How do you guys document & look up your club distance chart during a game

[Lu5150]

Can't remember like I used to....so I have my club distances noted on my iphone....but want an easier and quicker way to look up the info.....wondering what you guys do......

 

- do you use a GPS watch...aka Garmin S42...I don't have one, but planning to buy one soon....

- print out a chart, laminate it, and have it stored in your back pocket, bag, cart, etc...

 

hopefully you guys provide some good tips I can use....

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

You mean how far you hit each club?

 

I rarely ever hit a shot at 100%, in fact I prefer to create shots, so rather than smash all out a 7, I might take a little off a 6

 

Generally, if played long enough and are consistent enough you kind of get to know your club distances without needing a 'cheat sheet'

[Abh159]

At the risk of sounding like bit of a jerk... You should probably just know how far you hit each club. I've never once thought I needed some sort of chart to know my distances.

 

Generally speaking you'll have approx. 10 yards between each iron. For example, 9i = 150, 8i = 160, 7i = 170 and so on...

 

Worst case you can just take a sharpie and write the distance on your clubhead or shaft. A few pros actually do that.

[Socrates]

All you need to know is the true carry of one short iron.  When I switch irons (and that's not often), I just need to remember one club like an 8 iron.  Every iron is about 10 yards off that.  When I last switched, I just had to remember that my 8 iron was 155 yards.  Hitting a 6 iron = 175.  PW = 135.  Temperature and wind can get factored in after I've got my baseline yardage.  If your gap is less (say 7 yards), you still only have to remember one club and do the math from there.  If that is too much for you, write them down on a piece of paper, laminate it and put it on a cord attached to your bag.  Using your phone is a time waster and people are going to hit balls at you sooner or later.   Or the marshal is going to tell you to skip a hole to catch up.

[Yrrdead]

I have a small card laminated with base carry,  then 3 different rows for temperature,  then in the bottom is my wedge matrix.  

 

About time I update for summer temps. I do need to add wind thumb rule to it.  

[SE Gamer]

8 hours ago, Is Golf Fun or Work said:

You mean how far you hit each club?

 

I rarely ever hit a shot at 100%, in fact I prefer to create shots, so rather than smash all out a 7, I might take a little off a 6

 

Generally, if played long enough and are consistent enough you kind of get to know your club distances without needing a 'cheat sheet'

 

This right here is a sign of a good player. There are still occasions where you need to really go after it. But I'd venture to guess many golfers would benefit from the "less than 100%" approach. As most aren't capable of getting 100% out of their irons each and every shot.

 

Anyone who's played for just a short while should be able to pick up on this reality. Just keep track of how often your playing partners come up short vs. long. The former is far more prevalent. 

 

To answer the OP's question, I've never had this problem. But I can accept that this might be an issue for some. Perhaps, instead of trying to memorize each and every iron. Get your distance down with something right in the middle (7 iron or so). Then just estimate 10-ish yards up/down off of that for all other clubs. So if your 7i is 150, and you've got 130, 20 yards less, 2 clubs, 9i. It won't be perfect, as your gaps may be greater or lesser. But that might help you to start engraining that detail in your mind. 

[golfing_penguin]

Do what Lee Westwood does and Sharpie them onto the back of the club

[BrendanW]

i have a small printout (inch by three inches) that I've taped to the side of the bag that faces the ball when I hit it.

 

Reads like

 

Driver - 230m

19Hybrid - 205m

23Hybrid - 195m

 

Put the bag at the side of the ball, take a read (scope or markers), check the chart, pull the club and go. It doesn't take any more time. 

[Cactus Jack]

I have a note card with my average carry distances and my wedge matrix. I keep it in my back pocket while playing and refer to it often. 

[MattM97]

I did a gapping session on a simulator and then after at work we have a label maker. I just printed the distances out on a clear label and affixed it just under the grip of each club, I cannot see it at address. I do have to obviously pull the clubs out but I have an idea of what each one goes I'm usually pulling 2 at a time to decide on a shot. 

[TheDominator273]

I have a card with stock carry yardages for every club along with my wedge matrix.  I refer to it on every shot after ai check distance to pin with my laser and front and back on my watch.

[Lu5150]

Some great ideas in here....thanks.....

 

Weeks ago...I did a gapping session on a simulator and have that info noted on an app on my iphone.....I think I'll write the info on the back of my business card and display it on a metal luggage tag....that way I can reference which club I should use after my applewatch tells me how far I'm from the green.....

[HoosierHacker89]

This is actually an interesting thread. I would never have thought to do any of these things. I just know how far i hit everything and go from there. I'd guess I'm more of a "feel" player, so I will just hit whatever seems ideal in the moment. 

[SE Gamer]

On 7/22/2022 at 1:20 PM, HoosierHacker89 said:

This is actually an interesting thread. I would never have thought to do any of these things. I just know how far i hit everything and go from there. I'd guess I'm more of a "feel" player, so I will just hit whatever seems ideal in the moment. 

Agreed. Something I've never thought of. But could imagine how some would benefit from it. 

I too am very "feel" oriented. At the course I play a weekly league, the last hole on one side is a par 3. The last 3 times I've played it, I think I've hit 7, 9, 8 based on wind, flighting, etc. And managed two birdies and a par in the process. 

[968cab]

Saw this on Instagram and stole the idea.  I’ve found I use it less than I thought I would, but sometimes it’s a lifesaver/timesaver

 

*not my yardages. 
 

 

[larrybud]

Write your number on a piece of paper, wrap around the shaft of the club next to the grip, cover with clear packing tape.

 

Used to do that all the time back in the Pelz 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 religious days.

 

[596]

I can't do the yardage thing except for 1 club.  I have 6* gaps in the irons.  I go totally by feel but almost never hit a full iron into anything.  I only know that a full on draw with my 8 iron is about 145.  I base all other shots from there.  I have no idea how far the other clubs go with a full shot. 

 

My scores have gone down when I learned to hit more club then I need 98% of the time. 

[infinii]

[blade06]

I have this printed, laminated, and attached to my bag. Don’t get to practice or play as much as I like so have some general tips on the sheet as well.

[phil75070]

So many things can the distance a ball goes with a given club, lie, wind, temperature, slope, etc., that my basic yardage with each club is kept in my head. The club choice is adjusted based on the factors I mentioned.

[ErikSwe]

I took up golf again after a 15 year break really tried to figure out my stock yardages (meters). I built below in Google Sheets and was running a database table with the latest data I plugged in. I kept a lot of things blanks to write myself in the scorecard holder.
Really liked it, my length and accuracy have improved, but I haven't updated the charts as good as I should. This thread is a little old, but love to see updates on how you guys work with it.

  

[BrendanH]

Useful topic! My first reaction was "I just know my yardages". Having read the replies, it's clear there is some info I have not fully memorized or even fleshed out in enough detail yet, such as a wedge matrix. Something to work on!

 

I think there is a laminated card in my future which I'll stick in my greens book and use it to mark the hole I'm on. Dual purpose 🤑

[BlkNGld]

On 9/8/2022 at 3:48 PM, larrybud said:

Write your number on a piece of paper, wrap around the shaft of the club next to the grip, cover with clear packing tape.

 

Used to do that all the time back in the Pelz 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 religious days.

 

 

Yeah, when Pelz suggested that, I thought that you could do the same sort of thing for non wedges with stock, all out/jump on, and knockdowns.   Never did though.

[Ty_Guy]

I keep a wedge matrix on a notecard in my bag.

 

PW - Full - Arm parallel - shaft parallel

GW - Full - Arm parallel - shaft parallel

SW - Full - Arm parallel - shaft parallel

LW - Full - Arm parallel - shaft parallel

 

A chunk of these numbers overlap. In play, it's down to just what I need for anything between 40 and 100. Which comes out to about four or five of the non-full swing numbers to memorize. Add in slightly opening or closing the face for+/- 5 yards and moving the ball forward or back an inch or two to do the same for height.

 

Under 40, I mentally shift from pitch to chip. Same as above, just narrower stance and I will actively try to keep weight forward.

 

I'm currently working on how many ways I can hit a 100 yard shot, trying to be able to hit one at low to high height increments. I play on bremuda and pine straw outer rough. Lot's of opportunities for low running shots.

[J.Bex]

Laminated sheet taped to rangefinder:

 

 

[migosham]

I have a note on my iPhone that I keep pinned so I can look it up real quick. My phone is in my pocket all the time so it's a few seconds to refer to the note

[ErikSwe]

Based on this discussion/thread I spent some weeks on paternity leave building a very simple website. So far it's only the free version and simple clubchart that can be printed. But if you are interested I can open up some premium features. Would love some feedback from other golfers who like their yardage books.

Site: https://www.clubch.art/
Examples: https://www.clubch.art/examples (<-- almost better to check this out)

[Johnny Biarritz]

I have a Google Sheets document that has my yardages. It used to be only wedge yardages, PW-GW-SW-LW-XW, with 8 yardages for each club, but I've expanded it recently to my full irons. Eventually, once I'm back to feeling pretty good with my swing, I'll add in 3/4 and 1/2 swings with all the irons (if you're a Pelz disciple that's the 10:30 and 9 o'clock swings). I just keep it on my phone since I generally use a GPS app for yardages and not a dedicated GPS or range finder.

[ShortGolfer]

Last time out on the Flat Nine my GPS died after the first hole and I eyeballed the distances.  Shot my low round for the course of 43, two better than my previous best.

It helped a little that I just got driver working last week, but still....  Yesterday I got my 3HL working. 😀  

 

I also shot 43 at Buena Vista without a GPS.  My course low at this very short executive course is 42.

 

I learned to play with the five clubs in my Avatar.  4, 7, AW SW, and putter.  I get my eyes checked every year.

Edited July 29 by ShortGolfer

[Socrates]

There are many good ideas here.  Just don't feel the need to over complicate things.  I know the yardage for my PW.  Stock 125y carry.  The rest are easy enough to figure out from there.  Of course one has to factor in temp. and wind direction, but that is based on experience more than some preconceived numbers on a chart.  If I was on Tour and had a professional caddy, I would be more exacting, but I'm not.

 

For example I've got a raw yardage of 148 -decent lie.  If I hit it good I could get an 8 iron almost there.  Slightly into about a 1 club breeze. Around 70º so I could get a 7 iron there if I hit it good.  Odds of a slight mis-hit about 20% so I'll hit a 6 and if it is a little deep there are no problems long.  Takes about 10 seconds to figure out and I never had to look at any cards or phones.