[Garland Bayley]

NO


Are you playing golf, or are you going orienteering?

[John Moore II]

Yes, I think yardage books are very important and helpful.  Less so now that I have a rangefinder, but still useful.

Oh dear oh dear.


And Garland, no, we're not orienteering. Yardage books can be handy, we actually gave one out to every player at Mid South. But they shouldn't be used as some sort of crutch and certainly, certainly should not impact ones view of how good or bad a golf course is.



^The above is a picture of the 7th at Old Town Club. Does it really matter if you know you have 203 yards to carry them based on what a yardage guide says or if you can judge with reasonable certainty that they are 200ish yards to carry? Does something as stupid as that really impact what a person thinks about the quality of a golf course? If it does, you seriously need to rethink the way you look at a golf course....really, you do.  (and Garland, this comment was in no way, shape, or form directed towards you)

[Brad Klein]

My gut sense is that if you need a yardage book to get around there's something missing about the course.

I find yardage books very helpful the second time around as reminders and as detail orienting guides. But like GPS on a cart, they can easily get in the way. i much prefer the first time out just looking at a course without too much direction, and if I have a caddie I always ask for much less rather than more detail.

I don't want to have to know all sorts of carries; and if I can't tell how a hole is bending then I think there's something wrong with the hole or something intriguing I need to pay attention to. Besides, most yardage books are overly detailed anyway and presume the people using them can hit the shots they are looking at. That rules out about 90 percent of actual golfers.

If a course needs a yardage book to be negotiated it suggests to me a problem with the course.

[Carl Rogers]

Should there be no yardages on sprinkler heads, 200 yard flush to the ground pads or 150 poles?

By some those items should not exist.

Yardages do help with the slow play problem.

[john_stiles]

It wouldn't affect my opinion of a course.

But, when playing overseas in UK,  I often buy a book.  They help with distances and bunkers (which might not be visible from the tee).  While not opinions, they can impact how you play a hole for the first and often last time.   

I think a yardage book might be helpful so that a rater doesn't play to the wrong green 

[Ronald Montesano]

If a golf course does not have the following:

a) souvenir poker chip ball markers;
b) souvenir plastic bag tags priced over $20;
c) souvenir soft spikes with the club logo (actually, I've never seen these)

I'll cancel my tee time and belittle the course wherever possible.

[jeffwarne]

My gut sense is that if you need a yardage book to get around there's something missing about the course.

I find yardage books very helpful the second time around as reminders and as detail orienting guides. But like GPS on a cart, they can easily get in the way. i much prefer the first time out just looking at a course without too much direction, and if I have a caddie I always ask for much less rather than more detail.

I don't want to have to know all sorts of carries; and if I can't tell how a hole is bending then I think there's something wrong with the hole or something intriguing I need to pay attention to. Besides, most yardage books are overly detailed anyway and presume the people using them can hit the shots they are looking at. That rules out about 90 percent of actual golfers.

If a course needs a yardage book to be negotiated it suggests to me a problem with the course.

I don't use yardage books personally, but that's a bit of a ridiculous statement.
The genesis of this thread was Sam comenting on whether the lack of a book could impact one's opinion of a course.
In Sam's case it did as he clearly "needed a yardage book to negotiate" Piping Rock, which is a course which certainly doesn't have a problem.
Some people need them to play any course, some never need them.
Is The Old Course lacking because one needs guidance around it?

[Kevin Pallier]

No, a lack of a yardage book does not impact my opinion of a course, not one iota.

I may feel differently if I was a serious golfer and playing in a serious competition but think I recall going throughout the US last year and never buying one before seeing a course for the first time. Part of the discovery perhaps ?

[Tim Gavrich]

I like yardage books.  I collect them as mementos of golf courses I've played.  I am often surprised when nicer public/resort courses don't have them, but not to the point where I dislike the course.  And frankly, I like my chances more against my overly data-reliant opponents on courses that aren't very well-marked.

I have never really seen yardage books for a private course, for the reason that the vast majority of people who play there should not need such an item.

[Sean_A]

The only yardage books I have are freebies.  I don't have much time for a book while playing golf, but that doesn't mean others don't enjoy them on and off the course.  So no, a lack of a yardage book doesn't impact my opinion.  In fact, sometimes a yardage book can detract from the design - I am thinking of Bulls Bay.  I have to believe that by building a huge hill in the middle of the course Strantz was partially trying to create some visual deception.  To negate that deception with a book seems rather silly especially as I am firmly of the belief that local knowledge should pay dividends for the homer and that all yardage aids (including caddies, but not the marker on the tee) should be against the rules. 

Ciao

[Phil_the_Author]

I grew up learning the game on scrubby public courses where the only yardage indicators were the hole lengths on the scorecard and the "150-yard bush" on the side of the fairway which many times had either died and was gone or had proliferated and now there were a number of them, each of which was point at by different people as the spot showing 150-yards to the green.

We've become number-oriented in our club selection (e.g. - I hit a 9-iron x yards). I still look at where I am playing my shot to and ask myself where I hit a 9-iron and then looking forward to the 8 distance, 7, etc... until I've decided what I need to get to where I want the shot to land. Doing it this way I find I better take into account wind, elevation changes, angles, etc...
 
Obviously then, I never view a course as good or bad because of having a yardage book...

[Kevin Lynch]

But in general, I think that a course should reward local knowledge, but that said local knowledge ought to be earned, instead of just bought in the pro shop.  And I would prefer that players appreciate my courses for what they are, instead of for what I tell them to think.

I like the reward for local knowledge, but at a certain point, there has to be a realization that people aren't going to accumulate that knowledge when it's $200+ for each learning experience.  Unfortunately, at $400 a round, I'll never have the time to fully appreciate Pinehurst #2.

Personally, I love to collect Yardage Books, mainly as reminders of the course.  Also, if I spray a Drive, I may never understand what a hole was trying to accomplish based on my play - so a yardage guide will at least give me some idea after the fact.

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