A few years ago, I bought a Bushnell Wingman Check out our golf cart.
At the time, it wasn’t just about me. It was for everyone. I was the only one in the family with a rangefinder and trying to shoot yards for myself, my two kids and my husband wasn’t exactly helping the pace of the game.
Wingman View solved this problem almost immediately.
He gave them all front, middle and back yards. Attached to the cart with a magnet that has never made me nervous. It worked as a speaker. It was easy. It was fast. It became one of those golf products that just stayed in the cart because everyone was using it.
What I didn’t expect was that I would eventually prefer it over a distance.
GPS changed the way I looked at the greens
Before I used GPS regularly, I don’t think I had a good idea of ​​how much space I really had on the greens.
I knew the pin number and the club I wanted to hit.
What I didn’t always know was how much green I was missing the pin, how much space I had behind it, or whether the smartest play was anywhere near the flag.
of Wingman View made this clear.
The front, middle and back spaces look simple, but they changed the way I played. I stopped pin hunting as well. I started hitting the greens and that helped my scoring.
Instead of standing on a putt thinking, “It’s 142 to the flag,” I started thinking, “Front is 132, middle is 146, and back is 158.” I had more confidence that the club in my hand could land within that range.
For most amateur players, this is a much better way to play.
The Wingman view will also give you great strides towards hazards, bunkers and other targets. I don’t use that feature that often. You can also use the Bushnell app on your phone to get more detailed numbers, but I don’t like taking my phone out during a round.
for me, the value of Wingman View is simple: I get the numbers I need without doing much.
Then I got a pin number again
Recently, my son and daughter have started walking the course more. My daughter has a Garmin kids watch and my son has a Shot Scope rangefinder.
A few holes into a circle, my son was standing next to me and I asked him for an ardage to pin.
It was the first time I had a real “pin” number in a long time.
Secretly, I loved it.
There’s something about a specific number that I like. But it also changes the way I play.
With GPS, I usually think of an area. With a spacer, I’m thinking of a number.
These are not the same thing.
By the end of the round, I had asked him for a few more yards. That’s when I realized that maybe I should put a rangefinder back in the game for a few rounds and see what happened.
The distance changed my strategy
Once distance came back into play, I noticed a few things.
First, I became more aggressive.
Not reckless, exactly, but definitely more focused on the target. A front, middle and back number makes me think of all green. A pin number makes me think of the flag.
Second, I was more interested in the exact placement of the shot.
If I needed to lay by a bunker, hold a corner, or hit a certain area, the rangefinder made it easier. I started planning a little more instead of just looking at the total number and playing.
I noticed the biggest difference on the par 3.
With GPS, I usually look forward, middle and back. This makes me think of green as a whole.
With a rangefinder, everything becomes more specific. This can be useful when the pin is accessible or when I feel like I could be more aggressive. It gives me a clear target and helps me commit to the shot.
It can also be dangerous. Sometimes that exact pin number makes you think the flag is the target when the best play is still the middle of the green.
If I could only choose one
If you told me I could only have one (rangefinder or GPS), I would choose GPS.
For the way most amateur players play, I think GPS gardens are more useful more often. The pin is not the target as often as we think it is. Green is the target. Sometimes the safe side of green is the target.
GPS helps you see this.
A rangefinder gives you precision. GPS gives you context.
The best answer is probably to have both, but if I had to choose one, I’d rather have front, middle and back spacing than an exact pin count. I have to mention that the Tour V7 Shift is the best distance I have owned. Previously, I had budget rangefinders that required more, couldn’t find targets as easily, and just didn’t have the same ease of use.
of Wingman View made golf simpler for me. of Tour V7 Shift makes it more precise.
Now I’m trying to find the right balance between the two.
Anyone else with me on this or are you the complete opposite? Do you trust your rangefinder more than GPS, or has GPS changed the way you play?
