When playing do you have trouble gauging how far a certain obstacle is, or how far away from the green you need to get to on your next golf shot? Are you that type of person with an uncanny ability to estimate how far you need to hit your next shot? For most people it's a guessing game but,it so much more important when it comes to scoring.

It can make a huge difference between shooting a great score or being left to frustration and wanting to break every club in your bag.

When I was caddying professionally my job 30 years ago was to make sure I walked the golf course before my partner even showed up. You knew the distances of every club your pro swung at. It was your job to walk the fairways marking down every rock, sand traps, trees, water or any other permanent obstacle that you could gauge from the tees or any other spots from the fairways to the greens.

You would mark all of this down in a little black book. Then everyday early in the morning before each round you would graph out each hole's pin placements. Measuring it out by using the old traditional way of one foot in front of the other how far from the front, sides, and back of the greens.

You also observed where the pin placements of the day were by writing it down. You marked down locations on the greens, by showing it on a graph. If it's on a hill, swale or what kind of breaks to the hole when putting from different locations on the green and its various angles. Where is the flat part of the green or safest place to hit the ball to. There was a combination of both guess work and knowing your player's skill level.

While there are golf traditionalist who considers the intervention of technology such as range finders or GPS systems to be some kind of interference and sacrilege to the integral challenge of the game of golf. There are many others who are more interested in perfecting their physical skills, and taking out the guesswork that causes frustration. Why penalize yourself a stroke because of an unseen water hazard or experience the maddening irritation of being in a sand trap if a better calculation can avoid all of these obstacles.

There are those who would argue that one's mental and physical ability is the true elements of what counts the most in the game of golf, and not one's ability to play guessing games with the golf course architecture.

Modern technology is coming to the aid of golfers once again. The newest latest craze and greatest technological achievement for the outdoor enthusiast or athlete is the hand-held GPS system. By using a hand-held GPS range finder, a golfer now has the uncanny ability to cut several strokes off from their scores.

By getting a better, more accurate read on distances to the green, the pin, and the precise location of hazards. A golfer can even use the GPS range finder to get better club suggestions, as the more precise calculations of yardage allows for more precise estimations of what club is needed for the next golf shot at hand.

While many golfers have benefited from the use of laser range finders, and while there is no doubt about their effectiveness in getting better results in measurements of distances. More golfers are now discovering that GPS technology can take their game to a whole new level. The overwhelming majority of golfers are around an 18 handicap. That means that they score around the 100 mark. If you have the physical ability to improve your golf game, it does make a great deal of sense to use this golf aid to help you become more consistent.

All golfers will tell you that confidence is critical. The challenge comes into play when they get to the golf course and really have no idea on how far their golf shots need to travel, or what happens to the golf ball when it lands. By using a range finder it can give you that confidence of being on the golf course knowing where to place your golf ball at different positions on each hole. This is course management, and it's the difference between winning and losing on the P.G.A. tour. If you have the confidence that you can make a golf shot to a predetermined distance, then it will make a huge difference in your golf scores.

For the more established player who participates in amateur events. A range finder is even a greater purchase for you. These players have the ability to make their golf shots by knowing exact distances or contours of a green. For them, practice is taking place while they are playing. That is an entirely different game plan. In these cases,this is truly designed as a self improvement aid.

The biggest difference between them and higher handicap golfers is that they have the confidence to make their golf shot, and knowing the exact distances will only assist in making it an even better golf shot. It is a huge advantage of knowing exact distances and where pin placements are located. If you have never played on a particular golf course before, you now have the ability too see where potential trouble is located and make the proper decision.

You already know that you can't use it in a golf tournament, and so even during your competitive rounds with your friends they are just practice rounds for you. If your membership club allows them during regular play then by all means use the range finder to your benefit.

Today it's much easier as most of the grunt work can be done using the latest technology. There are many manufacturers that offers top quality golf range finders on the market today, and they all have some great information available. Depending on the manufacturer each one works a little bit different.

Most of them you can download any golf course both in the United States and Globally and be able to store this information on any hard drive. Some golf GPS programs are so advanced that they can track multiple targets for a single pin all at once, or even display the precise shape of the green as seen from your current angle of approach. Golf is largely a game of knowledge. Just as one needs correct knowledge of golf swing mechanics, you also need knowledge of golf course geography and distances. The more accurate the better.

If you play at different golf courses, having this insiders information about that particular golf course is terrific. How can it not help you by knowing the distances to a hazard or to the green. If your are not capable of performing that particular golf shot facing you.Then knowing by using this golfing aid, can only help you to make the most accurate course management decisions, of where to put yourself into the next best possible positions.

A range finder is one of the best training aids that is available in the marketplace today. The challenge is how do you get the most from it? Go take advantage of it right now for your own benefit to help improve your golf game. You will see the difference in your confidence and improvement in your golf mindset that is so critical in golf. By utilizing the knowledge that you can gain by using this as a training aid, it not only will help you to play better golf, but win more consistently.