Manufacturer: Golfwits ESRB Rating: Platform(s): Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows 95 Release Date: December 31, 1969 Average Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Retail Price: $129.99 Online Sale Price:

User Submitted Golfwits Pro 2.0 Reviews (cont...)

You cannot edit a shot you have to delete then add new...that is an edit.

When you want to set the type of shot: hook, draw, straight, fade, slice. Be careful easy to make wrong selection. Cannot really see how this is going to work on the course.

Could not get the most important part of Mapwits to work

Have spent the last three days E Mailing and calling. Have left a message on every name in company directory, no replies on either E Mail or phone

Try to find the phone # on their web site. Isn't one. Try to find a phone # in directory assistance isn't one.

I finally found one after hours of a google search. 1-360-354-8401. good luck on getting someone to reply

Would not reccommend this software to anyone. Has potential technically but none business wise.

Date: 2003-10-09
GolfWits review - OK for one, hard for more...
I've tried to use GolfWits a few times and I've found it hard to use when trying to keep scores and statistics for more than me. While the maps are nice, they are somewhat cumbersome to use as you need to click on the exact point where your ball landed. This isn't very accurate on handheld screens as they are relatively small. I would pass on this application for now.

Date: 2003-08-22
Golfwits - Maps no longer free
Buyer beware. I purchased this last month and was having fun with it until the folks at Mapwits began charging for course downloads. Reviews I read here indicate that over 4000 course maps are available for free -- not true. I emailed them and received some gobbedlygook about focus group recommendations to charge, etc. Seems like their whole pricing structure is changing.

Date: 2003-08-22
Golfwits vs. Intelligolf
In my opinion there are really only two golf tracking systems to consider buying - Golfwits or Intelligolf. A year ago, when I purchased Golfwits, I did a big search for all sorts of golf tracking systems (about 30 of them including non PDA ones) and these were the best two bar none. I found another one called the Golf StatDoctor, which was kinda cool, but without having the PDA interface, it just didn't compare. It provided decent statistics (and some that neither Golfwits or Intelligolf provided), but was also a little clumsy to use. In all, there were only a handful of decent ones. Intelligolf and Golfwits definitely stand out.

Comparisons...

Golfwits is easy to use. Contrary to other reviews I've read, I felt the interface was very intuitive except for maybe when you make mistakes or need to insert penalty strokes. I'm still not sure if I'm doing penalty strokes right, but it works the way I do it. Intelligolf is also easy to use.

Golfwits has fully configurable stats. You can define your own statistics to either compliment or replace the ones provided by Golfwits. There's a whole section on this and even a downloadable API for the functions used to perform the calculations. You can do just about anything based on the data gathered. It's pretty impressive really. This is why I suggest using things such as setting track clubs and making sure to include first putt distance - to get the most out of the program. Intelligolf does not have configurable stats (or at least it didn't when I reviewed it).

Intelligolf is a better (easier) multiplayer system. If you are tracking scores for more than one player, it can be information overload. Although there is no way to just put the scores in for the other players, you can simply enter putts for those players. It would be nice if they provided an option even further than simply not tracking clubs to allow simply entering strokes for some users. I think this is where Intelligolf has the edge - in multi-player entry. Granted the results are less impressive in Intelligolf, it's certainly easier for multi-player entry.

Golfwits yardages and putting distances are a little touchy on such a small screen. if you're hands are a little shaky you could have some problems. They'd have to be pretty shaky, though. Intelligolf has no visual components, so this is not an issue.

Golfwits average yardage statistics for clubs include miss hits and chip shots. The stats are configurable to include/exclude miss hits, but chip shots are another story. You may wish to use a special club (GW or other) whenever chipping so as to not affect your clubs stats. Intelligolf has both problems - it doesn't have a "Miss Hit" option.

Lack of courses. Golfwits has 7000+. Intelligolf has 18000+. This comparison is not fair because Intelligolf courses have no graphical information, so I'm sure people are submitting courses all the time for that application. A con for Golfwits. A pro for Intelligolf.

Golfwits has some good side games, but I've never used them. From my playing around with them, I'd say they are as good as Intelligolf or maybe better if you are willing to enter all the stats for each player, however, since Intelligolf has the edge on multi-player use, I'd say side games are probably more convenient in Intelligolf, but that's just me speculating. I have no real experience here.

Golfwits is better at capturing more statistics with fewer clicks - MIMO. If you use the extended features in Intelligolf, such as fairways hit, GIR, sand saves, etc, it negates the benefits over Golfwits and in my opinion takes more effort to put in all the things because you have to manually input all this data. Plus, you'd have to manually input distances, etc. Where Golfwits takes three clicks to put all this information in, Intelligolf would take four or more clicks plus the manual yardage inputs and it lacks the visual benefits of Golfwits.

There are many, many other things I could compare, but these are the ones that stand out in my mind as I write this review.

Summary...

If you are looking for an individual game tracking system that provides the best statistical output based on the information you enter, Golfwits is the best one. Though Intelligolf still provides good statistics (as good as Golfwits in some respects), the visual aids included with Golfwits and the ability to tailor the statistics to your own needs makes it the better choice.

If you don't care about statistics as much and just want to track your scores (and the scores of others), Intelligolf is probably the way to go because it allows you to enter just scores and also allows you to view all player's scores on one page easier.

Read my other reviews on "How It Works" and "Courses and Mapwits".

Date: 2003-08-22
How it works
Golfwits is an all around fantastic golf score and statistic tracking system. It's got one of the best PDA interfaces I've seen - a very intelligent use of such a small space. They coin (or at least used to coin) it MIMO: Minimal Input, Maximum Output. I think it's an accurate description because you get tons of stats back from just a few simple touches on the screen.

You start with a scaled-down graphical image of each hole for the golf course (more on this later). To start a round you enter some minimal player info: name, tee, 150 yard club (for default club suggestions), HCP, and whether you want Golfwits to track clubs. You can enter just the name and the tee box you are using if the rest is not important to you, but I suggest tracking clubs and picking your 150 yard club as well because the stats you get back are more detailed. Up to you.

Then, for each shot you simply touch the screen where your ball landed. You can move it around until you get the exact position - a box with yard left to the center of the green will appear as you touch/move around to assist finding the exact location. Once you remove the pen from the screen, you touch the pen in the middle of the box for a straight shot, or move it to the sides to indicate a hook, draw, fade or slice. An image of the ball flight path appears as you do this. When you release for the appropriate ball flight (hopefully straight :-), a box/grid will appear with the clubs listed. Select the appropriate club and you are done with the shot. If you miss hit the ball, there is a check box on the clubs screen to accommodate this - again helps with adding value to your stats. At first this sounds like alot of entry for one shot, but the way they've done designed it and once you're accustomed, it's really not. If you decide against tracking clubs, you simply don't get the box/grid. This speeds up entry, but reduces the value of your statistics. Not worth it in my opinion.

When you get to the green, Golfwits automatically switch to putts mode. This part is really neat in my opinion. You select the distance of your first putt (unless you don't care about tracking this stat, you don't HAVE to do this, but again, I recommend for the value of the statistics it provides). Then you just click on grid - LL, Long, LR, Left, Hole, Right, SL, Short or SR. You just click what happened for each putt and your done. There is an option for Sand Save if the putt comes after being in the sand. Golfwits is smart enough to know that you came out of the sand and will automatically check it unless you put more than one putt in. You can uncheck it if you don't want to track that stat, but why would you do that?

There's so much more to tell, but that's the basics of entering your scores. I'll leave the user guide to fill you in on the rest.

Read my other reviews on "Courses and Mapwits" and "Golfwits vs. Intelligolf".