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garmin approach watch

connor

connor

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Just wondering if anyone has written a review or fancy doing one so i can have a read?
Just wondering on ease of use, accuracy and how you download the data to it for where you play?
Is it comfy as i dont normally wear watches. I fancy this over a gps or a laser as when i duff it 10yrds i wont look such a plank after pulling out a range finder haha
 
I'd definately recommend buying one. You don't have to download anything as is fully set up and loaded with courses.
I can't really say how accurate it is other than saying its bang on with our 150 markers.
It's pretty chunky but very lightweight, the wearing of it was the only issue I had before buying but it really isn't a problem.
I don't think you would be dissapointed, the only problem is the charger is a bit crap. It's a kind of spring loaded clamp with four pins that you have to locate onto the back of the watch,sounds easy enough but it isn't.
Other than the rubbish charger it's a good piece of kit!
 
My only experience of these was when my playing partner turned up at the Belhaven Scottish Club Championship Regional Finals at Baberton last year and his 'watch' didn't recognise the course!! :D
 
The one area where a full gps device would be better (got an SGX myself!) is planning your 2nd shots on a par 5/getting out of trouble.

With this watch i'm guessing you get distance to the front of the green? With my sgx you get a bird eye view of the hole and you can place your 'target' where ever you like. With intelligreen i get a basic representation of the slopes of the green and can again place my target, so if you have a 2 tier green, you want to know the yardage to the 2nd tier.

I can see why the watch would be good, a quick glance and your away, but i wouldn't discount a 'full' device.
 
Bought one last month. Used it three times. Will do a review very soon.

Q. Ease of use?
A. Very easy. Wear as watch, just before tee off, activate round on watch and it auto works out where you are. This assumes that course is mapped! Ensure you download latest firmware and courses before any use. Hit shots and you just glance at watch to get yardage. You'll have to estimate where flag is in relation to front, middle, back yardages the watch gives you.

Q. Accuracy?
A. Figures will be good, but double check when surrounded by trees as GPS availability maybe limited. The distance to actual flag depends on your eyesight of where the flag is, but if you take centre yardages its not a prob.

Q. Download data for your course?
A. You have to hope its mapped. If not, send a request and wait. And wait.

Pros: save time on course, gives you quick info with just a cursory glance. I think it helps to save shots. Very comfortable to wear once you've worked out the strap fitting.
Cons: Occasional errors in course mapping. Charger is a bit tricky.

Summary: its excellent for what it does.
 
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If you are on a budget it could make good sense. I know Smiffy had one and really liked it. Personally I prefer a more detailed affair so I can see distances to hazards, lay up areas etc. Horses for courses as with most things. I think they do a pretty decent no frills job just not what I'd like to use
 
its not so much the price im bothered by homer is more the discreetness of it which is what attracts me to it over a handheld device.
Thanks for all the help with this one time to start nosing around as going to be treating me self to a few golfing items over the next few weeks.
 
I have an Android phone & downloaded an app called SkyDroid............and it's brilliant.
Instead of reading front, middle & back of greens for £149, read front, middle & back of greens for £1.28!!!
As for courses, it effectively has EVERY course. If you can't find it on their website you can use their course mapping facility & map your own course!
This takes around 20 minutes & is great fun. What's more, whilst mapping your course you can map EVERY hazard on the course, carries over water hazards, distances to bunkers & you can even map out markers to fairway targets such as corners of dog legs and so on. If you don't like it.............uninstall it, it's only cost you £1.28 after all!
I love it................check it out on the SkyDroid website,

Slime.
 
Hi connor i had been in the market for one after the future father inlaw got one for xmas. I wear watches daily but not during golf and when i tried the s1 watch it just felt slightly akward and as said does not have all courses. Not in n.ireland anyhow. So i opted for golf buddy world which also attaches to my trolley. Found the sgx to be too bulky as looked at that too.
 
Played the other week with a mate who had an app of his iphone, for me it was the worst thing ever. Took so much longer because he didn't have it attached to holder on a trolley or like a watch that he could glance at. Plus his battery ran out on his around the 12/13th so stopped working lol. Unless I had a skycaddie which was on display I doubt I'd use them and I don't like wearing a watch so would prob give one of these a miss too.
 
connor said:
Just wondering if anyone has written a review or fancy doing one so i can have a read?
Click to expand...

This is a copy of the review I did shortly after purchasing my S1 early last year. Hope it helps.
Still use mine regularly, love it. Never had a problem with it whenever I have used it. The only two things I don't like about it are that it's not always easy to locate the four charging lugs on the back of the watch. You have to make sure it's done right and keep jiggling it around to make sure you see the battery icon appear. I've once thought it's been on charge but found out when I used it that they hadn't located correctly and my battery went dead after 3 or 4 holes of use.
The other downer is the battery capacity. Despite a full charge the watch cannot cope with 36 holes of golf. It's good for maybe 26 or 27, but 36....no way. If you are playing 36 holes it will pay you to take the charger with you and see if you can find a spare plug in the clubhouse and give it a quick charge up before you go out again after lunch.

"Having now used the above for three rounds of golf I feel qualified to post a review on this great piece of kit.
If you need to know how far it is to a bunker/hazard off the tee, the Garmin Approach is no good for you.
If all you need to know is distance to front/middle/back of green from anywhere on the course, how far you have walked during your round, or the length of your occasional "biggie" then this will fit the bill.
I normally wear a wristwatch when I play anyway, so wearing the Garmin unit is no big deal. It's very, very light and after a while you forget you've even got it on.
A doddle to set up and use, the unit comes pre-loaded with over 5,000 courses so no downloading to do prior to playing a strange course, which is great.
When you get to your chosen course, all you need to do is press the "OK/Menu" button and it will bring up a list of actions..."Start round/Odometer/Alarm/Setup/About/Cancel"
Pressing "Start round" will then see the unit start searching for satellites...and it locks on pretty quickly I must say. No more than about 20 seconds in the 3 or 4 times I have used it.
Once it has locked on it has worked out your location, and will give you a choice of courses to choose from based on the information it has received. It will start at the nearest course to you and will then list all the courses available up to about a 50 mile radius.
Selecting the course you want will see the unit start loading the data and will immediately show the hole number and distance from the centre of the green.
If you are starting from a different hole than the 1st, just use the "up/down" buttons to scroll to the correct hole. Once your game is under way, it automatically moves on to the next hole as you progress through the round.
As you walk down the fairway, just a quick glance at the easy to read screen gives you the information that you need.
No faffing around having to look at a GPS unit attached to your bag, or hidden in your pocket. It's instant!
I played yesterday and hit a horror slice off the 17th tee. Ended up to the right of a big copse of trees on an adjacent fairway, and although I could see the pin I had no real idea of how far out I was. Glanced at the Garmin and it confirmed I was exactly 184 out to the middle of the green. I had a perfect lie in the semi rough, little bit of breeze behind. I absolutely flushed a 6 iron and my ball finished pin high just on the fringe. Two putts later and a 4 was on the card. I don't think I would have clubbed right had it not been for the Garmin.
The unit comes complete with a mains charger, a usb connection cable for downloading any map updates (which are free by the way) and an instruction manual, but it is so easy to use, the manual is not required.
It can be a bit of a faff to get the four connection tabs to locate onto the back of the unit when charging up, but you soon get the hang of it.
When not being used as a golf GPS the Garmin can be used as a wristwatch, giving date and time in large numbers, and has an alarm function.
All in all a great bit of kit and well worth the money if you are looking for a cheap alternative to a Skycaddie etc. and only want "basic" functions.
I got mine from here, which was the cheapest I found, and it was delivered withing a couple of days....
http://www.snaintongolf.co.uk/produc...roach-s1-watch

Highly recommended
Rob"
 
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I have a Garmin Approach and am very happy with it. It is only real;ly usefule from about 150 to 200 yards in to the green when the distance to front, middle and back of green helps with club selection. Since getting it as an unexpected Christmas present I have got to know pretty accurately how far I hit my irons in various conditions.
 
Really good piece of kit and much easier than having to get a phone out and check on that (I previously used Golfshot GPS).

My negatives (one of which has been previously mentioned) is that charging it can me a faff however you do develop a knack.

The only other issue I've ever faced is with temporary greens during the winter as it still measures to the usual green. However this is pretty minor and would def. recommend.
 
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