Determining Yardages

Hi, this is my first post so probably a good time to introduce myself. I'm Gaz, been playing golf on and off for a few years now but recently caught the bug again and getting firmly back into the swing of things (no pun intended). This is probably due to finally getting a post (i'm in the military) that allows me to go home every night and have the luxury to invest time in sport and not be sent away all the time, although my bunker play will suffer for it! I have also booked me and my father a couple of rounds at the Belfry in the coming weeks and throughly looking forward to it after reading postive comments from others on this site.

Anyway, back on topic. Just wondering how any of you determine yardages of your clubs? I have the luxury of having large open spaces in which to practice all my clubs on but aside from counting strides to my ball, i have no real idea of how far i am hitting each club. I have noticed most large golf shops have simulators within them and trying to determine if this is the best option available. Do you think its worth it or should i just carry on as i have been going?

Thanks in advance,

Gaz

Welcome to the site Garry, and welcome back to the game.

I'll probably get shot down here, but as many people know that although I'm an engineer I'm not a great fan of 'technology' in the game.  I would say that if you've got access to lots of open space then pacing out yardages (OK, you could lash out on a surveyors tape measure) is as good as it gets, especially if you can hit shots off proper grass.  Be better if you could get some targets at known distances to go for the accuracy.

The problem with simulators is that you are reliant on a couple of things.  The first thing to realise is what they are in a shop for, are they there to let you see how far you hit the ball or to merely to sell you a club.  Just because you get a fancy flight line and distance accurate to within a couple of inches doesn't mean to say that's what you'll actually get.  Imagine (shock, horror) that it's been set to exagerate how far you hit it by 5% (standard test spec tolerance), what are you going to gain from using it?

Secondly you'll always be hitting off a mat.  Now if you're like me and tend to hit down and (mostly) behind the ball then any club will just skid off the plastic and still get a decent strike.  Since most golf courses seem to be made of grass what can be gained by assesing your yardages from that.  This is the one reason that the only driving range I use has a large grass area, and I never go in the bays.

I'm sure that people will be on with different opinions, but golf is not a game of mechanics.  You're brain can, and will, work these things out without you even knowing it.  So use the force, Luke .Ooops, sorry

Gaz, a good starting point is to hit 50 balls with each club, discount all duff shots (fats & tins) take away the shortest ten and longest ten and you more or less have your yardage for that particular club. Pay attention also to the carry and roll you get from the longer irons. You may find that you hit a 7 iron as far as a 5 iron but this should improve as you progress.

I know I'll get shot down for this but I'm a big fan of distance measuring devices when playing. 

I'd love to be able to look down the fairway and know accurately the pin is 150 yards away but unfortunately I don't play enough and have no need in every day life to use my eyes as a measuring tool.

For me I find I play an awful lot better if I have a guide distance to the centre of the green.  I couldn't care less if the flag is 158 yards because I could never hit 3 shots in a row the same distance but I find it most useful to be able to quickly know the rough yardage to a particular point.

I find this speeds up my play/club selection and improves my scoring.  And yes I've seen people using GPS devices etc checking every single point and exact distance which I agree is pointless unless you are a tour pro !

Why would you get shot down, Darren, if that is the way you see the game then, fine.

You said that you have no need in every day life to use your eyes as a measuring tool, do you think that I do?. You are mistaken, I do not look at a pin or bunker and say that is so many yards. Yardage is irrelevant.

It is rather hard to explain but I have a feel for distance measured not by yards but what club and shot I feel is necessary to achieve my objective. I most certainly do not look and say that is a hundred yards so I will use my club that goes a 100 yards, and therein lies the difference.

I agree with you JP. When you play this game for a long time and don't rely on being told how far the hole is by an electronic box, you do start seeing distance in 'clubs' not yards.

What we tend to do now is see the shot and use the help available to confirm out first thoughts, which are usually right in the first place.

But it is interesting that I don't have the same acurate eye off the course.

TheLyth

Fully agree with you both.  My goal for 2012 is to play more, hence club membership, so hopefully the alien concept to me of 'feel' will be developed this year

DMDs for now give me that accurate quick estimate.  Obviously I still have to factor in the wind and any elevation.

Garry,

before I had a GPS device I bought a cheap measuring wheel of ebay. Went onto a grassed practice area & hit 20 balls with each club, discarded the duffs (of which there were many in the early days) & measured out the distance. I did this a few time during the course of the year as my swing was changing, the weather etc. But this gave me a good idea & something I could base my club selection on.

Personally I have found the introduction of GPS confusing. For the most part I am Like JP and Lyth. When I arrive at my ball , even if it's a course that I haven't played before, I have a strong instinct about the club I need. Poorly measured '150' markers and GPS thrown into the mix serves to put me in two minds (golf was so much simpler before these...so what if you were a bit long or short) and as Darren points out at our level we don't knock in the 5 iron and lower clubs to within a few yards of each other everytime so. Don't get me wrong... if there is a GPS about I listen in to the yardage. 

Hi Garry, read your post and thought I would stick in my novices pennies worth in, my handicap yet to be worked out but after my first ever round of golf its off the scale becasue i cant find the hole. I would tend to go on Patricks advice for the distance measuring, i've spend long enough tinkering and spending pot fulls of cash about on driving ranges for this one, get an early start on the range before there is a 1000+ balls floating on the range, dont forget to take a note pad & pen !!, Start with your driver, hit 20 balls, take away top & bottom 5 hit & pick up your distance from the marker on the remaining 10, make a note of distance move onto next club and so on, whilst it is only a basic guide and as you progress & get better at swinging the club and getting better distances, it gives you a rough idea which club to grab on the course and an approx guess to the hole, as i said it is only a VERY VERY rough basic guide, works for me, now all i have got to do is learn how to putt it in the hole !!! hope this helps...Tim

I use a GPS system to work out my golf distances. I can mark my position from where I hit the ball and then again where it finishes. I keep track of each club's shots and over time I can get an average. I take into account conditions so I can get a good idea on what club to use into wind/against wind and if there is more roll on the fairways etc.

First time I did it I was shocked at how much shorter I hit the ball than I thought. No wonder I never hit the green with my approach shot - I had the wrong club in my hands.

I think some people are 'feel' and can instinctively know which club to use. But I am a beginner and have never been a 'feel' person so would really struggle without a GPS.

My husband is a 'feel' golfer and he knows instinctively which club and how hard to hit it. He also can tell me which club to take for my shots too. Then again he has been playing since a teenager and plays off 3.

PS - Congrats to him and the rest of Moortown scratch team for coming 2nd in the L&DGU scratch team championship qualifier!

Too true Judy, I think the majority of people do underclub, perhaps with the thought in their mind that they'll get there with a 100% pure strike, which with mid to high handicappers is not a realistic assumption. The 'feel' players (more often than not who have been playing for donkeys years) do have the advantage of experience when playing in wind and lets not forget the vast difference between the seasons and temperature, humidity and how that affects flight and roll.

 I'll be playing your course on Sun. Now Moortown is a long course when it's wet and the temperatureis low.

Are you from Oulton Hall playing in the competition? - if so you may be playing against my husband!

Either way I will be down there as I am playing on Sunday morning and then will be back out to watch my husband and the rest of the scratch team.

No, I'm playing with a few lads from CGL. We played in a comp there last month which was v productive: we got a free round. I also managed to birdie on the 4th which won a prize (free round at Fullford and the like). You may see me there, I'm the one with the yips within 15 yds of the pin.

I wouldnt' be without my GPS now, it gives me confidence and a positive attitude about the shot I want to play and the club to use.  It has helped my course management, but its each to their own.

I hope you have a fantastic time. The course is in great nick after the recent rain and the weather for tomorrow promises a maximum of a few isolated showers so hopefully you will get a mainly dry round.

I'm playing in the ladies stableford in the morning and then I will be caddying for my husband in the scratch team so will probably not bump into you. Feel free to say a big hello to any ladies you do meet in case they are me though http://www.golfshake.com/scripts/ckeditor362/plugins/smiley/images/regular_smile.gif" title="smiley" width="20" />.

I'm another one who is useless at 'seeing' the distance. 

I use a gps, and am lucky enough to know my yardages on my clubs. 

When I first got them I was down my local course an evening and just hit from 150 yard marker to green to see which club was going that distance. Was full club difference from my old set. So after working out my 7 iron was 150 yards (ish) I went with 10 yards up/down for my other irons. 

Did bit of extra work with my wedges tho. 

Still use my gps, and then factor in conditions. Im

normally not too far away :-)