Equipment: GPS or Laser- Which device will help your game more?

Dan Murphy, Editor of National Club Golfer magazine, talks us through what he believes is the best device to use order to help improve your game…

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“We test a lot of GPS and laser devices here at NCG, and what we are often asked is which one is best.

I’ve written several pieces over the years saying that one is best for this and one is best for that and what I’ve actually concluded now is that the real solution is to go for both.

So the system I’m using this year is a Bushnell Tour X laser and I’m also pairing that up with a Bushnell Neo GPS avery small GPS device that I can clip onto my bag and it gives me the best of both worlds and I would seriously recommend trying the same thing, this is why.

If I’m anywhere say within 150 yards of the pin I want an exact number so I’ll get that off my laser which I have total faith in. However, often when I’m further away all I want is an approximate number and it’s quite hard to zap a flag when you’re a couple of hundred yards away so I just want a rough number so I’ll get my GPS out.

Similarly I’m on the tee of a dog leg par 4 and it doesn’t give me the straight line to the green, if I want to know if the group in front are out of range, maybe they’re clearing the green on the par 4 I’ve got the number here, in the trees I’ve got a number. If I’m maybe on the wrong side of a dune with a blind shot in I can take a glance at my GPS without having to run to the top of a hill and get my laser out. So I really have the best of both worlds here.

Increasingly I’ve actually started to use the GPS more than I expected to at the start of the season but basically I can use both devices, they are both doing different jobs and as a result I have all the information I need to know what I’m going to do with my next shot.”