Best Golf GPS watch: Your Go-To Buying Guide

One of the finest ways to improve your golf game is to purchase a golf watch – it keeps track of your scores and stats and gives you accurate yardages, even on foreign courses. This guide will discuss the best golf GPS watch, their features, and what to search for when making a purchase.

Table of Contents

The Ideal Golf GPS Watches

Garmin Approach S62

Advantages:

  • 41,000 preset courses are available on the Garmin S62
  • Automated shot-tracking
  • Assessment of Gained Strokes (when paired with the Garmin golf app)
  • The velocities and directions of the wind
  • Appears to be a feature
  • Focusing capability
  • The S62 is a high-end smartwatch that measures your blood Oxygen level, tracks your heart rate, and displays alert

Drawbacks:

  • Pretty expensive

Hands-on Experience:

Distances to the front, center, and back of the green, as well as to each hazard, are all provided.

The S62’s “hazard view” allows you to swiftly go between each hazard distance on a course, get the exact yardage to each, and choose which club will keep you safely away from them.

A green view, now standard on high-end Garmin GPS watches, lets you move the pin to conform to the greenkeeper’s setting. Yardages will be accurate to the cent.

The Golf course layout.

The Golf course layout.

TecTecTec

Advantages:

  • A total of 38,000 golf courses.
  • One USB cable for charging is included.
  • Designing and showcasing auto-holes
  • It’s impervious to water and dust
  • Reasonable Cost
  • Super simple to operate

Drawbacks:

  • No fitness tracking

Hands-on Experience:

Light and powerful, the TecTecTec ULT-G is a GPS watch built to take your performance to the next level. Keeping things basic was a priority, so it’s not loaded with fancy extras, which works well for casual golfers.

This GPS wristwatch has 38,000 worldwide trail maps already loaded into it. It is a beast at gauging the distance of your shots and directing you around obstacles with an accuracy of +/-1 yard.

This TecTecTec GPS watch, unlike most others, has an impressively long battery life, lasting through two and a half innings. In addition, you get a month to test it out under warranty!

VOICE CADDIE T9

Advantages:

  • Brilliant, interactive touchscreen
  • Comprehensive tools for improving tactical execution.
  • Adjustable for use in the course

Drawbacks:

  • Sometimes the green undulations were off
  • There was no clear indication that you can enable automatic shot tracking

Hands-on Experience:

This sleek watch is lightweight. Its silver bezel increases its off-course usefulness.

The LCD is readable in every lighting condition and is incredibly sensitive, needing just a few swipes to navigate, even while wearing gloves.

Front, center, and precise rear yardages are on the main screen, but there’s also a slope symbol. It’s more accurate since it considers slope.

Turning on tournament mode disables this function and makes the watch legal for competitive play. The primary screen shows the hole number, par, and your current score, assuming you input it as you play.

Illustration of golf smartwatch

Illustration of golf smartwatch

Garmin Approach S10

Advantages:

  • Reasonable Cost
  • There are 41,000 classes already loaded on the computer.
  • The ability to automatically follow the action during a shoot
  • Review of the Gained Stroke Rate (when paired with the Garmin golf app)
  • In GPS golf mode, the rechargeable battery lasts up to 12 holes

Drawbacks:

  • No accurate direction tracking

Hands-on Experience:

The Garmin Approach S10 is a simple golf watch that displays exact distances and maintains scores. The S10 is accurate, pleasant, and cheap, but it lacks the features of the S62.

Similarly to the S62, the Garmin Approach S10 has over 41,000 preloaded courses and all of the most up-to-date versions. It will tell you how far it is to the danger zone and the dogleg.

Automatic hole advancement and scorekeeping are also features of the S10h. Knowing how far you’ve gone on each shot is useful so you can gauge your progress.

BUSHNELL ION ELITE

Advantages:

  • Many options for features and presentation formats.
  • An adjustable pin and slanted base improve precision.
  • Incredible cost-effectiveness

Drawbacks:

  • It could need a better charging connection

Hands-on Experience:

The Ion Elite, with its color touch screen and many features, seems like the next-generation GPS watch after the Bushnell iON Edge.

The on/off switch conveniently appears on the side for usage on and off the green. The responsiveness and clarity of the touchscreen are outstanding.

Particular features of this watch make it exceptional. Among golf watches, Slope Functionality is a rarity. During the play of golf, you can adjust the slope.

The tournament mode switch specifies whether or not the current configuration complies with tournament rules.

A man looking at a GPS watch

A man looking at a GPS watch

How To Choose The Right Golf GPS Watch

Features

If a GPS watch is something you want, it’s time to prioritize the functions you’ll need. A cheap watch will suffice if you’re an amateur golfer and need front, center, and rear GPS yardages. Still, some amazing watches offer so much more.

Versatility

In terms of off-preloaded courses, many popular manufacturers have versatile models to be worn anywhere – whether off or on the loaded golf courses. Many previously mentioned models have extra features that can accommodate this requirement if it is important to you.

Display

Larger display sizes with touch screens are more user-friendly than those equipped with side buttons, but they may be more expensive. The size of your hand is another concern when selecting a watch.

Accuracy

A GPS watch that is consistently off is, well, worthless. Make sure you read the reviews that address the watch’s accuracy to get one offering accurate distances. It’s far from recommended to purchase whatever watch that is inaccurate by more than ten yards. It’s fine when the watch is off by multiple yards because some error is inevitable.

Auto course recognition

The top golf GPS watches have thousands of colored hole maps installed at no extra cost. Some will even detect your current location and update the golf course map accordingly.

Battery

Powerful batteries in laser rangefinders can get swapped out after a period ranging from 6 months to a year. Still, GPS gadgets typically require frequent charging via a USB, so you should think carefully about whether you will have the self-discipline to ensure it is fully charged before your next round.

Budget

There are inexpensive choices if you need a basic model. On the other hand, if you’re willing to spend more, top brands like Garmin and TAG Heuer would make luxurious options.

A golf field

A golf field

FAQs

Do I need a laser rangefinder or a Golf watch?

Consider first if a GPS watch would benefit you. If you value ease of use and portability — a watch is a way to go. Other golfers may discover that laser rangefinders give them an edge when pinpointing the flag’s location. The key value of bigger handheld GPS systems is their larger screen, which displays more information and is intuitive to most users of modern smartphones.

How precise are GPS watches?

Most cutting-edge watches can give you accurate yardage — typically within two yards. More costly timepieces typically offer more precision because of their higher manufacturing standards, plus quality control measures.

Do Apple Watches work as golf GPS devices?

Yes. You can get most of the functionality from a high-end golf GPS watch in the GolfShot Pro app.

Is it allowed to use GPS devices in golf competitions?

You can use rangefinders during tournament play. Laser rangefinders, GPS watch, handheld golf GPS gadgets, and smartphone apps are all useful aids on preloaded golf courses. However, there is a caveat. Some aspects are not allowed in tournaments.

The majority of illegitimate products are slope-adjusted yardage estimates. Make sure the slope can be disabled by researching each product individually.

Summary

Knowing green in regulation and how far away each club is can help you shoot the best possible score and reduce your handicap. Most cutting-edge GPS golf watches have one yard or less inaccuracy rate. Please, don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any additional inquiries so that we can help.

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