SmartWatch for Golf

DuckSlice · 27-05-2020 8:36am #1

Hi,

I'm looking at getting a smart watch which will cover golf GPS, fitness and store music so I don't need my phone on me when im exercising.

Only ones I can seem to find are the VivoActive 3 music by Garmin or the Apple Watch.

Any one have any suggestions? Looking around the 200-250 price point.

Thanks.

Jofspring · 27-05-2020 9:02am

etxp wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking at getting a smart watch which will cover golf GPS, fitness and store music so I don't need my phone on me when im excercising.

Only ones I can seem to find are the VivoActive 3 music by Garmin or the Apple Watch.

Any one have any suggestions? Looking around the 200-250 price point.

Thanks.

It's a bit dearer I think but Samsung have the Samsung Watch Golf Edition. Not sure the exact specifics on the difference from the regular Watch but might be worth a look. Saw it on the UK website last week.

Wombatman · 27-05-2020 9:08am

VivoActive 3 in Lidl from June 1st. €229 Halpenny. €160 Lidl.

https://www.lidl.ie/p/p42826?productId=42826&countryCode=IE

DuckSlice · 27-05-2020 9:31am

Wombatman wrote: »

VivoActive 3 in Lidl from June 1st. €229 Halpenny. €160 Lidl.

https://www.lidl.ie/p/p42826?productId=42826&countryCode=IE

Yea I saw that, but would be looking for the Music version so I can store music on it.

Mantis Toboggan · 27-05-2020 9:47am

The Garmin Vivoactive 4 is on amazon for €275.00. Includes music. I'd definitely pay the extra few euros to get the 4 over the 3 music version.

MarcusP12 · 27-05-2020 11:07am

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

The Garmin Vivoactive 4 is on amazon for €275.00. Includes music. I'd definitely pay the extra few euros to get the 4 over the 3 music version.

Are those vivoactives effective as a golf GPS watch though? Reason I ask is why they would bother with their golf range if the vivo does so much more for the same price? I have a Garmin S60 which is a slightly better S40 and it will do everything the OP wants except store music. Maybe the vivo has very basic golf functions and that's all the OP needs....

Baymax2020 · 27-05-2020 11:13am

I have the vivoactive hr. The golf app on it tends to be between 12 an 20 yards off compared to my golf buddy which I trust 100%.

MarcusP12 · 27-05-2020 11:17am

Baymax2020 wrote: »

I have the vivoactive hr. The golf app on it tends to be between 12 an 20 yards off compared to my golf buddy which I trust 100%.

I assume it just gives basic yardages so? You might have the setting in yards as opposed to meters? for example if you have the golf buddy set in yards and the garmin in meters without realising then your garmin will give a number about 10% less.....

carq · 27-05-2020 11:30am

what do people recommend - a range finder or a golf watch ?

prawnsambo · 27-05-2020 11:35am

There's a review of the Vivoactive 3 here. From reading it, it has pretty much all the features of the basic Garmin watches that don't have shot trackers on them. Will give front, middle and back of the green yardages, distance to hazards and doglegs, score recording and shot distance recording. Battery lasts approximately two rounds, so al in all, seems a pretty good option. In terms of accuracy, the reviewer said it was never more than a few yards out when compared to a Garmin S60.

searay · 27-05-2020 11:47am

prawnsambo wrote: »

There's a review of the Vivoactive 3 here. From reading it, it has pretty much all the features of the basic Garmin watches that don't have shot trackers on them. Will give front, middle and back of the green yardages, distance to hazards and doglegs, score recording and shot distance recording. Battery lasts approximately two rounds, so al in all, seems a pretty good option. In terms of accuracy, the reviewer said it was never more than a few yards out when compared to a Garmin S60.

I have a vivioactive 3 and a golf buddy world and I leave the golf buddy at home when playing my own course as the vivioactive matches it for accuracy. I find the watch less intrusive than a dedicated GPS that you’ve to reach into the bag for.

I bought the 3 for swimming and running and didn’t expect the golf to be good, but it does the job.

When I’m playing a course I’m not familiar with I bring both but would use the garmin unless I’m trying to figure out distance to a hazard. If I was buying today I’d buy the vivio 4 to have a good all round watch.

Kiith · 27-05-2020 1:24pm

The new Shotscope is due out in May (or it was), and that should be a big improvement on the already great v2.

Euphoriasean · 27-05-2020 7:00pm

carq wrote: »

what do people recommend - a range finder or a golf watch ?

Unless your a low handicapper I see no merit in getting a range finder. Knowing front,back and middle yardages to the green is enough. The watch is much faster than pulling out the rangerfinder to zap the pin. You also have the benefit of yardages to hazards.

Got the Garmin S20 years ago and it's perfect. All the yardages I need, automatic shot detection(handy for measuring your drive when you hit a good one) and last 2 rounds without having to charge.

thecomedian · 27-05-2020 8:55pm

Baymax2020 wrote: »

I have the vivoactive hr. The golf app on it tends to be between 12 an 20 yards off compared to my golf buddy which I trust 100%.

I’ve this watch too and I’ve found it to be perfect. I had to go into settings and change it from metres to yards(miles) when I first got it.
It matched up with a rangefinder so they are fairly spot on.

Synode · 27-05-2020 10:26pm

I've had a vivoactive 3 music for about 6 months now. Absolutely love it. It's perfectly accurate on a golf course and is absolutely brilliant for jogging or exercising with Bluetooth earphones. Highly recommend

Hoboo · 28-05-2020 2:12am

Kiith wrote: »

The new Shotscope is due out in May (or it was), and that should be a big improvement on the already great v2.

Pre release orders are now out in June, think general release is July. It looks the business.

Ceepo · 28-05-2020 9:13am

I picked up the vivoactive 3 music in Argos last weekend for €210.
I've used it for both running and golf since and I very happy with it.
I find the heart rate is consistent with my Garmin 920xt with chest strap, but this was only on easy runs. ( haven't done any hard runs yet)
I'm fairly new to golf but it does more that enough for me.
I did have one or 2 user errors but that is to be expect until I get used to it.

willabur · 28-05-2020 9:39am

I picked up the Vivoactive 4s last week on amazon, the grey strap is 205 pounds.
I went with the smaller one because of golf. Functionality looks simple enough but has everything you need. I will be playing 90% of my golf at the same place so I will just need it to know how far I am from the fat bit of the green

other than the golf it seems to be a nice bit of gear. I use it for running, the music option is nice and the garmin connect app is interesting in terms of the data it gathers about you

Synode · 28-05-2020 9:48am

willabur wrote: »

I picked up the Vivoactive 4s last week on amazon, the grey strap is 205 pounds.
I went with the smaller one because of golf. Functionality looks simple enough but has everything you need. I will be playing 90% of my golf at the same place so I will just need it to know how far I am from the fat bit of the green

other than the golf it seems to be a nice bit of gear. I use it for running, the music option is nice and the garmin connect app is interesting in terms of the data it gathers about you

I see they added what look like volume up and down buttons, which is the only annoying thing about the 3 Music as you have to navigate through to get to volume

Seve OB · 28-05-2020 9:55am

i have the vivoactive 3 for over a year now and if you search my posts on here i wrote a few reports on it.
basically, it is a decent multifunction fitness tracker, but if you want a golf watch, my recommendation is go and get a golf watch.
i also have a garmin approach gps, and unlike the vivoactive which gives you nothing more than front middle or back, the approach will give you fairways, hazards, you can set the pin, basically do much more.

is a gps better than a range finder?...... sometimes yes, sometimes no. i use both most rounds

prawnsambo · 28-05-2020 10:11am

Seve OB wrote: »

i have the vivoactive 3 for over a year now and if you search my posts on here i wrote a few reports on it.
basically, it is a decent multifunction fitness tracker, but if you want a golf watch, my recommendation is go and get a golf watch.
i also have a garmin approach gps, and unlike the vivoactive which gives you nothing more than front middle or back, the approach will give you fairways, hazards, you can set the pin, basically do much more.

is a gps better than a range finder?...... sometimes yes, sometimes no. i use both most rounds

According to the Vivoactive 3 manual here, the golf app gives you intermediate distances to doglegs, hazards and set pin positions.

While playing a game, you can take a closer look at the green and move the pin location.

Select the map. A larger view of the green appears.
Swipe up or down to scroll through the pin locations. indicates the selected pin location.
Press the key to accept the pin location. The distances on the hole information screen are updated to reflect the new pin location. The pin location is saved for only the current round.

fearruanua · 28-05-2020 10:16am

carq wrote: »

what do people recommend - a range finder or a golf watch ?

Not answering your question i know but like seve OB i have both. I have a garmin approach S40 watch and a nikon rangefinder. I would use both when playing. For distances, rangefinder when i can see the pin and the watch when i can't. I only bought the watch at christmas and the main reason was for keeping track of my round. Clubs hit, distances hit, GIR, fairways hit, putts. Very easy to do on the watch when your playing and then sync to the phone when you come in and you get a fairly comprehensive summary of your round. Works for me anyway.

redzerdrog · 28-05-2020 10:48am

fearruanua wrote: »

Not answering your question i know but like seve OB i have both. I have a garmin approach S40 watch and a nikon rangefinder. I would use both when playing. For distances, rangefinder when i can see the pin and the watch when i can't. I only bought the watch at christmas and the main reason was for keeping track of my round. Clubs hit, distances hit, GIR, fairways hit, putts. Very easy to do on the watch when your playing and then sync to the phone when you come in and you get a fairly comprehensive summary of your round. Works for me anyway.

How is the Garmin S40 for keeping track of the stats you mention? Would you recommend?

I like the idea if the shotscope but bought the V2 and never put it on my wrist because it was way too bulky. I think the V3 looks a lot slicker but hasn't been released yet. I'd be interested in how the S40 might compare though

DuckSlice · 28-05-2020 11:32am

Thanks everyone for the replies, Leaning towards the Vivoactive 4, must look more into the S60. will have to keep doing it by eye until I fully decide.

Synode · 28-05-2020 11:59am

prawnsambo wrote: »

According to the Vivoactive 3 manual here, the golf app gives you intermediate distances to doglegs, hazards and set pin positions.

While playing a game, you can take a closer look at the green and move the pin location.
Select the map. A larger view of the green appears.

Swipe up or down to scroll through the pin locations. indicates the selected pin location.

Press the key to accept the pin location. The distances on the hole information screen are updated to reflect the new pin location. The pin location is saved for only the current round.

It absolutely does give those. It's an excellent golf watch

MarcusP12 · 28-05-2020 11:59am

etxp wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies, Leaning towards the Vivoactive 4, must look more into the S60. will have to keep doing it by eye until I fully decide.

I think I mentioned earlier that I have the S60.....its a very good golf watch and will also work perfectly well as a smart watch and for exercise if you're not fussy on tracking your HR....just a couple of things to be aware of....if stats are your thing, its important to note that it won't track your chips and putts without the optional sensors which screw into the hole at the top of the grip where you would keep a tee before you realised how uncool it was.....you don't need to buy the full set of sensors (14 pack is about 270 euro I think!! so as dear as the watch almost) because the watch will pick up the full shots and then you confirm that club you just hit on the watch. You can instead pick up a 3 pack from garmin direct and fix to the putter and a couple of wedges but they're 80 euro for 3 so not cheap....with them it'll keep track of your up and down success rate and also your rate of 1/2/3 putts from short medium and long range....what I found interesting for me is that I am more likely to 3 putt from mid range than from long range and I think that's down to being more aggressive in the belief of holing the putt and not leaving it short. But that aggression means the putt back is in that dodgy 5 foot range. But long putts i'm more focussed on the 2 putt. So I found the sensor good for that....

The S60 also has very neat features like being able to measure your swing tempo. Also, if you have a blind shot, you can use it to get a direction to the green as it will act like a compass with the green as the north point basically.

The shotscope that people talk about seems to be very good for stats from what I can tell and includes all the sensors you'll need so its good value. But it looks $hite IMO so if you're planning on it doubling up as an everyday smart watch, the garmin is defo a good choice, if a relatively pricey one.....

From reading this thread though, I might have considered the vivos if i'd known they do the basics of the golf.....all depends on what you want from the watch really....if its primarily for golf then the S60 is hard to beat and you might pick it up at a good price know that there is a newer fancier model....

fearruanua · 28-05-2020 12:32pm

redzerdrog wrote: »

How is the Garmin S40 for keeping track of the stats you mention? Would you recommend?

I find it very easy to use after having it now for about 6/7 rounds. So how it works for me is after every shot i hit it asks me what club i used. So use that for tee shots and hitting into the green. After every hole then it asks you how many shots you took, did you hit the fairway or miss it left or right and how many putts you took. Sounds like a lot but after you get the hang of it it only takes a few seconds tbh. First round or two alright i did a lot of messing with it. Once you sync then to your phone it gives you a hole by hole summary with a graphic of the hole layout.
Also use it when i'm cycling and running plus it tells the time.

:D:D which is handy.
Yeah i'm very happy with it.

prawnsambo · 28-05-2020 1:18pm

Synode wrote: »

It absolutely does give those. It's an excellent golf watch

Clearly Seve OB has the early clockwork wind-up model with the measuring tape. :pac:

Seve OB · 28-05-2020 4:03pm

prawnsambo wrote: »

Clearly Seve OB has the early clockwork wind-up model with the measuring tape. :pac:

Clearly

Yes I can change pin, but other than that, it’s front middle or back.

willabur · 28-05-2020 4:14pm

on the 4s from the green view if you hit the top button it brings you to a menu where you can track shots, enter score, see distance to layups and a few other options

SeveOB what happens if you long press the button or the screen? perhaps that triggers the additional options?

prawnsambo · 28-05-2020 4:16pm

Seve OB wrote: »

Clearly

Yes I can change pin, but other than that, it’s front middle or back.

So you can't do this?

From the hole information screen, press the key, and select

.

SmartWatch for Golf

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