Garmin launched the Approach S72 on 6 October 2026 as its new flagship golf smartwatch, and moved the S70 to its previous-models shelf. The build is the first thing that changes: a titanium bezel, a sapphire lens and a ComfortFit fabric band, in 43mm and 47mm sizes. The 47mm measures 47 x 47 x 13.5mm, weighs 48g and carries a 1.4-inch, 454 x 454 AMOLED display. On the course it keeps the S70's essentials, 43,000-plus preloaded courses, PlaysLike distances and a Virtual Caddie that recommends clubs from wind, elevation and your own swing data, and adds on-wrist swing metrics such as hand speed, backswing length and wrist rotation, plus golf biometric data that shows how your heart rate moved before and after shots. It is Garmin's first golf watch with a speaker and microphone for calls and voice commands, and it adds a built-in flashlight and the Garmin ECG app. Battery is rated at up to 20 hours in golf mode on the 47mm and up to 16 days as a smartwatch, with 64GB of storage and a 5 ATM water rating. The honest caveat is that several of the headline golf features, green reading, aerial imagery and putting analysis, need an active Garmin Golf membership on top of the watch price.
Best Golf GPS Watches 2026
Yardages on your wrist, stats in your pocket.
A GPS watch hands you front-middle-back yardages with a glance at your wrist and never holds up play — no aiming, no reaching into the bag. Garmin's flagship is now the Approach S72 (October 2026), which keeps the S70's bright AMOLED touchscreen, 43,000+ preloaded courses and Virtual Caddie and adds a titanium bezel, a sapphire lens and swing metrics, while the S70 stays on sale as the cheaper way to the same golf features; the Shot Scope V5 and X5 win for golfers who want automatic shot-tracking and strokes-gained stats; and the Approach S12 is the no-fuss budget pick beginners love.
Choosing comes down to three things: how much you care about post-round data, whether you want the watch for everyday wear, and your budget. If you just want clean distances to the green, the simple S12 does that for weeks on a charge and costs a fraction of the flagship. If you want to actually learn where you're losing strokes, Shot Scope's automatic shot-tracking and strokes-gained analysis is the reason to buy. And if you want one watch for golf and daily life, the S70 doubles as a full health-and-fitness smartwatch, running around 20 hours in GPS golf mode and up to 16 days as a smartwatch.
These span no-fuss budget models up to full-colour-mapping flagships. Honest note: a watch won't range a flag as precisely as a laser — it gives you green distances, not the exact yardage to a tucked pin — so if you obsess over pin-perfect numbers, pair it with a rangefinder. For pace of play and stats, though, it's hard to beat.
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Garmin's flagship golf GPS watch with a big, gorgeous AMOLED touchscreen. It's aimed at the golfer who wants the absolute top-end Garmin and uses it as an everyday smartwatch too, not just on the course.
A GPS golf watch with proper automatic shot tracking built in, aimed at stat nerds who want to know where their game actually leaks without paying a yearly subscription. You screw the included tags into your grips and it logs every shot hands-free.
A premium AMOLED touchscreen golf GPS watch from Garmin that doubles as a proper everyday smartwatch, aimed at golfers who want yardages on their wrist and full health tracking off the course without strapping on a second device.
Shot Scope's flagship GPS watch with automatic shot tracking via grip tags, turning every round into strokes gained data with no subscription.
SkyCaddie's argument has always been the maps: courses walked and surveyed on the ground rather than traced from aerial imagery, which is why the brand is trusted by people who care about where the front edge actually is. The LX5 pairs that with the largest colour touchscreen in a golf watch at 1.39 inches, and the difference is more practical than the spec makes it sound — HoleVue renders the whole hole in genuine detail, and you can zoom and pan to work out what's actually carryable rather than squinting at three numbers. That's the trade-off in a sentence. Most golf watches show you distances; this one shows you the hole, which is worth more on an unfamiliar course and less on your own. It's also a golf watch first and a smartwatch a distant second — if you want daily wear, notifications and training metrics, a Garmin Approach is the better all-rounder. Buy the LX5 for the survey-grade mapping and the best view on a wrist, and accept it'll live in the golf bag rather than on your arm all week.
The Garmin Approach S44 is a slim, lightweight golf GPS watch with a colour AMOLED screen, aimed at golfers who want accurate yardages on the wrist without paying flagship money for the S70 or S50.
A rugged solar-powered hybrid GPS watch (real analogue hands sat over a small digital screen) that doubles as a proper golf GPS, aimed at the bloke who wants one tough watch for the course, the gym and everything else.
Garmin's entry-level golf GPS watch, built for the bloke who just wants accurate yardages on his wrist without dropping a small fortune or fiddling with a rangefinder.
Frequently asked
- What is the best golf GPS watch?
- Garmin's Approach S72 is the new flagship — a bright AMOLED screen, full course maps and a Virtual Caddie, plus a titanium and sapphire build and swing metrics — and the previous S70 gives you the same golf features for less. The Shot Scope V5 and X5 win for automatic shot-tracking and strokes-gained stats, and the Approach S12 is the budget pick.
- Is a golf GPS watch better than a rangefinder?
- They do different jobs. A watch gives front/middle/back distances at a glance with no aiming and never slows play; a rangefinder gives the exact yardage to the flag. For pace and stats a watch wins; for pinpoint pin numbers, a laser.
- Do golf watches track your stats and shots?
- Many do — Shot Scope and higher-end Garmin models automatically log shots, distances and strokes-gained data so you can see where you're losing strokes after the round. It's one of the main reasons to choose a watch over a phone app.
- Can I wear a golf GPS watch every day?
- Yes — models like the Garmin Approach S70 and S50 double as full smartwatches with notifications, activity tracking and a screen good enough for daily wear, so you get golf yardages and everyday use in one device.
- How long does a golf GPS watch battery last?
- It varies a lot by model. Garmin's Approach S70 and its successor, the S72, both run up to 20 hours in GPS golf mode and up to 16 days as a smartwatch, while the simpler Approach S12 stretches to multiple weeks because it has less to power. Either way, charging anxiety for a single round is a non-issue.
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