Bonus 2

Bonus part 2:
Making a Yardage book

You should have a very good idea now of what is required to work on your course management - now I offer you the chance to put it all together.

Using your local course, you are going to construct your own yardage book. If you go down on a Saturday morning at 8am, chances are you will be turned away, but a Monday afternoon would be ideal. You should already know the Pro shop staff, but be sure to tell them what you are doing and they shouldn't make you pay green fees. If you are a member, then it won't matter. You could offer to pay half since you won't be playing, just walking around. You will need to concentrate on a lot of details, so I don't recommend tryin to play at the same time.

It might actually take you more than one visit to do the whole thing properly, but the following is what you are going to be including in your yardage book:

All landing areas for the par 4s and 5s. Pace off hazards such as bunkers, trees, water and also to optimal landing areas. If you drive the ball 300 yards, will your second shot be from a downhill lie? How far should you hit it to guarantee a flat lie?

Working back from each hole, you also need to determine best places for the approach shot if required. Start to think about the strategy for each hole. Is it better to hit 3 safe shots to the green on a par 5 rather blast away and try to hit it in 2? Your book will have every possible combination of shots and selections in it.

Anything inside 100 yards from the green is harder to control. Identify the best areas and best sides of the fairway for approach shots into the green from around 120 yards. You have to think in terms of real golf strategy, not hit and hope.

Pace off every green, bunker and hazard. Write down the measurements and highlight the best areas to avoid and the best areas to have to play a shot from. Also make a note of probable pin placements. This is another thing to ask the green keepers.

Examine the angles from each tee box. Where are they pointed? You might find that some are not pointed straight at the fairway or green. Also, what are the prevailing winds at the course? Do they change later in the day?

I would also recommend you speak with the green keepers, and find out when they do their maintenance. How often do they water the greens, cut the fairways, etc. What type of grass is used on the greens, do they know the speeds? If not, you could borrow a stimpmeter from somewhere and test the speeds yourself. You should also know the breaks and topography of each green. Which holes will have downhill putts and how do you avoid them!

As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done, but this is how the Pros play.

After you have walked the course and taken notes, you need to condense it onto 1 3x5 card for each hole. On the front, you should have a picture of the hole along with all the yardages and dimensions of the green and bunkers if any on it. On the back of the card, write a short commentary about the hole and any advice you would offer someone playing the course for the first time.

Now that you have done that for each hole, the next step is for you to play the course following your own advice. If you can't execute shots consistently, find a friend who can and play with him. The important thing is that either yourself or someone else follows your yardage book.

What I have outlined above is a lot of work and will take up a lot of your time, but if you are dedicated and motivated and follow it through, you will improve your course management out of sight. Dowload the instructions here.

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