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Garmin Approach CT10 with S60 - first experience

Harvey
over 6 years ago
Hi all,

I started my golf career only in spring 2017, so I am still golf beginner - but I am an engineer and a bit of a nerd / geek as well, so I like to buy the latest gadgets (not just for golf).

My wife and I own a S60 each and are pretty satisfied with it. Only real downsides are that Stableford handicap scoring still does not work (yes, even with latest software) and that I'd expect some more golf stats - which Garmin seems to add from time to time, so things are heading in the right direction.

I just purchased the CT10 full set and would like to share the first impression and experience with it.

1) First impression of the plastic casing and screw of the sensor is a bit of a mixed feeling. It does not look high quality and I expect the screw not to last too long.

2) The mechanical installation itself is easy - however...

a) It is "one size does NOT fit all" - I play Ping clubs with orange "XXL" grips and the sensor looks way too small - which is just optical. I tried the sensors with my wifes clubs and here things are a bit more difficult - the sensor diameter is 1-2mm larger than her XS grips. So the outer edge of the sensor is not pressing on the end of the grip, but is tangling in "the air". So you have mechanical stress on both, the screw and the top of the grip and I doubt that either would last very long. I recommend Garmin to offer different sensor diameters.

b) I used them first yesterday with my Ping set - and after 100 balls on the driving range, the sensor on the Driver, the woods and my hybrids went loose after a few shots already. Not good at all.

3) Pairing is very easy - after mechanical installation just pull club after club from the bag, starting with the driver and follow the instructions

4) On the round: I played so far one round yesterday.

a) Most annoyingly, the driver was not detected by the watch - so no driver shots were detected as well. It was paired correctly. Dunno, what happended, but will un-pair and re-pair this afternoon. If it happens on the round, it takes way too long to fix it. Garmin should add a "test procedure" for the clubs so you can check whether everthing is fine.

b) Most Putter shots were detected, but not all. Sometimes shots of Putter or wegdes wer counted to the wrong hole (which seems to be changing once in a while). The annoying thing of this mis-ordered shots is that you cannot change the hole in Garmin connect after the game.

c) Most surprisingly. so far no real added value could be seen. If you take out a club, the watch vibrates and shows the club plus the typical and max distance. What is "typical"???

So far a very mixed picture - I believe it's too early for early adopters.

I have purchased a set for wife as well, which is still sealed and packed. I guess I will return them to the vendor and wait for an improved version.

Cheers

Harvey

ADDENDUM:

Driver sensor seems to be "dead". Will return the complete set to Garmin.
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    Hi Harvey,
    thanks for this experience info!

    I'm also a beginning golfer since July last year, now struggling around handicap 33. I own a product from the competitor (Arccos), CT 10 was not available at that time.
    But as I read your experience, I'm happy that I own the Arccos system (similar technique, but with an extra sensitive sensor for the putter). It is very seldom, that shots are not being recognized, mostly shots that looks like trials, e.g. two shots in a bunker (very near together) or the last put, if very near to the hole. The other sensors are screwed in to the rubber end of the grip and till today (since mid of June) they are stable mounted.

    Mounting the sensors depend on the physics of the grip, I have an Odysse putter, where the end of the grip is from metal, so I had to drill a hole and fix the sensor by a tape.

    Please continue wit your further experience here.

    Regards
    Gerd
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    Hi all,

    I started my golf career only in spring 2017, so I am still golf beginner - but I am an engineer and a bit of a nerd / geek as well, so I like to buy the latest gadgets (not just for golf).

    .....



    Hello and thanks for telling us your expirience.

    I am seriously considering to buy the sensors with the hope that it will definitevely solve the problem of not detecting and miss some shots

    (to understand see my post here:

    https://forums.garmin.com/forum/on-the-trail/golf/approach-s60/1388629-shots-not-detected-by-the-watch-please-garmin-update-software-urgently

    )

    in that sense it seems that your first impression is really bad.

    Please if it is possible for you: update yor analysis / review with more information or new expriences.

    Thanks
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    I played one round with the full set of CT-10 and I have to say that I was pleased with it.

    I would agree that the sensors look a bit cheep and they do partially unscrewed during the driving range practice but during the round they worked very well.

    When I picked 3 clubs from my bag watch showed me the names and average distance from my past rounds recorded by my watch. After selecting club that I was about to use, on the map on my watch showed the number of the club and curved line showing the expected distance I should get with this club. Putting was a bit tricky but I learnt how to use it on the first green. Putting sensors is very sensitive and making practice puts could be recorded as real put. Also, to record a put stroke you have to keep still for at least 1 second. Once I learnt this all my putting strokes were recorded correctly. At the end of each hole I only needed to add any penalty points if need otherwise all the strokes were recorded correctly.
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    ive been playing golf now for about 2 years and still consider new to the sport, but completely addicted. i work in IT so I am always about the latest gadgets.

    when i first started i was using a system of sensors called ClubHub and it was decent. but had problems with the screw on sensors. the look pretty similar to the CT10 so i imagine over time the same issues will surface.

    last year i switched to the Arccos 360 sensors and really liked them. they pretty much never missed a beat and detected all shots. my problems with it was that my golf instructor was telling me that the sensors were adjusting the weight and length of my clubs so it was hard to have a consistent swing. so i stopped using them and now i rely on the S60. i do have to manually enter them now and get the occasional missed shot but ive also become less reliant on the analytics like i was before.

    the novelty of my longest drive or tracing my tracks on a hole arent quite as beneficial anymore.

    with that said, if you're looking to purchase the Arccos 360 set, i am putting mine up for sale. i had also ordered a couple of individual sensors and one of them is still in the original packaging.

  • 0 over 6 years ago
    Update after a few rounds:

    1) Shot detection is good - however, if you have a failed shot (e.g. failed Driver shot with 5m distance from the tee or 2 or 3 shots until the ball is out of the bunker), then the system will not detect the shots.
    2) Most annoyingly, sometimes the watch jumps to a nearby hole and mixes up the shots of two holes. Unfortunately Connect so far does not offer to adjust the hole for a shot. The issue leads to funny results such as longest drive with a sandwedge of 437m.
    3) Putter strokes: Mixed picture, again: Even after more than a second rest at the ball, shots are sometimes not counted.

    All in all: A bit better than my first review, but not exactly perfect

    Mechanical quality: So far no mechanical issues.

    Big concern: I have two boxes of CT10 for my wife an me. One sensor in one box failed. I wanted to open the sensor to check the battery position, but it is impossible to screw the cap off. Other sensors were easy to open. I mailed Garmin Tech support and got no response from them so far after 5 working days. Not living up to my expectation.
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    If you have two sets of CT10 could you try to add one or two additional clubs to your set of clubs using 1 or 2 borrowed from your wife?
    I am interested to know if I can buy addional sensor and have 15 club set for me.
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    If you have two sets of CT10 could you try to add one or two additional clubs to your set of clubs using 1 or 2 borrowed from your wife?
    I am interested to know if I can buy addional sensor and have 15 club set for me.


    Sorry, pal, sent it back to A**z**e already :-(

    After one more round, I have to say that it is quite convenient that I no longer need to type in the club after each shot. Total shots count per hole, however is a bit unreliable due to above mentioned shortfalls (failed short distance shots; accidental jump to a nearby hole). I guess, the first one will be difficult to improve, however the latter should be easy to fix - at least in Garmin Connect.

    The more detailed statistics are of value, particularly for the short game. However, for the long shots I still miss a clear differentiation between tee-shots, full swing "transport shots" and chips and pitches.
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    just installed and used during my last round, so far it works smoothly and very accurate (putt included). The only thing i have to mention is that it was not able to capture a bunker shot (no buncker statistic available in the app after sync), maybe this is a maps related error more than CT10 mistake. It could be interesting to add some fix functionality in the garmin app to be used at the end of the round.

    Marco
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    Yesterday I have played second round (9 holes) with my CT10 and this time it was not working as smooth as during the first round. After the round I reviewed my score card and I noticed that in couple of instances club that I used was shown as unknown even than during the round my watch was showing correct club. This was not the case during my first round.
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    Interesting reads on the CT10 devices, seems that there is a long way to go before we will recomment this for our customers.