Hole19: Golf GPS Range Finder Reviews

by R Golfer

I purchased an Apple Watch largely because the hole 19 app was available for it. I downloaded the free app and it worked pretty good for a while. Then I started having problems just occasionally. Hole 19 kept sending me messages trying to sell me the premium version. When they sent a discounted offer for the premium I thought maybe that would help with the problems, and I liked some of the additional features they said it would include. So, I bought the premium hole 19 and it has been a nightmare ever since. I download the course before leaving my house. Then, I start Hole19 on the first hole. By the end of the first hole it asks me if I want to save “the round”. Sometimes I can get it to work again but then if I do get it to work again, the same thing happens again and sometimes I can’t get it to work again. I have not had it work for a complete round for a long time, and fiddling around with it trying to make it work during the round had caused some bad rounds because of the distraction and frustration it has caused. Then, I have do the embarrassing thing of asking my golf buddies my distance for each shot. I have tried to get in touch with the hole 19 customer service without success. I’m not sure they even have a customer service department or anyone there that can or will give me help. What a disappointment hole 19 app has caused me along with much frustration and embarrassment. What a waste of money, and enjoyment of golf.

by Jade Kahn

TLDR: constant moving of features behind paywall makes this app not compete with other apps like 18Birdies

I have been a user since May 2015 during the beta testing and spent time providing feedback and suggestions from the beginning. (Some they actually implemented)

Through the years this app got both better and worse. Better due to better performance but also worse because they would move features to the Subscription side.

While losing features (and gaining ads) is annoying, I get that they are trying to compete with other apps for both market share and revenue. And while I tried other golf GPS tracking systems, I have always stayed loyal to this app.

That changes now. In the latest release they removed Apple Watch score keeping and decided that you needed a subscription for it. This was something that was keeping them within range of apps like 18Birdies. So now other apps still have Apple Watch scoring for free but this app doesn’t. It is now part of their “premium lite” monthly subscription. If they had asked for one time fee $5 to unlock it I might have done it. But $3 a month to do what better apps give you for free? No! Loyalty goes both ways.

Anthony Douglas, you have strayed from your original concept and desire to help golfers

by RichBW

Hole19 is a great value as a free app. Not so as a paid one.

I upgraded to premium via the Apple App Store. I am using an iPhone 11 pro max with iOS 13. I do get the upgraded maps, but when I select advanced scoring, I get no screen to input a score, either on the phone or watch. It just goes to the next hole. I’ve restored Hole19 ; I’ve deleted Hole19 , reinstalled, and restored Hole19 with no success. The scoring does work with simple scoring, but I didn’t have to pay for the upgrade to get that! Hole19 , phone, and watch are upgraded to the latest versions.

Update: this app Tech support reported that the advanced scoring features are only available on the iPhone, not the Apple Watch taking away Hole 19’s best feature-use on the watch. Paying for the pro version is a waste of money.

by ChieF-10

To be clear, this rating reflects Hole19 and it’s functionality. It’s a shame that you can’t use the shot by shot feature from your watch.

Don’t see how hard it would be add a prompt to select your club used, lie, etc., as you stand over your ball each shot—aka mimic scoring pop up screen, works beautifully! I’m a minimalist and never going to take my phone out to do this. It’s annoying when you can do all the scoring from the watch for free, but pay for premium and it’s essentially the same functionality. I don’t want to lug my iPhone around in my pocket and not be able to separate from phone/outside world just because I want to get a little advanced analytics.

by Stormtracker9

Hole19 definitely has more/better free features than GolfShot but the premium version leaves much to be desired. They market that Shot Tracking works on Apple Watch but after starting & stopping, there is no way to save it. You can continue from where you stopped (unpause & continue adding distance to same shot), reset (sets to 0), or cancel (which won’t save). So if you want to shot track, you have to keep pulling out your phone. No response from support on my email & generically received a “our support is busy” response, so don’t hold your breath getting a response from their support. If you just plan to use the free version, it’s great. Do not recommend paying for the service as it stands though.

by TheAmazingLexa

Been using Hole19 for a full season now. Love the Apple Watch interface. Easy to use, very accurate, and does not slow the game down (like pulling out the range finder all the time). Hole19 is a ton of value for the money.

I would absolutely have rated 5 stars if not for for the recent upgrade … for some reason my watch interface is bouncing all over the place … switching holes - seemingly randomly. I have to manually move back to the proper hole quite a bit throughout a round. Nothing is touching my watch that would potentially simulate movement in Hole19 . Seems like it is simply happening through my swing motion.

To the developers… is this a known issue? I played over 100 rounds last year on the previous version and this did not happen once. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Other than the recent issue I have encountered, I totally recommend Hole19 for any golfer who wants the benefit of a great golf companion app that has a simple design that doesn’t take your focus off the game.

by Golfing_Former_Brit

Overall this is one of the easiest Golf GPS app that supports Apple Watch that I have tried.
My only issues are that sometimes when opening, Hole19 just stays in the loading screen. The only way of fixing this is to reboot my phone (annoying). The second is when the phone and watch get out of sync. It’s as if the watch stops communicating to the phone. It keeps on showing yardage even when you have finished the round on the phone. You can’t stop this on the watch, the only way I have found is to reboot my watch. If these were fixed it would get 5 stars

by SteveA48

I’m a casual golfer that has played since I was 8, but never competitively because other sports got in the way. At 48, I am enjoying golf with my kids and buddies, and actually playing the best golf of my life, breaking 80 and sometimes in the low 70’s all year so far. At times our outings are practice rounds for an upcoming summer league or HS match with my 18 year old, where I haven’t played before. The maps, with the ability to zoom and move the aiming point around really helps with shot selection and golf course management. The ability to clearly see how far it is to a dogleg or to reach/carry a bunker, and then how much you will have left to reach the green from there has changed the way I approach the teebox. It’s much more than getting a number from your watch. I grab my driver much less than I used to, in fact shot +2 on 9 holes last night and only grabbed my driver 3 times, because I knew exactly which shots I needed to hit for GIR before I ever walked to the tee. I’ve been using this app for years as a GPS yardage function and find it consistent, accurate and flexible.

by JTLooper

I’ve been using this golf app for well over 5 years now. I was a professional caddie for 20 years and when I first got an Apple Watch I was searching for something I could use, tried many different apps and Hole19 is by far the best. It has come with many challenges but the company from the start has listened to its users and has responded. I wasn’t one of those people that was giving feedback but was reading the feedback and watching Hole19 progress and I can wholeheartedly say this is the best app available for the serious or casual golfer. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

by SL23750

I have used this product for a few years now. I liked it enough to upgrade to the Premium edition. Typically use it twice a week in conjunction with my Apple Watch. I haven’t had very many issues and it works well. I mostly use it to see the overall hole design, distances and tracking my score and I like that aspect better than some of the other apps on the market. When I have had an issue like recently with the Apple Watch their support team was very responsive. Is it perfect? No as there are still little things that I would like to see in Hole19 but overall, I really like it.

by DJ Golfer

I have used several apps and have not changed since finding this one 3 yrs ago. Does everything I need it to and always works well. My two pieces of feedback are these:
1) I admit I'm ashamed that I want this however, if you can chose to add penalties while keeping score you should have a summary in the statistics area.
2) I like the idea of having the ability to choose different scoring games but think it would be cool for there to be more option and how to play them. Often my golf buddy's and I are wanting to play a different game but alway settle on skins because we don't know where to look.
Thanks for the great app and keep making improvements.

by Rhicks88

I have use Hole19 at some top ranked courses and it is a fantastic app the GPS is very accurate and it has a lot of information. But recently my 8 old son decided to learn and we been playing at a crappy little nine hole course at which the course was not on Hole19 I emailed and requested they add Hole19 with little to no information they added The course they went far above and beyond to help me and my son and I am extremely impressed with the support and the kindness of the people that run Hole19 I highly recommend you download and use super easy to use and will help your golf game thank you!

by Tomln7

Had the free version for several years and loved it. When I paid to upgrade the gps distances were consistently 10-15 yards short. I only paid to have the hole advance automatically but now I can’t depend on the distance readings. Won’t be renewing it.

Update—After reviewing the entire app and all the settings I discovered that the distances had been changed from yards to meters. While I don’t believe I made this change I can’t be sure. But after changing back to yards the distances are now back to being very accurate. The developer responded to my post wanting to help resolve the issue which is very good customer service. I now love Hole19 again.

by Jeffruth

I’ve been an avid golfer most of my life and now I do UI design professionally for a large software company. I have to say, Hole19 makes me so happy. The design is great, it works flawlessly, the GPS is wildly accurate. I honestly think, if you play golf, this is a MUST HAVE APP!! I have so much fun looking at my rounds when I’m done. You really do learn so much about your game after your round!

My only suggestion is make it easier to share your scorecard with friends. I didn’t post/share after the round, but want to forward to friends later in the evening and couldn’t find an easy way to do it. That was a bit surprising. I also wanted to see my full scorecard in landscape view and didn’t see a way to do that either.

Otherwise, you all have thought of everything! Great job!!

by BBs Music

I think this will be my 3rd season using Hole19. I started using it because it was compatible with my Apple Watch. At first it was terrible. I almost gave up on it. The support people even told me at one point to wear my watch upside down so the screen would stay open to the this app app. That was super annoying. But I’ve seen you work out the kinks and it just keeps getting better. Just the other day I fired it up and the watch version has a whole UI! (User interface for you non-tech folks) I really like it. I do pay for it and I do think it’s a tad expensive since it has to be renewed every year. I paid for it again this year because I like it. Would I pay more? I doubt it since there are a couple of other good options out there.

by Captain Maps

I downloaded Hole19 long before the Apple watch was even a thing. I wanted yardages, track my score and just keep data as much as possible. Be ready, you might realize just how bad at putting you really are, lol. This has been a strong app for any golf course I have played. I’ve only stumbled across one golf course where they changed their back 9 layout so, well it was a guessing game - old school golf. Now having the Apple watch, life is easy. Just a quick glance for back/middle/front of the green and you’re good to go. I golf in some extreme hilly terrain so I adjust that yardage myself. The best part, when apple updates, so will Hole 19! It might take a little bit but they are usually quick on feedback and will have your app up and running in no time. Just download it and forget everything else you’ve ever tried.

by Mikeschatting

Ever since the Apple watch came out, I have been searching for a usable golf app that was fast and accurate enough to use on the golf course. Hole 19 has now fulfilled that search. Although previous versions did not perform that well, the current version is VERY good. Loads and updates distances as fast, or faster than other golf apps on my iPhone 6; is very accurate. It is a very easy to use watch golf app. The only reason I don’t give it 5 stars, yet, is it doesn’t automatically advance to the new hole, so I have to remember to do that. I believe that functionality is coming. If you are looking for a quick, accurate distance golf app for the Apple watch, Hole19 is for you. Battery drain is minimal on both the phone and the watch, typically using between 10-15 percent for 18 holes.

Update: better than ever. Full functionality now. Many features I don’t always use, but there if I need them. Watch updates immediately on yardage’s.

by Rskolin

Let me first say that all the golf analytics and stats are neat and nice to haves, but my main reason for a golf app is the GPS function. But trying to find a suitable (and simple) golf GPS app for the Apple Watch can be quite a task, especially if you don't need all the bells and whistles, and don’t want to get tied up with fees for stuff you really don’t want or need.

After seemingly endless searching on Hole19 Store and the Web, and watching outdated You Tube videos, I found Hole 19. The basic GPS function that I want is simple and easy to use on Hole19. It’s also free, and doesn’t interrupt your game with annoying ads to get the “Pro” edition.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has scoring, number of putts and lots of other analytics like driving accuracy, GIR, recovery performance. Most of the apps that have this are expensive and require fees to view this data, but not this one.

Hole19 immediately identified my course. I measured its accuracy alongside my Garmin device and the yardages were pretty similar, with maybe a few yards difference. (Some of the other, more popular apps that I tried were off by as much as 20 yards!) And, it didn’t crash during my round, something that frequently occurred with those other, costly apps.

So, I found a keeper and companion for my first Apple Watch! I rarely write app reviews, but this one deserved my time and attention. Love its simplicity, ease of use, accuracy and overall performance.

by Mulbaras

I’m a skeptic and this is the first review I’ve written about anything. I tried Hole19 and it worked very well. Then I bought the Pro version, or whatever they call it, and it is super. I can start my round on my phone and then get all my distances from my watch. I have to lay up on two holes and the flyover screen works perfectly for my landing distance. Other than those two shots, I don’t need my phone at all. Then it keeps track of my score and my phone and I can see my stats on my phone when I’m done. I like the shot-by-shot scoring but it is much easier if you remember to put each shot in as you go along—which I am not good at. My only wish is that the color for pars and bogies were reversed. A bright happy blue for bogy and a gray so light it’s hardly visible for par just doesn’t seem well thought out to me. But everything else is great. I highly recommend this program and the upgrade for all the extras. Try it!

by 12345fjdjencnsjskvje

Honestly, I tried a couple other apps and one killed battery and the other didn’t keep score on my watch. Yeah the distances aren’t perfect when using the watch but small fish. I’m sure there are really expensive methods that are foolproof. Overall an excellent app. Really smooth, easy to use, and does what I need it to do.

A couple pointers for the this app team! I’d love to have a DARK mode option on my phone. Also, try to enhance your bag features. Think actually selecting your club make/model. Other apps do it and you guys should have that as well. That way if you get a new club you can see which one hits further.

Overall love it. I bought a year of their top level subscription and this is the first review I’ve ever left so that should say a lot.

by Pluther33

Hole 19 App has great features but needs one final very improvement to perfect with use with Apple Watch. Hole19 should have the option to permanently set the GPS distances to be determined from the Apple Watch versus the iPhone. Seems like a no brainer as unless you carry you phone in your pocket the gps distance is not where your hitting from and thus are well off the real distance. To make app use Apple Watch GPS you need to turn off Bluetooth which causes you to lose any access to iPhone Bluetooth uses (speaker, headphones etc.). Also, you need to remember to turn it all back on. I’ve gone back to my Garmin golf watch and cancelled my subscription until this is fixed. Developers, please add this option if you can. Thanks!!

by EvoL216

Hole19 rarely syncs up to the Apple Watch Series 2 or 4. Most of the time it says to start a round on the phone even after it IS started on the phone making it useless on the watch. On the rare occasion the watch does sync and Hole19 actually works, once you have completed a hole and input your score, the “next hole” button will not work until you have hit in 5-10 times. Nearly each time this results in jumping forward 4-5 holes and having to ope the phone back up to select next hole. I wanted to like Hole19 and use it without carrying my iPhone XS Max in my pocket. There are way too many issues with it and it will just frustrate you more than it will ever help with yardage. Don’t waste you time or money.

by Heli0s247

Hole19 use to be incredibly accurate. It was dead in with laser range finders to center of the green. After the last update it has been consistently 10-20yards off on both an iPhoneX and iPhone6. The watch app is almost completely broken now as well and it does not use the GPS on the watch as far as I can tell. The layout is broken but useable on the iPhoneX now.

Hopefully these will get fixed soon! Also use the GPS on the watch! It makes way more sense. As soon as these are resolved I’ll change my review to 5 stars once again.

Also as a money grab you may want to offer a set deal to just get high res screens one time fee. I’d pay $50 for high res but I don’t really need to track my play to justify a subscription.

by INTP Always Thinking

It is one of the better gps systems I’ve tried. I will suggest trying it. Here are my issues:
1) It can be slow at times. But this has only been noticeable not annoying.
2) It is almost always glitchie on launching at a course and getting connected to my watch. But it has always worked in time for my first tee shot.
3) This one is very annoying - at least one time during every round (except one noted below) I am not able to enter a score to go on to the next hole. It might be related to push notifications. Last round I activated privacy mode and was not bother by this problem.
4) Another annoying one is touch responsiveness on both the iWatch and the phone. Why is a mystery that needs solving. Scoring on the watch is the most noticeable. This is really annoying.

Items 3 and 4 are a big deal in my mind. If these are fixed my rating would go to 4 or 5 stars. For now I am thinking of going back to my old Garmin unit that is not buggy at all.

by Jack-Bikes

I played 18 rounds using Hole19 , then suddenly it stopped working. It freezes, and gets stuck won't advance to the next hole and then says I haven't finished a round. I delete the round I just started and it gets stuck again. Disappointed!

Ok, I'm trying it again and so far it seems more stable. One thing that I think should change is this: I play a lot of 9 hole courses, but play them twice for 18 holes. Hole19 only shows them as 9 holes. I have to put in each round of 9 separately. It would be nice if you had a choice of 9 or 18 on the 9 hole courses.

I just got an Apple Series 4 watch and Hole19 does not function on this model. It worked in the Series 3.

by Pcbell

I use this on my phone and watch (would prefer stand alone on the watch, but I get the issue). Two issues with Hole19 :

1) every once in awhile, Hole19 stops working on the watch and the watch goes to the home screen. I have to find Hole19 and open it again. I don’t have to start a new round, but it is incredibly annoying. There should be a setting that forces Hole19 to have priority.
2) When you start a round, it should automatically enable Do Not Disturb (or give us an option to do that). Very embarrassing when I get a robocall while someone is lining up a birdie put (or triple
Bogey in my case)

by Mori335

Tried several apps and this one is the easiest to read and has just the features I need. Having the overview of the hole is excellent for playing courses that have blind tee shots or if you’re not familiar with.
Support has been excellent even though I’m still using the free app.
It took a couple of updates for it to work regularly, but now it fires up every time.
Kudos to the team.
Even though I don’t plan on getting the premium version, I still would like to send a donation for a great app!

by SparksJoy

Hole19 developer is clearly invested in making this golf app the best there is. Hole19 is very user friendly and easy to get around. Supporting documentation is quickly accessible and features are explained well. I started with the free version, but I see so many benefits to upgrading that i think i will move to the next level (lite). I hate paying for apps, especially subscription based app, but this is one that is too expensive and offers to much more. Check Hole19 out. You won’t be disappointed!

by TheDragonsPrincess

When I was shopping for a range finder, I discovered that I could purchase an Apple Watch for not much more and download Hole19 FOR FREE. I’m so grateful that I pulled the trigger. Hole19 gives me everything I need as a beginner, and my more experienced BF always asks for my app details. Not only can I get front/back/center. But I can use my phone to map the course. It even allows me to see the yardage for a layup on a dogleg. I love it! I also like that I can share my scores with friends. It adds a nice friendly challenge, even if you don’t get the chance to play together.

by Bill Tripp

Hole19 works great for players at all stages of their golf game. The yardage always seems to be very accurate. It has all of the courses around my area and I have never had trouble finding a course either. Very cool feature is that I can save my rounds/ stats and then log onto the computer later to review them online. Overall great app for any golfer. I also played a course that went through a major renovation and I emailed this app and it was updated in less than a day. That was awesome!!