USGA, R&A Limit Green Reading Materials

[iacas]

19 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Are these charts provided to the golfer by an outside source (i.e not the golfer/caddie)? 

Correct. They're built by a company and sold for $100 to $300 or so.

[The Recreational Golfer]

ON January 1, 2019, information contained in green-reading books will become restricted to "effectively render the books impractical."

Read the Golfweek article: https://golfweek.com/2018/07/19/usga-ra-have-agreed-to-severely-restrict-green-reading-books/

Edited July 21, 2018 by The Recreational Golfer

[Rulesman]

4 hours ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

ON January 1, 2019, information contained in green-reading books will become restricted to "effectively render the books impractical."

Read the Golfweek article: https://golfweek.com/2018/07/19/usga-ra-have-agreed-to-severely-restrict-green-reading-books/

Did you not read post #116 which contained this link?

https://golfweek.com/2018/07/19/usga-ra-have-agreed-to-severely-restrict-green-reading-books/

 

[Rulesman]

Formal announcement

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/articles/2018/07/usga--the-r-a-green-reading-materials-rules-of-golf.html

 

[DeadMan]

Seems pretty reasonable to me. Pretty straightforward, too (although I was confused about the 4% slope thing, but it makes sense now that I've read the USGA's examples).

I won't be able to use the book I made of slopes on my course's greens for aimpoint, but oh well.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, DeadMan said:

Seems pretty reasonable to me. Pretty straightforward, too (although I was confused about the 4% slope thing, but it makes sense now that I've read the USGA's examples).

I won't be able to use the book I made of slopes on my course's greens for aimpoint, but oh well.

How would a book you made on your own not be considered ‘read by your own skills and judgement’?

[Golfingdad]

3 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

How would a book you made on your own not be considered ‘read by your own skills and judgement’?

After reading the rules and examples, I think I'm against this - seems messy and confusing.  Particularly the part about which handwritten notes are and are not allowed.

I think I'd rather they just said you can't use the fancy large pre-printed ones, and then regulate the yardage books they do allow, to make sure that the green sizes are small enough for their liking, and then leave everybody free to make whatever handwritten notes they want.  Regulating the actual notes that are allowed seems like overstepping.

It'll be like NASCAR ... after each tournament, everybody in the top 5 or 10 will have to submit their yardage book materials for inspection/grading to make sure they fit within the regulations before any wins are made official. 

[DeadMan]

56 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

How would a book you made on your own not be considered ‘read by your own skills and judgement’?

Because I used a level to get the exact slope % readings.

[iacas]

I think it’s actually pretty clear.

I also don’t think players will try to skirt the edges here lest they “reproduce” the detailed maps.

[No Mulligans]

How about let them use rangefinders and eliminate books all together?  That should speed up the game and resolve the detailed green slope issue.

[iacas]

50 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

How about let them use rangefinders and eliminate books all together?  That should speed up the game and resolve the detailed green slope issue.

Because yardage books have things you can’t hit with a laser AND they’ve been a part of the game for decades.

[saevel25]

An article from Golf Digest,

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/by-requiring-green-reading-materials-to-provide-less-information-are-the-usga-and-randa-creating-more-confusion

Quote

“I can see that the USGA is trying to eliminate the ‘exactness’ of putting by limiting slope information,” he said. “[But] very few golfers understand slope … and even fewer know what to do with it. Over the past few years, I have talked to a few professional golfers that think they can calculate the exact break of a putt because they know the slope percent between the ball and the hole … but the reality is that doing that is impossible because of the effects of Stimp [speed], grain, moisture and wind on the putt.

Apparently he hasn't talked with the guys from Aimpoint

The full version of Aimpoint has a chart that allows you to get the exact break of the putt. Given, you might have to make micro-adjustments, but it is very accurate.

Aimpoint takes into account STIMP. Grain effects speed, so adjust the STIMP. Moisture effects speed, so adjust the STIMP. Wind can be tricky, but most golfers do not golf in winds that would have measurable effects on the putt. If there are crazy winds, then just pray. Most likely the winds will be gusting. There is no way to predict that.

[boogielicious]

2 hours ago, saevel25 said:

An article from Golf Digest,

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/by-requiring-green-reading-materials-to-provide-less-information-are-the-usga-and-randa-creating-more-confusion

Apparently he hasn't talked with the guys from Aimpoint

The full version of Aimpoint has a chart that allows you to get the exact break of the putt. Given, you might have to make micro-adjustments, but it is very accurate.

Aimpoint takes into account STIMP. Grain effects speed, so adjust the STIMP. Moisture effects speed, so adjust the STIMP. Wind can be tricky, but most golfers do not golf in winds that would have measurable effects on the putt. If there are crazy winds, then just pray. Most likely the winds will be gusting. There is no way to predict that.

But what if I wet my finger and stick it up in the air? 

[iacas]

The more I think about it, and the more I hear from current and former PGA/LPGA Tour players, the more in favor I am of trying to find a way to just ban them altogether.

Make the rules like this:

• Outline of the green with handwritten notes only.
• No indication of an actual slope % (not by numbers, different colored marks, etc.)
• You can indicate general slope direction and features and the yardages to them (say, 10 yards onto the green is a tier, or something), but nothing else.

[boogielicious]

20 hours ago, iacas said:

The more I think about it, and the more I hear from current and former PGA/LPGA Tour players, the more in favor I am of trying to find a way to just ban them altogether.

Make the rules like this:

• Outline of the green with handwritten notes only.
• No indication of an actual slope % (not by numbers, different colored marks, etc.)
• You can indicate general slope direction and features and the yardages to them (say, 10 yards onto the green is a tier, or something), but nothing else.

I agree. This is what make AimPoint so useful. It is a physical skill, like all other aspects of golf. You have to practice it to get better, but you are doing it.

[Hardspoon]

On 7/31/2018 at 5:39 PM, Golfingdad said:

I think I'd rather they just said you can't use the fancy large pre-printed ones, and then regulate the yardage books they do allow, to make sure that the green sizes are small enough for their liking, and then leave everybody free to make whatever handwritten notes they want.  Regulating the actual notes that are allowed seems like overstepping.

I think the problem they anticipated was that you could just make an exact replica of the detailed green maps by hand, and call them "handwritten notes".

The USGA/RA was in a tough spot - they're trying to regulate something really subjective (make sure green reading is still a skill), and I think they did it pretty well.  The scale limitation is good, and the slope limitation of 4% is a really creative way of doing what they want (allowing golfers to recreate gross features, without precise markings that allow them to actually read putts).

 

[iacas]

I mostly agree John @Hardspoon. I also think they could have almost banned them altogether.

[saevel25]

I think the simplest way would be to ban labelling slope on the putting green charts. I don't mind them showing general contours of the green, to help their approach shots.