7 Best Golf Course GPS Watches – 2024 Reviews & Buying guide

If you are a professional golfer, you must be aware of the importance of a golf course GPS watch. It could be a game-changer beyond your imagination. You may find that the golf course GPS watches perform like Google Maps. You can make a more precise decision to hit the ball when you closely know how far you are standing from the pin and how you should make your next move. Typically, quality golf GPS enables you to discriminate between a perfect shot and one that went missing.

If you have made an extraordinary investment in the best golf shoes, golf driver, golf ball, and golf bag, there is still something very important you are missing: the Golf GPS watch! Model is what can take your game to the next level. It helps you hypothetically minimize your handicap and save you from imprecise guesswork. Start removing the guesswork by choosing one quality golf course GPS watch. I am presenting a comprehensive guide to the world’s best golf watches. You are warmly invited to be a part of the best golf course GPS watch community. So move ahead, please.

Top 7 Best Golf Course GPS Watch

1. Garmin Approach S12 Easy-to-Use GPS Golf Watch, 42k+ Preloaded Courses

Though the Garmin Approach S12 is a renowned quality golf watch, it is one of the best brands available in the market. Like Garmin’s top-class watches, you can also sync Approach S12 with the same Garmin Golf app and get a huge amount of data at your fingertips. Thus it makes, on the whole, great worth for money.

Garmin Approach S12 is not equipped with a color screen; therefore, it creates rather fiddlier maps, difficult to understand. But you can read it easily in direct sunlight.

The watch rewards against the shortcoming of its colourless screen with some other great features like battery life. The exceptional battery easily goes for several weeks in golf GPS mode without recharging it.

This entry-level golf GPS watch comes with 42,000 preloaded golf courses. The company claims, “Go to any golf course under the sun, and find our service over there.” The watch gets connected with GPS satellites and automatically detects the golf course you are at.

Pros
  • Transflective Memory-in-Pixel (MIP) and Sunlight-Visible
  • More than 2 months of battery timing in golf GPS mode
  • Affordably priced
  • Great GPS accuracy
Cons
  • Monochrome display
Our Top Pick
 Garmin Approach S12 Easy-to-Use GPS Golf Watch, 42k+ Preloaded Courses

Garmin Approach S12 Easy-to-Use GPS Golf Watch, 42k+ Preloaded Courses

Specifications:

  • Brand: Garmin
  • Color: Black
  • Battery Life: 30.0, 15.0 Hours
  • Screen Size : 0.9 Inches

It can track all the data, including the length of your round and shot distance as well. For me, an amazing feature is to display a digital scorecard, and also it does measure the yardage to doglegs and layups accordingly. If you want to input some custom target distances, you can do it easily. If you are health conscious like me, you may find many sports activity profiles and fitness features like a pedometer.

2. Garmin Approach S42, GPS Golf Smartwatch, Silver Ceramic Bezel, & White Silicone Band

Garmin is a world-class GPS device maker, and Garmin Approach S42 is a conspicuous model with an affordable price range. The Garmin Approach S42 was released in March 2021 as the greatly popular S40. It delivers several better-quality internal functions and offers an upgraded battery life that goes for days. The GPS watch has been made for you if you have a deep love for statistics and want your watch to work off the course as well. The recommended model is incredibly the best golf course GPS watch for you to shape the game as you want it to be.

Moreover, you will get a great upgrade from the wildly popular Garmin Approach S20. You may find hundreds of GPS watches among the huge variety of GPS devices, but Garmin Approach S10 is the only tool you would like to buy for various quality reasons. It’s been featured to help you rule your swig; that’s why we’ve included it in our top picks. You’ll get an amazing combination of a sunlight-readable 1.2-inch color touchscreen and the cutting-edge GPS technology that enables you to estimate distances to the front, middle, and back of the green.

Pros
  • More fitness features
  • Handicap scoring
  • Larger display Touchscreen
Cons
  • Heavier
  • Less memory
Our Top Pick
 Garmin Approach S42 GPS Golf Smartwatch, Silver Ceramic Bezel, & White Silicone Band

Garmin Approach S42 GPS Golf Smartwatch, Silver Ceramic Bezel, & White Silicone Band

Specifications:

  • Brand: Garmin
  • Color: Silver Ceramic Bezel
  • Human Interface Input: Touchscreen
  • Map Type : North America
  • Battery Life: 240.0, 15.0 Hours

Moreover, you will also get hints of any vulnerability in Garmin Approach S42. While analyzing the product, I found it has an AutoShot game tracking feature to ensure all records of your every putt and pitch. It helps you to learn from your mistakes after the game. I suggest the model for beginners to practice better games. You will also be pleased to know that the watch comes with 42,000 preloaded global courses that bestow you the break to compare your score with voluminous others playing over there.

3. Shot Scope V3 Golf Course GPS Watch – Compatible with iOS and Android Apps – 36,000+ Preloaded Golf Courses

Shot Scope V3 Golf Course GPS Watch could be your best option if you seek a reliable alternative to the Apple Watch Golf GPS/Arccos. I have used the product, and it is a dependable combination of the latest features and a user-friendly interface. While using it, I feel that Shot Scope V3 works like Arccos, allowing you to screw the tracking tags and leave the remaining tasks on it. The watch delivers you a lot of data to get a comprehensive knowledge to understand your game plan and all its shortcomings.

Like various other best GPS watches for golf, the Shot Scope is also connected with an online portal that creates a detailed analysis of each round so you can review all of your data conveniently. As shot tracking is one of the most prominent characteristics of Shot Scope, you can also get to know the distance to the front, back, and middle of the green, including the yardages to hazards.

Pros
  • A user-friendly design with long battery life
  • A reliable, durable, and affordable product
  • Water and dust resistant
  • Easy navigation through features
  • Excellent value for money
Cons
  • In some cases, you might have to change your pre-round routine or on-course to some extent.
  • Just a couple of GPS features
Our Top Pick
  Shot Scope V3 Golf Course GPS Watch – Compatible with iOS and Android Apps

Shot Scope V3 Golf Course GPS Watch – Compatible with iOS and Android Apps

Specifications:

  • Brand: Shot Scope Technologies
  • Color:Black
  • Human Interface Input: Buttons
  • Connectivity Technology: Bluetooth
  • Map Type: Worldwide

According to my personal experience with the model, buying Shot Scope V3 means you will get the best deals on golf GPS watches and a good return for your money. Moreover, you can also answer the question you are seeking for “what is the best golf rangefinder watch.” The watch works great as a rangefinder during all of your games, as it comes with 36,000 preloaded golf courses but without any subscription fees. You can now get an incredible value for just $205.99.

4. Izzo Golf Swami Golf GPS Watch – Worldwide Preloaded Courses – Stunning Black – Lightweight and Multi-Functional Golf GPS Watch

If you don’t want to be diverted by fancy graphics and concentrate on your game, there is an Izzo Golf Swami Golf GPS Watch for you that is simple in itself. The watch is renowned for delivering relevantly significant data in an easy-to-understand way. An automatic system to recognize the holes and course enables you to get direct into action without wasting time shilly-shallying with dials. You won’t have to use your data to update your course info with Built-in Bluetooth.

Unlike other best wristwatch golf GPS, Izzo Golf Swami comes with a relatively large battery life that’s enough for more than three rounds. Such great features are equipped within this modern, sleek GPS watch with a unique adjustable wristband. The great band reversible wristband means you will get the style that stays on course even though your balls don’t.

Pros
  • True, & fantastic analysis of your golf game
  • Improving instantly after using for only a short time
  • Easy navigations plan to set up and use
  • Delivers a quick and accurate GPS
Cons
  • It comes with a weaker battery life
  • Has a less memory
Our Top Pick
 Izzo Golf Swami Golf GPS Watch – Worldwide Preloaded Courses

Izzo Golf Swami Golf GPS Watch – Worldwide Preloaded Courses

Specifications:

  • Brand: Izzo
  • Color:Black
  • Are Batteries Included: Yes
  • Map Type: Worldwide
  • Battery Life: 10 Hours

Many golfers don’t want or use all the features offered by the most expensive GPS watches for golf. If you are also one of them, you must have noticed that you want to know how far the green is, and if you get to know all this within $86, why would you buy a GPS watch with a higher price tag.

5. Voice Caddie G3 Hybrid Golf GPS Watch with Slope – Black – Comes with an Affordable Price Tag

Voice Caddie’s G3 Hybrid GPS watch with Slope is highly appreciated among golfers around the globe. It is a brand-new product and the successor to its previous G2 Hybrid version. G3 was made to satisfy the golfers, who complained that the G2 lacks significant features. That is why G3 was valued very much on its arrival in the market. Compared to G2, we may find that the latest has upgraded auto-slope accuracy with the latest and patented V-Algorithm technology.

The best Golf Course GPS Watch comes with Automatic Slope recognition and automatically calculates slope data to the center of the green. You may get all the updates without paying charges to anyone. Amazingly, the Voice Caddie G2, G3 Golf GPS Watch is one of the best deals on golf GPS watches, which you can also wear off the course.

Pros
  • Automatic hole detecting system with front/center/back distance guide
  • A complete athletic watch for cycling, jogging, speed, and burning calorie
  • Over 40,000+ courses preloaded
  • Connecting to satellite for instant updates
  • Providing slope-adjusted distances
Cons
  • No touchscreen
  • Lower resolution display
Our Top Pick
 Voice Caddie G3 Hybrid Golf GPS Watch with Slope – Black – Comes with an Affordable Price Tag

Voice Caddie G3 Hybrid Golf GPS Watch with Slope – Black – Comes with an Affordable Price Tag

Specifications:

  • Brand: VOICE CADDIE
  • Color:Black
  • Are Batteries Included: Yes
  • Control Method: Voice
  • product:100% Waterproof

If you are changing your mind and want to try some other brand than Shot Scope or Garmin, Voice Caddie is amazingly at a good price point and a dependable option. It could be a brilliant choice for the best deals on golf GPS watches as it comes with an alarm, stopwatch, sport, fashion, full fitness, and cycling mode and combining golf.

6: SkyCaddie LX5, GPS Golf Watch with Touchscreen Display – HD Color Course View Maps, Stunning Black

SkyCaddie LX5, a GPS Golf Watch with a Touchscreen Display, would certainly be your first choice if most golfers’ “display” is your priority. None of the users wants to burden their eyes to read their covered distances. You can easily get the highest resolution display with the SkyCaddie LX5. The watch is designed with a large crisp overall screen and multiple brightness settings to deliver quality results. There is a hole-detecting system that makes your gaming experience even greater.

The Sky Caddie is there to deliver you everything you are looking for, like measured yardages to the front, middle, and back, and any of the expected hazards as well. According to me, it is a standard form of hi-tech gadget to provide you best results. There are over 40,000 worldwide golf courses preloaded in the watch, and the watch works with satellite and delivers the latest data instantly. It helps you to take the right decision at the right time.

Pros
  • Long-lasting battery
  • Attractive design
  • Comfortable to wear
  • Clear display with long battery time
  • Lightweight
Cons
  • AutoShot misses some swings
  • A bit fussy at times
Our Top Pick
 SkyCaddie LX5, GPS Golf Watch with Touchscreen Display – HD Color Course View Maps, Stunning Black

SkyCaddie LX5, GPS Golf Watch with Touchscreen Display – HD Color Course View Maps, Stunning Black

Specifications:

  • Brand:SkyCaddie
  • Color:Black
  • Are Batteries Included: Yes
  • Screen Size :1.39 Inches
  • Human Interface Input: Touchscreen
  • Connectivity Technology: Wi-Fi

The SkyCaddie LX5 comes with touchscreen technology that makes the watch simple to operate. There was a time when I used to prefer the slope reading capabilities on Garmin and GolfBuddy, but since I started using LX5, I have quit everything. SkyCaddie provides me with a lot more useful information.

7: Golf Buddy Aim W11 Golf GPS Watch, Premium Full Color Touchscreen, Preloaded with 40,000 Worldwide Courses

The GolfBuddy Aim W11 is ready to bring you the best features along with it and all the smoking-hot values for just $199.98. Are you ready to handle the heat? The watch is equipped with a full-color touchscreen display and a low-light mode. The model is a waterproof product with various other attributes. There is an exclusive feature in the best Golf Course GPS Watch that comes free of cost as you might have to buy that facility for $30-50.

 You can color-code features like the dark blue color indicating the lowest point and bright red pointing out to the highest spot in this best golf GPS watch rangefinder. There is a pleasant green view for each hole with some slope and outline information. G3 has a waterproofing feature that makes it the best wristwatch golf GPS. You’ll get not only a high-quality fit but also a comfortable feel and spectacular finish with the watch.

Pros
  • Speedy touchscreen
  • Low-light and on-screen mode
  • Get an automatic zoom-In/Out
  • Free latest updates
  • Guaranteed waterproofing
Cons
  • AutoShot misses some swings
  • A bit fussy at times
  • Screen sometimes freezes in fitness tracking mode
Our Top Pick
 Golf Buddy Aim W11 Golf GPS Watch, Premium Full Color Touchscreen, Preloaded with 40,000 Worldwide Courses

Golf Buddy Aim W11 Golf GPS Watch, Premium Full Color Touchscreen, Preloaded with 40,000 Worldwide Courses

Specifications:

  • Brand:Golf Buddy
  • Color:Black
  • Are Batteries Included: No
  • Screen Size :1.3 Inches
  • Human Interface Input: Touchscreen
  • Map Type: Worldwide

The watch is incredibly light with a weight of 2.3 ounces only. Sky Caddie is a big watch, so if you’ve got some small wrists, it could be rather too big for you. Therefore, you are recommended to consider it carefully before opening your wallet to buy it. I’m sure the watch fits within your budget, as you may get it from Amazon’s best deals on golf GPS watches.

★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★

A Complete Buying Guide on What Should a Quality GPS Golf Watch Include?

Several great names like SkyCaddie, Garmin, SHOT SCOPE V3, and GOLF BUDDY WTX have produced quality brands for decades. The products tell how hard work they are doing to perfect the GPS golf watch technology that enables you to choose the right club for each shot, what you are supposed to do! Just concentrate and hit the ball in the right course. It’s that easy! The knowledge is incredibly a great blessing & a boundless power, so it’s true when we share our golf views.

“We may find that the most significant golf watch brands like Bushnell Golf Excel GPS watch, SkyCaddie, Garmin, and GolfBuddy offer several different golf GPS watches to attract professional golfers. Therefore, comparing their devices could amazingly be dull and tiresome. Overall, let’s see what should be there in a top-quality GPS golf watch!”

Reliable Battery Life

Just like mobiles, the battery life is incredibly significant for golf GPS watches, as you might have to play a round of golf expanding 4-5 hours, and you must need your device to work properly without lacking power. Luckily, most brands offer GPS watches with more than 8 active hours in golf mode. Thus they last for several days and stay with you uninterruptedly.

Exact Distance Information

The latest golf GPS watches are designed to deliver basic distance information to the center of the green. Some watches contain the yardages to the front and back of the green along with each hole.

Touch to Target Feature

The feature of “The touch to target” can help you a lot if you seek a way to know the exact distance to your desired location on the golf hole. You will understand the importance of the feature when you have to lay up to some water hazard.

Waterproofing Amenity

You will spend a lot of money on a golf GPS watch, and now you would never want it to get wet be ruined. Here you are recommended to check if the watch is waterproof. The feature is amazingly worthwhile if you get some drops on it, especially in rainy saturations.

Touch Screen

Some of the cheap golf GPS watches or older watches used to work with the buttons on the side you press to operate the screen for different functions. But the latest technology has bestowed you touch screen capability to go into different locations on the golf course map by just pressing the screen.

Ease of Navigation & Use

Ease of usage and user-friendly navigation are some of the most ignored features by golfers. The technology could be very complicated, especially for those who are not much familiar with it. I suggest playing around with the watch navigating on different pages. Furthermore, don’t forget to make sure it’s easy and friendly for you.

Fitness Tracking

Ensure that the watch offers fitness tracking amenities and can be used outside the course, like at home, gym, office, etc. The watch must show step-tracking and basic calorie-tracking as well. Therein a round of golf, you can burn 500-600 calories and take thousands of steps.

★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★

Frequently Asked Questions about the Best Golf Course GPS Watches

I own both a golf GPS & a rangefinder and truly speaking, I’ve found both of them very close to each other. I prefer using a golf rangefinder if I’ve to measure exact yardages. Otherwise, I like to use a GPS watch to calculate the front, middle, and back distance. It is a great combination that makes my golfing experience even better.

Yes, of course, you may get many benefits from using a quality golf course GPS smartwatch. Many golfers reported their lower scores and improved their skills and score by using a GPS smartwatch. As your GPS watch measures the distance for you, you would be able to select the right club just on the base of your GPS device.

The GPS watch is a device you can use to enhance your capabilities, but nothing guarantees your score level grows just for using such devices. It would help you improve your game skill but not push up your score level.

There is a huge variety of the best Golf Course GPS watches available in the market, and sometimes it’s very hard to decide what to take and ignore. But I suggest you go with Garmin Approach S42 or choose Golf Buddy if you want to live within your budget.

★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★

Final Verdict

I often think that we are incredibly lucky to live in a time when we have a lot of golf stuff like a GPS golf watch that is on top of all the accessories. All the golf luggage like this is used to make the game greatly easier, and if you have goteerf4cdfr, the best GPS watch for golf, you can do a lot more than just gaming in the course. Here rises a million-dollar question what is the best GPS golf watch for me? We’ve tried to cover several features to look for when shopping for a golf GPS watch in the above lines.

A quality GPS watch must include basic features like distance tracking or yardage to the green and expected hazards. To choose the best golf course GPS watch, we’ll consider a few options.

  • If you choose Garmin Approach or SkyCaddie, your choice is great.
  • The Garmin S42 provides golfers with reliable stat tracking and several golfing features.
  • The Garmin S12 is also a good choice if you seek a lightweight, stripped-down, and more affordable GPS watch.

I hope my research was effectively beneficial for you, and I would like to see your remarks, suggestions, and queries in the comment box below.

Jake Paul