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Golfing With a Garmin Watch With Pre-Loaded Maps
Garmin® golf capable watches can be used to get distances from your upcoming shot location to the hole. There are several other features that can be utilized depending on the product you have such as Automatic Shot (AutoShot) Detection & Distances to Hazards. This overview of how the golf activity functions will help you get ready to use your watch before your first round.
This article is for watches that have pre-loaded golf courses. For watches without pre-loaded golf courses, see Getting Started Golfing With a Golf Capable Garmin Watch Without Pre-loaded Golf Courses.
Select a topic below to learn more about it.
Updating Golf Courses With Garmin Express™ Software
Golf course map updates are released three times a year. Your watch may not be on the current version depending on when it was packaged. For detailed instructions of the process of downloading golf courses updates to your watch, see - Update Golf Courses and Device Software on an Outdoor Watch.
Updating Golf Courses With Map Manager
Some Garmin watches have a Map Manager feature that allows you to update CourseView maps directly from the watch. For information on how to use Map Manager, and which watches support it, see Using Map Manager on Garmin Watches.
Keeping Score on Your Watch
Scorecards can be kept on the watch during the round. Once the round is ended and the scorecard is saved, it can be synced and be viewed in the Garmin Golf™ app. For information on how your specific watch syncs the scorecards, see - Syncing Scorecards to the Garmin Golf App. Some watches allow you to keep score by hole but hide the cumulative score; see your owner's manual for details on scoring settings and whether this feature is available on your watch.
With scoring enabled, scorecards will be applied to Course Stats to get averages on courses you play often.
For details on the stats and icons shown on the scorecard in the Garmin Golf app, see - Understanding Golf Scorecards in the Garmin Golf App.
Using AutoShot Detection
Several golf capable watches have the ability to automatically detect your shots. This automatically measures the shot distances between each shot. It can also be used to give averages for clubs if Club Prompts are enabled or if Approach® CT10 sensors are being used. See your owner's manual for instructions on enabling Club Prompts and pairing Approach CT10 sensors.
The AutoShot data will sync with the scorecard to be viewed in the Garmin Golf™ app. The shot data will be utilized in the Performance Stats section to calculate your handicap and see how you perform against other players. For the compatibility of your watch with AutoShot features, see - AutoShot Feature on Garmin Golf Watches and Devices.
Hole Transitioning
All Garmin golf capable watches will automatically transition to the upcoming hole when brought near the farthest back tee box of the hole. To make sure the transition takes place automatically, walk through the farthest back tee box before moving to the tee you will be playing from and make sure to enter your score for the previous hole before transitioning to the next hole.
If for any reason the watch does not automatically transition, transitioning can be done manually. Look for "Changing Holes" in your owner's manual for steps on manually transitioning holes.
If you are not starting the round of golf on the first hole, see - Starting a Round of Golf on Any Hole.
More Features Used During a Round
Several watches provide other features during the round like viewing hazard distances, moving the flag to get a more accurate distance than the center of the green, and using the PinPointer (compass) feature to get the direction to the green when it is unable to be seen. Search your owner's manual for Golfing to find instructions on how to access these features during a round.