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Awesome Golf App Review

Hawk

Hawk

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Getting the Most out of the Garmin Approach R10 with the Awesome Golf App

At around $600, the Garmin Approach R10 is a tempting purchase for anybody looking at personal launch monitors. Reports of inaccuracy popped up shortly after it was launched, but several software updates have greatly improved the R10’s ability to deliver accurate data, both indoors and outdoors. If you’re on a budget and a radar-based unit works for you (read here to see if it might), there is a lot to love.

Oh, but the Garmin Golf App? I just can’t love it.

Continue reading...
 
This was super intriguing to read. Like you, I thought the Garmin app was borderline unusable during my testing. The practice modes on this look pretty darn solid. I will be super curious where they take this.

Also, I love the trial period with no CC attached to it. That is a very big positive.
 
This looks like a major upgrade for anyone that has an R10
definitely makes it a more complete device
 
Definitely interesting for roughly 1000$ all combined with tax and all it‘s a great option for those looking into it.
 
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Thanks for reading. Hopefully this helps R10 or Mevo users out. Again, not for the hardcore sim golf player, but far and away the best value practice/data collection option for the R10.
 
Really enjoying these articles @Hawk. The R10 is definitely an attractive option at that price point if you have the space, and despite any drawbacks, it's got you into an indoor practice routine where you can see "ball flight" and grind on the game over the winter. Keep these coming man, I am excited to read some further write-ups. Also quick Wednesday morning golf clap for that dart you fired in the Youtube video.
 
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ryang13 said:
Really enjoying these articles @Hawk. The R10 is definitely an attractive option at that price point if you have the space, and despite any drawbacks, it's got you into an indoor practice routine where you can see "ball flight" and grind on the game over the winter. Keep these coming man, I am excited to read some further write-ups. Also quick Wednesday morning golf clap for that dart you fired in the Youtube video.
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That took a few takes :ROFLMAO:
 
Hawk said:
Getting the Most out of the Garmin Approach R10 with the Awesome Golf App

At around $600, the Garmin Approach R10 is a tempting purchase for anybody looking at personal launch monitors. Reports of inaccuracy popped up shortly after it was launched, but several software updates have greatly improved the R10’s ability to deliver accurate data, both indoors and outdoors. If you’re on a budget and a radar-based unit works for you (read here to see if it might), there is a lot to love.

Oh, but the Garmin Golf App? I just can’t love it.

Continue reading...
Click to expand...
your "read here" link above just takes me to the forum new posts. I appreciate the article and the R10 has been on my radar. I am more interested in practicing with the R10 than simulate golf courses, so this looks ideal for me
 
oumagic said:
your "read here" link above just takes me to the forum new posts. I appreciate the article and the R10 has been on my radar. I am more interested in practicing with the R10 than simulate golf courses, so this looks ideal for me
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I really recommend it if you’re going to use it seriously for game improvement. It’s so, so much better than the Garmin Golf app.
 
I apologize if you covered it elsewhere @Hawk, but what tablet are you using to run this software? Or is that a future article?
 
ryang13 said:
I apologize if you covered it elsewhere @Hawk, but what tablet are you using to run this software? Or is that a future article?
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Stole my son’s iPad 8th Gen 😅 Works really well with it.

I think where AG really beats e6 Connect is just how well it’s designed for the mobile platform. Simple things like picking a target and looking through launch data is so much easier with it.
 
oumagic said:
your "read here" link above just takes me to the forum new posts. I appreciate the article and the R10 has been on my radar. I am more interested in practicing with the R10 than simulate golf courses, so this looks ideal for me
Click to expand...

Not sure why it's doing that on the forum, but when you click it from the homepage it takes you to the correct forum post.
 
Great write up @Hawk. I agree the Garmin app is clunky. They also tend to release things in what I would call beta mode and often the products aren’t good till they have had a few updates. Sounds like early R10 users may have gotten that experience. The total cost here for a well done launch monitor and app at $950 is very reasonable.
 
Interesting package for essentially $1k. Might be good enough for many who want that entry level sim especially since spin is there which is lacking on many lower cost launch monitors. Do you feel the numbers are accurate or at least relatively close?
 
jdtox said:
Interesting package for essentially $1k. Might be good enough for many who want that entry level sim especially since spin is there which is lacking on many lower cost launch monitors. Do you feel the numbers are accurate or at least relatively close?
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I thought about talking accuracy more in-depth in an article, but it’s already been done by people better suited than me (they can compare vs Trackman for example).

In short, yes it’s considered quite accurate. At one point there were some complaints, but software updates and the addition of RCT support has really changed things and there’s a lot of evidence showing it’s accurate.

Here’s a snippet from Garmin regarding accuracy with Titleist RCT balls.

“With a minimum of at least 2 full rotations, the RCT ball has a 99% signal capture rate, delivering true spin rate capture versus an estimate.”

In other words, you’re pretty much dead on in terms of ball metrics with the RCT. Garmin does display whether spin rates are recorded or estimated. Just an anecdotal example, but when I was doing a little wedge testing, I was seeing 1,000-2,000 rpm difference in spin between standard and RCT balls. The downside is RCT balls interfere with club data sometimes, so you often lose those data points.

The big thing that matters is setup. You must have the minimum distances both in front of and behind the ball. The radar has to be level and on the same level as the hitting surface. Cement floors are no good, so you need to cover them, etc., etc.. This is all true of radar in general.
 
Hawk said:
I thought about talking accuracy more in-depth in an article, but it’s already been done by people better suited than me (they can compare vs Trackman for example).

In short, yes it’s considered quite accurate. At one point there were some complaints, but software updates and the addition of RCT support has really changed things and there’s a lot of evidence showing it’s accurate.

Here’s a snippet from Garmin regarding accuracy with Titleist RCT balls.

“With a minimum of at least 2 full rotations, the RCT ball has a 99% signal capture rate, delivering true spin rate capture versus an estimate.”

In other words, you’re pretty much dead on in terms of ball metrics with the RCT. Garmin does display whether spin rates are recorded or estimated. Just an anecdotal example, but when I was doing a little wedge testing, I was seeing 1,000-2,000 rpm difference in spin between standard and RCT balls. The downside is RCT balls interfere with club data sometimes, so you often lose those data points.

The big thing that matters is setup. You must have the minimum distances both in front of and behind the ball. The radar has to be level and on the same level as the hitting surface. Cement floors are no good, so you need to cover them, etc., etc.. This is all true of radar in general.
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This is really good info, thank you.
 
jdtox said:
This is really good info, thank you.
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No problem at all. There are definitely compromises for both radar and photo units, especially indoors. I’m lucky to have a large space or it would be pretty useless.
 
As my swing has improved I've spent more time playing actual sim rounds, which currently leaves me with three options with the R10. FWIW, with the distance issues I feel like I'm seeing with the R10, I couldn't imagine paying for a high-end simulator software.

Garmin Home Tee Hero - this is a subscription that gives you pretty much every course in the Garmin catalog for $10 a month. Graphics, interface, game play are all not good though. I did the free trial and dumped it. Terrible tbh.

Awesome Golf - Four nine hole courses, ok graphics, great user interface. Only four courses though. Funny, only an hour after this review dropped they posted an update to their user group saying updates are coming, so we'll see if that improves. Anyway, the Coaching Mode is the real winner here, but I'm actually enjoying the sim golf except for one big thing that is Garmin R10 related I'll talk about in a sec.

E6 Connect free iOS - The courses are so much better because they are real. Bandon, Aviara, Wade Hampton, etc. They are pretty fun to play. The graphics are blah in my opinion and the game play is a turd. There is no way at all to move an aim point around on an Ipad. Maybe with an Apple pencil. It also has the problem I mentioned above.

The problem is anything under 30 yards won't register the majority of the time with the R10, so if you're greenside in the fringe good luck. About the only thing that works maybe 30% of the time is to hit some high flop shot. It's a drag because you can't skip the shot in AG, so I've been forced with either getting stuck indefinitely, hitting something way too hard, or taking a mulligan any time I miss by a short distance. At least with e6 Connect they'll just give you a 3 shot gimme greenside so you don't get stuck, but it's still a crappy solution.
 
Hawk said:
As my swing has improved I've spent more time playing actual sim rounds, which currently leaves me with three options with the R10. FWIW, with the distance issues I feel like I'm seeing with the R10, I couldn't imagine paying for a high-end simulator software.
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This is the same issue I struggled with with the R10. I am glad it got some updates to fix even the basic level of functionality.
 
JB said:
This is the same issue I struggled with with the R10. I am glad it got some updates to fix even the basic level of functionality.
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I mean at least make things longer if you’re going to be inaccurate :ROFLMAO:

The inability to chip is an issue too. 20-30 yards is a pretty common number for me.
 
Hawk said:
I mean at least make things longer if you’re going to be inaccurate :ROFLMAO:

The inability to chip is an issue too. 20-30 yards is a pretty common number for me.
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Yeah that would be a tough pill to swallow.
 
Just a short video showing a couple holes of Virtual Golf for anybody that is interested. I’ve been doing this quite a bit after practice and have really enjoyed it. You can see some of the quirks of the R10 here.

 
Bump for a fun piece of software. If there were a few more than 4 9-hole courses it would be a no brainer purchase. Still might be.

Few of the range session live shots.

Paired with the rapsodo it was quick and read/displayed all kinds of flight windows with ease when I was trying to move the 7i.

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No video recordings but stores all the numbers to reference later.

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$50 off lifetime license now. Fantastic deal if you were on the fence.
 
awesome golf community says it lets you export your data. I snap screenshots of the chrome book I use to scan club data
 
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