I get a ton of golf accessories in for review here at Hooked on Golf Blog. From apps to laser rangefinders to GPS’s, golf club stands, to cigar holders, I see it all. One accessory that stood out to me for 2018, and which wins the Product of the Year Award for Golf Accessories, is the ShotScope V2 GPS Watch with Automated Performance Tracking.
ShotScope V2
ShotScope V2 is a GPS watch with performance tracking. It tracks every major statistic a golfer would want to know. A few stats include driving distance, fairway percentage, greens in regulation, putts per hole, putts per greens in regulation, club distances, club tendencies, scoring, and more. It does all this while providing GPS yardages.
322 to the water hazard. No problem! Swing away.
ShotScope plots the shots and information in a great interface either in a browser or mobile device, and shows the golfer every shot plotted on top of a map.
Map of all my shots at Bonneville. User can zoom in to each hole and even closer.
With ShotScope V2, a golfer can see the strengths and weaknesses of his or her game. Knowing both can help the golfer know what to work on more, in terms of weaknesses. And it can help the golfer make better choices on the course, knowing his or her strengths.
Hats off to ShotScope and congratulations on winning this prestigious award!
Father’s Day golf gift alert… I’ve just spent a few minutes setting up my new Bushnell Excel GPS Rangefinder Watch, loading the accompanying mobile app, and setting it up on my Google Pixel phone (Android). See photo below.
This GPS Watch does more than a typical golf GPS. Here’s a short list:
- GPS yardages
- 35,000 courses
- Book tee times
- Record scores during and/or after play
- Pedometer/Fitness tracker
- View smartphone notifications (incoming calls, texts) from the watch
Mobile App (integrates with GPS watch)
- Full color aerial views of hole layouts with distance
- 3D flyovers with distances
- Scorekeeping
- Book tee times
- Swing analysis stats
I’ll be starting my testing tomorrow in Wednesday league and posting a review before Father’s Day, hint hint.
This is interesting. There are many GPS units on the market. I’ve reviewed a ton of them. Some are stand alone and some are watches. Most are bulky and expensive. The TLink (pictured below) is neither bulky or expensive.
The TLink unit saves space by utilizing the GPS in one’s smartphone. The unit can be worn as a watch with the included band, or clamped onto a belt or pocket via the included clip. TLink connects via bluetooth to an Android phone or iPhone and uses the phone’s GPS location for yardages, front, back and middle. TLink comes with 30,000 courses built in. You can see if your course of choice is on the list here.
The unit also is a pedometer, like a FitBit. It will track your steps (hopefully walking the golf course), distance walked, and calories burned. It will even keep the records for later comparison. So you can see how you did on your home course versus last week’s round. I wish I would have had this when I was in Scotland a couple of weeks ago.
The app is free with the unit, for yardages and pedometer functions. An extra in-app purchase can open up a full statistics capability in the unit (pictured below). Users can track scoring, fairways, putting, driving accuracy and so forth:
The folks at T-Link reached out to me to do a product review. That’s now in process. They also asked if I would like to offer a discount to HOG readers. Well, of course. I’d love to reward HOG readers with a deal whenever possible. Follow this link to the TLink web store and use the discount coupon code hooked at checkout to knock the price down from $99 to $89.
I’m charging up my unit for the first time. I’ll be doing my first round of testing this week. Stay tuned.
Golf GPS rangefinder watch technology is improving. No longer does the golfer have to wear a ridiculously large device to have GPS yardages and other great features on his or her wrist. Case in point is the new Bushnell neo iON GPS rangefinder watch. Let’s take a look.
Bushnell Neo iON GPS Rangefinder Watch
In the photo above I’m either playing a really short par-5 and I’m on the tee, or I just duffed my drive and did the walk of shame 50 yards forward from the tee. Take your pick. But the display does give a good example of the core information I need when approaching a green, the front yardage, middle yardage, and back yardage. Here’s a list of all the basic features of the Bushnell neo iON GPS Rangefinder Watch:
- One button operation
- Auto course recognition
- Auto hole advance
- Calculates shot distances
- Up to four hazard or layup distances per hole
- Pedometer
- Odometer
- Extended battery life
- Over 35,000 preloaded courses
On The Course
One of the most irritating things about many golf GPS devices, watch or others, is the amount of time it takes them to recognize what course they are on. In fact, some of the GPS units I use never find the course. This unit finds the course very quickly and does not lose it.
During the round the yardages are solid and quick. I’ve confirmed them with markers on the ground and via laser. Rock solid. Sometimes it’s better to think about the front or back yardages of the green. Say you have a green with a false front which repels shots. Knowing the right number to avoid that spot is a great advantage. The same goes with pins that are long. If the green has a bad drop behind it or deep rough, long is dead. Knowing these yardages arms the player with great information for a better approach strategy.
The pedometer is a very cool feature. My phone has one, but it isn’t as accurate, and it drains the battery badly. Knowing how many miles I’ve walked is also great. A 7,000 yard course may calculate out to four miles, but the walk can be double that or more. After all, the golfer doesn’t hit straight shots. Left. Right. Left. Right. You get the drill.
Another great bit of information the unit provides is shot distances. One may “think” their 9-iron goes 140 yards when in reality it goes 132. Knowing exact yardages, and accepting what they really are, will save strokes. If only I could teach myself to accept them… That’s another discussion.
The battery life of the iON is great. I’ve squeezed two full rounds out of a unit before charging. I think I could have gotten more out of it but wanted to be sure I had a full 18 for my next round.
Critiques
I have the same critique for this unit which I have for 99% of the golf GPS watches I’ve reviewed, the proprietary charging cable. Why is it so hard for companies to put a standard micro USB plug on these units? That way one could charge it with a standard cable should he/she forget to bring the proprietary one.
The other issue I have with GPS watches is the fact that they are watches. I’m not a watch wearer and I find them especially uncomfortable in the golf swing. So I usually attach them to my golf bag. It would be nice if the unit could be stand alone, without the band.
Conclusion
Though it retails for $199.00, I’ve found this golf GPS watch on sale at Amazon for only $149.00. Considering all the features and performance this is a great deal.
Father’s Day is coming up later this week. Dad would love one.
When I do golf equipment reviews or golf accessory reviews I typically do a “first look” post to get the word out that I’ve received a product for testing and give those who submitted the product a little air time. That gives them a little golf blog love and buys me time to spend testing the unit. I do spend a lot of time testing, unlike other fly-by-night sites who test from their kitchen table or by hitting three range balls.
This time around I’m compelled to do an intermediate post on the new TomTom Golfer Premium GPS watch. I already did my first look of the TomTom golf GPS watchand I’m not quite ready to post a full review because a single round is definitely not enough. I was so impressed with this unit during my first round I have to post about it.
The TomTom golf GPS watch is not overly large like other golf GPS watches. So it is actually wearable for those who can wear a watch and play. I’m not a watch guy, so I played a couple of holes with it on, then just attached it to my golf bag.
The yardages were quick and accurate, and I love the way they display with the black background. Below you can see the yards to the front, back, and middle:
This GPS watch not only gives yardages, but has all sorts of other great features. It will track scores, show green view, and even show hazards. See below? The first hole has water all the way down the right side:
And below is a shot of the score tracking. I made par on the par-5 first hole.
I’m not done testing and have yet to post my full review, but now that I have a round under my belt I already know the TomTom Premium golf GPS watch is superb. Stay tuned for my full review.
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