how to read golf course maps

• Get the app. Before you start reading the golf course maps, you need to get a device that will enable you to install the application.
• Choose the course. Apparently, you will not read the chart without knowing or choosing the course. Well, you already know the course you want to or are playing.
• Reading the course maps. If you are a golfer, you are already aware that the functionality of the golf GPS depends on the information provided by the golf course map.
• Get the standard yardage map. This may consist of a design of a break. This is where the figures are on paper at varying points. ...
Have a detailed yardage map. An advanced distance (in yards) map will consist of every hole’s hazard, with chocolate-tinted regions for blue regions and bunkers that show water.
Determine the break. You will need to find the slope, gentle of course. Put a ball or a coin marker approximately 9ft. from the hole.

Full Answer

What do you need to make a golf map?

Some golfers like to use GPS maps when playing a round. Whether it's on a cart monitor or a handheld GPS caddy, it can be an advantage to know the layout of the hole and yardage from Point A to Point B. In the end, it's all about helping golfers improve their game by knowing exact locations of greens, pins, bunkers, rough and hazards. So, it's important to know how to read …

What information is on a golf chart?

How to Read Golf Course Layout Yardage Charts. Yardage books compiled by players or their caddies offer details about a golf course that go far beyond the numbers you’ll find on a scorecard or a sprinkler head. Basic charts may assist a casual player, while the most advanced charts are designed to help professional golfers choose clubs and develop playing strategies …

What do the numbers on a yardage chart mean in golf?

View Course in Google Earth Click the link to view a detailed shot-by-shot fly-over on any device with Google Earth installed. In addition to 3D terrain, this will also allow you to see 3D buildings and trees where available. If the fly-over doesn't start automatically, go to your downloads folder and click the file.

How can I use GOLFLink to improve my game?

Oct 24, 2017 · How Green-Reading Maps Are Changing The Way People Putt. ... or San Francisco Golf Club, which doesn't even sell yardage books. Any course can have its greens mapped. If a course agrees to ...

How do you read a golf course guide?

1:172:34Yardage book reading 101 - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipNumber that's from the back edge of the tee box to the hole. And then you see the minus one which isMoreNumber that's from the back edge of the tee box to the hole. And then you see the minus one which is means it's one yard downhill.

How do you read a golf yardage book?

All yardage books include:Hole number and layout.Total distance from each tee box.Distance to hazards and fairway bunkers.Distances from the fairway/rough based on sprinkler heads.An overview of the green, including green depth/size and tiers.

How do you read a green heat map?

Quick-view heat maps outline the green's undulations and provide large, easy-to-see arrows which help you identify target areas for your approach shots. A second, close-up perspective of the green highlights the subtle changes in elevation and direction that are often undetectable to the naked eye.Aug 10, 2020

How do you read a green and yardage book?

1:272:58StrackaLine Green Reading Guides: How they help golfers ... - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou have to know how directionally how this is going to line up to your greens. So you got to makeMoreYou have to know how directionally how this is going to line up to your greens. So you got to make pay attention to sprinkler heads things that they've identified for you on this actual on the straco.

What does a pro yardage book look like?

A yardage book can be as simple or detailed as you like, but most offer the following: Overhead view of the current hole. Outlines of tee boxes, fairways, hazards, rough, bunkers, and green complexes. Landmarks or significant areas of the course that never change, such as tree's, rocks, yardage markers, structures, etc ...

How do pro golfers figure out yardage?

To know the course's exact distances and dimensions, professionals rely on a tour caddie yardage book. Golf yardage books are detailed guides that pros and their caddies use to navigate the course during play.Oct 8, 2020

Do all courses have green books?

Tour players and caddies will be given a Tour-approved yardage book at every site before the tournament starts. It will contain all the usual information from tee to green. That will not change. When it comes to the greens, however, information will be cut to a minimum.Dec 2, 2021

Are green-reading books legal?

Green-reading books are perfectly legal under the R&A and USGA rules. They exist for thousands of courses, other than Augusta National, and every course that's hosted a PGA Tour event in the last, say, five years.Nov 1, 2021

How much slope should a putting green have?

RECOMMENDED SLOPE More than 3' around hole should be consistent slope. Figure I. It is important to understand the direct relationship between green speed and putting green slope. As green speeds increase, the potential for uncontrollable slopes also increases.

How do pros read greens?

3:166:24The Easy GOLF PUTTING LESSON to Help You Read Break - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipStraight. Okay now i'm on the other side of it. Right to left right to left right to left right toMoreStraight. Okay now i'm on the other side of it. Right to left right to left right to left right to left all the way back down to the straight putt.

How is distance measured on a golf course?

Each hole must be measured horizontally (air line) by an electronic measuring device (EMD), surveying instruments, or a global positioning system (GPS) from the permanent yardage marker for every teeing area on the golf course to the center of the green.

Why are there no green's books at the Masters?

At the Masters, unlike other tournaments on tour, players aren't given detailed green-reading books to help navigate the treacherous putting surfaces of Augusta National. Instead, players are left to rely on their own experience on the course and build on what they've learned.Nov 11, 2020

Instructions

Power up the device and either load or download the program or file for the course you want to play. Most of the handheld devices will give instructions on how to get the course layout, while the cart devices will have the course programmed into the machine. If using an app, be sure GPS is enabled on your device.

Tips & Warnings

If you still have difficulty reading the GPS map on a device or cart, consult the manual or have a course employee get additional details. The manual should have instructions on the display, while an employee should be able to show you how the cart system works.

About The Author

Mike Camunas is also reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, covering local golf in the Tampa Bay area, from events to golfers hitting hole in ones, to even covering the professional events that hit town. He has been playing golf for about 11 years and has not seen his handicap lower. Maybe one day, but he'll stick to his day job for now.

History

For most of golf’s history, players trying to determine the distance of a particular shot had little more to work with than the basic tee-to-green measurement and their own judgment.

Basic Yardage Chart

A standard yardage chart includes an illustration of a hole on which numbers are written at various points.

Detailed Yardage Charts

More advanced yardage charts will include all of a hole’s hazards, with tan-colored areas for bunkers and blue areas indicating water. A number written on the green indicates the green’s depth. Lines on the green show how a putt will break.

Personalized Charts

Charts made specifically for a professional may include information on how the golfer played the hole previously.

Course Layout Analysis

The chart above shows the length distribution and left/right balance of the course.

3D Fly-Over in Google Earth

View Course in Google Earth Click the link to view a detailed shot-by-shot fly-over on any device with Google Earth installed. In addition to 3D terrain, this will also allow you to see 3D buildings and trees where available. If the fly-over doesn't start automatically, go to your downloads folder and click the file.

YouTube Fly-Overs

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for fly-overs of upcoming pro tournaments plus many other top courses and hidden gems around the world.

Template Yardage Books

Create your own yardage books with our configurable template yardage books here .

Training Courses for Players, Caddies and Coaches

Learn how to get the very best out of ProVisualizer If you are new to the site or just want to make sure you are using the site in the best way this video series will give you a step-by-step overview of everything from setting up your profile through to planning your strategy, visualizing your round, and printing your yardage books.

Welcome to ProVisualizer.com!

We aim to give you the most useful golf course planners and visualization tools available today. The 2D and 3D planners are full-featured planners designed for laptops and workstations. The mobile planner is a GPS-enabled planner designed for smartphones and tablets. The scorecard is based on the tee, pin and target positions shown on the map.

1. Heat Map

GolfLogix Green Books are the only guides that overlay standard break indicators wit colorcoded patches to clearly illustrate severity of slope, even for novice green readers. Cool sections indicate flat-ish areas on the green — great places to land an approach. Orange and red? Avoid at all costs!

2. Clean View

Here you’ll find the standard slope and direction often printed in a professionally drafted green book, but in a clutter-free view for when you’re fine-tuning your line from any point on the green. Obviously, arrows indicate break direction. If you had the app in hand, it’d give you the perfect line.

3. Hole Layout

In addition to ultraprecise green data (laser-scanned to 3mm accuracy), Green Books provide a tee-to-green overhead for every hole on the course, with landing arcs spaced at 50 yards to help plan the perfect tee shot and approach.

GolfLink Yardage Maps

Search our library of 11,000+ yardage maps. Strategize your round - chart each shot per hole. Get hole yardage, distance markers, locate hazards and see course layouts. Save customized yardage maps for your next round! Print and take your maps to the course.

Cypress Point Club, Cypress Point

The 18-hole Cypress Point course at the Cypress Point Club facility in Pebble Beach, California features 6,536 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course rating is 72.4 and it has a slope rating of 136 on Blue grass. Designed by Alister MacKenzie, the Cypress Point golf course opened in 1928.