Yardage book ?

[stealthduffer]

  adamgoodman said:

Originally Posted by adamgoodman

I didn't really want to make a new thread, so I'll ask this question at risk of being Mr. Somewhat Irrelevant.

Are using yardage books legal in high school competition?  A lot of the "away" courses I play are right in the area, and I few I have played a couple times before, and I've often ran into trouble because of not knowing the distance inconsistencies from one course to another.  Now that this year I have a car and a steady job, I could have the opportunity to visit courses prior to the match.

Lots of hoopla, but the real question would be if I made yardage books for these courses, would it be legal to use during competition?

Good question - and smart to ask prior to inadvertently breaking the rules.  I'd check with your coach and then on your state athletic governing unit website.  My thought (and only my $.02) is that personal notes made for a course would probably be legal.  I'm assuming that GPS and range finders are not allowed - and probably properly so due to the disparate advantages that could be obtained - but references based on your experience are available to anyone who wishes to take the time and effort to create them.

[goblue107501]

  adamgoodman said:

Originally Posted by adamgoodman

Are using yardage books legal in high school competition?

I don't know about your state, but they are in Missouri.  A friend of mine is a HS golf coach and they always play the state tournaments in my area.  A couple of the courses are my regular courses so over the years I had made a bunch of notes and yardages in the course yardage book.  Anytime he had someone qualify for state and they played one of those I would let them borrow my yardage book.  I can't imagine that you couldn't use a yardage book.  It is a basic utility that every golfer has access to.  It isn't secret info.  Heck, every pro on tour uses a yardage book wherever they are, so it would stand to reason that they would be allowed at any level.

You could make your own, but it would probably be best to check with the pro shop and see if they have one already printed (most courses do, you just have to ask).  Then just make your own notes in it.

[Ignorant]

  adamgoodman said:

Originally Posted by adamgoodman

I didn't really want to make a new thread, so I'll ask this question at risk of being Mr. Somewhat Irrelevant.

Are using yardage books legal in high school competition?  A lot of the "away" courses I play are right in the area, and I few I have played a couple times before, and I've often ran into trouble because of not knowing the distance inconsistencies from one course to another.  Now that this year I have a car and a steady job, I could have the opportunity to visit courses prior to the match.

Lots of hoopla, but the real question would be if I made yardage books for these courses, would it be legal to use during competition?

All information given on the course before any competition is public information and thus perfectly legal to be used, and there is no way a yardage book could be forbidden. See Rule 8-1 and decision 8-1/2.

[KevinMortonGolf]

At my course the sprinklers show front, middle and back.

Makes life much easier.

[adamgoodman]

  Ignorant said:

Originally Posted by Ignorant

All information given on the course before any competition is public information and thus perfectly legal to be used, and there is no way a yardage book could be forbidden. See Rule 8-1 and decision 8-1/2.

Say I use a golf GPS and record my own yardages? Not public information.  Say, X tree is Y yardage?

[perfectswing]

It is fairly common nowadays to measure to the center of the green.  That way it is a simple addition or subtraction from the center based off where the pin is at.  Think of it this way, if you want to error your distance, being more towards the center of the green is never a terrible thing.

[stealthduffer]

I would verify that a yardage book is legal by your high school league rules.  While legal for USGA there can be rules for the high school.  That said, I can't imagine it wouldn't be legal but worth checking out (which should be easy).

I also can't believe that using your GPS - on your own time - to make yourself notes would be a problem either.  Presumably everyone has the option to do so - but perhaps not the initiative.

[AzGolfGeek]

Some might think I'm totally whacked, but this is what I do and seems to work well. If its a casual round, or a practice round, I will take notes to build my yardage book, (if its a course that I would eventually play a tournament on).   I create all my own yardage books, I use google maps to get the outline of the hole, the mark out the sprinkler heads, sand trap front/back edges and other objects for distance.   my yardage points on the greens are;  front edge, back edge, then I dissect the green into 8 to 12 quadrants. I will also indicate slopes and tiers, false fronts and areas that are either good misses, or bad misses. There are always some places you don't want to be.  The distances come from my range finder (Bushnell Tour V2). I will also laser layup areas on par 5's, tight corners on par 4's.  Basically I try to have the distance available for most situations.     Sometimes its a number of rounds played to get a book detailed enough, and sometimes I will walk the course late in the day after the last group has gone through.   It takes a lot work to build a good book, but once you have it, its a very valuable tool.     Disclaimer: if I was only to play casual golf, I wouldn't this detailed of a book, but for tournaments that do not allow range finders, its my 15 club.

[Gerald]

Whacked ..... not at all, that is the way I would like any yardage book to be, most give far to less info !

[Fourputt]

  Gerald said:

Originally Posted by Gerald

I am working on a new yardage book for the course I am a member off, the course has been going through some changes over the past 3 years, like new tees, hills being added, bunkers added, some ponds, etc..... so the old yardage book as little value at the moment.

Now there is some debate as to measure distances from the front edge of the green or from the center of the green.

In some coutries they measure from the front edge of the green and I see some benefits.

How about you, what would you suggest and why ?

Every course I've played where I noticed the course measurements, they have been set to the center of the green.  If you only have one number to work with, I think that's a more important number than front or back.

I think that yardage books are gradually becoming extinct like the dinosaurs though, what with the proliferation of laser and GPS rangefinders.

  Gerald said:

Quote:Originally Posted by Gerald

Simple tip for getting your handicap down by at least 5 strokes :

Hoping to land a ball between front edge and pin is NO-GO for a hc 22.4 (wrong thinking) ....... it is better to aim for the area between the flag and the back edge ...... why ? ..... simple ...... most trouble is short of the hole !..... so if you go for in between the front edge and the pin, you mostly (at hc. 22.4) end short and in all kinds of trouble adding strokes to your card.

If you aim for in between the hole and the back edge and it is good you are in a perfect spot and if it is short, you will be most likely still be at a great spot. !!!

Succes !!!!

The part I bolded and underlined is dependent on the course.  On my home course you are usually in more trouble long.  With greens framed by blue spruce trees, sometimes tall (up to 3 feet tall) native rough, and usually playing to a downsloping green, being over the back is often a disaster.  When you know the distance to center, you can better gauge what you want to do regardless of where the trouble is.

[weavej2]

I have a few old books that I picked up on Ebay,  I happened to look thru about 7 I happened to have in the car...all measure to the front

front.pdf 220k .pdf file