How Effective Are Golf Rangefinders – What Are The Pros And Cons

My first few years on a golf course involved much guesswork when determining distance.

Fortunately, technology has helped speed up play and eradicate any assumptions over yardage. That is why, in this article, I am asking the question how effective are golf rangefinders.

I will highlight the pros and cons of these devices to help you decide whether they will add value to your golf game.

Golf Rangefinders In My Personal Experience

When I started playing golf, rangefinders were not in circulation. That meant that you needed to wander over to the nearest distance marker and pace out the yards to your ball. As a result, your reading was highly inaccurate and resulted in lackluster distance control.

Besides the challenges with distance control, it slowed play, causing frustration for our playing partners and the players behind us.

Fortunately, golf rangefinders have eradicated these challengers as they provide accurate yardage in a matter of seconds to speed up play and improve our distance control.

What Do Rangefinders Help You Accomplish In The Game

As individual players, rangefinders help us acquire accurate yardage measurements to choose the correct club for each shot. Therefore, it enables us to improve our distance control.

However, as a collective, rangefinders speed up play as we no longer need to search for the nearest distance marker to determine the yardage to our target.

How Effective Are They And How Accurate

The accuracy of the measurements provided by golf rangefinders varies between devices. Premium models like the Bushnell Tour V5 are accurate to the nearest yard.

However, more affordable designs deliver less accurate measurements. Particularly the further you move away from the hole.

Golf.com’s James Colgan explains that the Tour allowed rangefinders for the first time in the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. Their reason was that it was proven to speed up play.

Should Beginners Use Them?

Beginners should use rangefinders to make sure that they speed up play and select the correct club for their next shot.

Learning how far you hit each club and knowing the distance to the hole can give you a big boost in your confidence to swing the club fully, knowing you are going to go close to the flag.

Remember that most beginners, miss short rather than long and that is due to over caution, kowing your distances can make the world of difference in this regard.

What About Pros And Mid Handicappers

Pros can use golf rangefinders in practice rounds but not in regulation play.

Golfweek’s M.L Rose mentions that the authorities banned them outright. That remained the case until the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

However, mid-handicappers should take advantage of the fact that you can use rangefinders without slope mode in tournament play.

What Are The Pros And Cons

Pros

  • Eradicates Guesswork

Golf rangefinders measure the distance to your target and are accurate to the nearest yard in most cases. That means that you no longer need to guess the distance from your ball by pacing back and forth to the nearest course yardage marker.

  • Improves Distance Control

On top of the rangefinder’s ability to eradicate guesswork, it also helps you improve your distance control. Because you receive accurate yardage measurements, you can make better-informed club selections to get the ball closer to the hole.

  • Speeds Up Play

Rangefinders provide you with a relatively accurate reading within seconds, allowing you to make your club selection, hit your shot, and move on.

As a result, you do not need to waste time searching for the nearest distance marker, which speeds up play for you and the others on the course.

  • Plays Like Distance

Although standard rangefinders are relatively accurate, some models provide plays like distance.

These devices factor in the slope’s gradient between your ball and the target, as well as barometric pressure. These factors help enhance the accuracy of the measurement.

Cons

  • Price

You can find an affordable golf rangefinder. But it likely won’t offer plays-like distance or the accuracy of a premium product.

If you want all the bells and whistles, you need to budget several hundred dollars.

  • Inaccuracy

While many devices can deliver accurate measurements to the nearest yard from 100 to 200-yards out, they become less accurate the further you are from the target.

Furthermore, if your device does not possess slope mode, you will receive inaccurate measurements.

Best Expensive Rangefinder

Bushnell Pro XE Rangefinder

Bushnell has made a name for themselves as the Rolls Royce of golf rangefinders thanks to their durability, accuracy, range, and performance.

The number one pick for tour professionals.

The XE rangefinder is a premium device that features slope and elements mode, plus Jolt technology. It also has a maximum range of 1,300 yards.

The slope mode feature calculates the gradient between your ball and target. While elements mode factors in the temperature and barometric pressure. These functions combine to deliver superior accuracy to other rangefinders.

USGA rule 4.3a does not permit Slope and Elements mode in tournament play. Therefore, Bushnell added a switch that enables you to toggle it on and off to remain compliant during competitive rounds.

Added to its plays like distance ability is the fact that it possesses 7x magnification. That enables you to pick out your target from hundreds of yards away in less than a second.

Furthermore, the XE includes Jolt technology, designed to vibrate whenever the device’s laser locks onto the flagstick. That saves you time having to check if the distance displayed is to the pin or another target.

Finally, the Bushnell Pro XE rangefinder features a bite magnet that mounts to your cart for easy access during your round. Plus, the rubber casing is waterproof.

In summary, if you are a serious golfer and demand the best quality product to improve your distance measurements, then the Pro XE is worth a look.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Slope and Elements mode
  • 7x Magnification
  • Jolt technology
  • Waterproof casing
  • Range of 1300-yards

Cons

  • Expensive
  • The jolt feature is erratic when playing in dull light

Overall Score: 95/100

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Best Value Rangefinder

Callaway 300 Pro

Callaway’s 300 Pro rangefinder offers excellent value for money to those of us who desire premium features but lack the budget to acquire a Bushnell device.

Because it contains 6x zoom, this rangefinder can provide measurements between five to 1000-yards with accuracy to the nearest yard.

Callaway’s Pin Acquisition Technology (P.A.T) enables you to lock onto the flagstick from up to 300-yards out. It then activates the Pulse Confirmation feature is activated.

The device releases a faint vibration to notify you that it has acquired the yardage to the flagstick.

When you are too far out to hit the flag, you can activate the standard Mode, which provides you with distances to various hazards and landing zones in your line of sight.

On top of these features is Slope Mode technology. It calculates the angle of the gradient between your ball and the target to provide increased accuracy.

When you play in tournaments, you can switch off this function. To remain compliant with USGA rule 4.3a.

Finally, the Callaway 300 Pro is rain and fog-resistant to help you receive accurate measurements in fading light. Plus, like the Bushnell Pro XE, it also sports a magnet that allows you to mount it to the frame of your cart during your round.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Value for money
  • 6x zoom
  • Slope mode
  • Pin Acquisition Technology
  • Standard Mode provides the yardage to hazards and landing zones in your line of sight
  • The maximum range is 1000-yards

Cons

  • Consumes battery rapidly
  • It only locks onto the pin from 300-yards away.

Overall Score: 94/100

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Best Cheap Rangefinder

Raythor Pro Gen S2

Raythor’s Pro Gen S2 rangefinder represents the new generation of models that offer several premium features at an entry-level price.

The model features slope and scanning mode, along with Target Acquisition Technology (TAT) and Speed Measurement. This model is well suited to mid and high handicappers looking to save a few pennies without sacrificing the features.

The Raythor TAT feature helps you identify the flagstick and lock onto it from 300-yards out, while its Pinseeker technology functions optimally from 180-yards away. On average, it takes 2.8 seconds for this 6x magnified device to seek out the pin.

If you are looking for the distance to landing zones and hazards in your line of sight, it will take 0.5 to 1-second to receive your reading, and it can function up to 1000-yards away.

The final mode worth discussing is the Speed Measurement function which enables you to determine the speed of the wind and other moving objects. That is beneficial in windy conditions when you have no idea where to aim or what type of shot to hit.

Of course, the authorities prohibit speed measurement and slope mode in tournament play, and you will need to switch them off when stepping onto the first tee of a competition.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Affordable
  • Speed measurement
  • Slope mode
  • Target Acquisition Technology
  • 1000-yards is the maximum range

Cons

  • Pinseeker technology only works from 180-yards out
  • You get what you pay for. The further away your target is, the less accurate the reading will be.

Overall Score: 92/100

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Conclusion

After playing golf for close to two decades, I have seen the evolution of rangefinders. And I have seen how they assist us. Particularly in speeding up play and helping us make better informed club-selection choices.

After conducting this review, it is clear that the answer to how effective are golf rangefinders is very much so.

If you have never owned a golf rangefinder, you should start thinking about it. Not only does it help your game, but it also makes the game more enjoyable for others on the course, based on the speed of play.

While I would love to suggest that everyone owns a Bushnell device, I know their price tag is out of reach for the average player. As a result, I recommend looking at the Raythor Pro Gen S2 before pulling the trigger on a new model.