04/08/2008 13:28:47

I love it !!!! but if you hit it too far into the explosive impact burm and find an un-detonated mine or missle head will that be known as the ultimate explosion shot........ Ican imagine you game will be awesome from 200 and in. That is all you need to keep the swing going with some idea of where it is going. Better than a net.  

04/08/2008 07:57:55

Ron,  It's crazy how all companies think the same.  With the work I do, explosive and weapons research our schedules come and go so we have alot of down time.  Even though I still get paid when there is no work to do I loose my mind so I had a talk with the boss.  We put in a 200 yd range behind the explosive impact burm.  Cleared out about a 60 yd wide path down through the brush and cedar/oak trees.  I'm trying to keep the area as dirt, so I don't have to mow, but mother nature has other plans.  I poured a 5X5 pad and we use a thick hitting mat for the tee-box.  I'll try to get a few pictures up next week.

Hit em straight!

04/08/2008 07:36:08

Howzit I have to agree with you anything past 250 is really not needed. How cool is that you guys are getting a driving range at work. I would kill for that. Here at NBC Studios in Burbank, Ca. we used to have a driving range right across the street and when G.E. bought NBC in the late 80's they tore it out for office space. Now they wish they had not done that due to golf being such a money maker. The employees including myself who worked here back then are still very upset with GE over that. But that is their motto to destroy everything that does not need fixing and then deal with the mistake of it later.

04/08/2008 07:24:43

Hey Gents, I'm a little late getting into the conversation but please allow me to weigh in.  Christmas 2006 my kids bought me a Bushnell yardagepro sport 450 from Walmart.  It ran about $169.  It is a laser rangefinder good to 800 yds, as advertised.  The key to a laser is you must find an object that will reflect your laser back.  Like Ron, I have found that using the cart to steady you helps alot.  This thing appears to be pretty accurate to about 350 yds.  Beyond that I can't hold it steady enough to get a lock.  The longest I can hit is about 250 so anything past that doesn't really matter anyway. 

I use it as much for damage control as to read distance to pins.  Most courses don't have much to help you determine how far it is to a pond, creek or fairway bunker while your on the way from tee-to-green.

As for batteries, this thing uses (1) 9v battery.  I use duracell's and they last about 15 months, playing 1-2 rounds per week.  Oh yeah, during that 15 months it also got extensive use while we put in our driving range at work. 

Semper Fi 

04/03/2008 07:36:51

Tenth,

    I am curious too about the battery life as well I will have to look at that when I get a moment and think about it. As for the caddies, I know what you mean. I have had a caddy at Riveria C.C. and Royal Links in Las Vegas. Today most of them are " forecaddies". They dont carry the bag just clean them. While your group rides in the cart to the shot the caddy will have already walked into the fairway to spot all the golfballs and get approximent yardages. Each person paid $40.00 and had to tip about another $20 each for this. I really had no great time at Riveria with this. As for Las Vegas I was lucky enough to have a man named "Auto". He was great, about 6'3 surfer blonde cool cat. He loops on the bags of many LPGA pros in Las Vegas for their tournaments and fills in on practice sessions for some of the Pros who live there when their caddies are not available. He gave me accurate numbers and great tips on playing some of those holes. He also provided a wealth of info for my playing partners on their swings.

04/02/2008 09:40:46

Yep, Ron, the intuitive thing plays out better for the home course. I'm figuring out how paying big bucks to play unfamiliar nice courses away - I could use every advantage. Caddies are kind of expensive :). I'll pay more attention to the yardage guides.

I'd like to know, how is the battery life on the Ion-Optics. I assume it uses batteries. I see guys struggling with "dead" satellite range finders. No sense in dealing with stupid problems like dead batteries.

04/02/2008 07:48:58

Tenthtee I understand what you are saying. When I play in some of my tournaments I use a " bluebook" (yardage guide) by a man named George Lucas. Provided he has one for the course I play. This book is so detailed about the course it is incredible. The PGA Tour uses his books as well as the other tours. I will try to scan a hole from his book for Valencia C.C. where the seniors play and you will be amazed. This is how the pros have such a great idea on what is happening on the greens and where to hit it. For the courses that I dont have a bluebook I can see where the rangefinder is a useful tool for figuring out how far to get over a bunker but stay short of the pin or how far to the backboard to spin the ball back and so on. I can see not needing it anymore on a course that you play regularly due to knowing the layout. The GPS on carts just is not that accurate I find.

04/01/2008 14:11:00

Good points, Ron. I'd like to know if you find the range finder - or if anyone else has an opinion - if it works as a learning tool. The idea would be to use it up to a point and then not need it any more, as one had learned to judge distances better. Or does one become "dependent" or just  the same at judging distances as before using the device?

04/01/2008 13:32:52

Tenthtee,

   Thank you and yes I like to go off sprinklers and markers but I have found on some courses last year that the flags were not really in the front or back according to the flag color i.e. ( red front- blue back) Sometimes they were more center. Plus I like to know what the distance is I have to go after a pin with out going too far or not enough. Like a front pin at 138 yrds I like to know what the distance is that I have to the front edge of the green. It could be 130 or even 125 depending on the size of the green. It is nice to hear from someone on this site. I have been on over the last few days and no new posts until today.

03/31/2008 16:01:06

HEy, good post ron. No sense in wasting cash. I have been thinking about getting one of these, I just don't know about managing one more physical object, but it sure would be nice sometime. I am trying to teach myself to be intuitive, using the 150 and 100 markers with the occasional confirmation with sprinkler heads. It's fun to be intuitive, but sometimes I am way off the pin for no good reason.