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BEST GOLF WATCHES OF 2022
In search of the perfect golf watch that will knock a few strokes off of your golf game and help you improve your overall performance? Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Or perhaps you already have a few watches in mind but can’t tell the differences or which one is best for you?
That’s where we come in. We have selected what we think to be the best golf watches money can buy in 2022 and reviewed each of them separately for you to read and help decide which ideal watch would be best suited to you and the way you play.
Check them out below!
- Garmin Approach S60
- Garmin Approach S20
- Bushnell iON 2
- Garmin Approach S62
- Garmin Approach S10
- Garmin Approach S40
- TecTecTec ULT-G
- SkyCaddie LX5
- Golf Buddy Aim W10
- Shot Scope V3
- Izzo Golf Swami Watch
Top Golf GPS Watches
Whether you want a fashionable Golf GPS watch or one you just wear to do the job on the course. We have a review for you.
Garmin Approach S60
You can always bet that there’s a Garmin on the wrist of a golfer on one of the 40,000+ preloaded golf courses available with this golf watch.
The Approach S60 may be more expensive than other watches, but it provides the best of what money can buy in the golf watch world. A color screen with touch, slope measurements, accurate distances, and it’s completely waterproof. It charges in no time and you’ll be able to get two rounds in before it needs some more juice.
The display screen is massive at 1.2 inches with color that can be read in full sunlight. Compatible with Quick-Fit bands, you can change-up colors to match your outfit, and we all know golfers like to look good while they play!
Garmin Approach S20
Digital, smooth, and smart – it’s one of the best golf watches there is and it won’t fail you. Why? Because it’s a Garmin. The Approach S20 has one of the most competitive price tags on the market, making it very attractive just like its square face and stylish display.
If there’s a golf watch that’ll help you improve your handicap, it’s the S20. And will do so without breaking the bank. It has a lot to offer with automatic course loading and automatic hole advancement, it’s also compatible with TruSwing devices, and has over 41,000 preloaded courses across the world along with the other great features it offers.
This watch has a long battery life offering over 12 hours of play – that’s a lot of strokes you can master in a few rounds. With a Green View Display, electronic Scorecard, and the ability to receive Smartphone Notifications this wearable GPS device is more watch than you’ll ever need! Learn more and view the full review below!
Bushnell ION 2 Golf GPS Watch
Ah, yes, Bushnell the makers of the great handheld devices and rangefinders such as the Bushnell Phantom. The brand now offers everything you could ever want from a golf GPS watch without the sneaky extra membership fees! With only the purchase of the Bushnell iON2 watch, you’ll have access to more than 36,000+ courses around the world! That’s over 30 different countries for you to play your best golf in.
It’s a tournament legal watch so you can have it with you on the course whenever you’re playing. If you’re worried about charge, this watch has 12 hours of battery life to get you through three rounds of play without even thinking about running low!
You’ll have yardages in no time with Automatic Course Recognition and automatic Hole Advance features to get you set as you walk or cart around the course. The simple yet effective front, back, and center green distances are on display as well as hazard distances – up to four per hole!
Extra features on the Bushnell Watch also include an integrated step counter to help to track your exercise whilst paying, a round odometer, and a shot distance calculator so you can constantly improve your amount of strokes.
The watch is super simple to charge since Bushnell gives you the USB cable that allows you to update your watch too. Let it charge for 3 hours while you get your feet up and grab a bite to eat. The iON2 comes with a 1-year warranty, so Bushnell has you covered! View the best deals and learn more by reading the full review below!
Garmin Approach S62
The Garmin Approach S62 is a brilliant piece of kit and is up there with the highest rating golf GPS watches you can buy in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Not only is it a fantastic sophisticated golf GPS watch but it’s also great-looking and comes in both black and white! You could leave the golf course and walk straight into the bars and clubs with this watch on your wrist!
The digital screen on the Garmin Approach S62 is almost 20% larger than the watch screen on the Approach S60. This watch comes with more than 40,000 courses already preloaded onto it and every one of them is displayed brilliantly in the full-color display.
The Approach S62 comes with a lot of fantastic features that will help to improve your golf game. One of the said features is the “virtual caddie” that is integrated into the golf watch. Virtual Caddie takes wind speed and direction into consideration as well as the distance from the hole to give you an accurate suggestion on which club you should hit.
There are also lots of other brilliant features on this golf GPS watch such as green view which allows you to get a clear view of what the green is like and how it plays, you also have a hazard view and pinpointer feature which tells you exactly where the flag is and the hazards that are trying to prevent you from reaching it.
The Garmin Approach S62 also comes with an impressive “plays like feature” similar to the slope on a GPS Rangefinder which considers gradients such as up and downhill shots. This is the perfect premium watch for all golfers, check the price and learn more here.
Garmin Approach S10
A newer version of the Garmin Approach S20 is a great watch and is of brilliant value for your money.
A more simple black or white style compared to other watches such as the Garmin Approach S62 but this watch will still perform on the course. It doesn’t have everything but it has more than enough. It’s not as stylish as others but it’s not bad looking either, a style similar to that of an apple watch, its clear and easy-to-read display allows you to easily get all of your distances and yardage information that you need whilst playing your round.
With more than 40,000 courses preloaded onto the S10, you will be ready to just go on a start whichever course you visit. Another good feature this golf watch has integrated into it is activity tracking which allows you to track your steps and calories burned on and off the golf course.
The Garmin Approach S10 is compatible with Tru-Swing, a virtual golf assistant that helps you decide which clubs to hit, how hard you should swing, and the angle of your clubface.
If you’re looking for an easy yet very effective golf watch, this is one of the best golf GPS devices for you. View deals and learn more in reviews below!
Garmin Approach S40
The Garmin Approach S40 is one of the top Golf GPS watches for intermediate and advanced golfers and also fits in the middle of the market with an affordable price range.
This great-looking watch is ideal on and off the golf course and will get noticed on your wrist without a doubt. As well as having style, it also has some brilliant features to help improve your golf game.
You can now place the pin on your wrist with the great pin placement and green view features on the Approach S40. The green view shows you an up-to-date view of the whole green in a vivid color display and if the pin isn’t placed where it is on that day, you can do it manually on your touchscreen golf watch.
As well as the 41,000 courses preloaded on to your watch, you have automatic course recognition and hole advancement technology meaning the watch will have loaded the course by the time you are ready to tee off at the first hole and will automatically move onto the next hole when you are finished the previous one.
The Garmin Approach S40 can also pair with your phone so you can receive messages and other notifications which means you don’t miss a thing, on or off the golf course.
The S40 will also track every shot you take, allowing you to analyze your improvement from months ago at the start of the golf season to now. This is also good for club selection as it tells you what yardages you are getting with every shot. The Garmin Approach S40 will do all of this for 15 hours without running out of battery… and that’s in GPS Mode. It will last for 10 days without running the GPS mode.
All in all, this is a fantastic Golf GPS device and will easily suit every golfer.
TecTecTec ULT-G
This golf GPS watch made by TecTecTec, whilst not as stylish-looking as some of the Garmin watches, has everything you need for using it on the course.
TecTecTec has gone for simplicity and efficiency with the ULT-G. It has a lot of good features that will help take a few strokes off of your golf game. With 38,000 courses already preloaded on to the ULT-G, it has auto hole progression for when you are on the course too. You can also find information about each course on the watch too if you want to do some research before your first round.
The easy-to-read screen tells you distances of all areas on the green and hole from the flag to the front, back, and center of the green as well as the hole’s hazards.
One of the better things about this watch is how simple it is to use, there are only four buttons you have to press to set up the TecTecTec ULT-G watch (similar to the designs of the Shot Scope Golf GPS watches) and once you have completed the setup, it automatically loads the course you are playing and you are good to start.
With a battery life that will get through more than 2 rounds and its strong, water-resistant build, the ULT-G is an ideal option for all weathers on the golf course.
If you’re looking for something easy-to-use and not too fancy, or have enjoyed a Shot Scope watch in the past, I’d choose this Golf GPS watch.
SkyCaddie LX5
The SkyCaddie LX5 has one of the largest color touchscreen in the golf market at just under 1.4 inches.
Its amazing OLED color display shows you 35,000 courses that are already preloaded onto this SkyCaddie watch in High Definition. You can zoom in and out on these crystal images to see individual hazards, lay-ups, and areas of the greens clearly to get exact distances for each of them. The zoom feature is also great for getting a good view and scope of where the pin is.
With the ability to connect to WiFi, you can record your strokes and scores on the SkyCaddie LX5 which allows you to compare your improvements from the start of your round to the end of the game or even from months ago until now. This is a great way to analyze and figure out what your best clubs are in certain situations.
The battery on the SkyCaddie will get you through at least two rounds of golf and can also keep track of your heart rate and exercise, counting your steps whilst you golf.
If you prefer a more detailed display of your courses then this is a fantastic GPS Golf watch for you with its High Definition OLED screen.
Golf Buddy Aim W10
This GPS golf watch is a great choice for any golfer and at a great price. It has a simple yet pretty stylish look with a bunch of fantastic features all on a vivid 1.3-inch full-color display.
Amongst those features is the scorecard mode where you can keep a record of your score as you play without messing around with a pad and pen. It also keeps old scorecards from previous rounds on there too so you can see your progressions from months ago when the golf season started to now. The Aim W10 also has 40,000 courses preloaded onto the watch, everyone with automatic course and hole recognition.
Alongside the scorecard feature, you have the hole layout feature which allows you to see the entire hole on your screen including the distances to the green, pin, and the hazards on the hole and you can zoom in and out to take a better look if needed. What if the position of the pin has been moved? That’s easy, you can move it manually with the pin placement feature on the Golf Buddy Aim W10.
If all that isn’t enough you also have some features that you can use off the course too such as the pedometer. This lets you track your steps so you know if you’ve hit your step goal that day you can get your feet up and relax that night. When you leave the golf club you can easily come out of gold mode on your Aim W10 and change the face to a simple clock watch face meaning this is stylish on and off the golf course.
You can run all of these features for up to 10 hours before you have to look for its charger. Overall, this is a brilliant golf watch for any level golfer because you can have it as simple or as sophisticated as you like. Check it out for yourself!
Shot Scope V3
A watch with a simple yet sleek look, this watch is all business. Golf business. As one of the most advanced Shot Scope models, this watch comes with more than 36,000 preloaded courses and many more great features to help improve your golf game.
Like many modern golf watches the Shot Scope V3 has a front, middle, and back of the green distances but when it comes to hazard distances it doesn’t just have the distance leading up to the hazard but also the carry distance too so you can easily see how far you need to hit the ball to get past the water or bunker in your way.
If the positioning of the pin isn’t up to date you can easily change that with the V3’s pin placement feature which Shot Scope calls “PinCollect”. This watch will easily last a full game of golf as its battery will live for over 10 hours before running out.
What’s great about this GPS golf watch is that it tracks all of your shots automatically and gathers all the information which you can then view on the Shot Scope app. This is a fantastic way to analyze your game, see what’s working well, and see what you need to improve on. It also lets you see which clubs you hit the best and tells you what ones you would be better leaving at home!
This Shot Scope V3 watch has everything a golfer needs and for an affordable price with no added subscriptions for the Shot Scope app, so the analysis is a bonus you get for free! View the deal and learn more!
Izzo Golf Swami Watch
One of the more simple and less stylish watches on the list but also less expensive making it a very good value for money as it still has a lot of great features. It comes with 38,000+ courses worldwide already downloaded and automatic course recognition and hole advance for everyone.
The Swami watch has four modes, the first being golf mode. This is where you will see all of your accurate distances for all areas of the green and lay-ups. As well as green distances you will have the hole and par number on display along with the yardage and time.
The next mode is hazard mode where you’ll find all the distances leading up to the hazards as well as the carry distance allowing you to play the correct shot with the correct golf club to avoid them.
With a click of a button, you move onto the last two modes of the Izzo Golf Swami Watch. Shot distance and a digital scoreboard. Shot distance does exactly what it says on the tin, gives you your shot distance! You can easily switch it between yards and meters whichever is your preference. The digital scoreboard tracks all of your scores conveniently and lets you compare results to track the improvement in your game.
The extras such as the battery lasting up to 10 hours (in GPS mode) and the fact it is water-resistant are massive bonuses! This is a simple yet very effective golf GPS watch with a great price tag!
The Advantages of a Golf GPS Watch
There are many advantages to having a golf GPS watch on your wrist. The fact it is on your wrist is one of them, it’s so convenient!
Other advantages of a golf GPS watch are things such as:
- Tracking your stats – It’s like having a caddie on your wrist noting all the good and bad points of your game to help you improve and knock some strokes off.
- Convenience – You’ll never have to worry about messing around with a pad and pen to keep notes or scores, your watch will do it for you.
- Preloaded Courses – There’s minimal research required when it comes to playing a brand new course. With most Golf GPS watches updating automatically all the data is there ready for you before the first tee.
- Hidden in plain sight – It’s on your wrist, you don’t have to worry about it falling out of a pocket or leaving it behind somewhere like you could with handheld devices or rangefinders.
- Price – For all the gadgets that are in golf GPS watches these days, you can get a lot for your buck with some going for under $100
Golf GPS Watch Vs Golf Rangefinders
Pros and Cons of Golf watches and Golf Rangefinders
Watch Pros
- The screen allows you to have full views of the course on your wrist
- Easier Pin Placement
- It’s very accessible compared to a rangefinder
- Preloaded Courses
- Usually Cheaper
Watch Cons
- Not as accurate as a golf rangefinder
- The battery life is not as long as a rangefinder as it is always running
- Many golfers don’t like wearing anything on their wrist whilst playing in case it affects their swing
Rangefinder Pros
- More Accurate than golf watches
- Longer battery life
- The rangefinder is more simple to use
Rangefinder Cons
- Not as fast as the golf watch
- Hand movement/shaking can affect distance readings
- You can’t track and analyze your stats
- Harder to get distances on hazards that don’t stand above the ground such as water and sand bunkers
Can you use an apple watch as a golf watch?
The apple watch doesn’t have a golf mode but you can download golf apps that allow you to access similar features
Apple watches use apps to gather your data whilst you are on the course but more times than not you must have your connected which means if your phone isn’t near your watch you may get inaccurate distances.
Another problem some golfers have found is that the apple watch can pick up your voice when you are chatting to your buddies and activate things like “Siri” whilst on the course.
It will also cost you more, after buying your watch from the store you will have to pay a subscription or other fees for your third-party golf apps.
Are Golf GPS watches accurate?
Yes, golf watches are now becoming extremely accurate ranging from accuracy within 30cm to 3 yards.
This is something that has improved in GPS Golf watches over the years. When the device first appeared in the game, later than its rangefinder and handheld counterparts, some watches could only guarantee that they were accurate up to 16 feet. That’s a lot in golf, on some holes you could miss the green going with distances like that.
But now it is a different story with some golf watch manufacturers like Shot Scope saying their latest models are accurate within 30cm! That’s crazy!
Key Features you should consider when buying a golf watch
Do your research before buying your golf watch to make sure you are getting the right one for you
Always look into golf watches before you purchase one and always think about what you need from your golf GPS watch for example if you’re an experienced golfer who knows which club to use and when you may only need a more simple watch that shows distances and could save yourself some money.
But here’s a rundown of the popular key features in today’s golf watches to consider before buying one from a store or online retailer:
- Statistics tracking and analysis – Great for comparing and improving your scores.
- Pin Placement – If the pin position isn’t up to date, manually do it on your watch.
- Distances to the flag
- Distances to hazards and placement of hazards
- Digital Scorecard – keep your scores without carrying a scorecard and pen
- Auto course and Hole recognition – preloaded courses and automatic hole advance when you have completed the previous hole
- Screen size – display layout, high definition, and color are all things to consider
- Style – do you want a watch that can do both? Look stylish on and off the golf course
- What is your watch device compatible with? Can it connect to wifi and receive notifications from your phone?
- Battery life
Which is the best Golf GPS Watch for you?
If you are new to golf, or new to golf watches devices then consider these simple yet effective golf GPS watches:
If you are a little more advanced and are looking for a watch with a few more features you should consider:
And finally, if you are an advanced golfer and want the best-of-the-best regardless of price then consider these premium golf GPS watches