The 'gnome's Secrets
 

We've played some practice rounds together. And, you have a routine that you use when mapping a green. How many details are you writing in the yardage book about the green complex, when you're stepping off the depth?

recon!!!
 

This is a great question and one that I was definitely going to get to at some point, but since you asked....

When I am preparing for a tournament I spend most of my time "mapping" the greens and a surrounding area of about 30 yards to include bunkers, swails, or anything else not seen from the fairway. There are several ways to do this but my procedure is as follows:

1. Either buy a yardage book of the course if it has a quality drawing of the green or go to google earth and print out pictures of the course and each green. You would be surprised what kind of detail you can get from this. Google earth will also give you an exact "true north" position for each hole. This is important for "grain" and wind direction. If neither of these is available I draw it as acurately as possible.

2. Once I have a green diagram, I pace the green depth front to back, side to side, and also diagonally if I feel I may be coming in from an odd angle such as par 5's or short par 4's.

3. As I am pacing these areas I also note distances to ridges, bunker edges, downslopes, etc, and place directional arrows on areas where there is significant slopes or run-off areas.

4. Once I have the green and surrounds complete I look for potential hole locations and mark those. Once I have these I create "go spots" and "no-go spots". When playing a tournament I often do not have the luxury of guessing. I need to know that I have a "green light" to a flag or not. I also make note of green "breaks", firmness, and pace.

I try to play at least two practice rounds in order to become familiar with the course. I do not spend as much time mapping the course because most things are in front of you and I use a rangefinder. If I am not able to use a rangefinder then I spend more time mapping the course as well.

Hope this helps. I would love to hear from some of the pro caddies out there to see what they do for their players.

Google Earth Edge
 

Wow, golfgnome. I have never heard of this. Thanks!

Question: what is the relationship between 'true north' and grain / wind direction?

:clap:

Jeff,

Wow, this is going to be a GREAT sub-forum. I am really looking forward to your insight on taking it to the course. Great first lesson!

The next sub-forum you will have to start is time management. I don't know how you do it PRO!

Thank You,
Kevin

I use true north as a reference only. When the wind is coming from the West/Northwest I can mark it on each hole so the "swirls" do not confuse me. Also if you are playing in an area where everything breaks toward the ocean, or Indio, or whatever, I can always have that reference.

For those who play on bermuda, grain is always an issue. The grain will typically grow toward the west (setting sun). Once again having a reference helps to eliminate doubt and is by no means an absolute.

Interesting stuff Jeff. Keep it coming.
Do you think this is OTT for a normal weekend player? Or is it a case of having as much information as possible (good input good output etc)
Alex

I do not believe you can have too much information, especially on the golf course. I try to make every course a "home course" and use this to my advantage. If I play a hole poorly during a practice round or am not comfortable with it, I will play it over until it is and only recall the positive way to play it.

As far as a weekend player is concerned I think it is wise to know the "safe spot" on every approach, even if it is not on the green. Laying up or even knocking it over may not be a bad play, especially if that is the safe spot.

Looking at the hole
 

I understand that looking at the hole, you will see one
side somewhat ragged and the other side clean cut.
Bermuda Grass. Do to the way the hole cutter works,
the cutter will tear, more than cut, on the rough side
which is the way that the grain is growing.

Do you have any experience with this.

Donn

reading Bermuda
 

Caution: The following advice is from someone that wants Bent rolling a 15.

I've seen people that putt really well using that technique. But, I (personally) have not had as much success with that. The only way that I can putt on Bermuda is to do a 360 degree walk-around.

This is good for the last couple of feet to the hole. The best way to see grain is "shiny"=fast, "dull or dark" = slow. If you get both then pray!