On April 8th, TAG Heuer invited a select few to test-drive its new Connected Golf Edition on a green… under two inches of snow! Fortunately, 72 hours later the sun was out and our coterie were back at the magnificent Joyenval private golf club, near Paris, irons at the ready.
Horological Sensations
Golfers like to familiarise themselves with the layout of a course before taking their first swing; idem with the new TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Golf Edition. Immediately, the manufacturing quality we associate with the Chaux-de-Fonds brand is plain to see: a solid 45mm titanium case, ceramic bezel, exemplary finishing and two mechanical-like pushers as well as a crown at 3 o’clock. This feels like an actual watch – not an extension of your smartphone. Chinese electronics mean the Connected is no longer Swiss-Made but it still inspires confidence with the look and feel of a high-end timepiece.
This latest edition gets a new textured white strap that recreates the dimpled surface of a golf ball. Green top-stitching is a nod to the course where we will be putting the watch through its paces. While this isn’t the most original visual metaphor for a golf watch, it is remarkably well executed, not to mention extremely stylish.
In another nice touch, TAG Heuer has included a removable magnetic ball marker under the folding clasp. Not only is this an extremely useful object for marking a ball’s position on the putting green, having one built into the buckle shows that the brand is willing to go the extra R&D mile to engineer an object this thin, that is also robust and magnetised, even though the buckle is in titanium. The secret, we were told, lies with invisible magnetic inserts...
Readability and Autonomy
The two features a golfer expects from a watch are readability and autonomy. Readability because golf is an outdoor sport, most of the time played in bright sunshine, and there is nothing worse than having an instrument you can’t read because of dazzle or because the display is too small. Autonomy because a golfer wants to be able to focus on their game, and not have to break off to make constant manual adjustments.
The new Connected Golf Edition ticks both these boxes. Maps and features are clearly displayed on the fully tactile, large screen area. Sun dazzle isn’t an issue, thanks to excellent contrast. TAG Heuer has opted for the efficiency of simplicity: water features in blue, the course in green and the putting green in light green. That’s all. It is, of course, possible to access more information via the companion app: hazards, distances, scorecard, a video simulation of the last shot, and more. Automatic shot-tracking is currently only available on the watch’s app but will be added to TAG Heuer’s Apple Watch app at a later date.
Focus on the Game
Indications also cut to the chase: hole number, distance to the flag, number of shots and club recommendations. This last feature says a lot about the Connected Golf Edition, which isn’t just a passive wrist-borne computer totting up a scorecard. It is a personalised companion that analyses shot distances, preferred clubs and the course to then make suggestions for the next shot, which the golfer can choose to follow… or not, in which case simply enter the chosen club and the OS will factor this in for later games.
In another significant upgrade, the watch automatically detects and records the first swing on the tee area using the accelerometer, doing away with the hassle of having to activate the function by hand. This is another example of the Connected Golf Edition’s autonomous functioning, leaving the player free to focus on what really matters: the game.
For the map features to work, the course has to be in a zone with GPS coverage, which will be the case for the vast majority of the 40,000 or so preloaded courses, though not always. TAG Heuer makes smart use of the bezel to provide an immediate scorecard during a round, with colour-coded segments that show if the player is above, on or below par. As with most smartwatches, the Connected Golf Edition’s weak point is the battery life of one day. More than enough to go 18 holes but still less than other pure sports smartwatches.
