So I got frustrated with Skycaddie last year, and their stupid subscription program. At the end of your year, it actually cuts off the courses in your skycaddie rendering it useless.
So I bought a laser, and loved it (Bushnell Tour V2). Exact distances all the time. I used Skycaddie still on unfamiliar courses, because of the data on the hazards and such.
But in October/November, as I switched back to walking, I put the skycaddie on my pushcart, and my game started improving. Since October, I am 4 strokes better.
I figured out why - 1) I am more relaxed, and taking a general reading off the Skycaddie as I walk up on my ball. I think about what club I want in a non-rushed manner.
2) The laser causes me to go the exact distance to the flag. If the flag is 2-3 yards off the front or back, going at that distance puts me off the green a fair amount of time.
3) knowing the exact distance to the flag causes me to aim at the flag- if it is one side or other, I end up off the sides of the green.
4) switching back to Skycaddie, I stopped aiming at the flag mostly. Now I aim for the center of the green, using the distance to the center of the green. I increased GIR, and I don’t usually 3 putt.
On Jan16, I had to decide to rener Skycaddie again or not (3rd year). I went for the 3 year plan, which was a bargain compared to the yearly cost. I pretty much decided I might sell the Tour V2.
On Jan23, I was riding, and the skycaddie mount failed, and the skycaddie went under the tire. It was demolished. Skygolf is pretty bad about customer service, and I didn’t think they would let me out of the 3 year deal, but they said a refund is coming.
So now I had a paid for Tour V2, and no GPS, and the service is being cancelled. I still wanted to go back to GPS though.
So I have sold my Tour V2 on eBay, and I just picked up the uPro GPS on eBay. Total from the skygolf refund + the Tour V2 sales price just about pays for the uPro. I will post a review in a couple weeks, but I am excited. The uPro is the GPS with a video flyover of the hole - and you buy courses for life- no subscriptions. The courses are a little expensive ($10 one at a time, or it gets down to about $5 or so in package prices)—But the other cool thing about uPro is that they now have a Basic mode (I don’t know if they always did) - but it has just about the same info as the Skycaddie, but it is free!
No golf this weekend, but by next week I will be back out there hopefully with my new toy. Look back here for the results.