I'm just not very good at extrapolating distances from yard markers or marked sprinkler heads (if you can find them). Both my score and frustration was on the rise because I was misjudging the distances and choosing the wrong club. So I decided to buy a GPS Caddie.
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br /I chose a GPS range finder over a laser device. The latter requires a clear line of sight to the pin. Also, with a GPS unit you can map hazards as well as other landmarks. It simply measures the distance from wherever you're standing to the points you wish to map. All you need is a clear shot at the sky.
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br /I recommend the GPS Caddie for several reasons.
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br /It's one of the cheapest on the market, and you can map up to eight custom points in addition to the front, center and back of the green. It's comforting to know the precise distance to the middle of a bend on a dogleg, or the end of the fairway, or a blind hazard, and so on. I haven't found a need yet to map more than four or five points, but it's nice to know you can.
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br /Once you get the knack of it, you can map a course in about 90 minutes, faster if you don't map a lot of custom points. All you have to do is stand at a point you want to map, push a button, wait a few seconds, and--voila--it's done. Then you save it and move on. The process is pretty simple, and the instructions are easy to follow.
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br /iGolf, the manufacturer, also provides a web site, which enables you to download previously mapped courses from their files, and they will even map a course for you at a nominal fee. But, unlike many other GPS units, the GPS Caddie is completely self-contained. You don't need a computer, although it is recommended you back up the courses you have mapped. (Once you've mapped five or six courses, you will have invested considerable time and effort.)
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br /The GPS Caddie also offers another neat feature--a way to measure the distance of your shots. All you have to do is punch a button from, say, the tee box, and punch it again at your ball, and it will tell you the distance of your drive. And you can walk over to your partner's ball, and measure that distance, too. In fact, you can measure any distance from Point A to Point B.
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br /The GPS Caddie is a no-frills GPS range finder that offers no graphics, just large, clear numbers, which are accurate to ten feet or less (mostly less). The screen provides the hole number, par, yardage, and handicap. And, of course, the distance to the front, center and back of the green, and other points if you've mapped them. Some more expensive units provide colors and flashy graphics, but I don't feel a bit deprived.
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br /The unit seems durable, and fits one's palm very nicely. The non-slip edging adds a sturdy feel, and after taking it through a heavy downpour with out any problems, I have to say the unit is at least "water resistant."
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br /Using a GPS range finder adds a pleasant new dimension to playing golf. It speeds up the game, removes the distance-guessing angst in selecting the appropriate club. Instead, you can focus on executing rather than navigating. You save the time you'd spend having to extrapolate distances from yard markers, sprinkler heads, trees, etc. This is especially helpful for shots within 100 yards, where most courses provide few--if any--distance markers.
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br /Frankly, I was a bit reluctant to spend a couple of hundred bucks on a range finder. But now, after using it for several weeks, I'd hate to give it up. It has made golfing more fun, boosted my confidence, and eliminated some extraneous swing thoughts. And the GPS Caddie has saved me three or four strokes.
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br /Moreover--considering my high-handicap game--it's nice to have my partner ask me a question for a change, even if it's only the distance to the green.

Some quick thoughts on the iGolf GPS Caddie.
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br /Battery life: 2 standard energizer AA batteries lasted me 2 full rounds of golf, total of about 8 hours.
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br /Course Availability: I have yet to find a course I've played in the past 5 years that wasn't already mapped.
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br /Accuracy: at the course yard markers it was always within a yard or two.
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br /Complaints: It's not as "sexy" as some of the other gps units out there, with it's gray lcd display, and lack of features like shot tracking and elevation. The website that you download the courses from [...]. isn't very flashy, and you have to buy a membership to download premapped courses (50 courses per year for an annual membership fee of around 20 USD).
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br /Overall: It does what it claims. You get accurate distances to front, middle, and back of the green. You can measure shot distance with 2 clicks of the center button. Transfering courses from your PC to the unit is quick and easy with the included software, and USB cable. The courses you download are your's forever. I bought this because it was the least expensive unit out there, and I wanted to try one out, and I can honestly say that I'd do it again.

Being the skeptic that I am I was really surprised at how well this product worked. Once I figured it out, it was easy to download golf courses from the hundreds available online (virtually every course in my area). The unit starts up quickly, works well from inside a golf cart, and appears to be extremely accurate.
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br /On the downside, batteries only last about two rounds (I've got to buy rechargeables), and the manual is a bit confusing.

I'm glad I purchased this product-it is quick and easy to use. It has helped me on the golf course deciding the distance to the greens. I've probably lowered my handicap 2 or 3 strokes.

Excellent. I compared and got a Skycaddie but, choose this because of ease, price and funtionality. Great options to customize and map your favorite course on top of their survey.
br /Great Support from them as well. Mike from sales was Great!! The assesories are also a lot less. They (another vendor) have a great carrying case for only $30.

The term GPS rangefinder gives you a good idea of what this does (provided you have the gps points already stored). If you map the points you want on the course, you will have a useful tool. Getting those points during play is a bit of a problem. You must go to each bunker (front and back), each hazard (before and after), etc. to get the gps coordinate and label it. With no keyboard that's a bit tricky and the foursome behind you may not be so sympathetic to your effort.
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br /The premapped courses on the iGolf web site may not be very complete (the ones I downloaded only had the pin data). What they will map for a fee is not spelled out.
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br /The software provided is not very robust but seemed to work for the functions of downloading and backing up course info. Neither the device nor the software does any sort of recording your actual round.
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br /The marketing literature refers to a 'shot distance feature that shows you how far you hit each club'. This is a bit misleading. If hit a shot and remember to press a button twice before you move on, then when you get to your ball you press a button again and you get the distance. However, there is no recording of the club used or any method of summarizing how far you hit anything. If you want to find out how far you hit each club you will need a pencil and a piece of paper to record the information.
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br /The unit itself seems ok, but the belt clip is a bit weak and the lanyard slot is thin plastic. I would not trust either one. So, unless you can take the cart next to your ball, you must carry the unit in your hand, set it on the ground for your shot(or in your pocket, if you can swing with large cell phone size lump).
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br /The manual appears not have been well edited since there are obvious mistakes. The hookup to a computer covers multiple pages but never mentions that you should remove the batteries before you hook it up (that information only appears in a list of warnings about batteries towards the front of the book).
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br /Speaking of batteries, I found it did seem to use them up. The unit said I had over 70% power left at the start of the round but shut down at the 9th hole.
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br /In summary, the product does measure distances (although if you stand in one spot the reading varies 6 or so yards). It is reasonably well built. The software does transfer info to/from a PC.

I have had my Igolf for about 3 months now and I have been disappointed with the product. First and foremost, the unit turns off while I am in the middle of my round of golf (brand new batteries). The battery level says 100 percent. Go figure. I have to turn the unit on again and wait about 2-3 minutes for the gps signals to pick up. Then I have to fast forward to the hole I am on. Very aggrivating!!! I thought customer service was initially good at first. I told them my issue and they said to send it to them. I did and nothing was done. They simply told me they could not duplicate the problem and sent the Igolf back to me. Again, I went out to the coures with my fingers crossed that the unit will not cut off on me. Well guess what, it did.
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br /Mapping your points on Igolf is a bit of a pain. You have to close out of the play program you are in and open map program to map. I would thought Igolf would have figured it out how we can map a course while we are playing a round.
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br /I find the "front" and "back" font is a bit small. The font on the custom points is especially small. Get your reading glasses out for that page!
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I purchased a version of this product that was just the software to load onto a PDA. The software continually just shut down and I spent all my time messing with the unit trying to get it to work. Over the course of two months I continually tried to get some help from customer support either by email or by phone. I spoke with a live person twice when I finally got through to someone and was promised they would research the problem and get back with me, this never happened! After two months I went out and bought a GOLFLOGIX unit and could not be happier with the puchase.

I had the caddie and just received the caddie II. the caddie worked good you just need to turn the stabilization button on or the yardage varies by quite abit.They are not too good on help, I'm a member and they never return my emails about questions. Some courses have custom points and some don't. Some courses not complete with custom points and they should be, alot of sand and water.I gave 4 stars for this reason, it does work good.

I bought this unit in the fall of 2007 have gotten to use it less than a handful of times. The sync software fails to load courses and the unit fails to retain courses. Returning it for warranty was a further waste of two valuable resources-time and money. They found it to be working...on their bench. The USB to serial interface is simply archaic.
br /Otherwise the unit is a little large and bulky unless mounted. I bought the Caddy II usb-usb which automatically switches from hole to hole as played. If you want a dependable GPS with a user-friendly interface buy the Caddy II or the Garmin Golflogix. The course software packages for each of these vary in that Garmin's doesn't allow you to add one course without erasing all other course. Igolf's software allows you to retain your courses and also back them up on your harddrive. A pocket rangefinder is really going to teach club distance, so I suggest GPS for unknown courses and a rangefinder for specific shots. I hope this sorts out usefully for someone.

I've had my IGolf for about two years now. I agree with just about everybody who has already rated it. It's basic, Their mappings are often inaccurate. It eats batteries, but I carry an extra set. On average it's good for about 15 holes. Once in awhile I can get through 18 holes without a battery change.
br /What sold me on it, is I don't have to maintain a membership like with SkyCaddie. Once I buy (download) a course it's mine forever. I can also remap courses that have changed. And actually - Some of the inaccurate mappings are probably because the course has changed.
br /They have a new product called the Neo. On this one, I say, Stay away. It has an internal non-replaceable battery. I-golf couldn't even tell me what the battery life would be. Some research I did on lithium batteries indicated that they start deteriorating from the day they are put together, and if You buy a product that was built six months ago, the battery will already have lost 10% of it's rated performance, and within 2 years could be useless. The longest warranty offered by Igolf is 12 months.

Unit has a huge appetitte for batteries, better buy shares in Duracell/Energizer.Belt clip is very brittle and snaps off.Must be a defect as iGolf "sells" the clips with 5 to a package. Lettering on the toggle buttons wears off. A new user wouldn't know their functions and this makes the unit have little resale value. Periodically it'll lock up and have to be rebooted. Made in China. You get what you pay for. Buyer be ware!

I used this unit for about 2 months before I sent it back, primarily because the downloaded course data is inaccurate.
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br / The unit itself works pretty well. A few operations like adding custom points or mapping courses are somewhat complicated and hard to remember without having the manual with you, but using on the golf course is simple and straightforward. Battery life is satisfactory - I got 36 holes or more from a pair of 2500 mAh rechargeable AAs. Accuracy is as expected (+- 3 yards) IF the course had been mapped accurately.
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br /And therein lies the rub. I have used it on 8 courses in my area (S. OR - N. CA). Four of these had serious course mapping problems. On two of them, the hole locations were simply incorrectly mapped. You could stand in the middle of the green and iGolf would tell you you were still anywhere from 5 to 17 yards from the center. Of course, distances on the fairway were off by the same amount. On two other courses, the hole numbers were incorrect. It was obvious that an old scorecard was used to compile the data. One course had switched the front and back nines more than 8 years ago. The other rearranged the sequence of several holes on the back nine over three years ago. It is worth noting that in all of these cases, another member of the foursome had a SkyCaddie, which showed none of these problems. When I contacted iGolf tech support and asked them how they mapped the courses, they told me that they were professionally mapped on the actual course. I have a hard time believing this. Competent professionals with survey grade GPS equipment would not be 5-17 yards off, and moreover, would get the current hole sequence correct.
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br /Although the pre-mapped course data for iGolf is much cheaper than for SkyCaddie, it looks like you get what you pay for. You can of course, do your own course mapping and/or correct the downloaded course data with the iGolf. It is tedious, but if you only play a few courses it might not be a big problem, and you will save some money compared to SkyCaddie.

Igolf Gps Caddie Requires 2 Aa Batteries
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br /I selected iGolf over Sky Caddie as I knew there will not be any readily available maps for Asia.
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br /I have had the Caddie for several months and I found that it was easy to use and there is no problem getting good sattelite signal in Asia; one of my concerns.
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br /BAD POINTS
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br /Drains battery
br /Needs time to set up course information
br /Insufficient standard abbreviations
br /Unable to store predefined custom abbreviation
br /Slightly bulky
br /Backup takes time
br /Average startup time
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br /GOOD POINTS
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br /Accurate
br /Light weight
br /Weather proof
br /Internet CHAT help prompt and very useful

Great tool. I like the ability to add courses, and the great number that exist. No longer have to search for yardage markers. A great time saver.