Maybe a weird question, but do any or all of the wearables include slope?

[MixedBag]

in their distance readings? I'm actually very interested in the Vivoactive HR, b/c I would like to use the watch as a fitness watch as well. Any suggestions? thanks

[matchavez]

No. Doesn't work that way. Only a laser can detect slope.

 

It isn't that GPS can't, but that the accuracy provided and what is necessary would be ineffective.

 

If you are 4 yards off in distance, you're still hitting the right club. Elevation error tends to be as much as 12 yards. That would be incorrect at a 3 club level.

 

A laser takes an inclinometer reading, does the trig based on straight line distance, and can calculate the slope and "plays like" number.

[MixedBag]

Yep. After some extensive research I found that only a few handheld devices will show slope, but none of the watches/bands.

[Stuart_G]

I suspect the bigger issue is not so much the elevation accuracy of the GPS receiver (from what little I've read that tends to be about 1.5 times the accuracy of the horizontal readings) but rather the lack of elevation data in the course maps.available to the units. The majority of course mapping is done through satellite imagery. While it might still be possible to get elevation data that way (e.g. google earth) the accuracy of that elevation is not necessarily very good (can be +/- 30 meters in some places). So even if it can get good information about the elevation you are at, it's difficult to get it to have accurate information about the elevation of your target which is needed to compute the slope. Those companies that do an on site survey of the courses (like skycaddie) would be more likely to have access to usable elevation data.

 

Now, whether or not they decide to include that in the data that's loaded in the devices is a completely different question. Before 2016, just the presence of the ability of the unit to compute slope would have made it non-conforming with respect to the rules, whether you used it or not. So many would not consider it a desirable feature to add to a unit.

[MixedBag]

Fair point on the non-conforming making it outside the rules, but I suspect that most people wearing a gps watch are weekend warriors like myself.

[Stuart_G]

Fair point on the non-conforming making it outside the rules, but I suspect that most people wearing a gps watch are weekend warriors like myself.

 

Conformance is not just about official tournaments. A large number of "weekend warriors" like to maintain a handicap.

[North Butte]

Do topographical databases even exist that are able to distinguish between, say, six feet uphill versus fifteen feet uphill on a particular 120-yard shot?

 

I just find it hard to believe every course in the country could have elevations accurate to the nearest yard or two stored for every point on the course.

[Stuart_G]

The data might be available someplace, but you are correct, they wouldn't load that info up onto a dedicated device. They'd likely only get the elevation data for certain points of interest - like the green. At best a connected smart phone may be able to retrieve that info as needed but even that would be cumbersome and likely clunky - assuming accurate information is easily available somewhere.

[MixedBag]

Then how are the handheld gps units providing slope?

[North Butte]

That's what I'm wondering. It has to be pretty darned approximate unless there is some source of topo data I've never heard of.

 

Or maybe it's only the height of the greens as Stuart suggests. Or maybe just certain courses.