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There’s never been a better time in the history of golf for us to be able to find out the yardage to reach a par-5 in two, moments before duffing a 3-wood and suddenly grinding for a par.
Well, I had high hopes for that one. Was just 207 to the front …
In our book of excuses for bad shots (“that happens every time when I’m waiting on a par-5”), the bad-yardage page has been ripped out. From GPS-enabled phone apps and rangefinders to cart-mounted flatscreens, we always know the number now. It’s just a matter of how much work we put in to get it.
I’m in the category of “as little work as possible” and, to be completely honest, I miss marked sprinkler heads. I instinctively look for them all the time, but they’re slowly going extinct as courses have little motivation to maintain them given current technology.
To find your yardage, you don’t look down, you look into a screen—like a palm-sized device from Blue Tees Golf which I now use every round.
“The Ringer” GPS handheld offers exactly what I want with one glance: the front/middle/back yardage to the green.
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More honesty: I’m a mediocre 11 handicap and don’t need the exact number. I have a rangefinder but rarely pull it out of the bag (plus isn’t there a guy in every foursome who loves his rangefinder and quick to shoot everyone’s yardage?). For example, if I know it’s 145 yards to the front edge and see the flag near there (shout-out to courses that use red/white/blue flags for front/back/middle), I’m good to go.
The Ringer is a cinch to use: it has only one button, push to turn it on when you're ready to play and it will locate your course (the company says more than 40,000 are pre-loaded). Push “start round” on your first hole and the front/back/middle green yardage appears. Push the button again to unlock and swipe to reveal distances to hazards and a green-shape view. You can also leave the device alone and let it follow you around the course with the basic yardages (you can also push the button to toggle between holes, like if you yank your opening tee shot onto the 10th fairway and need to remind The Ringer you’re still on the 1st hole … not that I’ve ever done that).
If you want to get fancier, you can use The Ringer to keep score and track shots, then sync your rounds to an app. The device’s premium membership adds even more goodies such as advanced round analytics and more.
I still use a paper scorecard, so I stick with the basics on The Ringer. It’s also small and light enough (about 4 by 2 inches and 3.5 ounces) to keep in a pocket while playing or, with its magnetic back, on the support pole of a golf cart (as pictured here).
Just don’t forget to take it with you after the round—The Ringer comes in a black or navy blue shell, and after 18 holes on a buddies trip in Tennessee recently I left it on a cart and was almost out of the parking lot before remembering. I’d recommend brighter colors or patterns for the casing. Battery life is also good, you can comfortably go two rounds off a full charge.
Now if The Ringer could just get the groups ahead to hurry up on par 5s. One of these days I’m gonna get home in two.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Get 15% Off This Hand-Held GPS Device That Makes Calculating Your Distance a Snap.
