Expert: Skip Ward - 3/30/2008

Question
when measuring a course do you measure all undulations on the ground or is it as the crow flies in a straight line from a distance point

Answer
Dear David, thanks for the question.  When golf courses are measured, they are definitely measured "as the crow flies."  Essentially if you imagine a really tall flag pole on the teeing ground as well as on the putting green, and connect the two...this will be your distance for the hole.  The exception to the rule is the dog leg hole.  In this case you would imagine a third flagpole at the turning point of the hole, measure the distance from tee to pole two, then pole two to pole three.  

As for undulations etc., these factors are taken into consideration when measuring a course's Slope and Course Rating, to help a player better understand the difficulty of the course at hand.

Thanks again for asking, good luck and remember...

Love the game,
skipper