Hold OK/Menu.
Select Setup.
Select Units.
Select Yards or Meters.
Select your product to confirm this information applies to you
Resolving Inaccurate or Incorrect Distances on an Approach Series Watch
As with any GPS product, distance to a certain geographical location is important. This is especially true when using a Garmin® golf watch to determine yardage. If you are experiencing inaccuracies, it is important to understand what can affect GPS accuracy and yardage readings.
Inaccurate distances should be compared against course markers. Course markers generally measure to the center of the green, not the hole. This is important to remember because it can mean the difference of 20 to 30 yards on some shots. The golf watch will measure to the center of green by default.
GPS Drift and Environmental Factors
What is GPS Drift?
GPS drift, in the most practical sense, is the difference between your actual location and the location recorded by a GPS receiver. Consumer grade GPS receivers (such as the ones Garmin makes) are not 100% accurate, this will usually cause a difference between your actual location and your recorded location.
The GPS location accuracy of Approach® watches is around 3 meters (10 feet), 95% of the time. This means, at any given time, your watch will save your location within 3 meters of your actual location.
What are Environmental Factors?
Any outside influence on the accuracy of your watch is an environmental factor and can cause degraded GPS signal. Common environmental factors that impact GPS accuracy include trying to acquire a GPS connection while indoors or under a dense tree canopy. Using your watch to record GPS in those types of environments can prevent the watch from receiving a GPS signal. You can think of environmental factors as things that interrupt the signal path of a GPS satellite to your watch.
Golf Course Remodels
If you notice yardage inaccuracies exist with a specific hole or course, it is possible the course has been remodeled and the Garmin course database needs an update. A Golf Course Report can be submitted to report an error on an existing course when renovations have been made.
As with any consumer grade product GPS inaccuracies will exist. Therefore, a yardage discrepancy of 5 yards or less is more than acceptable and would not be considered an issue.
Incorrect Unit of Measurement
Another common cause of inaccurate distance readings occurs when unit settings are set incorrectly to either metric or yards. If your local course measures distance in metric, but your watch is set to yards, the distance will consistently be off. The golf distance units can be checked directly on your Approach® watch.
From the time, touch
.Select Setup.
Select Units.
Select Yards or Meters.
Press
.Select Settings.
Select System.
Select Units.
Select Distance.
Select Yards or Meters.
Press
.Select Settings.
Select System.
Select Units.
Select Golf Distance.
Select Yards or Meters.
Press
.Select Settings.
Select Golf Settings.
Select Golf Distance.
Select Yards or Meters.
Press the Device Key.
Select
.Select Units.
Select Yards or Meters.
Press the Device Key.
Select
.Select System.
Select Units.
Yards or Meters.
Other Possible Causes of Inaccuracy
The watch does not have a clear view of the sky for a strong satellite lock. See GPS Drift and Environmental Impacts on GPS Accuracy for Approach Watches for more information.
The CourseView maps or software need to be updated. For assistance updating your software and maps with Garmin Express™, see - Update Golf Courses and Device Software on an Approach.
Pin placement was manually moved away from the center of green.
PlaysLike Distance (adjusts distances accounting for elevation) is enabled. For tips on how to use or disable PlaysLike Distance on your watch, see the owner's manual.