What is Garmin Home Tee Hero, and what does it cost?

In summary

Home Tee Hero is Garmin's own golf simulator. It plays more than 43,000 courses with the Garmin Approach R50 and R10 launch monitors, for up to 4 players. It needs a Garmin Golf membership: £8.99 a month or £89.99 a year in the UK. The driving range, shot data and stats are free without it. On the R50 it runs on the unit itself, so you don't need a PC.

What you get

• More than 43,000 courses. Garmin says over 15 of them have high-resolution LiDAR data (laser-scanned detail) for every green.
• Full rounds, or on-course practice where you hit a shot from anywhere on any course.
• Local multiplayer for up to 4 people.
• A weekly tournament with a global leaderboard. You can play the tournament course as many times as you like. On the R50, putting is switched off in weekly tournaments.
• Different course settings, including desert, grassland and tropical.

How it runs on the R50

Home Tee Hero comes installed on the R50 and runs on its 10-inch touchscreen. There's no phone app or PC involved. You buy the membership from the R50's own profile settings.

For the big screen, run an HDMI cable from the R50's A/V port to the projector or TV. Garmin asks for a cable that can carry at least 1080p, which is the most the R50 sends, and doesn't include one. With a projector connected, the course view goes to the big screen and you can show a different view, such as shot data, on the R50. There's also an option to mirror the R50's screen instead. See how to set up a Garmin R50 for the steps.

How it runs on the R10

The R10 has no screen, so Home Tee Hero runs on your phone. Garmin's current R10 manual says you download the Home Tee Hero app from your phone's app store. It needs to be paired with a compatible iPhone or Android phone that also has the Garmin Golf app. To see it bigger, Garmin says you can mirror the app to a compatible smart TV using your phone's screen mirroring.

Garmin's older blog says it runs on a phone or tablet, but its 2026 announcement only names smartphones. If you want to use a tablet, check it in the app store before you rely on it.

What's free and what's paid

Without a membership, the Garmin Golf app lets you:

• save driving range sessions and see your shot data;
• review your shot history and performance stats;
• upload scorecards, join weekly leaderboards and create tournaments.

Home Tee Hero course play needs the membership. Garmin's comparison table lists it as members only for both the R50 and the R10. The same membership also adds features for Garmin golf watches, such as green contours and PlaysLike distances, and on the R10 it stores swing video clips.

Price

• £8.99 a month, or
• £89.99 a year, which works out at £7.50 a month.

Garmin says the plan renews automatically for the same length unless you change or cancel it. I couldn't find a free trial on Garmin's UK pages.

Using other software instead

Both units also work with third-party simulators. Garmin says the R10 works with GSPro, E6 and Awesome Golf, all sold separately. The R50 connects to them over Wi-Fi from its Connect menu. These run on a PC or tablet, not on the R50's own screen, and you pay those makers, not Garmin. Garmin's own staff say TGC 2019 doesn't work with the R50. For the full list, see software by launch monitor.

Is it worth it?

For the R50, I think it's the main reason to choose it: you get a working simulator with one HDMI cable and no PC, for £89.99 a year. The trade-off is graphics. Home Tee Hero looks simpler than GSPro or E6 on a gaming PC. You can start with Home Tee Hero and add a PC and GSPro later if you want more.

For the R10, it's a cheap way into course play, but you're playing on a phone or a mirrored TV. For a projected room with an R10, I'd plan on a PC and third-party software.

Over three years, Home Tee Hero costs £269.97 on the annual plan. For how that compares with other launch monitors, see what software costs each year.