Better Golf while Traveling: The Ultimate GPS App

Traveling and playing golf in strange yet beautiful courses can be a daunting experience. The stunning vistas mean the twists and turns of the course are not apparent to the golfer on every hole. Thinking that a visual range finder is going to help your round is marginally accurate.

The golf course will feature ups, downs, slopes, and hazards that cannot be seen with a visual range finder. Distance is one thing but knowing where to hit the ball without local knowledge is difficult. Your phone to the rescue.

The best, nifty, phone-based GPS system is GolfLogix. The app was derived from the slope/roll maps used by tour pros on the greens. Simply put, expect as much information as you want from tee to green. With over 35,000 courses in the mix, you are going to be matched with where you are playing.

When traveling, less is more. You are going to have a phone with you, so an app that works on the phone is weight and trip friendly. I have tried several options, including manual range finders, apps, yardage books, and even the GPS systems on the carts. They do help a bit, yet the data was most applicable with GolfLogix.

What did GolfLogix do that made the difference? Start with all the hidden hazards off the tee and their distances. Resort and vacation courses have fairway landing areas that are not pancakes 50 yards wide, so knowing this is a real plus. I found that the GPS systems on the carts had general features, but more detail really helps with shot planning. Knowing where to miss it to is key in vacation golf.

One note about using the application. The course you are on will not automatically load on the phone. You can search by name or use location to see courses in the area. Don’t expect to get to the first tee and do this within three seconds. It is quite a bit of data and information at this level, so make sure you give yourself a minute of two to get it loaded. Also, I found, depending upon other apps running, it requires at least moderate power. After multiple uses, I started to carry a short power cord to charge it mid-round from the golf cart. Small things considering the precise information from GolfLogix.

In terms of approach, you get a 3D view of the hole starting with the tee shot and continuing to the green. Like having a drone connected to your phone! Very useful to know the elevation of the course and the slope up to or down to the next shot. Many golf course designers use natural topography, so the course has areas where the distance is not the factor in how the ball lands or rolls. For example, if it is flat just in front of the green, there is a drainage depression, so the ball will go short and likely roll back. You won’t know that with a visual range finger. The app gave local knowledge that made the round much better.

Just about every resort course and even public courses are going to have a few holes that are cart path only. The app came in more than handy in this situation, where you walk out with three clubs and the phone. When I arrived at the ball, I could see the actual distance and whether it was up or down, so I could further club selection. Even if the GPS on the cart is better than average, there are going to be these situations, plus most courses won’t let you drive more than 100 yards in to the hole.

A shining feature of GolfLogix are the putting maps, which give “heat maps” for the actual slope and severity metrics of the green. Without previously playing the course, you know where to aim your approach shot or chip. I found the niftiest part of this section was the “putt break view,” which showed how the ball was going to roll in terms of its path from the landing point to the actual hole. Wonder why the tour pros makes so many putts? They have this information, so they know how the ball is going to roll.

If you want to go minimal, the app does run on an Apple watch.

The fact that GolfLogix gives all this information on my phone was a real plus in playing new courses I am not likely to play again. I didn’t need it on every hole, but when I did, it was more than helpful.