If you watch golf on TV, you might see golfers writing in a little notebook.
You are reading: What do golfers write in their books
This notebook is usually a yardage book.
Golfers consider this yardage book to be their number one source of information while on a golf course.
When professional golfers arrive at a golf course on their first day, they will start working on their yardage book.
During the practice round, you’ll add information and keep it updated as you play.
In this guide, we will explain more about these notebooks and what is written.
Even if you’re not a professional, you can benefit from some of the best practices that professionals implement.
what do golfers write in their notebooks?
When it comes to professional golfers, the stakes are high.
the difference of a few feet could make the difference between winning or losing a us open.
Professional golfers not only use the numbers in the yardage book, they also write down a lot of their numbers.
customize the yardage book to create your plan to move around the golf course in the fewest number of strokes.
In their yardage books, they’ll put scoring tips and ways to approach each hole.
These are some of the most important things professional golfers record in their notebooks or yardage books.
1. put green notes
each big putt has different breaks.
It would be impossible to learn all this information and retain it during a tournament.
Golfers take lots of notes on how greens break and what grain flows onto the green.
If a putt is headed toward the grain, it will roll much faster than if it were headed toward the grain.
many golf greens also have two levels.
Golfers need to know the difference in yardage between the first level and the second level.
If they miss the top level by just a few inches, they could be looking at a forty-foot putt or a ball rolling down the front of the green.
2. strange
You’ve probably heard before that golf is a game of failure.
if you miss the ball in a good spot, you have a chance to go up and down and make a decent hole.
If you miss the ball in the wrong place, you could end up with penalty strokes and big numbers.
professional golfers will record where on the hole is the best place to miss.
If a golfer is prone to making a draw, but there are some terrible rough spots on the left side of the hole, they’ll take these notes.
If they hit a three wood just the right distance from the tee to get into the bunker, they can use a five wood on that hole.
It will cost them a few yards in distance, but they will end up in a better spot and can attack the green from there.
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These points that make it safe to miss are essential to keep in mind both off the tee and from the approach shot.
3. club selection
Club selection will change from day to day based on weather, field conditions and many other factors.
However, golfers like to have a general idea of which club to hit on each hole.
When you play your practice rounds, you will record which club you used on each shot.
If they end up coming up short on a hole, they’ll know they need a little more club during the tournament.
For par 3s, the club a pro chooses could very well be the same from one day to the next.
4. pointing
On holes where golfers don’t see the green very well, they can choose other points or lines to aim for.
if there is a tree behind the green that they know is in line with the pin, or in line with a safe area, they will make this note.
Aiming is just as necessary as distance control when it comes to scoring a round of golf.
If you don’t have the right aim, you’ll end up in a lot of bad places.
you can also register the aim to put.
sometimes one green tends to break more than another.
Golfers will make a note such as “aim for the left side of the cup, but not outside.”
5. wind and weather
Golf courses change considerably when you introduce wind.
The same goes for rain.
Pros will record which sticks hit when the wind was a specific force.
They will also make general observations about how the wind tends to blow at each hole.
for example, some courses get a breeze that flows a little left to right off the tee box.
This information could mean the difference between hitting your drive on the fairway or in the rough.
When your driver is hit raw, it’s much harder to hit the ball on the green.
As you can see, these little notes can add up to several shots throughout a round of golf.
When a pro is trying to shoot 65, he’s going to need to make every shot count
what’s in a golfer’s yardage book?
A golf yardage book will be divided into pages for each hole on the golf course.
On each page, you will be able to see different distances that amateur golfers do not usually have access to.
When you look at the page of a yardage book, it will usually have a picture of the entire hole and a ton of numbers.
These numbers take a little time to figure out, but they are valuable.
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on a scorecard, you will get the total distance of the hole.
Although it is a good number, it is not enough to overcome the entire hole.
Yardage books have a lot of yardage in them.
They will tell you the distances to individual bunkers or hazards.
they will tell you the size of the greens.
They will even show any unevenness that may be on the golf course.
If you’re wondering how much clearance you have over the water hazard, the yardage book will tell you.
The distances and information provided in a distance book can really help you plan your shots on the course much better.
One of the places golfers will find the most benefit from a yardage book is on their approach shot to a green.
approach shots can miss a bit, depending on the location of the flag on a green.
It could be ten or fifteen yards from the front of the green to the back of the green.
When you change this to feet and think of a one foot putt or a thirty foot putt, it makes a significant difference.
How much do pga tour players use a yardage book? (video)
How can amateur golfers obtain accurate distances?
Although it would be wonderful if every golf course had a yardage book, unfortunately this is not the case.
You should always check with a pro shop to see if the course has a yardage book, but that’s not always common unless it’s a high-end golf course.
In addition to availability, another problem with yardage books is that they take time.
You have to do some calculations, take notes and write all this information in your book.
The problem with this for the amateur golfer is that it will seriously slow down the pace of play.
If you have multiple, twenty handicap golfers playing in front of you and all trying to play off their yardage books, you’ll quickly get frustrated.
There are ways golfers can get some accurate yardage without using a yardage book.
A rangefinder is an excellent alternative for the hobby gamer.
These devices will give you the exact distance not only to the pin, but also to different targets and areas around the field.
Many rangefinders can tell you exactly how far a bunker is from a tee, or how far a water hazard is from the green.
Some rangefinders will also tell you the slope on the green or golf course, but these are generally not allowed in tournaments.
However, if you’re preparing for a tournament, they can help you gain a deeper understanding of the course and allow you to take notes.
final thoughts
If you play the same golf course every week, you probably won’t need to buy or use a yardage book.
However, if you play in a different location or go on vacation, it may be worth consulting a yardage book.
professional golfers need more accurate numbers than an amateur golfer.
You don’t want to fill your head with unnecessary information.
However, a general understanding of how a golf course is designed, where the danger areas are, and the best places to score could mean the difference between a good round and a bad round.
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