Smitten by SkyCaddie

By Dave Tindall Last updated: 30th September 2009

I'd read a bit about SkyCaddies but to be honest had somewhat dismissed them as slightly unnecessary, another of those indulgent "toys for the boys" gadgets.

But when one arrived in the Golf365 offices for testing I did get a little bit excited. As usual with me that excitement translated into a refusal to actually read the instructions. Why get bogged down in paperwork when there are buttons to press?

Not that there were many instructions to read to be fair which left me thinking this must be a pretty intuitive unit and with a few presses I'd be good to go.

But before I tell you how I got on, I'll let you know what SkyCaddie themselves say. After all, they can explain the technology much better than I ever could.

What they say:

"You can't trust the club, if you can't trust the caddie.

"And since SkyCaddie®'s new entry-level SG2.5Lite features the same world-leading advanced GPS technology found in the company's top-of-the-range SG5 model, this great value little wonder is the most trustworthy caddie you can buy.

"Now, UK golfers can buy the #1 rangefinder in golf for just £149.95. With unmatched reliability the SkyCaddie® SG2.5Lite automatically calculates the distance to the front, centre and back of the green per hole, simultaneously, in less than a second - on over 95% of the 18-hole golf courses in the UK.

"This rechargeable, ultra-light, compact handheld device also gives the golfer the true shape of the green in a mono visual display, and features SkyCaddie®'s popular Mark Your Ball function, enabling golfers to know the distance they have hit any shot.

"The SkyCaddie® SG2.5Lite is upgradeable to SkyCaddie® SG2.5 functionality, which adds powerful IntelliGreen® technology and additional target information on each hole.

"SkyCaddie® has walked more golf courses than any other rangefinder in golf.

"Like all SkyCaddies®, the SG2.5Lite accesses the growing SkyGolf® course mapping library, which now contains approaching 30,000 golf courses in 42 countries worldwide, including over 2,300 comprehensive, up-to-date downloadable maps for golf courses in the UK and Ireland.

"SkyCaddie® also sets the accuracy benchmark in golf course mapping technology.

"Only SkyCaddie® maps every single golf course on foot, with certified professionals walking the course with high-quality, survey-grade equipment triangulated with both orbital satellites and land-based positional beacons. And SkyCaddie® mappers mark up to 40 critical targets for each hole, including distances to hazard, fairway targets and layups which would not be visible with a laser rangefinder or from satellite maps.

"SkyCaddie® Membership Plans keep your GPS rangefinder up to date with the latest upgrades.

"SkyCaddie® provides golfers with a selection of Membership Plans, which provide access to the world-leading SkyCaddie® global golf course library. Crucially, the golfer who regularly updates his SkyCaddie® also receives free software updates; GPS updates; course updates and notifications, and has access to Favourite Course storage functionality.

"This means that your SkyCaddie® SG2.5Lite is a constantly-improving piece of technology."

What I say

I remember reading the press release before getting the SkyCaddie and thinking "sounds impressive".

But there's no substitute for getting one in your hands and trying it for real and my first go with it came in an after-work nine holes at Harrogate GC.

Mine had been pre-programmed so Harrogate was already in its system and lo and behold when I took it out on the practice putting green near the first hole the GPS kicked in and details of the first hole popped up.

There was plenty of info that was immediately obvious when I stood on the first tee (distance to front, centre and back of green and distance to the fairway bunker down the right) and when I arrived at my drive (a ropey one of about 180 yards), I did a little chuckle as I peered at the screen and it told me exactly how far away I was.

"Brilliant," I thought. "I know it's 130 yards to the middle of the green and that's where the flag is."

Then something struck me. I don't actually know what club I hit 130 yards.

I mean I have a rough idea but when I went to hit my second I was going off what my eyes told me rather than the SkyCaddie yardage. In other words, I'd rendered the thing useless as I was completely ignoring it.

After coming up short with my second and taking four more to get down (double bogey) I walked to the next hole a bit confused.

However, standing on the next tee I noticed an inviting button (remember I hadn't read the instructions) which when pressed asked "mark your ball?"

I chose "yes" and then proceeded to clobber a drive. When you play golf at my level (handicap 24) and really catch one you're simply dying to know how far you've hit it. You can sort of work it out by using the 150-yard marker posts and doing a bit of subtraction but there's always a feeling that you might be way out with your calculations.

However, as I walked off the tee I noticed a little yardage counter begin to tick over and when I reached 150 yards my ball was still some way in the distance. How exciting. 180, 181, 182... "this could be quite long"... 211, 212, 213... "keep going counter"... 240, 241, 242 ..."not there yet" ...249, 250... "excellent, I've passed the 250 mark. I never manage this down the range".

When I finally got to the ball my SkyCaddie told me I'd hit it 259 yards. I muttered something about Fred Funk not being able to hit it that far until one of my playing partners reminded me that the hole was a bit downhill and the wind was behind us. I was still buzzing though.

I decided over the next few holes that the 'how far you've hit it' button was the best invention since Sky+ (no relation) and ignored the rest of SkyCaddie's functions altogether.

But at the ninth (our final hole as darkness was setting in) I felt I ought to give the distance to the green info another chance.

And one well-struck sand-iron proved a huge turning point.

My SkyCaddie told me I had 80 to the front edge, 100 to the middle and 120 to the back but as these still didn't really mean anything I trusted my own judgement which told me to hit sand iron.

I caught it flush, watched it admiringly as it looked all over the flag but then let out a sigh of frustration as it dropped on the front edge.

But as I slid my sand iron back into my golf bag I suddenly had a breakthough (though very obvious) thought. I know now that I hit a sand iron 80 yards. If my SkyCaddie ever tells me I'm 80 yards from the flag again I know what to hit.

The next step in the process occurred in a round at Headingley a week later.

After hitting a wayward approach shot on to an adjacent fairway I thought for all the world that a nice sand iron was the perfect club and would get me onto the middle of the green.

My SkyCaddie suggested otherwise. Similar to Harrogate, it came up with 80 to the front, 105 to the middle and 120 to the back.

Based on that info I switched clubs to a pitching wedge and then noticed that a four-ball who had just teed off at the next hole were walking towards me.

As they waited for me to hit I could sense they were thinking 'what's this fool doing on the wrong fairway' but when I plonked my pitch to about eight feet I actually drew a 'nice shot' from one of them.

"Cheers," I responded, "but it's this little fella here (pointing to SkyCaddie) who deserves the credit." In fact I didn't say that. It would have been strange and embarrassing. But, do you know what, it's exactly what I was thinking in my head and even the three-putt that followed couldn't knock me off my high.

Slowly but surely, thanks to SkyCaddie, I was beginning to piece together vital information about how far I hit certain clubs. Sand wedge 80 yards, PW 105 yards, 9-iron 115.

And when I tried it out for a third time at Hollins Hall GC this week there were five or six clear-cut examples of my new-found knowledge proving vital.

Amateurs always, always under club but here was I hitting approaches into the heart of the green because a) I had trustworthy distances b) I actually knew how far I hit my clubs.

Previously, I'd used a hugely unreliable combination of what my eyes told me and what I felt I ought to be hitting.

I know I'm a shortish hitter and am often one or two clubs short as I'm thinking it's a bit weedy to be hitting say an eight-iron only 125 yards.

But that's how far I hit so it's simply pointless to think otherwise.

Three rounds with SkyCaddie and suddenly I feel much more organised and professional in the way I'm going about things.

Bizarrely (although there's probably some mental game stuff going on here), now I know how far I hit it and have trust in my yardages, I'm striking my short irons much, much better. Before when asked how far I hit a nine-iron I'd shrug and say "dunno, depends if I hit it right". And this vagueness seemed to lead to lots of terrible shots.

I must have saved around five or six shots at Hollins Hall last time out and I can't stress how much I've fallen in love with my SkyCaddie. It most certainly isn't a flippant piece of gadgetry. It can make a very big difference to your game and your scores.

Before I played Hollins Hall, I realised it wasn't on my pre-programmed list but within minutes I'd downloaded it via the easy-to-use software that comes with the package. Another big plus.

And, if like me, you're expert at forgetting to bring a pen or pencil to the course, the SkyCaddie solves that problem too.

At the end of each hole it prompts you to write in your score and also asks you how many putts you took.

I had a feeling that I'd taken a lot on the vast and undulating greens at Hollins Hall so found it very informative to be told by the click of a button exactly how many - 37.

I was testing the basic model - the SG2.5 Lite which retails at £149.95. The top-of-the-range SG5 model is £329.95 while the SG2.5 is £199.95.

Whichever one you go for, it's definitely money well spent especially when you think that many golfers are prepared to fork out £300 for a new driver which may or may not knock shots off your score.

Quite simply a SkyCaddie WILL knock shots off your game whether you're a low handicapper or a high one like me.

For more information: Tel: +44 (0)1865 875809
Web: www.skycaddie.co.uk

Dave Tindall