SkyTrak ST MAX vs Foresight GC2: Which $1,700 class monitor fits you?

The takeaway is blunt. These two monitors cost almost the same, and they answer different questions. The SkyTrak ST MAX, at $1,695 as of Oct 28, 2026, tells you something about the club and the ball. The Foresight GC2, at $1,699 as of Oct 28, 2026, tells you a lot about the ball and nothing about the club. Pick the question you actually ask after a bad shot, and the winner picks itself.

That $4 price gap is a coincidence, not a tiebreaker. The real gap is in what each box measures, what screen you need to see it, and what you pay every year after the box arrives. This post puts those three gaps side by side, with the math shown.

How each one measures

The ST MAX uses two sensors working together. A photometric camera photographs the ball at impact for ball data, and dual Doppler radar reads the club. It sits beside the ball, level with the hitting surface, and it needs no stickers on the clubface and no marked balls. Use a clean white ball, and it does the rest.

The GC2 uses two high speed cameras and nothing else. Both cameras point at the ball, so every number it reports comes from photographing the ball in the first inches after impact. That is a proven approach. Foresight has built its reputation on it, and early independent testing of the new GC2 reported readings within two yards of a TrackMan on a 7 iron. That is one tester's result, not a guarantee, but it shows what two camera measurement can do when the ball data is the whole job.

Both units sit beside the ball, so neither needs space behind you the way a radar unit on a tripod does. Your room depth is set by your swing, your mat, and the distance to your net or screen, not by the monitor.

Data lists, side by side

PlayBetter lists 15 metrics for the ST MAX:

• Club data: club head speed, smash factor, club path, face angle, face to path, face to target
• Ball data: ball speed, launch angle, side angle, back spin, side spin, descent angle, carry distance, total distance, shot shape

Two gaps in that club list matter. The ST MAX does not list attack angle, so a golfer working on hitting up on the driver or shallowing an iron will not get that number here. And it does not measure face angle from a marker, it reads it with radar, so treat the club numbers as radar read, not camera photographed.

The GC2 measures 14 ball numbers, listed by Foresight as ball speed, launch angle, launch direction, back spin, side spin, total spin, spin axis, carry distance, total distance, curve, offline distance, peak height, descent angle, and hang time.

Compare the two ball lists, and the trade is clear. The GC2 gives you spin axis, total spin, peak height, hang time, and offline distance, detail the ST MAX list does not show. The ST MAX gives you club speed, path, face, and smash factor, numbers the GC2 cannot give you at any price. One list is deeper on the ball. The other list explains the swing that produced it.

The box you live with

The GC2 is the easier unit to use on its own. It weighs 4.5 pounds, has a built in handle, a 2.8 inch color screen, and a battery rated at 5 to 7 hours. You can read numbers on the unit after every shot, at the range or in the garage, without reaching for a phone.

The ST MAX is lighter at 1.7 pounds and smaller, at 6.875 inches high by 5.75 inches wide by 2.5 inches deep, but it has no screen at all. Every number lives in the SkyTrak app on a phone, tablet, or PC. That is fine in a permanent bay with a dedicated screen, and it is one more device to manage on a range trip. Its battery is listed at about 4 hours, shorter than the GC2, though its dual USB-C ports let you charge and transfer data at the same time, so a plugged in bay never runs dry.

The ST MAX adds one feature the GC2 does not try to match: Speed Training powered by GOLFTEC, with guided drills for building swing speed.

Both units need moving for shared left and right handed play. A side on unit sits on one side of the ball, so a household with both lefties and righties moves it between shots. Neither box solves that, and it is worth testing before you build a fixed bay around one side.

Software bills, with the math shown

The ST MAX works out of the box on a free Basic tier, with the SkyTrak Driving Range and core shot data. Practice tools need the Essential tier, listed at $129.99 a year on PlayBetter, with an indoor sale price of $99 shown on the same listing as of Oct 28, 2026. Course play needs Core at $299.99 a year for the Foresight course pack, or $349.99 a year for the TrackMan pack, or Elite at $599.99 a year for both packs.

SkyTrak's own store sweetens the first year. As of Oct 28, 2026, a new ST MAX purchase includes one year of free Core membership with the Foresight pack. So a course player pays $1,695 in year one, then $299.99 a year from year two for the Foresight pack, or $599.99 a year for both packs on Elite.

The GC2 works on Foresight+ Free at $0, with core ball data and your last 10 sessions saved. Practice tools need Silver at $199 a year. Course play needs Silver plus a Course Pass at $295 a year for 35 courses, or $595 a year for the full library on Course Pass Pro. GSPro needs Gold at $599 a year plus GSPro's own $250 a year, for $849 a year in software.

Put the course routes together:

• ST MAX, Foresight courses: $1,695 in year one with the included Core year, then $299.99 a year
• GC2, 35 courses: $1,699 plus $199 Silver plus $295 Course Pass, or $2,193 in year one
• GC2, full library: $1,699 plus $199 Silver plus $595 Course Pass Pro, or $2,493 in year one
• ST MAX, both course packs: $1,695 in year one with the included Core year, then $599.99 a year on Elite
• GC2, GSPro route: $1,699 plus $599 Gold plus $250 GSPro, or $2,548 in year one

One caution on the ST MAX and GSPro. PlayBetter lists GSPro among the ST MAX simulation partners, but other coverage describes the connection as unofficial or community built, not officially supported. If GSPro is your main reason to buy, confirm the current SkyTrak connection before you order, and budget GSPro's $250 a year on top of whatever SkyTrak tier unlocks it. The GC2 route to GSPro is documented and clear: Gold plus GSPro, $849 a year. The ST MAX route is cheaper if it works for you, and murkier until you confirm it.

Verdict by golfer

Our take, in plain terms:

• Buy the ST MAX if you want club data without stickers, and you want course play included in year one. You get path, face, and smash factor from day one, with no annual fee on the core numbers, and the included Core year makes the first year of simulator golf genuinely cheap. The trade is a deeper ball list you do not get, and a screen you have to supply yourself.
• Buy the GC2 if ball data is the whole job and you want Foresight's measured spin and carry numbers on a unit with its own screen. You get a range ready box, a battery that lasts a session, and a free tier that never hides your own numbers. The trade is absolute: no club data, ever, and a yearly bill before you play a single virtual course.
• Buy neither yet if GSPro is the plan and you need a documented connection. The GC2 has one, at $849 a year. The ST MAX may have one, and the saving is real if it does, but confirm it first rather than discovering the gap after unboxing.

Check our ST MAX deal page and our GC2 deal page for the live price before you buy. Both are $1,695 and $1,699 as of Oct 28, 2026, and the ST MAX in particular is $1,300 below its $2,995 list price, so the sale, not the list price, is the number to compare.

Sources: SkyTrak's ST MAX product page for the $1,695 price and the included Core year, PlayBetter's ST MAX listing for the 15 metric list and membership tiers, and Foresight's GC2 launch announcement for the GC2 ball data list.