Golf watch, laser or app: which device answers which question

Three devices answer the same question, but not equally well: how far is it to the flag. The difference is not accuracy alone, but what you are holding and how long it takes. And a rule most people do not know.

The three devices and the prices

Prices at a Swiss online shop on 26 September 2026 (lasers, watches, GPS devices):

Device	Price in Switzerland	What it does well
Laser rangefinder	CHF 229.90 to 719.00	exact distance to a visible target
GPS watch	CHF 199.90 to 599.90	distances hands-free, score on your wrist
GPS handheld	CHF 129.90 to 599.90	bigger picture, hole map, battery
App on your phone	free to subscription	distance, scorecard, statistics

A mid-range laser reaches 400 yards and is accurate to within one yard, with six times magnification and a coin cell that lasts a year (Garmin Approach Z30). That is more accurate than any GPS, but only to a target you can see.

The difference that counts

A laser measures the straight line to a visible point. With a tree in the way or a blind green it measures nothing. A GPS watch, by contrast, knows the map of the hole and gives you the distance to the middle, the front and the back of the green, even from the trees.

So the answer is not either or but what you need most of the time. Anyone who values the exact pin distance takes the laser. Anyone who wants to keep moving and never hold anything takes the watch.

What is banned in competition

The Rules of Golf allow information on distance and direction. Not allowed are measuring elevation changes and interpreting that information, for example a club recommendation or a recommended line of play (R&A, Rule 4.3a). A committee may also prohibit distance-measuring devices entirely by Local Rule.

That hits exactly the feature everyone advertises: the elevation-adjusted distance, called plays-like or slope on the devices. In competition it has to be switched off, and devices with a switch show that with an indicator. Anyone who cannot switch it off leaves the device in the bag.

How accurate a GPS is

Accurate enough for the middle of the green and too inaccurate for the flag. A GPS does not know the day's pin position; it computes to a stored point. Front and back of a green are often twenty to thirty metres apart, and that is more than the difference between two irons.

So the most useful GPS reading is not the middle but the combination of front and back. Read it and you finish short less often and long less often, which is what the numbers are for.

The watch as a scorecard

A watch's real advantage is not distance but that it does both: distance and score, with no phone. A round with a phone in your pocket costs battery and pace; a watch costs one button press per hole.

Some models add a link to the laser: the measured distance is sent to the watch or the app. That is convenience, not an advantage in play, and it costs the premium of the upper half of the price list.

What an app does instead

It costs nothing and keeps count. Distances, a scorecard and, at some providers, shot tracking and statistics are free; which feature sits behind which subscription differs sharply. The comparison is in Golf apps in practice.

Its drawbacks are battery and looking down. Four hours of continuous positioning finishes an older phone, and tapping after every shot slows the group. As a start the app is still the right choice, because it costs nothing.

How a laser works

It sends a light pulse at the target and measures the time until it returns. To help you find the flag, a mid-range model has six times magnification and vibrates once it has locked on to the pin; the coin cell lasts up to a year (Garmin).

Locking on is where cheap devices fail. Without the vibration you do not know whether you measured the flag or the tree behind it, and a tree ten metres behind the green is exactly the error that means one club too many.

When the two disagree

Believe the laser when you can see the flag, and the GPS when you cannot. The laser measures what you aim at; the GPS computes to a stored point and does not know the day's pin position. Two different numbers are not a fault but two different questions.

On a raised or falling green the elevation comes on top, and you may not account for it in competition. In casual play it helps, in a competition it belongs switched off, and that decision is made before the first tee rather than at the third hole.

A bay needs none of them

In a simulator bay the distance is on the screen, and the device measures it more precisely than any laser. Anyone practising indoors needs no accessory, just an hour and a note: your own carry distance per club.

That table is the only thing that turns a distance to the flag into a decision. How to build it in an hour is in Club distances, and what the other numbers on the screen mean is in Understanding launch monitor numbers.

Battery life

Three devices, three orders of magnitude. A laser runs up to a year on a coin cell (Garmin), a golf watch from one round to several days depending on the mode, a phone on continuous GPS barely one round.

That is why many people move from the app to a device after a season: not because of accuracy, but because the phone is flat at the sixteenth hole and stops keeping the card as well.

The order for the money

The free app first, for a season. Then, once you notice that the pin distance is missing, an entry-level laser for around CHF 230 to 300. A watch only when the phone starts to bother you, and the top of the price list never on a single argument.

What none of these devices provides is your own distance table. A distance to the flag only helps when you know how far your 7 iron carries, and a bay measures that in an hour: Club distances. A venue is on the map.

Frequently asked questions

Laser or GPS: which is better?

A laser is more accurate but only to a visible target; a mid-range model reaches 400 yards and is accurate to within a yard. GPS gives distance to the middle, front and back of the green even when it is blind, but does not know the day's pin position.

Is a golf watch allowed in competition?

Distance and direction yes, elevation correction and club recommendation no. The plays-like or slope function has to be switched off, and a committee may prohibit distance-measuring devices entirely by Local Rule. If you cannot switch it off, leave the device in the bag.

What does a rangefinder cost in Switzerland?

A laser between CHF 229.90 and 719.00, a GPS watch between CHF 199.90 and 599.90, a GPS handheld from CHF 129.90. An app gives distances for free, and its line to a subscription differs sharply by provider.

Do I need a device as a beginner?

No. A free app is enough for a first season. More important than the distance to the flag is your own distance table: without knowing how far your 7 iron carries, an exact number to the flag helps little.

What do plays-like or slope mean?

A distance that accounts for elevation: more uphill, less downhill than the straight line. Practical in casual play, but not allowed in competition, because the Rules exclude measuring elevation changes.

Sources

• R&A: Rules of Golf, Regel 4.3a (Ausrüstung) (Höhenmessung und Schlägerempfehlung nicht erlaubt)
• Garmin: Approach Z30 Laser-Entfernungsmesser (400 Yards, ein Yard genau, sechsfache Vergrösserung)
• Golfers Paradise: Laser-Entfernungsmesser (Preise am 26. September 2026)
• Golfers Paradise: Golfuhren
• Golfers Paradise: GPS-Geräte und Launch Monitors