ScoreBand GPS Watch Review

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, May 25th, 2015
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf For Women • Golf Gear • Reviews
Tags: Golf GPS • ScoreBand

Looks like a solid 6-iron to the par-3 9th hole!

The ScoreBand company is filling a vacant spot in the golf accessory industry, affordable golf laser rangefinders and affordable golf GPS devices. Today’s review is the ScoreBand golf GPS watch. This unit gives solid yardages, tracks the distance of shots played, and also can serve as a golf scorekeeper. Aesthetically it is not too shabby looking to boot.

Features

Front, back, and green center yardages displayed
Over 30,000 worldwide courses preloaded with no additional fees
Automatically detects the nearest golf course
Measures shot distance
Scorekeeping

On The Course

I’m not a watch wearer, and golf GPS watches are bigger than regular watches. So I use the unit attached to my golf bag. When I’m at my bag I check the yardage right there, then know what club to pull.

I tested this unit over several months and the GPS yardages are quick and accurate. One can hit a shot with confidence knowing the yardage is right and the club selection is the best one. I used a laser and a more expensive golf GPS made by another company side by side with the ScoreBand golf GPS watch. The yardages were nearly identical.

Critiques

I have the same critiques with this golf GPS watch that I have with seemingly all the others. First the size and weight are a little big for comfort during a golf swing.

Second, the charging cable for this unit is a non-standard, proprietary cable. So when you are finally making that lifelong trip to Bandon Dunes or Pebble Beach, make sure you didn’t forget the charging cable. You won’t find one at a Walgreens.

ScoreBand Golf GPS Watch – click to buy

Price Point

The big selling point of this golf GPS watch is its price point. At $139 here on Amazon, this unit runs around half the price of many popular golf GPS watches. As I mentioned, I couldn’t tell a difference in yardage, so I would say $139 is a hell of a deal.

Conclusion

This very affordable and accurate golf GPS watch is a no-brainer. Consider this golf gps for a Father’s Day Golf Gift, Christmas golf gift, or the perfect unit for the person finally ready to dive into golf GPS technology.

Reason #375903 the Golf Industry is Struggling

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, May 25th, 2015
Categories: Boneheads • Golf

Yesterday’s round was painful on a number of levels. First, I tweaked some strange muscle in my lower left back which made swinging tough. At the top of my swing and end of my backswing with the putter it felt like someone was jabbing me with an ice pick. Naturally, that made for some very errant shots and a big number in the final column of the score card.

On the 4th hole my foursome waited 15 minutes for the threesome in front of us to clear the green. By the time they left the green there were two groups waiting to tee off on #4 tee, along with us approaching the green. Then they sat there on the 5th tee talking and doing nothing. No group in front of them. We yelled ahead and told them to speed it up. Naturally instead of speeding up play they called the pro shop and complained about us.

At the five hour mark we were on the 18th tee…. waiting. The slow threesome who complained about us was in the fairway…forever. One guy was giving the other guy a lesson in the fairway. Once we saw that we did what any polite golfer would do at that point. We hit our tee shots and hoped for the best.

Ignorant jerks like this are reason #375903 the golf industry is struggling.

Sandy Utah’s Hidden Valley Country Club Mountain Nine Changes

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, May 22nd, 2015
Categories: Golf Course Architecture • Golf Courses
Tags: Utah Golf

At the end of last season my dad and I played the Mountain nine at Hidden Valley Country Club in Sandy, Utah for the last time the 9th hole would be in its old iteration. The club is in the process of putting in a swimming pool and the par-3 hole would have to be moved and altered. It was cool to play the hole the last time it was open.

Today was the debut of the new hole and we were there for that as well, which is kind of neat. The new version is much different. The elevation change is less and the angle different. The green almost seems to slant away from the tee although the shot is slightly uphill. I airmailed the green having kept the old elevation change in my mind, but did manage a solid up and down for par. I’m even on the new version in my career of one time playing it.

New Mountain Nine par-3 9th hole design, May 2015

There were a couple of other changes to the Mountain nine. The two front-left greenside bunkers on the par-3 4th where changed to one bigger bunker. Photo below.

Par-3 4th bunker change, Mountain nine May 2015

The bunkers short right of the par-4 5th were changed to one bigger bunker and made visible from the fairway below. Previously the old bunkers were not visible. Photo below:

New, bigger single bunker on the par-4 5th, Mountain Nine.

I’m not necessarily one who believes the player needs to see everything, but aesthetically that change looks “nice.” The new bunker is much flatter and less deep, with hardly any lip. The old ones were very deep and penal. Very tough.

Decisions and Rules of Golf Club Throwing

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, May 22nd, 2015
Categories: Boneheads • European Tour • Golf • Golf For Women • Golf Rules and Regulations • Miscellaneous • PGA Tour • Pro Golf
Tags: BMW • Rory McIlory • Rules of Golf

Rory McIlory Club Throw

A couple of months ago Rory McIlory launched an iron into the lake at Trump Doral. In an awkward moment, the Donald gave Rory the club back on the range the next day. Then this past week McIlory tossed a 3-wood at the BMW after he was dissatisfied with his shot.

Last week I watched a golfer on my home course, a former basketball player who is well known in Salt Lake (no it is not John Stockton or Karl Malone), toss his driver off of the 18th tee behind him. The white-headed TaylorMade bounced across the pavement of a local road and ended up near the 4th tee. He had thrown his club out of bounds. I yelled over to him, “you threw your club out of bounds. You are going to have to throw another one off the tee.” He didn’t think that comment was very funny. I did though.

These club throwing events I’ve witnessed recently have inspired me to post the Rules of Golf Club Throwing, so those of you golfers who throw a club know exactly how to proceed after.

Rule 69.6: Throw Club In Hazard

In the case of the first McIlory toss into the lake at Doral, rule 69.6 comes into play. The rule states that if a club is thrown into a hazard the golfer has several options:

Incur one throw penalty. Re-throw the club from the original position.
If the club is throwable from the hazard, the player can throw it from the hazard as long as he doesn’t ground the club or move loose impediments.
Incur one throw penalty. Take a two club drop no nearer the hole at the point in which the club entered the hazard, then throw the club from there.
Incur one throw penalty. Pick a point on the opposite side of the hazard, equidistant to the point the club entered the hazard and throw the club from there.

Rule 69.6 A: Throw Club Out Of Bounds

In the case where the basketball player threw his club out of bounds from the tee there is only one option:

Incur one throw penalty. Re-throw club from tee or original position club was thrown from.

Rule 69.6 B: Thrown Club Lost

I watched a player throw his driver in disgust up at Soldier Hollow Golf Course a couple of years ago. He threw the driver into some very deep grass. The grass was not a hazard area and it was not out of bounds. A player in my group yelled over to the thrower, “you will have to throw a provisional in case you can’t find the first one.”

The options a player has after throwing a club which may be lost are as follows:

Throw a provisional club. Declare to playing partners that the club is a provisional. In the event the first throw is not found, the provisional throw becomes the club in play and a one throw penalty is assessed.
The player can declare the first throw lost and throw a second club, under penalty of one throw.
The player can proceed to look for the first thrown club and throw it as it lies if found. If the club is not found, the player must return to the original throwing position and take a “throw and distance” penalty, throwing a new club.

In the case of McIlory’s throw at the BMW yesterday, the club was not lost and not in a hazard, or unthrowable. The throw would simply count as a throw and he would throw the next one where it lies.

Golfer Unwraps Decade Old Brand New Hogan Irons and Plays Them in My Group

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, May 21st, 2015
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear
Tags: Ben Hogan Golf

I’m playing in a golf group yesterday which included a very quiet and mellow older player. During his round he was taking the plastic wrap off of his “new” irons, and hitting them very well, for the first time. We’ve all seen that before, right? Wrong.

Upon closer inspection I was flabbergasted to discover the “new” irons were a set of Ben Hogan irons he had purchased some 10 or more years prior. How cool to see these beauties in un-hit condition.

What made him decide yesterday was the day to try these irons? How crazy that a Hogan player for over a decade, me, was in the group.

Very interesting and entertaining indeed.

Older posts

Newer posts

« Previous 1 … 29 30 31 32 33 … 59 Next »