Distances measured from the tee to second shot location as well as distances from there to the front of the green are important to add to your golf course yardage book. Above is an example for the Pleasington Golf Course yardage book I created. This was hole number 2, a par 4 measuring 366 yards.
The blank template to print out has a small arc to indicate the front of the green, with a fairway extension running down the page. On Par 4s and 5s, start your yardage book from the area where your drive normally lands. Include doglegs, out of bounds and other hazards. Show the entire hole including tee boxes on par 3s.
This should contain the yardages off the tee to the points on the fairway or to the front and back of the green for par 3s. The second image for each hole should be a closer image of the shape of the green, including any major slopes which you can mark on your image and the landing zone in the fairway.
Each page in a yardage book usually features three key areas: Notes about the hole itself. The hole overview should give the player an idea of the overall shape, look and feel of the fairway, boundaries, and pin location. It will tell the golfer where to put the ball from each tee box and how to plan each shot.
I recommend starting with the tee boxes, then the fairway outlines and the onto the green. Once those features are in place you can spend time adding other relevant features onto the hole. Remember to add in all the features that you want to add distances to and from.
What is a yardage book? Yardage books are a handbook used by golfers when playing a round. These books contain information about distances, hazards, and green complexes for every hole on the golf course. Typically, yardage book offer a little bit more information than the average scorecard.
Yardage books have many yardages on them. They will tell you distances to individual bunkers or hazards. They will tell you the size of the greens. They will even show some slope that may be on the golf course.
0:082:17Golfing Scoring & Tips : How to Fill in a Golf Scorecard - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipIn the second slot Kevin Battersby. And Ernie else these these names will coincide with these linesMoreIn the second slot Kevin Battersby. And Ernie else these these names will coincide with these lines here and figure the score along this horizontal line. The front nine is considered to be out nine.
0:032:34Yardage book reading 101 - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAll these numbers are from the back edge of the championship tee box. So we're just going to go withMoreAll these numbers are from the back edge of the championship tee box. So we're just going to go with this one 302 to carry the bunker 350 through the fairway carry the fairway is 256 on this line 325.
The great Tiger Woods for example will always carry his yardage book in his back right pocket but if he's only carrying a pin sheet without a yardage book then he will place the pin sheet in his front left pocket!
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. This rule will not remove those old books from circulation.
But if you're someone who can break 90 and wants to lower your handicap, then yes a yardage book is so worth it. A yardage book might help you have 3-5 (or more) strokes as you can have a better strategy on each shot and keep the momentum going.
The yardage book are ubiquitous on the PGA Tour. Players and caddies carry them in their pockets and consult them before each shot. They show yardages to various targets on each hole, different points of elevation, and a close-up of the green that shows detailed contours and yardages.
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.
So, how are the yardages on your scorecard calculated? Short answer, golf holes are measured “across the ground” using the playing route that most golfers will take. For example, on a dogleg hole, the measurement is taken from the tee box to the apex of the dogleg. Then from that apex to the center of the green.
As a general rule, one yard of elevation change (up or down) equals a yard of distance. For example, if you have a shot that measures 100 yards up a hill that rises 10 yards from ball level to hole, those 10 yards must be added to the total – so it's a 110-yard shot.
The icons you use should clearly illustrate what they represent and be consistent and uniform across the entire yardage book. You’ll need images and diagrams to represent the many features typically found on a golf course including: 1 Tree lines 2 Tee boxes 3 Fall lines 4 Rough 5 Bunkers 6 Water hazards 7 Green and hole placement 8 Boundaries 9 Drop zones 10 Lateral hazards 11 False fronts 12 Trees, rocks, and shrubs 13 Cart paths 14 Yardages 15 Carry distances 16 And more, be creative!
Typically, yardage book offer a little bit more information than the average scorecard. Golfers use yardage books to develop a strategy for playing each hole, and they use the distances and hazards mapped in the yardage book to determine the optimal ball placement based on their level of skill.
Google Earth is handy for quickly and accurately determining yardage distances. Measure distances by clicking the ruler icon in the left-hand menu and map your yardages. Once you know distances to critical points on the fairway and green, take a screenshot or mark the distance in your design mockup.
The goal of this diagram is to give golfers a good idea of where to expect the ball to break, how far each putt will be and where to place the ball during the approach.
Typically a yardage book has one page for each hole, a front cover and a back cover. Sometimes there might also be a few pages with notes about the course or advertisements about the facility’s restaurant and pro shop.
Yardage books are usually are similar in size to a 3.5 by 5.5-inch field notes pad. However, some yardage books might get as big a standard 8.5 by 11-inch note pad, especially if the course chooses to place large advertisements within.
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If your course has a yardage book, make that investment. If they don’t, create your own. The quicker you can learn more details about your game and the course, the quicker you will be on your way to carrying yourself like the best golfers in the world.
They do so because they know the intimate details of the course, hole by hole, and plot their game around the course based on an in-depth knowledge of knowing their carry distances.
Gary Woodland of the United States checks his yardage book on the 15th green during the first round of The Memorial Tournament on July 16, 2020 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images.