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This post provides information and reviews of the best rangefinder for junior golfers. In our experience there are certain characteristics that make a golf rangefinder more or less suitable for junior golfers.
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8 Great Rangefinders for Junior Golfers
Bushnell Tour V6 Shift (Slope)
Easy to use, great features, accurate and fast. Great choice for intermediate to advanced junior golfer.
Key features include :
- PinSeeker with Visual JOLT technology
- Accurate to within inches of your target.
- Ranges 5 to 1,300 yards; 400+ yards to a flag
- 6x Magnification
- Fast focus system with LCD display (ensures a quick and clear lock on to target)
- Ergonomical design with magnetic mount and IPX6 weather resistant
Bushnell Pro X3+
Bushnell's top of the line range finder! Great choice for intermediate to advanced junior golfer.
Key features include:
- Slope-Switch with Elements (i.e. takes into account temperature and pressure)
- Rubber Armored Metal Housing
- IPX7 Fully Waterproof
- PinSeeker with JOLT Technology
- Magnetic mount for golf cart play
- Accurate to a 1 yard
- Ranges 5 to 1,300 Yds; 450+ Yds to a Flag
- Dual Display Technology
- 7X Magnification with enhanced backlight display
- Fast Focus System
Leupold GX-6c Rangefinder
Great features and a good price. Top Choice for Precision, Warranty and Customer Service. Military-grade laser technology.
Key features include:
- Lightening fast DNA (digitally enhanced accuracy) for fast measurements
- Intelligent Flag Lock technology finds the pin instead of trees or other objects
- Prism lock with audible alert
- True Golf Range (TGR) provides distances taking into account slope, temperature and altitude.
- Fog mode and one-touch scan mode
- High Light Transmission LCD display
- 6X Magnification
- Accuracy of 1 yard to 700 yards
- Range of 450 yards to pin, 700 reflective.
- Lightweight aluminum housing yet rugged, durable and waterproof
- Great value for money
- Excellent customer service and warranty (the writer has personally had 2 free replacement units shipped to them)
Leupold PinCaddie 3
Top Choice for Beginner to Advanced Tournament Players (non Slope). Rugged, Great Warranty. Military-grade laser technology.
Key features include:
- Lightening fast DNA (digitally enhanced accuracy) for fast measurements
- Pin Hunter 3 Laser technology finds the pin instead of trees or other objects
- Accurate to a 1 yard at 125 yards
- Range of 6 to 300 yards
- Rugged, durable and waterproof
- Great value for money
- Excellent customer service and warranty (the writer has personally had 2 free replacement units shipped to them)
Callaway 300 Pro
Excellent features at a reasonable price
Key features include:
- P.A.T. (Pin Acquisition) with Pulse Technology™ (short vibration confirms lock-on to the pin)
- Integrated magnet to affix the rangefinder to a golf cart frame
- Slope feature which provides adjusted distances for uphill or downhill shots (has an external on/off switch for tournament play)
- Excellent value for money
- 6x magnification
- Range of 5 to 1,000 yards, accurate to 1 yard
At about half the price of a Bushnell rangefinder with similar features, this is a great value option. The downside is that it can take a few attempts to lock onto the pin or other object, making it a little more difficult to use for juniors.
Nikon Coolshot ProII Stabilized
Feature rich, stabilization great for juniors, reasonably priced
Key features include:
- Stabilization technology for both the viewfinder and outbound laser makes this a very easy to use rangefinder for junior golfers
- Slope function with tournament option that displays when slope is off
- Hyper Read technology provides almost instantaneous measurements with a high visibility OLED display (auto or manual brightness levels option)
- "Dual Locked On Echo"technology gives the user a green ring that circles the target (e.g. pin instead of background trees) as well as an audible confirmation to confirm lock
- Option for continuous measurement of up to 8 seconds for quick and easy measurements to multiple targets like back of bunkers, trees, hazards, pin etc.
- Waterproof and rugged enough to withstand the occasional drop
Precision Pro NX10 Slope
Feature rich, easy to use, reasonably priced rangefinder
Features include:
- Adaptive Slope function
- Water Resistance
- Target acquisition vibration notification
- 999 yard range
- Accurate to One Yard
- SCan be personalized and comes in many colors and designs
- Secure, magnetic cart grip
TecTecTec VPRO 500
Popular and less expensive rangefinder with slope
Features include:
- Low price point
- Slope technology
- Advanced Pinsensor technology with target lock vibration
- Accurate to 1 yard
- Ranges up to 800 yards
- Durable and lightweight
- Water resistant
What is a Rangefinder?
Also called lasers, golf rangefinders help the player determine the distance to certain fixed points on the golf course, for example, the pin, hazards, trees, layup spots etc. Assuming the junior golfer knows their distances for each club in their bag, a rangefinder is extremely helpful on the course and critical for tournament play. For an experienced junior golfer a rangefinder is an essential part of the golfer's equipment.
Why Should You Use a Rangefinder?
Distance Accuracy
Knowing the exact distance to play a shot is the primary the reason that a golfer uses a rangefinder on the course. Juniors are able to swing more confidently towards a target (e.g. the pin, a layup area or short of a hazard) once they have a accurate distance and know how far they hit each of their clubs. For a junior golfer, who may not necessarily have the distance for a long carry over a lake or extensive rough or hazard, it is helpful to get the distance to a good lay-up. Taking the uncertainty out of a shot gives the player confidence to trust his/her swing. The best rangefinder will easily pick up distances to pin, hazards, trees etc.
Club Distance Information
Knowing the carry distance that your junior hits his/her clubs is very important as it takes the guess work out of which club to hit in a particular situation. Of course distance is not the only factor in club selection (the ball's lie and the line are also important). A junior golfer who as all the relevant data necessary for hitting the shot will be more relaxed, more committed to the shot and thus potentially perform better.
For the reasons set out above a rangefinder is also critical to a junior players practice and determining how far they hit each club. This is even more important to juniors than adults as juniors grow quickly and their distances are continuously changing. In the absence of a trackman or personal golf launch monitor, a rangefinder is a great tool to determine club distances at the range. The best rangefinder will pick up distances to various objects on the driving range which can help in determining carry distances.
What factors make the best rangefinder?
Features
Since more features generally equate to more $, you need to determine if you are looking for a feature rich rangefinder or if you just need a good value, well built but basic model. Do you need features like Jolt technology, Slope, and Vivid Display? Or are basic distances measurement abilities all you need? Is your junior golfer young and just starting out or an advanced, nationally ranked player? The latter will may be able to make use of features that are more sophisticated.
Jolt Technology: Aims at eliminating all doubt that you have in fact picked up and locked on to your target, for example the flag pin. The technology provides short vibrating bursts to reinforce that the Pinseeker technology has isolated the target. This eliminates the risk of shooting the distance to the tree or fan box behind the green and "airmailing" the ball over the green (this occurs more often than you would think).
User tip - if you do not have pinseeker technology and are in doubt about the distance, shoot the pin and then also shoot the trees or other object behind the pin to make sure you really do have the pin yardage.
Slope Technology: Although the slope function is not allowed in tournament play, it is still a very helpful feature for practice rounds for revising and confirming club selection before the tournament round. We recommend making notes on your yardage book or scorecard about the "true" distance that the hole plays and thus club selection. Notes can be used for reference in a tournament but slope function cannot be used.
Rangefinders with slope technology usually allow for the slope mode to be switched off, making them USGA conforming for tournament play. The slope feature takes slopes and elevations into account when measuring distance so, particularly on elevated holes, it gives a more accurate and true measurement of distance.
Weather and Altitude: Some of the more advanced rangefinders can adjust for weather and altitude - e.g. by measuring and adjusting ball flight for barometric pressure and temperature.
Stabilization: Units that provide stabilization technology are easier to use, both in viewing the target and also locking onto the target.
Vivid-Display is optical enhancing technology that dramatically improves contrast, clarity and light transmission while increasing the brightness of digital readout information for rapid, positive identification in all light conditions.
Range
The range is the longest distance that the rangefinder can accurately record measurements. Lower-end rangefinders can provide yardage for targets 5 to 400 yards away and are accurate to within plus or minus 1 yard, while the best rangefinder can provide yardage for targets 5 to 1,300 yards away and are also accurate to within plus or minus 1 yard. Some devices also have a built in display that provide distance to the front, center and back of the green.
Design
A rangefinder must be easy to hold, light-weight, and fit well within a hand so as to aid stability. It should be durable and rugged enough to withstand the occasional drop and also should be water-proof, or at the very least rain resistant.
User-Friendly
Rangefinders perform complicated tasks but using them should not be complicated, especially for a junior golfer. A user-friendly interface, visible readings and intuitive controls are a must. Changing the mode on certain older and cheaper rangefinders can be almost impossible. We know of one junior who had his stuck on meters instead of yards and could never figure out how to change it.
Durability
Rangefinders are going to be dropped from time to time and jolted all over the course from cart path to rough to hazard. It is an investment that needs to be tough enough to withstand the rigors of junior golf competition and have a good warranty to back it up. This is more important for juniors than adults as, in our experience, juniors tend to be harder on rangefinders than adults.
