‘The Green Book is misunderstood by people who haven’t used it’
How much smaller will the maps be?
Roughly about a quarter of the size. The rule of thumb I have extrapolated from the 1:480 is a five-yard square grid – each one of those is 9.5mm. It’s just short of a centimetre.
It’s significantly smaller but the biggest effect the rules are going to have is that because we’re going to make the information a little bit smaller you are going to need better eyesight. Reading glasses are going to be in demand.
So it’s the green size that we would currently see in a standard course yardage book?
Exactly that. There’s a certain amount of design to be done to get the right solution. We will release our designs and try and get approval for them from the R&A and USGA.
The day of the A4 green maps on the course are over…
It’s over in that they can’t take them out on the golf course. I think you’ll still find them studying them beforehand.
The most detailed information we produce is only of real use if you are really accurate about where the pin is.
In some cases, to make the material really useful, individual caddies put a huge amount of effort into walking the course before they go out and play to check pin positions.
And they can do so within the rules and without stepping on greens.
Are you relieved you can push on now?
In lots of ways this whole episode has, ironically, raised people’s awareness.
Now the Green Book has been given the green light, within certain limitations, it is fantastically positive for us and our business.
We’re really looking forward to innovating within the rules and making people’s golfing experiences more fun.
What are the new rules on Green Books?
Any image of a green is limited to a scale of 3/8 inch to 5 yards.
Any book or paper that contains such an image can be no larger than 4¼ inches by 7 inches – that’s the current size of most yardage books.
The image cannot be magnified, other than through your usual prescription glasses or lenses.
Written green dimensions can only be used if the book or paper employed meets the size limit and it’s either the player or caddie making the notes.
What the professionals say…
Chris Hanson, European Tour professional
I use the Green Book as much for approach shots – if the slopes are behind or in front of the pins.
I don’t take it as gospel whereas the guys who think it’s crap and don’t like it think the pin has got to be in exactly the right place and the ball has got to be in the right place.
For me, it’s impossible to do that. Everyone’s yardage is different and the angles are all different. I use it as a reference to give me an idea and to back up my decision.
In theory, I don’t think you should be able to have something that tells you how to read a green but I’m going to use it if I can.
I will walk up to the green from 50 yards away and I’ll already have a 90% idea of where my ball is.
I get to my ball straight away, have a quick look at it, measure it off – look at a sprinkler and get my reference – and put the book away basically.
Joe Dean, who won Q School second stage and will play on the Challenge Tour in 2019
I used one at second stage and it definitely saved me probably five to seven shots for the tournament. I would never have won without a Green Book.
At final qualifying it was a bit tricky. The Hills course wasn’t quite as grainy so the Green Book worked great. The Lakes greens were a little bit grainier.
The book will say it’s a slope of two per cent but, if you’ve got a grain going up the slope, then it might only be 1%.
I used one at the Open in 2017 and that was fantastic. Inside of 10 feet it was amazing and I couldn’t fault it.
I know the general gist is that people think it takes way too long but that’s not the Green Book itself it is the people that are using them.
I looked at it when my partners were playing so I already knew what I was looking at when I got over my putt. I’d love for them to stay for 2019 and for the Challenge Tour especially. I think they would do me the world of good.
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
