Golf laser rangefinder

George B · Guest

Hi,

I am looking for a laser rangefinder and as i am researching the different offerings i am getting more and more confused with the different technologies.
I like to golf and it appears that the Bushnell PinSeeker 1500 Laser Rangefinder PINSEEKER1500 with slope is the best item there since it is made for golf. Is that true?

opticsplanet.com · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:53 pm Post subject:

Hi

Yes, the Bushnell Pinseeker with slope, http://www.opticsplanet.net/bushnell-pinseeker-1500-slope-laser-rangefinder.html is specifically designed for golf and one of the best.

A golf laser range finder such as the Bushnell Pinseeker, has software designed to seek the nearest object first, namely the flag, as opposed to a hunting laser range finder which has software designed to ignore the closest target and look for the most distant target. You can use a hunting laser rangefinder for golf, but you may have to take several readings to target the flag which is typically the closest target, not the most distant.

The new Bushnell Pinseeker, 205103, is also the only current golf laser range finder with the slope feature. What is the slope feature?

Think of it this way. You're on the first hole a flat golf course, getting ready for a shot over level ground. You check the distance to the flag with your standard rangefinder without a slope feature and it tells you the distance is 50 yards. You power up for a 50 yards shot, swing, and the ball lands within 15 feet of the hole. Good shot.

On the next hole, you find yourself in a similar situtation, only this time you are top of a hill. You check the distance to the flag with a standard laser rangefinder with no slope feature. The rangefinder tells you the distance down the hill to the flag is 75 yards. You power up for a 75 yard shot and swing. This time, though, you badly overshoot the flag. What happened?

Shooting down hill complicates things. Your rangefinder gave you the distance down the hill to the flag - the line of sight distance. The horizontal distance - the straight line distance to a point in space directly above the target - is really only about 50 yards. In other words, the ball will only be traveling 50 yards as the crow flies. It really doesn't matter whether the ground is level or tilted below it. When it runs out of momentum, it will drop, regardless if the flag is 10 feet below it or 100 feet below it. It's basic geopmetry. You should have powered up for the horizonatal distance, not the line of sight distance down the hill.

If you had the Bushnell Elite 205103, you would habe powered up for 50 yards and not 75 yards.
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