Garmin just pushed a rare update to its Approach S12 golf watch - fixes a few annoying course bugs

Garmin’s Approach S12 golf watch launched back in 2021, and if you've got one - you’ve probably got used to it quietly doing its job without much drama.

One thing you might have noticed, though, is that it hasn’t seen a software update in a good while. In fact, the Approach S12 hasn’t had a meaningful software push for roughly two years.

Well, that dry spell is finally ending.

Garmin has announced it will start rolling out a new stable update for the Approach S12 called System Software 5.10, and while it’s not adding shiny new features, it does squash a couple of very golf-specific bugs that could genuinely make the watch less annoying to use.

What’s new in System Software 5.10

Garmin’s changelog (a list of changes made to the watch's software) is refreshingly specific this time round, and basically boils down to two fixes.

The first one tackles an issue with downloaded auto course update files. In plain English, Garmin says the S12 should now correctly pull in teebox, par and handicap data from those downloads, instead of getting muddled.

The second fix is about the “front” and “back” dots on the green. Some users were seeing those markers fail to appear properly on the main golf page, and Garmin says 5.10 sorts that out, too.

So while this isn’t a huge overhaul - for a watch that’s been sitting without updates for years - it’s a tidy little quality-of-life patch that will fix a few annoyances for some people.

How to get it

According to Garmin, the update is currently at around 30% rollout, so you might not see it straight away. Regardless, it’s on the way.

When it does hit your device, you can install it via the Garmin Golf smartphone app or through Garmin Express on a computer. If you don’t have it yet, it’s likely just because Garmin is staggering the rollout.

It’s also worth noting that a similar update is reportedly rolling out for the Approach G12 clip-on GPS rangefinder, and Garmin has been pushing stable updates to other golf wearables recently too, including the Approach S70, S44 and S50.