Garmin’s new feature for its suite of golfing technology called Green Contours lands in the UK this week. It's a new addition that can detect and show you the gradient of the slopes along your favorite golf courses.
As well as being one of the biggest names in running and multisports watches, Garmin also makes a good chunk of the best golf watches in addition to other golfing technology such as laser range finders, simulation technology, launch monitors to detect how best to improve your swing, and the free Garmin Golf app.
The new Green Contour feature shows raised and lowered sections of 1,400 courses in the UK, alongside over 8,900 courses in the US. More courses worldwide are likely to follow, although there’s been no official confirmation yet.
Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales. “Whether it’s a complicated uphill shot or a course with fall-offs in the green, you can now use your Garmin Approach or the Garmin Golf app to analyze Green Contour data and put yourself in the best position to overcome challenging courses.”
The feature is available and being rolled out on the Garmin Golf app, which means you have the option to get the information with just a Garmin Golf membership, but it’s also available on the Approach G80 golf handheld, the Approach S60 and Approach S62 golf watches, the Approach Z82 laser range finder, and the Approach R10 launch monitor.
Casual play only?
The Green Contour feature is a great way of seeing what’s ahead of you before you play a shot, making it a vital companion on compatible golf courses all across the US and, now, the UK. Even though the use of some of these tools are restricted in competition, its likely to see a lot of use in casual play.
We don’t envy Garmin, having to collect detailed GPS maps of popular courses all over the world and hand it all to players. We’re expecting more courses to follow in other regions such as Australia, UAE and the rest of Europe, but until then, players in those regions will have to continue to guess the gradient of the slopes on their local course, like techless Neanderthals.
You can actually check whether your local course has the green ‘contours’ badge in Garmin’s database.
Garmin’s GPS tools rae second to none, and it’s great to see them used in innovative ways. You don’t even need a device to use this feature, just a smartphone and a Garmin Golf membership. If you’re after some more Garmin hacks, here’s five things you can do with the free Garmin Connect software.
