Apple and golf app developers are working more closely than ever, a partnership that is ready to pay dividends for golfers who love wearable tech like the Apple Watch.

The new Apple Watch Ultra 2, launched in September 2023, has solved many of the issues golfers face when trying to use golf apps from their wrists. The Ultra 2 offers a durable, lightweight frame; a large display screen that's the brightest Apple's ever created; a significantly longer battery life (up to 12 hours when using a golf app); enhanced GPS capabilities and a new button on the side that can be customized to any function, such as starting a round of golf or a workout.

All this new functionality is a game-changer, according to John Hawley, the chief technology officer of Golfshot, a popular golf app. Hawley said Golfshot has been focused almost exclusively on making the best golf app for Apple Watch since 2015.

"We were really excited about the Ultra when it launched," Hawley said. "Golf is a long sport to play: 4 and a half hours at the course I typically play. To run a workout or monitoring motion data and to have that big bright display you can see out in the sun and have battery to spare is really pretty amazing considering most golf devices have a hard time getting through a full round of golf because it’s such a long process. With the Ultra, it’s no problem."

Ever since GolfPass posted its first Apple Watch golf app review in 2019, the landscape of golf apps has gone through a serious evolution. Initial tests left us underwhelmed, so much so that former Managing Editor Brandon Tucker recommended a golf-focused watch above the Apple Watch.

Fast-forward, Apple Watch golf apps have continued to add features and functionality. All iOS app developers have been hard at work cleaning up code for a faster experience and better features. The result has improved life for tech-addicted golfers. This ongoing collaboration between Apple and app developers could have the Apple Watch on the verge to become the wearable of choice for golfers.

The high-frequency motion API released in watchOS 10, which takes advantage of the latest accelerometer and gyroscope in Apple Watch to detect rapid changes in velocity and acceleration - the same powerful motion sensors that enable the Apple Watch safety features like car crash detection and fall detection - work great detecting athletic movements like a golf swing. Golfshot launched last week a new Swing ID On-Range experience that utilizes this new API integrated into the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra watches to detect the precise moment the club strikes the ball. These Apple Watch sensors can track the swing from beginning to end, allowing an app like Golfshot to track key swing metrics such as tempo, rhythm, backswing, transition, and wrist path with precision.

Players can use the numeral and visual data from 3D graphics provided by Golfshot to compare their best swings against the data and graphics produced by their worst shots to figure out what numbers are necessary to make good swings repeatable.

"You can’t take a launch monitor with you everywhere. You can’t set up a video camera behind you to analyze your swing all the time," Hawley noted, "but you can wear your Apple Watch everywhere. When you’re on the course or when you’re practicing, you get the exact same measurement (tools) every shot you take."

Here are some of our picks for the best Apple Watch golf apps - including Golfshot - to use in 2024:

V1 Game, which launched in 2020, has recently been acquired and renamed Roundabout. Its shot tracking is the clear-cut winner among the apps that don't require club tags, while the app dashboard provides illuminating strokes gained and traditional analysis using scoring and shot data. The watch has a clear and simple display with GPS showing front-middle-back yardages to the green. But it particularly stands out with its Auto-shot detection and A.I. breadcrumbs.

When you hit a shot during a round, the watch detects it, vibrates and prompts you to select the club you hit. Voila. But the secret sauce is what happens when it misses a shot. Every shot tracker we've ever used - club tags and wearables alike - misses shots. But Roundabout does the best job at predicting where those shots likely happened. It uses a combination of artificial intelligence and breadcrumbs, tracing your steps with a little blue line. So when reviewing your round afterwards, it's that much easier to pinpoint the location of a shot it missed and tag that spot with a shot. Golf is, after all, a game of misses.

Unlike Arccos and Shot Scope, which rely on the user to set the pin location to determine proximity of approach shots to the hole and putting stats, Roundabout instead prompts the golfer to input their first putt length and how many putts were needed. (Note: because you aren't tagging the specific location of your approach shot on the green, it means your irons yardage data won't be as accurate.)

The Roundabout watch app has real-time shot measuring from your last recorded location. This is a favorite feature because if you hit the ball offline, knowing exactly how far you've walked off the tee gives you a good idea of when to start looking seriously for your stray. It also helps give you a better idea of how the wind affected your previous shot.

But shot tracking doesn't really matter if the statistics dashboard isn't insightful, and V1 delivers here in a way that rivals Arccos. It slices and dices your rounds and shot data in a multitude of ways. V1 Coach shares which facets of your game are losing the most shots and where you should spend precious practice time.

Roundabout has three pricing tiers: Par ($19.99/yr); The "Birdie" tier is $59.99/year and provides Apple Watch functions, shot tracking and Strokes Gained analytics; and The "Eagle" tier ($119.99/yr) offers "Virtual Coach" and "Virtual Caddie" that provide both in-round assistance based on your swing history and post-round analysis. This is the most expensive Apple Watch golf app per year but it delivers the goods. Download Roundabout here.

Arccos, a leader when it comes to shot tracking and strokes gained analysis for amateur golfers and the official game tracker of the PGA TOUR, has come a long way since our first review in 2019. It started with the 2020 addition of the Caddie Link, a belt clip that tracked shots and set pin locations instead of having to keep your phone in your lead pocket. Arccos added shot detection to their Apple Watch app in 2021, and in the biggest innovation yet, as of March 2023, golfers can now track shots using Arccos exclusively on the Apple Watch without even needing their phones.

Now, Arccos Caddie members can view A.I. Rangefinder distances, receive personalized club recommendations, add penalty strokes, see shot history and holes scores and make any necessary edits right from their wrist. Setting pin placements, which was once our biggest complaint, can be done with a push of a button while standing next to the hole.

“From a product standpoint, we have completely re-developed the Arccos Caddie app for Apple Watch architecture from the ground up,” said Dave LeDonne, Arccos’ Vice President of Product, in 2023. Arccos Smart Sensors cost $199 and come with a free first year annual membership.

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As long as you don't crave strokes gained or intuitive shot tracking, TheGrint is an excellent option for an Apple Watch scoring and GPS. One of the shortcomings of shot-tracking-first apps is your score almost always requires review and edit because of missed putts, chips or penalty strokes. Scoring using TheGrint app is clear and fast. Its hole-by-hole scoring feature allows you to easily enter putts, driving accuracy and tag any hazards (drops, bunkers, O.B., etc.). Even if you don't want to use it during the round, you can still enter scores and detailed stats afterwards for an official handicap index and additional game insights.

TheGrint has always straddled a line between serious performance and playful, social features. You can even track how many drinks you had during your round by clicking on the sudsy beer icon to the top right of the watch display. Fun right?

Is there a free version of TheGrint for Apple Watch? You can use TheGrint's phone app for free, but you have to upgrade to TheGrint Pro for watch integration. TheGrint Pro is just $39.99 per year, making it a great value compared to others typically costing $49.99 and up.

Golfshot launched Swing ID (Swing Individual Data), Strokes Gained, Golfplan 2.0 and optimized maps for the Apple Watch last year. It pairs nicely with the new On-Range features.

Golfshot's phone app has always been the star with its visually stunning graphics. It displays cool, animated flyovers of holes and you can also try out the Golfscape Augmented Reality feature that provides a cool way of checking out distances to hazards. It's particularly helpful on holes with blind hazards.

Is Golfshot free on Apple Watch? Yes, but to get the upgrades of the Pro options for the best options we've noted in this story ranges from $69.99-$89.98 per year.

The popular 18Birdies app touts itself as golf's "#1 scoring app" and the "world's smartest digital caddy". It's got an AI Coach and a $99.99 annual premium version that includes Strokes Gained capabilities beyond the free app, which offers distances to the front, middle and back of greens and other round-scoring features. End-of-year summaries are one of the many things die-hard stats geeks will appreciate. Click here to learn more.

For those who want strokes gained stats without club tags, SwingU is a worthy runner-up to Roundabout and less expensive, too. Their "SwingU Versus" features a strokes gained stat for Driving, Approach Shots, Chipping & Pitching, Bunker Play and Putting. 

The watch app has a shot tracker but it must be tapped each time to start and end the shot. In addition to GPS, if you scroll down on the face you'll receive a "plays like" distance, recommended club and wind speed. A unique in-round feature of SwingU is that it will reliably toggle the watch face to the scorecard when it detects you've reached the green. It might sound insignificant but every additional tap that is eliminated when using Apple Watch does wonders for the user experience.

SwingU has its roots in instruction so game improvement is a big deal with the membership. It uses AI to analyze your game data and send you drills and tips based on what the data suggests you're struggling with. The premium membership features a large instruction library of more than 600 videos from top instructors.

Can you use the SwingU app for free on Apple Watch? Yes! The free app version of SwingU features phone and watch GPS, handicap and scorecard, but the advanced analytics of SwingU offers shot tracking, "plays like" distance and the video library requires the Premium version for $99.99 annually.

GolfLogix is another app that's popular with golfers. It's got all the usual toys for premium members - 3D hole fly-overs, club tracking, GPS distances with slope, scoring and stat tracking - but with a more detailed emphasis on scoring near the greens with heat maps of the putting surfaces, a "3D approach view" that shows you how the ball will roll on your approach shot and a "putt line" feature showing you the break while putting. You can even book tee times through GolfLogix. A yearly membership costs $59.88.

The vast majority of Apple Watch golf apps require some sort of paid subscription. Hole19 is a solid Apple Watch app with a premium version featuring scoring and advanced stats or a free version that provides GPS only off the watch. Premium includes the shot and distance tracker, club recommendations and more advanced analytics. $49.99 per year.

Over the past several years, we have tested many of the best portable launch monitors, and we were pleased to see both of Flightscope's models, the Mevo and Mevo+, and the Full Swing KIT have solid Apple Watch integration. This is particularly helpful because some other models of launch monitors require you to change the club from the device itself or from the mobile app. Being able to toggle the club from your wrist is very efficient. You can also select which metrics you want to view on the watch. The Full Swing KIT features Tiger Woods as brand ambassador. | View our 2021 Portable Launch Monitor roundup

What are your favorite golf apps for Apple Watch? Let us know in the comments below.