Elevation Change - Tips Needed

[SheriffBooth]

So the course I play regularly here on the coast has very little elevation change throughout, so I never have to deal with it. But I've got a couple of qualifiers coming up that I know are on more hilly terrain.

Anybody got any rules of thumb for how to club up or down when the green is significantly higher or lower than where you're hitting from?

[iacas]

So the course I play regularly here on the coast has very little elevation change throughout, so I never have to deal with it. But I've got a couple of qualifiers coming up that I know are on more hilly terrain.

Quite honestly, I go by feel. I don't have any hard or fast rules. It depends on your ball flight - how high or low you hit the ball. People who hit the ball high don't have to change as much as those who hit the ball low, typically.

[Rafcin]

I believe the dude named Pitagoras came up with the formula for that:
" In any right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the two legs " . Imagine your uphill upproach as a right triangle, 100 yds away, 30 yds elevation. If you apply the formula you should get the length of your shot to be 104.5 yds, even though you're sitting on 100yds marker.
Of course w/o exact elevation info it's all approximate.. Additionally remember - approach shots to uphill green rarely check - up.

[jeffgladchun]

I believe the dude named Pitagoras came up with the formula for that:

Well, your understanding of the Pythagorean Theorem is spot on, but I'm not so sure it applies to golf in that way. The yardage might be 104.5 yards "as the laser flies", but the practical yardage is farther, more like 110 or so because gravity is effectually pulling back the golf ball. If you imagine the same scenario, 100 yards "as the crow flies" with an elevation change of 30 yards and... well this is getting too hard to explain in words.

Luke Donald as well as many other tour pros use a tool called a "Clinometer" (I believe thats the name) to measure grades and apply a formula to get accurate yardages.

[Rafcin]

well...I always stank at geometry, and indeed the gravity is a factor I forgot about Personally I'm all about the feel, even on a flat shot, sometimes a 130y feels like a 9i, sometimes like a 8i for me...

[thehillgolfer]

yeah, i agree with everyone else...my course is named the hill, so i get plenty of practice with uphill, downhill, sidehill lies...and i do it all by feel as well, though usually its not that great, but i would worry, well not worry, practice more on different lies, cuz thats what will really get you on hilly courses, which is all i play on here in the blue ridge mountains