So now the time comes for us to consider if this handy little device will be the secret weapon for those that choose to brave the Tennessee Tee Off held in Pikeville TN. The Tee Off held the first weekend in May usually proves to be a wet one so if you are going to buy one of these rascals, make sure you think about the weather! Maybe some of the veteran Tee Off attendees care to comment??

So Father's Day came and went. My birthday came and went and now I'm looking to get the GPS of choice. The Neo seems to be a cool little unit for a small price but I like the look of the SkyCaddie better. More research to follow!

It didn't take long for me to figure out that he was looking at yardage markers along the fairway. But let's see...is that 150 yards to the front of the green? Was it to the middle or maybe to the pin? In the beginning it was all so confusing not to mention all the stuff you have to remember to execute a proper swing.

If you have played any decent amount of golf in a variety of locations I think you will agree that some courses do a much better job at marking their course than others. I have played some courses where there was the hole marker by the tee box and that was about it. Then I have also played some course where every sprinkler is marked, the cart paths are marked and the popular 200, 150 and 100 yard markers adorn the center of every fairway. Those are the courses I like!

As my game got a little better and I was feeling more confident in my swing and could rely on a given club for a given distance, I found myself to be much more confident at those well marked courses. This however reduced my variety of courses almost in half. I was missing out of my full potential just because of poor information. Then there are the "tweener" shots. You know......those are the shots between this club or that club. Inevitably I would make a poor decision and regret I didn't walk back to the bag.

Then my neighbor showed up with this device that could tell the distance to the pin no matter how far away we were. I thought he was pulling my leg until he started barking out distances and sure enough he was on the money. It was at that point I was sold! I knew this was going to be the next piece of golf equipment I was going to buy (or have my kids get if for me for Father's Day)!

How far away are we?

Long about 25 years ago, my next door neighbor (who was an avid golfer) suggested I take up the game of golf. At first, I thought he was crazy. After all, I was much to machismo for that! I was in to wrestling and boxing, football and all the cool sports that can knock your front teeth out.

After a month or so of some pretty stout peer pressure (and not wanting the old man to show me up), I agreed to go out on the course with him, his son and son-in-law. While I had some natural athletic ability and was pretty limber, I was .....well.....I stunk! But realizing the internal and personal challenge, I actually kinda liked the sport! These guys were good! I can remember my neighbor would just look on the ground somewhere and know exactly how far he was from the pin. I thought it was AMAZING!!! Being new to the sport, it didn't matter whether I was 150 or 250 yards away, I was hitting everything I had. I was tough darn it! But how did he know what club to hit from what he learned from looking at the ground? At this stage of my game, it was all a mystery!