[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Mike3461

I tried the 18Birdies free app yesterday. The images of the course and the info on the iPhone screen are pretty impressive. The info on the Apple watch, however, was much less so. The watch displays yardages on one half of the watch screen making the font size pretty small. Add bright sunlight and it's difficult at best. Maybe I'll find a way to enhance the watch display.
Since I walk with a push cart and sometimes with just a bag, juggling a phone is out of the question for me. It's easier to just wing it without the added electronic assistant.
I'll try SwingU free app next.

GolfShot is typically rated the best iPhone App for golf and it's probably the most friendly for an Apple Watch. I have well over 1000 rounds logged on GolfShot and in my opinion, it's head and shoulders above any other App.

[pokeefe45@aol.com]

I highly recommend the Garmin Approach S10-If you plan on getting better at golf, then at some point, you are going to want to know the exact distance to the front, middle and back of green, so you can make your club selection correctly. Your watch will teach you how you swing by tracking the yardage per shot. Sure there are apps, rangefinders etc.-but the convenience of having it on my wrist and giving me distance to hazards and greens, as well as telling me how far I hit every shot is invaluable.

[Mike3461]

Originally Posted by Mike3461

It seems that with relatively short tee box to greens distances, and being able to see the flags with the naked eye, and the very few par 4s on the executive courses - is a golf watch all that necessary?

I am just trying to decide if I should spend money on one.

Pros? Cons?

Thanks

I tried SwingU free app. I prefer SwingU watch interface over 18Birdies. SwingU's repeated pop-ups, to purchase a subscription, throughout my round was an annoyance. I deleted the app.

I like the Golfshot watch interface best. Their smartphone screens were fairly similar to SwingU and 18Birdies. All very cool. I tried a free 7 day trial of Golfshot's $70 annual subscription (by accident actually when I inadvertently clicked on the subscribe button on my watch in bright sunlight :-). Cool thing about their premium service is the aerial view of hazards. For example, I had a better idea of a sandtrap's area and directional extent that is not evident at a distance using eyesight only. I found this helpful in avoiding the traps.
For free and for the purpose of knowing the distance to the hole and for a basic scorekeeper, I think that basic Golfshot is adequate. I'll use it for a while longer until I find something that I like more.