Garmin Approach CT10 Sensors: An HONEST Review

Garmin makes some of the leading GPS watches, especially in the golf world. While some people want the basic features for on the course, others want to take things to the next level. That’s where the CT10 sensors come into play.

When you pair your Garmin watch with the CT10 sensors, it’ll automatically collect data about your game so you can, hopefully, become a better golfer.

I’ve been using Garmin watches for a while now. I’ve also used other performance tracking devices (Arccos Caddie sensors and Shot Scope X5), so I’ll be comparing them to those.

Each of them are solid products but they’re built for different people. It’ll all depend on what you already have, what features you’re after, and what you budget is. Let’s jump into everything you need to know.

Have you used the CT10 sensors? If you have, let me know what you liked or disliked about them in the comments below.

What Are The CT10 Sensors?

Garmin has a feature called AutoShot, which is available on most of its watches. What AutoShot does is it allows you to track stats about your game.

Here are a few key features:

• You can see every one of your shots after a round
• It’ll tell you how far you hit each shot and what your average distances are for each club
• You can see how many fairways you hit and what percent went left or right
• It’ll show your greens in regulation stats and what percent you missed long or short
• It shows your average score and handicap
• You can see how you compare to other people

If you have one of the Garmin handheld units, they don’t offer AutoShot so you’ll need the CT10 sensors to be able to track your stats. Also, you won’t have it if you have the Garmin S12 watch.

With most of their other watches, you can track everything listed above. The problem is that you have to do it manually. You’ll have to select what club you hit after each shot, you’ll have to select whether you missed the fairway (left/right) or hit it, and pretty much everything else.

When you add the CT10 sensors, all of this will be tracked automatically. That’s really the only benefit to using them. You can play your round, not have to worry about playing with your watch after each shot, and see all your stats in the app.

Note: Here is a list of compatible Garmin devices that pair with the CT10 sensors.

How To Set Them Up

What I like about Garmin is that everything interconnects really well. You can see all of your devices in the app and getting everything connected is super easy.

Here are the steps to get everything setup:

1. Screw the sensors into your grips
2. On your Garmin device, go to Settings > Sensors > Add New
3. Bring 1 of your clubs close to the device and it should pair
4. Select what club the sensor is attached to
5. Repeat for all clubs

Once you’ve paired all of the sensors, you’ll be ready for the course. Simply use your GPS and the sensors will track everything.

The Performance

The performance of the actual sensors is good. The performance of the app/data needs some work. The good news is that this can be improved over time, but that said, will it be?

The things you want to look at is how well the apps works. It is easy to navigate and is it quick and responsive? You also want to look at the data itself. Is the provided data useful and is it actually accurate?

Let’s start with how well the sensors track your shots. In my experience, they do a really good job at picking up longer shots and chips. Even longer putts are tracked well. What’s not always the best is the shorter putts. It sometimes wouldn’t pick up tap in putts, so you’d have to add it after.

Now for the actual data that it gives. The CT10 senors will give you the basics, things like club distances, common misses, and some strokes gained stats.

Compared to Arccos and Shot Scope, you definitely get fewer stats with Garmin. The other two also take your data and give you better personalized suggestions.

If we dive into the app, you can see your average distance and max distance for each club. It gives you a rough idea of where you stand, but it’s not as helpful as it could be.

For example, if you use your 6 iron to chip around the green or to hit a punch shot under a tree, that distance will be counted toward your average distance. The only way to remove it is by deleting the entire round.

Also, if you hit a drive that hits the cart path and bounces an extra 30 yards or runs down a hill, it’ll skew your max distance. I know it’s fun seeing more distance, but it doesn’t really give you a true number.

As I said before, this could all be improved with an update. I think the data is better than not having it, but it needs some work. It seems as though Garmin hasn’t done much with their app over the years so I don’t know what to expect.

Starter Set vs Full Set

With the CT10 sensors, you have the option of a full set (14 sensors) or a starter set (3 sensors). It just depends on how much you want to spend and how automatic you want them to be.

If you have a full set, everything will be tracked automatically. You won’t have to select what club you hit and there should be minimal editing after the round.

With the starter set, you’ll have to pick which 3 clubs the sensors will be on. I’d recommend putting them on your putter and wedges (since this is what the watch struggles to track).

If you go this route, you’ll save some money. You’ll also have to manually select what club you hit when you’re using a club without the sensors.

I don’t mind doing this with my driver and irons so I ended up going with the starter set. I put the sensors on my putter and wedges to get better tracking.

Garmin vs The Competition

As you may or may not know, Garmin isn’t the only shot tracking company in town. There are a few other options, Arccos and Shot Scope being the main ones.

They all do similar things. They’ll track your shots automatically and will keep all of your data in the app. You’ll be able to see club distances, strokes gained, and where your common misses are.

The differences come when you look at price and devices. For example, the Arccos system uses your phone instead of a watch. It also has an annual fee.

Shot Scope uses sensors and a GPS watch (the same as Garmin). There is no annual fee and the overall price is lower than Garmin.

With Garmin, you have to buy a watch and also the sensors, so the upfront cost is higher. The good news is that there is no annual fee.

Some people don’t like wearing a watch, so Arccos could be a better choice. Some people don’t want to pay an annual fee, so Garmin or Shot Scope is better. Other than price and what type of device it uses, the quality of the devices and apps are also different. You can read our full comparison HERE.

The Bottom Line

Having used the CT10 sensors for a while, I think they’ve done a pretty good job but there is still some work to do to keep up with the other shot tracking options.

The main knock is that the app could use some work. It’s fine, but it’s not as user-friendly as the Shot Scope or Arccos app. It also doesn’t track quite as much and I feel like the other two are slightly more accurate.

The good news is that this is something that can be improved over time.

I’d only recommend getting the CT10 sensors if:

• You already have a Garmin device
• You want a high quality golf or multisport watch (Garmin makes the best)

I think you should consider something different if:

• You don’t want to wear a watch
• You want a cheaper option
• You want to track the most data
• You want something with a really good app

Again, you can read our full comparison of Garmin vs Arccos vs Shot Scope or you can see what our favorite GPS units are HERE. We keep updating that post over time.

Have you used the CT10 sensors? If you have, let us know what you liked or disliked about them in the comments below.