Distance to the front, center, and back and shot distance are delivered to the palm of your hand with the Yardage Pro XG Golf GPS device. Designed to make your game smarter for fewer strokes, the compact Yardage Pro unit stores up to 10 courses with hole-by-hole detail, and its large 2.1-inch display with a backlight makes reading and accessing distances effortless. Finally, the Yardage Pro is waterproof so you can use it in any weather conditions without worrying.
The Yardage Pro GPS is accurate within two yards, offering the best accuracy available for the game--and the same degree of accuracy as any other golf GPS devices on the market. Unlike a laser rangefinder, the Yardage Pro GPS allows you to determine the distance to objects that are not in your line of sight, providing you with distances to the green that are difficult to get with laser rangefinders. With rangefinders you can overshoot the green and struggle to hold the rangefinder steady. The Yardage Pro GPS gives you immediate feedback so you won't have to worry about holding up play and your concentration can remain on the game.
The Bushnell Yardage Pro allows you to store up to 10 golf courses at a time on one device. A membership to iGolf.com gives you access to the world's largest golf course database, allowing you to download up to 100 courses yearly, that all can be synced to your Yardage Pro through a simple USB connection. The Bushnell Yardage Pro offers you the birds eye view of the course so your play can be more deliberate, accurate, and successful.
Using Bushnell Yardage Pro Sync and the iGolf Database: Bushnell and iGolf have partnered to provide Bushnell Yardage Pro users with the world's largest, most accurate database of GPS course files available. A free membership on iGolf.com enables you to track your handicap, catch up on golf headlines, and find reviews of your favorite course. A paid membership with a low one-year subscription fee allows you to download and save up to 100 GPS course files annually.
A one-year membership contract with iGolf allows you to download and save any available golf courses onto your computer to use with the Yardage Pro. Since all golf course files are stored on your computer you can easily swap course files on and off the Yardage Pro as needed. The currency of the information on the iGolf website is updated regularly with any renovations or changed holes so you have access to the most up to date information possible.
Locate golf courses on the iGolf database using a simple search tool--just enter one or two keywords within the course name to produce a list of results. An advanced search option is available to narrow results further as necessary. After you have located your golf course in the iGolf database, you will see the GPS Enabled area of the screen. The program will let you know if Front/Center/Back measurements, Custom Points with measurements for the hazards on the course, and Course Images for each individual green are available.
Transferring downloaded golf courses to your Yardage Pro from your PC is easy. Simply open the Bushnell Sync Application, connect the Yardage Pro to the USB port on the computer, and power up the unit. Select the golf course that you want to transfer off of the computer, click send, and you are done.
Specifications: - 2.1-inch LCD screen
- Backlight
- Rechargeable Li-Ion battery
- Battery life up to 16 hours
- Rainproof
- Belt clip and storage pouch included
Yardage Pro Functions: - Stores up to 10 courses
- Easy-to-use interface
- Records shot distance
- Distance at a glance to center, front, and back
PC Synchronization: - Windows (2000, XP, Vista): Bushnell Yardage Pro XG Windows Installer Sync Application
- Mac OSX (Version 10.4.4 - Intel): Bushnell Yardage Pro XG Mac Installer Sync Application
What's in the Box? Bushnell Yardage Pro Golf GPS unit, belt clip and storage pouch, rechargeable Li-Ion battery
Manufacturer Warranty One-year limited
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
The most important issue when selecting a golf GPS unit is the availability and accuracy of course data. Many of the more advanced (and more expensive) units (e.g. uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf and iGolf GPS Caddie II) require a much more detailed level of course data in order for you to benefit from the expense. I found that this level of data was available for none of the courses I play regularly, so I decided to go for a simpler solution.
The next most important consideration is whether (and how easily) you can "map" your own points on a course. Not all of even the more expensive units allow this and while it is somewhat less likely that you will need to do so with these units, I can assure you that even the best mapping data will occasionally be inaccurate or missing altogether. This can really reduce the value of a GPS unit on courses that you play frequently.
I very nearly returned the Neo because of some short-comings in this area - specifically, you cannot "delete" a custom point if they provide it in their data download. This is truly a silly restriction. You can "override" an existing point by registering a different point, but why not allow a simple deletion? One of the holes I downloaded had a "pre-programmed" custom point for a creek that did not exist ! Another annoyance is that, while they provide the ability to define your own "names" (labels) for your custom points, this must be done as part of the procedure for registering the point on the course. Creating a label is a cumbersome process which simply takes too long while actually playing a hole. It would be so much easier if you could use their "default" label to do the initial mapping on the course and then edit the label back at home after the round.
In the end, I decided to keep the unit as it is mostly accurate (+/- 5 yards), it is very compact but with a legible display (even for us older folks), it is fast to start up and the battery is rechargeable with a very good life. Mainly though, I kept it because the price is very reasonable.
My final comment is that you really need both a simple GPS unit like the Neo AND a simple rangefinder to get the precise distance to the pin location. If your course has large greens, the pin location "indicator" for the day is usually not precise enough for the final approach shot. Maybe one day someone will come out with a combination unit !
