How to use Apple Watch for golf: GPS, scores and workouts

What Apple Watch does for golf

Every current Apple Watch has built-in GPS and an Always-On display, which is what a golf app needs to show yardages on your wrist. The distances to the green come from a golf app, and the watch's own Workout app can record the round as exercise. With both, you get three things on your wrist:

Distances. The yardage to the front, middle and back of the green from where you stand, and in some apps to bunkers and water too.
Your score. Strokes and putts for each hole, entered on the watch, so you don't need a pencil.
The workout. Golf is one of the workout types in Apple's Workout app, so the round counts towards your activity like a walk or a run.

How to set it up

Install a golf app on your iPhone that has an Apple Watch app.
Check it's on the watch. If it isn't, open the Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, then Apps, and tap Install next to it under Available Apps. You can also get apps from the App Store on the watch.
Open the app on the iPhone once at home. Allow location access, set yards or metres, and find your course, so nothing needs doing on the first tee.
Charge the watch fully before you go. More on battery below.

How to use it on the course

Start the round from the golf app, on the watch or the phone, when you reach the first tee. From then on the app shows the distances for the hole you're on. A few habits make it easier:

Read the middle number for club choice, and the front number when there's trouble short. The gap between front and back tells you how deep the green is. At a 15 handicap the typical gap between a 7 and an 8 iron is about 11 yards, so a 30-yard-deep green can be two or three clubs from front to back.
Enter your score walking off the green, not on the next tee. It's quicker, and you won't forget a hole.
Start a Golf workout if your golf app doesn't log the round to Health for you. Open the Workout app, turn the Digital Crown to Golf (tap Add at the bottom of the list if it isn't shown), and tap Play. On Apple Watch Ultra, the Action button can start a workout.

Not sure what your clubs go? The club distance chart gives typical numbers for your handicap, and our free course maps show every hole's length, green depth and bunker distances before you play.

Battery: will it last a round?

Apple quotes up to 18 hours of normal use for the SE 3, 24 hours for the Series 12 and 50 hours for the Ultra 4, with Low Power Mode stretching each further. A round with GPS running the whole time isn't "normal use", and Apple says actual results vary, so treat those as the upper end. What helps:

Start with a full charge. Apple says 15 minutes of fast charging gives up to 8 hours of normal use on the SE 3, up to 12 on the Series 12 and up to 18 on the Ultra 4.
Keep music and other extras on your phone, not the watch.
For 36 holes, or a round straight after a day of wear, look at the Ultra, which has the longest battery.

Is an Apple Watch allowed in competitions?

Usually, yes. Under Rule 4.3 of the Rules of Golf you may get distance and direction information from a device, but it must not measure elevation changes or interpret the information for you, such as recommending a club or a line. Wind speed measured on the course isn't allowed either. A committee can also ban distance-measuring devices with a local rule, so check the competition's terms. In practice, use a golf app's competition setting if it has one, and switch off anything that adjusts distances or suggests clubs.

Which Apple Watch is good for golf?

Any current model shows golf distances. The differences that matter on a course are screen brightness in sunshine, battery life and size. We've written up what each has and lacks:

See free hole-by-hole course maps

Related guides

Sources

Golf Scout's Apple Watch app shows green and hazard distances, keeps your score, marks each shot with the club you hit, and shows your hole plan's next target. Get Golf Scout on the App Store, free for iPhone and Apple Watch.