“Golf…” wrote famed author, wit and flamboyant moustache owner Mark Twain, “…is a good walk spoiled.” Which may seem a tad harsh, but there are many who might agree with his acerbic assessment of Scotland’s national pastime, particularly given its inherent exclusivity, stuffy rules and exorbitant costs.
But for many others golf is more than a spoiled walk, it’s an obsession, a religion, a raison d être, it’s where all their money goes and it’s the overriding subject of nearly every conversation, such is the passion with which true golfists love and live their game.
Me, I’m more what you’d call your casual club swinger, mostly due to the inescapable fact that I’m not very good at it. However, golf – perhaps more so than any other sport – comes with a lot of toys; toys designed solely to get you better on the green. Range finders, smartphone swing sensors, launch monitors, putt trainers, and so on and so on. But now there’s an extra-clever new member in the clubhouse and it’s a literal game-changer.
Yep, those who read the headline will know I’m talking about smartwatches; but not just any old, run-of-the-mill smartwatches, but smartwatches designed specifically for golf or with a heavy golf leaning. Yep again, not only is this a thing, it’s a big thing, with all manner of manufacturers getting into golf, from names you’ll definitely know to those you might not. Each model comes with a smart skill set that will coach you around the course and ensure every shot and putt is as precise as it can possibly be.
So bag up your clubs, lace up your shoes, slip on your glove and follow me over a metaphorical 18 holes of digital horology designed specifically for your favourite walk-spoiling sport…
Best smartwatches for golf at a glance:
- Best for Android users keen to bring their A-game: Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Golf Edition - £319, Very
- Best for the big hitters: Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Golf Edition - £2,200, Beaverbrooks
- Best for hitting and healthing: Garmin Approach S70 - £650, Garmin
- Best for the golf and nothing but the golf: GolfBuddy Aim W11 - £240, Very
- Best for when size matters: SkyCaddie LX5 - £270, Amazon
- Best for budget-end course correction: Shot Scope V3 GPS - £140, Amazon
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Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro Golf – Black Titanium
Best for: Android users keen to bring their A-game
Everyone with even a passing interest in smartwatches will know of the Samsung Galaxy Watch, but perhaps not that a) it is now in its 5th iteration, and b) there is a standalone Golf Edition. Well, there it is, in all its golfy glory, with an exclusive golf-themed design including a goldfish two-tone strap and watch face, plus a green home button to really drive the idea home.
Teeing off, then, first and foremost this is a Samsung Galaxy smartwatch, so it can do all the things a Samsung Galaxy smartwatch can do, including load up with apps for pretty much everything, link to your smartphone for calls and texting, play music, monitor your vitals, track your health and training, track your sleep, count your steps, show you GPS maps, let you pay with NFC and, well, all the smartwatch stuff we’ve come to know and love. And it does it all effortlessly, the CPU delivering speed and efficiency and the vibrant 1.4-inch display letting you swipe around with absolute impunity, accessing apps for everything instantly.
But we’re here to talk about its other attributes. First up comes your prep, with the Watch5 Pro Golf you can search over 40,000 golf courses across the globe to find the one you’re on, then access a full course map, in satellite of graphic form, and zoom in and out of holes, checking distances and direction, while there’s also Voice Guidance available to talk you through the entire course.
Then there’s ‘Distance by Club’ to help you pick the right golf racket, a ‘Pin Direction’ compass that aligns your stance to the target, and ‘Shot Tracking’ to record your shot distance.
Worried about losing your game on the green? The ‘Green Undulation Map’ will help you read the lay of the land to have you sinking the ball with fewer strokes. Always losing track of your score or simply want to show off in the 19th hole? The Galaxy Watch5 Golf Edition has a handy score screen that appears as if by magic after every hole, so you can track it, save your games and grandstand with your golfing peers to your heart’s content.
All this glorious golfing goodness comes courtesy of the Smart Caddie app – an app for golfers by golf course data experts with about two decades experience – and the performance in conjunction with the Watch5 is seamless, bringing all the info you could ever need to your fingertips instantaneously.
So, bottom line, will the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro Golf Edition improve your game? Well, it’s impossible to see how it could fail to assist anyone when employed properly. Will it put caddies out of work? Ah, well, it can’t actually hand you your clubs, so perhaps not. Everything else is there though…
Compatibility: Android
Size: 45mm
Display: 1.4-inch Super AMOLED
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
Processor: 1.18GHz Dual-Core
Smart Caddie: Yes
Storage: 16GB
Battery size: 590mAh
Buy now £319.00, Very
Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Golf Edition
Best for: the big hitters
Those who follow my work (hello, Mum) will know that I recently had the pleasure of reviewing the E4 Sports variant of the more-than-a-little flash Connected Calibre from famed Swiss watch wranglers Tag Heuer, so to follow up with its golf variation seemed like a birdie-hitting no-brainer.
Indeed, this 42mm case model is definitely at home on the course at the fancier clubs, thanks to its name and its highly desirable design, resplendent as it is in it ultra-light Grade 2 black titanium case, contrasting white rubber strap, and bright, clear 1.28-inch AMOLED display complete with Corning Gorilla Glass protection for when things turn wild out in the rough.
But what truly makes this smartwatch standout amongst all others in the clubhouse is that it even has a built-in app to let you view your non-fungible tokens (NFT) and, as we know, those who have the spare cash to do golf, own a Tag Heuer smartwatch and collect NFTs are in a league most of us are not.
But pants of the fancy kind aside, what about the tech? Again, like all other smartwatches running on Google’s Wear OS, it can make and take calls and do everything all other smartwatches running on Google’s Wear OS can do, which is just about anything you could want from a watch. And, yes, it has all the sensors required to measure your health, track your training and monitor your sleep, plus ‘TAG Heuer Sports’ (running, cycling, fitness, swimming, other sports) and ‘TAG Heuer Wellness’ apps are pre-installed to get you up and, ahem, running out of the box. But then comes the thing of focus for this round-up: ‘TAG Heuer Golf’.
TAG Heuer Golf gives you instant access to accurate 2D or 3D maps of over 40,000 of the world’s courses, tracks each and every shot, calculates your position relative to every hole, and having analysed your recorded shots, recommends the right club to use, all while the Tag keeps score and lays out your statics to review post round.
Hugely responsive thanks to a beefy Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100+ chip running the show, and with ample connectivity you’re not going to be left hanging around while you await your digital caddie’s unerring recommendations, either.
Is it expensive? Yep, £2200 is expensive, but it’s also stunning, clever, and its assistance could make all the difference to your handicap, while also making you the enviously-eyed bell of the (golf) ball at the same time. My advice? If you can, ruddy do!
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Size: 42mm (45mm also available)
Display: 1.28-inch AMOLED
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GNSS
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100+
Storage: Not specified
Battery size: 330mAh
Buy now £2200.00, Baverbrooks
Garmin Approach S70
Best for: hitting and healthing
Fitness trackers are what Garmin do best, that’s where the company focuses and that’s why it is renowned for non-nonsense, solid, reliable sporting wristicles that utilise an absolute array of sensors to accurately pinpoint your position and measure your body metrics.
Take the Approach S70 for excellent example, new from Garmin and aimed squarely at the golfer, yes it can give you phone and text alerts, yes it can play your music, yes it can help you pay for things (Garmin Pay), yes it can show you the weather forecast and stock prices, but where it really shines is out on the course, of course.
Pre-loaded with some 43,000 global courses, all visible in heavily detailed colour map format on the excellently bright 1.4-inch AMOLED display. From here you can view every detail of the green, check wind speed and direction, pinpoint the position of the pin, get vital detail on hazards, view contours and distances to make every swing a winner; well, that last bit is very much dependent on how you handle the info and a club, but the Garmin does all the heavy lifting.
Naturally, your heart rate, stress levels, sleep patterns, energy levels, blood oxygen saturation, and your hydration level are all monitored and measured, while a wealth of fitness apps such as ‘Garmin Coach’ and ‘HIIT Workouts’ are always on-hand when you’re off the course and in the gym.
Incredibly accurate in all areas, the Approach S70 is another absolute winner from Garmin. It may err on the pricier side and have chunkier, less refined looks than the Samsung and the Tag Heuer, but for those serious about both their game and their gain, it’s tracker transcendence.
Compatibility: iOS and Android
Size: 47mm
Display: 1.4-inch AMOLED
Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi, GPS
Processor: Unknown
Storage: 32GB
Buy now £650.00, Garmin
GolfBuddy Aim W11
Best for: the golf and nothing but the golf
A much lower-price option now, nevertheless the Aim W11 from GolfBuddy is still a well-featured GPS course mapper and you-tracker that’s capable of assisting you in upping the ante on your golf game despite costing only a couple of hundred quid or so.
Whilst build quality is a bit on the plasticky side when compared with other options I’ve looked at here, it’s pre-loaded with 40,000 courses across all corners of the globe – akin to the more expensive models. The Aim W11 also comes complete with free wireless updates to ensure your mapping info is always current and puts all important course info right on your wrist, including distance to the front, centre and back of the green, hazards you’ll want to avoid, individual hole layout, shot tracking, and a digital scorecard to keep track of everything.
And that’s your lot – this is a pure and simple golfing machine with no other smartwatch-style bells and whistles because, let’s face it, you should be concentrating on your swing/putt and not getting distracted by incoming texts and calls.
Compatibility: iOS and Android
Size: 46mm
Display: 1.3-inch TFT-LCD
Connectivity: Bluetooth, GPS, GLONASS
Processor: Not specified
Storage: Not specified
Battery size: 600mAh
Buy now £240.00, Very
SkyCaddie LX5
Best for: when size matters
For some people, it’s all about scale. Maybe they have myopia, maybe they’re just of the belief that bigger is always better, but whichever it is, the SkyCaddie LX5 is there to answer all their golf course questions.
Featuring a display to rival the Garmin in terms of size, this Apple- and Android-compatible computer caddie features a multi-core processor meaning that it runs swiftly, even if satellite acquisition can take time on the green. Also, the touchscreen is nicely responsive and the AMOLED display is not just large but also bright enough to see clearly on the sunniest of days.
Coming with a three-year prepaid worldwide membership to over 35,000 ground-verified maps, you’re not going to struggle for course information, plus you can easily zoom in and pan for additional detail on what lies ahead. Plus, ‘IntelliGreen’ automatically rotates to counter your angle of approach to give you a precise view and depth of the green both front and back.
Flagging up hazards as you go and scoring kept automatically, the LX5 is technically a smartwatch, as it also measures your heart rate, works as a step counter and does all the expected time and timers thing, but mostly it is a must-have golfing tool for anyone who wants an accurate and painstakingly user-friendly way to get conveyed around almost any course.
Compatibility: iOS and Android
Size: 57mm
Display: 1.39-inch AMOLED
Connectivity: Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi
Processor: Not specified
Storage: Not specified
Battery size: Not specified
Buy now £270.00, Amazon
Shot Scope V3 GPS
Best for: Budget-end course correction
Something a bit different to end on, the Shot Scope V3 is cheap as cheap smartwatch chips and also designed differently to perhaps appeal to the kind of people who favour the shape of the Apple Watch.
Measuring 3.4 x 3.9cm, it’s quite slight, so will suit those with slimmer wrists, while its GPS and performance tracking may not have the incredible accuracy of more expensive options, but it does its job over 36,000 preinstalled courses, showing distances to greens (plus or minus one-yard) and hazards, while measuring the distance of your shots and providing automatic hole progression. Then, once you’re done, you can upload and analyse the essential stats to learn how to improve your game.
Nope, no body metric measuring or NFC payments or, indeed, anything else – just the budget bare bones of what you need to get in the smart swing of things.
Compatibility: iOS and Android
Size: 3.4 x 3.9cm
Display: 30mm
Connectivity: Bluetooth, GPS
Processor: Not specified
Storage: Not specified
Battery: Not specified
Buy now £140.00, Amazon
Verdict
Well, of course, it all depends on what exactly you need and how much you can afford; in other puntastic words, whatever is par for the course for you. If I had money to burn, I’d be Tag Heuer all the livelong day, as this would help me compensate for being so remarkably, so stunningly, so impressively mediocre at the game.
However, in the real world, it would be the Samsung, as it’s affordable, works equally well in everyday life, and is an excellent aide to improvement – or a ‘tap in’, in the walk-spoiling terminology.
