9 Apple Watch Golf Apps That Will Lower Your Scores

By
, GolfLink Editor
Updated June 1, 2023
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Golfer using an Apple Watch app
  • DESCRIPTION
    Golfer using an Apple Watch app
  • SOURCE
    Getty Images, 18Birdies
  • PERMISSION
    Getty Image license; Permission given by 18Birdies

If you’re still relying on a combination of red, white, and blue stakes and the scorecard to calculate your distance to the hole, it’s time for an upgrade. With all the free golf apps available on today’s smartphones, there’s no excuse to be wasting strokes because you hit a perfect shot to the wrong yardage. An Apple Watch can easily serve as your on-course caddy and give you a deeper look into your golf game than you ever thought possible.

These are the nine best Apple Watch golf apps, and the features that differentiate each of them.

Apple Watch Golf Apps

Most golf apps today offer an Apple Watch app, where you can get GPS distances and track your scores and basic stats for free. These basic features are pretty universal – give or take a couple – in the free version of today’s golf apps. Having GPS distances and a scorecard on your wrist alone can replace expensive laser rangefinders and golf-specific GPS watches. However, there’s a whole nother world of golf stats and data aimed at helping you shoot lower scores just a premium subscription away. 

This is where things get interesting. While pretty much all golf apps are built on the same foundation of basic GPS distances and score tracking, each is outfitted with vastly different accessories that make them unique.

Hello Birdie, for example, is all-in on giving you a customized game plan before each round based on your game, your goals, and your risk tolerance. 18 Birdies, meanwhile, has an AI Swing Coach to give you the keys to improving your swing based on a quick video. 

These are pretty cool add-ons, but one of our favorite features of any golf app is Golfshot’s ability to display your tempo, rhythm, hand speed, transition, and swing path just from taking a swing wearing an Apple Watch.

To help you decide which Apple Watch golf app has the features you need at the price you want, here is our complete breakdown of the nine best Apple Watch golf apps.

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18Birdies

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Whether you use the free version, or the premium version, 18Birdies offers everything you need from your golf app. Sync it with your Apple Watch to get GPS distances all over the golf course and track your score, and all the side games your group can dream up.

Upgrade to the premium version and get club recommendations for every shot based on your past performance, distance, slope, and current weather conditions. After your round, dive into your Strokes Gained stats to figure out where you can improve to drop the most strokes.

One of the coolest features 18Birdies offers is its AI Swing Coach. Just record a video of your golf swing – you don’t even need to be hitting a ball – and upload it to the AI Coach. You’ll get a breakdown of how you can improve your swing, along with drills, to build a better golf swing.

Premium Subscription

$99.99/Year or $9.99/Month

GPS Distances

FREE (F-C-B, hazards); Premium (Plays like)

Scoring

FREE + Side games

Handicap Calculator

FREE

Club Distances

Premium

Basic Statistics

FREE

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

Premium

Club Recommendations

Premium

Standout Features

Easily track side-games; AI Swing Coach

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18Birdies AI Coach: Improve Your Golf Swing Without Lessons

SwingU

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We’ve all bemoaned our short game at the 19th hole, calculating what we would have shot if that one facet was sharp, then scoured the internet for tips and drills to make it better for next time.

SwingU hears us, and makes this whole process simpler. Premium members get a “#1 Game Improvement Priority” based on performance after each round, with drills that will sharpen that part of your game right in the app.

SwingU doesn’t just improve your game between rounds. With green-reading maps from StrackaLine built into the app for more than 13,000 courses, you can nail your speed and read on every green, a great in-round benefit.

Premium Subscription

$99.99/Year or $14.99/Month

GPS Distances

FREE (5+ tiers of green, hazards); Premium (Plays Like)

Scoring

FREE

Handicap Calculator

FREE

Club Distances

FREE

Basic Statistics

FREE (Putts)

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

Premium

Club Recommendations

Premium

Standout Features

Green maps for 13,000+ courses (Premium)

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Golf Pad GPS

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With premium features for only $29.99 per year, Golf Pad GPS is the best-value Apple Watch golf app in our book. The affordable premium subscription gets you all the well-known goodies – strokes gained stats, plays like yardages and club recommendations. One of our favorite features, and frankly one that more apps should offer, is strokes gained by shot. 

With Golf Pad, you can actually look at a map of every shot you hit, and see whether each shot helped or hurt you. 

One caveat with Golf Pad is that smartwatch sync is actually a premium feature. Therefore, you can’t use the free version of the app and sync it with your Apple Watch. 

Premium Subscription

$29.99/Year

GPS Distances

FREE on phone (F-C-B, bunkers, layups, hazards); Premium on Apple Watch (plays like)

Scoring

FREE

Handicap Calculator

No

Club Distances

Premium

Basic Statistics

Free

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

Premium

Club Recommendations

Premium

Standout Features

Play with friends using live leaderboards; strokes gained by shot

*All distances except plays-like are free on phone app; Smartwatch sync is a premium feature

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Golfshot

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Golfshot offers one of the coolest features of any Apple Watch golf app. 

It’s called Swing ID, and it uses your Apple Watch to track your tempo, rhythm, hand speed, backswing length, transition and swing path, all with one swing of the club.

Sure, most people have never considered that they would want or need to know this information, but that’s actually the point. These measurements are the foundation of a consistent golf swing. If you can maintain a consistent tempo and backswing length from the beginning of your round to the end, and from one round to another, you’re going to improve your game. Swing ID on the Apple Watch app from Golfshot lets you track and train that.

Premium Subscription

$59.99/Year or $17.99/Month

GPS Distances

FREE (Center of green); Premium (F-C-B)

Scoring

Premium (watch scoring); FREE (phone scoring)

Handicap Calculator

Premium

Club Distances

FREE

Basic Statistics

FREE

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

No

Club Recommendations

Premium

Standout Features

Tempo & rhythm tracker, hand speed, transition, swing path & backswing arc; 3D video course previews

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Hello Birdie

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While it offers all the bells and whistles you can expect from a premium golf app, Hello Birdie is the only one to give you a detailed game-plan before your round even begins. That’s right, you tell the app about your current game, goals and risk tolerance, and Hello Birdie spits out a complete game plan of every shot on every hole to shoot your target score.

Actually, it spits out three plans. An aggressive plan that gives you the best chance of making the lowest possible score on a hole, a normal plan that steers away from the biggest possible numbers, and a safe plan that completely minimizes the risk of disaster. Of course, you still have to hit the shots.

Premium Subscription

$99.99/Year or $15.99/Month

GPS Distances

FREE (F-C-B); Premium (plays like)

Scoring

FREE (Stroke play, Stableford)

Handicap Calculator

No

Club Distances

FREE

Basic Statistics

FREE

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

Premium

Club Recommendations

Premium

Standout Features

Get a personalized gameplan before every round tailored to your game and goals

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The Grint

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The Grint is a solution to both golf problems you’ve long loathed, and those you didn’t know you had. 

For example, it offers a feature to round out your foursome by inviting friends you’ve connected with on the app, specific people you invite, or any local app users. No more stressing about a random fourth or ending up with three people fighting over your final two spots.

You can also upload a photo of your scorecard to The Grint, and it will magically appear as a digital scorecard in the app. Other cool features include live leaderboards with multiple groups, and even Ryder Cup-style scoring.

Premium Subscription

$52.99-$129.99/Year or $5.49/Month

GPS Distances

FREE

Scoring

FREE

Handicap Calculator

FREE (Integrates with GHIN)

Club Distances

FREE

Basic Statistics

FREE

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

Premium

Club Recommendations

No

Standout Features

Image of handwritten scorecard transcribed into app

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Hole 19

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Hole 19 checks all the boxes you need a golf app to do. In addition to pairing with Apple Watch, Premium subscribers get club recommendations, premium maps, stats and distances from every club, overall stats, and no ads.

Premium Subscription

$69.99/Year or $7.99/Month

GPS Distances

FREE (F-M-B, hazards, targets)

Scoring

FREE (Stroke play, Stableford)

Handicap Calculator

Premium

Club Distances

Premium

Basic Statistics

Premium

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

Premium

Club Recommendations

Premium

Standout Features

Monthly challenges with other users

Arccos Caddie

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Arccos is more than a golf app, it’s an entire system designed to give you the information you need to improve your golf game. It starts with sensors that attach to each club and pair with either your phone or the Arccos Link, and it all culminates in the Arccos Caddie app.

While you play, the app tracks every shot you hit, allowing you to focus on your game. On your wrist, you get club recommendations, plays-like yardages, and distances to hazards, doglegs and layups. After your round, Arccos breaks down how every facet of your game compares to players of any handicap.

If you’re used to testing the waters with a free trial, Arccos may not be for you. The Arccos bundle, which includes sensors for every club, plus the Link and one free year of the Arccos Caddie app, will set you back $250, and after that first year, your annual subscription is $155.

Premium Subscription

$155.88/Year

GPS Distances

Premium

Scoring

Premium

Handicap Calculator

Premium

Club Distances

Premium

Basic Statistics

Premium

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

Premium

Club Recommendations

Premium

Standout Features

In-depth analysis of your game

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Arccos app screenshots with smart grips
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Arccos Golf Review: What Can This AI Do for Your Game?

GHIN Mobile

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The GHIN mobile app is probably not the first Apple Watch golf app we’d recommend for players looking for club recommendations and game-improving insights and into their game. Players who want an efficient way to track their rounds and post their scores to their official handicap, however, may find that the premium edition of the GHIN mobile app is just what the doctor ordered.

GPS distances on your wrist, score and stat tracking, and easy score posting are all at the forefront of the GHIN app. Premium subscribers also enjoy putt break maps on 14,000 courses and get the benefit of tracking their club distances.

GHIN also packs the convenience factor. If you keep an official handicap, you should already have the GHIN app on your phone. From there, upgrading is easy and doesn’t require you to use multiple apps every time you play a round of golf.

Premium Subscription

$39.99/Year

GPS Distances

Premium (F-C-B, Layups, Hazards)

Scoring

FREE

Handicap Calculator

GHIN Members

Club Distances

Premium

Basic Statistics

FREE

Advanced/Strokes Gained Statistics

No

Club Recommendations

No

Standout Features

Putt break map (Premium)

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Let’s Get Digital

Don’t get us wrong, there’s something satisfyingly traditional about using nothing more than a 3-inch pencil and 5x8 scorecard to track our 18-hole trek. But with the heaps of data and tools available with today’s golf apps, you’re leaving strokes on the table if you choose not to adapt.

Whether it’s AI Swing Coach, strokes gained stats, or your Swing ID, today’s best golf apps can help your game.