Does my S60 watch have to be connected to garmin golf app during a round?

Former Member
Former Member

As per title suggests. When playing a round and recording the shots on my watch, does it have to be connected via bluetooth to the app on my phone or can all the shots and stats be uploaded from the watch to the garmin golf app after the round? ie: leave my phone at home?

  • You don't need your phone during the round for watch to work and record your shots. Actually even opposite, I was told by the Garmin support rep that because of problems with phone app it is better not to have it connected with Bluetooth but upload the round using Garmin Express after the round is finished.

  • You do not need to maintain Bluetooth connection with your smartphone. You only need the connection after you have saved your round of Golf and wish to send the scorecard to your Garmin Connect account. You can then view your synced scorecard in the Golf APP or online in your Garmin Connect account.

  • Hi chris

    my scorecard updates on my phone after I sync the watch with Garmin connect on my phone but it will not show the shots I played ie hole by hole maps

    this has been happening for over 6 months now

    any explanations or fixes?

  • I have seen a small handful of reports of what you are describing but no consistent pattern for our Golf customers. Update and sync your watch using Garmin Express on your computer. If the hole by hole issue continues, please contact your local regional Outdoor Golf Support and we will be happy to further look into the issue to get it resolved.

  • Hello Chris, I do not agree with this. I left my phone at home yesterday, as per user in title has stated, and the GPS did not work on my Garmin device. The watch is effectively useless. Can you confirm you need the phone and app on when using the watch? See below list of functions which do not work when no IoS device detected. as per Garmin website. in particular "Connected GPS".

    Features That Stop Working When the Garmin Connect App Is Closed on iOS Devices

    Some Garmin Connect app features require the Garmin Connect app to be open or running in the background on iOS devices. If the Garmin Connect app on your iPhone is not open or it has been force-closed, the following features will not function:

    • LiveTrack

    • GroupTrack

    • Incident detection

    • Weather

    • Connected GPS

    • Music controls for your smartphone

    • Connect IQ app functions, including third-party apps

    • Activity audio prompts

    • Find My Phone

    • Strava Beacon

    • All sync-related functions (auto-sync activities, steps, updates)

    • Garmin device connection alerts

    • Bike alarm notifications

    • Calendar widget

    • Golf courses

  • Hello, the features that support article is referring to are limited to the app. This would have 0 effect on the device's ability to connect to satellites, since the watch has its own hardware for that. Therefore, all of our golf watches can be used at a golf course without your phone if desired.

  • Please advise of the steps to ensure the Garmin device is using its GPS and not the phone? AS I could not find this on the watch and could not use it on the golf course. It found the first hole, but after that nothing when I continued my round. 

  • The only thing you need to ensure is that you are not skipping the step for it acquiring satellites prior to starting your round.

    If it is picking up satellites and picks up the first hole, but doesn't advance, the issue is related to the hole transitioning, which may indicate a different issue.

    Please make sure your device software is up to date. 

    -Update Golf Courses and Device Software on an Approach

    You can also try resetting the defaults on the watch (make sure you sync any data prior to resetting the watch).

    -Restoring Default Settings

    If issues persist, please reach out to your region's Golf Product Support team using the contact info found at the following link:

    Contact Us for More Help

    The watch likely needs to be serviced.