Apple Watch + Golf?

[tethead]

Back to the discussion of apps, I currently use GolfLogix on the course as I've generally preferred their features (ability to look at distances to hazards, shot tracking, etc.), but they're a bit slow in updating, and no Apple Watch plans have been added or announced yet. Battery life on my 6+ has been amazing actually, only using maybe 20% over the course of a round (I turn LTE off, along with push notifications).

Hole19 is promising as I like their tracking features too, but looks to only show distances to front/center/back of greens. They are 100% free. The others, such as Fun Golf 3D and Golfshot, appear to be the same, but all cost money.

I'd be very interested in any comparisons people can make between them... I think this is actually going to be a HUGE market for golfers looking for a little style and technology on the course (and/or range).

 

[Dumbinho]

I've downloaded and will give it a try. In the app though it does say that the upgrade to pemium is $9.99 per year. If it works well though it would be worth it.

I'm sorry. They must have changed.
When I got it. They had a promise that it will a one time fee for lifetime. And they will keep that promise. I guess they changed their mind for the new customers.
But $9.99 still not bad compared to what golf shot charges.

 

[MartyCan]

I'm sorry. They must have changed.
When I got it. They had a promise that it will a one time fee for lifetime. And they will keep that promise. I guess they changed their mind for the new customers.
But $9.99 still not bad compared to what golf shot charges.

Hey, no big deal. It has a free option and if it works as well as you say I don't mind paying $10 a year. I play 50-60 rounds a year.

 

[Mac 128]

.
I'm more interested in a golf app that can be on my wrist and tell me distance to the pin, etc. Leaving my phone in the cart and just having this on my wrist would rock.

That's another reason a camera would be useful on a watch besides FaceTime and spontaneous selfies.

 

[lazyrighteye]

Nothing. Have been seeing them since 93.

Just thought it was a clever techy/musical name. Glad to see them happy and healthy since their return! It was a pretty dark scene after 96/97.

1st show = Deer Creek '94. And yes, couldn't be happier they (Trey) seem to have weathered the darkness. Looking forward to my 4th DSG run.

Back to watches... "Stiiiiill waiting."

 

[baller1308]

My friend has used it a few rounds now and he really likes it. He uses it with the Arccos system. Has the watch set to display last app and just flips his wrist and gets the distances. How accurate those distances are I will have to check this weekend when I use my rangefinder.

 

[tethead]

1st show = Deer Creek '94. And yes, couldn't be happier they (Trey) seem to have weathered the darkness. Looking forward to my 4th DSG run.

Back to watches... "Stiiiiill waiting."

You won’t find moments in a box
and someone else will set your clocks
I took a moment from my day
and wrapped it up in things you say
And mailed it off to you

...in 4-6 weeks...

 

[MartyCan]

Well I gave Golf Pad a try today on a course I play a lot.

Sadly I was very disappointed. Within 3 holes I knew the yardages were way off nd sometimes they jumped around like crazy. On the third hole which is minimum 180 yards and all carry to the green it was showing 165 and did not update. That's too much error.

Gave it another try on the 6th hole and again knew that the yardage was way out. I switched back to my old app on my phone. Hope iGolf releases a watch update.

 

[plantbob]

I've played one 18 round with it using golf shot. The battery made it through round no problem (I only used for distance, no scoring). It worked well. My friend had a garmin 3 golf watch and we compared just about every shot. The Garmin found the distance faster, the apple watch would jump all around in yards before becoming steady on the correct distance. Most of the time they both had the same distance in the end. I had my phone in my cargo shorts pocket.

 

[dubv23]

What hand do yours wear the watch when golfing?

I was wearing mine on my left today and found that on the follow through my forearms were rubbing together and it was quit uncomfortable with the watch. I switch it to the right hand and it got better.

The touch screen still worked great with my glove on

 

[mrdm]

I've played three rounds since receiving my SS apple watch with BSB. On occasion I will find the watch has moved to a different screen, as if the crown inadvertently hit the back of my left hand during the swing. Other than this, no major issues so far and I suspect the watch can handle the impact/shock. Although I did "ding" the watch bezel when putting my 4-iron back into my bag :-(. Oh well, scratches build character, right? At least the sapphire screen didn't shatter.

BTW - as a tip, before using the golfshot watch app, I go to "general-->activate on wrist" and change the setting to "Resume previous activity". This ensures that when I raise my wrist during the golfshot app will appear instead of the watch face. In this way, I don't have to navigate to the app to obtain the distance to center of green.

I am a golfshot classic user from years ago and purchased their new "pro" app with $9.99 annual, recurring fee. This is the discounted cost as a classic user. It was well worth it to have the functionality on the watch and I can also automatically post my score to the handicap system using the iPhone app where I live (NCGA).

It does occasionaly take a while for the apple watch to dial in the correct distance but it hasn't delayed any of my time between shots yet ;-). When it does dial in the distance it seems very accurate. I hope they can optimize this in the future (or maybe Apple needs to optimize 3rd party app communications with the iPhone). It can lag but has not been a show stopper.

The watch does advance from hole to hole automatically after inputing the score, either in the phone or watch, but I wish that you could enter the number of putts on the watch in addition to entering the score. Inputing the score is not enough as you then have to go back through the round to enter the number of putts if you are using the app to keep track of your statistics.

I'm happy to pay $.83 (cents) per month per year for this awesome app. At the risk of sounding like this is a product endorsement (disclosure: I don't work for the company or know anyone that does) I think the developers deserve the revenue for their great work and ongoing support.

Overall, having the yardage on my wrist has been much easier than pulling out the phone, waking it and then putting it to sleep between shots. Thumbs up!

 

[QuiteSure]

I've played three rounds since receiving my SS apple watch with BSB. On occasion I will find the watch has moved to a different screen, as if the crown inadvertently hit the back of my left hand during the swing. Other than this, no major issues so far and I suspect the watch can handle the impact/shock. Although I did "ding" the watch bezel when putting my 4-iron back into my bag :-(. Oh well, scratches build character, right? At least the sapphire screen didn't shatter.

BTW - as a tip, before using the golfshot watch app, I go to "general-->activate on wrist" and change the setting to "Resume previous activity". This ensures that when I raise my wrist during the golfshot app will appear instead of the watch face. In this way, I don't have to navigate to the app to obtain the distance to center of green.

I am a golfshot classic user from years ago and purchased their new "pro" app with $9.99 annual, recurring fee. This is the discounted cost as a classic user. It was well worth it to have the functionality on the watch and I can also automatically post my score to the handicap system using the iPhone app where I live (NCGA).

It does occasionaly take a while for the apple watch to dial in the correct distance but it hasn't delayed any of my time between shots yet ;-). When it does dial in the distance it seems very accurate. I hope they can optimize this in the future (or maybe Apple needs to optimize 3rd party app communications with the iPhone). It can lag but has not been a show stopper.

The watch does advance from hole to hole automatically after inputing the score, either in the phone or watch, but I wish that you could enter the number of putts on the watch in addition to entering the score. Inputing the score is not enough as you then have to go back through the round to enter the number of putts if you are using the app to keep track of your statistics.

I'm happy to pay $.83 (cents) per month per year for this awesome app. At the risk of sounding like this is a product endorsement (disclosure: I don't work for the company or know anyone that does) I think the developers deserve the revenue for their great work and ongoing support.

Overall, having the yardage on my wrist has been much easier than pulling out the phone, waking it and then putting it to sleep between shots. Thumbs up!

Thank you, this is the review I've been waiting for. Looking forward to playing my first round with the Watch this Saturday. I'll report back

 

[thenumbersrbad]

I've played a few rounds with my SS AW and have used golfshot. I've enjoyed it a lot and find that the watch and phone (which I leave in my bag, I walk when I play) are pretty good about updating and only a couple times did I have to take the phone out of my bag.

I'm sad to say that I have gotten the golf bug again this year and have just purchased the Arccos Golf gps and tracking system. 14 sensors that go in your clubs, pair once and then play. They also have a watch app which I'm opening to use this afternoon. I'll report back later on if anyone is interested.

 

[RRuxin]

Why do people assume this watch is so delicate that it couldn't handle playing golf?? It's a watch, and watches are built to be worn and used during daily life. I imagine short of going scuba diving with it, or playing contact sports, it will survive just about anything you can do.

 

[MartyCan]

Well I gave Golf Pad a try today on a course I play a lot.

Sadly I was very disappointed. Within 3 holes I knew the yardages were way off nd sometimes they jumped around like crazy. On the third hole which is minimum 180 yards and all carry to the green it was showing 165 and did not update. That's too much error.

Gave it another try on the 6th hole and again knew that the yardage was way out. I switched back to my old app on my phone. Hope iGolf releases a watch update.

OK, so I have to recant a bit on this. Tried it again today and maybe my eyes were working better I realized the units were set to Meters instead of yards which did account for the distance variation I saw.

But on the downside again the watch App was very slow to update the display and I gave up on it. Tried using the phine but on the back 9 the app got kind of semi hung up and I could not even change holes even though the yardage was updating.

Difficult to convince myself to pay for the full version with my experience so far. Watch battery is fine mind you but after a few holes I was not really using it for the app.

 

[Dumbinho]

OK, so I have to recant a bit on this. Tried it again today and maybe my eyes were working better I realized the units were set to Meters instead of yards which did account for the distance variation I saw.

But on the downside again the watch App was very slow to update the display and I gave up on it. Tried using the phine but on the back 9 the app got kind of semi hung up and I could not even change holes even though the yardage was updating.

Difficult to convince myself to pay for the full version with my experience so far. Watch battery is fine mind you but after a few holes I was not really using it for the app.

I'm gonna have to agree with you here. Even though I was the one that praised them and suggested them.
Today I played golf for the second time with the watch. It is very slow to update on the watch. I couldn't even switch between holes (they made us start on the back 9 today) And finally, even after inputting my score on the phone and going to the next hole, it wouldn't mirror that on the watch.
When I used the Golf Pad GPS with the Pebble watch. Everything was instant. Since the screen is always on and GPS is always updating. Every time I looked at the watch I had the yardage already there. And inputting the score was always a breeze.
I just couldn't use the app on the watch.
BUT... you should give them a chance. Every time they had a problem and people gave them feedbacks... they always fixed the problem very quickly. They always respond to your emails and follow up on issues.
So I suggest you keep the app hidden somewhere on your phone and keep an eye on every time they update their app and see what they are updating.
I am confident they will fix this issue quickly.
P.S.: I do not work for them nor make money off them. Just giving my opinion on an app I have always used and loved (especially because it is one of the cheapest ones out there)

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Any comments on how fast the GPS updates or how much battery it chews up?

I was using Swing by Swing a few years ago and it was a huge battery drain.

Bought iGolf about 2 years ago and it is much better with the battery but sometimes it just doesn't update to my current position fast enough. It will show my location where I was 2 min ago and I was wondering if the code limits it's use of updating GPS location to help battery life.

On the other hand... Battery life was good...

 

[MartyCan]

I'm gonna have to agree with you here. Even though I was the one that praised them and suggested them.
Today I played golf for the second time with the watch. It is very slow to update on the watch. I couldn't even switch between holes (they made us start on the back 9 today) And finally, even after inputting my score on the phone and going to the next hole, it wouldn't mirror that on the watch.
When I used the Golf Pad GPS with the Pebble watch. Everything was instant. Since the screen is always on and GPS is always updating. Every time I looked at the watch I had the yardage already there. And inputting the score was always a breeze.
I just couldn't use the app on the watch.
BUT... you should give them a chance. Every time they had a problem and people gave them feedbacks... they always fixed the problem very quickly. They always respond to your emails and follow up on issues.
So I suggest you keep the app hidden somewhere on your phone and keep an eye on every time they update their app and see what they are updating.
I am confident they will fix this issue quickly.
P.S.: I do not work for them nor make money off them. Just giving my opinion on an app I have always used and loved (especially because it is one of the cheapest ones out there)

----------



On the other hand... Battery life was good...

Fair enough. Maybe the developers will tighten things up. I have lots of space so no need to uninstall for now.

 

[fulles2000]

Now I need my sport band because golfing with the Milanese is tough. Doable... But tough.

What's tough about it? Does the band slip? I was looking at the milanese loop and wondered whether the magnet was strong enough to stay in place when swinging a golf club. The Apple genius said it would be strong enough when I tried one on at the Apple store.

Do you think it's necessary/desirable to have a second sport band for use when golfing?

 

[dubv23]

My Milanese becomes loose and needs constant retightening through the round. Whether it be on the back swing, hinge of the wrist or follow through where my forearms meet. At some point the magnet gets loose and it is gets annoying

I've also found its not extremely comfortable if your sweating.

I ordered a sport band just for golf

 

[fulles2000]

Thanks. That's what I suspected/feared.

Looks like I'll be ordering a second sport band when I finally take the plunge.

 

[MartyCan]

OK, so I have to recant a bit on this. Tried it again today and maybe my eyes were working better I realized the units were set to Meters instead of yards which did account for the distance variation I saw.

But on the downside again the watch App was very slow to update the display and I gave up on it. Tried using the phine but on the back 9 the app got kind of semi hung up and I could not even change holes even though the yardage was updating.

Difficult to convince myself to pay for the full version with my experience so far. Watch battery is fine mind you but after a few holes I was not really using it for the app.

I gave Golf Pad another go tonight. One thing I did different was to set the Wake on raise to "Most recent App". This made the experience much, much better. The yardages stayed up to date mostly. Once in a while they jumped but was quick enough and accurate I'd say.

And as for battery both my Watch and iPhone 6+ were both still over 50% after the 18 hole round and both off charger since 7 AM. Teed off at about 3:15 and round was about 4.5 hours and I also provided yardages to some of my foursome a lot of times.

This was for sure a better experience. Certainly worthy of more tests.

 

[Dumbinho]

I gave Golf Pad another go tonight. One thing I did different was to set the Wake on raise to "Most recent App". This made the experience much, much better. The yardages stayed up to date mostly. Once in a while they jumped but was quick enough and accurate I'd say.

And as for battery both my Watch and iPhone 6+ were both still over 50% after the 18 hole round and both off charger since 7 AM. Teed off at about 3:15 and round was about 4.5 hours and I also provided yardages to some of my foursome a lot of times.

This was for sure a better experience. Certainly worthy of more tests.

That is good news.
I have tried it twice and had a bad experience so I gave up.
To be honest I didn't really try it long enough... I was on the first hole and it wasn't updating so I gave up on it.
The second time I played.. same thing.. I gave up but left the app open on my watch. But I was updating the scores on the phone. And since the app was still open on the watch. It would delete the score that I just input on the phone because it wasn't syncing with the watch.
I will give another try tomorrow... I will try to use the watch only for the yardage and scoring.
Thanks for your input.

I need to submit some feedback to them, but I have been too lazy to do it.

 

[mncmoore]

Has anyone found an app for gps range that doesn't cost $30 a year just to use just to get apple watch features?

 

[parkds]

I've played a few rounds with my SS AW and have used golfshot. I've enjoyed it a lot and find that the watch and phone (which I leave in my bag, I walk when I play) are pretty good about updating and only a couple times did I have to take the phone out of my bag.

I'm sad to say that I have gotten the golf bug again this year and have just purchased the Arccos Golf gps and tracking system. 14 sensors that go in your clubs, pair once and then play. They also have a watch app which I'm opening to use this afternoon. I'll report back later on if anyone is interested.

Would love to hear about your experience with Arccos and Apple Watch. Thanks.

 

[MartyCan]

Golf Pad Watch App crashing

A few more rounds in. Had a problem in the last two.

Sunday it worked fine for 17 holes. Then when I was at 18 the warch app crashed and reset the phone app to the first hole. Tried restarting Watch App but it crashed every try and reset phone app to first hole.

Today had the same problem at a different course and this time on the 15th hole.