GolfBuddy Make a wide range of GPS devices, but they all have one thing in common and that is no-nonsense, down to earth devices with good navigation and no annual fees.
The GolfBuddy WT4 GPS watch continues this fine tradition in a more stylish and sleeker body than the previous GolfBuddy WT3 Watch which was pretty chunky.
Whilst it is thinner, the WT4 is still quite deep at 15mm and the large brushed chrome face gives it a big profile which may appeal to some more than others.
On your arm it feels fine and sits well, even if it is a little larger and heavier than some rivals.
If you have used GolfBuddy devices before then you will be familiar with the set up as you head to the first tee. Head into the main menu and select the GPS option and within 15 seconds the WT4 should locate the course you are on which is pretty impressive.
The front, middle and back distances to the green are displayed clearly on the same screen and even if you stray off line, the Dynamic Green View will adjust the distances depending on your angle of approach to the green, which is a great feature.
If you click the bottom right button then distances to the nearest hazards are shown in a list and whilst this can be tough to figure out if there are a lot of bunkers, generally this is one of the best hazard information services on a GPS watch.
Clicking the top left button takes you to the Pin Placement view which has predefined pin placements to give you yardages to each of those, but given these are essentially guesses I am not convinced of the value of this.
The scoring mode is accessed by pushing and holding the button right button and is easy to use as the scoring defaults to the par and you add or hopefully remove shots depending on your score. The WT4 then gives you running total of shots played and score to par, if you prefer electronic recording to pencil and paper.
There are a couple of other nice to have features, like GPS tracking to see how far and how long you take on a walk, whether on the course or off it and an analogue option for the face time.
The GolfBuddy WT4 comes with its own charging cradle that is plugged in to the mains or your computer by a mini-USB cable.
If you are travelling with lots of cables then this could be one less cable to take, although if you are relying on just the GolfBuddy supplied connectors then you will have to put up with the USA USB adaptor into a UK mains adaptor, which does not win any fashion prizes.
Overall I like the WT4 for the same reason I like the other GolfBuddy devices. The distances are clear, the hazard information is one of the best for a GPS watch and the Dynamic Green View means accurate yardages no matter how far offline you are.
The only thing is that it is essentially the same device as the previous WT3 in a slightly shallower and shinier package so it is hard for me to give it a different rating. It is still pretty chunky and compared to competitors the WT4 is still larger and heavier with less functionality or supporting apps.
If that is not an issue for you then the GolfBuddy WT4 is perfectly good for giving distance information to greens and hazards and the build quality is robust enough to deliver a good value GPS watch.