Accel Golf

[zebug]

hmmmm interesting that the range finder isn't working for you. Like I said, I haven't made it to the course yet but yesterday on my way back home from work I turned on this app and after I zoomed out far enough to see my location on the map, it said I was 14, 000 + yards from my first green. So it appears that the GPS is working.

I think this app has a lot of potential so I will write up a summary after I play in two weeks.

 

[gbouten]

To be honest I haven't found a golf app that I like. I have the Golf Logix GPS unit and when I got the droid I thoght I'd check out their app. The problem was in bright sunlight I couldn't read it and talk about killing the battery I didn't make it though 18 holes. I tried "How Far Am I" and it seemed a bit better but still hard to see in sunlight. I will look at Accel Gold and see what I think about it. Just give me an ap that will correct my slice and I will be happy.

 

[gbouten]

It couldn't find the course I'm leaving to play at.

 

[jutang]

hmmmm interesting that the range finder isn't working for you. Like I said, I haven't made it to the course yet but yesterday on my way back home from work I turned on this app and after I zoomed out far enough to see my location on the map, it said I was 14, 000 + yards from my first green. So it appears that the GPS is working.

I think this app has a lot of potential so I will write up a summary after I play in two weeks.

Maybe I am not using the range finder correctly. This morning, I zoomed out to where I live until the red marker was on the screen. If I drag the blue marker to where my red marker is on the map, it gives me the distance to the hole, but do I have to do this every time on the golf course?

 

[zebug]

It couldn't find the course I'm leaving to play at.

You can easily add a course to the database by going on their website (think it uses google maps and you just drop markers on the tee, 2 on the fairway, then one in the middle of the green...takes maybe 15 minutes)

Maybe I am not using the range finder correctly. This morning, I zoomed out to where I live until the red marker was on the screen. If I drag the blue marker to where my red marker is on the map, it gives me the distance to the hole, but do I have to do this every time on the golf course?

I'm not sure whats going on jutang, I tried it again yesterday when I was letting my kid play at a nearby playground...zoomed out all the way until I got my red mark showing where I was, but this time it wouldn't show the distance.

I also noticed that it was showing meters on my phone rather than yards so I logged off and tried to log back on but have been unable to do so. I'm hoping (once I get logged on again) that when I am on the golf course that it will work.

I have a back up app called freecaddie that just shows distance to the front/middle/back of the green (no satellite overhead view) just in case my Accelgolf isn't doing what I need.

After digging around some more on their forum, most people offering suggestions are asking for automatic distance to green rather than using the points, so it seems like this doesn't have distance to green just yet. Again, I will verify while on the course not this weekend, but the following weekend and report back here. I'm sure this is something that they will add in the future as it is still in beta. Otherwise, its just a really good golf shot tracking app.

 

[zebug]

ok, well I finally made it out to the course so I thought I'd clear up any confusion on this app.

accelgolf is just starting out, it has some promise but for me, it just isn't there yet. It looks like a cool shot tracking tool where you can see some stats on GIR, sand saves, 3 putts, etc.

The range finder portion is what is lacking. Currently, you can see an overview of the hole (think it uses google maps) and thats great but it doesn't automatically tell you your distance to the green. To do that, you have drag a point on the screen to where you are at and getting that precise is nearly impossible.

If they ever make it automatically take your position and show you how far it is to the green, then they will be well on their way to a great app. For now, free apps like freecaddie work just as well (minus the overhead view and the shot tracking ability).

For me, I just want to know how far it is to clear that bunker on the left, or what the front/center/back of the green is. I will keep an eye on accelgolf for improvements but it is now off of my phone. I went and bought skydroid for $0.99 which does everything I need (distances to front/center/back of green, front and back of hazzards, and a satellite overview of the hole)

 

[jutang]

The Rangefinder is really the biggest thing that accel golf really needs to work on... that and keeping track of chipping.

I am intrigued by the skydroid app, but browsing courses on their website seems to be very non friendly to navigate. I was trying to find the golf courses that I play on and they only list courses by state. I ended up scrolling through 14 pages and only found one of them.

Zebug, once you use Skydroid a few times, could you tell me how user friendly it is on the droid? Thanks.

 

[zebug]

That is one of my issues with Skydroid, the search function. The app itself searches for courses by name. A course I recently played in Austin was Falconhead. If I searched for falcon, it didn't find anything. I had to put the full name of the course, "falconhead" in the phone for it to find it.

There are only 5-6k courses mapped out thus far so chance are that your course isn't yet. Though, I really enjoyed mapping out my courses, gave me a feel for what to expect on courses that I have never played on.

All that said, once you have the course downloaded, it is very user friendly. I was concerned about battery life, so I had my phone plugged into the car on the way to the course to maintain a 100% charge. I ended the round with about 75% left. In between shots I just put the phone to sleep (or whatever happens when you press the on/off button). Then when I got to my ball hit the on button again, waited for like 3-4 seconds and then it had my location and distance.

 

[gbouten]

I used Sky droid and my home course wasn't in it. It took me about 20 minutes to get it set up no big deal. The only problem is if you are traveling and don't get the course set up ahead of time. I think as more folks use this app more courses will be in the data base. As Far as GolfLogix. I agree. You cant see it in bright sunlight and my battery died before the end of 18 holes. I can't believe that keep selling years subscriptions, don't waste your money.

 

[jutang]

I am now getting a constant force close on accel golf program v0.2 on my moto droid. Anyone else having this issue?