Yards or metres???

Holy Diver

Hi all,

I joined my first club this year and it uses metres so I now tend to think in metres in every other club i go to. Seeing as yards is the more widespread unit used (isn't it???) would i be better off thinking in yards and converting from metres when playing my home club?

Do most of ye think in yards?

the lawman

Holy Diver wrote: »

Hi all,

I joined my first club this year and it uses metres so I now tend to think in metres in every other club i go to. Seeing as yards is the more widespread unit used (isn't it???) would i be better off thinking in yards and converting from metres when playing my home club?

Do most of ye think in yards?

I only use yards. My club is in yards and when I play courses with metres I always convert to yards (add on 10%).

Most courses I've played are yards.

LostPassword

My rule of thumb is that courses that cater for tourists, who are predominantly English and American, use yards, most others use metres. I think in metres because yards is a ridiculously archaic metric. I generally use my laser range-finder for distances so I simply set it to metres and ignore the course markings (which are rarely very accurate anyway in my experience).

LuckyGent88

it is quite annoying alright going to different courses and having to switch from yards to metres all the time. I prefer metres as that is what i am use to at my local club but the majority of "big" clubs in Ireland use yards.
Its not that hard to convert anyway but i think the gui should just come up with one form for measuring distances.

Monty Burnz

I find I hit the ball longer by about 10% when I think in yards.

Jul3s

Monty Burnz wrote: »

I find I hit the ball longer by about 10% when I think in yards.

I lolled

stockdam

I find it strange that anyone could imply that metres are "better"; use whatever suits you. I was brought up using yards so my clubs are calibrated in yards

Myksyk

Metres for me.

mike12

Would agree we need a standard some are yards to the front some to the middle of greens some metres to the middle it is all a bit messy.
Mike

Trampas

agree with Mike. There should be a standard that all distance markers are either to front or middle. I would have rather that than yards over metres

The_Architect

US and Great Britain use yards.

Ireland uses both.

Rest of world uses metres.

That's about the sum of it.

PhilipMarlowe

I 'think' in yards for golf. Mostly because that's the way I learned it but also because when I'm pacing out something on the course, a yard is a much more comfortable step than a metre!

For general measuring of stuff I'd always think metric but golf is yards for me. I would prefer a consistent set of on-course markers alright (150m to front).

stockdam

Licksy wrote: »

when I'm pacing out something on the course, a yard is a much more comfortable step than a metre!

That's a very good point. A yard is a normal pace for me whereas I have to stretch for a metre. If the course reference points are in metres then I'll convert to yards and pace the distance to my ball. I have tried doing it in metres but I found it much easier in yards due to my normal pace length.

charlieIRL

meters here - home club is in meters and the markers in the driving range is meters also.

blue note

Home club is metres so I think in metres. Why there isn't a standard one in Ireland is beyond me.

I'm often playing courses in yards to the front (instead of metres to the middle) and just forgetting to convert - very annoying!

mags1962

Read the card or ask in the shop if you need to know to where the markers are referenced to. Add 10% extra for metres to yards. If you don't take it too seriously then don't but if you do ...

Tones69

For some reason i always think yards, when using my clubs i think in yards as its what im used to, even though most clubs i play in are meters

Bandana boy

I use both I think in Meters on the course but in the clubhouse bar I drove in yards

mike12

blue note wrote: »

Home club is metres so I think in metres. Why there isn't a standard one in Ireland is beyond me.

I'm often playing courses in yards to the front (instead of metres to the middle) and just forgetting to convert - very annoying!

Yards To the front and metres to the middle will be pretty much the same unless the greens are really small.
Mike

PrzemoF

I think in feet - that's the only way I can get a 300-long-drive :eek:

curly from cork

Dungarvan Golf club very cleverly have their markers at 220 , 165 yards and 110 yards

mr.mickels

I don't like seeing metres as the distance markers, it doesn't take alot of time to convert them, but most golfers in ireland grew up with yardage markers. Some courses converting to metres is pointlessly pandering to the EU and the metric system.
Most Irish golfers think in terms of yards, and when they see metric distances they convert them to yards, as do almost all golfers in UK and USA. I have played a few courses recently with metric distance markers, I don't understand why any course in Ireland thought that was a good idea, most of their own golfers and almost all their visitors will want the distances in yards.

LostPassword

mr.mickels wrote: »

pointlessly pandering to the EU and the metric system.

Bwahaaahaha. I say, Blimp, this pointless pandering to the EU is just rotten - if it was good enough for Elizabeth the first it's dashing well good enough for me.

The metric system is the international system of measures that has been adopted universally by the sciences and by every country in the world bar 1 and a half - the US and the UK (which has partially adopted it) which use an appallingly complex and antiquated 'imperial' system of measures which are based upon silly stuff like the length of a particular stick annointed by Henry the 8th. If the golfing world is to ever adopt a universal standard, there is only 1 candidate - the SI units which are well defined, internationally agreed and have been accepted by all of the sciences for over a century.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system

Goldenjohn

Way prefer yards, grew up playin yards but have moved to a metres course still think in yards on every shot.

I reckon they mixed it up Between yards and metres in Ireland to make money when yardage books were a popular before gps!

Goldenjohn

Oh and a rant......hate when clubs don't have a 200 marker on long par 4's!!

k.p.h

Goldenjohn wrote: »

Oh and a rant......hate when clubs don't have a 200 marker on long par 4's!!

Huh ... 200 marker on a Par 4 what do you tee of with a wedge.? I don't even bother with markers, I just look at the pin and know. One could say I am a "feel" player. Ya know like Antony Kim...


Just joking

Kid Charlemagne

LostPassword wrote: »

The metric system is the international system of measures that has been adopted universally by the sciences and by every country in the world bar 1 and a half - the US and the UK (which has partially adopted it) which use an appallingly complex and antiquated 'imperial' system of measures which are based upon silly stuff like the length of a particular stick annointed by Henry the 8th. If the golfing world is to ever adopt a universal standard, there is only 1 candidate - the SI units which are well defined, internationally agreed and have been accepted by all of the sciences for over a century.

Yeah fair enough if im getting dosed with penicillin or something but i hardly think golf is a science now despite what the likes of titleist would like us to believe.
Using metres on a golf course in ireland is not the best option, and if you are talking about a universal standard - well golf was invented in scotland and propagated in UK, Irl and and America - why would we go pandering to the French??? How many majors have they won exactly????:D

As someone pointed out, the yard is a comfortable step - the metre isnt.
Has anyone ever even used the word meterages instead of yardages?!

mr.mickels

LostPassword wrote: »

Bwahaaahaha. I say, Blimp, this pointless pandering to the EU is just rotten - if it was good enough for Elizabeth the first it's dashing well good enough for me.

The metric system is the international system of measures that has been adopted universally by the sciences and by every country in the world bar 1 and a half - the US and the UK (which has partially adopted it) which use an appallingly complex and antiquated 'imperial' system of measures which are based upon silly stuff like the length of a particular stick annointed by Henry the 8th. If the golfing world is to ever adopt a universal standard, there is only 1 candidate - the SI units which are well defined, internationally agreed and have been accepted by all of the sciences for over a century.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system

Close to 100% of Irish and visitor golfers using golf facilites in Ireland prefer yards, only a twit would chose to offer their customers an alternative prefered in other countries to what their customers want. And yes it is pointless pandering to the EU system as vast majority of golfers will convert metres to yards anyway, so why offer them metres at all if they won't use it. I don't expect you to understand, your reply would suggest a certain lack of common sense thinking. Next time you are in an Irish pub and they are serving Guinness by the pint be sure to tell them your lame joke about silly sticks, henry 8 and one and a half countries (assuming you are not counting Ireland as a country as it still deals in imperial measures on most golf courses, farms and in all pubs/restaurants/hotels), they'll love that.

stockdam

Kid Charlemagne wrote: »

Has anyone ever even used the word meterages instead of yardages?!

Splitting hairs.......it would be metreages but that looks impossible to pronounce.

LostPassword

mr.mickels wrote: »

Close to 100% of Irish and visitor golfers using golf facilites in Ireland prefer yards, only a twit would chose to offer their customers an alternative prefered in other countries to what their customers want. And yes it is pointless pandering to the EU system as vast majority of golfers will convert metres to yards anyway, so why offer them metres at all if they won't use it. I don't expect you to understand, your reply would suggest a certain lack of common sense thinking. next time you are in an Irish pub and they are serving guinness by the pint be sure to tell them your lame joke about silly sticks and henry 8, they'll love that.

1. It's not an 'EU' system - that's just UKIP style base ignorance. It's the universal international system of measuring distance.

2. Prior to 1973 100% of people were used to using Shillings, farthings and crowns.

3. Almost all other sports that used to use imperial measures now use metric measures - do you remember when the 25 became the 22 in rugby? I do.

4. Imperial measures still live on in everyday usage in a few backward insular countries, but they are fast dying out. The pint is one of the only ones left but it will die eventually too (pints of milk have almost disappeared without anybody really minding too much).

5. Most importantly, using archaic measures is a sure way of creating an extra barrier to new people taking up the game. Nowadays almost everybody knows what a metre is - only those who play golf use yards at all as it has died out everywhere else that it used to be used. It's a sure way of maintaining golf's image as a stuffy old-fashioned, up-itself game.

mr.mickels

LostPassword wrote: »

1. It's not an 'EU' system - that's just UKIP style base ignorance. It's the universal international system of measuring distance.

2. Prior to 1973 100% of people were used to using Shillings, farthings and crowns.

3. Almost all other sports that used to use imperial measures now use metric measures - do you remember when the 25 became the 22 in rugby? I do.

4. Imperial measures still live on in everyday usage in a few backward insular countries, but they are fast dying out. The pint is one of the only ones left but it will die eventually too (pints of milk have almost disappeared without anybody really minding too much).

5. Most importantly, using archaic measures is a sure way of creating an extra barrier to new people taking up the game. Nowadays almost everybody knows what a metre is - only those who play golf use yards at all as it has died out everywhere else that it used to be used. It's a sure way of maintaining golf's image as a stuffy old-fashioned, up-itself game.

pathetic and lame. I don't know of one single individual ever citing the measurement in yards as a reason not to take up the game.

k.p.h

Meters will be used everywhere eventually. The clubs that currently use it are pioneering or maybe just ahead of their time. The Imperial measurement system is not thought in schools anymore so that pretty much the deciding factor.

The US might be an exception but thats pretty much because they don't teach anything at all really in schools :rolleyes:

I actually think the main thing holding back the immediate switch over is the correlation between feet and yards on the green.

LostPassword

mr.mickels wrote: »

pathetic and lame. I don't know of one single individual ever citing the measurement in yards as a reason not to take up the game.

It is one of the many factors that contribute to an atmosphere of archaism and stufiness that put people off golf. Of course, it pales into insignificance in comparison to the presence of world-class pomposity from certain golfers :P

nocal

mr.mickels wrote: »

Close to 100% of Irish and visitor golfers using golf facilites in Ireland prefer yards, only a twit would chose to offer their customers an alternative prefered in other countries to what their customers want. And yes it is pointless pandering to the EU system as vast majority of golfers will convert metres to yards anyway, so why offer them metres at all if they won't use it. I don't expect you to understand, your reply would suggest a certain lack of common sense thinking. Next time you are in an Irish pub and they are serving Guinness by the pint be sure to tell them your lame joke about silly sticks, henry 8 and one and a half countries (assuming you are not counting Ireland as a country as it still deals in imperial measures on most golf courses, farms and in all pubs/restaurants/hotels), they'll love that.

Source???

stockdam

LostPassword wrote: »

2. Prior to 1973 100% of people were used to using Shillings, farthings and crowns.

I thought decimalisation was 1971. Immediately before that people were not using farthings and crowns......that disappeared long before.

LostPassword

stockdam wrote: »

I thought decimalisation was 1971. Immediately before that people were not using farthings and crowns......that disappeared long before.

My bad. I may have been using the Gregorian calendar in my calculations .

Webbs

LostPassword wrote: »

It is one of the many factors that contribute to an atmosphere of archaism and stufiness that put people off golf. Of course, it pales into insignificance in comparison to the presence of world-class pomposity from certain golfers :P

So I assume then there are a load of people who arent taking up soccer because they couldnt possibly be involved with such an archaic sport where they use yards and not meters for their penalty spot!

Manach

In reply to OP, yards in golf and social happenings. All other times meters.

bustercherry

k.p.h wrote: »

The US might be an exception but thats pretty much because they don't teach anything at all really in schools :rolleyes:

Bet you they teach the difference between thought and taught :rolleyes:

k.p.h wrote: »

Meters will be used everywhere eventually. The clubs that currently use it are pioneering or maybe just ahead of their time. The Imperial measurement system is not thought in schools anymore so that pretty much the deciding factor.

The_Architect

k.p.h wrote: »

I actually think the main thing holding back the immediate switch over is the correlation between feet and yards on the green.

This is an interesting take. I hadn't thought about that before but it could be part of the whole.

In design terms, even the British and Irish use metres. All drawings are in metres, all measurements are in metres. The only time yards are considered are when the scorecard is drawn up.

The US is the only country in the world that still uses yards and inches in this regard.

Webbs

k.p.h wrote: »

I actually think the main thing holding back the immediate switch over is the correlation between feet and yards on the green.

Thats got me thinking do the people who use metric think about a 2.4m putt or an 8 footer?

PhilipMarlowe

Webbs wrote: »

Thats got me thinking do the people who use metric think about a 2.4m putt or an 8 footer?

I imagine they're thinking about the one back, the same as the rest of us

LostPassword

The_Architect wrote: »

The US is the only country in the world that still uses yards and inches in this regard.

It's one of the reasons that the US has declined as an engineering power compared to the Asian and European powers. Having to convert between units imposes a subtle extra cost on US engineering and, more importantly, introduces the possibility of mistakes which can be unbelievably costly. Probably the best known and most catastrophic example was the Hubble space telescope - a confusion between inches and centimetres in a tiny component ended up costing billions in repairs as it was only noticed once the telescope was in orbit and mechanics call out charges are horrendous in space .

LostPassword

Webbs wrote: »

Thats got me thinking do the people who use metric think about a 2.4m putt or an 8 footer?

Distance metrics only come into it when you're describing the putt later - when you're standing over it, you're normally thinking "must hole it", "should hole it", "oh my god if I miss this I am a numpty", "leave it close", "don't hit it too hard", "get it over the hump" or something similar. When describing the putt, the metric used is whatever has the greatest dramatic effect and often has little to do with the actual distance - "I got one from 150 feet" - "I missed 4 putts from inside a foot" and so on.

k.p.h

Webbs wrote: »

Thats got me thinking do the people who use metric think about a 2.4m putt or an 8 footer?

That's pretty much what I meant. But also that meters don't really work for broadcasting purposes.

"He has got 700 mill left on this putt"
"He has left himself a 0.7 meter putt here"
"He need to hole this 70 centimeter putt for par"

The yanks brains would be exploding :eek: The European version of Tiger Woods game actually auto sets to the Metric system and I always switch it back TBH.

I wonder if the European Tour should force the switch and see what happens :eek: