Approach R50 - Recent Threads

Putting Speed/Distances

5133373 — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:51:29 GMT

I agree with the other thread that a putting green feature would be really nice. Since the on-course practice feature was introduced, I've been practicing putting there. The R50 seems to register ball speed and angle pretty well, but it seems like something in the distance formula is off as you attempt longer putts.

I'm mostly trying to work on speed and start line, so I found a long flat spot on a green (Bethpage Black hole 3) and experimented on ball speed vs distance. I have speed set to stimp 11 to match my home course. Here is what I've found in trying to map speeds to distance on the R50:

5'	2.8mph
10'	4.0 mph
15'	5.2 mph
20'	6.5 mph
30'	9.3 mph
40'	12.1 mph
50'	15.0 mph
60'	18.0 mph

A stimpmeter rolls a ball at 4.1 mph (11 foot rollout = stimp 11). So on the low end it's fairly accurate. It also matches my real-life feel for distance. But once you get out beyond 20', it seems like you have to hit the ball way too hard on the R50. After practicing on the R50 a couple times, I found I was blasting longer putts way past the hole on a real course.

I haven't found anything official online that corresponds speed/distance/stimp, but I did find a site where someone mapped it out on GSPro (link to chart & data). For stimp 11, the speeds they provide are this:

5'	2.7 mph
10'	3.9 mph
15'	5.0 mph
20'	6.0 mph
30'	7.9 mph
40'	9.5 mph
50'	11.0 mph
60'	12.5 mph

Not sure if these are perfectly accurate to real-life, but they seem more realistic.

I don't really want to, but I could take the R50 to my course and put it out on the putting green and hit some 30-60 footers and see what the R50 shows for speed. I guess I wanted to see if anyone else has noticed needing to hit longer putts much harder on the R50 than they normally would. There also has to be some real world data out there on this but so far I haven't found it.

RE: Putting Speed/Distances

uofi1998 — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:06:26 GMT

WRT to putting, I find the hole itself to be really uncooperative. Like, an 8-footer in the back of the cup should be the intent. But instead I find myself having to tap it extremely softly to get it to not bounce over.

The problem this creates is a calibration inconsistency between sim and course.

anybody else feel the same way?

RE: Shots tracing in reverse

Garmin - MR — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 23:32:37 GMT

I have not seen any other reports of this situation. Can you share a photo of what you're seeing here? When did you first notice this happening? Did it happen once or has it happened multiple times?

Shots tracing in reverse

PD — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 01:45:38 GMT

Does anyone else have the bug where you hit a shot and it will trace it in reverse? the data seems correct, but the shot starts from 160 yards out and traces back to the tee off spot. It’s been happening increasingly for me.

HDMI - Need to reconnect to hear sounds

JGritten — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:17:49 GMT

For my projector's speaker to work, I always need to disconnect the HDMI from the R50, then reconnect. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Unplugging and plugging back in the hdmi has just become part of my routine after 6 months, but I would like to submit this as a bug or feature request on the R50 to Reset the output with a button or something instead of wearing out my one lead. Thanks

The Standalone HTH app is better than R50

1628703 — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 20:11:00 GMT

The Standalone HTH app on phone and ipad is laid out better the on the R50.

Why is there no separate section for Enhanced Courses or Tour Courses like in the app. The app has a visual screenshot of these courses which helps visualise the look of each course.

There's no way of even seeing which are the enhanced courses when searching on the R50. It's just a text list that you need to scroll through. There should be some sort of icon to highlight it is enhanced.

The R10 users are getting a better app experience than the owners of the flagship model.

RE: The Standalone HTH app is better than R50

1628703 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:49:29 GMT

Thank you for adding this in the latest update.

RE: Latest update

Gordon D — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:54:52 GMT

I'd also like to see some way of changing the color of each club, maybe using a color picker, or maybe a grid of 12 or 16 colors. At present, all clubs in a group are the same color, or almost the same. If I want to compare how I am doing with two different wedges, it would be useful if I could change the color of one wedge to be something other than blue. In this screen shot I used a 9 iron, which is yellow, to compare with pitching wedge and other wedge, to illustrate how much easier it is to pick out the 9-iron shots. But it is difficult to tell which are pitching wedge shots and which are gap wedge shots.

I can already edit a "Nickname" for each club - it would be great to be able to edit the color of each club too

Latest update

Dan_Robbo — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 17:54:46 GMT

After pretty much 8 months since the last big update, (one including aspect ratio & screen offset) Garmin just dropped an update for the R50, However pretty much 85% of posts on here were people requesting an update to the practice range yet we are still playing the old R10 practice range. Come on Garmin get your act together!

Switching from Left/Right Hitters gone after latest Update

3548497 — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:58:40 GMT

I’ve lost the ability to switch hitting left or right after the update yesterday.

There used to be a little toggle at the bottom that made this quick and effortless. Anyone else seeing the same thing?

Im on Version 4.9 and GLM Versions 4.1.1

I now have to quit the round, switch to a left hitting user and start it again.

Am I missing something?

Home Tee Hero Course selection

Dave — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 08:13:53 GMT

Really like the new option to select courses within Home Tee Hero.

Could you also add an option for Par 3 courses?

This would be great for people like me who don't have the option to hit the longer clubs

Cheers

Approach R50 and GSPro on Mac Crossover

9001869 — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 15:40:16 GMT

Have hit a wall using Approach R50 and GSPro on crossover on a macbook m2 w/16GB of RAM.

The only way I could get a regular PC working with the GSPro was connecting the PC to the GSPro hotspot and disabling wifi on the R50 after the license checks were complete, then clicking the R50 button on the GSPro Connect screen.

Crossover unfortunately crashes GSPro connect with this approach everytime.

Have checked with both GSPro support and Crossover support and it seems there is an exception thrown in GSProconnect when the IP address changes.

Have tried pretty much every network configuration I can think of, with the most logical one being leave wifi on the garmin and connect mac only through the garmin hotspot, but to no avail.

Anyone have any luck with R50/GSPro/Mac/Crossover?

RE: Approach R50 and GSPro on Mac Crossover

5698503 — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 03:12:22 GMT

Just wrapped up an awful round at Georgia Golf Club on my Mac because of this thread so wanted to say thanks(is there ever really a bad round at… Georgia?!?!?!)! Love my R50. Love GSPro. Love my Mac. I used this thread as a starting point for Claude and what the problem and solution were. I’m tech savvy but never coded. It took quite a few hours of trial and error but Claude got me through all of it and now I have this firing on all cylinders and I’m going to be able to decommission an aging gaming PC instead of sinking money to upgrade! R50 owners that want to run GSPro on high end Macs has to be a very small niche so just wanted to say thanks for having the conversation to get me on the trail! It’s doable!!!!

On course Practice - Distance missing

JGritten — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 02:46:30 GMT

First, love the new On Course Practice mode +1

Quick change suggestion however; please give us the distance of the shot we made

thanks

Proposal: "Garmin Station" – A Hardware Hub to Unlock the Next-Gen Golf App Ecosystem

4715624 — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 02:43:32 GMT

The Approach R50 is an incredible piece of hardware, but to truly dominate the market and solve current processing limitations (blocking, slow UI, and lack of complex data fusion), I propose a dedicated hardware expansion: "Garmin Station."

What is Garmin Station?
An external high-performance processing hub (Mini-PC or Smart Dongle) that offloads heavy image processing and AI analysis from the R50.

Key Strategic Benefits:

Multi-Device Data Fusion: Seamlessly integrate R50 (Side-view), R10/Mevo+ (Rear-view), and CT10 (Automatic Club Recognition) to create the most accurate data set in the industry.
"Garmin Golf App Store": By providing a high-performance OS environment, Garmin can launch a dedicated App Store. This allows 3rd party developers (Creative Golf, Awesome Golf, etc.) to sell high-fidelity software directly on the Garmin platform.
AI-Driven Experience: Enable real-time "Wedge Matrix" generation and "AI Narrative Coaching" that requires more CPU power than the current standalone unit provides.
Future-Proofing: Users can upgrade the "Station" without discarding their expensive R50 sensors, creating a loyal, long-term subscription and hardware ecosystem.

Why it matters:
While new competitors are flooding the market with low-cost sensors, Garmin can win by becoming the "Platform Provider." By offloading processing to the Garmin Station, we can eliminate load times, simplify UI (like a touch-responsive Wedge Matrix), and integrate fitness tracking (Walking Mode) into the golf experience.

I believe "Garmin Station" is the missing piece to turn the R50 into the heart of a professional-grade, yet consumer-friendly golf ecosystem. I would love to hear from the development and strategy teams regarding this vision.

Overnight Battery Drain (0%) after 4.8.0

Robert W — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 04:38:43 GMT

I have had my Garmin R50 since July, but it appears since upgrading to 4.8.0, my R50 has twice discharged from ~75% to 0% overnight while in sleep mode and stored in its case.

Previous to this upgrade, I would just put the device in sleep mode and the next day it had lost <2% battery overnight. Both Battery and Power Saver are enabled. I have not changed any specific settings since purchasing the device.

I have reached out to support but I am wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue.

RE: Overnight Battery Drain (0%) after 4.8.0

Robert W — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:31:37 GMT

andyv718 I recommend reaching out to support. They actually ended up replacing my device after reviewing the system logs.

You can mitigate this issue by completely powering off the unit after use, but definitely reach out and they will get you more information.

RE: Overnight Battery Drain (0%) after 4.8.0

9661186 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:27:48 GMT

Make sure Wi-Fi is turned off and it's not left in golf mode when you're not playing. Golf mode will run it down quickly because of the GPS power consumption.

But assuming that, if it's still under warranty, contact Garmin. I did and they replaced my watch. The new one is using 7 to 8 percent charge per day in straight watch mode. It was all handled through email; they were good to work with.

I have not gone back to always-on mode. Don't know if that mattered.

RE: Putting Practice Mode

Bestech — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:35:03 GMT

Well said HoboGTS im ready to sell mine I am so disappointed with Garmin and the lack of development. I thought they were going to do some awesome things but nothing shame on you Garmin.

Putting Practice Mode

8357808 — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 23:45:44 GMT

I'm sure this probably won't be as popular of a request, but it'd be really nice if you could just do putting practice on the greens. It would be nice to have a way where you could position yourself around the green and just putt. also, maybe even for regular gameplay, but it’s just putting where you could practice on the greens. Also, it makes it kind of fun because you can set up putting really easily outside the context of a full simulator if you just want to have some fun with friends. Just a thought.

RE: Overnight Battery Drain (0%) after 4.8.0

andyv718 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:14:59 GMT

Came here to say the same thing is happening to me. It's awful. Battery is 0% every time I turn it on and I have to have it plugged in just to play now. Disappointing.

Bag mapping, wedge matrix anytime soon?

8345696 — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:58:32 GMT

Any chance of adding bag mapping, wedge matrix anytime soon? Kinda absurd not to already have that built in at this price point. Would be awesome to have that info talk automatically with garmin watch and range finder.

RE: Protective Case

Wntrglf32 — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:25:21 GMT

I only used mine briefly. I hit the hosel a couple of times trying different shots and the ball never came close to hitting the R50. I would use it again if my older kids or wife decided to give it a try.

$195 seems steep.

Protective Case

c.reiter — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 18:53:33 GMT

Hello!

Does anybody know if there's a protective case for the R50 available?

Garmin or Third Party vendor - anything would be fine

Thanks!

RE: Putting Speed/Distances

5133373 — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:18:22 GMT

Thanks, good to get some confirmation.

I don't want to mess with another device so I don't use GSPro. Hope Garmin looks into this. Should be a pretty simple fix if it's just a math issue.