SmartWatch for Golf

blue note

I probably wouldn't want to go far over €200. I have the approach s20 and for golf it's perfect for me. Quite basic, but I've no complaints. I suspect the venu would be the same.

I'd be getting it for the non golf features such as running.

redzerdrog

Garmin have brought out 3 new golf specific watch. The new Approach s42 looks like it is great value for money and have the best of both worlds the Garmin fitness tracking and golf tracking

Think they working out about 300 though but certainly look worth the money

willabur

blue note wrote: »

I'm tempted to upgrade my golf watch. I like the look of the garmin venu music sq. Anyone know what it's like for golf? I assume the same as what I currently have (garmin approach s20).

And also, anyone know how to justify it? I'm telling myself I want it for the running tracking, heart rate monitor, etc.

The venu is basically the vivosmart 4 but with a nicer screen, strap etc. The firmware is the same as the vivosmart afaik.

I have the v4 which i do like alot. Its great for general fitness and for golf on course it is perfectly fine. Alot better than shotscope v3 which I also have. Where shotscope surpasses garmin is the after round experience, especially when you accumulate 5 plus rounds. You start to see trends on where you need to work on stuff. That said I think the post round shotscope experience is only okay, I think Game Golf does it better and from what I have read the Arccos system is better again.

Back to garmin, if you are happy with something on the course that is nice on your wrist then go for it

Mantis Toboggan

Also consider the vivoactive 3 & 4.

hold my beer

etxp wrote: »

If its the music feature you want then a golf specific watch is out of the picture.

Not true at all, the Garmin 3 and 4s do both golf and music very very well

B-D-P--

For 200, get the S60.
I have it, I am not impressed with the screen compared to my Samsung active 2 but the golf app is 100 times better.

Seve OB

hold my beer wrote: »

Not true at all, the Garmin 3 and 4s do both golf and music very very well

But they are not golf specific watches

hold my beer

B-D-P-- wrote: »

For 200, get the S60.
I have it, I am not impressed with the screen compared to my Samsung active 2 but the golf app is 100 times better.

Where would you get the S60 for 200?

hold my beer

Seve OB wrote: »

But they are not golf specific watches

I'd consider them to be golf watches with extra features

Seve OB

hold my beer wrote: »

I'd consider them to be golf watches with extra features

They are activity trackers with some golf features.
As pointed out already if you want a golf watch, get one designed for golf

hold my beer

Seve OB wrote: »

They are activity trackers with some golf features.
As pointed out already if you want a golf watch, get one designed for golf

Built in golf features, I'd call it designed for golf. Anyway who cares, they're excellent watches for both golf and training.

fearruanua

B-D-P-- wrote: »

For 200, get the S60.
I have it, I am not impressed with the screen compared to my Samsung active 2 but the golf app is 100 times better.

You might get the S40 for a little over the 200.

blue note

Seve OB wrote: »

They are activity trackers with some golf features.
As pointed out already if you want a golf watch, get one designed for golf

I wonder though are we at the stage where you don't have to choose. I remember using my phone for music and being told it wasn't as good as a dedicated mp3 player. But at that stage it was.

I reckon the venu is the same as my approach s20 from a golf point of view. The only concern that's obvious to me is whether or not it has all the courses preloaded. I won't pretend I don't want a few of the features like distance to hazards, shot tracking, etc. But I think it has them. I'm not sure if there's anything I'd be losing other than battery life.

But my watch isn't great for non golf stuff. I'd like to track my runs, the music could be nice, paying with the watch could be handy. It works for skiing too which I hope would be useful. I think I want to buy myself something too.

hold my beer

blue note wrote: »

I wonder though are we at the stage where you don't have to choose

We've been there a good while now in my opinion.

Seve OB

I recently upgraded my vivoactive to a Fenix.
I’ve not even bothered to look at the golf on it yet as it would be to depressing, but the specs have it much better. I actually think the specs on it for golf are as good as the top golf models.

Similar with running, Fenix specs much better than vivoactive. This I can comment on and I’ll say that they are miles apart. The vivoactive was grand for running. Found the GPS was not always what it should be though. I might end up doing 5k and adding up to 200m onto it. The running fields were limited.

The Fenix has much more to offer and I’m glad I changed.

So if you want something basic, the basic tracker watches will give you a decent offering but if you want something better and happier to spend a few more quid, but something dedicated to what you really want

DuckSlice

etxp wrote: »

I think my buddy got the Venu with the main thing being for golf. I'll ask him and make sure it is. He wasn't impressed with it for golf but said the fitness features and steps/HR etc. were all very good.

Personally i think, if you want a watch for golf, buy one that is designed with golf in mind and has the additional features. But if you want it mainly for exercise tracking then buy one that is designed for that. If its the music feature you want then a golf specific watch is out of the picture.

What's the budget?

Just to confirm it is the Venu SQ music my buddy has. He stopped using it for golf. Its supposed to do the auto-tracking of shots the same as my S62 but his seem to miss a lot of shots where mine always records them. He is very happy with it for the fitness side of things though.

blue note

etxp wrote: »

Just to confirm it is the Venu SQ music my buddy has. He stopped using it for golf. Its supposed to do the auto-tracking of shots the same as my S62 but his seem to miss a lot of shots where mine always records them. He is very happy with it for the fitness side of things though.

That's interesting. My s20 tracks my shots and works very well. Not perfect, but I am impressed with the feature. Hmm. Maybe I'll wait for the next model to come out.

TitianGerm

The newest version of the Shot Scope is down to £160 on Amazon at the moment. It includes the tags as well.

After the price is adjusted for Irish Vat it comes to £164 (€192 using Revolut).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08C311RRK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_7RVKRQ58M778W8XAXVZ0

The Big Easy

TitianGerm wrote: »

The newest version of the Shot Scope is down to £160 on Amazon at the moment. It includes the tags as well.

After the price is adjusted for Irish Vat it comes to £164 (€192 using Revolut).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08C311RRK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_7RVKRQ58M778W8XAXVZ0

Thanks, just bought it, have been carrying around the remnants of a loyal S1. Delivery Friday, so won't have to wait long to try it out

TitianGerm

The Big Easy wrote: »

Thanks, just bought it, have been carrying around the remnants of a loyal S1. Delivery Friday, so won't have to wait long to try it out

I've the V2 one here that I got at launch. It's had very little use as I didn't play at all last year but I'm very tempted to sell it and just buy the V3

spacecoyote

What's the app like for putting on shotscope?

CSWS101

spacecoyote wrote: »

What's the app like for putting on shotscope?

It's all done through the shotscope app. You can either do it manually or automatically (using the sensors). I find manual is better, you press a button to mark where you putt from when you're standing over the ball until you finish out. When you finish out you tag the pin by pressing another putting, then you can get stats like average proximity to the hole by each club and a breakdown of your putting performance from different distances etc, there's heaps of data available on the app.

I find it's better than the automatic as it struggles to pick up the tap ins, sounds like a lot of buttons but it's actually really straight forward, might take a round or two to get used to. They've also included strokes gained on the app, the only comparison is to pro's so a lot of minus SG but good to see where you are losing out on.

Ivefoundgod

CSWS101 wrote: »

It's all done through the shotscope app. You can either do it manually or automatically (using the sensors). I find manual is better, you press a button to mark where you putt from when you're standing over the ball until you finish out. When you finish out you tag the pin by pressing another putting, then you can get stats like average proximity to the hole by each club and a breakdown of your putting performance from different distances etc, there's heaps of data available on the app.

I find it's better than the automatic as it struggles to pick up the tap ins, sounds like a lot of buttons but it's actually really straight forward, might take a round or two to get used to. They've also included strokes gained on the app, the only comparison is to pro's so a lot of minus SG but good to see where you are losing out on.

That does sound like a lot of buttons, so you walk up to your ball on the green, unlock phone and press a button, putt, unlock phone and press button, hole out and unlock and press another button? Or am I misunderstanding?

Am tempted by an Arccos or Shotscope but that seems like way too much messing around. Can imagine playing partners getting a bit annoyed.

TitianGerm

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

That does sound like a lot of buttons, so you walk up to your ball on the green, unlock phone and press a button, putt, unlock phone and press button, hole out and unlock and press another button? Or am I misunderstanding?

Am tempted by an Arccos or Shotscope but that seems like way too much messing around. Can imagine playing partners getting a bit annoyed.

The button is on the watch.

Ivefoundgod

TitianGerm wrote: »

The button is on the watch.

Doh! That makes a lot more sense!

finglashoop

i use manual

watch knows your on the green so press a button before each putt. then press button to collect pin.

auto doesnt work well imo but i glued the sensor on top of putter

MarcusP12

finglashoop wrote: »

i use manual

watch knows your on the green so press a button before each putt. then press button to collect pin.

auto doesn't work well imo but i glued the sensor on top of putter

That sounds like a neat enough feature for them....i use the S60 with a sensor on the putter and i'd love if it gave better stats on the putting....at the moment it just tells your % 1, 2 and 3 putts from short, medium and long range which i think is 0-10, 10-20 and 20+........when you consider how quickly your 1 putt % fall between 3 and 10ft, it really doesn't give you the full picture....

The Big Easy

Delighted with the new V3! Ordered Tuesday night and arrived Friday morning in time for 9 yesterday evening. Really happy with it although my S1 pocket watch was a low bar to surpass :pac:

Screwed in the tags no bother, I was a little worried it would take a while considering some of the reviews. Al pretty simple and straightforward and they screw out easy too, which I was a little concerned about for changing clubs and grips and whatnot.

Mapped the nine holes, disappointingly it didn't have the new 4th mapped in our club, so wouldn't pick up the green automatically for the pin capture, but it was quick enough to sort it manually. The putting and pin capture is really simple and fast while playing, no issues there. really cool having the hazard information for the first time for me. On our course they could really do with including a few of the trees as hazards, it would be great to have the distance to get past some of them, but I always want more

The more fiddly aspect come after the round in editing, but I'm sure that will become easier with time. Didn't know what I was doing for a while and I had played some practice shots which I didn't know how to notify on the watch while playing (there's something on their website about an option for this?). It's definitely fiddly though and with no desktop app you'd need a large enough phone screen. Gave up actually using yesterday's dat because I was scrap and with all the practise shots.

Looking forward to getting out with it again this evening and just playing one ball and editing it after. Some cool things are seeing what club you're hitting on the watch and the fact it keeps a running distance of your last shot at all times.

Overall, very happy so far, but will post another update after logging a few rounds. Seems very good value at €190 considering all the functionality you get.

TitianGerm

The Big Easy wrote: »

Delighted with the new V3! Ordered Tuesday night and arrived Friday morning in time for 9 yesterday evening. Really happy with it although my S1 pocket watch was a low bar to surpass :pac:

Screwed in the tags no bother, I was a little worried it would take a while considering some of the reviews. Al pretty simple and straightforward and they screw out easy too, which I was a little concerned about for changing clubs and grips and whatnot.

Mapped the nine holes, disappointingly it didn't have the new 4th mapped in our club, so wouldn't pick up the green automatically for the pin capture, but it was quick enough to sort it manually. The putting and pin capture is really simple and fast while playing, no issues there. really cool having the hazard information for the first time for me. On our course they could really do with including a few of the trees as hazards, it would be great to have the distance to get past some of them, but I always want more

The more fiddly aspect come after the round in editing, but I'm sure that will become easier with time. Didn't know what I was doing for a while and I had played some practice shots which I didn't know how to notify on the watch while playing (there's something on their website about an option for this?). It's definitely fiddly though and with no desktop app you'd need a large enough phone screen. Gave up actually using yesterday's dat because I was scrap and with all the practise shots.

Looking forward to getting out with it again this evening and just playing one ball and editing it after. Some cool things are seeing what club you're hitting on the watch and the fact it keeps a running distance of your last shot at all times.

Overall, very happy so far, but will post another update after logging a few rounds. Seems very good value at €190 considering all the functionality you get.

I thought there was a PC app to update the watch but I think you can edit your round there as well.

How big is the watch on your arm? I found the V2 stood up quite a lot off my arm.

The Big Easy

TitianGerm wrote: »

I thought there was a PC app to update the watch but I think you can edit your round there as well.

How big is the watch on your arm? I found the V2 stood up quite a lot off my arm.

It's exclusively a mobile app for the V3 apparently which is definitely more fiddly.

Didn't really notice the watch on my wrist at all and I never wear a watch and my S1 hasn't had a strap for over a year, so I'd say it's a pretty good fit and non-intrusive on the swing. Supposedly 60% smaller than the V2, so I'd say you'd notice a big difference.