

Like all the best Garmin golf watches, it's pre-loaded with details of 42,000 courses worldwide, plus Garmin Autoshot to analyze and records shot distances.

It sits in the middle of Garmin's golf watch lineup, in between the all-singing, all-dancing S62 and the pared-back S12. The Garmin Approach S42, released in March, is our pick for the best golf watch of 2021.

We've tested many of the top golf watch models on the market, putting them through their paces so we can help narrow down your choices to the right one for you. Some advanced golf watches can be disallowed. If you want to improve your game when you’re teeing up, therefore, investing in a golf watch is a good idea, especially if you want to adjust your game on the fly for better hole-by-hole results. Just keep in mind that if you are a pro golf player and are playing competitively, you need to purchase one that’s tournament-legal. Other features abound: the Garmin Approach S62, for example, can suggest clubs based on wind speed and direction, plus the distance you typically swing with each type. That means that can help you trace how effective your shots are after the game, and see what you could do differently next time. Some golf watches can measure your swing speed with an on-wrist accelerometer, and moonlight as a virtual scorecard, so you can check how you're doing with a flick of the wrist. The top ones also come with GPS readouts of thousands of courses, ways to keep track of your score, record your swing speed, recommend clubs based on your next shot, and loads more. Golf watches usually offer health-tracking features comparable with other fitness watches, such as the usual step count, calorie-burn tracker, heart rate monitoring and sleep score. Essentially, golf watches are a combination of the best smartwatches and the best fitness trackers, with special software tailored towards improving golfers' mental and physical play.
