Which GPS device best suits you?
We often get asked questions like which brands are best for GPS devices, and whether watches are as good as rangefinders. Here’s our answer…
Accessories
Watch, laser, or both?
November is a wonderful time of year filled with crisp mornings and bright midday sunshine. But the darkness in the afternoon can certainly creep up on us.
Throughout the colder months, there’s a finite window of visibility on the golf course, and we’re often racing against the coming sunset to get those last few holes in.
These quick-paced holes are often rushed with plenty of guesswork as we try to beat the encroaching darkness, but the latest golf tech from Garmin can help us make the most of the twilight hours on the golf course.
Instant information with Golf GPS
It can be harder to detect distances with the naked eye, especially when the light is fading. It can also be hard to judge your shot distance by feel alone, and feel you’ve definitely got the right club for the shot in hand.
You can put all that uncertainty to rest however when you play golf with a Garmin laser rangefinder or golf GPS watch. These gadgets give you almost instant information when you use them to size up how far away the green is.
Instead of umming and ahing on whether you should be playing your approach shot with a 7 iron or an 8 iron, only to pick the wrong one and hit your shot too short or long, you’ll know your shot is exactly 138 yards and perfect for your 7 iron. Knowing the exact distance will give you total confidence to commit to your shot.
Watches, lasers, or both?
So, which distance measuring device is right for you? All the latest Garmin golf GPS devices are packed with fascinating tech to help you succeed on the golf course.
Garmin’s laser rangefinders are an excellent choice of device if you want to see as much of the course as possible. These handy devices take just a moment to hold in your hand and direct towards your target. Once locked on, they’ll give you a distance reading from up to 600 yards away – that’s even the longest par 5 holes pretty much covered!
Just as fantastic to use are golf GPS watches. These go beyond typical fitness trackers and smartphone apps and are primarily built for use on the golf course. The latest watches from Garmin have glossy colour touchscreens that display maps of upcoming greens in vivid detail.
So which one do you go for, and what are the benefits of using them both? Well, laser rangefinders give you complete pinpoint accuracy so you’ll know the exact distance to the flag, while GPS watches provide you with distance info to the front, middle, and back of each green.
Having the distance to the hole and each section of the green mapped out ahead of you will give you an excellent understanding of how best to plan your approach into the green. You’ll know the exact distance to each slope of the green as well as nearby hazards on every hole. You can never have too much info, and you’ll instantly benefit from pairing these devices together.
Join us as we cover the latest products from Garmin, and explain the benefits of adding them to your bag.
The Garmin laser rangefinders
The Z82 laser features Garmin’s Green View and Hazard view to give you a greater visual understanding of the hazards and dangers featured on the hole ahead of you. It also comes with Playslike mode that adjusts yardage readings by taking into account wind direction, so you can better appreciate the impact the conditions will have on your game.
Featuring a lot of the great tech found in the Z82, the Z30 laser is a more compact and compatible offering. A powerful device, the Z30 can read distances from up to 400 yards away and can zoom in up to 6x magnification. The Range Relay feature is a fantastic component built into this rangefinder that pairs your data with another Garmin device, so your watch and your rangefinder will be perfectly in sync when you play your round!
The Garmin Approach S70 GPS watch
With over 16 days of standard battery life, the Approach S70 GPS watch is the perfect tool for a full weekend of golf. This golf GPS device has a clear touchscreen that offers immersive course views, and with 43,000 pre-loaded courses, you’ll have no trouble finding your local track.
Garmin’s enhanced golf course maps appear in vivid vibrant detail and allow you to zoom in on small intricate details. The AMOLED watch face displays all sorts of fascinating data, and the device even comes with a virtual caddie mode. With a multitude of bonus fitness features, if you live an active lifestyle, this watch will be perfect for you.
A fantastic alternative to the main S70, you can also pick up through us the S70s GPS watch. This watch has all the same exciting features as found in the main model, but the watch face and strap are slightly smaller to accommodate for a wider range of players. This watch is an excellent choice for ladies and juniors eager to get the most out of their rounds.
The Garmin Approach G12
An excellent budget-friendly option that you can conveniently hold in one hand, the Approach G12 is a compact tablet that gives you super reliable yardage readings on a crisp no-nonsense high-resolution screen.
The device is simple and easy to navigate with straightforward buttons on the side, and the figures on the screen are depicted in large, easy-to-read numbers. The Approach G12 reads distances to the front, middle, and back of greens, as well as distances to hazards and upcoming doglegs.
With both an IPX7 water-resistance rating and a sunlight-readable screen, the device is perfectly usable in all kinds of weather conditions. With various mounting options including a clip-on back and lanyard loop, this handy gadget can be worn and carried exactly how you’d like it.
Packing your bag with one or more of these devices will give you one less thing to worry about on the course. If you’re on the hunt for a new golf GPS device and you’re unsure of which one to settle on, we’d be happy to consult you in the pro shop.
