Golf Pad — Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — Golf Pad is free to download and use, with no time limit. The free version includes GPS distances to the front, middle, and back of every green, aerial satellite maps, shot and club tracking, live leaderboards, tournament mode, and scoring for up to 4 players. Golf Pad Premium ($29.99–$49.99/year) adds Plays Like distances, AI club recommendations, green contour maps, Strokes Gained analysis, and maps on your smartwatch.

Golf Pad covers 43,000+ golf courses worldwide, including courses in the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and beyond. Every course includes GPS distances, aerial satellite maps with flyovers, and hole-by-hole layouts. Courses are updated daily, so new and recently renovated courses are added continuously.

Yes. Golf Pad has full Apple Watch integration: GPS distances to the front, middle, and back of the green on your wrist, interactive hole maps with tap-for-distance, hazard and layup yardages, scoring, shot tracking, and club selection — all without taking your phone out of your pocket. Maps on Apple Watch are available with Golf Pad Premium. Golf Pad supports Apple Watch Series 4 and newer.

Golf Pad supports Apple Watch (Series 4 and newer), Wear OS watches on Android, and Samsung Galaxy Watch — all three major smartwatch platforms. Core GPS yardages are available on the watch in the free version; Premium adds maps on watch, Plays Like distances, and club recommendations on your wrist.

Golf Pad free includes GPS distances, aerial maps, shot tracking, club tracking, live leaderboards, tournament mode, and scoring for up to 4 players at no cost. Golf Pad Premium adds Plays Like distances adjusted for elevation and weather, AI-powered club recommendations based on your personal shot history, green contour maps, advanced statistics, Strokes Gained analysis, hole elevation profiles, USGA Handicap Index posting, and maps on your Apple Watch or Android smartwatch.

Golf Pad Premium costs $29.99–$49.99 per year, compared with $59.99–$99.99 per year for other leading golf GPS apps. Every Premium plan includes a free 2-week trial, so you can test every Premium feature before you pay. Cancel anytime.

Yes. Golf Pad includes offline course maps, so the app works in areas with no cell signal or Wi-Fi. Course data is downloaded to your device before your round, which keeps GPS distances and aerial maps fully functional on any course, anywhere in the world — including remote locations with no connectivity.

Golf Pad offers two ways to track shot distances. The standard app uses one-tap shot tracking: you tap after each shot to record your position, and the app calculates the exact distance. For fully automatic tracking with no tapping, Golf Pad TAGS are NFC sensors that attach to each club grip — tap your club to your phone before each shot and Golf Pad records the distance and club used.

Golf Pad TAGS are small NFC sensors that attach to the grip of each club in your bag. Before each shot, tap your club to your phone and Golf Pad automatically records which club you used and the exact distance of your shot — no manual input required. TAGS build accurate personal club distance profiles over time and power the AI club recommendation engine. A set of 15 TAGS costs $99 and includes one year of Golf Pad Premium.

Yes, with Golf Pad Premium. Premium includes USGA Handicap Index® integration, so you can post scores and track your official handicap directly in the app. Every score you record can be submitted for handicap purposes, keeping your index up to date after each round.

Golf Pad combines your phone's built-in GPS with continuously updated course maps to deliver distances accurate to within 1–3 yards on most courses. Accuracy depends on your device's GPS hardware and open-sky conditions. Course maps are updated daily so that green positions, tee locations, and hazard placements stay current.

Yes. Golf Pad's free version supports scoring for up to 4 players on a single device, including strokes, putts, penalties, sand saves, and fairways hit for each player. The live leaderboard lets you invite other golfers with their own devices so everyone sees real-time standings during the round.

Plays Like distance is a Golf Pad Premium feature that adjusts the GPS yardage to reflect how far a shot will actually play, accounting for hole elevation change, altitude above sea level, temperature, and wind. For example, a 150-yard uphill shot into the wind may play like 165 yards. It helps you pick the right club for the actual conditions, not just the raw GPS number.

Yes. Golf Pad is a free download on both iOS (iPhone, App Store) and Android (Google Play). The same Golf Pad account and round history syncs across devices. Smartwatch support covers Apple Watch on iOS and Wear OS or Samsung Galaxy Watch on Android.