Garmin Approach – The new leader in the club house

Range finders and GPS are becoming ever more common place on the golf course as golfers are recognizing the need for accurate yardage to improve their course management, get closer to the pin and eradicate doubt from their game.

A lot of the game is in your head so if you can feel confident about the shot you’ll commit to it and get better results.

The global leader in satellite navigation, Garmin is leading the way with its most recent innovations within the golf market. The Approach S1 is a light weight and waterproof GPS golf watch. Preloaded with over 5,000 European courses the Approach S1 will give you yardage to the front, middle and back of the green.

You can also measure shots and the distance you’ve walked around the course. The Approach S1 has a rechargeable battery which will last 3 weeks as a normal everyday watch or 8 hours in its GPS mode.

Hopefully your round won’t last that long! It’s so simple to use, simply select ‘Start Round’ from the menu, it will find the closest 10 courses in proximity order, select the course and you’re away.

After that you don’t have to touch the watch for the whole round if you wish not to as it will automatically progress onto the next hole as you walk onto the next tee.

If you desire a little more detail from your GPS then the Approach G3 and G5 deliver. Both units are preloaded with over 5,000 European courses which are displayed on a 2.6” or 3” bright touchscreen.

The ‘Touch Taregting’ feature enables you to simply tap anywhere on the hole to receive a yardage from your location to that point, you’re also given the yardage of the subsequent distance to the pin.

This feature is intended to improve your course management buy highlighting the approach shot you’ll be left with if you play the hole as intended. Often easier said than done admittedly!

By default the pin is set the middle of the green but you can zoom in and move the pin to any location on the green to suit the day’s position. You are also provided with an accurate shape of the green plus the yardage to the front, back and any green side hazards.

Garmin’s experience in the hiking industry is demonstrated in how rugged and waterproof the Approach range is. Both units can measure your shots but the G5 has the ability to assign that yardage to a club so you can build up an accurate list of average yardages per club.

If you know how far you hit each club you should hit more greens and get closer to the pin. You can keep score for your fourball on both the G3 and G5 but you can also track your stats (greens and fairways hit in regulation and number of putts per round) to high light which areas of your game need improvement.

For the chance to win a Garmin Approach G5, G3 or S1 GPS, please visit our competitions page.