Anyone who has attempted to hit a seven-iron over water 130 yards to the green knows you need the right approach if you are hoping to putt for a birdie and not a bogey. GPS vendor Garmin International Inc. has developed a new golfing device called the Approach G30 that sort of acts as a caddie, helping to pinpoint the yardage distance on every shot.
The Approach G30 is a compact handheld device sporting a 2.3-inch color touchscreen with full course mapping to more than 40,000 courses around the world plus free map updates. It features Green View and Touch Targeting technology that provides accurate yardage information as well as tracking a golfer’s stats. Garmin has developed the G30 so it can be mounted nearly anywhere such as a golfer’s belt, pull carts or golf bags.
Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales, said the Approach G30 is a streamlined device with Touch Targeting and Green View stat tracking can give users a competitive advantage no matter what course they play.
The Approach G30 has a sunlight-readable touchscreen with big numbers mode to display yardages in a large font for at-a-glance viewing. It also has a built-in high-sensitivity GPS, so users will get accurate distances to greens, hazards and doglegs, even if they’re under heavy tree cover.
GreenView technology shows the shape of the green and allows players to manually position the pin to get the most accurate distance information. Garmin also made the Approach G30 compatible with its TruSwing analyzer solution.
According to Garmin, when paired together golfers will have access to data like swing speed and club path angles, which can be used to improve swing consistency.
With the Approach G30 you can truly put away that smartphone because it can also field incoming calls and texts notifications. G30 also goes beyond just your score to provide automatic uploads to the Garmin Connect Mobile app other types of golf data. It can track more in-depth stats such as fairways hit, greens in regulation and putts per round. Plus, with the Garmin Connect Mobile app, users can track their overall scores, and see how they play on each course and even each hole. Users can also go back and see their average and best score for every course played with the device.
Priced at $249.99, the G30 has up to 15 hours of battery life between charges and can withstand the elements with a water rating of IPX7.
