Figuring Out Slope of Green — With Your Finger!

Wed, 09/30/2009 - 12:00 -- Don Trahan

Playing golf today is made much more simple and exact with the help of GPS devices that show the layout of a hole, yardages to bunkers, lakes and then to the green. Some even show the location of the hole. Then there are the laser guns and devices that shoot the flag and give yardages to within a yard. Then there are the advanced laser devices that not only give the yardage, but will factor in the extra yardage for an uphill shot and also deduct the yardage for a downhill shot. These will show the actual yardage and then the playing yardage as measured, based on the extra distance needed for an uphill shot, which plays longer, and the less amount needed for a downhill shot, which plays shorter.

The bad or sad point relative to these lasers that measure slope is that they are often times not allowed to be used in tournaments, even if you shut off that feature. The PGA Tour does not allow the use of any measuring devices during tournament play except for shoes or sneakers. That is, the caddies and players have their yardage books and pin placement sheets, and they have to walk off all their yardages. The good news is that they can use the laser devices in practice rounds to check all the measurements, like the yardage to and over fairway and greenside bunkers, carry over ditches and lakes and, most importantly, getting the exact add on yardage for an uphill shot and the deduct yardage for downhill shots which they will record in their yardage book.

Most golf associations, including PGA sections, allow the use of GPS and laser devices for measuring yardage on golf shots but do not allow using one with the slope measuring feature in tournaments. Many believe that these devices help speed up play as golfers don'€™t need to be finding sprinkler heads and walking off the yardages to their ball, then figuring out what yardage they have for that shot. These devices do save time and in many cases the only thing missing is knowing exactly where the pin is placed, unless you have pin sheets or green sections pin locator sheets that show the area of the green where the pin is located.

Pin location is as important as the actual yardage. If a pin is forward, and you have a club selection doubt, it would be best to take the longer club to not come up short. Just as for a back pin, you would choose the shorter club to protect from going over. As for right and left pin locations, you would aim more toward the center to help avoid missing the green on the side of the pin which is called '€œshort siding'€ yourself. That usually means you had an extra difficult shot for getting the ball up and down.

I was playing 9 holes with Harold on the front nine of The Golf Club at Star Fort, in Ninety Six, South Carolina. (Note: Ninety Six is the home of the National Historic Site of Star Fort, the fort was shaped like a star, where battles were fought in the Revolutionary War.) On the second hole PGA Professional Billy Delk was out on the course and stopped to talk to me and see how I was playing. I mentioned that the points we discussed on the practice tee were working. I then said that I a good second shot to the first green but underestimated the uphill extra yardage needed. My laser did not have that feature since we cannot use one in CPGA tournaments if it does. Billy then chimed in that you don'€™t need that slope feature and asked me, '€œDon'€™t you know how to do it manually?'€ '€œNope,'€ I said. '€œWell I guess you need to learn real quickly,'€ Billy replied. And here'€™s what he told me:

Stand up straight looking at the green and raise your right hand, extended, like pointing straight out from your right eye height (right because I am right eye dominant) and sight it at the green. I raised my hand and curled my fingers, like holding a pistol, and pointed my index finger, like the barrel of the pistol, at the green. Billy noted that if the green is above your pointer finger, make a judgment as to how many feet above it is. Each foot equates to 1 yard more distance to add on to reach that green. If the green is below your pointer finger, each foot below is one yard less needed to reach that green. This really made sense and it seemed to work when Billy had me sight the next tee, which was elevated.

While Billy was giving me my briefing lesson on human lasering and surveying, Harold was playing out on the other side of the fairway. On the next hole, after reaching our drives, we were up on a hill overlooking the 3rd green. I held out my hand/finger pointer '€œlaser'€ to check out the down slope. I asked Harold if he had ever heard of doing this to figure out the rise or drop of the slope. He said absolutely. He was taught that as a kid when he worked on his family farm. They used it all the time to figure our fence height, especially when digging irrigation ditches uphill, to know how much deeper they had to dig to keep the water flowing down.

When I pointed my '€œlaser'€ finger it was pointing dead at the top of the pin. Harold told me my point was good because my hand was straight out from my right eye. Harold said that since the flag is 6 feet, I have a shot playing 6 yards less than what my electronic laser just shot.

The Surge has never been a farmer but now I know how they have such level fences. And now I know how to use my index '€œlaser'€ finger to figure how much more or less club I need on those uphill and downhill shots — which my 21st Century laser can'€™t tell me.

The Surge!

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