the approach R50 unit is not picking up my shots outdoors What can i do to get this to work?

If your Approach R50 is working fine at home and not working at the range you are going to, something is quite different resulting in the shots not getting detected...either with the balls being used, or with the spacing, and the environment shots are being taken resulting in nothing being detected. 

Ensure you are starting a new session if using practice mode when you get to the range vs continuing old sessions that you started at home and please identify the differing factors present at the range vs at home. 

If you are still not sure, please contact Garmin Support for more assistance from a golf specialist to determine what further could be causing the issue.