Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #573 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Garmin
• Model: 010-00697-30
• Dimensions: 6.40" h x 6.40" w x 3.30" l, .86 pounds

Features

• Rugged, waterproof golf GPS unit with 3-inch sunlight-readable touschreen display
• Preloaded U.S. course maps, including fairways, hazards, and greens
• No annual fee; new maps available for download from Garmin website
• Measure shot distance with highly sensitive readings to eliminate guesswork from your game
• Digital scorecard for up to four players; save and review the scores on your computer at home

Amazon.com Product Description
Give your game a boost of confidence with Garmin's Approach G5, a rugged, waterproof, touchscreen golf GPS packed with thousands of pre-loaded golf course maps. Approach uses a high-sensitivity GPS receiver to measure individual shot distances and show the exact yardage to fairways, hazards, and greens.

Give your golf game a boost of confidence with the Approach G5.

Eliminate guesswork from your game by keeping score digitally, getting accurate yardage readings, and more. (Click images to enlarge.)

Built for Golfers
Weighing in at just 6.8 ounces with batteries and boasting a transflective color 3-inch touchscreen, the Approach is your featherweight fairway guide regardless of the lighting conditions. IPX7 waterproofing means that the device can withstand accidental immersion as well--but thankfully, you'll be avoiding water hazards, of course.

Eliminate the Guesswork
The Approach displays and updates your exact position on stunningly detailed, preloaded course maps throughout the United States. Click to see Garmin's current Approach G5 course listing. Approach's highly sensitive GPS receiver pinpoints your position and removes guesswork from your game. And as you move, Approach automatically updates your position, so you'll always know your yardage. There's no subscription or setup fees, and Approach is compliant with USGA rules.

Touch Your Target
Need to measure distances for your next shot? Touch any point on the sunlight-readable display, and Approach shows the precise distance to that exact spot--fairway; hazard; landing area; or the front, middle, and back of the green.

Get on the Green
Zero in on the pin with Approach's Green View. Just tap the flag on the map to zoom in on the green--then you can drag the flag to position it where you see it, giving you more accurate yardage.

Keep Score Digitally
Approach doubles as a digital scorecard for your foursome. After the game, you can save and review the scores on your computer at home.

Add More Courses
Garmin is constantly adding more courses to their map data, as well as updating and improving their course maps for Approach G5. Download the latest courses from Garmin.com.

What's in the Box
Approach G5, belt clip, USB cable, quick start manual

Customer Reviews

Awesome increase in enjoyment of Golf game
My son and I used this on a local course for the first time and it performed great. No more looking for markers or taking the time to walk off an estimate (er, OK - especially when I'm not in the fairway). We have some large greens thankfully and being able to simply move the flag on the device for a much more accurate reading is super. Also, those few great drives I had - the G5 made it simple to get the exact yardage (did not break any records though). Only 1 of my 7 (regular home area) courses is not programmed in yet but I see it's on schedule in the next update. If yours isn't, simply let Garmin know like I did. Great unit, now if only my golf got better :-)
Update note: Today (4/26) I downloaded Garmins latest course database to the device and now all my courses are available.

First impressions: Amazing!
It's Sunday night as I type this review. I have had my Garmin a total of three days now. It arrived on Friday, so I put in batteries, connected it to my PC, downloaded the OS upgrades and most current course file (about a 76MB file). I played with the preview function, using it to check my local courses, and also checked out Warwick Hills, where Tiger was storming back on day 2 of the Buick Open. Very cool being able to preview 1000s of courses across the country!

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early and took it out to a course I had never visited before to see just how well this investment would pay off. Looking at the top-down, color view of every hole from tee to green, I knew everything I needed to know to reach the green in regulation--it didn't matter that I hadn't been here before.

On a par 5 with a sharp left dogleg, I used the Garmin to determine the distance to the middle of the left bend. I touched the screen and pinpointed a spot 190 yds to the center of the fairway, with bunkers on the left. I grabbed my 3I hybrid and let 'er rip. Perfect shot! Right in the center of the bend, and a straight shot at the green 250 yds away. A 3W got me to about 50 yds, and then a (lucky) little pitch and I was up and down for birdie!

A few holes later, the Garmin showed me a par 4 that goes out straight and level for about 200 yds. There the fairway ends and it's about 100 yds up a hill to the right with about 20 yds elevation difference to the green. Again, I grabbed my 3I hybrid and whacked the ball about 190 yds just short of the fairway's end. Then I grabbed my PW and knocked the ball up the hill to the elevated green and 2-putted for par. Sweet!

Eventually, it's the 18th hole (par 4) and the grand finale--there's water on the right and fronting the green, with bunkers on the left of the fairway and behind the green. The center of the green itself is about 260 yards off, and while the other 3 golfers in my foursome decide to break out their drivers and go for it, I used the Garmin to determine the best lay up point--about 180 yds to the widest part of the fairway past the water. I grabbed my 4I hybrid, plopped the ball perfectly in the fairway, and I had an easy wedge shot to the green to par the hole, while two of my compadres were flailing away in the bunkers, and the other was digging his ball out of the deep rough beyond and left of the green (I was willing to share my Garmin with them, but they'd all played the course before and "knew" what to do!).

Those are the three "highlight" holes of my first round at this course. The Garmin does everything but hit the ball--that part is still left for me to do, and, unfortunately, I don't always hit the ball so perfectly, or there would have been more highlights!

Nonetheless, the Garmin was the perfect aide for course management, and I know it saved me several strokes. Even though I had never visited this course before, each time I walked up to the tee box I was filled with confidence because I knew exactly what club to use and where to aim. I could see the shape and depth of every green, and I knew where my margin of error was when making my approach.

Sunday morning, I got up early again and took the Garmin out to a course I have visited several times before. Unfortunately for me, my shots were rather inconsistent, to say the least, and I shot a miserable round. However, that was entirely my fault--the Garmin was still an excellent guide throughout. On the rare occasion I did hit my shot straight and true, my distances perfectly coincided with what the Garmin was telling me. And again, each time I made an approach shot, I knew the depth of green and the locations of the hazards, and whether I should err long or short, left or right.

Additionally, I should mention that I've had a competitor's golf GPSR for a couple years now. It's been adequate for the job and was half the initial purchase price of the Garmin, but it was severely lacking in many ways because it:

-- required an annual subscription to download courses;
-- only held 10 courses in memory at a time, so I would have to connect to my computer and download courses if venturing out of my "home" area;
-- only showed distances to a handful of landmarks, e.g. bunker, end-of-fairway, water hazard, etc.;
-- had a monochrome LCD;
-- was NOT a Garmin (I admit, I have a pro-Garmin bias, as I've had two of their hand-held GPSRs and an in-car unit, all of which I've been impressed and satisfied with)!

On the flip side, the Garmin:

-- does NOT require a subscription;
-- provides a touch screen (no confusing manual buttons that do different functions at different times);
-- holds THOUSANDS of courses across the US;
-- shows the ENTIRE hole from tee to green with bunkers, hazards, and distances clearly marked;
-- has a COLOR display;
-- allows me to target specific locations through the fairway, with distance to the target from my current location and remaining distance to the green from the target.

Both units were basically equivalent in the following ways, both good and bad:

-- display shape of green;
-- display front, center, and back green distances;
-- allow movement of pin location for more accurate estimate to pin itself;
-- last about 2 complete rounds using AA rechargeable batteries;
-- allow measuring of shot distance;
-- do not display trees or other obstacles;
-- do not display elevation changes.

I am incredibly satisfied with my initial experiences with the Garmin Approach this weekend. I'll be using it on many more outings this summer and fall, but I especially look forward to visiting more new courses. Now that I'm no longer restricted to 10 courses in memory at a time, I can pick up and go anywhere on a whim, and with the great top-down view of the entire hole from tee to green I'll know exactly where to aim and what club to hit, as if I've visited the course dozens of times before.

A few other notes:
-- I did not use the scorekeeping function--I prefer to use a real scorecard to track some stats.

-- Need to change batteries in the middle of a round? The unit will remember what "page" you were on and return you to it.

-- Manually navigating the holes when previewing a course is a bit awkward--there are "next" and "previous" buttons on the page, but no way to jump from, say, the 1st hole to the 14th without pressing the "next" button 13 times. I think Garmin could improve this by popping up a menu if the user were to press and hold the "next" button for example. This would also be a big help if the course you're visiting decides to flip the front 9 to the back 9, so you can start on the right hole.

-- In the Settings page, the unit lets you enter what type of batteries you're using, e.g. alkaline, NiMH rechargeable, etc. Curious...

-- When previewing a course, go to the "about course" (hole number) button to see the address and phone number of the course, convenient for making your tee time!

-- The ability to target anywhere on or about the fairway is EXCELLENT! Most GPSRs just give you the distance to the green (front/center/back), but that does you no good if you've got a tree or other obstacle in the way. Knowing what the distance is to any part of the hole can really save your bacon when you find yourself blocked and need to get back to the fairway.

-- The map will zoom in automatically as you are playing the hole, showing your current position (a golf ball) and the remaining fairway to the green, so you are not stuck with a view of the entire hole as you approach the green.

Works great, easy to use...
Bought the unit after reading good reviews here. I downloaded the latest database and was pleased to find that it covers all local courses. Very easy to use with touch screen, still have not had to read the manual yet after 5 rounds :) Knowing exact distance (to target, hazards, etc) seems to help build confidence and my game has improved significantly. Played a local private club today (Fazio design), the Approach G5 was so convenient and accurate that our caddy ended up using my GPS instead of his laser range finder. Have not tried Lithium batteries yet, Energizer Max AA lasted 27 holes, Duracell Coppertop lasted longer, 2-3 rounds. Only thing I have not figured out yet is that since my home club has 27 holes, I had to quit each time after first 9 and restart the round by choosing another 9 hole course instead of playing 18 continuously. Maybe time to read the manual :)

Update (7/1/09). Tried Lithium AA batteries from Energizer, after 4 rounds the indicator still shows 3/4 power left. Also, the latest database has 9400 courses!