Golf apps and smart watches

[elight]

I'm curious if anyone has reviewed the various golf apps (18Birdies, The Grint, etc.) as it pertains to their integration with Apple and Android smart watches? It looks like some have started to add this functionality but it is still pretty basic (front/center/back yardages and score keeping). 

I recently bought a used Garmin S60 and am happy with it, although it seems to me that the same functionality could probably exist on an Apple or Android watch as an extension of the various existing aforementioned apps, all of which are far more robust than the Garmin Golf app. 

[NCDuffer]

I used golf pad for 3-4 years, but switched to a V3 as I tired from tapping the golf pad tags to the phone .  Golf Pad worked well on an Apple Watch and I found the watch UI intuitive.  With all apps the better features are inaccessible unless you’re paying.  If all you’re after is Front/Middle/Back, many are free.  If you’d like to track shots, by phone and/or watch, Golf Pad worked well for me.  Golf Pad’s support was top notch and updates were regular.  Golf Pad does have a dashboard for all of your tracked shots and strokes gained.  If you email Golf Pad, they will send you a code to use premium for a free trial period.  The app was great, but the V3 for me is automatic tracking without any distractions.  
edit: app battery use…apps use the gps on the phone or the watch.  GPS use on the Apple watch is convenient as you don’t have to have the phone on you.  But the watch battery may not last a round depending upon the app and watch’s charge when you started the round.  If you’re using the phone gps, you probably want the phone on you to see the most accurate distance on the watch.

Edited April 24, 2023 by NCDuffer
Adding battery info

[Cshane12]

I use the 18Birdies App along with a Leupold range finder.  I currently only use the free version of the App.  The free version gives you a lot of really good practical use.  With the GPS, I get front - middle - back of green distances.  I can see an overview of hole layout and also zoom in and out.  I can pinpoint things like distances to bunkers, hazards, through the fairway on doglegs, etc.  When I get offline and can't pick up a target with my rangefinder, the GPS still allows me to see appropriate distances.  And yes, I do find the GPS to be accurate.  I also like the ability to keep my score and track my stats (fairways hit, GIR, putts, etc.).  I'm tinkering with the idea of going with the paid version.  The more I mess around with the app the more I want to make the purchase.  What's stopping me, I'm a tight wad.

[elight]

Bumping this with some additional thoughts/questions.

I'm really struggling on the best solution for me. I like the idea of ShotScope, but everything I read says that it's unlikely to get your score exactly correct (how could it possibly distinguish a practice stroke from 10' behind the ball from the actual stroke? etc.). I don't understand why I'd want to incorporate a second tool (another app or a paper scorecard) and have to true everything up at the end of the round. I'd much rather be prompted to enter my score on the watch after each hole.

I've been used a Garmin Approach S60 for the past couple of weeks, and it's OK, but leaves a lot to be desired. I really like the automatic shot tracking and don't mind having to enter the club afterward; it's really good about knowing when a shot was taken and prompting me. The statistics and everything are good, although the phone app is so far behind the competition. Unfortunately, the ability to view the hole and pinpoint distances on the watch is difficult (not sure if the S62 or the new upcoming model are any better). You almost have to use a separate app on your phone for tricky situations and shot planning.

I like the idea of a phone app with a watch companion app that runs on Wear OS (Android). I feel like these apps will continue to get updated and improved, as opposed to dedicated golf watches which have very little reason to upgrade existing models (resources go into new models instead, and you will need to constantly upgrade hardware to keep up). Ideally, the watch app would use its own GPS and not the phone's. This seems to exist - Golfpad and Hole19 are two that I've found. I haven't found anything with quite the features of the Garmin S60, but Golfpad seems to be the most robust with scoring, shot tracking, hazard and layup distances, "plays like" distances, etc.

I'm a bit surprised that none of these other apps have invested in full-featured watch companion apps. I would love to know if anyone else has any feedback or thoughts on using an Android or Apple watch in place of a dedicated golf watch, and which apps you have tried. You can get a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 for like $100, so it's awfully tempting to give it a shot.

[William0946]

I used to use a range finder along with free versions of golf apps like "The Grint".  The app gave me decent layouts of the holes and the range finder dialed in my distances quite well.  However, I found that having to use 2 pieces of equipment, both my cell phone and a range finder, was a little much and slowed down the game a little.  So a few years ago I switched to using a Golf GPS Watch.  I used the Garmin Approach S40 for a few years and that seemed to do the trick.  It provided fairly accurate yardages and allow many other cool features like shot stats for driving, tracking club distances if you wanted to set up your clubs and selected them on each shot.  The biggest benefit was having all the tech on my wrist and not having to take out my cell phone and range finder on each shot.  I love the convenience of a gps golf watch, and for me, a mid-handicapper, the accuracy is more than enough for my game.

I'm a bit of a tech geek and equipment hoar, so I recently bought the newer Garmin watch, the S70 for my birthday.  I can't wait to take this out on the courses which are now starting to open here in Canada.  The number of features and clarity on this watch seems unbelievable.  The only downside for probably many folks would be the cost.  There are many other lower cost options when it comes to GPS Golf watches for those wanting to try this option.  I really love the convenience and accuracy the new golf watches provide.

[NCDuffer]

I’ve tried many apps and GPS devices.  A GPS device seems to do better on battery for me vs the app on Apple Watch.  If you don’t mind your phone in your pocket, then the watch app can use the phone GPS and the watch will do ok.  An app on the watch using the watch GPS may or may not last long enough.  

[USMCSnyper]

I use Golfshot pro ($70/year) and the GHIN upgrade for GPS @ ($40/yr). As I type this...not sure why I'm doing both lol.  Both work well enough for me. Im not good enough to care about 120 yards vs 122. The watch functionality is easy to use for both. 

 

PS - Thanks for saving me $40 lol.

[cburins]

Hey Y'all, just wanted to share a great Shot Tracer app. It's called shashot and uses AI to track the ball flight. I find it pretty accurate! Thinking of paying for the full version. Here's me using it on a 200yd Par 3. 

 

 

 

[William0946]

On 4/11/2024 at 5:56 PM, cburins said:

Hey Y'all, just wanted to share a great Shot Tracer app. It's called shashot and uses AI to track the ball flight. I find it pretty accurate! Thinking of paying for the full version. Here's me using it on a 200yd Par 3. 

 

 

Tell us more about your experiences and thoughts on this Shot Tracer app.

[Kenty B]

On 4/23/2023 at 6:29 PM, elight said:

I'm curious if anyone has reviewed the various golf apps (18Birdies, The Grint, etc.) as it pertains to their integration with Apple and Android smart watches? It looks like some have started to add this functionality but it is still pretty basic (front/center/back yardages and score keeping). 

I recently bought a used Garmin S60 and am happy with it, although it seems to me that the same functionality could probably exist on an Apple or Android watch as an extension of the various existing aforementioned apps, all of which are far more robust than the Garmin Golf app. 

I started using 15th Club a few weeks ago and I won't go back to anything else. It has automatic shot detection, awesome maps and its all for free. I was skeptical but it's way better than any of the other apps.

[elight]

I didn't download the app as I don't have  a smart watch, but it seems intriguing. I was looking for something with these features (GPS distances, hole map with distance overlays, automatic shot tracking) using wearOS and/or watchOS, and not needing to keep my phone in my pocket. I couldn't find it, so I am still on a golf-specific watch (formerly Garmin, currently Shotscope). Would love to see a full video review of the app.

[USMCSnyper]

21 hours ago, Kenty B said:

I started using 15th Club a few weeks ago and I won't go back to anything else. It has automatic shot detection, awesome maps and its all for free. I was skeptical but it's way better than any of the other apps.

Just downloaded and will try this week. It looks good in the app store......Hopefully they will add features as they go.

[elight]

There are a few other 15th Club mentions/reviews:

 

I'm most curious about the "automatic shot tracking" and if this works with a Google/Apple watch the same way it does with a Garmin watch (where it uses sensors to determine when you've made a real swing of the club, so all you need to do is select the club you hit). I don't see the watch functionality covered in any of the reviews.

[Kitsu]

I was a big fan of The Grint and Golfshot Apple Watch support before I started using Arccos. 3 years later, I decided not to renew my Arccos subscription, do to its increasing costs, and opted to try out a rangefinder. I thought that I would be able to use The Grint again on my AW, but now watch support is behind a pay wall. Same with Golfshot, Golflogix, 18 Birdies, Hello Birdie, Roundabout, etc.... 19 Hole was the only free one with watch support that I could find, but it kept disconnecting during my round. I was willing to pay $20-40/year subscription, but almost all of them are $80+. So right now, I'm using just using my range finder the free version of The Grint on my phone. The Bushnell app that comes with the rangefinder is kind of meh. Very basic features and doesn't appear to have accurate tee boxes. Funny, the whole reason I bought my AW was for golf/Arccoss, so now I feel like it's rather pointless. I was thinking of selling it and giving the Garmin S70 or Epic Pro 2 a try. But that's about 5-6 years of Arcoss subscriptions. lol  

[Kenty B]

On 4/24/2024 at 4:42 PM, elight said:

There are a few other 15th Club mentions/reviews:

 

I'm most curious about the "automatic shot tracking" and if this works with a Google/Apple watch the same way it does with a Garmin watch (where it uses sensors to determine when you've made a real swing of the club, so all you need to do is select the club you hit). I don't see the watch functionality covered in any of the reviews.

They have it for samsung watches. I have an apple watch so I can't use it but my buddy has it on his samsung and that's how it works. Senses the swing and he picks the club. Hoping it comes to apple watch soon!

[hands39]

I am a huge fan of Roundabout Golf (formerly V1 Golf) with the Apple Watch integration. Been using it for 3 years now and it does everything I need.

I paid for the Eagle Subscription on a discount, but for what I need will be dropping down to birdie moving forwards. 

I have it set to manual club tracking after playing around with the auto tracking feature. Took a few rounds to get used to it but now it's seamless. Hit ball, click the track shot button on watch, select club, walk to ball.

I prefer it over GolfShot - which I recently tried again, as the track button is on the main watch screen beside the pin placement button and Front/Middle/Back distances. I only have to swipe to the side to set the first putt location. I found I was swiping a lot more with GolfShot.

I carry my phone in my pocket and use the phone GPS for battery purposes. This also lets me pull up the full GPS if I want distances to a specific target. 

A key feature for me is, and the team I coach, is you can set it to tournament mode. Not all of the other apps have this feature clearly labelled. We have a lot of guys/girls on the team who use the free version as its great for during play, just doesn't give SG stats but counts putts, GIR and FIR.

The only feature I wish it had was for practice rounds a slope calculation for plays like distances. Its smart caddie does wind well but elevation isn't there yet.

Edited May 7 by hands39

[dt-17]

I have an Apple Watch with GolfShot Pro and I really like it. 

 

Only negative is that if you have the auto shot detection on, sometimes it detects 'ghost shots' as you're walking down the fairway. Happens quite regularly as well, can be rather annoying.