Reviews of the Golf Buddy Tour GPS

Real Reviews Submitted by Real Users!

In the box:

GPS unit

Holster

Power Cable

Setup:

I downloaded the most recent updates on Golf Buddy's website, then synched my GPS to my software.  Charging the unit is easy and quick.  Once the GPS is turned on, it does everything else, including automatically detecting your location as long as the course is in its library.  All the data is contained within the unit, so there aren't any subscription fees!

Use:
It displays layup distances and yardages to hazards and greens (front, middle and back).  The unit's accuracy is about the same as SkyCaddie and uPro GPS units, and you get distance readings right away.  I haven't seen any errors while out on the course.  You can conserve battery power by turning off the screen's backlighting.  Although it moves from one hole to the next automatically, you can override that when something throws the unit off the right hole, like hitting a ball into another fairway.  I get two to three rounds out of one battery charge, which I think is excellent.

This is a solid unit made of hard plastic.  The screen is easy to read and clear.

Overall:

This is a great device that can improve your scores by telling you yardages and helping you stay out of hazards.  I play smarter with my Golf Buddy and it means scores that are at least five strokes lower.

It gets my recommendation!

I've had my Golf Buddy GPS for about a year now.  My home course is in Tampa and a lot of other courses are very close by.  I normally tee off on the first hole, but if I start on number 8 (for a shotgun tournament, for example) my GPS will display number 8 without any problems.  Sometimes I get held up at number 15 because of ladies day so I go back to number 12 - and my GPS shows it right away.  This summer I went to Hawaii and played the Makaha golf course, where there are two courses within a mile, but I didn't have any problems.  I've been so impressed with my Golf Buddy that my wife went out and bought the Golf Buddy Pro a week ago.  She's a computer novice, but she likes it.  She turns it on, plays, comes home, charges it and plays again the next day.  We both play six games a week.  The Pro is down to about $280 now (I bought mine for $450 or so).  We both like them a lot.  In fact, they're the best!  My friend has a SkyCaddie but you need to get on the computer to renew the subscription or load a new course if you go on vacation.  And, he can't start a shotgun on number 8 without problems.  He's thinking about getting a Golf Buddy next time around.

I owned a SkyCaddie SG2 for a few years, but after a while I got fed up with the $50 yearly fee.  That was bad enough, but on top of that, I could only store ten courses on the unit.  I did some research and finally decided to buy the Golf Buddy Tour GPS unit a few months back.  It works pretty well.  Its main advantages are its nice color screen, 20,000 preloaded courses, NO yearly fee, automatic course recognition, and free course updates.  One of my buddies has a SkyCaddie SG5, and we compare our GPS units when we play together.   I do think the SkyCaddie has more targets loaded (the Golf Buddy has a limit of 12 targets per hole and several holes on my home course need more) and the yardages seem more accurate.  Adding more targets on a hole is fairly easy if fewer than 12 targets have been preloaded (it won't let you delete any preloaded targets to add your own).  The SkyCaddie also shows a picture of the entire hole you're currently playing, which can be helpful on a new course.  Golf Buddy just shows a diagram of the green.  And, in addition to seeming less accurate, Golf Buddy sometimes takes a while to lock into yardages.  With the SkyCaddie, it's almost immediate.  The Golf Buddy owner's manual could be a lot better, so maybe they'll improve it in the future.  I do, however, disagree with the people who say Golf Buddy's customer service is poor.  I've talked with several reps there and every one of them has been both knowledgeable and helpful.  Overall, the Golf Buddy is a very good GPS and well worth buying.

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