Golf GPS apps are so numerous these days, you almost need a GPS to track them all. We conducted a high-tech investigation, surveying the crowded app market to direct you toward six winners for six budgets.
SONOCADDIE 2
What it costs: Free
What you get: Most GPS apps offer aerial imagery of the hole you’re playing. Sonocaddie compliments that familiar feature with artistically enhanced, color yardage guides and a real-time interface that shows your precise position.
Coolest feature: A lot of GPS devices are difficult to read in sunshine. Not the Sonocaddie, thanks to vivid graphics that come through clearly even in the brightest glare.
FUNGOLF
What it costs: Free
How it works: Fun? For sure. But also functional, with shot-tracking and stat-keeping capabilities, along with detailed maps of more than 33,000 courses around the world. And since FunGolf is AppleWatch compatible, all the info shows up instantly on your wrist.
Coolest feature: Hyper-realistic 3D maps reveal every nook and cranny of the course, with precise location of bunkers, flags and trees. Not only does it plot your position, it makes club suggestions based on your current lie.
GOLFSHOT PLUS
What it costs: $29.99
What you get: Along with a database of 40,000-plus courses, depicted vividly in brilliant, zoom-able aerial views, Golfshot also sports shot-tracking technology that displays your performance in cool colored graphics.
Coolest feature: An upgraded option, the Apple Watch-compatible Golfshot Pro, gives you access to a range of added perks, including personalized club suggestions and 3D flyovers of each hole.
MOBITEE GOLF
What it costs: $269
What you get: A small digital device, attached unobtrusively to your glove, not only provides distances but it also gathers data on every shot you take. The data stores seamlessly on the app, giving you a record of how your round unfolded, displayed over real-life GPS hole imagery.
Coolest feature: Along with the usual distances and shot data, Mobitee conducts swing analysis, measuring your swing speed, plane and tempo while capturing and displaying it all in 3D.
GAME GOLF
What it costs: $299
What you get: Clip a small tracking device onto your belt, and tiny, lightweight tags onto your clubs. Then off you go, with the devices following your every move, providing real-time shot-tracking, rangefinder data, visual course maps and insights into your strengths, weaknesses and assorted other tendencies. (For leaner budgets, Game Golf also offers a free app that includes a rangefinder and stat-tracking.)
Coolest feature: A live “activity feed” allows you to follow your favorite players from a roster Game Golf Tour pros that includes Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk and Lee Westwood.
ARCCOS GOLF
What it costs: $299
What you get: Lightweight sensors attached to the butt end of your club tap you into a world of real-time data—not just yardages to targets but detailed analyses of every shot, all of which gets stored automatically on the cloud. (Arccos offers a free app that provides yardages for 40,000 courses.)
Coolest feature: The technology also plugs you into a global community of Arccos users, allowing you to compete—or simply compare your performance—with fellow golfers and friends.
