How to use a rangefinder

Knowing your distances

It’s important to know the distance you hit each golf club in your bag so that when you are on the golf course you know what club to select. There’s another part to that equation to figure out which club to select - and that is: knowing how far away you are from the pin (or how far away hazards are).

There are many gadgets that will give you yardages on the golf course - GPS watches, apps on your phone or Apple Watch, sometimes the golf cart will have a screen and GPS tracking inside it. Here we are diving into rangefinders: what they are, the different types available and tips for how to use them.

What is a rangefinder?

A golf rangefinder is a device that uses laser technology to measure the distance to a target on a golf course, such as the flagstick, a hazard, or a specific point on the fairway.

With a point and shoot rangefinder you can get an accurate distance between you and literally anything on the golf course. This in turn helps you feel confident with your club selection. You can find out how far you need to hit the ball to clear a creek running through the middle of the fairway, for example.

Different types of rangefinders

Golf rangefinders can be laser (point and shoot) or use GPS (watches, speakers or GPS magnets). GPS rangefinders have the course pre-loaded into the device and are useful for distances around doglegs, bunkers, front/back of the green or other features of the golf course. However, the laser rangefinder is unique in that it can be used to find the distance to anything you can see on the course - like a tree, for instance. Trees are not going to be loaded as golf course features in your GPS devices.

Some laser golf rangefinders offer an additional feature and that is slope-adjusted distance. It’s important to note that the slope-adjusted feature is illegal to use in tournaments. The slope-adjustment distance reading can be super helpful - for example if you play a par 3 that the actual distance is 120 yards, but the green is very far down a slope. When you shoot the pin, the slope-adjusted distance reads only 100 yards, which means that you don’t need as much golf club to play that hole. It could save you strokes for sure!

Here are some options to consider:

• Laser Rangefinder with Slope:

  • Blue Tees - This is the rangefinder I bought last year and I love it. You point and shoot and it gives a little vibration to let you know it’s locked in on a target. It gives you the slope-adjusted distances which are super helpful on my home course which has lots of elevation changes especially on the back 9. It sticks to the golf cart with a powerful magnet. This is a high quality option at a mid-range price point.

  • Bushnell - considered top of the line in the industry, this is the brand that pros use

  • GOGOGO - a more affordable brand that offers similar features

• GPS Rangefinder Speaker

  • Blue Tees GPS Speaker - this gives a visual display of your yardages, sticks to the golf cart with a strong magnet, and it plays music.

Tips for using your rangefinder

Last year I bought a laser rangefinder, so the point and shoot kind Blue Tees that I linked above. I have to say that it took me a little time to get used to using it. First of all, I didn’t realize there was a focus setting on the viewfinder. So for the first week everything was blurry.

But then I read the instructions and set up the focus so I could see things clearly through the lens. Then I was off to the races. At first I had to use two hands when shooting my target because I just couldn’t lock a target with one hand. I was too unsteady using just one hand. But after a while I got the hang of it and now can shoot with one hand (most of the time).

Any time you are using a rangefinder or other device with magnet that sticks to the golf cart, make sure you take the case out of your golf bag and stick it in the golf cart basket or in the little cubby there. Having a visual cue of the CASE will help you remember to remove it from the golf cart when you are packing up and leaving the course. Another tip here is to get some wild color device (or a bright cover) like an orange or bright pink so that the device stands out from the black color of the golf cart metal.

Takeaway

As you get to know the distances you hit each golf club in your bag, knowing position and yardage relative to the pin or other features & hazards of the golf course becomes really important. As time goes on you will get more dialed in and a plus or minus a few yards WILL matter to you (maybe it already does!). Consider purchasing a laser point & shoot rangefinder to tell you exactly where you are at relative to anything you can see in front of you. If you buy one that has slope-adjusted distance, this is an awesome feature but it cannot be used in tournament play. Consider a GPS rangefinder if you want to know distances to pre-set features of the golf course.

I hope this has helped you understand more about rangefinders. Do you have a rangefinder? If so, what kind, and what do you think of it? Tell me in the comments!

I picked the items that are linked in this blog post and as an Amazon affiliate I may make a small commission if you purchase using these links.