While my rangefinder of choice is my trusty Garmin Approach Z82, for a couple of years I have also carried the Shot Scope Pro L1 in my bag for the all too frequent occasions when I have forgotten to charge the battery on the Garmin.
The Shot Scope Pro L1 does not need charging as it works off a battery and it is much more of a basic ‘point and shoot’ than the fancy pants Garmin with all its bells and whistles. I personally find that a point and shoot type of laser works best in tandem with a GPS watch.
The reason I say that is because I use the watch for a lot of things that a laser can’t do, but for a precise number a laser is always best, particularly when you can only see the top half of the flag and can’t be sure if the hole is located at the front or back of the green. The Pro L1 has been a useful companion alongside my Garmin Approach S62 watch, so when I got the opportunity to test out the Pro L2 I was more than happy to put it through its paces.
Firstly, in terms of the looks it isn’t massively different from the Pro L1. The Pro L2 perhaps looks a touch more premium and I would say that the toggle for the Slope function is certainly more user-friendly on the new version. The carry case is excellent too. Very robust and sturdy and it clips nicely to the golf bag. For golfers who ride in a buggy there is a magnet on the site of the device that allows you to just clip it on for easy access. I hooked it to my bag and it stayed secure for the entire round.
In terms of performance, the main difference I noticed from the Pro L1 is how quickly the Pro L2 locks onto the target and gives the number. The Pro L1 would do this quite well but often I’d find that it had locked on to something else as it was clear that the number wasn’t right. I’d get the number but sometimes it would take a few tries, as when you get different numbers a couple of times you start to doubt it and end up double and even triple checking.
In fairness I always felt that was more down to my own shaky hands than any issue with the rangefinder, but the Pro L2 is certainly more responsive, even for my shaky hands.
The Pro L2 has 6x magnification and has a range of 700 yards so it can handle whatever you need, but the one feature missing that was on the Pro L1 is the dual colour display which gave the option of red or black depending on the lighting conditions. I liked that feature and it’s a shame it hasn’t been retained in the newer model.
The Pro L rangefinders are extremely lightweight which will split opinion. In most things golf related that’s what you’re looking for, especially if you are carrying your clubs. Whether it’s bags, shoes, waterproofs, trolleys… the lighter the better generally speaking. For some golfers its the same with rangefinders, but I personally need a bit of weight in mine because of my less than steady hands. That’s one of many reasons the Garmin Z82 is my favourite, but that being said, I did find that the combination of Rapid-Fire Detection and then Target-Lock Vibration on the Pro L2 made it quite easy to zap the flag and get a quick number.
Not every time though, as there were occasions when I needed to do it two or three times but that isn’t a fault of the device itself, I just put that down to the cold weather on the day. There was a bitter cold wind blowing when I was testing the Pro L2 and that makes it much more difficult to use a laser. In calm, warm conditions I don’t think there’d be any problem, even for me and my less than steady hands.
The Pro L2 has a slope feature too, which is very handy and not something you always get on lasers in this lower price bracket. I only used this feature sparingly as the course I played on when testing (Berrington Hall Golf Club, St Helens) was mostly flat. There is some elevation on the 6th hole though, a nice little par 3, and the slope function worked well, giving me a different yardage number to that when the function was disabled.
All in all, for the price point I think the Pro L2 is a great option. If you want something with more functions then this isn’t for you, but it is an ideal choice for the golfer that doesn’t want lots of features and just wants a quick, easy to get, accurate number so they can then put all of their focus on hitting the shot. It’s easy to use, offers good value and it performs the job to an excellent standard.
