2021 Golf GPS Watch Holiday Buyer's Guide | Garmin, SkyCaddie, Bushnell, & Shot Scope

Gift a Garmin and you're guaranteed a hole-in-one. What's even more brilliant? The Approach lineup—S12, S42 and S62—gives you options, so you can get the biggest bang for your buck this holiday season!

Whether that bang includes features that will give your golfer big assists on course, or adds style and smart notifications that they'll love when they're off, these watches have you covered.

If you're ready to see them grabbing their clubs with a Garmin on their wrist, get more details below and watch this Garmin Approach GPS watch review from our partner Gabe at Let's Play Thru!

The Approach S12 Offers ...

If you want to gift a watch that is easy to use on the links, this is the golf GPS device for your golfer. For a very reasonable price, you'll give them Garmin’s reliable, fundamental golfing features that will help them get to the green in less swings.

On even the brightest days, the S12’s sunlight-readable screen will connect them with their favorite on-course features. And they'll be able to keep score right on their wrist.

They'll also get distances to the green—front, middle or back—as well as hazards and doglegs. And they'll have access to over 42,000 courses worldwide with S12’s preloaded maps of golf courses.

Plus, a whopping 30 hours of power from the battery will keep them playing more and charging less. Pretty impressive, huh, for a golf GPS under $200?

The Perfect GPS Golf Watch for ...

• Someone who is new to the golf.
• A golfer who wants a simple approach to improvement (pun intended).
• Easy use on the links.
• Anyone who will not be dazzled by additional smart watch features or health and fitness tracking.
• Shoppers for golf gadgets who are on a budget.

The Approach S42 Offers ...

Want to give them game on and off the course? The Approach S42 offers the features, function, and style of an expensive golf watch at a mid-range price. In addition to all the standard bells and whistles we mentioned with the S12, this watch has some pretty sweet upgrades.

In this model, the sunlight-readable screen is touchable and in gorgeous color, improving functionality and readability. Furthermore, features like AutoShot game tracking and Green View allow your golfer to keep better track of their game and manually drag and drop the pin to increase accuracy.

But this GPS watch won’t just help knock points off their golf game. It’s sleek style and lightweight, comfortable fit will look good on their wrist whether they’re at work, playing hard, or enjoying a night out.

To top it off, wherever they are, whatever they're doing, they'll get smart notifications. And not only will they get more stats on their golf game, they'll have access to built-in sports apps and activity-tracking features.

This Is the Perfect Golf Watch for ...

• Women golfers who want stylish color options, including rose gold/light sand, silver/white, and gunmetal/black.
• Golfers who want a feature-rich, accurate GPS smartwatch that offers smart notifications.
• Anyone who would also appreciate health- and fitness-tracking features like sleep, hydration, women's health tracking, and step counting.
• Someone who might also use sports features like GPS speed and distance, and running and cycling profiles.
• A Christmas shopper who wants to give a premium golf gadget for a mid-range price!

The Approach S62 Offers ...

Do they live on the course? Give them the golf watch for the golf life. The Approach S62 is the ultimate golf gift with premium features and style that will allow them to look and play the part.

First of all, the Approach S62 goes beyond the S60 with a larger 1.3” sunlight-readable color touchscreen. That’s just the eye-opener to more features for the serious golfer—like Virtual Caddie that factors in wind and suggests clubs based on the distance they normally swing for that club.

Then there’s the PlaysLike Distance feature that adjusts yardages for uphill, flat, and downhill shots. And even on blind shots, the PinPointer feature will show them onscreen which direction to swing.

But seriously, how obsessed with accuracy are they? Because this watch goes beyond the course. Not only will it keep track of their golf score and stats, it’ll keep them connected and up-to-date in life off the course. They'll get smart notifications—emails, texts and alerts—even when they’re not on the green (when’s that?). Also, they can enable health and activity-tracking features for life outside of golf (is there one, though?).

And because their time is happily spent on the links, this big, beautiful, comfy watch has a rechargeable battery that provides up to 14 days of power in smartwatch mode and up to 20 hours in GPS mode. If they think golf is life, you already know the Approach S62 is the perfect gift for them.

The Perfect Golf Watch for ...

• The hardcore golfer.
• Someone who would also enjoy the smartwatch side of this gorgeous beast.
• Anyone who would appreciate health-monitoring like wrist-based heart rate, Pulse Ox, Body Battery™ energy monitor and more!
• The golfer that also likes to workout. The S62 offers profiles for Strength, Cardio, Treadmill and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Indoor Rowing and Walking, and Yoga, with training, running, cycling, outdoor, and swimming features as well!
• The shopper who wants to gift the best Garmin golf GPS watch!

The LX5 and LX5C Offer ...

Would your golfer like to wear the largest HD color touchscreen that comes on a golf watch? Then we suggest you check out the SkyCaddie LX5 smart golf watch. It's loaded with golf features that they can access through an amazingly bright color AMOLED screen that is a stunning 1.39". There's also a SkyCaddie LX5C GPS golf watch option, which sports a lovely ceramic bezel, if you want to add a touch more class to your golfer's wrist.

But this GPS watch doesn't just have a pretty screen and graphics. It's smart and fast too, evidenced by this solid lineup of features your loved one will love on the links:

• Stunning HoleVue® and IntelliGreen® imagery
• Ultra-fast multi-core processor for instant response
• Preloaded with over 35,000 of SkyGolf's ground-verified, error-corrected maps
• Patented IntelliGreen® for exact shape of the green
• Digital scorecard and stats with SkyGolf® 360 Cloud
• Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi enabled
• Multiple watch faces
• Fitness: Heart rate monitor and step counter with distances
• Battery life: Up to two rounds
• Includes 3-year worldwide membership providing real-time updates to over 35,000 ground verified course maps and SkyGolf 360 Cloud Service for performance tracking and analysis

The Perfect Golf Watch for ...

• A golfer who would also appreciate a gorgeous watch with a brilliant touchscreen!
• Someone wanting access to game improvement stats.
• Anyone who's impressed by faster technology.
• Someone who will also enjoy some thrown-in fitness tracking.

The ION EDGE Offers ...

Give them a through-and-through golfers watch for an affordable price. The ION EDGE is created specifically for their golf game, is super easy to use, ultra accurate, and isn't weighed down by a million features and modes and settings that have nothing to do with golf.

Give them more time on the course between charging with longer battery life—15+ hours compared to the previous ION2 Bushnell golf watch. The ION EDGE GPS golf watch also sports a NEW touchscreen display. Now they can cycle through golf features with ease, which include GreenView with moveable pin placement, Dynamic Green Mapping with front and back distances shown based on a golfer’s line of play, a super handy shot distance calculator, and auto hole advance. Get up to six hazard distances per hole, plus 38,000+ preloaded courses worldwide. And with the Bushnell Golf App that is free with purchase, they'll get access to hyper helpful features like Hole Layouts with Distances and 3D Flyovers with Distance! With auto course recognition, the course shows up on their ION EDGE GPS watch as soon as they show up, with auto course updates via the Bushnell Golf App.

This Is the Perfect Golf Watch for ...

• Golfers who want a strictly golf GPS watch that will help them dial into distances and improve their club selection and shots.
• One of those hardcore Bushnell Golf lovers.
• Christmas shoppers on a budget.

The Shot Scope V3 Offers ...

Shot Scope V3 is an advanced, strictly golf, GPS watch for a not-so-advanced price, making it a brilliant Christmas gift for your golfer. This all-golf wearable comes with built-in automatic shot tracking and statistics platform. Front, center, and back GPS distances and hazards are clearly visible on the daylight readable color screen, while the Power-Sense strap and tracking tags ensure every shot is recorded automatically while you play.

After their round, they'll be able to upload and analyze over 100 statistics on their game with the free mobile app and web dashboard statistics platform, including strokes gained analytics. Complete with over 36,000 preloaded courses worldwide and no additional costs or subscriptions, Shot Scope V3 is a golf GPS watch loaded with features that are sure to help them improve their game!

The Perfect Golf Watch for ...

• Golfers who would like a strictly golfers watch.
• A golf player who would really enjoy reviewing their game stats.
• Golf gadget Christmas shoppers on a budget.