Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Using Apple Watch for Golf

I found it strange how little information was out there about using Apple Watch for golfing. I have decided to give you my journey and what I have found. To get started, let me tell you about what I started with. I started with a SkyCaddie SG5 (Origionally I was using a 2.5) and the solution worked great! My biggest complaint was that I had to pay $39 plus a year to get to work. As my SG5 was getting older and battery was not lasting half what it used to, I was looking at the newer units. Before I went down this path, I wanted to look at the units that were free. (IE you don't have to pay a subscription) What I found is that the lower cost hardware devices had small displays. With that said, my son has a Garmin https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AX44544/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It works great however I would lose it! It is super small. All features do work great. After looking at all units that were larger screen and full featured (Showed lay up distances, hole overview and score) I had a thought (Apple was making one of their semi annual product announcements) and was looking at their new watch. I then was thinking, wouldn't it make sense if I looked at utilizing my iPhone and Apple Watch. Beyond that, I really am not a power user of the watch (Heck, when I started digging in, my watch had not been working with my phone for several weeks - heck it still told time right) Let me disclose that I have a version 3 watch with a iPhone 11 Pro Max. The Pro Max is kinda key to this conversation simply due to battery life. I can go several days without charging. Next was what application would I use to work with the Watch. This is where I found that there were a BUNCH of apps. I downloaded and tried several of these apps. Many were free but you had to pay to get the Watch piece or for scoring (Or more) Dang, back to subscription, however if it is on my existing hardware and worked great, I am ok with that. Here is where I landed. Hole 19. https://www.hole19golf.com/ You do have to pay to get the watch install. However they have a trial for you. I have now used this app on several rounds and compared directly to my SkyCaddie (Distances and such) The watch was dead on (Or only a yard difference which could be exactly where each unit was) Things that you need to know. 1. To get GPS from watch you must disconnect bluetooth from phone. (Then it uses GPS on watch) It keys you to do this and you just push and hold main screen to get to that setting. 2. Battery on your watch will be affected. I use 3/4 of battery in 5 hours (Versus all day I use less than half usually) 3. Entering scoring is small on my watch. I wish it was larger. 4. Looks like the renewal on subscription is almost double the first year. Hoping for a deal between now and then? 5. The data the app provides is amazing and will really help my game. Hope this has been helpful!