Baker scores first win for new SkyCaddie PRO 5X – Golf News

SkyCaddie scored a victory “first time out” for its new range-topping PRO 5X Tour Book GPS rangefinder, when Ryder Cup star Peter Baker won this weekend’s opening Legends Tour event.

Baker’s win means that SkyCaddie users have won tournaments in the last six consecutive seasons on the Legends Tour – Europe’s most prestigious professional golf circuit to allow the use of distance-measurement devices.

Englishman Baker lifted the trophy in last weekend’s Barbados Legends Hosted by Ian Woosnam tournament, the first in the 2024 Legends Tour schedule, after making birdie on the first playoff hole against Australian golfer Scott Hend – who also used SkyCaddie GPS during the tournament.

Peter Baker won four tournaments on the Legends Tour in 2023, on his way to lifting last year’s Order Of Merit trophy.

Baker’s dominance in 2023 meant that the last four Order Of Merit winners on the Legends Tour have all relied on SkyCaddie’s laser-accurate GPS yardages to help them to victory – Peter Baker in 2023, James Kingston in 2022, Stephen Dodd in 2021 and Baker’s fellow Ryder Cup team mate Phillip Price in 2019.

“You can 100% feel that the new PRO 5X has amazing accuracy” said Baker, who divides him time between playing on the Legends Tour, and working at South Staffordshire Golf Club, near Wolverhampton. “It is so precise, and the distances are literally instantaneous. Whoever mapped Apes Hill in Barbados for SkyCaddie did an incredible job! That course has so many different angles around the greens which makes your club choice tricky, but the SkyCaddie yardages were absolutely spot-on every time”.

On the SkyCaddie PRO 5X’s role in his first victory of the season, Baker said: “I’m going to use the PRO 5X all season now. You can glance at it to get all your green distances and landing points, and for carries and layups you can’t beat it. The battery life is the best of any SkyCaddie I have used, and even when I’m playing in the USA where you can’t use DMDs in tournaments I’ll be checking the yardage book against the SkyCaddie’s numbers in the practice rounds.”

75% of the Top Twenty on the 2023 Legends Tour final Order Of Merit were SkyCaddie GPS users. SkyCaddie’s James Holmes said: “Last year SkyCaddie users won an amazing 11 out of 14 Legends Tour events, where DMDs could be used. We are naturally thrilled that Peter has continued his great form into 2024!

“This again proves how crucial a SkyCaddie has now become for golfers who play at the highest level.

“Numerous new competitors have joined the Legends Tour for the first time in 2024, and we are looking forward to showing them all about the enormous performance advantages a SkyCaddie GPS device gives the player under high-pressure tournament conditions.”

SkyCaddie’s official partnership with the Legends Tour Presented By Staysure comes after the firm spent several seasons developing behind-the-scenes relationships with both players and officials on the Tour, proving the technology at dozens of tournaments.

Legends Tour officials now use SkyCaddie’s ground-mapped GPS yardages to create pin sheets when setting each day’s pins, enabling competitors both to download the day’s accurate hole positions onto their SkyCaddies, and also to get a printed pin sheet for the day.

The SkyCaddie PRO 5X Tourbook was introduced in February 2024, and retails for £399.95 including a 12-month SkyGolf 360 Birdie Membership.

SkyCaddie’s more compact SX400 Tourbook, which is also used by Legends Tour competitors and many PGA Professionals, is currently on offer at £100 off RRP until Father’s Day.

Follow the 2024 Legends Tour Presented By Staysure at www.legendstour.com.