When people think watches and golf, they often think of the modern sponsorships by Rolex and similar brands. In general, you can imagine how golf and watches go well, and have gone well for some time. However, it’s likely you wouldn’t make the connection between Casio and golf.
That’s right, Casio, the company famous for watches like the G-Shock was in the golf business. In fact, Casio and golf have a relationship going back decades, back to the retro era when they were making digital watches with games on them. One of Casio’s earlier game watches was in fact a ‘golf game’ watch! This was the Casio GG-9. Now, this game was a few notches below PGA Tour 2K21, but it was still pretty cool for being a ‘smart’ watch from the mid-1980s. The Casio was one of a group of other watches Casio made at the time based on different themes like jogging and other sports.
Casio GG-9 / Credit: Pocket Watch Calculator Show
Golfing, at the time, was dominated by the likes of Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, and Jack Nicklaus, while the sport overall was seeing explosive growth, with billions of dollars in sales and tens of millions of players. Prize money for the PGA Tour increased from about $13 million to over $40 million between 1980 and 1989! Now, I can’t imagine too many of these players wearing the GG-9 while practicing the sport, but it is still an interesting lens through which to view the watch today.
The Casio GG-9 used the module 227, apart from the main feature which was, of course, the game, it also featured a daily alarm, a stopwatch with 1/100th of a second, multiple other modes, and a stroke counter function. In addition, it also had a calendar that counted 28 days for February along with the regular time function. As far as accuracy, it was decent for the time at plus/minus 15 seconds per month, with a battery life of 2 years. The golf game itself was simple, controlled by the buttons on the watch that allowed you to change between a few courses and take a putt.
Jack Nicklaus / Credit: Golf Digest
Although we’ve mentioned game watches before, the GG-9 feels a bit more unique than the others for its cross between a classic digital Casio ‘sports’ watch and a retro game watch. Casio has made its fair share of watches like the Ski Race or Soccer, along with several racing-themed ones – but golf is a bit of a standout in my eyes. The perfect ‘throwback’ sport that perfectly matches the look of this mid-1980s timepiece.
By: Andres Ibarguen
Read more:
Furlong, Ron. “Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and the Top 15 Golfers from the 80s.” Bleacher Report, September 24th, 2010, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/470774-tom-watson-jack-nicklaus-and-the-top-15-golfers-from-the-1980s.
Vitale, Mike & Thomas, Kevin. “1980s proved decade of changes in golf.” Tampa Bay Times, October 16th, 2005, https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/02/19/1980s-proved-decade-of-changes-in-golf/.
See Casio catalogues from approximately 1984-1986 with the Casio GG-9. Available by request.