Best Shot Tracker (Game Golf, Arccos, Shot Scope, Garmin, Etc.)

[36chambers]

Hey guys!

I'm in the market for a shot tracker and having a ton of trouble figuring out what's right for me. I want one to better analyze my own game, get a better handle on my shot zones (shout out LSW), and figure out where I'm losing the most strokes.

These are the options that I'm aware of:

• Game Golf - Game Golf Live seemingly does what I want, but it appears that users in the Game Golf thread are having trouble with it recently. I would get this if I knew it would be supported into the future. Haven't heard great things about Game Golf Pro.
• Arccos - Also seemingly does what I want. I don't care for the automatic shot tracking, and more expensive than Game Golf Live.
• Shot Scope - The shot tracking is done through a gps watch. V2 is bulky and less accurate, but only $100. V3 fixes these issues but is obviously more expensive.
• Garmin - Also a watch, don't really know too much about this option.

For people who use one of the above (or one I didn't list), would you recommend it? What are some pros/cons of each?

If this topic is too similar to other topics here (I see a Game Golf and Arccos thread already), please remove it mods.

[Missouri Swede]

What don't you like about automatic shot tracking?  Do you want to select club and click location every shot manually on your phone?  (I'm not trying to be snotty--just trying to see what you want to do vs not do to record shots.)

[iacas]

When GG Live works, it's the best system out there… albeit with the stats lagging behind.

I've never cared for a few things with Arccos:

• Auto tracking/tagging
• The reliance on the phone. The small belt clip helps a lot here.
• The size/weight of the tags.
• Putting is still suspect.
• The subscription plan (though that's what GG should have done), but the subscription kinda stinks for northern golfers who don't play for many months of the year.

I don't like the ShotScope for a few reasons:

• It's a bulky watch.
• You HAVE to wear it when hitting shots.
• Putting, again.
• I don't know much about their stats.

If ShotScope let you tag shots manually and they had a way to convert the watch into a belt clip, I'd like it. Because it'd be a lot like GG at that point. 🙂

[36chambers]

@Missouri Swede I don't necessarily dislike automatic shot tracking, just think it doesn't add any value to me. From what I've seen, a manual tagging system like Game Golf Live's wouldn't bother me. Also - for me personally - I'd have more trust in a manual system than a automatic one. Regarding Arccos in general, it seems like I'm paying for a bunch of additional features (Arccos caddie + auto shot tracking) that don't make any difference for me. Although I think I'm going to go the Arccos route if Game Golf seems like a bad idea.

@iacas I agree with you on your Shot Scope points - I don't want to wear a huge watch! Do you think Game Golf Live is a worthwhile purchase right now? It's going for $100 on Amazon. I'm just very confused on the state of the product. Also what's lagging behind on their stats? Is it possible to get accurate shot zones + strokes gained type info from it?

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[iacas]

GG Live is having issues right now.

I have no idea about Pro.

[Darkfrog]

1 hour ago, 36chambers said:

Hey guys!

I'm in the market for a shot tracker and having a ton of trouble figuring out what's right for me. I want one to better analyze my own game, get a better handle on my shot zones (shout out LSW), and figure out where I'm losing the most strokes.

These are the options that I'm aware of:

• Game Golf - Game Golf Live seemingly does what I want, but it appears that users in the Game Golf thread are having trouble with it recently. I would get this if I knew it would be supported into the future. Haven't heard great things about Game Golf Pro.
• Arccos - Also seemingly does what I want. I don't care for the automatic shot tracking, and more expensive than Game Golf Live.
• Shot Scope - The shot tracking is done through a gps watch. V2 is bulky and less accurate, but only $100. V3 fixes these issues but is obviously more expensive.
• Garmin - Also a watch, don't really know too much about this option.

For people who use one of the above (or one I didn't list), would you recommend it? What are some pros/cons of each?

If this topic is too similar to other topics here (I see a Game Golf and Arccos thread already), please remove it mods.

I would recommend both Garmin and ShotScope, but with reservations. These are both watch-based, and I personally don't mind wearing a watch while playing golf. The GPS accuracy is equivalent for both systems. Neither of these require a subscription.

Reading through the "is GG dead" thread, I saw a comment that said something like (paraphrasing) shot tracking systems provides a nice set of golf memories, and this really resonated with me because after 1.5 years using Garmin and then 3 years using ShotScope, I never really use the advanced stats> But I do really like having shot tracking/mapping to visualize previous rounds. I recently switched back to using a Garmin watch for this reason, since I don't need to deal with any tags.

My experience with both is summarized below.

Garmin:

• Unless you want to purchase the CT10 sensors at $299 for 14 sensors (in addition to the cost of the watch), everything is done through the watch. The shot detection is good, but you have to remember to look at your watch and select the club you just hit.
• The CT10 tags require batteries. Not relevant to my use, but eventually they will need to be changed.
• Garmin won't track short game shots close to the green, or putts, without the CT10 sensors. So if you are looking for detailed putting and short game stats, this is a problem.
• I highly prefer the course maps that Garmin uses. They are some sort of digital drawing/rendering based on satellite images, rather than Google Earth satellite images, and it makes it a little easier to visualize the course IMO. Google Earth images recently updated for my home course on ShotScope, and the shadows from the trees make seeing the course, especially the greens really difficult in some places (I play on a heavily tree lined course most of the time).
• Garmin has a good score keeping system, where on each green it asks you for score, putts, and penalty strokes. As long as you enter your score on each hole correctly, the scorecard at the end of the round is accurate.
• Garmin does not allow you to mark penalty strokes mid-hole. For example, if I hit a ball into a creek, I can't mark the next shot as a penalty and drop. You can only enter total penalty strokes at the end of each hole on the scoring function. So some nuance to the round is lost in this.
• The post-round editor for Garmin is not very good, but the phone editor is better than the web based editor. Since I am not using CT10 tags, there isn't as much to edit since putting and some short game shots are not tracked without the sensors.
• The stats for Garmin don't seem to be as good as ShotScope, but since I don't really use these, I'm not bothered by this.

ShotScope:

• V2 watch is huge, and I wouldn't recommend this version. The V3 watch is probably the same size as an Apple watch, and is much better. Sometimes there are decent sale/promotion prices. I think I paid $159 for my V3.
• Uses Google Earth satellite images, which has drawbacks as noted above.
• There is no score keeping feature other than automatic shot tracking, so for best accuracy you probably need to keep score on a scorecard and compare to what the watch says post-round.
• Customer support is good. I emailed them a bunch of updates for tee boxes, etc. for my home course and they had the mapping updated in a couple days.
• The club tags come with the watch, and do not require batteries as the system uses RFID technology.
• The club tag is automatically detected by the watch, no tapping, etc., but you do need to take a few practice swings, rehearsals to activate the tagging in the watch.
• ShotScope does a pretty good job of providing options in-round for things like lost balls, provisionals, drops, penalty strokes.
• Occasionally the system misses a shot. Usually this happens when I am in a bad lie, or bunker and barely advance the ball, so I assume the system sees two shots from the same place and decides that it was just a single stroke.
• It will also sometimes detect an erroneous shot. Usually this happens when I am walking while holding a club and bump the club on the ground, which I assume causes the watch to detect impact.
• The pin-collect putting system in concept is good, but I would give it a C grade. You press a button on the watch to tag the hole when you finish, and it marks the location on GPS. Problem is that if the GPS is off by 1-2 yards, it shows some weird results on the post round visualization. Sometimes in reality I will have a 20-foot putt and then a 1-foot tap in, but the hole visualization will show a 20-foot putt and a 10-foot putt back to the hole, or something like that. I'd say I have to edit about 75% of my putts to better reflect where the pin was and what the distance of each putt was.
• Post-round editor is okay on a phone, but best on a computer.
• The advanced stats are pretty detailed if you use them. ShotScope was late to strokes gained (just added this year), but they are rolling out that feature in more detail.
• The "My Bag" feature for tracking different sets of clubs, etc. is not well done, quite confusing. The system allows you to have as many clubs tagged as you want, for example last year I had two sets of irons. But if you switch sets, and forget to go into "My Bag" editor and drag/drop the clubs that are actually in your bag, the post round editing is a real pain as the only thing that differentiates "7-iron from set #1" vs "7-iron from set #2" in the round editor is color coding in a drop down menu (no brand/model, etc.).
• User interface for app/web is okay, but not great. Admittedly I have only seen images of the other systems you asked about, but I think the ShotScope user interface is not as good as Game Golf or Arrcos. But I would say it is better than Garmin.

 

[jsgolfer]

I just bought the Arccos and like it so far.  I have the clip, so don't need to have phone in my pocket, although you can if you forget to charge the clip.  So far, I like it a lot.  

[klineka]

If you happen to have/wear an Apple Watch or a Samsung watch I highly recommend MyRoundPro from Taylormade.

Completely free, super easy to tag every shot, takes me maybe 5 seconds at the most to tag a shot, gives me all the stats I need to see where I am gaining/losing shots, able to switch the strokes gained data to different handicap groups, etc.

Plus while using the watch it will tell you the distance to the front middle and back of the green. I use my rangefinder significantly less now than I used to.

[Missouri Swede]

1 hour ago, 36chambers said:

@Missouri Swede I don't necessarily dislike automatic shot tracking, just think it doesn't add any value to me. From what I've seen, a manual tagging system like Game Golf Live's wouldn't bother me.

This is why I asked:

15 minutes ago, klineka said:

If you happen to have/wear an Apple Watch or a Samsung watch I highly recommend MyRoundPro from Taylormade.

In addition to the TaylorMade app, look at the GameGolf app as a stand-alone app; it allows you to do manual recording with your phone (no sensors--record each shot and club as you play right there); it was free to download, start an account and use it back when I started--might still be.  

IIRC, 18birdies might have shot tracking capabilities, but I haven't looked into it.

[iacas]

@Hardspoon uses the GG app. I think sometimes even without the belt unit.

Yardages, shot tracking, etc. All free.

[Hardspoon]

I use GameGolf, because it's the only app/device combo that has what I want:

• Small, unobtrusive tags
• Really nice app for seeing hole maps while you play
• No watch

And...that's it, haha.  I've never used manual tagging of shots, and have no desire to.

I've actually recommended the app to folks just as a GPS app for getting distances to the green...it's really intuitive and lets you get yardages to any point on the hole.

[mdl]

I'm a huge arccos fan/user. It detects every shot automatically, and basically never misses non-putts unless the sensor battery is going. For putts you have to click in and adjust where the flag is (and sometimes where your first putt was from). Though they've improved the ML and what they estimate for you is much closer to correct more often now. You do have to do that or else your approach, short game, and putting strokes gained estimates will be off.

And then the stats are really great! Gives you strokes gained/lost versus your target (defaults versus scratch) for tee shots, approach, short game, and putts. And by club. Tracks your distances. Good history and trends.

[StuM]

6 hours ago, iacas said:

@Hardspoon uses the GG app. I think sometimes even without the belt unit.

Yardages, shot tracking, etc. All free.

I totally forgot about being able to track through the GG App.  I might just try that next time out.

[36chambers]

Lots of great info here, thanks everybody! I think I'll try out the GG and Taylormade apps - the free price tag is hard to beat. And the stats seem great! I don't have a watch to use with them, but maybe I'll get one if I like the apps enough (money that would have gone towards Arccos/Game Golf/Garmin/whatever).

[Elmer]

23 hours ago, iacas said:

 

I've never cared for a few things with Arccos:

• Auto tracking/tagging
• The reliance on the phone. The small belt clip helps a lot here.
• The size/weight of the tags.
• Putting is still suspect.
• The subscription plan (though that's what GG should have done), but the subscription kinda stinks for northern golfers who don't play for many months of the year.

 

I got a 90 day "free" trail with Arccos, with the purchase of Ping Irons.
This could have been great for me as my Garmin G6 is old.
However, when you activate your clubs, you have to give a credit card, this is a app limitation. Ok, I got around this. Put a note in my calendar to cancel before my 90 days, so I dong get charged.
Got on course yesterday and get everything set and the app stated "must have 8 clubs and a putter paired for the complete experience".
So, I bought 7 irons and got a "free 90 day trail" except I didn't! I now how to get at least 2 more sensors, which means my 90 days are ticking down.
This seems like way more effort than I need, might just stick with the outdated Garmin!
I may just rip off the grips and put on Golf Pride Multi compound like I wanted in the first place.

[Zippo]

I'm an Arccos Caddy fan as you can read in another thread on the subject. I'm not good enough to tell the difference between a swing made with a tag screwed into the end of the club or one without so that's not an issue - although I'm certain I felt a fly land on the clubhead right as I was in transition recently. Pretty sure that's why THAT shot went wild! 

I enjoy not having to screw around with things while I'm playing. I start the round and, when I'm done, I end the round. I go home and log into the Arccos dashboard and my round is there. I see each hole in a google earth type of view with each shot overlaid. It's very rare that it misses a shot. It's a little trickier on putts. It generally detects the first putt but often not the second. The trick, I've found and the habit I've made is, if I miss the first putt ( a rare occurrence <cough cough>) I cover the tag with my thumb while I'm walking up and looking at the next putt. When I'm ready I take my usual stance and grip and putt away. Arccos then catches the next putt without issue. Same method for succeeding putts should any be required.

My phone is mounted on the grip of my cart so I can use the Arccos Caddie GPS on each hole, if I wish. I just pull the cart up to the ball and it shows all the relevant data such as front, back and pin etc. It provides wind speed and direction and a bunch of other features that I don't currently need or use.

The stats are superb but that part of the dashboard is still being upgraded. From the looks of the beta it's going to be very cool when it's done.

I wear a "smart" health and workout tracker watch so any of the shot trackers or GPS shot trackers that require their own watch would not work for me.

Arccos support is superb, in my experience. A definite plus for me.

As you can tell from this thread - shot trackers are very much a personal choice. Please do let us know how your choice goes.

[rfeight]

11 hours ago, Zippo said:

The trick, I've found and the habit I've made is, if I miss the first putt ( a rare occurrence <cough cough>) I cover the tag with my thumb while I'm walking up and looking at the next putt. When I'm ready I take my usual stance and grip and putt away. Arccos then catches the next putt without issue. Same method for succeeding putts should any be required.

Thanks for the tip @Zippo I just started using Arccos this year after 5yrs with 100+ rounds on Gamegolf. After 2 rounds, the way it operates is comparable minus the putting. I've had to fix them. But I'm looking forward to the stats. GG was awesome with stats and really helped me hone my practice sessions/lessons. I'm hoping Arccos will do the same sans the issues of functioning. 

[Missouri Swede]

23 minutes ago, rfeight said:

Thanks for the tip @Zippo I just started using Arccos this year after 5yrs with 100+ rounds on Gamegolf. After 2 rounds, the way it operates is comparable minus the putting. I've had to fix them. But I'm looking forward to the stats. GG was awesome with stats and really helped me hone my practice sessions/lessons. I'm hoping Arccos will do the same sans the issues of functioning. 

I also switched from GG to Arccos (late 2019). I actually prefer the putt-tweaking in Arccos. 
 

Spoiler

In GG, I always adjusted putt locations after the round on a computer—never accepted the gps tag locations (didn’t expect to) and couldn’t do it properly on the phone app.  With Arccos, it’s the opposite: the iPhone app makes it easier for me to adjust the putting and hole locations. I do that before teeing off on the next hole. Done.

Also, Arccos only records first putt location, # of putts, and hole location. GG wanted that, plus location of every putt. That was hard for me to remember a few hours later. I’m sure some people will not like the data lost by omitting all putt locations, but my understanding is that Arccos uses first-putt-to-hole distance with #of putts to get strokes gained data for the hole.

There are other things that were better in GG (IMHO), and other things I like better in Arccos. I’ve still got my GG tags and belt sensor if I want to go back.

BTW, every once in a while, Arccos will fail to upload a round. If this happens, there’s a way to force the upload. (iPhone app: Activity tab, Long press the Stats icon for something like 5 or 6 seconds. Gotta hold finger still.  If done correctly, opens a “send round to server” pop up. Best done if on WiFi, I think they said.)