Jump to content

Garmin S60 best overall watch?


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 37
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I have one and it's nice but many times I prefer to use my x40. If I'm an unfamiliar course, the full hole view of the s60 is nice and I do like the tempo measurements when on the range working on the swing, and the larger display (compared to the x40) is nice on my old eyes, however much of the functionality is not something I use. And the s60 doesn't sit as securely/comfortably on the wrist, it's awkward to use the full hole view to get specific yardages (finger is too big and display too small for any accuracy picking a location), and it's fairly easy for the side buttons on the s60 to get hit accidentally during the swing - more so then it used to with my older s3.

 

So it really depends on what you want/need from your gps watch, for many the s20 or even the new x10 might be the 'best'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with what Stuart G. posted above.

 

I have S20 and S60. I also tested many other watches, but Garmin is my first choice. S20 is much more comfortable and easier to use. S60 has nice features but I hardly use many of the features. To use the map to pin point is nightmare to use. That said, I had the S60 for about 6 months now and getting used to its bulkiness. It does have nice customizable features, tons of watch faces and other free apps you can download. I also like the fact that it has hole layout for new course I play. I do not use my phone apps any longer and hardly use my range finder.

 

Over all, I don’t think you can go wrong with either S20 or S60.

 

Note to Garmin: PLEASE give us easier access to hazards, bunkers and layups.

Driver: Ping G400 Max 10.5 Stock Alta (need shaft fitting)
Fairway Wood: Ryoma F5
Hybrid: TaylorMade M6 4H & 6H
Irons: OnOff Kuro 2015 6 - PW
Wedge: Cleveland RTX4 50, 54 and 58
Putter: S.C. GoLo 3
Ball: TaylorMade TP5X
Club hoe, builder, fitter and tester as hobbyist since 1993

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thing I liked about the S60 is the fact that it is a round face. I was thinking about buying an apple watch a few years back, but I like the traditional styling of a round watch vs the square face. I do like the fact that the S20 is $200 less than the S60. Has it been tough getting used to how bulky the S60 is?

 

When I first bought it, I hated the bulkiness. So, I started to wear it everyday to get used to it. After few weeks, It wasn't too bad but when wearing long sleeves in the colder months, it is bothersome.

Driver: Ping G400 Max 10.5 Stock Alta (need shaft fitting)
Fairway Wood: Ryoma F5
Hybrid: TaylorMade M6 4H & 6H
Irons: OnOff Kuro 2015 6 - PW
Wedge: Cleveland RTX4 50, 54 and 58
Putter: S.C. GoLo 3
Ball: TaylorMade TP5X
Club hoe, builder, fitter and tester as hobbyist since 1993

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has it been tough getting used to how bulky the S60 is?

 

I've never thought of the s60 as being bulky at all. I was actually surprised to find it had a slightly slimmer profile then my older s3.

 

But then my normal, every day watch used to be a Suunto Vector - so it takes a lot before something seems bulky to me.

 

The main problem I had with it from the standpoint of comfort was that the back and transition to the straps is flat and not contoured like the s3 or x40. It just doesn't feel like it sits as securely on the wrist as the other two.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After 6 months of normal use, battery doesn't hold it's charge as well. I fully charged night before playing, after 18 holes, I had 36% left.

Driver: Ping G400 Max 10.5 Stock Alta (need shaft fitting)
Fairway Wood: Ryoma F5
Hybrid: TaylorMade M6 4H & 6H
Irons: OnOff Kuro 2015 6 - PW
Wedge: Cleveland RTX4 50, 54 and 58
Putter: S.C. GoLo 3
Ball: TaylorMade TP5X
Club hoe, builder, fitter and tester as hobbyist since 1993

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I looked into the S60 and wound up going with the Forerunner 935. It was a little more money, but it does a whole lot more stuff that I wanted. All the added features on the S60 that the Forerunner 935 doesn't have are either too fiddly or against the rules anyway (like the where's the hole thing - sounds useful, but you can't use it while playing to the rules). They're both about the same size and I have had no issue playing while wearing it. The S60 doesn't have a heart rate monitor, which I wanted and I've also been trying to work on my fitness and the Forerunner does so much more there too.

Ping G400 LST 9° Diamana white 63x
Ping G410 LST 3 wood Diamana Thump x
Srixon ZX Utility 19 UST Recoil 95x

Srixon ZX7 4-AW C-taper S+

Vokey SM9 54F and 58C

Odyssey Eleven Tour-Lined Slant

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I have an S4 that the screen died on me recently. I'm thinking of the S60 but am wondering if current s60 owners have issues with the side buttons being accidentally pressed during your swing? I found this to be my biggest beef with my S4 and wondering if the S60 has similar issues.

 

All the time. You can set the watch to lock the buttons and screen automatically during an activity (while playing). It does a decent job of avoiding the accidental button press issues BUT then it also makes it a bit of a plain when you really do need to press a button or use the touch screen (such as for entering scores, etc) since you have to manually unlock the unit before you can use it.

 

They really need to add some button guards to the casing.

 

The x40 doesn't have that issue (no side buttons), but of course it's a lot more limited in what it can do compared to the s60.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love my s60 that I just started using....I really enjoy the auto shot tracker

 

but I am a little concerned with the battery, it says it should last 10 hours in golf mode...

 

I just played a round by myself in 3 hours and the battery was already at 50% (after a full charge). This is literally only my 4 or 5th time using since I got it in June.

 

has anyone tried reaching out to garmin about this type of issue, just curious

PXG 0311XF Gen 5 7.5* Ventus Black 6X
Titleist 913D2 12* UST Mamiya Tour Green 75X
PXG Gen5 19* Ventus Black 10TX
Maltby TE Forged 4-G
Maltby TSW DRM 56 and 60
Taylormade Spider Long Broomstick
#vietnameeh

THE GOLF GARAGE SAN JOSE

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an S4 that the screen died on me recently. I'm thinking of the S60 but am wondering if current s60 owners have issues with the side buttons being accidentally pressed during your swing? I found this to be my biggest beef with my S4 and wondering if the S60 has similar issues.

 

I haven't had it happen on mine. Its a really nice watch and the larger size (than the X40) is really nice for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love my s60 that I just started using....I really enjoy the auto shot tracker

 

but I am a little concerned with the battery, it says it should last 10 hours in golf mode...

 

I just played a round by myself in 3 hours and the battery was already at 50% (after a full charge). This is literally only my 4 or 5th time using since I got it in June.

 

has anyone tried reaching out to garmin about this type of issue, just curious

 

Garmin support is usually very good. 10 hours may be an optimistic but I usually have ~55% left after a 4 hour round. Also there are several settings that can effect battery usage. e.g. Bluetooth connections, back light settings (how bright and what activates the back light).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love my s60 that I just started using....I really enjoy the auto shot tracker

 

but I am a little concerned with the battery, it says it should last 10 hours in golf mode...

 

I just played a round by myself in 3 hours and the battery was already at 50% (after a full charge). This is literally only my 4 or 5th time using since I got it in June.

 

has anyone tried reaching out to garmin about this type of issue, just curious

 

Garmin support is usually very good. 10 hours may be an optimistic but I usually have ~55% left after a 4 hour round. Also there are several settings that can effect battery usage. e.g. Bluetooth connections, back light settings (how bright and what activates the back light).

Good call on backlighting. If the s60 screen is anything like my Vivoactive 3, it's not needed in daylight and it performs no function in daylight other than wasting battery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im sure it's a great watch when it comes to hardware and functions but what about Garmin's way of measuring the courses?

 

I had a S60 on order but after giving my fathers new G30 a try I decided to cancel it.

I really loved the hardware of the G30, the screen is great and as other mentioned about the S60 you don't need backlight during daylight.

 

I found Garmins way of measuring courses using imagery (satellite photo?) is to much of an error source.

Think of it, on a satellite photo you can easily determine the outer edges of a bunker or a water hazard so these distances are usually accurate, but what about the greens?

Do you think they can easily determine the difference between green and foregreen?

 

On my home course several green measures where way off and it was apparent they had mapped outer edges of the foregreen instead of the green.

Not a big deal you might say but several measure where 10-15 yards off, on a few holes even more.

 

Now, Garmin got a function that allow you to point out where on the green the flag is located, to give you a better precision.

On greens that are mapped incorrectly this will still give a false distance reading since the proportions of the greens differ from real life.

 

It's a pity the mapping ain't better than this because I love their hardware. Maybe they could offer some sort of premium subscription service like Skycaddie to get access to validated measures.

 

Please note that most of the holes on my course had decent measures, some where spot on and others just a few yards off, something I can live with. However, on 4 holes the green measure was more than a club off. I remember when Garmin first launched their watches and golfing buddies got strange measures, it's been many years since then so I somehow thought the errors on my home course had been reported and fixed, no they are apparently still there. Hence I decided to cancel my order, if mapping error still exists after a long time (decade?) how can I trust the measure it gives me on the other 39.999 courses?

 

I haven't even tried Skycaddie but used to do my own manual mapping on an old iGolf Neo and it was often accurate even compared to laser. It beats me why people don't react more about this, maybe they are clueless and the people who actually care about exact distances use a laser rangefinder instead?

 

Feel free to test how accurate your own device is.

Move up the 100yds/meter marker, make a note of the distances to the front and back of the green (or just take a photo with your phone).

Select the shot measuring function of your watch or hand held device.

Reset this distance and start walking towards the front of the green.

At the front of the green make a note of the distance or take another photo and then move up to the back of the green (without resetting the shot distance) and make a note of that distance as well.

Compare the distances from the shot function with the initial values from the 100yds/meter marker.

 

Repeat for the next hole.

 

If your home course is like mine with quite long fore/back green areas there is a risk that some mapping errors have been done, resulting in unusable green distance values on a few holes (hopefully just a few).

 

Sorry for eventual and probable grammatic errors, English is not my first language.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im sure it's a great watch when it comes to hardware and functions but what about Garmin's way of measuring the courses?

 

I had a S60 on order but after giving my fathers new G30 a try I decided to cancel it.

I really loved the hardware of the G30, the screen is great and as other mentioned about the S60 you don't need backlight during daylight.

 

I found Garmins way of measuring courses using imagery (satellite photo?) is to much of an error source.

Think of it, on a satellite photo you can easily determine the outer edges of a bunker or a water hazard so these distances are usually accurate, but what about the greens?

Do you think they can easily determine the difference between green and foregreen?

 

On my home course several green measures where way off and it was apparent they had mapped outer edges of the foregreen instead of the green.

Not a big deal you might say but several measure where 10-15 yards off, on a few holes even more.

 

Now, Garmin got a function that allow you to point out where on the green the flag is located, to give you a better precision.

On greens that are mapped incorrectly this will still give a false distance reading since the proportions of the greens differ from real life.

 

It's a pity the mapping ain't better than this because I love their hardware. Maybe they could offer some sort of premium subscription service like Skycaddie to get access to validated measures.

 

Please note that most of the holes on my course had decent measures, some where spot on and others just a few yards off, something I can live with. However, on 4 holes the green measure was more than a club off. I remember when Garmin first launched their watches and golfing buddies got strange measures, it's been many years since then so I somehow thought the errors on my home course had been reported and fixed, no they are apparently still there. Hence I decided to cancel my order, if mapping error still exists after a long time (decade?) how can I trust the measure it gives me on the other 39.999 courses?

 

I haven't even tried Skycaddie but used to do my own manual mapping on an old iGolf Neo and it was often accurate even compared to laser. It beats me why people don't react more about this, maybe they are clueless and the people who actually care about exact distances use a laser rangefinder instead?

 

Feel free to test how accurate your own device is.

Move up the 100yds/meter marker, make a note of the distances to the front and back of the green (or just take a photo with your phone).

Select the shot measuring function of your watch or hand held device.

Reset this distance and start walking towards the front of the green.

At the front of the green make a note of the distance or take another photo and then move up to the back of the green (without resetting the shot distance) and make a note of that distance as well.

Compare the distances from the shot function with the initial values from the 100yds/meter marker.

 

Repeat for the next hole.

 

If your home course is like mine with quite long fore/back green areas there is a risk that some mapping errors have been done, resulting in unusable green distance values on a few holes (hopefully just a few).

 

Sorry for eventual and probable grammatic errors, English is not my first language.

It's generally aerial imagery not satellite that's used. It's quite proven that it is very accurate. Perhaps some regions of the world the mapping isn't so great because of limited aerial imagery but in the US the images are routinely better than a foot accuracy. The US courses I've played with Garmin are commonly 0-3 yards from markers and maybe 10% of the time 5 yards.

 

PS, your writing in English is very good. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im sure it's a great watch when it comes to hardware and functions but what about Garmin's way of measuring the courses?

 

I had a S60 on order but after giving my fathers new G30 a try I decided to cancel it.

I really loved the hardware of the G30, the screen is great and as other mentioned about the S60 you don't need backlight during daylight.

 

I found Garmins way of measuring courses using imagery (satellite photo?) is to much of an error source.

Think of it, on a satellite photo you can easily determine the outer edges of a bunker or a water hazard so these distances are usually accurate, but what about the greens?

Do you think they can easily determine the difference between green and foregreen?

 

On my home course several green measures where way off and it was apparent they had mapped outer edges of the foregreen instead of the green.

Not a big deal you might say but several measure where 10-15 yards off, on a few holes even more.

 

Now, Garmin got a function that allow you to point out where on the green the flag is located, to give you a better precision.

On greens that are mapped incorrectly this will still give a false distance reading since the proportions of the greens differ from real life.

 

It's a pity the mapping ain't better than this because I love their hardware. Maybe they could offer some sort of premium subscription service like Skycaddie to get access to validated measures.

 

Please note that most of the holes on my course had decent measures, some where spot on and others just a few yards off, something I can live with. However, on 4 holes the green measure was more than a club off. I remember when Garmin first launched their watches and golfing buddies got strange measures, it's been many years since then so I somehow thought the errors on my home course had been reported and fixed, no they are apparently still there. Hence I decided to cancel my order, if mapping error still exists after a long time (decade?) how can I trust the measure it gives me on the other 39.999 courses?

 

I haven't even tried Skycaddie but used to do my own manual mapping on an old iGolf Neo and it was often accurate even compared to laser. It beats me why people don't react more about this, maybe they are clueless and the people who actually care about exact distances use a laser rangefinder instead?

 

Feel free to test how accurate your own device is.

Move up the 100yds/meter marker, make a note of the distances to the front and back of the green (or just take a photo with your phone).

Select the shot measuring function of your watch or hand held device.

Reset this distance and start walking towards the front of the green.

At the front of the green make a note of the distance or take another photo and then move up to the back of the green (without resetting the shot distance) and make a note of that distance as well.

Compare the distances from the shot function with the initial values from the 100yds/meter marker.

 

Repeat for the next hole.

 

If your home course is like mine with quite long fore/back green areas there is a risk that some mapping errors have been done, resulting in unusable green distance values on a few holes (hopefully just a few).

 

Sorry for eventual and probable grammatic errors, English is not my first language.

It's generally aerial imagery not satellite that's used. It's quite proven that it is very accurate. Perhaps some regions of the world the mapping isn't so great because of limited aerial imagery but in the US the images are routinely better than a foot accuracy. The US courses I've played with Garmin are commonly 0-3 yards from markers and maybe 10% of the time 5 yards.

 

PS, your writing in English is very good. :)

 

Thanks for your reply, image quality is a very good point as that could make it hard to differentiate green/foregreen.

 

An easy give away to if the distance to green is correct or not on devices with a course image (the G-series and I guess also the S60) is too look at the distance arcs on the device and compare that to the markers on course. If you stand at a marker and the arc is not crossing that marker or atleast very close by its either the marker or device that is incorrect. (Usually device since marker should be laser measured). You could then use the shot measure function from the marker to front/back of green to check what is failing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An easy give away to if the distance to green is correct or not on devices with a course image (the G-series and I guess also the S60) is too look at the distance arcs on the device and compare that to the markers on course.

 

I disagree. I've been on plenty of courses where the distance marks are horrible. A much better way is a laser. Take a reading on the gps unit from a tree or something that can be easily targeted with a laser from the green (front, back or middle), when looking back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im sure it's a great watch when it comes to hardware and functions but what about Garmin's way of measuring the courses?

 

I had a S60 on order but after giving my fathers new G30 a try I decided to cancel it.

I really loved the hardware of the G30, the screen is great and as other mentioned about the S60 you don't need backlight during daylight.

 

I found Garmins way of measuring courses using imagery (satellite photo?) is to much of an error source.

Think of it, on a satellite photo you can easily determine the outer edges of a bunker or a water hazard so these distances are usually accurate, but what about the greens?

Do you think they can easily determine the difference between green and foregreen?

 

On my home course several green measures where way off and it was apparent they had mapped outer edges of the foregreen instead of the green.

Not a big deal you might say but several measure where 10-15 yards off, on a few holes even more.

 

Now, Garmin got a function that allow you to point out where on the green the flag is located, to give you a better precision.

On greens that are mapped incorrectly this will still give a false distance reading since the proportions of the greens differ from real life.

 

It's a pity the mapping ain't better than this because I love their hardware. Maybe they could offer some sort of premium subscription service like Skycaddie to get access to validated measures.

 

Please note that most of the holes on my course had decent measures, some where spot on and others just a few yards off, something I can live with. However, on 4 holes the green measure was more than a club off. I remember when Garmin first launched their watches and golfing buddies got strange measures, it's been many years since then so I somehow thought the errors on my home course had been reported and fixed, no they are apparently still there. Hence I decided to cancel my order, if mapping error still exists after a long time (decade?) how can I trust the measure it gives me on the other 39.999 courses?

 

I haven't even tried Skycaddie but used to do my own manual mapping on an old iGolf Neo and it was often accurate even compared to laser. It beats me why people don't react more about this, maybe they are clueless and the people who actually care about exact distances use a laser rangefinder instead?

 

Feel free to test how accurate your own device is.

Move up the 100yds/meter marker, make a note of the distances to the front and back of the green (or just take a photo with your phone).

Select the shot measuring function of your watch or hand held device.

Reset this distance and start walking towards the front of the green.

At the front of the green make a note of the distance or take another photo and then move up to the back of the green (without resetting the shot distance) and make a note of that distance as well.

Compare the distances from the shot function with the initial values from the 100yds/meter marker.

 

Repeat for the next hole.

 

If your home course is like mine with quite long fore/back green areas there is a risk that some mapping errors have been done, resulting in unusable green distance values on a few holes (hopefully just a few).

 

Sorry for eventual and probable grammatic errors, English is not my first language.

It's generally aerial imagery not satellite that's used. It's quite proven that it is very accurate. Perhaps some regions of the world the mapping isn't so great because of limited aerial imagery but in the US the images are routinely better than a foot accuracy. The US courses I've played with Garmin are commonly 0-3 yards from markers and maybe 10% of the time 5 yards.

 

PS, your writing in English is very good. :)

 

Thanks for your reply, image quality is a very good point as that could make it hard to differentiate green/foregreen.

 

An easy give away to if the distance to green is correct or not on devices with a course image (the G-series and I guess also the S60) is too look at the distance arcs on the device and compare that to the markers on course. If you stand at a marker and the arc is not crossing that marker or atleast very close by its either the marker or device that is incorrect. (Usually device since marker should be laser measured). You could then use the shot measure function from the marker to front/back of green to check what is failing.

Reckie, I've owned 4 different golf GPS devices since about 2009. A Golf Guru (excellent product though unfortunately no longer in business), Bushnell Neo-X watch, Garmin approach x40 and now a Garmin Vivoactive 3. I tested all these products extensively on US and some Canadian courses. When I'm near an embedded yardage marker I always compare the GPS reading, and I will tell you that it's unusual to find more than a 5 yard deviation and typically is 3 yards or less from the marker and GPS reading. I don't see aerial mapping as inferior to walking a golf course to map it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I spent about a year borrowing different watches or clip-on units, and a bevy of different phone apps.

And I finally settled on the Garmin S60 and couldn't be happier.

It does have a bunch of features I don't really take advantage of, being as I don't use it as an every day watch, but the golf related features all work as advertised. And while it did have it's own learning curve, like any unit, once I got the hang of it it worked like a breeze. And contrary to some of the yardage issue complaints, I've found it to be easily as accurate as any of my buddies' rangefinders.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love my S60 ceramic. Use it 3-4 times a week. Occasional accidental button press, but very rarely... usually only happens with a new glove before it gets broken in.

 

It very consistently uses 40-45% of battery during a round, could easily get 36 holes from it. Battery lasts nearly 2 weeks if I don't use it for golf. I completely disabled the backlight though, I couldn't care less about seeing my watch when I'm in bed.

 

Also love the auto shot tracker, and stat tracking. It's great to review your round shot by shot after on the phone app, and nice to easily see how many fairways and putts hit. Plus it's always fun to see the recorded distance of the shots you hit when you really catch a a good drive.

 

Only small complaints are that the orientation of the greens is off a bit on my home course, however it doesn't actually make too much of a difference for front/middle/back measurements. I can't hit my shots within 1yd of accuracy anyways, so it doesn't matter too much to me... also that it's not as good as a laser for measuring distance to certain trees or w/e. Easy to measure distance to a hazard, but hard to pick a random item next to the fairway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t see where the method of mapping is that critical. Typically the collar of a green is 3 to 6 feet so not that big a deal. I was under the impression that everyone except Skycaddue measured the courses the same way. Also I wonder about Skycaddue’s claim that their method is best. When I worked in a pro shop a few years ago the course had some renovations done. Several bunkers were converted to grass depressions and some new bunkers added. Skycaddie never came out to walk the course. This brings up the question of how does Skycaddie know to revisit a course? I know with my Bushnell Excel watch if I spot an error or other issue I contact them and usually in a week or two it’s updated. I just go to their web site and wait to see an updated date posted for that course then I Bluetooth download it to my watch. Easy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 things I wish Garmin would change on S60:

  1. Better battery life. No way I can get two rounds in on a single charge.
  2. Easier access to Hazards
  3. Screen is too easy to touch by accident and moves to different hole. I have to always remember to double check which hole I’m on.

Driver: Ping G400 Max 10.5 Stock Alta (need shaft fitting)
Fairway Wood: Ryoma F5
Hybrid: TaylorMade M6 4H & 6H
Irons: OnOff Kuro 2015 6 - PW
Wedge: Cleveland RTX4 50, 54 and 58
Putter: S.C. GoLo 3
Ball: TaylorMade TP5X
Club hoe, builder, fitter and tester as hobbyist since 1993

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I have the X40, it last long and is never in the way of my swing. But you have to buy what you like and feel works with you.

TM SIM2 Max 10.5 UST V 2 
TM SIM Max 15 UST V2 66g
TM Stealth HL 17 Aldila RIP Alpha 6
TM Stealth UDI 19 UST V2
TM Stealth UDI 23 UST v2 
TM P790 6-PW Nippon Modus 3 105
TM MG 3 Black 50 Nippon Modus Tour WV115
TM MG Hi-Toe 3 RAW Wedge 54 Nippon Pro WV115
TM MG Hi-Toe 3 RAW Wedge 58 Nippon Pro Modus 105 T
TM TP Hydro Blast Bandon 3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The one with the best battery life I ran into was Bushnell Neo XS - roughly 12 hours. The more current Bushnell ION2 is also supposed to last for 12 hours in golf mode. But that's about the same or a little less than the s20 (probably the best battery life of the Garmin's). The new Garmin x10 is (reportedly) also about 12 hours.

 

The downside of the Bushnell watches was that course updates were a PITA. You had to manually check each course individually to see if it was up-to-date or not and update them individually. Don't know if that's been addressed in the newer model or software.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the functionality of the S60 but the button placement is really annoying. I have fairly large wrists and when I swing the club, the buttons depress when in contact with my wrist so I'm constantly having to mess with them to get to the right screen on the watch for distance. I tried wearing it on both hands and it didn't help. I have many of the other Garmin watches and this is the only one that I've had this problem with.

Driver - Callaway Paradym
Woods - Callaway Paradym 3W
Hybrids - XXIO 10 3H, 4H, 5H
Irons - Callaway Paradym 6-52*
Wedge - PXG Forged 56** 
Putter - Ping TYNE C
Ball - Titleist AVX

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im sure it's a great watch when it comes to hardware and functions but what about Garmin's way of measuring the courses?

 

I had a S60 on order but after giving my fathers new G30 a try I decided to cancel it.

I really loved the hardware of the G30, the screen is great and as other mentioned about the S60 you don't need backlight during daylight.

 

I found Garmins way of measuring courses using imagery (satellite photo?) is to much of an error source.

Think of it, on a satellite photo you can easily determine the outer edges of a bunker or a water hazard so these distances are usually accurate, but what about the greens?

Do you think they can easily determine the difference between green and foregreen?

 

On my home course several green measures where way off and it was apparent they had mapped outer edges of the foregreen instead of the green.

Not a big deal you might say but several measure where 10-15 yards off, on a few holes even more.

 

Now, Garmin got a function that allow you to point out where on the green the flag is located, to give you a better precision.

On greens that are mapped incorrectly this will still give a false distance reading since the proportions of the greens differ from real life.

 

It's a pity the mapping ain't better than this because I love their hardware. Maybe they could offer some sort of premium subscription service like Skycaddie to get access to validated measures.

 

Please note that most of the holes on my course had decent measures, some where spot on and others just a few yards off, something I can live with. However, on 4 holes the green measure was more than a club off. I remember when Garmin first launched their watches and golfing buddies got strange measures, it's been many years since then so I somehow thought the errors on my home course had been reported and fixed, no they are apparently still there. Hence I decided to cancel my order, if mapping error still exists after a long time (decade?) how can I trust the measure it gives me on the other 39.999 courses?

 

I haven't even tried Skycaddie but used to do my own manual mapping on an old iGolf Neo and it was often accurate even compared to laser. It beats me why people don't react more about this, maybe they are clueless and the people who actually care about exact distances use a laser rangefinder instead?

 

Feel free to test how accurate your own device is.

Move up the 100yds/meter marker, make a note of the distances to the front and back of the green (or just take a photo with your phone).

Select the shot measuring function of your watch or hand held device.

Reset this distance and start walking towards the front of the green.

At the front of the green make a note of the distance or take another photo and then move up to the back of the green (without resetting the shot distance) and make a note of that distance as well.

Compare the distances from the shot function with the initial values from the 100yds/meter marker.

 

Repeat for the next hole.

 

If your home course is like mine with quite long fore/back green areas there is a risk that some mapping errors have been done, resulting in unusable green distance values on a few holes (hopefully just a few).

 

Sorry for eventual and probable grammatic errors, English is not my first language.

 

I played a round with one of my usual partners this weekend. He has a S60. Usually his distances on the S60 and my Garmin G3 are pretty close. His S60 was all over the place on this particular course. It was very strange.. yardages were checked using a laser range finder. This is the only time I had seen such differences between our devices. Maybe just this course?

 

Great looking watch though. Lots of nice features.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the functionality of the S60 but the button placement is really annoying. I have fairly large wrists and when I swing the club, the buttons depress when in contact with my wrist so I'm constantly having to mess with them to get to the right screen on the watch for distance. I tried wearing it on both hands and it didn't help. I have many of the other Garmin watches and this is the only one that I've had this problem with.

 

I find the same things. On the range - with slower motion work and more deliberate rehearsal swings - I've even accidentally powered off the unit.

 

Have you tried setting the unit to lock the screen "during an activity"? I find it helps a lot with that particular problem - although it's not a perfect fix because it locks both the buttons and the touch screen. Every time you do want to change screens or enter a score or stats, you have to unlock the device first. And you can still accidentally unlock it - although that doesn't happen too much on the golf course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Our picks

    • 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Discussion and links to Photos
      Please put any questions or Comments here
       
       
       
      General Albums
       
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Monday #1
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Monday #2
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Tuesday #1
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Tuesday #2
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Tuesday #3
       
       
       
       
      WITB Albums
       
      Thorbjorn Olesen - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Ben Silverman - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Jesse Droemer - SoTX PGA Section POY - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      David Lipsky - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Martin Trainer - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Zac Blair - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Jacob Bridgeman - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Trace Crowe - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Jimmy Walker - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Daniel Berger - WITB(very mini) - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Chesson Hadley - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Callum McNeill - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Rhein Gibson - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Patrick Fishburn - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Peter Malnati - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Raul Pereda - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Gary Woodland WITB (New driver, iron shafts) – 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Padraig Harrington WITB – 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
       
       
       
       
      Pullout Albums
       
      Tom Hoge's custom Cameron - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Cameron putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Piretti putters - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Ping putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Kevin Dougherty's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Bettinardi putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Cameron putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Erik Barnes testing an all-black Axis1 putter – 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Tony Finau's new driver shaft – 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
       
       
       
       
       
      • 7 replies
    • 2024 Valspar Championship WITB Photos (Thanks to bvmagic)- Discussion & Links to Photos
      This weeks WITB Pics are from member bvmagic (Brian). Brian's first event for WRX was in 2008 at Bayhill while in college. Thanks so much bv.
       
      Please put your comments or question on this thread. Links to all the threads are below...
       
       
       
       
        • Like
      • 31 replies
    • 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational - Discussion and Links to Photos
      Please put any questions or comments here
       
       
       
      General Albums
       
      2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational - Monday #1
      2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational - Monday #2
      2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational - Monday #3
       
       
       
       
      WITB Albums
       
      Matt (LFG) Every - WITB - 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
      Sahith Theegala - WITB - 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
       
       
       
       
       
      Pullout Albums
       
      New Cameron putters (and new "LD" grip) - 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
      New Bettinardi MB & CB irons - 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
      Custom Bettinardi API putter cover - 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
      Custom Swag API covers - 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
      New Golf Pride Reverse Taper grips - 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
        • Like
      • 15 replies
    • 2024 Cognizant Classic - Discussion and Links to Photos
      Please put any questions or comments here
       
       
       
       
      General Albums
       
      2024 Cognizant Classic - Monday #1
      2024 Cognizant Classic - Monday #2
      2024 Cognizant Classic - Monday #3
      2024 Cognizant Classic - Monday #4
       
       
       
      WITB Albums
       
      Brandt Snedeker - WITB - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Max Greyserman - WITB - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Eric Cole - WITB - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Carl Yuan - WITb - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Russell Henley - WITB - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Justin Sun - WITB - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Alex Noren - WITB - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Shane Lowry - WITB - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Taylor Montgomery - WITB - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Jake Knapp (KnappTime_ltd) - WITB - - 2024 Cognizant Classic
       
       
       
      Pullout Albums
       
      New Super Stoke Pistol Lock 1.0 & 2.0 grips - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      LA Golf new insert putter - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      New Garsen Quad Tour 15 grip - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      New Swag covers - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Jacob Bridgeman's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Bud Cauley's custom Cameron putters - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Ryo Hisatsune's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Chris Kirk - new black Callaway Apex CB irons and a few Odyssey putters - 2024 Cognizant Classic
      Alejandro Tosti's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Cognizant Classic
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
        • Like
      • 2 replies
    • 2024 Genesis Invitational - Discussion and Links to Photos
      Please put any questions or comments here
       
       
       
      General Albums
       
      2024 Genesis Invitational - Monday #1
      2024 Genesis Invitational - Monday #2
      2024 Genesis Invitational - Tuesday #1
      2024 Genesis Invitational - Tuesday #2
      2024 Genesis Invitational - Tuesday #3
      2024 Genesis Invitational - Tuesday #4
       
       
       
       
      WITB Albums
       
      Rory McIlroy - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Sepp Straka - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Patrick Rodgers - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Brendon Todd - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Denny McCarthy - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Corey Conners - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Chase Johnson - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Tiger Woods - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Tommy Fleetwood - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Matt Fitzpatrick - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Si Woo Kim - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Viktor Hovland - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Wyndham Clark - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Cam Davis - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Nick Taylor - WITB - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Ben Baller WITB update (New putter, driver, hybrid and shafts) – 2024 Genesis Invitational
       
       
       
       
       
      Pullout Albums
       
      New Vortex Golf rangefinder - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      New Fujikura Ventus shaft - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Tiger Woods & TaylorMade "Sun Day Red" apparel launch event, product photos – 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Tiger Woods Sun Day Red golf shoes - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Aretera shafts - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      New Toulon putters - 2024 Genesis Invitational
      Tiger Woods' new white "Sun Day Red" golf shoe prototypes – 2024 Genesis Invitational
       
       
       
       
       
      • 22 replies

×
×
  • Create New...