Customer Reviews

Bushnell Yardage Pro Tour Laser Rangefinder

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a beautifully constructed laser instrument for accurately measuring your distance to the pin or to any obstacle on the course.

It is easy to get a reliable and accurate measurement to any feature you see on the golf course, be it a tree, a lake, a sand-trap, or hopefully a pin. Obviously, you can't use such an item in a tournament or any competition, but for all other times when you are playing golf you will find this an invaluable tool.

No more driving around furtively looking for a yardage marker which, if it is there, is of questionable accuracy. When you get your Yardage Pro you'll find that many of the provided yardages are inaccurate!

I purchased one for my father for Christmas and liked it so much I bought another for myself. My dad, 83 years old, loves his and can operate it with ease. And if he, who is technologically challenged, can operate it, believe me you can too.

My father and I both love using this instrument and find it a lot of fun. It is not only useful on the golf course but there are innumerable applications that will only occur to you once you have it. I use my for sighting in my rifle and for all sorts of other things.

No downside to this product whatsoever. I heartily recommend it!

Works better than I could have hoped. I have used it for about a month and it is very simple to execute -- but you have to be able to hold somewhat steady which is not a problem for me. If you are someone who has the shakes -- may be a problem.
I have compared the accuracy to gps devices with guys playing with me. This is better since it gives you the actual yardage to the pin. Also, you can get yardage to another golfer in the field, and yardage to any object, bunker, tree etc., which the gps can't.
A lot of courses are not marked correctly, and, of course, yardage changes depending on how far off to the side of the fairway -- or even out of the fairway -- you are. This is where it is especially nice. There are times when without this device you are just flat out guessing.
This is an awesome piece of technology. It was well worth the price for me.

I've used this since 2001 and extensively in 2006 now that it's USGA legal. Not sure why others have having trouble holding this steady. Anything <200 yards I have no problem hitting the flag (you don't aim at the stick, you aim at the flag). Excellent for getting distances to bunkers, trees, and other hazards.

200 and over it is difficult for me to hit the flag, but all you have to do is wait for someone to pull or reinsert the pin, and you beam it off the player.

Inside 150 I've never had a problem getting the distance. I have learned to first laser an object behind the pin (such as a tree), then move up to the pin so I know for sure that I'm getting the flagstick and not the tree in the background.

My dad has the "Pinseeker" model and it IS quicker and easier to beam off a small object, but it's also a lot more expensive... and it's larger.

I just purchased this unit and found it to be extremely useful on the course. I have "shaky" hands and from a distance it's difficult to view the flag distance but I've found that if I use the scan mode and just scan the area of the flag and I view the flag for a second it does give the distance which is all I need. For other items like bunkers, trees and edges of water, it's a breeze. It's light and easy to use.

This product performs as advertised. Just consider that when you are buying a super lightweight range finder, keeping it steady to get a reading on a distant (over 100 yards) small object (i.e. a flag stick) will be a challenge. Leaning on a cart (as a tripod) or aiming on a bigger object (person, tree, sand trap, etc.) close to the intended target work as an alternative when the flag stick reading is too difficult to attain. I have tried a heavier model and found it easier to keep steady.

I had high expectations when purchasing a laser range finder for use on the golf course. After a lot of research, I settled on the Pro Tour Laser.
As previous reviewers have stated, this unit is very hard to stabilize. I have a feeling this is true of all lasers.
Even with supporting both elbows on the hood of a car I found this unit very hard to find yardages for objects beyond 150 yards paricularly when bright sunlight is present.
On the golf course, finding the flag and obtaining a yardage at longer yardages is almost impossible if there are objects behind the flag such as trees or landscaping.
This unit has been returned and I have gone to a standard handheld GPS instead. Once the center of the green is initially saved as a waypoint, this is a very reliable and quick method to get a yardage, you just have to convert feet or 1/100's of a mile into yards. I do this with a chart taped on the back of the GPS. Accuracy is about 2-4 yards which is good enough for anyone but a vey low handicapper.
I am staying away from a laser finder until golf courses uniformly put reflectors on their poles.

I've been using the Yardage Pro on the golf course for about 6 weeks and would recommend it to anyone that wants accurate distances to the pin. I have no complaints.

I have used a Bushnell Yardage Pro400 Laser Rangefinder since June, 1997. This summer it went belly-up, so I purchased the Bushnell Yardage Pro Tour (#200002), a much smaller instrument than the Pro400, which was like a binocular. However, with our new reflector flagsticks, I could read beyond 400 yards by merely pointing toward the green, without actually seeing the flag. It worked great. The Yardage Pro Tour, while small and convenient, is no where near as accurate or sensitive as the Pro400. It's hard to hold steady and must be exactly on the reflector flagstick to get a reading. It has a special feature, which if you depress the button for more than 3 seconds, it starts scanning (It usually takes longer than 3 seconds to get any reading). With a jiggling hand, the instrument flashes various yardage numbers faster than one can read them of whatever the instrument is scanning at that instant. Even with the flagstick laser reflectors, it's very difficult to get a reading. It's almost impossible to read the flag from beyond 150 yards. Certainly, it can't compare with the old Pro400. I sent the Pro400 to Bushnell for a repair, but they have no parts for it. They did offer to sell me a Yardage Pro Trophy (#202018), a lesser model than the Yardage Pro Tour, for $150. I can't honestly recommend the Yardage Pro Tour. If I had it to do over, I'd probably buy the Elite 1500, a larger, more expensive instrument reminiscent of the Pro400.

6/1/07 UPDATE - I returned the Yardage Pro Tour on 3/29/07, requesting a replacement under warranty for a defective product. On 4/26/07, I received a warranty replacement. However, the eyepiece was not adjustable, which rendered it useless for me. I called and got a "Call Tag" for returning it to Bushnell. On 5/29/07, a second replacement arrived with adjustable eyepiece but without the collapsible eyepiece rubber cup (oh, well!). This device works very good, probably as specified. I've used it only two days, but was able to get all the readings that I attempted. I read a laser reflective pin at 417 yds, not that I needed that reading for choice of club, but just to see what it would do. On another golf course, without the reflectors, I could still read the flags from where I got curious. It may be a coincidence, but the gold flag seemed easier to read. I'll have to check this further. All in all, I would say this is an acceptable product probably worth the price. I would give it 4 to 4.5 Stars if I knew how to edit the Star rating. Nevertheless, I would opt for the Pinseeker Elite 1500 if I purchase another.

I found that this rangefinder is very difficult to hold still on a flagg to find distance. I am very sorry that I did not get one of the larger size finders that I have owned in the past from Bushnell. My view is not to buy it for golf.
R nelson

I expected that the rangefinder would consistently give me a correct distance to the flag. Instead it often gives two or three different readings varying as much as one hundred yards. By using my common sense I can eliminate the 234 yard reading and settle on the 94 yard reading if I know I am around 100 yards out. Friends with the laser rangefinders that reflect off the flags that are so equipped, and friends with older model Bushnell rangefinders do not seem to have this problem. I tried to return this product but was told I could not because I did not have the original packaging. Conclusion: disappointing product and unacceptable return policy.