Is a detailed overhead image of course allowed?

[powerfade]

I've been involved team match play over the past 6 weeks. Two of the courses were private Country Clubs which meant I only got to play one practice round. To prepare for them I used Google Earth ( free download is available ) to map out every hole. The ruler feature can be set to 'yards' which allowed me to determine optimal tee shot landing zones, hazards, etc. The tilt feature showed slopes however it's not as accurate as it needs to be for golf.

I printed off two holes per page (landscape), cut them all in half and created my own booklet to use during the practice round for notes and ultimately, the matches. Very cool tool and kinda fun to look at your own course.

[mikelz]

I've been involved team match play over the past 6 weeks. Two of the courses were private Country Clubs which meant I only got to play one practice round. To prepare for them I used Google Earth (

Thanks for the tip. Now I have a good reason to learn how to use Google Earth.

[powerfade]

Cool.
You'll have to copy/paste the Google Earth images as screenshots into something you can crop images with (I think you can do this in Word using their drawing tools).
I use SnagIt.

[mikelz]

Cool.

Thanks. I wasn't having much luck saving directly from the application.

I use Irfanview. It's free. Screengrab 1.0 is also free.

[tjy355]

Thanks. I wasn't having much luck saving directly from the application.

It's easy to save image in Google Earth

File -> Save -> Save Image Saves as a jpeg.

[marpr]

I use it on courses i am unfamiliar with.

I use GoogleEarth. Its great. It lets your zoom in and use the ruler function.

Althought most courses will have a yardage indicator. Its good to use to find distance indicators off dog-legs etc.

its great.

[jfrain2004]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, I asked my buddy and he got the images off Google earth. But what he did then was to create a circular grid extending out from the middle of the green, and from this he is able to read quiet accuratly to +/- 5 yards his exact distance from the centre of the green.
So if an image is not illegal is it illegal to have such detailed distances on it?
I know I would use this if it was legit but I would not consider it otherwise.

[mikelz]

It's easy to save image in Google Earth

Thank you. I did it.

[Divot]

Check it out...

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10272

Just to give you all a heads up on how I constructed the photo...

Before you save the image you should do a couple of things...

First, I find spots on the fairway where I typically hit my drives...So I marked spots of 230-250yds in an around the fairway off the tee I typically use...

Then I place a "marker" in that spot using the distance as the label.

THEN I saved the image, because it will also save ther markers.

I then used Photoshop to crop, cut, and organize the green, add some lines, or indicate some additional information.

Save as a .jpg and you are good to go. The nice thing about Photoshop is that I can then print these in a borderless 4x6 format. Makes for a handly little book.

During my next round, I will be taking my GPS unit and marking the tee boxes...then I will upload these waypoints to Google earth for exact distances for each tee.

Good luck.

[p_funk]

So if an image is not illegal is it illegal to have such detailed distances on it? I know I would use this if it was legit but I would not consider it otherwise.

I think this question has already been answered for you. There is nothing wrong with keeping accurate yardage readings. It will still be no different than a yardage book.