scontras, a junior mechanical engineering major at the University of Maryland, has played competitive golf in high school and college. He used to devote time on each shot to mapping out the distance from the nearest yard marker, but after purchasing a SkyCaddie in high school, he no longer has to do that.
Much of the wait in golf can be connected to the indecision players have on which club they should hit. Each club is designed for a specific distance, so golfers need to know how far they have left to reach the hole. Without a GPS, golfers are left walking around for the nearest yardage marker like Scontras used to do.
Others aren't sold that GPS has sped up pace of play for all players. Senior journalism major Matt Present, who has been caddying at Columbia Country Club for four years, has seen golfers grow too reliant on the technology.
For shots inside 100 yards, most golfers use a wedge, so the exact distance doesn't matter that much. Still, Present said he has players he caddies for ask him what his rangefinder says when they are just 40 yards from the pin.
"You'd think guys who are playing golf regularly would have a feel for their game," Present said. "But so many people don't and so many people rely on technology when they shouldn't Whether the number is 43 or 41, you are hitting the same shot no matter what. Just step up and hit it. The GPS at that point isn't doing you a whole lot of good."
So while GPS has cut out the meandering time for some golfers, others now show indecision on shots when the previously wouldn't have been concerned.
James Hewatt, an assistant to the pro at the University of Maryland golf course, sees both sides of the pace of play argument. While he acknowledges the players Present refers to, he also notices a lot of people like Scontras.
"You don't have to worry so much about stepping off yardages and things like that," Hewatt said. "That takes a lot of time out of a round so when you are playing a tournament and you're on the clock constantly, just saving that 15 seconds on every hole really does make a difference."
GPS price has dropped over time but still costs more than $100
SkyCaddie is the most common GPS used by golfers, and the cheapest version on amazon.com costs $125. Golf is already an expensive sport with clubs often costing hundreds of dollars and greens fees also pricy, so a GPS is another costly expense for the average golfer. Amateurs must decide if the pros of a GPS outweigh the price.
The older models have become more affordable since when they first were on the market, but they have been replaced by more high-tech versions that still cost hundreds of dollars. Garmin's Approach S6 is listed at $400 on its website, and it is considered so valuable because of its ability to track a user's swing in addition to also tell yardage to each hole like the older GPS'.
Hewatt and Present both own rangefinders, which look almost like a pair of binoculars, and are used to laser point the pin to locate the distance. It accomplishes the same task as a GPS, but Hewatt believes the rangefinders are slightly more accurate.
He said GPSs are good within a couple yards of being exact but rangefinders are accurate down to the tenth of a yard. The downside, though, is rangefinders can only track the distance to the pin and not any bunkers or hazards. They also don't come with a screen to map out the look of a hole.
Still, GPSs give the edge golfers crave.
"Golf is such an addicting sport where you want to beat your old score and continue to play better," Present said. "Anything out there that you think can do that, people are attracted to, especially when it is a fairly well-to-do sport and people can afford it."
Rangefinders and GPS units go for about the same price, and though they are expensive, Hewatt said he does think they are worth the investment because the importance of knowing the exact yardage of the shot you are attempting to hit.
Scontras has actually made the investment on a GPS unit not once, but twice. He lost the clip to is his first SkyCaddie so he would put it on top of his bag when he wasn't using it.
One time when he was playing with his dad he forgot it was still on his bag. So when he swung the bag over his shoulder, the GPS fell off his bag, bounced off a bridge and trickled into a pond.
But he had grown accustomed to relying on the technology, so after he lost it, he went to the store and purchased a newer SkyCaddie model.
GPS is like having a caddy in your pocket with knowledge every hole
While pro golfers have the luxury of a caddy to help them decide what to do on every shot, amateur golfers typically aren't as fortunate. But GPS show golfers the layout of every hole and allow players to adjust on the device to see how many yards they need to lay up before the water or how many yards to play it to the front of the green.
In fact, GPS systems have become so helpful for golfers, Present has noticed the technology eliminate some caddying jobs. While it hasn't affected his caddying job, he said many caddies across the country have lost their jobs because the technology can do the work for the player.
The technology is especially useful for golfers who are playing on a course they have never seen before. For instance, if a golfer steps up to a hole with a dogleg left, they are going to want to know how far it is to that bend so they don't overshoot the fairway.
These situations, Hewatt said, is where a GPS becomes more beneficial than a rangefinder. A GPS system allows the user to move a marker on the hole to any point on the whole and it will then tell the golfer how far it is to that spot. A rangefinder, meanwhile, relies on the laser being pointed at the pin, which isn't helpful in this example.
"You'll have the map of the hole and it'll show you what is to the front of the green or the back of the green or to the front of this bunker or that bunker," Hewatt said. "So that's pretty beneficial."
Arguably one of the best things about the sport of golf is the uniqueness of every course. While every football field is 120 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide, each course is designed differently.
That can make it extra challenging on golfers playing a course for the first time. That's why pros have their caddies walk the course before they play so they know the layout of every hole.
This just isn't realistic for an amateur, though. But with GPS systems often having tens of thousands of courses inside the unit, golfers don't have to worry about not knowing what dangers might be sitting 200 yards from the tee box.
"When you haven't played the course before, it's really useful to know how far it is to clear something or how far it is to stay short of it without going in," Scontras said.
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