Just finished 1st round with my new G3. It took about 5 minutes for it to get a GPS signal the first time, but performed like a champ once it did. The scorecard feature is great and really easy to use. I stood on the red, 100 yard marker in the middle of the fairway on 3 holes and each time it read from 99 to 101. 1% margin of error is better than I experienced with my old skycaddie. The touch screen was calibrated perfectly. I had no trouble with the cursor. Using rechargeable duracells, it shows about 60% power remaining after 18 holes. I'll carry an extra set of batteries just in case. This is replacing a skycaddie sg2.5 that had the screen go out after about 6 months. I won't miss paying for their yearly subscription either. As long as your favorite courses are available, I'd highly recommend! Garmin Approach S1 Waterproof Golf GPS Watch
Three holes into my first round with the new watch (a Christmas present to myself), it dawned on me that this is cooler than I had imagined. I predict two years from now, this is the new rangefinder technology.
For the past several years, I have been a big proponent of the laser rangefinder, arguing with my gps rangefinder friends that the laser is more accurate to the pin. After my round today, I am not sure I will ever pull my laser out again. The convenience is unbelievable. I just look down at my wrist, and I have my distance to the front middle and back. I look in the cart at the pin sheet, and subtract or add for a perfect distance. No reaching in the glove box of the cart or fumbling around for a device.
Even cooler, and more used than I anticipated, is the function that lets me measure the distance of my shot. You just hold a button and select "measure my shot" then drive or walk to the ball, and it gives the distance. I started doing it with all my shots just to get a feel for how long I was hitting the ball with each club. Pretty cool.
Less cool, but neat -- you can also measure with an odometer how far you actually walk on the course. And other things, like how far away your mother in law's house is on Christmas day, important things like that.
The watch is very comfortable and readable with large, clean numbers. I am going to start wearing it as my regular watch.
The only con that I can tell is that there are no distances to hazards, etc. I suspect that will be in the next generation.
Only one round in, but I can tell this is going to be a keeper.
Update:
After about 4 months of pretty heavy usage, there are my thoughts.
I still think it is a great product, but I use my laser in conjunction to get precise yardage. I find myself looking at the watch as I pull up to the ball for club selection, grab the right club, then shoot it with the laser to confirm and get the exact distance to the pin. The distances were not perfect when I first used it. A few holes were off by as much as 10 yards. I wrote to Garmin about my course, and my guess is that they remapped the course using google earth or something like it. The distances are much better with the latest update. On the Garmin web page, look around, there is a link to send them comments about yardages on a particular course.
The battery charger is kind of a pain. It clips onto the watch, and with mine you have to jigger it to get it to start charging. It is not that I am not getting the leads in the right place -- that is easy to see. You have to wiggle it to get the charging bars to start. The charger definitely needs improvement, or I got a bad charger.
Also, the battery charge life is not great. I played 36 holes the other day, and it did not finish the day. I don't often play 36 so it is not a big deal, but be aware that it is really just a one round charge.
But I still love it. It is comfortable to wear, very easy to read, and fun to show off to other players. I would still buy it given what I know now.
I purchased the Garmin G3 for only two reasons. The price and lack of subscription. I got more than I paid for. The features of the G3 definitely give the average golfer the best bang for his (or her) buck. I read many reviews on many different GPS systems. Initially, the GPS that I was leaning toward most is the SkyCaddie SGX, but when I considered the price and subscription cost of the SGX the Garmin became that much more attractive. I learned my lesson trying to go from an automotive Garmin GPS to another brand. Just wasn't the same. Not only did I read the reviews, but I went into the local golf stores to get a good idea of the user ability and to compare the reviews I ahd read of both the SGX and the G3.
Many of the negative reviews for the Garmin focus on the screen and the glare. While the system can "maybe" have a little glare at times, it is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be based upon the reviews I read. I have no problem reading the screen and knowing the location of hazards. For people who are vision impaired or would normally have to wear reading glasses to see particular colors or fonts, this may make reading the screen a little more difficult.
I greatly enjoy being able to navigate through the courses prior to arriving at the course. To some extent I already know which clubs I plan to use for each hole. It doesn't always work out that way, but arriving at the course knowing you'll tee the first hole for a 4 hybrid (my 190 yard club) because of the hazard at 205 yards builds a little starter confidence.
Inputting in the scores and players are also relatively easy. I particularly like moving the pin around on the green to make my club selection a little more accurate. I often used the markers on the course to verify the accuracy of the GPS, and it is almost always right on target. I've only been off by a yard once or twice. While the GPS does use AA batteries, it easily lasts at least one round. This was a problem for me given that I have other electronics that use AA batteries. Therefore, I already have quite a few rechargeables. I usually put two extra in my bag for safe keeping, but I have only had to change the batteries once while on the course, but that was during a second round and after playing with the system while off the course. Another good feature that I like is that while I browse course on the system I can get the address and phone number right off the screen and call to set up a tee time. My thought process is typically, "this traffic sucks. I wonder if there are any course nearby where I can grab 9 or more holes in the next few hours. I know! I'll check the garmin GPS, browse for nearby course, check out the 1st few holes, determine if I like the course, call them up." I know I shouldn't be doing any of this while driving, but hey I love golf, and most of us who are golfers are strategic risk takers. There is always that hole on which we know we shouldn't pull out of driver, but we do it anyway, only to end up in the water, or searching through the bushes looking for a pro v1 ball, only to find a few other balls that aren't yours. All those other balls represent the people who shouldn't have pulled out the driver. I only wonder how many of them actually did the right thing and took that extra stroke.
Overall, I am very pleased with the Garmin G3. The score taking, accuracy, pin location, look, fell, durability, and did I mention the tough screen. The touch screen is perfect. I definitely think that I got my money's worth.
If I had to change any features, it would be the ability to input the clubs that I use for each hit and keep track of my club distances to get an accurate idea of which club I should be using and when to use it.
Most importantly, go out, buy it, enjoy it, and have fun. - Watches - Handheld Gps - Gps - Golf'
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