GPS is short for Global Positioning System. It is a unit that tracks changes via a satellite hovering in the earth’s sphere. You are probably familiar with the GPS that helps guide cars from spot to spot.  GPS is also used on cell phones, on Google Maps and as a tool for surveyors and mapmakers. Now special GPS units are made for golfers.

These units can benefit pro and amateur golfers alike when it comes to improving our overall game and score. In essence this type of GPS unit gives you an advantage by offering you a bird’s eye view of the golf course.

Many golfers use the GPS during practice as it sets up the course itself as an opponent. You are no longer just competing with other players. You are competing with the course itself and using the omniscient view of the GPS to win battles against it.  Using it is similar to looking at a golf course when you are playing a video game. You can see where hills, sandbanks and marshes are and plot out your shot accordingly. By seeing the course like this you can better strategize each and every move as you help the ball travel from par to par. It also gives you the specific yardage to the hole or green from wherever you are standing on the golf course.

The nicest of these units have big clear screens and many applications, features and functions that can do things like analyze distance and performance. Some models of golf GPS devices even keep score for you.  Be sure to choose a model that is durable because it has to stand the heat and moisture that could possibly assail it on the golf green.

When most of us think of a GPS we think of a hand-held unit that we must carry around separately.  Many of us already own a GPS of one sort or another on our mobile phones. However you can now buy watches that have the GPS feature incorporated on your mobile phones.

You might have to shop around as these types of golfing GPS gadgets vary greatly in appearance and performance. You can buy a smaller, affordable golf GPS for between $200 and $250 and that should the average golfer nicely as a tool for improving his or her game. If you want to buy a bigger unit they tend to cost about $1000.