The best golf apps for Apple Watch can help you out on the golf course. They give you GPS distances so that you don’t need to guess which club to hit.
Also, many of the best apps have a feature for club recommendations. It’s like having a caddie on your wrist to help you strategize.
Many of the best golf apps for Apple Watch also help you improve your game after your round. They keep your scores and stats. So, you can check them afterward and see what areas of your game you must improve.
Some apps offer you swing analysis and give you access to professional instructors. They’re an excellent way to improve on and off the course.
These are the best golf apps for Apple Watch in 2023.
Also, be sure to check out our guide on the best golf apps on the market.
Best Apple Watch Golf Apps: Our Top Picks
Best Overall: 18Birdies Golf GPS
Runner-Up: Tag Heuer Golf App
Best for Scoring: The Grint
Best Free: SwingU
Best Budget: GolfLogix
Best Virtual Caddie: V1 Game
Excellent Value: Hole19
Auto Shot Tracking: Golfshot
Swing Analyzer: Golf GPS ++
Also Great: Arccos Caddie
Apple Watch App Comparison Chart
| App | Free Features | Premium Features |
| 18Birdies | *GPS *Scoring *Auto-change holes | *Plays-like distances *Club recommendations *Shot distance tracking *Strokes gained |
| Tag Heuer | None | *GPS *Interactive maps *Scoring *Shot distance tracking |
| The Grint | *GPS *Scoring | *Advanced performance statistics *Scorecard upload |
| SwingU | *GPS*ScoringAuto-change holes | *Plays-like distances *Shot tracking *Club recommendations *Zoom-in distances for greens *Enhanced scoring |
| GolfLogix | None | *GPS distances *Scoring |
| V1 Game | *GPS *Shot tracking *Swing analysis | *More control over analysis *More video storage |
| Hole19 | *GPS | *GPS *Auto-change holes *Shot tracking*Scoring |
| Golfshot | *GPS *Scoring *Stat tracking | *GPS *Shot tracking *Automated stats |
| Golf GPS ++ | None | *GPS *Swing analysis *Putting analysis |
| Arccos Caddie | None | *GPS *Plays-like distances *Club recommendations *Scoring |
18Birdies Golf GPS (Best Overall)
- Club recommendations
- Tee shot planner
- Live weather map
- Blind shot compass
- Advanced shot statistics
- No free trial with the weekly subscription
Overall, 18Birdies Golf GPS is the best app for Apple Watch. It offers features like GPS, club recommendations, and a live weather map.
You also get advanced statistics with this app. So, you can analyze your round afterward and see where you gained and lost shots.
Also, the app offers you a blind shots compass that helps you aim at an unsighted pin. And the app tells you which side of the fairway is the safest to play to.
A live weather map tells you the conditions. Also, it factors these into your club recommendations.
Subscription Costs
18Birdies has three subscription options:
- $7.99 per week
- $19.99 per month
- $99 for one year
Tag Heuer Golf App (Runner-Up)
- Advanced mapping
- Scorecard
- Measures shot distance
- Club recommendations
- Data on 40,000 courses worldwide
- No free option
The Tag Heuer Golf App is the runner-up on our list of the best Apple Watch golf apps. It has 40,000 golf courses worldwide, offering 2D and 3D mapping of each course.
This app measures your shots with each club and gives you an average distance. Also, you can track your progress with the scorecard and get pro-level insights to improve your game.
Subscription Costs
This app has two subscription options:
- $6.99 per month
- $39.99 for one year
The Grint (Best for Scoring)
- Excellent free features
- Great scorecard function
- Accurate distances
- Analyze performance
- Share scores with buddies
- Doesn’t give distances to the pin
The Grint is the best Apple Watch app for scoring. You can use it’s excellent scoring features for free.
You can upload your scorecards with The Grint scorecard upload service. It allows you to take a picture of your scorecard to share with your buddies on the app.
This app also gives you distances from tee to green. So, you can easily manage each hole without a subscription.
You can get a detailed analysis of your game with this app. Insights such as fairways hit and greens in regulation let you see where you need to improve.
Subscription Costs
The Grint has many in-app purchase options. Some popular ones are:
- Pro Membership – $39.99 per year
- Pro Plus Membership – $99.99 per year
SwingU (Best Free)
- Plays-like distances
- Club recommendations
- Scorecard
- Tips and lessons
- Green reading maps
- Only the Premium Package includes green-reading maps and lessons
SwingU is the best free app for Apple Watch. With this app, you can measure the yardage to certain targets from tee to green.
You can record your distances on the app for help with club recommendations. These features allow you to manage the course and help lower your scores.
And you can record those lower scores directly on the app. The free version gives you access to the scorecard function and GPS.
However, the premium options give you more features, including wind and elevation measurements for plays-like distances. You also get access to tips and lessons from top 100 instructors, green reading maps, and strokes gained analysis.
Subscription Costs
There are two subscription options with SwingU:
- Plus – $39.99 per year
- Premium – $79.99 per year
GolfLogix (Best Budget)
- Accurate distances
- Putt line shows break of putts
- Tracks shot distance
- Scorecard
- Manual pin placement
- High monthly fees
The GolfLogix app is the best budget option for Apple Watch. It doesn’t have any free watch features, but its premium watch features are pretty good.
This app offers you accurate GPS distances. Also, it has a putt line feature that gives you insights into the break of putts.
You can track your score with this app. And it allows you to track shot distances for club recommendations. Also, you can manually place the pin on the green for more accurate approach distances.
Subscription Costs
You have the choice of three subscriptions:
- Champion – $24.99 per year
- Premium – $29.99 per year
- Plus – $59.99 per year
You can also pay monthly, but it means you’ll pay more overall.
V1 Game (Best Virtual Caddie)
- Excellent virtual caddie
- Access to golf instructors
- Video lessons
- Helps game improvement
- Swing analysis works best on mobile or iPad
The V1 Game golf app for Apple Watch offers the best virtual caddie. It has excellent features so that you can analyze your swing and improve your game.
The virtual coach analyzes your data and highlights what you need to improve on. This app also helps you on the course, using your performance history to offer club recommendations.
Subscription Costs
You have three subscription options:
- Eagle – $119.99/year or $11.99/month
- Birdie – $59.99/year or $5.99/month
- Par – $20/year or $1.99/month
Hole19 (Excellent Value)
- Excellent value at $2.99/mo
- GPS distances
- Scorecard
- Live leaderboard
- Performance insights
- No club recommendations on wearable subscription
- No premium maps on wearable subscription
The Hole19 golf app for Apple Watch gives you excellent value. Its free version provides GPS distances to the front, center, and back of the green.
If you want scoring capabilities and other features, you need to upgrade to at least their Premium Lite version. That version is pretty affordable at only $2.99/mo.
This app has data for 42,000 golf courses globally. Its live leaderboard feature allows you to check how your buddies in different groups are playing.
Subscription Costs
- Wearables Lite – $2.99 per month
Golfshot (Auto Shot Tracking)
- Auto shot tracking
- GPS for 40,000 courses
- Tracks stats
- Scorecard
- Book tee times on the app
- Limited free version
The Golfshot app offers you auto shot tracking. You get accurate distances and a scorecard function as well.
With the scorecard, you can track stats like putts, GIR, FIR, and sand saves. Also, it automatically calculates stats like scrambles from your recorded rounds.
Subscription Costs
Golfshot has two subscription options:
- Pro – $49.99 per year
- Golf Plan – $69.99 per year
Golf GPS ++ (Swing Analyzer)
- Tracks swing tempo
- Analyzes putting stroke
- GPS distances
- Records clubface angle throughout the swing
- Scorecard and stats
- GPS isn’t as accurate as other apps
The Golf GPS ++ app has a great swing analyzer. It records your tempo and highlights the angle of your clubface on your backswing, downswing, and upswing. Also, it analyzes your putting stroke on the greens.
This app gives you distances to the front, middle, and back of greens. The yardages are available on over 35,000 golf courses.
It also has a scorecard function so that you can record your scores. The scorecard allows you to track stats like FIR, GIR, and putts per hole as well.
Subscription Costs
- $6.99 per month
- $29.99 per year
Arccos Caddie (Also Great)
- GPS distances
- Manual pin placement
- Records your distances
- Can record putt stats
- Part of a larger system
- Stand-alone app is limited
The Arccos Caddie app for Apple Watch is also great. It gives you yardages to the front, middle, and back of greens. Also, you can manually place the pin on the greens for greater accuracy.
The Arccos Caddie system is a bit out of class when compared to the rest of the Apple Watch apps since this is part of a larger shot-tracking system. The full Arccos Caddie system provides shot tracking, GPS, and really in-depth AI-driven data insights with strokes gained statistics. I really like the system because, unlike their main competitor, Shot Scope, Arccos has a really great Apple Watch app.
You can read more about the Arccos Caddie System if you like.
Subscription Costs
There are no subscriptions for the Apple Watch app.
What to Consider When Choosing a Golf App for Apple Watch
When choosing a golf app for Apple Watch, you should consider free features, in-app purchases, and battery usage.
Free Features
You should consider free features when choosing a golf app for Apple Watch. Most of the options on our list have free features.
Accurate GPS distances and a scorecard are the best free features to look out for. It’s important to know your distances and be able to record your scores.
Also, the auto-change hole feature is a nice free option to have. It’s one less thing to worry about on the course. And it’s always good when an app tracks your stats for free.
In-App Purchases
Almost all golf apps for Apple Watch offer you in-app purchases. Of course, these vary between apps, so you need to consider which ones are best for you.
Also, the cost of in-app purchases varies greatly. It’s always best to consider what you want and then check the different prices and availability.
Battery Usage
You should also consider battery usage because some apps can drain your battery quickly. It’s annoying going to use your watch after a round to discover the battery is almost dead. So, it’s a good idea to check the battery usage before downloading a golf app for Apple Watch.
FAQs
Are Golf Apps Worth It?
Yes, golf apps are worth it because they help you on the course and with your game. Of course, some are better than others, and it depends on which apps you use.
However, the best golf apps for Apple Watch offer GPS distances, a scorecard, and stat recording. This helps with your course management and shows where you need to improve.
Can You Record Your Score on a Golf Smartwatch?
Yes, you can record your score on most smartwatches with a golf app. They can also do much more than just record scores. Golf apps can offer you yardages, record stats, hole mapping, and shot tracking.
Conclusion
Overall, 18Birdies Golf GPS is the best app for Apple Watch. It offers features like GPS, club recommendations, and a live weather map.
This app features a tee shot planner for better course management. It tells you what side of the fairway is the safest to hit to.
Also, it has a blind shot compass to help you when you can’t see the pin. That can tremendously help with your accuracy when you have an unsighted shot.
