Predator: Yardage on sprinkler heads

[LBH]

Hey,

I just played Predator tonight and I found something very funny. They just recently installed the yardage plates on the sprinkler heads (about time!) and on par 5's, from over 240-250 yds, the markers read "Go for it!".

LOL!

I've heard also that one course out east (some place in the Maritimes), they have a marker on a sprinkler head that reads "Only if you're Tiger!". Now that's original!

Anyway, just thought I'd share that with you

LongBallHitter...

[rancherJ]

I've NEVER found those funny. When I look at a sprinkler head for yardage I'd like to get an idea what club to hit to see if I can leave a full wedge in. not some smart remark reminding me I can't get on in 2 on a 540 yd par 5!

[Kilroy]

It would be fine if they included the yardage as well as the "funny".
I too want to know what to hit to the layup spot.

[LBH]

Oh stop complaining. Walk a couple of more yards and you'll find one with the yardage on it...

[el tigre]

I agree with LongBallHitter - lighten up guys!

It is a such a treat when clubs put the yardage on sprinkler heads - a lot of courses do not have proper yardage markers at all!

I don't understand why more courses do not pay more attention to this. Not only does it make your round more enjoyable, it would help speed up play.

Think of all that time spent looking for a red or white stone that is 6 inches lower than the fairway and overgrown with grass, when a proper stake could have told you the distance from 300 yards away. Especially on courses that only have one marker at 150 yards, instead of a marker at 100, 150 and 200.

Then there is the time spent on 30-yard-long tee box for a par 3 trying to figure out your club selection, because you don't know where the yardage on the sign was measured from - in some cases you can't even figure out what tee box it was measured from!

Courses that put yardages on sprinkler heads and markers on tee boxes should be commended for doing so. If they want to have a bit of fun doing it - hey, why not?

[jeffc]

thought that was pretty funny. It was from about 275 out on a par 5...can't remember the course though...

[NoBack]

Now if courses would look at other courses, adapt what they have and put them all together..........it would indeed help things for the pace of play while giving the golfer and idea of what he has to the center of the green.

1 - From Pakenham (I'm sure more courses have them too):
100-150-200-250 yard markers in the middle of the fairways (that bend so even the lawn mowers dont have to move them).
2 - From Mont Cascades (and others) : red flag = front of green white flag = center of the green and blue flag = back of the green just like the colored tee blocks.
3 - From Eagle creek and others : yardages on sprinkler heads

Now is that too much to ask?


Funny one I (and apperently jeffc does too) like at Emerald Links #2 par 5, just beside the sand trap on the right............it reads "Dreamer" 300 + yrds away

[nice_lag]

Steve,

I think you hit the spot with your comment... if you can't/don't want to mark the sprinklers, at least put the 100-150-200 markers in the fairway. Most golfers can pretty "guesstimate" or pace the few yards leading to their balls.

Playing Cedarhill today (no one on the course and a 1h10m front 9), I was PO'd when my ball laying right beside a sprinkler marking 171 yards went through the green by about 15 yards... it was only 4-5 steps later that I found my problem... buried in a patch of grass, a 150 circular marker.... arghhh not a happy camper...

[Gary Hill]

I always have my caddie pace the course before I play.

[donh]

Remember a time many years ago when playing Glen Abbey...

#6 - again if memory serves...

Walked to sprinkler head... it reads "Just Hit It!"

Turns out from the next head reading, it was over "330 yds".

I DO like the yardage on unfamiliar courses. It sure made GA an enjoyable course. I also remember being told that the yardage on the course was measured to a mid-point on the front of the greens, and you had three levels of flags for depth on the greens. They also had a "pocket pro" for maps of the holes, AND maps of the greens. Really had a nice time.

So, I would like to see these yardages on the sprinkler heads AND a note on the card as to where the yardages are measured to. It makes a heck of a difference if you're measuring to Middle of the green or to the front of the green.

[Gary Hill]

At Glen Abbey on the "valley holes", the hazard stakes are laser measured from the center of the green to equal distances from each side of the creek. That way, if you choose to drop on the "opposite margin of the lateral hazard, you can just pace from the appropriate stake.

(of course, you ALL knew that you could drop on the opposite side of a lateral water hazard from where you ball entered, right?? )

[nice_lag]

It almost seems like it's coming down to good service at good courses. The ones that Steve talked about are some that people appreciate playing at and that are in good conditions throughout the year.

Would it be too far stretched to say that you get what you paid for? There are exceptions I know but it seems to me that it is a statement that could maybe sound true...

All that being said, yes Gary, I knew you could drop on the opposite side but sometimes, it's just not worth it...

[schmed]

Hmm....I am not sure I understand what you mean Gary.

[InTheHunt]

The course in the maritimes where they write things on the sprinkler head is Crowbush, i was there last week.One hole it says "no way" on the sprinkler head and another spot it says "only if your John Daly".What a beautiful course along the ocean.

[mr shank]

has anyone else noticed the discrepancies in yardage between courses? I find that my 150 yd club on one course is not necessarily my 150 yd club on another under the same conditions. I think some courses are guilty of "padding" the yardage to make the course appear longer.

[donh]

I'm wondering if you are experiencing what I like to think of as "variable measurement" problem. Over time, a golf course will go through minor changes and not have things re-measured. Another caveat to playing multiple courses is where are they measuring to? If one course is measuring to the centre of the green, your 150 yd club leaves you in the centre of the green (hopefully). Then you take that same club to the next course on your list (where they measure to the front edge of the green), you find yourself in the bunker short. As you're getting signed in, ask the attendant when they last had their course measured by the governing body, and ask if they measure to front edge or to the centre of the green.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

Originally posted by mr shank
has anyone else noticed the discrepancies in yardage between courses? I find that my 150 yd club on one course is not necessarily my 150 yd club on another under the same conditions. I think some courses are guilty of "padding" the yardage to make the course appear longer.

[NoBack]

I always thought ALL courses measured their yardages to the centre of greens. Is this not true??

[donh]

Steve,

I was under that impression too. However, I played a couple of courses where they were "shot from the front" of the greens.

I asked at the time "why". Well, the story goes that measuring to a spot at the front edge of the green allows the course to have some flexibility when it comes to making changes. I have to admit that I scratched my head at that one.

But, if you think about it for a second, it does make sense. I can think of a number of golf announcers who indicate that "Mike Weir is 156 from the front edge, and the flag is 12 paces from the front...".

And, harking back to my memorable trip to Glen Abbey, they actually provided a Pocket Pro which outlined all of the features of the greens. The yardages were all measured from the "front edge" of the green. So, when you have this type of program in place, it makes sense to have the yardages measured to the front edge. Saves the golfer a lot of mental gymnastics..

I guess the best thing is to have all the courses put this info on the card, no?

[em69]

I caddied at the Eagle Creek Classic a few years ago and realized that all sprinkler measurements (at Eagle Creek anyways) are to the front edge of the green. All pros were provided with detailed green plans which indicate the location of the pin and the number paces from the front, back and/or sides. Never did the pro ever figure out his distances from the 150 or 100 yard marker because these gave the measurement to the centre of the green.

The 150 and 100 yard markers are their for convenience for the regular everyday golfer.

Now the question is, do other courses do the same or are their sprinkler measurements to the centre. I assume they would do it all the same. Is this something which the RCGA regualates? I would think so. I again would assume that any professional course such The Creek, Stonebridge, The Marshes have their measurements to the front edge.

[donh]

Dan,

Have a solution for you. For all of your featured courses here at Ottawagolf, why not add some little piece of information about how the measurements are done.

Might also suggest to the clubs that when they submit for a new print run on their scorecards, they should add this to their info.

[em69]

Par 3 distances are very frustrating. The courses that do not have markers on the tee box are very difficult to figure out where they measure from.

The strangest one, but it does work, is at Manderlay. I had to ask the pro shop a while ago because I could not figure it out. They measure their pars 3s from the where the sign is located.

At Eagle Creek, all par 3s are measured from the front of the tee box. All the pros would pace of the distance from the front edge of the tee-boxes.

We can learn a lot from these guys.

[Gary Hill]

The U.S.G.A. and R.C.G.A. both recommend measurements from the center of the teeing area to the center of the green.

[mr shank]

This is all news to me, because for as long as I can remember distances have always been to the centre of the green. Most par threes have a plate in the ground that indicates where the yardage measurement is from.
I don't get the logic of measuring from only the front of the tee box since this can mean pacing off 30 or 40 yards to get an accurate distance.
I still think there are courses around where the distance is just plain wrong, whether measured to the front or middle of the green.

[Gary Hill]

em69 -

Could you explain what you mean by "the front of the tee-box."

Tee-markers ?
Teeing ground?
The whole teeing area?

Where did you get your information that the par 3's are measured from the front of the "tee-box"?

[mr shank]

Something else that makes no sense - if hole distance on one course is measured from tee box to the front of the green & on another course is measured to the middle of the green - how can there be consistent slope rating of courses?
If all other things are equal, the course that measures to the middle of the green will have a higher slope rating even though the effective length of both courses would be the same.

[NoBack]

Now, you just mentioned the one word that makes most sence to me. That one word being "CONSISTENCY". If all courses only had one rule book to follow we would all be having a little less difficulty in gaging our yardages.

[Gary Hill]

mr shank -

Slope rating has NOTHING to do with lame yardage markers installed by the course owner.

[mr shank]

hmmmm, strange, i always thought length of a course was one of the criteria used for slope ratings.
This means that the person rating the course also measures the length? If so, do holes get measured to the front or the middle of the green?

[donh]

Hey folks,

After chatting with a number of golf buddies, we came to the consensus that most yardages are measured to the centre of the greens. The key word in that line was "most".

When my hometown course was rated by the Northern Golf Association (quite a few years ago now), they "shot" the course and recommended placing a cement marker on the tee deck from which the measuement was made. They also recommended the placement of red, white, and blue cement circles (100, 150 and 200 yds), and I believe they measured to the centre of the green.

Living here in the Ottawa area, covered by the GOA, maybe this recommendation is not being made by the GOA. According to the RCGA website, course rating is left up to the member associations. So, is possible that two associations handle the "rating of a course" in different manners.

It would be nice if there was a baseline that all RCGA courses went by (nicer too if it was published on their website).

Just another brick on the wall...

[Kilroy]

There is a standard system, and it is the OVGA that measures and rates courses in this area.

RCGA COURSE RATING SYSTEM (from the website)

The purpose of the RCGA Course Rating System is to measure and rate the relative difficulty of golf courses across Canada so that a player's Handicap Factor is accurate and transportable from golf course to golf course. The Course Rating System takes into account factors that affect the playing difficulty of a golf course including yardage, effective playing length and number of obstacle factors such as topography, elevation, doglegs, prevailing wind, bunkering, etc…. After a thorough study of the Course and Slope Rating System developed by the United States Golf Association (USGA), the RCGA approved and adopted the system for Canada in January 1995.

http://www.ottawagolf.com/articles/handicap/slope.htm for info on what is considered to arrive at a slope for a course.