Garmin MARQ Golfer Watch Review

Garmin is one of the leading brands in the golf watch space and the MARQ Golfer is the brand’s most premium, feature-packed model you can buy for a mere $1,850/£1,699. In fact, the golf features only make up a small section of its capability (it can track your breathing, blood oxygen levels and even pay for things in shops) but these features alone make it one of the best golf watches on the market.

Opening the box is an exciting experience. Inside you get a spare strap and three CT10 sensors that screw into the ends of your clubs and allow you to try Garmin’s automatic shot tracking system. But, the MARQ Golfer will prompt you to manually enter what club you hit on each shot until you reach the green as well as your score and how many putts you needed. This data is stored and then presented on the Garmin Connect smartphone app once synced after your round for you to analyse.

After five rounds have been logged, you get access to Garmin’s Virtual Caddie that will suggest clubs for upcoming shots based on your history. They’re even more accurate than you think because they can take slope and current wind speed and direction into account. Very cool, right?

During testing, we found that the silicone rubber strap helped the watch stay in position during the swing better than the tritone green jacquard-weave nylon strap because the MARQ Golfer, at 88g, is on the heavy side. It’s also a little bulky compared to others we’ve tried, but not to the point that it gets in the way.

Once charged and powered up, you’re left to work out how to navigate through the menus using the touch screen and the five buttons scattered around. It is frustratingly confusing at the start and while it improves with practice, you never feel like you’re in complete control of where you’re heading. Start your round successfully, however, and you’re greeted with a 2D overhead view of the hole with distances to the front, middle and back of the green. By pressing a button you can scroll through the hazards that lie ahead in distance order, seeing how far it is to reach and carry them, while also seeing lay up points. You’re also able to relocate the pin position for a more accurate distance (pictured above).

Other features we liked include the PinPointer feature (above), that points in the direction of the pin when it isn’t in view, and the fact it will confirm the current wind speed and direction. Both, along with the Virtual Caddie, are not legal for competition use but were very handy during our testing round.

You're also able to toggle on smartphone notifications, so the watch vibrates when you receive an email or text but it's worth disabling the vibrate function so it doesn't disturb you in your backswing. That said, it's nice to feel somewhat connected to the outside world and the MARQ Golfer can do lots of useful things you currently use your smartphone for - like fitness, maps and contactless payments.

This watch has similar golf functionality to the impressive Garmin Approach S62 but the MARQ Golfer has infinitely more appeal off the course, which besides the price is the main point of difference. The premium touches like the 46-millimeter titanium case and ceramic bezel with custom etched 1-18 golf hole markings no doubt enhance the aesthetics, giving it the look and feel of an elegant timepiece. It is easily among the best Garmin golf watches regardless of what you look for, but some will struggle to justify the investment when other models will do a similar job for considerably less money.

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