Can the Garmin Approach^® R50 run GSPro in 4K?

In summary

Yes, with a PC. On its own the R50 runs Garmin's Home Tee Hero on its 10-inch screen and sends it to the projector by HDMI at 1080p, which is the most the unit outputs. For a 4K picture you add a Windows gaming PC running GSPro: the R50 only does the tracking, and the PC's graphics card draws the course. You keep Home Tee Hero too. Both stay plugged in and you switch the projector input.

Why Home Tee Hero looks the way it does

If someone has told you the R50's graphics are cartoony, they mean Home Tee Hero. It is Garmin's own simulator and it runs on the R50's own processor, with no PC. That is its strength: one HDMI cable and you are playing. It is also why the picture is simpler than a gaming PC's. Garmin's manual puts the R50's maximum output at 1080p, so a 4K projector can only upscale it.

What you get for £89.99 a year (or £8.99 a month) is more than 43,000 courses, up to 4 players, on-course practice from anywhere on any hole, and a weekly tournament with a global leaderboard. It is the fastest sim we sell to get playing, and for a lot of owners it is all they want. Full detail is on what Home Tee Hero is and costs.

What GSPro adds

GSPro is a Windows program that takes the R50's shot data and draws the course itself, using the PC's graphics card. On a 4K-spec PC and a 4K projector that is a 3840 × 2160 picture: real grass texture, trees with depth, light that changes with the time of day. It costs $250 a year, in US dollars, and GSPro lists the R50 as a supported device.

• 2,500+ courses built by GSPro's community, including most of the famous British links, updated through the SGT course server.
• Online tours and events against other GSPro players.
• You putt out. GSPro lets you finish every hole on the green, and the gimme distance is a setting you can switch off.
• Your own shot data on screen alongside the course, as with Home Tee Hero.

The R50 connects to GSPro over Wi-Fi. GSPro's own connection guide says: on the R50's main menu, swipe to Connect and select GSPro; the R50 then shows a Wi-Fi network and you join the PC to it, and the R50 passes your internet through. Garmin's manual describes the same Connect menu for third-party simulators. Neither mentions a Garmin Golf membership, and I have not found one required anywhere in the setup. You pay GSPro, not Garmin.

You keep both

Adding the PC takes nothing away. The R50's HDMI goes into one projector input, the PC's HDMI goes into the other, and you pick the input on the projector remote. The BenQ AK700ST has two HDMI 2.0b inputs for exactly this. Quick round on a weeknight: switch on the R50 alone and play Home Tee Hero. Saturday with friends: start the PC and GSPro. Most owners who build this room end up doing both.

The cost ladder

1. R50 on its own: nothing a year. Range practice, all ball and club data, impact video and shot history are free.
2. Add Garmin Golf: £89.99 a year for Home Tee Hero, no PC.
3. Add GSPro: $250 a year, and a Windows gaming PC once. For 4K you also need a 4K projector and a 4K-grade impact screen; our R50 room package already comes with SimSpace's 4K screen.

Over three years that is £0, £269.97 or about £270 plus $750, before the hardware. How it compares across every unit we sell is on what it costs each year to keep a simulator running.

What the PC adds in money and wiring

GSPro's published recommendation for 4K is an RTX 3080 or better with 32GB of memory. Our Golf Simulator Gaming PC (4K Spec) has an Intel Core i7-12700KF, an NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti with 16GB of graphics memory, 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD, which is above that recommendation. Our HD Spec PC is enough for GSPro at 1080p if you decide 4K isn't worth the step. Specs by software are on what PC you need.

Wiring-wise, the PC is one more box in the bay:

• A double socket where the PC will live, usually at the side of the bay in a cabinet. See first fix for a golf simulator.
• A second HDMI run from the PC to the projector. The R50 bundle doesn't include an HDMI cable, so you will want two 10m HDMI 2.1 cables for a floor-case projector. See golf simulator cabling.
• Wi-Fi on the PC, because the R50 link is wireless. Most desktops need a Wi-Fi card or USB adapter for this, so ask us to confirm it before the PC ships.
• Sound from the PC to speakers or a soundbar, as the projector's output is for the picture.

The trade-off against stepping up to Foresight or Uneekor

The R50 is a three-camera unit and Garmin says it measures ball speed, launch angle, spin rate and spin axis, and club speed and angles with the club stickers on. From those it reports carry, total, apex, smash factor and face to path, as every launch monitor does. What it doesn't report is impact location on the face, dynamic loft, spin loft or low point. A Foresight GCQuad has four cameras and measures those; Uneekor's EYE XO2 sits overhead and adds impact video of the clubface. If you are working on strike and face control with a coach, that extra data is the reason to pay more for the unit and the yearly plan that goes with it. If you want to play courses in 4K and see sound ball data, the R50 and a PC gets you there for less.

One practical point. The R50 sits 0.5m beside the ball, facing it, and handedness is a profile setting on the unit. For a left-hander you carry it round to the other side of the tee. Overhead units stay put. If you share the room with a left-hander, that is a minute each swap, and most owners mark both spots on the mat. For how it looks in a room, see how to set up a Garmin Approach® R50.