Bill_McBride:
The scorecard at the Valley Club in Santa Barbara is wonderfully entertaining.
As the members are proud to note, there are no distance markers anywhere on the course.
However, there is a little graphic for each hole on the course neatly printed on the card, along with a legend for what those little icons mean. One tree looking icon is a “hickory,” another an “oak,” etc.
Once I was looking for the “hickory” which was supposed to be
175 from the 18th green, and my host says, “Oh, that tree fell down 15 years ago, I guess they ought to reprint the card.”
Huck, I think the only thing you and I have ever disagreed about is those abominable Kirby markers.
They lined the 14th fairway with those at my club in Virginia, and I thought they were the ugliest, most unnatural, god awful things I’d ever seen. I much prefer the unobtrusive marking on a sprinkler head.
The yellow 250, blue 200, white 150, red 100, disk in the center of the fairway is probably the best, you pass one after another as you walk down the fairway and you can count your way to your tee ball. Nothing worse than watching the carts circle the fairway looking for that missing sprinkler. Unless it’s the GPS. That’s worse!
End of rant.
Larry_Rodgers:
Some of you folks can very brutal with comments so I have been careful on past posts, however the subject of yardage markers on sprinklers has come up and it seems everyone has an opinion.
I am doing a final walk-thru on a newly constructed course and the irrigation specifications calls for the irrigation sprinklers to have yardage markers on them.
Does this take away or enhance the golfing experience?
Does this slow play?
Does this take away from the skill?
Should they be to the front or middle of the green?
Where is the middle exactly? front to back and at which approach angle?
Where should they start and stop?
Are they only needed in the fairway?
If the hole has a dogleg, just where is the turning point to determine the length of the hole?
Thank-you for allowing this post and I hope not to be crucified by too many traditionalists as the question comes up during the planning stages.
Kevin_Reilly:
Well, I’ll take a stab at some of these.
Does this take away or enhance the golfing experience?
I think it doesn’t add or detract from an experience. It is like whether the course has little towels hanging from the ball washer. If it doesn’t, big deal, I’ll use the towel hanging from my bag.
Does this slow play?
Probably on the whole it helps the speed of play, unless the sprinkler heads are hard to find and guys walk around like they are looking for a contact lens.
Does this take away from the skill?
IMHO, judging distance used to be a required skill, but I think that is no longer the case because such information is so readily available.
Should they be to the front or middle of the green?
As long as you are consistent, it shouldn’t matter. However, most courses mark things to the middle.
Where is the middle exactly? front to back and at which approach angle?
I would imagine front to back, and measured from the spot that the sprinkler head is at. So that takes angle into account.
Where should they start and stop?
Longest should be 240ish on par 5s and 210 or so on par 4s. Anything longer than that should instead say “HIT IT YOU JACKASS”. Shorter than 80 yds is a waste. I played a course that had a marker at 39 yds!
Are they only needed in the fairway?
Yes, otherwise you’ll be marking everything under the sun.
If the hole has a dogleg, just where is the turning point to determine the length of the hole?
Mark a sprinkler on a dogleg that has a clear shot to the green.
Read the rest of this yardage marker discussion at Golf Club Atlas
Other ways to speed up play from ‘two guys who golf’