{"id":788,"date":"2013-11-26T08:52:45","date_gmt":"2013-11-26T15:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/?p=788"},"modified":"2013-11-26T10:31:44","modified_gmt":"2013-11-26T17:31:44","slug":"in-the-golf-gps-fold-and-loving-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/golf\/equipment\/788\/in-the-golf-gps-fold-and-loving-it","title":{"rendered":"In the golf GPS fold. And loving it."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"With<\/a>

With fellow TAPster Tom Harack. Using the “Group Photo” feature of my GolfShot app. Not a bad photo for a writer.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dedicated readers may remember what I said at the start of the 2012 season about having no interest in a golf GPS\u2014because I\u2019m a purist who doesn\u2019t want to spoil his pastoral experience.<\/p>\n

They also may remember that I said, “I know I\u2019m going to eat these words.\u2019\u2019 Let the feast begin. . . I have just finished my first full season with the GolfShot GPS–$29.95 for iPhones. Yes, I paid for it. And yes, I am a convert.<\/p>\n

\"Jeff<\/a>

Jeff showed me the joys of GolfShot.<\/p><\/div>\n

First\u2014even though I\u2019m good at eye-balling distances and don\u2019t need to know the last yard because of my imprecise game\u2014it is nice to have distances, particularly on unfamiliar courses, and I often play unfamiliar courses.<\/p>\n

Second, the phone isn\u2019t cumbersome. It\u2019s not as clean as the wrist-watch GPS my cousin has\u2014who knew that Dick Tracy played golf? But the beauty of GolfShot is that it keeps score, so I don\u2019t have to fiddle with pencil and scorecard. That\u2019s especially important on hot days, when that scorecard turns to mush.<\/p>\n

\"With<\/a>

With Dan Mann. Told you I make faces when I click self-portraits.<\/p><\/div>\n

Third, it also keeps all kinds of stats. Putts, clubs used, especially on par-threes. I haven\u2019t availed myself of all those options, but it\u2019s nice to know they’re there. One I do use measures the distance shots have traveled. You need to click when you hit and then click again when you get to your ball, though. I find it discouraging, though, to learn that a good shot hasn\u2019t traveled nearly as far I\u2019d expected.<\/p>\n

GolfShot is also good for amusement. It requires you to download golf-course info by state and country. I love that it asks me if I\u2019d like all the golf-course info for Afghanistan and Albania. It doesn\u2019t take long; there aren\u2019t any golf courses. GolfShot did work like a charm in Scotland, though; and it didn’t run up mobile-phone charges.<\/p>\n

There are skeptics. I played nine holes with Rocco Mediate last spring. Although barefoot, Rocco carried an immense range-finder. Thinking I\u2019d save him the trouble of firing that cannon, I called out a<\/p>\n

\"With<\/a>

With Brett and Teddy. Teddy’s good at doing the self-portrait click without scrunching up his face. Must be a generational thing.<\/p><\/div>\n

distance from my iPhone. “No, thanks,\u2019\u2019 he said. “I need to know the real distance.\u2019\u2019 Rocco was a delight. Great sense of humor, more gags than Steve Martin and we won the shamble. He also helped us out on a couple of holes, although Lenny and I did the heavy lifting, courtesy of our honest but hefty handicaps.<\/p>\n

I can tell you that my GolfShot is accurate enough for me. Interestingly, though, my friend Jeff, who has the same app, sometimes gets slightly different readings. We believe that\u2019s because we have different mobile-phone service providers.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/a>

Talk about a Group Photo: Me and my friend, the Royal & Ancient. Or should I say, `Friends?’<\/p><\/div>\n

Fourth, GolfShot e-mails your scorecard to you and those you have kept score for. This is\u00a0a nice touch.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my favorite feature, though: Along with the e-mailed scorecard, GolfShot will e-mail a “group photo.\u2019\u2019 I\u2019m keeping a gallery of these. Love the memories.<\/p>\n

\"With<\/a>

With Ira Miller. Hey, it was cold out. Look close and you’ll see flaps on my fleece cap. Nice to know Group Photo is an all-weather feature<\/p><\/div>\n

Bottom line: I\u2019ve become a big fan of my iPhone golf GPS. It even worked in Scotland. Surprisingly, no recurring service fee. But my favorite part still might be the photo gallery I\u2019ve been collecting. I\u2019m not so good with the hand-held iPhone self-portraits. But I\u2019m having fun learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dedicated readers may remember what I said at the start of the 2012 season about having no interest in a… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,18,7],"tags":[3290,977321],"class_list":["post-788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-equipment","category-lifestyle","category-personalities","tag-golf-gps","tag-golfshot"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/IMG_0584.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":804,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions\/804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}