Garmin Approach J1 Review: Is a $300 Kids Golf Watch Worth It?

My honest first reaction when I learned that Garmin was releasing a golf watch just for kids was, “Do we actually need this?”

But after spending time with the Garmin J1 out on the course and thinking through how I’d want to be golfing with my now-5-year-old daughter in a few years, the answer might actually be yes.

I’m not saying it’s a no-brainer. And at $300, I’m definitely not saying it makes sense for everybody.

But for the right situations, this is actually a very interesting product – which isn’t surprising considering it’s coming from Garmin.

So, should you buy it? Well, let’s find out.

Garmin’s Habit of Surprising Us

When it comes to golf hardware, Garmin has a track record of rolling out unexpected products.

At the same time they announced the J1, they came out with the Garmin G82, which is half launch monitor, half high-end GPS. They’ve also got the G20 solar-powered handheld GPS, the Z30 rangefinder with direct integration to your Garmin smartwatch, and a handful of other products that, at the end of the day, could be considered somewhat niche.

So when I saw a golf watch aimed at kids, my first instinct was skepticism. Do kids really need more technology in their lives? How is this actually going to enhance their golf experience instead of getting in the way?

Turns out, there are some really thoughtful features here. Once I started to use the J1 on the course, it started to click how this could really matter for a junior golfer.

Best Kids Golf Watch

Garmin Approach J1| Kids GPS Golf Watch

$299

Is your junior golfer serious about the game? This watch not only helps with score and yardages, but will help them build confidence at the same time.

Buy from Play Better

We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Garmin Approach J1 First Impressions

Packaging is very Garmin in that it’s the same general presentation as every other Approach watch. The only difference here is that the J1 comes in a fun blue box instead of the standard gray. Nothing over the top, but it’s nice to see a bit of color to make it more appealing to a kid.

The watch itself is the same dimensions and form factor as the existing S44 and S50. That makes it feel slightly small next to something like the S70 or the fenix 8, but put this on an 8-year-old (the recommended minimum age), and it might still feel a little bit big.

To help with that, it comes with a smaller nylon ComfortFit band that adjusts easily to whatever size you need. I put it on my 5-year-old, who promptly refused to take it off, and the watch face looked big on her wrist, but the band sized down perfectly.

I’ll get into the kid-specific features in just a minute. But as for the overall golf watch functionality, in most respects, it works exactly like every other Garmin Approach watch out there.

GPS yardages are dead-on accurate. The interface is similar to the S44 and S50, though stripped down a bit. You’re not getting sleep tracking or some of the more advanced fitness features that show up on the higher-end Garmin watches. But in exchange, you get the kid-first features that are the whole reason this watch exists.

What Actually Makes This a Kid’s Watch?

There are a handful of junior-golfer-specific features on the J1 that make it the first-ever dedicated kids’ golf watch.

And I gotta say… they’re pretty cool.

Tee-Off Guidance

This is the feature that sold me. You enter your average drive distance, and the watch uses GPS to navigate you to where your personal tee box should be on every hole.

So if you’re playing with a new golfer where even the forward tees are still too far back, this feature walks them up to exactly where they should tee off. And it works really well.

What hit me was that in a few years, when my daughter is a strong enough golfer to lead a round on her own, she can look down at her watch and say, “OK Dad, the tee box is right here, follow me.” Instead of me leading her around and telling her where to go.

Giving her that kind of autonomy and control over her round is actually pretty cool. I think it’s the kind of thing that might help a junior golfer gain confidence and take control of their game, and ultimately, it’s the type of thing that might help them fall in love with playing golf.

After you enter your score on the previous hole, the watch shows the distance to the next green and three arrows along the side. As you walk toward your personal tee box, the arrows fill in, and when you hit the right spot, the watch vibrates and tells you to tee off.

My one concern about this going in was whether it would account for fairway versus rough. Or any hazards. Like, if there’s a forced carry in front of the normal tee box, is the watch smart enough to not have you tee up from the junk?

The answer after testing is, yes. Not once did it put me in a weird spot. Every single time, I’d be walking through rough until I hit the fairway, and that’s where it would have me tee up. They definitely thought this through.

Personal Par

Let’s say the average score for your junior golfer on a given hole is 2-over. You can set a personal par on the watch so that a typical Par 4 now reads as a Par 6.

Instead of competing against regular golf norms, your kid is competing against themselves at their actual skill level. So they’re not getting frustrated because they never have a chance to make a par. The game becomes more realistic, attainable, and a lot more fun.

I see this as the kind of thing that keeps kids motivated and not down on themselves. They’re getting scores that are relevant to where they actually are in their game.

On-Watch Celebrations

For eagles, birdies, and pars, you get little animations that pop up after you enter your score.

And the smart part is that the celebrations work relative to your personal par. So the watch is celebrating with you as you have success, no matter what level of player you are. If you’re playing a hole as a Par 6 and you get a 6, you get the par animation.

Just another feature that keeps things fun and motivating for young players.

Pace-of-Play Timer

There’s a ring that counts down around the bezel to help kids understand what a reasonable pace looks like. Keep moving, and they’ll even get a bonus animation for “fast player.”

I think this is a smart feature for helping kids learn the importance of keeping pace and understanding golf etiquette. And if the watch is doing that work, it prevents the parent from having to nag their child.

Note: Watch the video above to see more about the timer and celebrations.

 Simple Usability

You’ve got two buttons on the side and a very responsive touchscreen, and everything is slightly simplified compared to the S44 or S50 to keep it kid-friendly.

Activities beyond golf are basic and include walking, running, biking, and swimming. All things a kid might actually do. No advanced fitness tracking beyond that.

The Garmin J1 Does Exactly What It Says It’s Going to Do

To sum the whole experience up, everything the J1 promises, it delivers. And I gotta say, it delivers it impressively well.

I’m certainly not surprised that Garmin released a well-designed, high-quality watch. They’ve nailed pretty much every watch they’ve released for several years now.

But I am surprised at how useful I think some of these features can really be for a junior golfer. I was a bit skeptical about that before testing it and envisioning my own daughter using this watch in a few years.

I also like that you can grow into it. You’ve got basic yardages out of the box. But the watch is capable of club tracking, club recommendations, and stat tracking. So as your kid starts playing more competitive rounds or paying attention to their stats, the watch grows with them.

The J1 can pair with the Garmin Golf app if you want it to, but you don’t need a phone to get value out of it. Which is important considering that not all 8, 9, or 10-year-olds have a phone yet. I like that Garmin built the J1 to be useful on its own.

But What About the Price?

The J1 is $300 retail. That puts it at the same price as Garmin’s S44 golf watch, which you can often find on sale for around $250. The S44 has a lot more adult-oriented features. The J1 has the kid-specific stuff. If you’ve got a younger golfer just starting out, the J1 is clearly the better choice.

But if you’re weighing the J1 against, say, an Apple Watch or another smartwatch where your kid can text you and you can keep track of them, that’s where I wonder how this product at this price is going to land.

A lot of kids in that 9-to-11 range are getting watches in lieu of cell phones these days. So the question becomes, do you buy them a golf watch, or something that does more of those day-to-day things? Or both?

That’s going to be the calculus for most parents, I think.

Final Thoughts on the Garmin Approach J1 Kids Golf Watch

If you’re looking for a golf watch for your junior, this is unequivocally the best one out there.

The real question is where your golfer is in the process.

Is your junior golfer actually going to use features like Personal Par and the GPS-enabled forward tees? If so, the J1 is totally worth it. The power and control it gives kids over their own rounds is the best part of this product, I think.

But if they’re past that, or you don’t think they’ll lean on those features, there are plenty of other golf watches that do more for a similar price. And if golf isn’t the main focus, a more general smartwatch might be the smarter buy.

Despite this being a niche product, I think Garmin nailed the implementation. For the right junior golfer, the J1 could be the best piece of golf tech you could possibly give them.

Best Kids Golf Watch

Garmin Approach J1| Kids GPS Golf Watch

$299

Is your junior golfer serious about the game? This watch not only helps with score and yardages, but will help them build confidence at the same time.

Buy from Play Better

We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

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