By John Strege

Are you in the market for a laser rangefinder and want to support a worthy cause in the process? Bushnell Golf is offering the Tour Z6 Wingman Pack and is donating a portion of the proceeds to the Folds of Honor Foundation.

The Wingman Pack includes Bushnell's Tour Z6 laser rangefinder, the smallest and most technologically-advanced in its laser line. It includes the company's E.S.P. (extreme, speed, precision) technology. Also included in the Wingman Pack is a carrying case and battery, as well as a Bushnell Golf/Folds of Honor Foundation embroidered microfiber towel.

The Wingman Pack retails for $399 and is available at a variety of golf stores.

Major Dan Rooney, a former F-16 pilot and a PGA of America professional, founded the Folds of Honor Foundation to provide scholarships to the spouses and children of military service members killed or disabled.

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By John Strege

The market for GPS rangefinders worn on the wrist is a rapidly growing category, for good reason: Simplicity. There is no need to reach for a rangefinder.

Bushnell already had entered that market with the Neo+ Golf GPS Watch, but it is introducing the next generation, the Neo-X Golf GPS Watch. It comes pre-loaded with more than 30,000 courses, features automatic course recognition, and in addition to providing yardages to the front, center and back of greens, it also provides yardages to hazards, a function to measure shot distances, tells time and has a stopwatch and an odometer.

The popularity of wrist devices is reflected in the number of companies offering them. In addition to Bushnell, others offering them are SkyCaddie, GolfBuddy, Garmin ane Expresso.

The Neo-X will be available May 1 and will retail for $199.95.

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By John Strege

SkyGolf has expanded its universe of rangefinders with the introduction of the SkyCaddie Sport Series, featuring four offerings, each under $200 and designed to appeal to a greater variety of golfers. Each comes pre-loaded with up to 30,000 courses.

The SkyCaddie Watch (with an introductory price of $199) provides yardages to the front, center and back of greens and is a multi-purpose device that comes with an odometer, calarie counter, clock and stopwatch.

The SkyCaddie Gimme ($169) is a compact device that features a high-resolution 2.2-inch color display.

The SkyCaddie Aire ($129) is a mini-hand-held device that can be clipped to a push cart or golf bag or worn on the belt.

Finally, the SkyCaddie Voice ($150) offers yardages vocally with the tap of a button. It can be clipped to a hat or visor and worn on a belt.

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By John Strege

Rangefinders continue to evolve, even in packages already small and functional, like those worn on the wrist in the manner of a wristwatch. Garmin Golf joined that fray with its Approach S1 and now has improved upon it with the Approach S2.

The S2 comes preloaded with more than 30,000 courses world wide and can be used right out of the package. It provides distances to the front, middle and back of greens, and features layup and dogleg distances. For those walking the course, it even inlcudes an odometer to chart your mileage.

The S2 comes with a digital scoreard feature that enables golfers to save their scores via a web-based program from Garmin.

Oh, and it really is a wristwatch, too, providing the time and the date.

The Approach S2 will become available in March, with a suggested retail price of $250.

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By John Strege

One issue with laser rangefinders has always been the uncertainty that you've zeroed in on the right target and not, say, a tree behind it. Bushnell Golf has taken steps to eliminate any doubt with its new Tour v3 laser rangefinder.

The Tour v3 features a new technology that Bushnell calls JOLT that provides short vibrating bursts to help reinforce in the user's mind that the target has been isolated by the company's existing PinSeeker technology.

The Tour v3 is accurate to within one yard, according to Bushnell, and has a range up to 1,000 yards. It will retail for $299 and will be available in February.

There also is a Tour v3 Slope Edition, which features the additional benefit of Slope Technology -- distances that take into account elevation changes, removing the guesswork. It will retail for $399 and also will be available in February.

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By John Strege

Once the exclusive province of the watch, the wrist has begun to make way for technology. Already we've seen the introduction of GPS rangefinders worn on the wrist.

Now a company called Pebble is preparing to introduce a device that includes a rangefinder app, but does so much more. It bills it as "the first watch built for the 21st century."

Pebble's device features a 1.26-inch e-paper screen. It connects via bluetooth to an iPhone or Android and can show the time in a variety of watch faces. It can alert the user to incoming phone calls, text messages or email and can be customized with a host of apps, including a rangefinder app that delivers yardages to the front, center and back of greens.

Pebble is working with FreeCaddie for its course information. The app is free and provides just the yardages to the front, center and back of greens. For $5.95, it offers the FreeCaddiePro, which includes distances to hazards and bunkers and allows for downloading courses.

The device is not yet available, though it is taking pre-orders and is expected to ship early this year. The cost is $150.

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By John Strege

There is something to be said for simplicity (hence the adage often employed in golf: KISS, for Keep It Simple Stupid).

SkyCaddie already has the comprehensive covered, with its SGX rangefinder. Now it has introduced the Breeze, the name said to reflect its ease of use -- a breeze.

The Breeze comes pre-loaded with courses and automatically identifies the course at which the golfer is playing, then automatically provides distances to the front, center and back of greens, none of it requiring even the push of a single button. Pretty simple.

The company calls it "a virtual sprinkler head."

The Breeze also has a scorecard for digital scorekeeper and can also measure exact shot distances.

It has a suggested retail price of $229.95, but can be upgraded to include some of the features that are included on the SGX, HoleVue among them. HoleVue provides distances to any point on a hole, permitting the golfer to know, say, how far it is to a hazard.

Consumers can reduce the cost of the Breeze through the SkyGolf Trade-in program, by trading in a used SkyCaddie or laser rangefinder, or even old golf clubs, for a discount.

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Callaway Golf last week introduced its upro mx+ rangefinder, a new and improved version of the upro mx, emphasis on improved.

"When we launched the mx last year, it was not our biggest success," Callaway's Scott Goryl said. "People encountered some frustrating software bugs with it. First and foremost, all those problems have been solved."

Aerial imagery remains the principal point of differentiation from other rangefinders. "The feedback on that particular element has been really good," Goryl said, "especially if you're playing a course you're not familiar with, so you can see what's around the bend before you hit the ball over there."

The aerial imagery (unlimited courses provided at no additional charge), available when the device is set in Pro Mode, is downloaded from callawayuxplore.com. Pro Mode also provides AnyPoint Technology, allowing the user to identify yardage to any point on any hole using the touch screen.

"The software itself is a lot easier to navigate," Goryl said, "everything from the menu screens and the touch surface. It didn't work all that great before, but it's a lot more responsive now. Navigating is a lot smoother."

Another feature offered by Callaway, one that doesn't require the purchase of the upro mx+, is that the satellite imagery and video flyovers are available at callwayuxplore.com. "People can go and check out holes before they play a course," Goryl said.

The Callaway upro mx+ retails for $250 and will be available on May 30.

-- John Strege

The competitive rangefinder category continues to expand, making it increasingly more difficult for a company to differentiate itself.

GolfBuddy has done so with its latest offering, the GolfBuddy Voice, that with the push of a button audibly provides yardage to the middle of the green (or front or back). It might not be for everyone; the sound of a ringing cell phone is a nuisance on the golf course, so presumably -- for somet -- will be a talking rangefinder. But it does come with volume control.

It is a clever little device (it weighs an ounce and measures 1.7 inches wide). It is multilingual (eight languages), is pre-loaded with more than 35,000 courses internationally, and has automatic course and hole recognition. Its cost is $179.

And for those who would prefer a rangefinder that doesn't speak, GolfBuddy has six other GPS devices from which to choose, including the new full feature GolfBuddy Platinum.

-- John Strege

A growing category in rangefinders is the GPS device resembling a wristwatch. The latest to join the fray is Bushnell, a leading player in the rangefinder market, both GPS and laser (and even a hybrid). Bushnell has introduced the Neo+ Golf GPS Watch.

It comes pre-loaded with 25,000 courses and provides yardages to the front, center and back of greens. It automatically recognizes the course and the hole on which the consumer is playing. It includes a watch and an odometer and has a battery life in GPS mode of more than 14 hours.

The price is $200.

Garmin and Expresso Satellite Navigation also have introduced GPS devices worn on the wrist.

-- John Strege