5 Ways A Laser Rangefinder Will Improve Your Golf Game
With the relatively recent change by the USGA to legalize laser rangefinders, there is no reason not to have one in your bag. Using a laser rangefinder while you play and practice will shave at least a couple strokes off of your game. I have personally seen it in my own game and my playing partners. In this short article, I will go over 5 ways a laser rangefinder will improve your game.
1. Precise Course Yardages -Many golf courses have yardage markers that are off by as much as 10 yards because of maintenance or changes to the course. This can make the difference between a birdie putt and a chip shot for par. Also, these markers are to the center of the green. With a laser rangefinder you can measure the exact yardage to the pin. Laser rangefinders are great for shots within 100 yards since most golf courses don’t have yardage markers within this range.
2. Improve Club Selection -Like golf courses, driving ranges are consistently inaccurate in their yardage markers as well. A huge benefit of a laser rangefinder is knowing the average yardage you hit each club. Your swing will vary just about every day so some days you will hit longer than others. Using a laser rangefinder you can hit practice balls before you play a round and measure how far you are hitting each club that particular day.
3. Improve Short Game -Few driving ranges have yardage markers less than 100 yards and few practice greens have any markers at all. The key to lowering your scores is in the short game. A laser rangefinder will allow you to experiment to find out how far you hit a three-quarter sand wedge or a half pitching wedge.
4. Reduce Penalty Strokes -Probably the biggest benefit that has helped my game is the ability to measure distances to hazards and sand traps. This has allowed me to know how far I need to hit it to clear them or layup to one of them. This has saved me many bogeys. Laser rangefinders also come with magnification so you can survey the green for possible areas to avoid.
5. Improve Confidence -One of the biggest benefits of a laser rangefinder is eliminating doubts in your mind which can cause you to under or overcompensate on shots. A laser rangefinder will allow you to be confident in your club and shot selection so you can just concentrate on your swing.