Alongside the new Approach S44, the Garmin Approach S50 is one half of a new duo of GPS golf watches to add to the already popular Garmin lineup. Considering Garmin makes some of the best golf watches on the market, I was excited to get my hands on a watch that could potentially serve me well as a caddy on my wrist whilst on the course and as a fitness tracker off it.
Both the Approach S44 and the Approach S50 are beautifully constructed, boasting a slim, lightweight build packed full of useful features. The crisp 1.2-inch color AMOLED display really pops no matter the weather, meaning you’ll never be squinting at your watch trying to read your yardage like a pensioner attempting to read the newspaper. 43,000 courses come preloaded with both watches and are complemented by key golf features like yardages to hazards and the front, middle and back of each green.
Plays-like distance is a very useful feature to have built in to the watch. The ’20’ you can see above is the auto shot measurer in the device – I’d clearly duffed this one…
(Image credit: Future)
I enjoyed having the S50 on my wrist during testing – it felt like a miniature caddy with whom I checked in with whilst playing when I needed to. I’m naturally more of a rangefinder guy, and I don’t think that will ever change, but pairing my Approach Z30 rangefinder and the S50 together gave me absolutely no excuses for misclubbing!
As a man who has never been a fan of wearing a watch whilst playing, be that a regular day-to-day watch or a specifically designed golf watch, I was very interested to see if I’d like Garmin’s latest releases. What struck me immediately was how lightweight the S50 was. I’m easily distracted as a player and had a feeling a golf watch would do so during my swing, but instead, I barely noticed I was wearing it. Add to that the fabric strap and it’s the best watch-wearing experience I’ve had bar none. Unlike many silicone straps, which have specific holes to fit around your wrist, this fabric strap uses a small Velcro closure that means to can fit it to any size you like. It meant no awkward fit, and the lightweight, low-profile watch barely made an impression on my wrist.
The strap was one of my favourite features on the S50. It may not look as premium as a silicone or leather strap, but it is by far and away a more comfortable solution.
(Image credit: Future)
One quick glance at the watch as I arrived at my ball…
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