The Garmin Approach S2 - 18 months in use - is it still working?

In December 2013 I wrote a review about the Garmin Approach S 2. Just go to the archive and take a look at it.

Today I write a short follow up.

I have played well over 100 rounds of golf with this GPS watch. Tournament rounds as well as social rounds. All kinds of courses in different states. Played in good weather , bad weather and very bad weather.

All I can say is that the Garmin Approach S2 worked great every single round I played with it.

But I want point out a few things which you might consider before using it.

1. Accuracy

The Garmin Approach S 2 is accurate to a point. Away from what they say, I figure that I have plus/minus 3 yards, maybe a little less. It depends how good you are to determine the relevance of this distance. To me it is relevant, but I can live with it because I work with a rangefinder on top of the watch and use yardage books. Often I prepare a play book with google earth. I also heard that other watches do the same or are worse. I played with people who had the same watch and there was a difference or used other watches and there was no , small or huge differences.

2. Functionality

My Garmin Approach S 2 worked great (and still does) on every course I played. But I have to mention that there were a few occasions where it did not.

I played courses in several states. The GPS watch was able to find a satellite and give me data. However, here are the few things which did happen:

- a couple of times my watch did not find a signal. Both or all three times that happened we played in extreme weather. Clouds, storms and rain. So I understood and you understand, that the signal just could not be picked up properly

- on a couple of courses the holes were mixed up or the watch jumped to the wrong hole. So you stand on 5 , but get yardage for 8. That is a technical error which is also easy to understand. We are talking about satellites in the heavens and then my tee box is next to another tee box. The simple fix was to just scroll to the right hole

- One or two times I played a track which was not entered into the Garmin system yet. New courses or courses which were altered fall in this category. Champions Gate Country Club being one of them.
There was nothing I could do and there will be nothing you can do. But again, it was not the watches fault.

3. Others

- The loading cable had some issues. When I click my watch on to the loading clip it does not always start the loading process. I always check twice that it works. It happened a few times that I put it on and went to bed. Next morning I woke up and found my watch not loaded at all. So you need to watch that part after a while. Maybe it is dust or fat on the contacts.

That is it. I like the watch. All points above are no big deal. The watch is very durable, easy to wear and it works. That is what you are looking for in a watch.

It is true that they now have watches with all kinds of gadgets. But we need to focus on the game, not on all kinds of other things. For that matter what you need is 3 distances and a range finder.

My suggestion is to start with this watch and then determine if you want to spend more money later.
It would be nice to hear from other golfers about this watch and how they feel about it. Meanwhile I think it is a very helpful gadget for my game.



Did this short article help you? Please let me know. I am trying to create helpful information and am open to suggestions at any time.