There are hundreds of GPS or distance measuring devices products on the market for those looking to purchase a GPS or rangefinder, but the introduction of smart phones and the iPhone with their built in GPS has meant that you don't have to have the expensive phone and the equally expensive GPS device - you can simple have an app on your iPhone or download the GPS of courses to your smart phone.
FreeCaddie Golf GPS
FreeCaddie offer a GPS item for a range of mobile phones with GPS facilities including the iPhone, Blackberry’s, Android, Palm Pre and Windows Mobiles completely free of charge. It is downloaded direct to the phone via Freecaddie’s website and the free version is a simple product which provides yardages to the front, middle and back of the green. It can, however, only store the details for one golf course. The FreeCaddie Pro, the next step up the ladder, is available for a one-off payment and provides distances to hazards such as bunkers or water as well as distances to doglegs and the start and end of the fairway. With the FreeCaddie Pro, there is no limit on the number of golf courses it stores the details of and the downloading of courses is available as part of the one-off payment. An added option allows players to keep track on fairways and greens hit in regulation and average putts taken.
Golfshot Golf GPS
For those with an iPhone, Golfshot have an application on the market. A one off payment for the application means there are no subsequent download costs, and - as you might expect with an iPhone - it is a touchscreen application. There is an aerial view of each hole of a course, with 20,000 available to download, and yardages to the green from any point. One downside, however, is the drain on battery life of the phone along with the likelihood of the phone getting wet when playing in poor weather.
igolfscorer Golf GPS
igolfscorer specialise in golf scoring technology both online and on mobile phones having had scorecards, handicap calculators, statistics calculators for the average number of eagles, birdies, pars, bogies, etc., over a certain timescale as well as average driving distance and putts per round. The technology also allows you to keep a record of which club was used for each shot on a round. igolfscorer have also moved into the GPS market on your mobile phone with distances calculated from your point on the course to the 100, 150 and 200 yard markers as well as the front, centre and back of the green. The technology records the average length and maximum distance you hit each club and will offer a suggested club selection for each distance calculated. You get all of this for 29.95 Euros.
