Arccos Golf Performance Tracker Hands On Review

I have a problem.  Allow me to explain:

I love having detailed stats about my golf game.  Fairways hit (left or right), GIR, average distances per club, putts per hole, the list is really only limited by your imagination.  But here’s the rub: I’m no PGA TOUR player—not even close—and I certainly don’t have a full time caddie and a team of coaches, trainers, and assistants jotting down my every move on the golf course.  Additionally, I hate, in fact I truly loathe, being distracted during my golf game.  Few things frustrate me more than having to record every ball strike.  I’ve been down the old “pen and paper” road and I’ve even tried a number of different smartphone apps to track my performance, but all of these methods had one fatal flaw, my input!

That’s right, until now if I wanted to keep statistics on my golf game it meant I had to split my time between trying to actually concentrate on playing my game and being my own personal stenographer out there.  But, I’m happy to report that since incorporating the Arccos Golf Performance Tracking System into my game those days are officially behind me.  With the Arccos system I can get back to focusing on actually playing my best round while the Bluetooth-enabled sensors on my clubs do all the heavy statistical lifting as they track my every move out on the golf course.

What is Arccos?

Simply put, Arccos is a golf performance tracking system that relies on tiny sensors attached to your golf clubs and connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth to track, record, and log every shot you take on the golf course.

Given the system’s incredible success over the past year chances are you’ve already heard of Arccos and perhaps even seen the company’s commercials featuring 2014 FedExCup champ Billy Horschel, but for those of you who haven’t yet experienced the Arccos system here’s a quick overview:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlAr8PIZmEQ&width=742&height=419[/embedyt]

How to Set Arccos Up

Not a techie?  No problem.  If you have (and vaguely know your way around) a smartphone and are accustomed to basic Bluetooth pairing then you’re fully qualified to set up your Arccos.  That’s right, if you’ve ever paired your phone to your car speakers or headset using Bluetooth you already have all the skills required to setup and use your Arccos system.

The process of setting up my Arccos system was as easy as following the on-screen instructions within the Arccos app—which can be downloaded for free here.

The Arccos app first asks you which 14 clubs you carry in your bag and then walks you through pairing each club to the app one-by-one.  The good news is that once pairing is done you’ll never need to do it again because unless you change clubs your clubs will remain paired indefinitely.

Using Arccos on the Course

Using Arccos on the golf course couldn’t be easier, and that is both the intention, and the beauty of the system.  To get started, you simply fire up the Arccos app on your smartphone, select the course you’re playing that day (a listing of courses near you is populated based on your GPS positioning) and click “Start Round.”  From that moment forward your Arccos sensors begin working with your smartphone to detect and track shots.

This is where the rubber really meets the road and I won’t sugar coat the fact that for the first few rounds I was nervously checking my phone to make sure all of my shots were being recording—something I mentioned earlier that I hate doing because it distracts me from my game.  However, after a few rounds getting used to my Arccos system I quickly became confident that it was doing “it’s thing” autonomously and without my need to make adjustments which lead to me “checking in on it” less and less.

Although Arccos is very proficient at tracking your shots without any human interaction (for example the system is smart enough to know that if two shots are taken in very close GPS proximity there was most likely an error and only records one of the shots by default) there are still a few things you can do to help improve the system’s accuracy.  For example, when you carry your clubs it’s important to get used to holding them club face up while you walk to the ball.  This is something that took me a few rounds to get into the habit of  doing.  The reason for this is that when your sensors are upside down they go into “sleep mode” and will not record impacts as shots.  Only once the sensor is upright (as in when you address the ball) does the sensor actually turn on.  Admittedly, there were a few times that my putter and wedges registered shots when I dropped them to the ground next to the green so I had to get used to laying them down more carefully.

If the Arccos system does register an errant shot fixing it is as simple as deleting the shot via the app.  This is something that can even be done at a later time if you happen to notice the error later in your round.

There are also times when you will want to interact with the app during your round, specifically in using the app’s built-in GPS distance meter.  The distances registered on the app have proven to be quite accurate (within about 1-3 yards) when compared to my laser range finder.

Arccos also uses your GPS position to automatically determine which hole you are playing but here again there are some times when the system makes a mistake and logs a shot or two on the wrong hole, the good news is that similarly to correcting errant shots you can easily “move” a shot to the correct hole with a few clicks in the app.

Reviewing Your Statistics

Now let’s talk about the real bread and butter of the Arccos system: the detailed statistics your sensors spit out after diligently tracking your meandering path around the golf course.

First, it’s important to note that there are a number of ways that you can review your shot-by-shot and round-by-round statistics.  You can quickly and easily pull your statistics up on your smartphone (either during your round or any time after), you can review your rounds on your iPad or other tablet, or you can dive into stunning detail overlayed on course images by logging into your account at ArccosGolf.com.

In addition to allowing you a way of visualizing each of your shots the Arccos system also uses these shot and distance recordings to calculate every imaginable statistical detail about your game including strokes gained broken down by each club, average and max distances, even personal goals and bests achieved.

Oh, and forget having to rely on that old “pencil and paper” scorecard.  In addition to tracking your shot statistics Arccos will also run your scorecard in a level of detail you’ve previously only dreamed of.

Updates and Support

If you’re anything like me you often worry that your shiny new tech product will become outdated shortly after opening the box, but that’s simply not the case with Arccos.  Since the sensors are connected to the Arccos app your system is always up to date.  Periodically you’ll notice that the app will display that your sensors are being updated to the latest firmware.  This process is completely hands-off and ensures that all the latest advancements (e.g. sensitivity adjustments, interface elements, etc.) are always at your fingertips.

The Arccos system is also backed by one of the best support teams I’ve ever had the pleasure of interacting with.  Not only will they respond promptly to any of your questions, they also send you proactive emails from time to time with improvement suggestions.

I could hardly believe it when after a few days of using Arccos I recieved an email from the team saying they noticed that I had been manually adjusting a number of my putts, which to them indicated I was having some issues with that particular sensor.  To help me dial it in they sent me a number of suggestions on how to improve the accuracy of the device.

Who the Arccos System is For

So now you might be asking yourself, “is the Arccos system really for me?”  The answer lies in how much you value having detailed statistics about your golf game and how much of your own time and energy you’re willing to invest into recording that data.  If you’re answer is that you love having as many stats as possible but hate having to log everything manually either via the old pen and paper route or via a smartphone app that requires manual entry, then this is the system for you.

Granted that at just under $250 the Arccos system is not cheap, but once you purchase the hardware your financial commitment is done.  Arccos does not charge any subscription or reoccurring fees for their stat tracking service, nor do they charge you for firmware upgrades.  The only additional expense you will incur is when the batteries in your Arccos sensors eventually need to be replaced, but the good news is that the batteries themselves are quite inexpensive (you can buy them on Amazon here) and according to Arccos the batteries should last you 40-50 rounds which for most golfers means upwards of two full seasons of golf.

Where to Get it

You can purchase the Arccos system directly from Arccos by visiting their website at ArccosGolf.com but we actually found it a few bucks cheaper (and with free shipping) on Amazon.  If you’d rather pick it up locally there are a number of Apple stores and golf shops that carry Arccos (full list here).

The Final Verdict

The Arccos is hands down one of the most useful game tracking and improvement app/equipment combos we’ve seen to date.  Throw in the system’s recent integration with Apple Watch and you’ve got an unstoppable stat tracking powerhouse.

[rwp-review id=”0″]