The GPS golf watch and distance-measuring device marketplace is a crowded area. Manufacturers are having to stand out from the crowd to be noticed, which is certainly the case with the Golf Buddy WTX GPS watch.
With watches, GPS devices and rangefinders available from the likes of Garmin, Sky Caddie, Tom Tom, Bushnell and even Callaway, it’s clear that manufacturers are fighting for space.
How does the latest offering from Golf Buddy stack up against the opposition?
In comparison with other watches, the new 2017 Golf Buddy WTX GPX watch comes in at a mid-price range, so it won’t necessarily attract the casual golfer looking for the best price for a distance-measuring device. But it certainly offers value for money with plenty of features on the WTX—and not just distances to the green from your position on the course.
It’s a neat-looking thing and on top of being a GPS, it is also a smart watch. It can give you fitness figures and data on how far you’ve walked among other things, and can also be synced to your smartphone, all the time while providing you with a comprehensive list of all the information you need while playing on the course.
Initially, the Golf Buddy WTX isn’t the easiest to use and will take the vast majority of golfers—no matter how technologically advanced—a little bit of time to get used to how it works, the functionality of the watch and how best to use it on the course. But once you’re up and running and familiar with it, you will find it is extremely accurate—something Golf Buddy pride themselves on.
With 40,000 courses available on the Golf Buddy WTX, you would have to be the most unlucky golfer in the world to find yourself teeing it up and not have the distance to the first green at your disposal. Just turn it on at the course and away you go. The battery lasts eight hours while in GPS mode, so you should never find yourself running low on power mid-round—unless you forgot to charge it.
The WTX comes with a full colour screen, which is activated and turned on when you move your wrist, and is easy to read in all types of sunlight or conditions—something you can’t say about its rival watches. It also features an overhead view of each hole. That is one of the big advantages over other GPS devices that simply offer yardages to the front, middle and back of the green, or to lay up areas of the course.
There are all the expected distances—and more—to accompany the image of the hole. With a touchscreen, you can scroll through various yardages to hazards and the green on the watch. You will have the information and data you need for the shot ahead at your disposal and it is as comprehensive and detailed as you could wish for. If you simply want a distance to the green, then the WTX will probably be information overload. But if you’re keen to know everything about the hole, then this watch is ideal.
Holes are updated as you move from one to the next. You impressively get a view of the green as you approach it from the angle you are heading towards it. You also get pin placement for even more precise yardages. This is one of the best golf GPS devices the market has seen—it is well worth the price tag.