Smart Tracking - Automatic Shot Tracking with 18Birdies

Smart Tracking uses your phone or Apple Watch to automatically detect and track your shots in the background while you play — no manual input, no distractions. After each hole, you’ll just confirm your score and a few quick details, and 18Birdies will take care of the rest.

By the time you finish your round, you’ll have:

A complete shot-by-shot breakdown of every hole

True club distances, based on actual on-course performance
Advanced stats and powerful Strokes Gained analysis to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses
Personalized tips designed to help you improve where it matters most

⚡ Quick Start Guide

Start a round and choose Smart Tracking as your scoring mode.
Play as normal – Smart Tracking runs automatically in the background.
After each hole, confirm your score, number of putts, first putt distance, and any penalties.
Review or adjust shot placements as needed.
Finish your round and get powerful stats like Strokes Gained, True Club Distances, and personalized insights.

💡 Tip: For best results, keep your phone in your pocket during play, or use your Apple Watch for the most accurate shot detection.

📲 How It Works

Using your GPS movement and – if available – Apple Watch Swing Detection, 18Birdies will automatically identify where you hit each shot.

Apple Watch Users: Auto Swing Detection will mark each swing in real time – you’ll feel a buzz whenever a swing is detected. Learn more about Smart Tracking on Apple Watch here.

Phone-Only Users: Smart Tracking detects pauses in movement to estimate shot locations. Keep your phone in your pocket as you play for best results!

After each hole, 18Birdies will automatically place shot markers based on your scoring details and detected locations.

Activating Smart Tracking

Smart Tracking is available now for all 18Birdies Premium users. To get started:

Start a round using 18Birdies
Select “Smart Tracking” as your scoring mode
Go through the brief tutorial and start swinging!

🕹 Playing a Hole with Smart Tracking

Smart Tracking is built to run seamlessly in the background as you play your round.

During the Hole: GPS Map Visuals

As you play the hole, there is no need for you to track anything manually. However, if you do decide to take a look at the GPS screen, you’ll see some visual indicators appear on your phone’s GPS screen.

Dotted Line: your movement path throughout the hole
White Dots: Places you paused – potential shot locations
Yellow Dots (Apple Watch only): Automatically detected swing locations.

After the Hole: Confirm Scoring Details

Tap the “Confirm Score” button after finishing the hole. You’ll see a simple scoring panel to confirm some details about the hole.

Confirm Your Score & Putts

We will try our best to predict your total score and number of putts. Make sure this information is correct before moving on.

Estimate your First Putt Distance

Select one of the distance ranges provided – make your best guess!

🛠️For best results, you can walk from the hole to your ball; each step you take is usually about 3 feet.

Add Penalties

If you do have a penalty, click “+ Penalties” to open up the penalty dropdown. Here you can indicate which stroke resulted in penalties along with how many penalties you incurred. For example, if you hit your tee shot into a hazard, you would add one penalty to stroke 1.

Shot Review & Edits

Once you confirm scoring, we’ll automatically place shot markers on the hole using your detected locations. Each shot marker will display the location, lie, and club used for the shot.

If you click on a shot marker, you can edit the club and lie details if something is incorrect.

✅ Pro Tip: If you notice a shot in the wrong place, just press and hold on the marker and you can drag it to the correct location. Your movement path and swing/stop dots will help guide you.

❗️ Lie Detection: Auto Lie Detection is not yet available at all courses. To add lies manually during your round, you can click on the shot marker and select the details.

🔧 Round Settings

Advanced Tracking (Optional)

Want more precision? Turn on Advanced Tracking in Round Settings.

To activate Advanced Tracking:

Open "Tools" in the bottom right of the GPS Screen
Click on "Settings"
Scroll down and toggle on "Advanced Tracking"

You’ll get:

Exact first putt distance input
Option to manually add shots or putts (via “+ Shot” / “+ Putt” buttons)

🧠 This is great for users who liked our previous Strokes Gained scoring mode or want full control over every detail.

Learn more about Advanced Tracking

Auto Club Prediction

By default, 18Birdies uses your True Distances to auto-assign clubs for each shot. You can turn this off in Round Settings if you prefer to assign them manually. To adjust this setting:

Open "Tools" in the bottom right of the GPS Screen
Click on "Settings"
Scroll down and toggle "Auto Club Assignment"

📊 After Your Round: Personalized Insights

After your round, Smart Tracking turns every shot into powerful, personalized insights that help you practice and play smarter.

Strokes Gained

Strokes Gained shows you how each part of your game stacks up against other golfers. It goes beyond basic stats to reveal where you’re gaining strokes, or giving them away, on the course.

With Smart Tracking, these insights are calculated automatically. Zoom in on your game with precision:

Are you missing too many approach shots from 125-150 yards?
Struggling with long putts from 21-30 feet?
Losing strokes off the tee with Driver instead of 3-Wood?

You can even benchmark your performance against players of all levels, from PGA Tour pros to 20 handicaps, and see exactly what separates your game from theirs.

Learn more about Strokes Gained Calculation

True Club Distances

True Distance is your club distance based on your most recent tracked shots, excluding abnormally short or long shots as well as adjusted for course conditions like wind, elevation, temperature, and altitude.

The shots you track in Smart Tracking will be used in True Distance calculations. To make sure shots are included:

Tap the shot marker during your round
Select the correct club
Ensure the “Include in True Distance” toggle is ON

Learn more about True Distance

Who can use Smart Tracking?

This scoring method is available exclusively to 18Birdies Premium members, and is great for those looking to unlock deep insights to seriously improve their game. You can play with just your phone, or you can connect your Apple Watch to maximize accuracy with Auto Swing Detection.

❓ FAQs

Do I need an Apple Watch to use Smart Tracking?

Nope! Smart Tracking works great with just your phone. If you use an Apple Watch, you’ll get more accurate shot placement thanks to Auto Swing Detection, but it’s totally optional.

What happened to Strokes Gained mode?

Strokes Gained mode has been replaced by Smart Tracking. You’ll still get all the same detailed stats – including Strokes Gained insights – with way less effort. For more manual control, you can turn on Advanced Mode in your Round Settings.

Do I need to do anything while I am playing the hole?

Just play your round like normal! Smart Tracking runs in the background and does the heavy lifting as you play. After each hole, confirm your scoring details and shot placement – that’s it.

What’s the difference between the white and yellow dots on the GPS page?

Yellow Dots = Swings detected by your Apple Watch (Auto Swing Detection). White Dots = Pauses in movement detected by your phone’s GPS – potential shot locations for phone-only users.

What happens if Smart Tracking gets it wrong?

No worries, you can easily fix it! After each hole, you’ll have the option to review and edit your shot placements on your phone. You can even go back to previous holes during your round and make edits.

How do penalties affect my scoring in Smart Tracking?

Add penalties by clicking the “+ Penalties” button while inputting your score. You can select exactly which shot resulted in the penalty and how many strokes were incurred. To learn more about how penalties affect your Strokes Gained, click here. {link to penalties article}

Can I edit Smart Tracking details after my round?

Yes! You can always go back to the Round Summary and click on “Smart Tracking” to review and adjust shots, clubs, lies, or scoring details even after your round is complete.

What if I forget to confirm my score during a hole?

You’ll still be able to go back and enter or correct your score and details later – either before ending your round or afterward in the Round Summary.

Can I use Smart Tracking for 9-hole rounds?

Absolutely! Smart Tracking works for both 9 and 18 hole rounds. Just play and confirm your score at the end of each hole as usual.

Will this drain my phone or watch battery?

Smart Tracking shouldn’t use much more battery than any of our existing scoring modes. However, we do recommend starting every round with a full charge on both your phone and watch for the best experience.

Does Auto Swing Detection work with other watch models?

Currently, Auto Swing Detection only works with Apple Watch. Other smartwatches are not supported at this time.