DIY Golf GPS Shot Tracker
SparkFun affiliate Coleman Rollins makes a DIY golf gadget that tracks your shots, measures distances, and puts open-source hardware to work on the course.
What happens when you combine a love of golf with a passion for open-source electronics?
Maker and golfer Coleman Rollins, put together a handheld GPS shot tracker using SparkFun Qwiic components, an ESP32-S3, and a custom 3D-printed enclosure. The result is Open GPS, an open-source device that lets golfers measure their shots, track which clubs they're using, and save their data for later.
He's also made the project available on GitHub, including the Arduino firmware, 3D-printable enclosure files, and instructions for assembling and programming the device.
An Intuitive Golf GPS You Can Build Yourself
The idea behind Open GPS is straightforward: create a simple, portable way to measure how far you hit each golf shot without relying on a proprietary device or subscription. Using Open GPS is easy - select your club using the rotary dial, click to mark your starting position, and take your shot. When you reach your ball, click again to record its new location. The device calculates the distance between those two GPS coordinates and displays the result in yards.
Every shot is saved to the device, including the starting and ending coordinates. After your round, you can connect it to a computer via USB and export your data as CSV or GeoJSON files. It's a practical way to collect information about your game while exploring how positioning and embedded electronics work together.
Made with SparkFun
One of our favorite things about this project is how Coleman used the SparkFun parts, particularly our Qwiic ecosystem to bring everything together without needing to solder. At the center of the build is a SparkFun Thing Plus ESP32-S3, which handles the processing and runs the Arduino code. A SparkFun GPS Breakout - NEO-M9N provides meter-accurate positioning data used to calculate shot distances. SparkFun offers a bunch of GPS/GNSS breakout boards at different accuracies and price ranges, so you could swap out the board Coleman used with another if you wanted.
For the interface, Coleman paired a 1.3-inch Qwiic OLED display with a Qwiic Twist rotary encoder. This combination gives the device a compact, intuitive interface that requires just one dial to navigate menus, select clubs, and record shots.
A rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes the device portable, while a custom 3D-printed enclosure brings everything together into a handheld package. Thanks to Qwiic, the electronics connect using simple cables without the need to solder all the individual signal connections.
Want to build your own? Check out Coleman's build video, explore the files on GitHub, and grab the components from his SparkFun wishlist.
We love seeing makers use SparkFun hardware to bring their ideas to life, especially when those ideas combine technology with something they're passionate about!
