To analyze your data, you first need to request and download it from Garmin's website. Follow these steps:
Golf Insights analyzes the individual shot records in your Garmin data export — from both on-course rounds and launch monitor / simulator sessions. Your device produces those records if it does any of the following:
You do not need club sensors to use Golf Insights. Any golf watch with AutoShot already produces the shot data the analytics run on — CT10 or CT1 sensors just fill in the short-game shots AutoShot skips.
Devices that only show green yardages and a scorecard write no per-shot records to your export, so the club-distance, gapping, approach-pattern, and recommendation features have nothing to work from. Garmin's lineup and golf features change often; if your exact model isn't in the table below, the checks under it will tell you where you stand.
| Garmin Model / Series | Shot data for Golf Insights? | How it captures shots |
|---|---|---|
| Approach S70 / S62 / S60 / S50 / S44 / S42 / S40 | Yes | Built-in AutoShot with club prompts. Approach CT10 or CT1 sensors optional (CT1 on S70 / S50 / S44). |
| Approach S20 | Yes | Built-in AutoShot with club prompts. CT10 sensors optional. |
| Approach S12 / G12 | Only with sensors | No built-in shot detection (no motion sensor). Needs Approach CT10 club sensors. |
| Approach S10 / G10 / S1 | No | Green yardages and scorecard only; no shot recording and no sensor pairing. |
| Approach R10 / R50 | Yes (simulator) | Launch monitors — produce simulator session and shot data. |
| fēnix 9 / 9 Pro / 8 / E / 7 / 6 / 5 / 5 Plus (all sizes and Pro variants) | Yes | AutoShot, manual entry, and on-watch club prompts. CT10 sensors optional; fēnix 8 and 9 also work with CT1. |
| fēnix 3 / 3 HR / Chronos | Limited | Basic AutoShot only; no CT10 support. Data works but is less complete. |
| epix (Gen 2) / epix Pro (Gen 2) | Yes | AutoShot, manual entry, and on-watch club prompts. CT10 sensors optional. |
| MARQ (Gen 1 / Gen 2 / Golfer) | Yes | Full golf engine: AutoShot with club prompts. CT10 sensors optional. |
| Forerunner 970 / 965 / 955 / 945 / 935 / 745 / 570 | Yes | Golf app with AutoShot, manual entry, and club prompts. CT10 sensors optional; Forerunner 970 and 570 also work with CT1. |
| Forerunner 265 / 255 / 165 / 55 | No | These models have no golf app, so they record no shots. |
| Venu 4 / 3 / 2 / 2 Plus / Venu / Venu Sq / Venu X1 | Yes | Golf app with AutoShot, manual entry, and club prompts. CT10 sensors optional on most; Venu 4 and Venu X1 also work with CT1. |
| vívoactive 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 | Yes | AutoShot, manual entry, and club prompts. CT10 sensors optional on vívoactive 4 and newer; vívoactive 6 also works with CT1. |
| Instinct 3 / Instinct 2 (all variants) / Instinct Crossover | Yes | AutoShot and manual entry; the Club Prompt setting assigns the club for each shot. CT10 sensors optional. |
| tactix / quatix / Enduro / D2 / Descent (golf-capable models) | Yes | Share the fēnix golf app: AutoShot, manual entry, and club prompts. CT10 sensors optional on most; tactix 8, Enduro 3, and D2 Mach2 also work with CT1. |
| Lily 2 / Lily 2 Active / vívomove | No | No golf shot tracking. |
| Approach CT10 / CT1 club sensors | Optional add-on | Not required. Twist onto any compatible watch above to log every shot — including chips — with the exact club automatically, no prompts. CT10 works with most golf watches; CT1 (newer, battery-free) works with the Approach S44 / S50 / S70, fēnix 8 and 9, Forerunner 570 and 970, vívoactive 6, Venu 4, Venu X1, tactix 8, Enduro 3, and D2 Mach2. (Note 2) |
Note 1: AutoShot detects full swings automatically and does not record putts or short chip shots. On most watches you can add a missed shot manually from where you played it, and the club prompt asks which club you hit.
Note 2: Approach CT10 and the newer battery-free CT1 tags sit on the grip end and record every shot with the club used, including the short ones AutoShot skips. They give Golf Insights its most complete picture — but they are optional, not required. AutoShot plus the watch's club prompts already produce everything the analytics need.
1. Why these metrics? Driving, Approach, Short Game, and Putting are the "Big 4" areas most correlated with lowering handicaps.
2. Trend Determination: We compare your Last 20 Rounds against your longer-term baseline to see if you are Improving, Maintaining, or Declining.
3. Peer Comparisons: We compare you to a Peer Group based on your Handicap Index, Age, and Sex.
Strokes Gained is a popular metric that compares every shot you hit against a professional PGA Tour baseline. While technically precise, it essentially tells you how much better a professional is than you. For most amateurs, this can be discouraging and difficult to turn into a practical practice plan.
Peer Benchmarking compares your performance against a group of golfers with your exact profile—matching your Handicap Index, Age, and Sex.
Why it's better: Peer benchmarking provides "Attainable Excellence." Knowing you are trailing your own peer group in a specific category (like Scrambling or Driving Accuracy) identifies a realistic area where you can gain a competitive advantage. It helps you focus on the improvements that will actually help you beat the players you compete against every weekend, rather than chasing a professional standard.
Greens in Regulation (GIR) is a standard scoring result that tracks whether you reached the putting surface in "Par minus 2" strokes or fewer. For example, hitting the green in one shot on a Par 3 or two shots on a Par 4 counts as a GIR. It is a result-based measurement of your overall scoring efficiency on a hole.
Approach Shots focus on your intention rather than just the scorecard result. We identify every shot where you realistically tried to hit the green by looking at your distance to the pin and your historical capability with the club used. This allows us to provide a detailed breakdown of why you missed the green, such as a tendency to miss short or pull the ball to the left.
Scrambling is the art of "saving par". It measures your ability to make a par or better on any hole where you failed to hit the green in regulation. It is a strictly result-based metric for the entire hole.
Up And Down measures your specific short-game skill from a "Near Green" position. It calculates how often you successfully hole out in just two strokes (a wedge shot followed by one putt or a hole-out) when you are close to the green, regardless of whether you are scrambling for par or trying to save a bogey.
GPS data isn't perfect, and neither is every swing. Occasionally, a signal glitch might record a shot as 500 yards, or a severe "topped" ball might travel only 2 yards. We use an automated cleaning process to find and remove these extreme errors. This ensures your club distances and averages represent your actual game rather than being distorted by a few fluke numbers.
For clubs marked as "Short Game" (like the Lob Wedge), we must separate short chips from full swings so your distance stats remain accurate.
Stability: Compares Last 20 vs. Last 40 rounds. Better for long-term consistency.
Sensitivity: Compares Last 20 vs. Previous 20 rounds. Better for seeing immediate impacts of practice or equipment changes.
Mode (Typical): The distance you hit most often (the "Stock" shot). Use this for planning shots you are confident in.
Median: The mathematical middle. Use this for general course management and clearing hazards, as it accounts for your typical dispersion.
Hover over any chart and click the Camera Icon in the top-right to download a high-quality PNG image for printing or sharing with a coach.
Make Life Great, Inc. is the small company behind Golf Insights, dedicated to building tools that improve both your personal and professional life.
Golf Insights is currently free to use. Our goal is to provide clarity and help golfers improve their game, not to generate a profit.
There are ongoing costs to keep the site running—primarily hosting, domain maintenance, and insurance. While these are currently covered, we may eventually introduce a small fee to ensure the site remains sustainable over the long term.
If we do introduce a fee, our commitment to you is that we will keep as much of the core value free as we possibly can. Furthermore, we will never share or sell your personal information.