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The Bushnell Tour Hybrid combines laser precision with GPS data to give golfers the ultimate edge in navigating the course.
The Bushnell Tour Hybrid is a stunning piece of kit. It combines the best of both worlds – a top-quality laser and a reliable GPS. You are going to love this device if you are looking for a one-stop solution to your distances.
The Bushnell Tour Hybrid is quite simply a best-in-class product that offers you the precision and confidence of a laser with the crucial details of the dimensions of the green you are playing towards.
It’s aimed at the serious player who wants to triangulate the information they have.
It is ideal for the long-time laser user who recognises the additional benefits GPS information can provide.
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The Bushnell Tour Hybrid is a lovely, compact size and much lighter than these devices used to be. Think of it as a great laser first and foremost – but with significant benefits in the form of the GPS information it also provides.
It’s just a delight to use. I took the time before play to get the GPS functionality set up so it automatically dials in to the course you are playing as soon as you switch the device on by hitting any button or by zapping your first yardage of the day. You can check that the course you are playing is the one the device is locked in on but it tends to be self-evident in my experience.
I got my Bushnell Tour Hybrid out on the 1st fairway and loved what I saw in the viewfinder – exactly like the display below from the Bushnell website.
I was playing to a red flag, which denoted the front of the green. The laser told me it was 179 yards. the GPS validated this: 176 yards to the front, 190 yards to the middle and 204 yards to the back. That’s brilliant, distilled information. Armed with this information, I immediately thought of the shot, which was into the breeze, in a new way. Now, I saw it as playing 195 yards, confident that it would leave me well on to the green but less than halfway back.
Sometimes with a laser you wonder what you get by choosing one of the established premium brands. After all, a yardage is a yardage. Well, I can assure you that using the Bushnell Tour Hybrid is a joy. It’s quick and its reassuringly crisp at finding the flags you are pointing it.
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Primarily, this device remains a premium laser. But one with additional GPS capabilities. It really distils the information into what is most critical: the front, middle and back. Being able to see these numbers alongside the all-important yardage to the flag is the DMD equivalent of an executive summary in a report. It’s giving you the information you most need.
It should be said that there are some top-quality GPS devices out there offering way more functionality – anything from overhead maps of holes that help you to visualise what you are playing to carry distances over hazards and lay-up yardages to play short of them.
But for a premium laser that also offers the crucial elements of a GPS device (front, middle and back yardages), this is just a brilliant piece of kit.
There are also some whistles and bells, with a Slope functionality (illegal in competition play) that adjusts the distance to take into account a shot being uphill or downhill. You can toggle this feature on or off. It can do exactly the same thing with the GPS distances too, which is a first for Bushnell.
The information screen is very well laid-out so it is clear what the numbers mean that are being flashed up. There is no element of it being confusing or too much in the way of data.
When you zap a flag, you get a little buzz and a flashing red ring, so you quickly gain confidence that the laser has locked into the correct target. And with your target magnified through the viewfinder, it feels very easy indeed to identify the flag.
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The Bushnell Tour Hybrid is a stylish, well-constructed, premium piece of kit that I know serous golfers will love. It takes only a couple of moments to set up and then you are all set for play. You don’t have to touch it between rounds once you have the settings as you want them.
In my case, that is with the device set up to dial into the course you are on automatically. I am in the habit of just getting it out to have a zap as I get my clubs out of the boot and that reassures me the GPS has locked in to where I am playing.
It’s already a firm favourite and I am finding that I am clubbing myself more accurately and – perhaps more importantly – with greater intent and confidence. For me, that makes the Bushnell Tour Hybrid well worth the investment.
RRP: Bushnell Tour Hybrid – £519 / $499.99
More information: Bushnell Website
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