How to figure out how far to the hole

[ronaldkuntoro]

When playing alone without a caddy or a playing partner, how do you figure out the distance to the hole especially on your second/third shot?
Can you approx from just looking at the flag?

FYI, I always got the information from a playing partner or a caddy....

[aquacooled]

birdie book.. no range finders, gps or skycaddie.. Just the good old birdie book.. I dont know using those electronic crutches, to me it feels like cheating.. Like giving yourself a better lie or not counting that Mulligan you took or whatever..

Just my $0.02

[ronaldkuntoro]

birdie book.. no range finders, gps or skycaddie.. Just the good old birdie book.. I dont know using those electronic crutches, to me it feels like cheating.. Like giving yourself a better lie or not counting that Mulligan you took or whatever..

Where can I buy those birdie book?

or is it just a small book with handraw of the golf course? I just heard the term....

[aquacooled]

Where can I buy those birdie book?

yes those little books, I write all my stats in there.. Matter fact the club pres gave me a whole box of them, because I kept taking the ones from the front desk..

[ipark1303]

I usually "walk and carry", so I am able to count the steps between my ball and the yardage stick/sign... certainly distance is also affected by many different other factors i.e. slope, wind, etc. but it's a "trial and error" process.
I usually play the same course and I try different clubs from the same distance to check the result... however, if the course changes as in the case of Harding Park... gotta start over!!!!
Just kidding! You will see that after some time with this method and recording your shots on the yardage book, you will develop an "eye" on yardage distance.

[Pete Beau]

I use two methods; rangefinder and pocket PC program/ GPS.

The pocket PC program is called INTELLIGOLF and with a GPS works much like a Skycaddie. You can keep stats (so I can see how bad I am) and enter GPS points of the course via walking-it-off or using satellite image website like Google Earth.

It's fun GPS’ing our drives and see the humbling looks on golfing friends faces when you tell how far their drive REALLY went. Those 260+ yard drives are really more like 225.

As far as cheating, pro’s have caddies that walk the course and club members have caddies with local knowledge. It speeds up the game a lot because there is no need to step-off yardages.

Hit’em straight!

[NM Golf]

birdie book.. no range finders, gps or skycaddie.. Just the good old birdie book.. I dont know using those electronic crutches, to me it feels like cheating.. Like giving yourself a better lie or not counting that Mulligan you took or whatever..

Except improving your lie and taking a mulligan IS cheating and GPS and range finders are completely within the rules. "birdie books" are becoming a thing of the past, like persimmon head drivers and balatta balls. Range finders do the same thing as a birdie book, except a lot faster. I certainly hope the people playing in front of me choose the technology.

[Everardo]

I'm on the technology bandwagon and use a range finder. For me it's just quicker than walking off and a lot more accurate then guessing (obviously)

[aquacooled]

Range finders do the same thing as a birdie book, except a lot faster.

I hardly believe that pulling out a GPS turning it on waiting for sat uplink is faster then me pulling out my birdie book looking where I am then hitting me ball..

We can test it sometime (if we were closer) I bet you I play just as fast as you or anyone else with the tech and me with my "book"

[Everardo]

I hardly believe that pulling out a GPS turning it on waiting for sat uplink is faster then me pulling out my birdie book looking where I am then hitting me ball..

I used to use a Skycaddie (GPS) and the only delay I ever experienced was during startup and loading the course I was about to play. During the round I've never had a delay with it trying to find yardage.

I currently use a range finder which just just an electronic pair of binoculars, point and shoot, no delay there.

[ApplebyFan]

birdie book.. no range finders, gps or skycaddie.. Just the good old birdie book.. I dont know using those electronic crutches, to me it feels like cheating.. Like giving yourself a better lie or not counting that Mulligan you took or whatever..

21st Century man, get a skycaddie

[Q.Q.Quillume]

I used to use a Skycaddie (GPS) and the only delay I ever experienced was during startup and loading the course I was about to play. During the round I've never had a delay with it trying to find yardage.

I agree 100% with Everado. The yardage is virtually instantaneous and the Sky Caddie will do so much more than give the distance to the hole. It's a misconception to say, " . . . pulling out a GPS turning it on waiting for sat uplink . . . " because the Sky Caddie is not turned off during the round, only before you walk up (or drive up) to the first tee box, and there is no waiting on the uplink. The satellite uplink is always there, at least with my experience with my Sky Caddie.

[aquacooled]

I agree 100% with Everado. The yardage is virtually instantaneous and the Sky Caddie will do so much more than give the distance to the hole. It's a misconception to say, " . . . pulling out a GPS turning it on waiting for sat uplink . . . " because the Sky Caddie is not turned off during the round, only before you walk up (or drive up) to the first tee box, and there is no waiting on the uplink. The satellite uplink is always there, at least with my experience with my Sky Caddie.

ok thanks for clearing that up, I thought you turned it off or standbye..

and as far as it being the 21st cent and all, I guess Im just luckey and can guess yardage pretty well.. I guess if I played allot of different courses then I would get one but I play the same 3 or 4 course almost all the time..

[AzCoastie]

I hardly believe that pulling out a GPS turning it on waiting for sat uplink is faster then me pulling out my birdie book looking where I am then hitting me ball..

Yeah, technology isn't always faster or better.

Here's a video from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno testing the speed of morse code vs text messaging. Guess which one was faster?

[pmcarync]

Good point about technology not always being faster.. and I'm in the technology industry :)

While there isn't any "boot-up" time with the SkyCaddies or range finders... with a well done yardage guide (or "Birdie Book"... I love that term and will probably start using it) I start looking at it [the book] as I walk to my ball so I can start thinking about the shot I have to play before I even get to the ball; if a book is well done, it'll show distance from all sorts of reference points on a hole. A couple of members at my home course have a SkyCaddie, but I guess due to our familiarity of the course, anytime I've played with those that have it, I've only seen them use it maybe 2 or 3 times a round... seems like a lot to pay for that limited usage.

Oh, and my experience with a guy who just got a rangefinder? He used it for like every shot... fussed about the yardages on the sprinkler heads at least half of the time..."hey, this one is 2 yards off!!!"...that got annoying.

[NM Golf]

I don't know about you, but I occasionally hit a drive off the beating path, even "borrowing" another hole's fairway from time to time. Your "birdie book" aint much help then, but my range finder still gives me exact yardage.

[pmcarync]

I don't know about you, but I occasionally hit a drive off the beating path, even "borrowing" another hole's fairway from time to time. Your "birdie book" aint much help then, but my range finder still gives me exact yardage.

Good point... esp if you've got a view of the green from that path less travelled ;)

[Pete Beau]

I leave the GPS on full time so the data is instant. Yardage books, birdie books, notes all work real good.

Have fun and hit them well.