The 5 best golf apps for Apple Watch

Golf is a sport famous for embracing new tech, and that’s just as true for smartwatches as it is for launch monitors and club sensors. The Apple Watch is a mini-computer on your wrist that can be a powerful little tool for golfers, offering real-time course data, shot tracking, performance insights and more – all without needing to dig your phone out of your pocket mid-round (or at least most of the time).

But with so many apps available, which ones are genuinely worth downloading? In this guide to the best Apple Watch golf apps, we’ll give you our recommendations for our five favourite apps so you can dive straight in and give them a try. Whether you’re a casual weekend hacker or a serious competitor, these apps can help you improve and refine your game.

Our 5 best golf apps for Apple Watch

1. Hole19

Hole19 is a great all-round golfing app and one of the most popular with golfers. It’s mainly a GPS and rangefinder app, but it offers plenty more, including the ability to record your scores and track your game stats.

Hole19 offers: 

• Accurate GPS yardages to front, middle, and back of greens for thousands of UK courses.
• Apple Watch integration that puts distances and hole layouts right on your wrist.
• Easy shot tracking and scoring without touching your phone.
• Performance stats such as fairways hit, greens in regulation, and putts per hole.
• A club recommendation tool that’s based on your historical performance.

The app features a large, regularly updated global course database, including many smaller, regional courses in the UK. So wherever you’re playing, you’ll likely benefit from accurate yardages and insights.

All of this is offered with a clean, easy-to-use interface that makes Hole19 simple to use and a solid all-round app best suited for intermediate golfers and up. 

2. Golfshot

If you’re serious about performance analysis, Golfshot is tough to beat. It’s one of the most comprehensive golf GPS apps available, and in the words of its makers, Golfshot is “The world’s most powerful and trusted on-course GPS, scoring, statistics, and auto shot tracking app”.

The app features:

• Detailed hole maps and live distances for a claimed 99% of courses worldwide.
• Automatic shot detection and GPS-based club tracking.
• Statistical analysis with charts and trends for putts, GIR, driving accuracy, and more.
• 3D flyovers so you can preview holes before playing them.
• Apple Watch complications that show distances and hazards at a glance.

The Golfshot app is designed to be easily viewed at a glance, with efficient displays, large text, and intuitive navigation. During a round, you can easily see information like layup distances, distance to hazards, and recommended targets based on your playing tendencies. It’s highly recommended for data-driven, tech-savvy golfers looking to sharpen their game.

3. Arccos Caddie

Arccos Caddie is a lot more than a smartwatch app. It’s a complete smart sensor system for golfers who want cutting-edge performance tracking and advanced insights.

While it can be used without sensors, Arccos performs best with its Bluetooth-enabled sensors that can be attached to your clubs to automatically record every shot, distance, and club used during a round. After five rounds of play, the app analyses your performance to provide real-time, optimal recommendations. This includes club selection recommendations and hole strategy tips, along with real-time advice on factors such as weather. It’s all aimed to help you lower your handicap.

Arccos Caddie offers a suite of features, including:

• Automatic shot tracking with Bluetooth sensors.
• AI-powered caddie insights on club selection and strategies based on historical data and course conditions.
• Advanced analytics for strokes gained, putting tendencies, approach shot patterns and more.
• Dynamic distances that adapt as your game evolves.
• Views of hole layouts and distances.

The app is a real-life digital caddie that’s best suited for serious golfers, especially those with a love of tech and gadgets.

4. SkyCaddie

SkyCaddie is a dedicated, high-precision GPS rangefinder app that offers excellent coverage of UK golf courses. It’s widely recognised as one of the most accurate GPS systems for golf, available on your wrist. 

SkyCaddie features:

• True ground-measured course maps, not satellite-estimated yardages.
• Precise hazard and green contour data.
• Custom targets and multiple layup options.
• High-resolution mapping, which is especially useful on courses with subtle elevations or complex greens.
• Simple and intuitive score recording.

The app itself is sleek and simple to use, and is designed to give you the most accurate yardages with minimal interaction. It’s ideal if you’re focused primarily on precision GPS measurements rather than tracking full statistics, and it really comes into its own on challenging courses where yardage accuracy matters the most.

5. GolfLogix

GolfLogix stands out for its excellent course visualisation, especially around the greens. Whilst many Apple Watch golf apps offer excellent distance tracking, GolfLogix adds a layer of green-reading intelligence that can genuinely help shave strokes off your game.

Whilst many features are available via your watch, including course distances and heat maps, you’ll need your phone in your hand to get the most out of the app – especially the impressive 3D visualisations. But we’ve still included GolfLogix in our best golf GPS apps for Apple Watch owners due to its truly outstanding features, including:

• 3D interactive GPS course maps, including 3D flyovers and 3D approach views for holes.
• Real-time, accurate distance tracking from your position to any point on the green, including slope-adjusted yardages.
• Heat maps displaying green contours and slopes.
• 3D putt lines visualisations.
• Shot tracking and performance statistics, with up to four-player scoring.

GolfLogix’s green maps and 3D visualisation options can be a huge help when it comes to better understanding slopes and approach angles, and can be particularly helpful if putting is a part of your game you’re focusing on strengthening. It’s a great app if you’re looking to improve your approach accuracy and putting strategy, beyond just measuring course distances.

Are golf apps really worth it?

Plenty of golf apps can be seriously effective, with a real impact on your game, helping with strategy, your swing, and making things like recording your scores that little bit quicker and smoother. Some Apple Watch golf apps can be expensive, so it’s a question of how much they can do for you at what price – you may find some of the pricier ones are still good value as they can provide plenty of insights that can help you work on your handicap.

Specialist golf insurance through Golf Care

Before you head out on the course to try your new app, you may want to consider getting specialist golf insurance. Specialist golf insurance through Golf Care can help financially protect you and your clubs in the event of an accident. Get a quick online quote today.