How to Make a Yardage Book for Golf

Creating your own yardage book is one of the single best things you can do to lower your scores and think more strategically about your game. It turns you from a bystander into the architect of your own round. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from gathering your materials to charting the greens like a tour pro.

So, Why Bother Making a Yardage Book?

Before we get into the "how," let's talk about the "why." A yardage book is much more than a collection of numbers. It's a game plan. When you stand on a tee box with nothing but your eyes and a dose of optimism, you're just guessing. You’re susceptible to poor decisions fueled by adrenaline or emotion. A yardage book takes the emotion out of it. It’s your objective, rational guide that you built in a calm, analytical state of mind.

Making one yourself forces you to *really* look at a golf hole. You’re not just seeing a green fairway, you’re seeing carry distances, safe zones, and "no-go" areas. It encourages smart course management, the kind that avoids double bogeys and helps you stay in the hole even when you don't have your best stuff. It's the difference between hoping for a good shot and having a plan for one.

What You’ll Need

The good news is you don’t need any expensive or fancy equipment. Most of what you need is probably already in your house or on your phone.

• A Small, Sturdy Notebook: Look for something pocket-sized and ideally waterproof. A surveyor's notebook or a "field notes" style pad is perfect. It needs to hold up to being pulled in and out of your pocket or bag.
• Pens or Pencils: Using multiple colors is a great idea. For example, you could use red for hazards, blue for water, and black for yardages and drawings. A good pencil is also a solid choice for notes you might want to update later.
• Access to Google Earth Pro or Google Maps: This is your secret weapon. Google Earth Pro is free to download on a desktop and has a fantastic Ruler tool that is incredibly useful for this project. The satellite view on Google Maps works well, too.
• A Laser Rangefinder or GPS Device: This is for getting precise on-course numbers to add to your book. The satellite data is great for preparation, but you have to confirm and add details when you're live at the course.

Step 1: Get the Bird's-Eye View

Your journey begins at home, on your computer. Before you even think about drawing, you need your template. This is where Google Earth comes into play. Open it up and search for the golf course you want to map.

Zoom in on the first hole. You should be able to see everything: the tee boxes, the fairway, every single bunker, water hazard, and the shape of the green. This top-down view is invaluable.

Now, use the Ruler tool. This lets you measure distances between any two points. Start by measuring a few known distances to calibrate. For instance, measure from the back tee box to the 150-yard market post. Does it line up? This will give you confidence in your other measurements.

For each hole, print out a dedicated satellite image if you can. This will serve as an amazing guide for your hand-drawn sketch, or you can even draw directly on top of the printout. Don't worry about it being perfect, you just need the general layout.

Step 2: Drawing the Skeleton of Each Hole

Now, grab your notebook and your pen. Dedicate a full page to each hole. You are not trying to be Picasso here, simple, clear symbols and lines are far more useful than a stunning work of art.

Follow a simple process for each page:

1. Draw the Green: Start by drawing the basic shape of the green at the top of the page.
2. Draw the Tee Boxes: Down at the bottom of the page, draw small rectangles representing the different tee boxes you play from (Championship, Men's, Senior, etc.).
3. Connect Them with a Fairway: Draw two parallel lines connecting the tee area to the green area. Don't worry about the exact shape too much right now, just the general corridor of play.
4. Add the Hazards: This is super important. Look at your satellite image and sketch in the major features. Use semi-circles for bunkers. Draw lines for water hazards and color them in blue. Indicate thick tree lines or out-of-bounds areas that affect layup or tee shots.

Once you have this basic "skeleton" down for a hole, you're ready to add the flesh: the yardages that make the book come to life.

Step 3: Adding the All-Important Numbers

A drawing without numbers is just a picture. The yardages provide the context for all your strategic decisions. Using your Google Earth measurements and, eventually, a rangefinder on the course, you need to mark a few primary types of distances.

Yardages Off the Tee

From each tee box you play, you need a few core numbers to inform your club selection and target. These should be written along the side of your drawing, often from the bottom up.

• Cover and Reach Numbers for Hazards: How far is it to a fairway bunker? Write that number down right before the bunker sketch. More importantly, what's the number to carry or fly over that bunker? Write that number on the far side of it. This tells you if you can be aggressive or if you should lay up short of it.
• Layup Numbers: What’s the distance to a specific point, like the 150-yard or 100-yard marker? Knowing it's 230 yards to the 150-yard marker helps you choose a club that leaves you at your favorite approach distance.
• Fairway Width: At your main landing areas, you can even note how wide the fairway is. Is a 240-yard drive landing in a 40-yard wide section or a 25-yard wide section? This is excellent information.

Yardages for Your Approach

Now focus on the area around the green. All approach shot yardages should be measured to the front, middle, and back of the green. A single number to "the pin" isn't enough.

• From Key Landing Spots: Note the distances from the 150, 125, and 100-yard markers to the front, middle, and back. For example, your book might say from the 150-yard stake, it's 142 to the front, 151 to the middle, and 160 to the back.
• Carry Distances for Greenside Hazards: How far is it to carry that menacing front bunker? Knowing you need 145 yards of carry to clear it but the pin is at 150 tells you there's very little room for error on a short shot.
• Green Depth: A simple but powerful note: "Green is 35 yards deep." Pacing this off on the course is the best way to get it. This measurement tells you how much of a difference there is between a front pin and a back pin, affecting your club choice by as many as two or three clubs.

Step 4: Charting the Greens (The Pro Touch)

This is where you can elevate your yardage book from good to exceptional. You're never going to create a perfect topographical map, but you can create a simple cheat sheet that will help with both putts and approach shots.

Next time you play the course, take an extra minute when walking on each green. Your goal is to feel the slopes with your feet.

• Main Slopes: Draw small arrows on your green diagram to indicate the primary direction of the break. Where a hill runs off, where does it run to? Note the general fall line.
• Ridges and Tiers: If a green has a major tier or ridge dividing it, draw a line to represent it. You can label one side "High" and the other "Low." This is massively helpful with distance control on approaches - landing on the right tier is often more important than being close to the pin.
• Subtle Slopes: Make a note next to the green like, "Everything breaks towards the water" or "Breaks more than it looks from back right." These little reminders can save you from a three-putt.

Step 5: Making It Your Own with Strategic Notes

The final layer is personalization. Tucked in the margins, these are the notes that turn your yardage book into a true personal coach. After each round, add notes based on your experience.

Examples of great notes include:

• Club Selection Advice: "Driver is too much here unless wind is helping. 3-wood is perfect."
• Specific Aiming Points: "Aim at the left edge of the far bunker. It will feed to the middle."
• Miss analysis: "The only place you can't miss is long and left. Short right is a simple up-and-down."
• Personal Reminders: "I always pull my tee shot here. Remember to commit to the target."
• Wind Effects: "A helping wind here doesn't really help. Still, play the number." Or, "Into a left-to-right wind, the woods on the right are basically in the fairway."

Your yardage book should be a living document. Continually update it, refine it, and add to it. The more context you add, the more valuable it becomes.

Final Thoughts

Creating and maintaining a yardage book transforms you from a player who just hits the ball into a strategist who manages the course. It’s a rewarding process that provides clarity and confidence for every shot you face, helping you make smarter, more committed decisions.

While a detailed yardage book gives you a fantastic plan, golf always throws unexpected situations your way. That's a big reason we created our app. When your best-laid plans go sideways - you're in a tough lie in the rough, behind a tree, or have a shot you’ve never faced before - your yardage book can only do so much. With Caddie AI, you can get instant, practical advice for those exact moments, even snapping a photo of your ball's situation for a specific recommendation. We designed it to be the on-course partner that takes the uncertainty out of the toughest shots, helping you play with the same confidence your yardage book provides on the tee.