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Having a golf GPS watch is something that golfers may sometimes take for granted, but these instruments can really be invaluable for your rounds. They provide the distance to the front, back and center of the green as well as the yardages to other key locations on the course.
One rare feature that you don’t see in most golf GPS watches is slope capability.
Although common with laser rangefinders, slope adjustment is more difficult to achieve on a GPS watch, and that’s why only a few models currently offer it.
If you’re looking to buy a slope-capable GPS watch for golf, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll review and compare our picks for the best golf GPS watches with slope across a range of different budgets.
We base these choices on our own personal testing, popularity, availability, and the general reception from consumers and critics who have used the watches.
Our Top Picks For Golf GPS Watches With Slope
Based on our own testing, research, and experience, the following are our top selections:
- Garmin Approach S60 Golf GPS Watch
- Voice Caddie T9 Golf GPS Watch
- Garmin Approach S62 Golf GPS Watch
- Voice Caddie G3 Hybrid Golf GPS Watch
- Voice Caddie T8 Golf GPS Watch
1. Garmin Approach S60 Golf GPS Watch
The Approach S60 is one of Garmin’s most advanced and popular golf GPS watches. Its power leads to one of its standout features, called PlaysLike Distance; this accounts for elevation changes (slope) on the course and adjusts yardages to account for uphill and downhill shots.
The S60 is one of the few golf GPS watches with slope, but it’s also one of the highest-rated. When you consider everything as a whole, it’s easy to see why it earns the #1 spot on our list.
Features
To start, the S60 has a large 1.2″ colour touchscreen display that is sunlight-readable, as well as interchangeable QuickFit bands.
As mentioned, the S60 has a PlaysLike distance feature which provides slope-compensated distances. Beyond this, the S60 has all the features you would expect from a quality golf GPS watch:
- displays par, hole, distances to back/front/center of green, and a full-colour course map
- displays distances to sand traps, hazards and layups
- ability to get distance measurements to any point on the map with Touch Targeting
- ability to view the true green shape and drag the pin to any location
The S60 also has some more unique features that you won’t find in lesser models, including:
- PinPointer: indicates the direction of the pin for blind shots
- AutoShot game tracking with additional sensors
- green contour data with an active Garmin Golf app membership
- ability to sync to your smartphone and get call, text, email and other notifications
The S60 contains over 41,000 preloaded courses that can be updated automatically. A battery charge can lasts up to 10 hours in GPS mode and up to 10 days in watch mode.
Profiles for other activities besides golf are available. The watch face can also be completely customized to suit your preferences.
2. Voice Caddie T9 Golf GPS Watch
The T9 is Voice Caddie’s 2022 entry to the T-Series line of golf GPS watches, and it’s also the most advanced and feature-rich model.
The T9 is not as popular as most Garmin watches on the market, but the ratings it has are highly positive. It’s one of the few golf GPS watches that provides automatic slope adjustment.
Features
The Voice Caddie T9 enjoys a 1.2″ full-colour LCD touchscreen optimized to be readable in sunlight. It provides yardages to the front, center, and back of the green, but more than that, its Active Green technology gives you distances to the nearest and farthest parts of the green relative to your position.
The T9 also has a Course Layout view which allows you to view distances to bunkers, hazards and layups. Through its V-Algorithm 3.0 technology, it provides slope-adjusted distances based on the elevation change from your position to the target.
You also get access to green undulation data indicated by a heat map and arrows pointing in the direction of movement.
Other features of the T9 include:
- putt view which indicates elevation and distance to the pin
- Swing Tempo Mode: practice your swing tempo consistency by setting a swing tempo indoors and outdoors
- ability to connect to the MyVoiceCaddie app for scorecard info, round statistics, etc.
- custom pin placement
- automatic shot & putt tracking
- green zoom
As you can see, the T9 is packed with features, and what’s great is there are no associated fees. The watch is preloaded with over 41,000 courses and the rechargeable lithium-polymer battery lasts 27 holes in GPS mode and 10 days in watch mode.
We love the green undulation, course layout, automatic scoring, and slope features in particular. For more images and other info, go here.
3. Garmin Approach S62 Golf GPS Watch
Garmin Approach’s S62 model is expensive for a golf GPS watch, but it’s also one of the top sellers on the market. Why? Because it’s packed with useful features (including slope) and because quality matters.
The S62 is probably Garmin Approach’s most advanced GPS watch that is specifically built for golf. This watch does it all, and people just love it.
Features
The S62 takes it up a notch from the S60 featured above. Like the S60, it benefits from interchangeable QuickFit bands, but it boasts a larger 1.3″ colour touchscreen display with a scratch-resistant ceramic bezel.
The S62 has a longer battery life of up to 20 hours in GPS mode and up to 14 days in watch mode. And unlike the S60, the S62 is suitable for everyday wear.
One of the standout features of the S62 is a Virtual Caddie. The S62 takes into account your average distances for the clubs in your bag, and it uses wind speed and direction to suggest the best club to hit and the landing area in any given situation.
That’s right: the watch can display wind speed and direction when connected to the Garmin Golf app through your smartphone.
Beyond this, the S62 has all of the features of the S60 including:
- distances to the back/front/center of the green as well as hazards
- colour CourseView maps
- PlaysLike distances that compensate for slope
- true green views with drag-and-drop pins
- PinPointer which indicates the direction of the pin for blind shots
- 41,000+ preloaded course with updates
- AutoShot automatic distance tracking
You can also set up advanced club tracking by pairing the S62 with the Garmin Approach C10 sensors.
The S62 has many more features related to stats tracking, analytics, athletic activity, and even contactless payments. For a full picture of everything that’s possible, go here.
4. Voice Caddie G3 Hybrid Golf GPS Watch
Voice Caddie’s new G3 Hybrid GPS watch is the successor to the G2 Hybrid. Many golfers felt that the G2 came up short in some respects, and the G3 strives to be better.
Compared to the G2, the G3 has improved auto-slope accuracy through the new, patented V-Algorithm technology. The G3 now also displays the green shape along with the distances.
Features
- Auto Slope: provides slope-adjusted distances based on elevation, now with V-Algorithm technology
- Auto GPS: automatically detects the golf course and hole you’re currently on by connecting to a satellite.
- Active Green View: provides distances to the front, middle and back of the green with true shape displayed
- Athletic Mode: displays time, speed and calories burned for walking, running, cycling, etc.
- an automatic scorecard with stats and scoring history
The G3 contains 40,000+ preloaded courses with free updates. It has a waterproof design.
In our experience, the hole detection of the G3 can be a little wonky occasionally. If you’re noticing issues, you can enter in the next hole manually.
Given the features that the G3 Hybrid offers, it really is at a great price point and is a good option if you have a tighter budget.
5. Voice Caddie T8 Golf GPS Watch
If you like the Voice Caddie T9 golf GPS watch but want to save a few bucks, you should seriously consider the previous model T8.
Compared to the T9, the T8 uses an older iteration of the V-Algorithm for slope calculation, and it doesn’t provide shot & putt tracking or Swing Tempo Mode. But the majority of golfers won’t be bothered by this, and actually, it turns out that the T8 has a little bit more battery life in GPS mode.
Features
The T8 golf GPS watch has most of the same features as the T9, including:
- V-Algorithm slope distances
- a 1.2″ reflective full-colour LCD touchscreen
- yardages to the front, center, and back of the green
- yardages to hazards and bunkers
- Active Green technology
- green undulation heatmaps with arrows
- putt view which indicates elevation and distance to the pin
- custom pin placement
- course and green zoom
You can connect the T8 to the MyVoiceCaddie app (available for iOS and Android) for scorecard info, round statistics, and other benefits.
The T8 comes preloaded with 40,000+ courses and there are no associated fees. The rechargeable lithium-polymer battery lasts 36 holes in GPS mode and 10 days in watch mode.
Customers are impressed with the features of this watch but it is suggested that there are accuracy issues with some of the course maps.
Buying Guide
There are many golf GPS watches on the market, and knowing which one to choose isn’t necessarily easy, especially if you’re not sure what to look for. This guide will provide you with the GPS watch education you need in that regard.
The most essential purpose of a golf GPS watch is being able to conveniently pull up distances to the front, back and center of the green. Other functionality such as mapping, hazard information, and slope compensation can be considered a bonus.
If you want to find the right golf GPS watch, here are the most important factors to consider:
1. Added Features
This is probably the main factor that will determine which model you choose. You should ask yourself what you want to get out of a golf GPS watch:
- Do you just want to get yardages to the front, middle and back of the green?
- Do you want to get distances to various hazards?
- Do you want to see an overhead map of every hole you play?
- Do you want to use the watch to keep score and organize your data?
- Do you want to get distances to different pin locations or even to any location on the course?
Most golf GPS watches that can adjust for elevation change will also be able to do everything listed above because, naturally, they are advanced models.
Most of them even have features like a colour touchscreen, overhead maps, zoom, and custom pin placement. You may run into truly unique features like wind direction which are found on the Garmin Approach S62.
At the end of the day, consider models that have the features you want and that fall within your budget.
2. Accuracy
This is really the name of the game when it comes to golf GPS watches. If the watch is off by 10+ yards consistently, you’re honestly better off not having one at all.
However, one important thing to realize with golf GPS watches is that even the best models will tend to be off by a couple of yards. This is normal, and it is why it’s a good idea to also have a laser rangefinder on hand in case you need a precise distance down to the yard.
In general, accuracy can be considered acceptable if it’s within seven yards of the correct reading. You’ll find that most GPS watch models have similar accuracy, since they use the same satellites to calculate distance.
However, another aspect to this aside from distance measurements is the accuracy of the course maps. For example, are all the bunkers and hazards included and are they in the correct location? If the map of your local course isn’t entirely accurate, it can have a significant negative impact on your experience.
One thing you might want to do if you have a watch with slope adjustment is to verify the accuracy of the yardages by using a slope-enabled laser rangefinder. If there is a large discrepancy there, the slope feature on your golf GPS watch might not be so great.
Make sure to keep your maps up-to-date, as this will give you the best chance of getting the most accurate readings possible on your watch. At the end of the day, high accuracy will remove guesswork from your game and improve your club selection.
3. Feel & Weight
It’s very important to consider how the watch feels when it’s on your wrist. In fact, this is essential, because if it’s too bulky or heavy, it can interfere with your swing, and that’s the last thing you want.
The ideal golf GPS watch should be lightweight, comfortable, and feel like there’s barely anything there.
Heavier watches may be okay, but you should ensure that they don’t affect your swing. If you do find that a GPS watch is negatively influencing your swing, get a different one.
Garmin, as an example, makes switching out wristbands very easy with their QuickFit system. They offer silicone, leather, metal and titanium bands.
If you aren’t satisfied with the wristband of your GPS watch for whatever reason, you also have the option of getting an aftermarket replacement.
4. Battery Life
Practically all modern golf GPS watches use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
When it comes to battery life, it’s critical that a single charge can last for at least one full round of golf (18 holes). Being able to get out a couple more holes beyond that before needing to recharge it is a nice bonus.
A good golf GPS watch should have a battery life of 9-17 hours, depending on the mode. We do not recommend getting a model with a battery life that is lower than this range.
5. Display
There are two main types of GPS watch displays: touchscreen, and non-touchscreen with side buttons.
As you might suspect, touchscreen golf GPS watches are usually more expensive, and they also tend to have more features such as coloured hole maps and true green views. Conversely, non-touchscreen displays tend to be in black and white with a minimal amount of graphics.
We find that touchscreen displays aren’t necessarily easier to work with; it’s just a matter of getting used to the design. How big your hands are will also affect how well you use a touchscreen.
Neither of the display types are strictly “better” than the other because they are both functional and get the job done. It’s up to you to determine how important the display type is relative to other factors.
6. Price
Your budget ties in with everything else and, of course, is very important when shopping for a golf GPS watch. For instance, some people don’t want to spend more than $300, and that’s okay — they have several great options.
If you want a golf GPS watch with slope capability, you can expect to fork out at least $200. High-end GPS watches can cost upwards of $500, or even more if purchased with powerful tracking systems like the Garmin Approach CT10.
Cheaper golf GPS watches may be less accurate, have slower operation, have a more primitive display, or lack certain features.
In this guide, we’ve tried to include quality golf GPS watches with slope over a range of budgets that golfers might have.
But even for something like a GPS unit, you may be able to access financing for your purchase. Various online golf shops that sell GPS watches also offer financing here, here and here.
Conclusion
If you’re serious about lowering your scores, at some point you need to be able to obtain accurate information about each hole you play, including a top-down visual and distances. This is what a golf GPS unit is able to do.
While practically every golf GPS watch can provide yardages to the green and to hazards, there are not many that adjust for slope, partly because of technical challenges and partly because of the lack of demand for such a feature.
Nonetheless, a golf GPS watch with slope can be an extremely valuable tool in your golfing toolkit. And all it really takes to choose a good one is a little bit of research.
We’ve given you the information you need; now it’s up to you to go the rest of the way.
It’s also very beneficial to read customer reviews to acquire some useful insights as to how GPS watches actually perform. This will help you a great deal in the decision-making process.
Thanks for reading this guide. Which golf GPS watch models with slope are you interested in? Do you have any questions? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
Eastern Europe courses ie Bulgaria watch yardage can be out or different between watches as much as 20 yards. Very hard to know which is correct also they all lose signal at some point ,by that I mean 5 different brands that get used. Perhaps to close to Military airfield ?
Yes, I suspect some locations just aren’t very good in terms of satellite connectivity. In such cases, I definitely recommend using a laser rangefinder — we have a buying guide for that here.