The Arccos Caddie Link lives! Personal stat tracking has proven that amateur golfers can improve their game and lower their scores when they base their decisions on accurate data. Arccos has been an industry leader, perhaps the industry leader, for years and its system excels at leveraging data using an AI-powered “Caddie” and presenting everything in a user-friendly way to help you make the right choices on the course. But one of the biggest drawbacks to the entire Arccos system has been its limited, imperfect shot detection options – either keeping your phone in your front pocket while you play or using a specific third-party smartwatch. Both options had drawbacks and turned some golfers away.
Arccos has been teasing a solution to this problem since at least January 2019, but now that the Caddie Link is shipping, golfers everywhere might finally have an elegant solution to the shot detection issues. The new Arccos Caddie Link is a small, GPS-enabled receiver that frees golfers from the previous limitations. Whether you are sick of the hot, bulky phone in your front pocket, need to totally disconnect from your phone on course, can’t stand the distracting buzz and terrible battery life of your smartwatch, or hate that you can’t track stats and listen to music on a Bluetooth speaker simultaneously, the Caddie Link is designed to set you free without giving up Arccos stat tracking.
The Caddie Link is designed to clip on your belt, pocket, skirt, or anywhere you can fit the matchbook-sized device without obstruction near your front pocket. After a shot is detected, the GPS and club information are relayed to the Caddie app through a Bluetooth connection. The device itself is structurally sound, sturdy, and weather resistant. The clip is made of a strong plastic that hinges enough to fit over some of the thickest belts that I owned but is otherwise strong enough that I have very little fear that it will break through ordinary wear and tear.
Over the last few weeks I took a deep dive into the capabilities and performance of the Caddie Link to put it through its paces. First things first – the Arccos Caddie Link works as advertised and does an excellent job of detecting shots on the course and providing real-time GPS information to the Caddie app. The real-time integration of the Caddie Link GPS data into the Caddie app works just like it did when the app was using a phone’s GPS. And if you also wear a smartwatch for quick glance yardages, your distance to the front, middle, and back of the green (and wind information outside of tournament mode) appear quickly with flawless integration.
The Caddie Link does the basics perfectly. I have more than three years of experience with the Arccos system and I found the Caddie Link to be as good at detecting shots as using my phone in my front pocket. The common detection issue where too many or too few putts were detected continued, but it was no worse (and no better) than using phone detection. Correcting the number of putts can be fixed in the app to ensure your data is accurate and that Arccos didn’t convert that birdie into a par.
While shot detection accuracy is essentially unchanged, the Caddie Link really shines over phone or smartwatch detection in two major areas: battery life and data accuracy. A phone or smartwatch would last one round, sometimes less, but the Caddie Link is designed to last up to 10 hours before needing a charge. And the 10 hour figure stood up to testing – it lasted two rounds (a Thursday and Sunday) on a single charge and the battery still had juice to spare. The other major upgrade is that with the Caddie Link, you can tag the location of the pin with a click of its button, meaning your approach and putting stats will be more accurate. Gone are the days of the post-round memory test of where the pin was on a green because with the Caddie Link, a single click captures the GPS location of the pin when you are standing next to it. Because Arccos’s AI-Caddie is only as good as the underlying data, this could prove to be a massive improvement and maybe my favorite feature.
Another change that is certain to be a crowd favorite is that the Caddie Link frees up your phone to pair with a Bluetooth speaker and kick out the jams without interruption. Arccos users no longer have to choose between music or stat tracking.
One downside to the Caddie Link is that it is still prone to user error. Because the Caddie Link is listening for a signal from the club sensors, the placement of the device matters. If it is placed a little too far away from your front pocket area or covered by thick clothing, it may be a little too far away for reliable detection and you may not notice until you open the Caddie App. Thankfully, Arccos has a guide and a video on how to properly place the device to help and it only took a few holes to learn some best practices. Also, the Caddie Link is only compatible with the current generation Arccos Smart Sensors, not first generation sensors.
All told, I think the Caddie Link offers a lot of value-add for such a small device. Despite the very lengthy delays that soured some of the early enthusiasm, there is a lot of be excited about here and it certainly is not a beta or incomplete product. I openly admit the Caddie Link is not a must have device if you enjoy carrying your phone, but it is a great addition to the Arccos system with the freedom and better data accuracy it can provide. I know I am happy to get rid of the hot phone in my pocket that would “thigh-dial” my co-workers when I forgot to lock it, and instead enjoy some Friday afternoon music on the course. Whether you are in it for the better data accuracy, the freedom from the phone, or just want to rage against the machine in the fairway, I think the Caddie Link is a quality offering and well worth a look.
You can learn more about the Caddie Link on the Arccos website here.
The Details
Available: New orders being accepted now – non-preorders likely to ship around October 2020
Price: $99.00 for new orders
Where have you been placing it? And like I said in the article, it had the same issue as the phone with putting – it’s essentially the sale detection as the phone but in a smaller package with better battery life.
I’ve had it clipped onto my left pocket opening. Mic on outside. So about 4 inches lower than belt. I’m going to try it on the belt next. Polos don’t stay tucked in very well for me, so it would be a better spot, but maybe it’s that sensitive to location and directional angle to catch the sensor sound.
About the putting, that’s what I was expecting, but the phone detection was never this bad for me. I’m going to keep trying things out until I have a solid idea on all the little details. I want it to work
This is where I had it for my 2 rounds and it went about as well as my phone does.
Got another round in with the Link. Moved it to my belt, just slightly to my left. Was a little nervous because it was under my polo practically all day long. But, there’s definitely something about that placement that made the difference. Not only did it not miss any swing club shots, I didn’t have a single hole that it completely missed my putts. The putting was exactly as it has been with my phone.
I still have not tested using AirPods for a phone call, or playing music, but at least I have confidence in Link working equally as well as the phone at minimum. Very pleased I won’t need to worry about whether my shirt is covering it or not.
Love hearing this and glad you like it. Are you using the pin marking feature still?
I did a few times yesterday, although sometimes it is more difficult when people are kicking your ball back to you. It is fine, although I’m not sold it’s completely accurate. To be fair, whenever I’ve marked a pin manually in the past, I watch the blue GPS dot move around on the green and take a while to get settled. I’m not sure what it is but Arccos GPS accuracy has always been wonky for me on greens (like if I go back to edit pin and first putt spot).
Yeah, I’d guess it’s as accurate as any other location – so +/- a yard or two (I’m guessing). And when people hit your ball back to you, just walk to the pin when you are walking off the green. It’s what I’ve incorporated into my routine and it works when I remember to do it
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Old habits die hard and as a walker, where else am I going to put it? I use it for distances to water every few holes!
I do think it’s a lot of info for the average golfer though and not as simplified as it was before which is a bit frustrating.
I saw that yesterday when I had to order a new sensor i lost. They are really getting high in price on the link.
@phoffer care to share your thoughts on how arccos prices their products?
I had lost a sensor and when I went to order I saw that they were 14 bucks. If you read below and you are signed up with them as a user already you can use your email and a code they have to cut the sensor price to 7 bucks for your replacements.
A dinosaur style company that doesn’t realize they’re a startup and has no coherent vision
#triggered
That’s a pretty good deal actually. Love that they have them in the grips now, wish it would be putter.
After watching @jdtox with the link this past weekend, I really want one, just not at the price
Now that I have it I really like it. That price is really pushing it for sure.
Same results here I just need to remember to mark the pin location. I like just leaving my phone in the cart all of the time.
Cobra sells the embedded sensors for $5. The Link is, ultimately, comparable to a GPS watch without a screen. So a sensor + Link package from Arccos is $310, plus $100/year after the first year, while ShotSchope’s V3 is $220 and one time cost.
Arccos should be trying to get its sensors on every club on the planet.
I have, yeah. The link is good through some 1/4 zips and not through more thick ones. The same goes for pants. The worst performance came from rain gear.
It does because it isn’t under that thick, noisy material.
Phone works in rain gear
Best thing in the world!
The firmware progress is trackable in the app I think. It’s pretty quick, maybe a few minutes?
Thanks. I tried looking on their website, but didn’t find anything informative. The only article involving firmware was how to proceed from a failed update. I am looking forward to not having to play with my phone in my pocket.
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Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. My order is in, but going to be awhile before I get one.
Is it the same clubs? Or type of shot?
It is a mix of tee shots and approach shots. It did the same thing today and it was clear out no clouds.
That’s real strange – I definitely haven’t seen that problem when the device isn’t covered. I still see a lot of incorrect number of putts and some extra wedges when I drop them around the green but almost never full shots.
I kept it clipped on my pocket today also. Maybe I need to see if it needing an update. I do have a habit of holding my hand on the end of the grip I wonder it the sensor doesn’t pick up when i am ready to hit?
Ummmmmm, no probably not in the instance you describe. It’s as effective as the phone and your only benefit would be the better battery life and the button to mark the pin.
I’ve got 2 rounds with the Link under my belt now and already have some thoughts on it.
On the pro side, its definitely more handy than having the phone in my pocket, which is exactly what I wanted it for. While like @Tenputt, I didn’t mind the phone in my pocket, for some reason I had a habit of dialing emergency services while play. And by habit, I mean it happened to me 4 times this year. I am not sure why but for some reason my phone seems to think a good solid drive is something to be alarmed about and called the authorities. Frankly, I think my phone is just being a bit of a dick because lets face it, calling out when I hit a solid drive as a "what the f’ just happened, call a firetruck" moment is a dick move.
I do like the ability to keep the phone in the cart or in my push cart to leave it charged if I need to. I still get to use it if I want any GPS features which is nice but when I am ready to swing, I don’t want to have to deal with it. And this fits it to a tee. Not to mention, I was tired of my leg vibrating like a chipmunk in heat in the middle of my downswing which happened far more times than I care to admit. Or worse, when my phone would ring and it would be the cops calling me back after my dick of a phone decided to spill the beans ( see above ).
While using my phone, I would miss some shots probably because of sound muffling which is another reason why I wanted the link. Something lighter that I could clip on was right up the alley. For that, the link was great. I don’t think I missed any non putt shots ( more on the putting in a second ).
Now on to the things I don’t like, and there are really only 2:
First, I seem to have traded missed fairway/tee shots for missed putts. Any putt less than 3 feet it seemed to miss. I am not sure if because I was on courses with fast greens and I was just barely tapping the ball or if it was because I wasn’t providing much motion in my putts but something was causing it to miss the tap ins which, frankly, I had far to many of in the last 2 rounds.
Second, and this is probably more me than the link. For the love of all things holy, I cannot remember to click the button to identify the hole position. And when I did, it had a 50% record of actually working. I need to read up more and for full disclosure, I might be doing something wrong but after all it is just a frigin button right? I’ll do a bit of research and see if I can figure out 1) That I know how it works and 2) find a way to remember to hit the damn thing.
Overall I am happy with it. The two issues aren’t that big and aren’t that different from having the phone in my pocket but it gets me a lighter weight solution that free’s up the phone for other things. Like being a dick to me.
I had a lot worse experience with putts at first, and also missed normal shots occasionally (which never occurred with the phone). I found the Link is more sensitive to placement than the phone, I would guess the microphone is not as sensitive. For me, clipped on my left pocket opening was bad, but moving it to the left side of my belt fixed all my issues. I have heard a couple people that are the opposite. I think it is probably related to body proportions, and how it affects the relative position of the Link to the club sensors.
All that to say, try moving it around and see if it fixes the putts
Oh and about the button, you kinda gotta press it really hard. I’ve had trouble with that too
At full price no I would just use the phone. I do like leaving the phone in the cart though.
With the glitches I’ve seen I’m still happy at the pre-order price but not sure I would buy at the full price. I do like the simplicity of marking flags and the ability to use my phone for playing MP3s but not sure that’s enough to warrant the full price
Glad to hear this…