Visited my club for the first time in a month on Labor Day for a round with my wife. The first thing I noticed in the cart was they had retrofitted it with a USB charger. I ran back into the shop to let the pro know I thought that was a great addition and a game changer for those with GPS / phones.

One subtle difference maker with my Bushnell is being able to tell a playing partner (hacker) the yardage to clear a hazard on an approach. It seems to give them confidence to be able to cover the distance with a normal swing instead of over swinging with the yardage to the middle of the green in their mind. The time saved from looking for their water ball after 'swinging for the fence' is a nice benefit.

I think the new tech in driver's is important too. I know I'm keeping the ball in play off the tee much more than I did years ago and has been a tremendous help in consistency.

I love my Neo X GPS watch and feel naked playing without it. I'll break out the old laser for a scramble sometimes, but it's so much easier to glance at your wrist.

Just thought I'd sneak a post or 2 in after my ~ 2 year hiatus from golf forums 😉

    At my regular courses, where I play most, not worth it. but its good to know, but not necessary. Since I am a good judge of yardages for shots, I could do without. At courses where I haven't played, absolutely. Worth the investment. I prefer a gps, but also have a rangefinder for those instances where a gps just won't do. For example, a distance to a swale, etc. I clip my Callaway Eclipse to my belt loop so its very handy. (I hate to have to manually advance to the next hole if I do not take it onto the green.)

    I'm much faster with my Garmin GPS than my buddies with Lasers. One glance and club selection is done. In Florida I have a "talking" GPS that clips to my hat. I push the button and a sexy voice tells, me distance to center of green. Quick!

    I really enjoy my Sky caddy GPS watch; Christmas present from my girls , on sale Dicks. Minimalistic , so not a distraction like phone apps and mostly accurate to center of green. I hate doing without it when I forget to take it. Have found it off more than 10 yards on some holes though. I shake a lot so my Bushnell mostly stays in its bag unless I need distance to a hazard off tee or on the range.
    Not sure if my old G15 counts as a high tech driver? but it'd be hard to do without too , but if I had to choose between it and GPS watch it'd win.

    The Neo Ghost worked well on the muni except for one hole where I don't need it. The second hole is a 130 yd par 3, but for some reason the Neo thinks it is 175. With the spot on yardages everywhere else it is helping out. Got par on 3 of the 9 holes played. Score still sucked due to two blow up holes (no water on this course, but the primary rough is 5" deep bermuda where a ball can get lost in plain sight. However, I think I'll find the Neo more beneficial to my score than the large driver (right now an SMT Indio).

      6 days later

      Ringoblack
      Our brumuda rough eats at least two balls every 9 holes for me. Mostly, I see them land and often I find another lost ball while looking for mine . Player groups are usually following so can't look very much . I just drop a ball about wherever I thought it was , add a penalty and play . Bitch to owners to cut rough closer, a lot. Guessing they regard me as pain in butt, and poor player. Bingo!

          Provisional

          Yeah. I lost 2 in the rough on that nine and found 4 (3 junk balls and a pretty decent Pro VI). It's funny because I usually find the other balls not by sight, but by stepping on them while looking for mine. The sad part is, this is a public muni where the play is usually backed up. So, like you, I take the lost ball stroke and a penalty stroke and then drop one in the area. And with rough that deep, the next stroke is mostly just trying to gouge a wedge back into short grass. Real easy to rack up the score on a hole that way.

            rsvman Thanks doc, I'll try to come back a bit more regularly.