Golf is a hard sport at the best of times. One day your swing can feel great and your putts are dropping from all corners of the green. Then, the next day, with no real warning, everything can go wrong.
That’s the beauty of golf though, there’s lots of variables.
However, there are a few constants within the game that we can use to our advantage - yardages.
That annoying water hazard on your least favourite hole? That’s always a 200 yard carry. The greenside bunker that cost you a winter league match? That’s always 10 yards short of the green.
Knowing the yardages to greens and hazards out on course can be the difference between a par or a double bogey and the difference between a trip to a bunker or a trip to the middle of the green.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of eight yardages you simply have to know out on course to help you make the right decisions and get the most out of your game.
1. Your Carry Yardages
This is the absolute starting point when using yardages to your advantage out on course - what’s the use in knowing a fairway bunker is 250 yards away when you don’t know how far your driver goes? So before we get to the information gathering every golfer needs to do before hitting a shot, it is worth investing time to understand how far you hit the ball.
We recommend that you develop a picture for how far each club in your bag carries. Your total distances will depend on differing ground conditions but knowing that, for instance, you carry your 7-iron 140 yards in calm conditions will help you devise a strategy that will take score-wrecking danger out of play.
2. Hazard Lay Up Fairway
Hitting a shot out of a fairway bunker is one of the hardest in the book for an amateur golfer, so avoiding these at all costs is important. Finding water off the tee is an even more costly penalty.
Knowing the precise yardage to the front of the fairway bunker or the front a water hazard allows you to make the correct decision with a club off the tee and be confident that your ball will end up short.
3. Hazard Carry Fairway
The Shot Scope G3 GPS watch gives precise yardages to the front and back of hazards, letting golfers decide whether they want to lay up or take on a potential hazard.
In a similar vein, you might want to be more aggressive off the tee when hitting a second shot on a par 5 - you might want to try and hit a hellacious bomb over the bunker or water hazard.
To do this, and in turn attack the golf course more, you’ll need to know the carry yardages past hazards located in the fairway. Knowing what club you need to clear the lip of an ominous fairway bunker is key.
4. Hazard Lay Up By Green
Sometimes there’s a greenside bunker at your local course that you just know will cost you two or three shots as you hack it out.
Having the knowledge of the exact distance to these greenside hazards can allow you to club down and take the hazard out of play
You might get a bit of stick from your playing partners for laying up, but you’ll be the one laughing when you’re writing a par down instead of a double bogey.
5. Hazard Carry By Green
The Shot Scope G3 GPS watch has a 34mm clear and bright screen that can be seen in all weather conditions. Everyday watch mode means you can wear the G3 off the course too.
In a very similar vein you’ll want to know the carry yardages of hazards that might sit tantalisingly in front of a green.
Whether it’s a bunker or water, you can use the carry yardage to your advantage to pick a club you know won’t fall short.
6. Front Of Green
The Shot Scope G3 GPS Watch gives accurate distances to the front, middle and back of greens on 36,000 pre loaded golf courses.
This is a vital yardage to know when you’re out on course so you never fall foul of being short of a green ever again. Your chances of two putting are much higher than making an up and down, so making sure you’ve got the club in your hand that will carry the front of the green is essential information
7. Middle Of Green
The safest yardage of them all, knowing the yardage to the centre of the dancefloor is probably the most essential one when it comes to approaching a green.
Knowing this yardage allows you to take the pin location out of the equation and give yourself a larger chance of two putting.
8. Back Of Green
This final yardage is another vital one to know so you don’t airmail a green and find yourself in no man’s land.
Knowing this number before hitting your shot will allow you to select a club that can’t go long of the green.
How To Get Key Yardages
The Shot Scope G3 GPS Watch has the ability to measure each shot you hit. Recording this data will allow to gain an understanding of how far you hit each club.
Not only does the Shot Scope G3 GPS watch provide front, middle and back distances to greens and front and back distances to hazards on 36,000 pre-loaded golf courses, but it also has the ability to record how far your shots go on while you're on the course.
This can be a more accurate way of gathering distance information than at the range. Then, with this information at your disposal, you should then be able to work out your all-important carry distances with each club.
-
Graham DeLaet Facts: 20 Things To Know About The PGA Tour Pro Turned BroadcasterGraham DeLaet had a successful career in the game, but after injuries took a toll, he has stepped into a broadcasting role in recent years - here are 20 facts about him
-
Arron Oberholser Facts: 15 Things To Know About The PGA Tour-Winning Golf Channel BroadcasterArron Oberholser left his PGA Tour career behind to take up life as a Golf Channel broadcaster in 2013 – here are 15 things to know about him
