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
Wow, I may try that next. Thank you. Also for future, in the Arcoss app you will find a ‘find my link’ feature, so if you lose it on the course again it will take you right to it.
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The only issue here is that I take my glove off probably 45 times a round so could be a pain
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Yeah, probably no good. I leave my glove on for putting too. I didn’t think of that.
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One in FL, clipped to belt. Worked flawlessly.
One being last Friday, at Whiskey Creek, in the crazy 40mph winds. Missed many shots, and to be honest, I expected nothing less, with how hard the wind was blowing.
One yesterday at University of MD. Had a jacket on to start, and clipped Link to outside of my left pant pocket. Didn’t miss a single shot.
So far, I am very happy with the unit. Not having to have my phone in my pocket is great.
Going to sell one set or the other. Anyone switch from garmin? I’ll buy the link if I like the sensors and app better – just don’t want to go all in yet.
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I currently have an arccos account paired with the smart grips, but would I have to start fresh to ensure I can ensure I’m not kept on the annual membership?
What do you fellow THP’ers think?
Any more info on this?
The info that it gives you is really cool and helpful to learn what practice. I’m really looking forward to using this in my practice.
Unfortunately one sensor broke mid round. But it didn’t take too long add on the app. Hopefully their support can come through with a fix.
I may need to switch to a 14 way slotted to avoid damage
Looking forward to a full season with it.
I find the Caddie still gives me some weird club combinations.
I then used it on my trouser pocket and it picked up everything apart from missing the odd tap in.
The best thing about today was the fact I forgot to charge my phone and got a message my battery on the phone was less than 20% at hole 6. I stopped looking at my phone and just let the link do it’s thing. After the round was over and I got home, I noticed my round had completed and all holes counted. I just had to update a few putts, but very happy with how easy that was.
First round and a win for the link.
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It should just be a single click press and release there is no feedback (would be nice though). I just checked a couple of mine from today and it looks like it is picking up locations as they all seem to be roughly where I remember them. I am hoping they get round to adding the full putt tracking they mentioned a while ago now.
Just a suggestion, but this attachment works great for me on a multitude of size grips for the putter
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Today, I just let the Link do its thing to see how it worked. On full shots, it was flawless. It recorded every one of them, which never happened when the phone was doing the work.
One weak spot today was tap-in putts. I don’t think it captured any of them. Those are easy to fix mid-round, though, so it’s a good trade-off. It’d be better if it would hear them, as well. I’m not sure how well pressing the Link button to mark the hole location worked, either. This could be a GPS accuracy issue, though, as they were at least in the vicinity on most holes. There could be some user error here, too.
For the first time out, it was highly encouraging. The second round I played with Arccos last spring was a nightmare. My phone battery was down to ~20% by hole 13, and I had to play with a Mophie in my back pocket the rest of the round. It was bad enough for me to take all the screw-in tags off and give Shot Scope V3 a try. Granted it’s only a half-round, but the Link appears like it will be a big improvement, for me. No phone drain, no phone in the pocket, no missed full shots.
Time will tell, but it does seem like a good product thus far.
Honestly, my results have been mixed. Usually I average 2 missed shots per round. Additionally, it usually only picks up about half my putts. I’ve tried clicking the Link button when standing next to the pin to mark its location, but it hasn’t picked up the pin position once. The issues with putting are the most disappointing to me, as that was the main reason I invested in the full system. The money itself doesn’t bother me as I feel it was a fair price. I just wish it lived up to my expectations.
I’ll continue using the system through the end of the season and/or year then reevaluate. I don’t mind a couple of dropped wood and iron shots. They’re easy to fix. But if I can’t figure out the issues related to putting, I’ll probably stop using the system.
That sounds closer to borderline unusable vs mixed. ????
In my experiences Arccos has been really responsive to feedback from their customers. I have to believe something is in the works to supplant the link with all the issues it has had. Maybe an Arccos Watch? Or a link that can attach to the wrist somehow? Ultimately the closer you can get the mic to the club face unobstructed the better it picks up shots. With my Apple Watch Series 6 I have gone several rounds without it missing any shots. In fact I’ve bumped a wedge into my putter carrying both walking and had it accidentally log a strike. Which is easy to fix.
They just released an update to the app which allows WAY more control of individual club data that impacts the caddie algorithm for club recommendations. Very cool. Update your app if you haven’t already.
The older Apple watches def had battery life issues. The newer Series 6 and 7 has much better battery life. I charge it to 100% overnight and when my round finishes I’m usually at 40% still. They key is a full charge before you start the round. Plus the display. Speeds things up. A lot for me.
I average about 84 shots a round. Can’t speak for anyone taking 102 shots. Lol
Putting is the biggest gripe I have with the Link, so far. It seems to be worse since I switched to the Supernova with the embedded sensor, as opposed to the screw-in I was using with a previous putter. I haven’t checked recently to see if that sensor has gone bad (it paired successfully, initially, at least) — surely not, as it’s newer than the rest of the ones in my grips from last summer.
I’m not really using it to keep score for me, though, so I don’t mind this ‘failure’. It would be nice though, given the costs of a full Arccos setup, if it worked as intended.
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When I wear a jacket I find that issue. I created a piece of leather strap which connects to my belt and let’s it hang lower beneath the bottom of my jacket. Since then I haven’t had the issues.
I did have a jacket on when I started the round, which was covering the Link clipped on my belt. I’m sure that was the root cause of it.
The app said to raise the Link to the sky to try to find a better signal. I did that, and also restarted the Link twice, but it never would latch on after that. I’ll try clipping it to my pocket instead, the next time I need an extra layer.
Some clip it to their pocket during fall rounds so it sits below your jacket
This has happened again the last 2 days.
Same here – I had passed my Arcoss sensors and Link to my old man in Turkey as I’ve made the switch to ShotScope and for 4 full days it wasn’t finding the GPS at all. Had the same issue with the H4 and SS fixed it within an hour, but the Link only just picked up the satellites on the last day – then stopped working after 3 holes! Never had that issue before so not sure what the problem was.
Here’s the Link GPS support article. I’ll give a shot after lunch.
https://support.arccosgolf.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405280896788-Why-can-t-my-Link-find-GPS-
I guess I’ll give it one more shot later this week. It may be time to move on.