Redtiger is one of the most budget-friendly rangefinders that has nearly all the same features toated by those 4x the price. If you are looking to add a rangefinder to your bag this is a great device to start with.
Who is this for?
Well, if you need a budget Rangefinder or are looking to supplement your GPS distances, this is a great device to try. With quality
Disclaimer
Alright, let’s start with the fact that I am a GPS person, for 10+ years I have relied on my phone, watch, or other GPS device to guide me around the course. This is usually enough information to help me accurately navigate the treacherous terrain. With being able to see front middle back, likely hazards, and even a hole map. I have used a Garmin watch, in one form or another, primarily for the last 5 years. This is my preferred option. I get distances to the green and general hazards, and I do not need to check my phone; every shot is a major selling point. It has become part of my routine to check my watch before stepping up to the ball, even after club selection, and yes sometimes I end up checking it on putts.
Saying all that I find myself needing more information than that provides, there are times when I am trying to get out of trouble, wanting to know distances to specific hazards or markers. So let’s give the rangefinder a test and see what I’m missing.
What the Redtiger offers
This rangefinder has many key features most golfers will find beneficial beyond just a yardage number.
- Slope mode – An estimated yardage after elevation is taken into account
- Magnetic Mount
- Secure Bag mountable carrying case
- 7x Magnification
- Claimed 0.5 yard accuracy
- Claimed IP54 waterproof rating
- 2-year warranty
Most of these features are quite common across the industry, but there is nothing that was advertised that really fell short. Is it accurate to 0.5 yards? I don’t know but it never felt wrong it always matched or was close enough to my GPS, cart GPS, or course markings that it didn’t really matter to me. Heck, if it was within 5 yards my game probably still wouldn’t know the difference.
Redtiger On course
First let’s start with an odd elephant in the room, Battery Life. I charged it right out of the box… even though it was delivered full, Played 72 holes and was still on Full bars, played 36 more holes over the next few weeks, and then took 3 months of winter off and when I got out to play 18 holes this year it was still at “Full Battery”
OK now onto the actual reason you buy a rangefinder for the numbers. The RedTiger is by far accurate enough for my needs. I didn’t pace off my exact distance to the random tree, bunker, or flag but this delivered what I needed it and never seemed off. I kept the Slope feature enabled because well I’m not in any tournaments and just playing for fun. It provided good value even just knowing how much up or downhill was I can’t comment on their formula for calculating the difference.
Although, this is a small feature the magnetic mount is great if you are using a cart since it allows you to quickly grab and check yardages before leaving the cart to grab your club.
The only hiccup I noticed was likely some user error getting locked onto the pin. It may have been the courses not having the pin reflectors. I also noticed I had better luck aiming at the flag compared to the pole. Again if I shot the pin 3-4 times it would like on most times and would give me one consistant value.
Will this be my only yardage device?
Short answer, No. That is primarily because I play on enough courses where line of sight to where you want to land it is rarely an expectation. With enough doglegs, hills, blind tee shots, and the sort, there is need for a variety of measurement devices. (That also may be the Engineer in me).
With that said I would recommend this to just about anyone looking to start using a rangefinder. It helps add more information and more understanding to the course you’re playing and shot that’s in front of you to make the most educated decision. (Then pray you can execute it.)
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