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Mapping Greens?


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We had one thread last spring about making yardages books, and there is some discussion about mapping greens.

http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/13095-diy-yardage-book/

 

I have never needed to do green mapping, but I think I need to do it on my new course.  I have always played on courses with smallish greens and the breaks were easy to see.  If you could hit the greens, you had a decent birdie putt.  The course I joined last month for 2016 has much larger greens and I am finding them very tricky to read.  Some putts I swear break uphill... and there is no grain to account for it.

 

Since winter is approaching and the number of players out on the course is way down, now would be a good time to map greens.  My problem is I don't really know how to go about it.  I will likely head to each green and roll a bunch of balls from different locations, but does anyone have a methodology for mapping greens?  How or where should I start, and does it matter?  I want to be as efficient as I can, since I will likely run into a few players while doing this.  

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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I'd probably start at the N, S, E and W compass points, roll them to the centre and see where you go from there.

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Kenny... this might be more complicated than you'd like to mess with but - search for 3UP golf. They have a tutorial of how to make a yardage book including the greens. I've started one but haven't made much progress. It entails using Google Earth and a free program call InkScape or something to that effect. It's actually kind of cool but it takes some patience and computer savvy.

www.3upgolf.com - then select Guides.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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When I play tournaments I normally go to play the course early and I'll take a notebook and do a simple map of the most prominent break on the green does it slope front to back? Side to side? Or maybe it breaks off both sides of a crest runnin from the back left to front right. Those are what I find first and then go from there to the smaller sections. It helps if your course has a yardage book with pictures of the green to write this stuff on but if not just draw your own. I even know a fella who took pictures of the greens and used an app to draw the break lines onto the image. I'll find some of my notes and I'll post a picture tomorrow and maybe that will help a bit.

Right Handed

4.5 handicap

Driver: Nike Vapor Flex with Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki ZT60x5ct S-flex shaft and stock grip.

3-Metal: Nike VRS 15 degree with Mitsubishi Rayon tour issue Diamana S73x5ct X-flex shaft and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grip.

Irons: Ben Hogan PTx 22, 26, 30, 34, 38, 42, 46 degrees standard length and lie with KBS Tour-V stiff shafts and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grips.

Wedges: Ben Hogan TK15 54, 58 degrees with KBS Tour-V X-flex shafts and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grips.

Putter: Nike Method Converge B1|01 with Superstroke Flatso 2.0 grip.

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Thanks ESP.  There are a few greens that have some breaks that are easy to see, but most are very subtle.  When I only look at a putt from behind the ball (which I used to do), I read the break and it goes the other way.  I then go to the other side of the hole and read the putt and say "Yeah, I guess it goes that way.  I know I should do that all the time, but sometimes don't just to speed up play.  

 

I am making some notes about the greens now, and I am printing maps of the greens from Google Earth.  Then my plan is to mark the general break on the greens; some have more than one general break depending on where you are on the green.  I am then going to laminate them and put them in one of Daniel's Ace of Clubs scorecard holders.  I have the next few months to do this project before the course gets really busy.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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Like all efforts depends on how much time and $ you would like to expend. Whether you are using Google earth to print out the greens or drawing by hand using the BreakMaster or a comparable device would be key to getting the real break you can't read. The Breakmaster is one I have seen several pro caddies use during practice rounds.

 

/http://www.breakmaster.com/

 

The breakmaster also comes with instructions/tips on how to map a green, see info on site here

 

http://www.breakmaster.com/Greens_Book_Info.html

 

I own one and have used it during practice rounds to help me understand troublesome putts I wasn't seeing, unfortunately, as much as I would like to, I haven't had the time to map an entire course.

 

Mega out...

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I think that's a pretty cool device but not one that I'd buy. At least not for $120. I don't think for an amateur such as myself it would be that beneficial. Why? Because I'm rarely accurate enough to be able to pick a small segment of a green for the ideal landing area and then actually land the ball there. Secondly, my home green aren't that tricked up. They're pretty easy to read. I thought it was funny when the guy in the videos suggested by mapping greens and then sharing it at your course it would speed up play. Yeah right.... I can just see all the hacker-pros pulling out a book on the green prior to putting. That ought to speed things up. But.... it's still an interesting device and I'd probably have one to mess around with if it was $20.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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Sorry Kenny I had all my golf stuff packed for moving and it's still boxed but I'll find those notes and post some pics as soon as I find them

Right Handed

4.5 handicap

Driver: Nike Vapor Flex with Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki ZT60x5ct S-flex shaft and stock grip.

3-Metal: Nike VRS 15 degree with Mitsubishi Rayon tour issue Diamana S73x5ct X-flex shaft and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grip.

Irons: Ben Hogan PTx 22, 26, 30, 34, 38, 42, 46 degrees standard length and lie with KBS Tour-V stiff shafts and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grips.

Wedges: Ben Hogan TK15 54, 58 degrees with KBS Tour-V X-flex shafts and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grips.

Putter: Nike Method Converge B1|01 with Superstroke Flatso 2.0 grip.

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Another thing you can use if you wanna get real specific is one of those apps on your phone that turns it into a level and placing it on the green, I've done that once or twice on tricky spots when mapping a tournament course. On iPhones you can access one by clicking on the compass but I don't recommend it unless you have a really slow day.

Right Handed

4.5 handicap

Driver: Nike Vapor Flex with Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki ZT60x5ct S-flex shaft and stock grip.

3-Metal: Nike VRS 15 degree with Mitsubishi Rayon tour issue Diamana S73x5ct X-flex shaft and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grip.

Irons: Ben Hogan PTx 22, 26, 30, 34, 38, 42, 46 degrees standard length and lie with KBS Tour-V stiff shafts and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grips.

Wedges: Ben Hogan TK15 54, 58 degrees with KBS Tour-V X-flex shafts and GolfPride MCC midsize Black/White grips.

Putter: Nike Method Converge B1|01 with Superstroke Flatso 2.0 grip.

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It seems like the iPhone compass app in the clinometer mode does the same thing as the BreakMaster, or close enough for me.  I will give it a try.  

 

Most of the greens on my course are not too bad but there are a few that give me fits.  It's mostly because I haven't played the course very many times yet.  My old course had small greens that were easy to read, but I have been playing there for 20 years!  

 

The videos on the BreakMaster website were interesting, and I will be using the Google Earth mapping tool.  But I am not sure that I need all the numbers like on their examples.  Maybe I'm wrong; we shall see.  I was going to just roll balls from various edges of the green and find the fall line(s).  Most greens don't have much slope, and right now my tendency is to over-read the breaks that are there.  Of course there are a few greens that, from certain angles, look like the ball breaks uphill.  Those are the locations that I need to map so I remember what the break really is.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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Oh my goodness - I couldn't even begin to imagine mapping greens.  Having written that I'm sure there's a benefit - I just can't imagine that my stroke is good enough to be the beneficiary of that much information. 

 

For a big tournament on an unfamiliar course I could see having a notebook with some general ideas of how it will break.

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Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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There should be a little table with a lap top on the cart path near every green and every tee. The green on that hole should be right there, mapped out for the player, complete with the day's pin location and any advice that might be helpful to the player.

 

I would study that info intently and then still proceed to putt like a shaky geriatric.

 

 

 

 

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Oh my goodness - I couldn't even begin to imagine mapping greens.  Having written that I'm sure there's a benefit - I just can't imagine that my stroke is good enough to be the beneficiary of that much information. 

 

For a big tournament on an unfamiliar course I could see having a notebook with some general ideas of how it will break.

I'm just trying to understand relatively unfamiliar greens that I will be playing on all this next year.  The greens with obvious breaks are not the issue.  It's those greens that look like they break one way but go the other, or look perfectly flat but aren't.  I have had a few putts this fall that puzzled me much like the Bermuda in Florida, but these greens don't have grain.  When we get a chance to play together in February, I am sure you will see that puzzled look of mine a lot!

 

I suspect that after the end of next year I won't need a map, but it will be nice to have just in case.  It won't be as detailed as the pros' books but I think it will save me a stroke or two per round, and believe me, my game needs every stroke I can get!!

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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  • 2 years later...

I have mapped the greens on several golf courses.  I use google earth to get a good view of the green, print that to the size that I like (4X6 index card) and then trace the outline of the green, traps and other relevant items onto the index card.  Then I carefully look at the green and any hole locations that are obvious.  I use a minimum of 7 pin locations and begin rolling balls.  I use the Aim Point system to annotate the amount of break for each ball rolled. 

 

The humorous thing about doing this is that by the time that I have finished, I have pretty much figured out how to read the subtle break even on difficult greens. 

 

The good thing is that during a tournament..it is nice to have the information if you get a putt that you are just not sure of.  Take out the book, have a look and putt that line!!

 

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A new Sik Armlock putter

 

 

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If greens need to be mapped, they were poorly designed in the first place.

A green should be a huge pool table except that a golf ball will stop on it.

 

And the first course builder who saw 4.25" as the specified diameter of the hole should have realized that the decimal point was inadvertently moved one space left.

 

 

 

 

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