Metres or Yards

jukebox2310

A thing that is really starting to annoy me is the lack of consistency in course markers. One course you go to is marked in metres and the next in yards.
Why haven't the R&A or GUI a standard as to whether markers should be in metres or yards.
My home course is marked in yards and I know its not rocket science to work it out when I go to a course marked in metres but if you do forget to check you can lose a few needless shots.
Does anyone know why there is not uniform measurements?

Dylan69

Yeah that can be very annoying but we should be checking our scorecards and course info before we arrive so we are prepared!
My club course is measured in metres and at first i was confused but now its fine. I have seen more modern course nowadays measured in metres which helps me in terms of using the correct club.

PhilipMarlowe

Yards to the Middle

Grew up with yards to the middle. Home club is metres to the front but I convert everything to yards in my noggin to decide what to hit.

thegen

Metres to the Front

I'm a yards man, so convert mtrs to yards. Played Beech Park which is mtrs on tees and yds from fairways, bit bizzare.

ThePlough

Yards, and who are the EU to mess with my golf game?

jukebox2310

Metres to the Front

Do ye know why its not either one or the other. Surely it would make more sense if it was.
Is ireland the only place this is the case or which is most used abroad?

PhilipMarlowe

Yards to the Middle

Yards in the UK and USA. Metres on the continent. Presumably we are the only place to have it all mixed up.
If I'm measuring something with a tape I'd always think in metric but golf = yards.

DonkeyPokerTour

Personally use yards but would rather everything be standardised. Even if that ment it all went to Meters. Also please standardise if its to the front or to the middle! Makes much more sense!

PGA and European Tours use to the front and then the pin sheets give distances to the pin. So maybe to the front is the best place!

stringy

Metres, home course is measured in metres to middle of green. Suits my club choice more, e.g. 150m marker 7 iron, 200m marker 5W, then take wind into account, firmess of greens etc, so at the moment hitting 8 iron from marker but could easily hit 6 iron into wind. So I suppose it's just what I'm familiar with. Going to courses where it's yards is annoying and then there's always the uncertainty of middle or front of green.

f22

Yards for me, I always convert them back

Trampas

Either does me but there should be a standard to middle or front

Played Knightsbrook one day and it was yards to the middle.

Next day it was metres to front which is a huge difference

Adiaga 2

Yards for me too. Driving averages seem better in yards for one..

Same as above I'd be metric with everything else.

stockdam

I always convert to yards.

soundsham

Yards to the Middle

yards for me

and prefer courses marked yards to the front then its all just simple addition to the flag
hate metres to the centre, converting adding and subtracting for the flag...guess its all what you are used to..and if you like math!

one wonders though seeing that golf balls,tees,clubs and putters conform it would seem logical to conform the courses too

think this item would be a good poll,your preference
1 yds to the front
2 yds to the middle
3 mtrs to the front
4 mtrs to the middle

what ye think out there ?

PeterJamesDoyle

Would you consider investing in a GPS? Most of the courses in Ireland are mapped now.
I'd much rather pay my money to a company who have mapped the course to the nearest metre, than some cowboy who got paid by the club committee to put down distance markers.
Whats important is that you know what distance you hit each club in your bag, and then set your gps to yards or metres, depending on what you prefer.
It also eliminates the differences when some courses play to the middle of the green, and others to the front.

soundsham

Yards to the Middle

our couse markers were done by laser, pretty accurate i think.

where is the list of mapped courses?

think they banned those yokes too in my place for competition

jukebox2310

Metres to the Front

GPS aren't allowed in most competitions as far as I know

Dolph Starbeam

Metres to the Front

Yards to the middle, just becuse its what i grew up using really and convert metres to yards when i have to. Plus it makes it sound like i hit the ball a bit further saying it in yards

PeterJamesDoyle

Thats the bitch of it unfortunately. The USGA and R&A gave approval, but passed the buck by saying it is down to the discretion of each individual club.
Its approved in my club (Carrick on Suir), but I have to check with another club before I play anywhere else to see if is acceptable. My missus got the one below for me, and if you look at it, they give you a link to a UK website where you can download maps of most courses in Europe for a membership fee of £40.00 per year. My mate thinks you can download most of the courses to your pc (map library), that way you can upload them to your handset instead of paying membership each year.

http://www.golfgps.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1&zenid=2c848a857b8c8cc3be2ceeb18098c195

mag

Yards to the Middle

yards here. pith this mixture of yds/mtrs to front/middle.

PhilipMarlowe

Yards to the Middle

Added a poll... get voting.

Blunder

Metres to the Front

Yards to middle for me. Its simple to convert metres to yards and if you hit the centre of the green you'll not end up too far away from the pin. One thing I'd like to see is a coding system for pins. Obviously its impractical for clubs to issue pin sheets each day but if they did something like limerick county do and have 3 different colour flags, 6 of each, and then have a code similar to the following:

Blue = Front
Red = Middle
Yellow = Back

I know in a lot of cases you can tell fairly well how far on the flag is but if you could be sure of where the pin is it could be the difference in a 2 foot putt and a 20 yard putt.

I dont like them GPS yokes, I think they are a waste of time, but I dont see why they should be banned by clubs especially since most clubs sell Strokesavers. The problem I have with the GPS things is that you will get the most use of the unit at your home course which invariably you will know fairly well and have an idea of what club to hit and what yardage a certain tree or bell or whatever is at. Is it worth 300+ euro for that? I dont think so. Also despite what the makers say there has to be question marks over their accuracy given that a €25,000 GPS system cannot be 100% accurate at all times and has to be calibrated every now and again and has a couple of mm of tolerance in its reading. I know that a couple of mm is nothing hoever this is a sophisticated piece of gear. A GPS yardage device could be out by a couple of yards which could be the difference in just clearing the water hazard or being stuck in the middle of it.

Maybe that shouldnt be part of this thread so feel free to start a new one.

Orion

Yards to the Middle

Yards to front for me. If it's metres I convert. But tbh I wouldn't care which it was as long as there was some consistency between yards/metres and front/middle. I'd prefer front as middle can be subjective on an odd-shaped green. And every club could then have a pins map on the card.

Sandwich

Metres to the Front

Yards for me. They are more accurate.

soundsham

Yards to the Middle

Sandwich wrote: »

Yards for me. They are more accurate.

while i too prefer yards your logic just made me laugh so hard:D

kagni

Metres to the Middle

I voted Metres to the front, but wouldn't care what they used if they were consistsent from course to course.

Sandwich

Metres to the Front

soundsham wrote: »

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your logic just made me laugh so hard:D

Why? They are. Its a scientific fact. Fact.

Dublin Spur

Metres to the Front

Licksy wrote: »

Grew up with yards to the middle. Home club is metres to the front but I convert everything to yards in my noggin to decide what to hit.

Same here

soundsham

Yards to the Middle

Sandwich wrote: »

Why? They are. Its a scientific fact. Fact.

enlighten me please, how one unit of measurement is more accurate than another

PhilipMarlowe

Yards to the Middle

Maybe Kevin can tell us what the dominant measurement in use actually is (if there is one?). Most of the courses I've played recently seem to be metres to the front even though it isn't a popular choice here.

Also, I'd prefer yard markers because you could potentially have a 100, 150, 200 (& 250) marker which because of the smaller scale to metres would give a quicker visualisation of your rough distance without having to step it out (assuming you're not right down the middle).

A little thing that bugged me about a recent visit to Wexford was that the fairway markers were metres to the front but the course guide gave metres to the middle... lapse of concentration I know from me when I over hit a green but you'd expect some consistency at the same time.

Sandwich

Metres to the Front

soundsham wrote: »

enlighten me please, how one unit of measurement is more accurate than another

Cos a yard is shorter than a meter. So accuracy for a distance stated in integer yards is more accurate than one in the bigger unit!

Sandwich

Metres to the Front

I know, its not as if it makes a bit of a practical difference....
Just trying to provide a laugh. Glad you enjoyed! I do really prefer yards tho, because its what I have a feel for.

soundsham

Yards to the Middle

ok ya got ya now
makes perfect sense
thanks

Danow247

Yards to the Middle

Yards to the front.

I was playing against a fella once in my home club who was used to everything in yards. we have everything in meters. He kept coming up short on every shot on most holes. Then on the 14th he says to me do you add or subtract the first 2 numbers to get yards