18 Birdies

[TylorJudd]

So I have been using 18 Birdies app to track progress for this season. First off, it wants you to subscribe. There are a plethora of features packed into this app. Even in it's free form, it's very intuitive and really, it's right on par (see what I did there, eh?) with golf in our modern era. It is your scorecard, it is your shot tracker, GPS range finder... (To an extent) it gives front middle and back but I found to be accurate to ~3 yards. It allows you to seamlessly link with friends who have the app and it tracks everybody's score. It tracks your handicap, your FIR, your GIR, and today I saw it has a new feature that will allow it to link to a Garmin S10 or S62 or whatever to the app now. The homepage kind of looks like Facebook for golf but it's simple which is great. You can create little tournament leaderboards with your friends and it automatically grabs your course location. It will even allow you to add scores from previous rounds of say your phone died or the course was out of cell service for some reason. For anyone looking for a little more tech that can replace paper scorecards and handicap dedicated computer systems, this one is a great addition. What do you have to lose? It may be some strokes for all you know

[cksurfdude]

I know that app is very popular, but for this old fart I just don't wanna futz with my phone on the course. In fact, part of golf for me is to put the phone away and to be outside doing something fun.

Anyway, that said, I can see the utility of the social aspects .. eg. meet new golf friends, arrange games, etc.

 

[Kenny B]

2 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

I know that app is very popular, but for this old fart I just don't wanna futz with my phone on the course. In fact, part of golf for me is to put the phone away and to be outside doing something fun.

Anyway, that said, I can see the utility of the social aspects .. eg. meet new golf friends, arrange games, etc.

 

My phone goes in my bag when I play.  If it rings, I might hear it... I might not.  Don't care; I don't get important calls anymore.  It's in my bag in case I have to call 911, or if I need to take a photo to post on the forum.  My wife on the other hand, listens to music on headphones and keeps in contact with several people throughout the round by messages.  Not my thing.

I've thought about getting the tags for my S62, but I'm sure that the distraction would be detrimental to my game.

[GolfSpy_APH]

Have heard many good things about 18 birdies, but haven't given it a try. With arccos I don't quite see the need for me. 

That being said I'm also one for leaving the phone in my bag. I use an old iPhone for my Arccos and my normal phone goes away. 

How much is the subscription? 

 

[Mythlogic]

I used 18 Birdies for a few years and I did like. Basically no complaints. I’m using Arccos now, yes paid subscription but more info and detail. Would I recommend 18 Birdies? Yup.

[TylorJudd]

I've never used accros but I'll take a look at it. $125/year for 18 Birdies. I'm not sure if that's USD or CAD

[cnosil]

I tried 18 birdies for about 3 holes and then became frustrated.  To much phone interaction; for me, before each shot.  

[jawide626]

I have the free 18B version and for me it's annoyingly on-par with my Garmin G80. The distances it gives are usually within 1-2 yards as the G80 and it has a google maps like satellite image rather than a digitised version the Garmin gives so if i go way off-line (as is sometimes the case) 18B will give me distances from where i am while the G80 doesn't show my current location in relation to the fairway. 

 

The only improvements i'd made are less 'faff' on the screen, often you just want simple information. And of course no matter how good my phone is, 18B doesn't double as a launch monitor like my G80 does.

[TylorJudd]

1 hour ago, jawide626 said:

I have the free 18B version and for me it's annoyingly on-par with my Garmin G80. The distances it gives are usually within 1-2 yards as the G80 and it has a google maps like satellite image rather than a digitised version the Garmin gives so if i go way off-line (as is sometimes the case) 18B will give me distances from where i am while the G80 doesn't show my current location in relation to the fairway. 

 

The only improvements i'd made are less 'faff' on the screen, often you just want simple information. And of course no matter how good my phone is, 18B doesn't double as a launch monitor like my G80 does.

For their free app, it's pretty great. Pair with a range finder and it's pretty awesome. I am about to try the shot Scope V3 this year to see how they compare. I find 18 Birdies just so simple for tracking.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

I tried 18 birdies this past year as well on a free trial and it seemed really cool, but for me it just took too long between shots to get everything set up. I also for whatever reason struggled with tracking shots correctly. I'd start/end a shot too soon or too early, then get frustrated lol. I'm like some other posters where I try to not be on my phone as much as possible on the course. I'll leave it in the cupholder of the cart in case my wife needs to get a hold of me for something or I want to take a photo of my son and I or of a great shot, but otherwise I don't answer it.

[TylorJudd]

1 minute ago, Jnoble89 said:

I tried 18 birdies this past year as well on a free trial and it seemed really cool, but for me it just took too long between shots to get everything set up. I also for whatever reason struggled with tracking shots correctly. I'd start/end a shot too soon or too early, then get frustrated lol. I'm like some other posters where I try to not be on my phone as much as possible on the course. I'll leave it in the cupholder of the cart in case my wife needs to get a hold of me for something or I want to take a photo of my son and I or of a great shot, but otherwise I don't answer it.

What were you setting up between shots? I'm wondering if there is a feature I wasn't using? I only fire it before the round, add everyone in, then add my data at the tee box of the next hole. This would allow me to go back through the hole and make notes of what went right and what went wrong also.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

11 minutes ago, TylorJudd said:

What were you setting up between shots? I'm wondering if there is a feature I wasn't using? I only fire it before the round, add everyone in, then add my data at the tee box of the next hole. This would allow me to go back through the hole and make notes of what went right and what went wrong also.

What I kept getting wrong was recording strokes. Like I would get confused on do I hit the shot, then record the stroke and move to my ball? So maybe I was making it more complicated than it needed to be, which I am very good at haha. If I had just recorded total strokes on the hole instead of trying to go shot to shot, maybe it would have been easier to use.

[Kenny B]

I'm an idiot!!  I head off on a 2 week golf vacation leave my Garmin S62 charging cord at home!!   My wife has the Bushnell laser, but I am usually at my ball without it.  

I took my phone out of my bag and fired up the free 18Birdies, and that helped.  I need front and back numbers, not just to the pin number.  I also found the map and crosshair handy to quickly tell me distance to water and bunkers.  Yardage seemed accurate compared to the Bushnell.  I'll make it through my trip with 18Birdies but I still miss my S62.

[TylorJudd]

10 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

What I kept getting wrong was recording strokes. Like I would get confused on do I hit the shot, then record the stroke and move to my ball? So maybe I was making it more complicated than it needed to be, which I am very good at haha. If I had just recorded total strokes on the hole instead of trying to go shot to shot, maybe it would have been easier to use.

Man I didn't know you could do that. I just enter strokes at the end of the hole, and then GIR, FIR, miss left or right, number of putts. 

[golferguy2727]

Another (similar) option is V1 Game. Has cool feature that senses a shot and you just need to confirm, yes it’s a shot and then choose club used. Reasonably accurate which can reduce on course phone work - or at least let you do it on next tee, for example. Also subscription model with tiers but not a bad app at all - I trialled it alongside Shotscope and the tracking was quite accurate and it provided GPS features and did all the math real time. Shotscope is more effortless but V1 Game was pretty close to my version of perfect if I wanted to be more connected to my phone. Some days I don’t want that connected experience but some days it’s less of an issue. Not selling, just sharing ….

[ZMendle10]

My buddie uses it a lot and I like it for the social aspect where I can see that he's played and look at his scorecard after and during his round. He's one of the few people I know as obsessed with the game as much as I am so I like that social aspect of it. I'm gonna play around with the app for a bit because I think that there is some promise in using the app for a buddies golf trip across multiple groups. I'm not personally convinced yet but we can see how it goes.

[NateBevers3]

I use 18 birdies every round. It syncs with my Apple Watch, so I just have to look at my watch to get distances. I don't like having to shoot a range finder for every shot, plus I'm not good enough to need that precise of a distance. I've tried a few different apps, and found 18 birdies is the best for me.

[Bogey_Maika]

I'm a big fan of this app as well. Don't get me wrong, it's not the easiest to use and it has plenty of room for improvement but for a social app its pretty convenient. As a weekend hack, I use it in place of a range finder most of the time and it works well. Also, I really like keeping a digital library of my scorecard and stats to reference or for my buddies to give me crap on.