It’s Tee Time

Yes the frigid days of January are upon us. The long cold winter has descended on these hapless souls in the northern hemisphere. But not all places above the equator have been transformed into a quasi tundra where conditions are as inhospitable as an alien planet. We here in Florida are still enjoying days in the 70s and 80s, the southwest and southern California also boast mild days and cool nights. And for those of you who do not have the good fortune to live in these warmer locations, first let me apologize. For those of you who seek refuge from the icy, blustery north, welcome. And it is to these individuals that I write this review of GolfShot, a nifty little app available on your handheld device/ smartphone from the good people at Shotzoom.


First of all there is a free “Lite” version and a full $29.99 version. I would recommend trying out the “GolfShot Lite” version before buying the full version (which I know carries a steep price tag, but worth it, once you find all the cool stuff it can do).

Let’s start with all the neat stuff that the “Lite” version does.

So when you hit the links, you take this little app with you on your phone you can use it as your scorecard for you and your golf buddies and email it to them when you are finished. It automatically loads the closest golf courses, asks you which distances you’ll be teeing off from and you also have the option of inputting your personal handicap. Then asks at which hole you will be starting and at this point you will also be entering the other members in your party.

After you finish each hole, the app lets you enter the number of strokes for each player. When you, as the owner of the app, enter your score, you also will enter the club you used to tee off (Par 3 holes), whether you sliced left, right, came up short of the fairway or hit the fairway (Par 4 and 5 holes). There are also inputs for sand shots and penalty strokes. The app complies this data at the end of each round and produces useful information such as driving accuracy, greens in regulation, recovery, putting averages and other information that is plotted on a graph and can show your progress over 5, 10, 20 and 50 rounds. You can recall your stats for each round (where it was played and what your stats were for the date and particular course) that you play and see which way your game is trending.

So in summary, that is what the “Lite” version will do. The main drawback I noticed in playing with this app is that since I am left handed golfing and right handed writing, I have to use a gloved finger to input my scores and other information so it makes my finger about twice the size. I use an iPhone so the on screen buttons can be hard to press with any degree of accuracy, but I get around this by carrying a stylus which I would recommend for this app especially if you plan to use it on the golf course where one little (innocent mind you) incorrect entry can throw your stats off.

As fun as the free, “Lite” version is, the full $29.99 version is even more enticing. This version gives you all the features as the “Lite” version, but includes a GPS feature which will measure your ball’s distance from the front, middle or the back of the green. It also includes aerial images of the course to present you with the perfect distance to the hole, making your club and shot selection that much easier.

The whole app is uncannily accurate and really does double as the ultimate range finder/ scorecard no matter where you choose to golf and regardless of your ability. The largest drawback to this particular app is that with your “location service” turned on at all times (it has to be if you want to know exactly how far from the hole your next shot is) it is a major battery drainer. Forget about answering an email or taking a call out on the course, this app will take you from 100% to 0% most likely before your round is over. The only true way to get around this is to carry a spare, portable power source, but let’s face it, who wants to do that?

But have no fear, the good people at Shotzoom have obviously listened to their reviews, taken heed and come up with a nifty alternative. Enter the Shotzoon Golf GPS Rangefinder. This app eliminates the continued use of the GPS running in the background. It is a very accurate rangefinder and can make your club selection very simple. While it does save your smart phone a good deal of battery time, it too can be a bit cumbersome and difficult to gage each time you take a shot. Holding the unit steady and seeing the screen on certain types of sun-filtered days can be a bit daunting.

I addition, Shotzoom provides Golfplan with Paul Azinger. This app provides personalized tips and tricks based on your current game. I have yet to play around with this app, but would welcome any comments from those of you who have and I will try to write a review when I get the chance.

So to conclude, I would recommend that for the average golfer, if you are looking for a nifty electronic scorecard, the Golfshot Lite version is an easy to use, free app that provides you with a ton of information and can help see which way your game is trending.

If you are into having all the ins and outs of a rangefinder and GPS system incorporated into your game, I would recommend Golfshot GPS ($29.99 in the iTunes app store), but again beware that the battery drain will be severe.