He Forgot It Was in His Pocket - Mark Crossfield's Arccos Air Review

PGA Professional and YouTube pioneer Mark Crossfield spent a full competitive round with Arccos Air and no phone, no sensors, just golf. Here is what he found.

Mark Crossfield has been reviewing golf equipment since 2007. That is longer than most of the gear he reviews has existed. As one of the original PGA Professional content creators on YouTube, with well over 230 million views and a reputation built entirely on calling things as he sees them, when he says something works, golfers tend to listen.

So when Crossfield tested Arccos Air on the South Course during a competitive round and came off the 18th green to find the device had quietly captured every single shot without him once having to think about it, that matters. Not because he said so. Because of what he did next: he ditched his sensors entirely and switched to Arccos Air as his permanent system.

That is a real verdict from someone who has seen everything.

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The problem it is solving

For years, the main barrier to proper golf stat tracking was the friction. Screwing sensors into every club. Keeping your phone in your pocket for the entire round. Making sure Bluetooth stayed connected. Watching your battery drain somewhere around the 14th hole. Most golfers who tried tracking did not quit because the data was bad. They quit because the process was exhausting.

Arccos Air is a fundamentally different approach. It is a small AI-powered wearable, smaller than an AirPods case, that sits in your pocket and does everything automatically. A gyroscope, microphone, high-accuracy GPS, and an accelerometer all working together, trained on over 1.5 billion shots, to detect when you swing, where you are on the course, and which club you most likely hit. Your phone stays in the bag. The device does the work. At the end of the round, you sync, tidy up any edge cases in moments, and walk away with PGA TOUR-level strokes gained data.

Crossfield called it a breakthrough for anyone who wants serious statistics without the process getting in the way. After spending years reviewing every kind of tracker on the market, that is not a throwaway line from him.

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What actually happened on the course

Crossfield played in competitive mode with just the Arccos Air in his pocket, phone left behind. His verdict on the experience was simple: he forgot it was there. He nearly walked off the 18th green without thinking about it at all, then realized it had captured everything.

Club prediction was accurate throughout. The AI reads distance and cross-references it against your shot history to assign the right club, and after 12 or more rounds in the system, Crossfield found it landing well. The more data you feed in, the smarter it gets. For golfers starting fresh, there is a short settling-in period before the AI has enough history to be genuinely precise, and a quick post-round check in the app keeps everything accurate. Crossfield described this as easy and fast, and noted that the shot detection itself was excellent at distinguishing real swings from practice swings, which cuts down the editing considerably.

For golfers who want zero editing at all, Arccos Air also pairs with existing club sensors. The system is flexible enough to work however suits your game best. Crossfield personally chose clean clubs without sensors, which he preferred from a feel and aesthetics standpoint.

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The app, which is actually half the product

Hardware only gets you so far. The data has to go somewhere useful. Crossfield has used every major golf tracking app on the market and rates the Arccos app as the most intuitive and comprehensive of the lot.

Strokes gained analytics broken down by category. Greens in regulation. Fairways hit. Real average distances for every club based on on-course performance rather than range sessions, which tend to run a little long. Benchmark comparisons against any handicap index you are chasing, so if you are a 15 and want to understand exactly what a 10 does differently, the data shows you precisely where the gap lives.

The AI Strategy feature stood out to him. Before a round, you can pull up any course, map out how to play each hole based on your own shot patterns, and adjust for pin positions. It is pre-round preparation grounded in your actual tendencies rather than wishful thinking. Green maps are built in too, showing slope data to inform approach planning. And the ecosystem keeps improving, fed by the subscription model that puts investment back into development.

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Mark's verdict

Crossfield was direct: most golfers who genuinely want to improve should get it. The data available through the Arccos ecosystem is unrivaled. Golfers who start engaging with their stats tend to improve, and not by a small margin. The product is built for people who are curious about their game and willing to act on what the numbers show them.

He switched to it full time. For a PGA Professional who has tested everything, that is the only review that matters.

WHAT MARK CROSSFIELD FOUND

Who gets the most out of it

Arccos Air rewards golfers who play regularly and actually engage with their data. The more rounds you put in, the more accurate the club prediction becomes, and the richer the picture you build of your own game. Used consistently, it is the clearest mirror your golf has ever had.

ARCCOS AIR IS BUILT FOR GOLFERS WHO...

Learn more about Arccos Air at arccosgolf.com 

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Arccos Air and how does it work?

Arccos Air is an AI-powered wearable golf shot tracker that fits in your pocket during a round. It uses a gyroscope, microphone, GPS, and accelerometer to automatically detect every shot without requiring sensors on your clubs or your phone in your pocket. After your round you sync to the Arccos app and your data populates automatically. The AI is trained on over 1.5 billion shots and gets more accurate at predicting which club you hit the more rounds you play.

Does Arccos Air require club sensors?

No. Arccos Air is designed to work without any sensors in your clubs, predicting which club you hit based on distance and your historical shot data. It is also fully compatible with Arccos sensors if you prefer to use them, which eliminates post-round editing on club assignments entirely. The choice is yours.

How accurate is Arccos Air at detecting shots and clubs?

Shot detection is strong and reliably distinguishes real swings from practice swings, which keeps post-round editing to a minimum. Club prediction accuracy builds over time: the more rounds in your system, the more precise it becomes. A quick post-round review in the app keeps everything dialled in, and Crossfield described the editing process as fast and straightforward.

What stats does Arccos Air give you?

Arccos Air delivers PGA TOUR-level strokes gained data broken down by category: off the tee, approach, around the green, and putting. You also get greens in regulation, fairways hit, real average club distances based on on-course performance, and benchmark comparisons against any handicap index. The app includes AI Strategy for pre-round course planning and green maps for slope data on approach shots.

What is the Arccos Golf app like to use?

The Arccos app is widely regarded as the most comprehensive golf performance app available to amateur golfers. It delivers strokes gained analytics, real club distance averages, handicap benchmark comparisons, AI-powered course strategy, and green maps. Crossfield, who has used every major golf tracking app on the market, rates it as the most intuitive and impressive of them all.