The 8 best free golf apps you can download
The ability to download free golf apps has never been better. Golf apps offer a multitude of options and features which can save you hundreds of pounds on things like rangefinders, GPS devices, and even lessons.
Most of us spend a lot of our time
on our phones, and within a few seconds, we can calculate what club to hit,
book a tee time, or watch what’s going on with Rory on the other side of the
world.
In this article, we highlight some of our favourite free golf apps to help you get the most out of your game.
The best free golf apps
The average new Arccos Caddie member
improves their handicap by 5.71 strokes in the first year—that is some claim.
You’ll need a set of Arccos Caddie
Smart Sensors to use this app (these are attached to the top of your grip and
chart where your shots have gone), but it allows you to dig deep into your
game.
Powered by A.I Custom mapping, there are over 40,000 courses on the system, and every aspect of your game is tracked alongside rangefinder and caddie advice, so you can quickly understand your game, make smarter decisions on the course, and see your scores tumble.
VPAR is a great accompaniment to any
golf day, providing GPS technology to 30,000 courses, stat tracking, and
challenges to maintain your interest.
This golf app is perhaps best known,
though, for its live leaderboards, so whether you’re playing in a competition,
society or just in a club roll-up, you can keep track of what all your fellow golfers
are up to.
The app also provides great feedback on how you play the game to help you understand where your strengths and weaknesses are—far simpler and more informative than the days of the old-school pencil and scorecard.
We’ve seen the introduction of the
World Handicap System in the last couple of years, and this app makes keeping
your Handicap Index up to date very straightforward.
Everything is done for you in the app, which is well laid out to help you keep check of your overall playing record and where your good (and bad) scores have come. You can also follow your golfing friends for more of a community feel, too. The actual inputting of your scores couldn’t be easier, so you can add cards with minimal fuss.
SwingU comes highly recommended among
all the free golf apps available. There’s a GPS, a digital scorecard with basic
stats, a free unofficial handicap after three rounds, manual shot tracking, and
Apple watch connectivity that provides front, middle, and back distances.
You can also upgrade to an AI-powered digital caddie to tap into the ‘plays-like’ distances, live wind speed, elevation, and even club recommendations. There’s also the option to take advantage of green-reading maps and hole insights to tally with how you might tackle it.
Without paying a penny, this app gives
you accurate GPS yardages to the front, middle and back of your green on over
43,000 courses, as well as where the main hazards are located and a complete
overview of each hole.
You can also track your scores, and there’s an archive of every shot you’ve hit. The device offers a bright and detailed screen and can be paired with your Apple Watch or Wear OS smartwatch.
Hole 19 claims its users can expect a three-shot reduction each year they use the app!
If you’re interested in monitoring
and working on your swing, V1 Golf is brilliant.
There are many functions to take
advantage of here; you can accelerate to key positions and view things frame-by-frame,
use drawing tools to measure and highlight key moves, compare two swings side-by-side,
and everything is saved to the Cloud.
You can also group your swing videos and lessons so you can easily watch them later rather than having to scroll through all your videos. This is a great app to improve your game and to see how your swing marries up with the textbook moves.
The Masters app is widely considered
one of the best sports apps, even though it’s only operational for one week of
the year.
No other tournament gets close to
what Augusta and IBM pull together. Throughout Masters week, there is what is
essentially a streaming service where you can watch every single shot of every
single player in the tournament. That’s around 20,000 shots over the course of
the week!
The leaderboard is more functional than on other golf apps, too. And it must be said—tuning into the beautiful sights and sounds of Augusta National is a great pick-me-up during the other 51 weeks of the year.
Thousands of golf clubs use this free
golf app as their booking system, as it’s an easy way of getting a tee time.
The Tee Sheet takes you straight to
your club’s tee times, allowing you to add names and make a booking in a matter
of seconds, as well as scroll across the coming weeks to ensure your starting
spot.
You can also use this app to keep abreast of club and open competitions and important club messages. It’s far easier than logging on to the club website or even ringing the pro shop (which was still the case not so long ago!)
Golf apps can help to enhance your overall golfing experience so you can get the very best out of your time on the course. That said, you may also want to think about protecting yourself and your equipment with specialist golf insurance before your next 9 or 18.
With Golf Care, policies include Equipment Cover up to £7,500 and Public Liability up to £10m so you can play with peace of mind.
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