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The best golf apps for the Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is an excellent fitness watch, but its true trump card is its utility. There’s an array of apps that take full advantage of the watch’s health tracking smarts and more, and few make better use of this than golf apps. If you spend your weekends on the course or are just looking to improve your short game, make sure you grab these best Apple Watch golf apps.
The best Apple Watch golf apps
Golf Pad
Price: Free / $29.99 per year
Golf Pad is a surprisingly comprehensive app considering it’s free for iPhone users. It bills itself as a GPS-based rangefinder, shot tracker, and scorecard app all in one. The app also gives golfers an aerial view of the course on their wrist, so they can easily calculate if a layup is a better choice than aiming for the flag. There is one caveat, though. Golf Pad includes a paid subscription tier that enables standalone and Apple Watch sync support and additional features, like club recommendations. We recommend playing a round with your iPhone before unlocking the premium tier.
See also: The best sports apps for Android
Golfshot
Price: $8.99 per month / $49.99 per year
Golfshot’s big feature is its automated shot tracking system, which allows for a less hands-on approach to golf apps. During your round, the app will track distances per club and various other stats. In addition, Golfshot packs data for 45,000 courses around the globe with real-time distances for each using GPS. These features don’t come cheap, though. Although the app comes with a week-long free trial, you’ll need to fork out nearly $50 a year to take advantage of these features. Golfshot also includes subscription options for the Golfplan coaching library and more. Overall, it’s one of the more comprehensive Apple Watch golf apps you can have.
Hole 19
Price: Free / In-app purchases / $7.49 per month / $49.99 per year
Hole 19 comes with free Apple Watch support right off the club, making it the best choice for those on a tight budget. It mirrors the free feature lists of other apps, including GPS rangefinder functionality and digital scorecard smarts. If you need more features, you might consider Hole 19 Pro, which also comes in at around $50 per year. This opens up handicap calculation, distance tracking from the Apple Watch, scoring on the Apple Watch itself, and club statistics. Arguably, it’s the best-looking app on this list, with clear, concise buttons and readable text.
See also: The best sports games for Android
SwingU
Price: Free / $9.99 per month
SwingU is a comprehensive golf app for the Apple ecosystem and the Watch itself. It features integration with HealthKit, allowing the app to track calories burned and distance covered, among other health metrics. It also features Apple Watch support on its free tier, allowing for distance display and scoring support on your wrist. There’s a nifty club selection feature, too, using the digital crown to select your club prior to shots. A premium tier opens additional options, including comparisons to other SwingU users, wind speed and elevation data, and more.
TheGrint
Price: Free / $3.99 per month / $39.99 per year
TheGrint is a golf app with a solid social aspect. Users can connect to the US GHIN handicap database to regularly update their improvements. Users can also interact with other golfers, post their scores, and images of their play. Like the other apps on this list, TheGrint also includes a GPS rangefinder feature for Apple Watch users, which includes shot and distance tracking, a scorecard, and hole details. There’s a premium service, too, which allows for scorecard transcription, enables advanced stats, and additional insights into your game.
See also: The best golf games for Android
V1 Game
Price: Free / $3.99 per month / $39.99 per year
TheGrint is a golf app with a solid social aspect. Users can connect to the US GHIN handicap database to regularly update their improvements. Users can also interact with other golfers, post their scores, and images of their play. Like the other apps on this list, TheGrint also includes a GPS rangefinder feature for Apple Watch users, which includes shot and distance tracking, a scorecard, and hole details. There’s a premium service, too, which allows for scorecard transcription, enables advanced stats, and additional insights into your game.
FAQs
Q: Can I use my iPhone instead of the Apple Watch?
A: Yes. You can use your iPhone (or Android phone) as a rangefinder. You will, however, need to grab a rangefinder app.
Q: How does an Apple Watch rangefinder app compare to actual rangefinders?
A: Naturally, specially-designed golf GPS handhelds will provide better performance than the Apple Watch. However, not everyone can or wants to purchase an additional piece of hardware to keep tabs on their game. In this sense and considering the additional smarts that it offers, the Apple Watch is more than a match in terms of value when compared to actual rangefinders.
Q: Does Apple sell a golf-specific version of the Apple Watch?
A: Sadly, no. However, Garmin and Samsung both offer golf variants of their devices.
That’s it for our list of the best golf apps for the Apple Watch. Below are some related articles you might want to check out: