I have an iPhone 3G.  I love this thing.  A device that marries a phone, internet, gps and a camera is incredible.  I am somewhat of a gps junkie.  I’ve had several handheld gps devices and when I first heard about Sky Caddy I was sold.  The problem is that I couldn’t justify spending up to $500 on a device that is just for the course.  Nevermind that other equipment is sometimes just as much.

When I got my phone I searched the App Store for applications that would utilize the gps.  At first there weren’t many and the ones that were there weren’t that great or didn’t have many courses to choose from.  Then I found GreenFinder.  The price is more than most iPhone apps but it’s very worth it in my opinion.  I dropped the $35 for the app and took it out to the course.

My home course is Virginia Oaks in Gainesville, Virginia.  The carts at the course have gps in them.  That’s nice if you’re riding in a cart and the policy of the day let’s you drive on the fairways.  But what are you supposed to do if it’s cart path only or you’re walking the course?  That’s where this application shines.  From any point on the course (or the world for that matter) you get the yardage to the hazards as well as the front, middle and back of the greens.  I’ve also found the people at GreenFinder to be extremely responsive.  I was playing a different course and the readings were obviously wrong.  I contacted the company that night and received a response within an hour.  The mistake was corrected the next day.  If you find a course that isn’t mapped you just have to click a button and send the request.  I’ve found that the process takes only a week or two.

This is well worth the price, especially considering that other golf gps devices are usually several hundred dollars.  If I have any complaints it’s that the program does not allow you to keep score.  That’s ok though.  There are several other apps available that do.