Lower Your Score with a Golf Laser Rangefinder

How can a golf laser rangefinder lower your score?  There are two ways to use the golf laser rangefinder, during your round and on the practice range.  You can use the golf laser rangefinder right out of the box without delay.  Just point, shoot and get the range!  However, spending time on the range with your laser rangefinder will pay dividends in reducing your score.

On the Practice Range
When I first got my golf laser rangefinder I used it on the driving range first just to check it out.  My driving range is OK, but like most ranges the distances to the flags were not real accurate.  At many ranges they simply mark the distance from the range line and don't take into account stalls at the far ends which can easily be off by ten yards (break out the high school math to figure it out).  At the range I go to now all of the flags are the same color and many are close together.  It's hard to figure which is which.  So I just pick a flag check out the distance and work on the appropriate club.  As I monitor a pattern where the balls land near the flag I shoot the distance again and get a more accurate reading.  Be sure to record your distances, you'll forget once you get onto the course.  I've seen folks use a label maker and put the distance on the club.

Practicing Your Short Game
I'm a fan of Dave Pelz, the short game guru and instructor for Phil Mickelson.  Dave has a great book on improving your short game.  However Dave is actually a former rocket scientist and it's a bit heavy on theory but there is lots of good stuff.  His basic premise is that for the four short game scoring clubs (9, PW, SW and LW)  there are four strokes; full, swing to 10 o'clock, swing to 9:00 o'clock and swing to 7:00 o'clock.  That's four clubs with four swings for 16 potential distances, most within 100 yards. 

Using your golf laser rangefinder it's easy to accurately measure the distance of your shots.  I use Dave's system and although it takes a bit of practice to get all of the distances down it's really accurate.  It's great to grab a club for a 45 yard shot and know you've got things dialed in pretty close.  To practice I start with the club and stroke I want (say PW at 10:00 o'clock) and then hit ten shots.  I watch where they land and then place a towel there.  I measure the distance and record it.  I then practice again to see how consistently I come near the towel.  At some point after around 50 shots I am coming pretty close most of the time.  I re-check the distance, record it and then start over with another club stroke combination.

Once on the course when faced with a shot from within 100 yards use the golf laser rangefinder to measure the distance to the point where you want the ball to land (not to the cup, allow for roll).  Select the club stroke combination you want (you may have different combinations of high and lower lofted clubs and shorter or longer swings) and then shoot with confidence.  I can tell you from personal experience this works.  It takes time to dial the club combinations in but after that you can be deadly!

On The Course
Once you are on the course use your golf laser rangefinder!  You'll find that in addition to the improvement in your short game you will:

• Hit more accurate shots by knowing the correct distance of your shot
• Avoid lost strokes by knowing how far it is to either avoid a hazard, or how far to carry a hazard
• Position yourself on the course by knowing how far to hit a layup shot
• Play faster because you have confidence in your club selection

I normally use a hand cart and carry my golf laser rangefinder in an outside pocket readily available.  Friends also carry it on a belt clip.  The easier it is to get to it the more you will use it.  A word of caution on batteries.  I've found they don't last as long as I'd like.  You may want to carry a second battery or take the battery out when you not playing.  It's a pain to show up for a round and find your golf laser rangefinder dead!