Foresight GC3 Versus Bushnell Launch Pro
Some of you might be asking this question: Don’t the Foresight GC3 and Bushnell Launch Pro look the same but with different logos? Are they the same or different?
We’re with ya. It’s a little confusing. Unless you’re in the know or looking for specific information, you might have missed Vista Outdoors buying Foresight for $474 million a few months ago. Vista Outdoors owns Bushnell and now both Foresight and Bushnell fall under the same umbrella. So with “Bushnell” owning Foresight, why didn’t they come out with one unit?
We’re not entirely sure but the decision was made to make the same unit for Foresight and Bushnell but the structure of the data features and payments are different.
So, within this article, we’re going to break down everything you need to know about the Foresight GC3 and Bushnell Launch Pro to help you make the best decision about which to buy.
Payment Structure For GC3 And Launch Pro
What Do I Get For My Money?
When comparing both units aligned with the break down of pricing, here’s what we think is best value for money.
Option 1. If you go the Bushnell Launch Pro route, you’re coming in at $2,999 for the unit which comes with only a couple of data points. In my opinion, you would need to have at least the basic package for $99 a year to get the help needed to improve your game. That adds up to $3,098 for the first year.
Option 2. If you want to play golf throughout the winter in your at-home simulator, you’re going to want the Silver package for an extra $399 a year. This adds up to $3,398 for the first year.
The Silver package comes with everything from the basic package plus:
- Foresight range
- Up to fouur players
- FSX Pro configured for Silver Subscription
- Save sessions, create player, record 14 unique clubs, track rounds
- Online play and contests
- Includes 3-D ball flight
- 5 courses included – Willow Crest, Teton Pines, Blue Bayou, Broken Tree, Linfield National
Option 3. Those who want the full experience should go with the Gold package for an extra $799 a year. That seems a lot but for what you’re getting, it’s well worth it. This adds up to $3,798 for the first year.
The Gold package comes with everything from the basic package plus:
- Simulation Unlock with FSX 2020 Gold Subscription
- Foresight Range
- Up to eight players
- FSX Pro configured for Gold Subscription
- Save sessions, create player, record unlimited unique clubs, track rounds
- Online play and contests
- Includes 3-D ball flight
- 10 courses included – Willow Crest, Teton Pines, Blue Bayou, Broken Tree and Linfield National, Beaver Hills, Kinsale, The Farms, Tall Pines, Butter Field.
Foresight GC3
When looking at the Foresight GC3, you certainly have all the bells and whistles that the Gold package offers in the Bushnell Launch Pro. But it will set you back $7,499. However, compared to the $21,000 Foresights GC Quad, the GC3 is a hell of a bargain.
If you’re a club fitter, serious golfer or a someone who just wants to learn more about their swing, the metrics the GC3 offers can certainly get you dialed in. But the question is, “Which launch monitor should I buy? The Bushnell Launch Pro or Foresight GC3?.”
Which One Should I buy?
After comparing both payment structures, there is only one winner in my opinion. It would be more cost effective to buy the Bushnell Launch Pro with the Gold package. It will take you roughly 5 3/4 years to hit the same price of a Foresight GC3 and, within those five years, I guarantee other personal launch monitor companies will have a unit that is just as good as the Foresight GC3.
I have insider information that within three years there will be multiple PLM units that are cheaper but have the same accuracy as the GC3. So, say you buy the Bushnell Launch Pro with the Gold package and renew it for two years, it will cost you $5,396 before tax. Saving you $2,103.
After the three years of owning the Bushnell Launch Pro, you could sell it for $2,500. Perhaps. This will save you $4,799 in the long run and give you those extra dollars to purchase the next best and greatest launch monitor on the market.
Think about it. See if you want to purchase the Bushnell Launch Pro today and see what the market has to offer in three years.
Bushnell Launch Pro
$2999
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Wilde
3 months agoThe resale values left out the $500 transfer fee Foresight / Bushnell charge when you sell your used GC3/Launch Pro. Both units connect with Foresight/Bushnell, over the internet every couple months or they stop working with the included software. Some buyers register with a hand-me-down email address so they can sell the unit with the associated email address to ovoid the transfer fee. Other decent launch monitors (Foresight CG2 & GCQuad, Uneekor models, Skytrak, Flightscope Mevo plus, Garmin R10) don’t require a call-the-mothership connection or an expensive subscription or transfer fee and work well with excellent software like GSPro. Uneekor’s new Eye Mini launch monitor should be a direct competitor when it is released later this year.
Kev
3 months agoI’d imagine that call home feature is there attempt at stopping someone hacking the Bushnell firmware to enable all options. Thing is, if someone has the skill to do that they also have the skill to disable the call home feature to always return true. The only people it inconveniences is “normal” users who have to register a throw away email so they can resell it without having a transfer fee.
Kevin
3 months agoThink those “saving” figures have been massaged a touch as it’s basically written off the cost of the Foresight as no resale value.
If the Bushnell sells for 83% of it’s initial value after 3 years, it safe to assume the Foresight would as well. This would mean that you can pay $7,500 for a Foresight and then sell it for $6,225 which means it has only cost you $1,275 for 3 years. The Foresight is actually cheaper then.
Even accounting for only a 60% resale value (probably more like it based on SkyTrack resale values here in the UK) it means the Foresight would have cost $3000 dollars for the 3 years (sell for $4,500) while again the Bushnell will cost more since you are paying $800 a year for the gold subscription and then lose $1,200 in depreciation on the hardware. It’s going to cost $3,600 for 3 years ownership.
The Foresight is the best model to go for if you have the upfront money.
Solly
3 months agoI’m about to pull the string on a GC3 for my garage sim that I’m building. I plan on keeping it for many years. I also expect more parameters to be released down the road as well.
For me, I’d just rather pay everything up front and be done with it. I’m probably going for the 20 course model, which I think will keep me entertained as well as help my game for years to come.
For those mentioning taking lessons instead , I feel that a PLM will enhance my lessons with my pro not take the place of.
Patrick
3 months agoI wonder how this stacks up against the full swing kit.
Jon
3 months agoI think one point that was left out in regards to the full price is that it includes 10-12 course you can plan. Given that they are $150-300 in varying prices, that gap between the two models makes up for the difference.
Jon
3 months agoI think one note that they let out about the full set up is that is comes with a set of golf courses (10-12_ that you can play as well. Add that to the pot and it makes up for the gap in price.
James D
3 months agoMy local range has trackman in all bays for $30aud per week, including 200 balls, an extra hour on the big-screen simulator, and unlimited use of the short game area. This gets me 3+ hours of range time per week- more than enough for me. This is $1500aud per year, assuming I don’t pause my membership for holidays or injury. With access to tech at ranges becoming so ubiquitous , and when ranges will be able to upgrade more often than me, the idea of getting a personal monitor just never quite stacks up. Having said that, if I won the lottery tomorrow, a personal range with all the tech would be at the top of my list!
jeff
3 months agoWell said. Likewise I can go to the local golf simulator lounge during off peak hours and pay US $30/hour for a Trackman enabled stall. Plenty of bells and whistles for demoing clubs and getting numbers. $30 now and then beats $5,000+++ every time.
Steve (the real one, pithy and insufferable)
3 months agoJust doesn’t compute for me. You’re getting data – which is great. Some instantaneous readouts on your swing but no analysis. Why this path? Where is my body position throughout the swing? Ground force? Nothing is making suggestions or corrections to one’s swing.
I could take ten lessons a year with follow ups. Get the same club by club data with changes over time. A full analysis of why the heck I’m teetering back and forth during the downswing. A grand of so on lessons/fittings is a much better return.
If you’re a fitter, small club pro, or walled away in winter for six months behind snow drifts; go crazy. Just not for me.
Mike
3 months agoAppreciate the in-depth article but when $7,500 is a “bargain” for a golf toy, obviously this is not for me. How often does one use these launch monitors? I would think once you’ve dialed in your clubs, what changes? My driving range has toptracer in the stalls & the balls there are always in pretty good shape.
Ben s
3 months agoGood but assuming you could buy a device for 2,999 use it for 3 years and sell it for 2,500 is way off as we need to apply the cheaper PLM’s coming that do all the same things as you say will also impact the resale value. Based on this alone I’d say you’d be lucky as hell to get $1,000 after 3 years of use. Also whose to say grass is always greener. If you increase this estimate to 5 years the foresight version that’s unlocked with zero subscription is best. Also if you keep longer term it just drives down the cost per year.
So if you intend to dive into a substantial purchase with intend on selling in 2 years for nearly what you paid then dive into bushnell but if you intend to take care of it and use it and enjoy it for many years go foresight and keep it until it stops working.
Mike
3 months agoNo way on earth you’re buying a piece of golf equipment and in after 3 years of use you’re selling it for 83% of what you paid for it 3 years ago. Think about it would you buy that deal??? I’m betting if you look hard on eBay you’d be very lucky to get a third of the price, (very lucky!) especially with all the new technology that comes out every year.
Kevin
3 months agoThe “savings” are assuming the Foresight has no resale value. If you can sell the Foresight for more than $4,603 after 3 years it’s actually cheaper.
The Foresight will be cheaper at nearly every year when you include it’s resale value unless for some unknown reason the Foresight just halves in resale price while the Bushnell holds it value. Very unlikely. The resale market while probably be stronger for the full unlocked Foresight.
Alan plotz
3 months agoI ended up with the bushnell with the gold package. 2 reasons not as much money upfront and uncertainty of the future (being able to bail on the plm if I didn’t like the services offered). I’ve had the bushnell unit for a few months now and love the capabilities.
Matthew Ciaschini
3 months agoDo you get access to FSX Play with the Bushnell Unit?
Brandon
3 months agoDo you think the price of the subscription service will remain constant for the next five years?Could a rival plm force the company to just unlock all features at a fraction of the cost? And I’m not smart enough for this but how hard would it be for a savvy individual to just unlock the whole thing hacker style?
Dick A.
3 months agoWhoa! Really, thousands and thousands of dollars for a home launch monitor? I can see X-Golf or Carl’s Golfland needing to make a costly investment in order to sell a service but I see no need for the average player to spend many thousands of dollars for these machines. It is very doubtful that either of them will make much difference in the long run to a player’s overall performance.
Then, extra $$$$ for annual subscriptions! That is just NUTZS! I will never buy either one of these monitors.. This whole deal reminds me of Peloton which jacked prices through the roof, grabbed some quick profit and is now looking at the skids. If you really need to know how you are doing at the driving range or on the course or at home, look for the sales and get a pocket size monitor for $400.. Of course, you could always look at your score card.
Alan p
3 months agoInteresting point but I think the data these monitors gives you is far superior to anything a $400 dollar unit can provide. Additionally- in my garage I get real data with golf balls I play(I don’t play with range balls). I have learned a lot about my swing that I wouldve never known w/o having the bushnell unit – adjusted my angle of attack with the driver and learned my old shaft I was fitted for is no longer suited for me(spin was too high). And the ability to walk out into my garage in any weather and look at my swing is invaluable. I don’t think I could’ve made changes to my swing w/o this set up. But I get your point this may not be for everyone. I was in your camp and was a regular range guy for years.
Sal
3 months agoI purchased the Bushnell LP when it first came out and love it! I’m about half way through my Gold membership and plan to renew. The data is very accurate and has helped my game. The Foresight GC3 was just too expensive as I was looking at just getting a SkyTrak. I’m really glad I purchased the Bushnell and use the driving range and play 18 most every day. There is another temporary difference in that the updated software will not release for the Bushnell Gold package for a few more months and is already available for the GC3. Another minor point, the $99 Basic Plan is included for free the first year with the Bushnell but I feel the data and the courses from the Gold package is well worth it.
Michael
3 months agoCurrently own a SkyTrak and run it from an iPad. Will the Foresight Range run well from a new-ish iPad?
SkyTrak all the way
3 months agoI own a SkyTrak as well. With cover I got my used for around 2k. They have additional packages for a hundred a year. Overall the accuracy and other features seem very comparable. Go with SkyTrak and save $3k for your next Scotty.
Professor
3 months agoAs usual, you guys cut right to the chase. I ended up getting the Foresight version last fall and have seen this debated on the forums. Great point about the evolution of PLMs. As you indicated, I t’s safe to assume there will be more options in the future. With the longevity of the GC2 I thought it would safe to go the Foresight route versus the subscription route. So far, I’m far from disappointed. This thing is a beast no matter which one you get.