Stop guessing your distances and buy a rangefinder to do the work for you.
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Welcome to Stuff Golfers Should Know, a GOLF.com series in which we reveal all kinds of useful golf (and life!) wisdom that is sure to make you the smartest, savviest and most prepared player in your foursome.
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What’s the best way to shoot lower scores? Practice more and become more consistent is the most obvious answer, but there are things you can buy that will certainly help your quest. Some of them you might already own, others you might not, but here are five you should consider.
Rangefinder or GPS watch
Stop guessing with your yardages and get the facts. There are lots of different price points, so you can get a more affordable GPS watch that has measured distances to hazards and the front, middle and back of greens. Or spend a few more bucks and get distance devices that read exact pin locations and can even calculate slope. You’ll never realize how much it helps until you get one yourself.
I can speak from experience on this one. I had a fitting at GOLFTEC this summer and was told my lie angles on all my irons were way off, which will definitely affect your ball-striking. Even a simple fitting with your putter can help. I found a better shaft offset for me, bought a new flatstick and immediately saw better results. (Our sister company, True Spec Golf, also specializes in fittings.)
Alignment sticks
When I took lessons this summer, I was shocked to find my alignment was way off. I thought I was aiming directly at my target, but my feet were actually aimed left. A drill helped me straighten that out, but an alignment-stick purchase allowed me to continue to practice the correct alignment on the range. Now it’s been a part of my range routine prior to every round. It’s an extremely handy tool that you can also use for different drills on the range or when chipping or putting.
There’s a bunch of them, and they’ll all basically work, but keeping your putting stroke consistent in the offseason — talking to you, those who live up north! — will be huge come spring time.
As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.