Lesson 1: How Long is the Hole?
Every hole on a golf course has a length — how far you have to travel from the tee to the hole. Short par-3 holes might be only 100 yards long. Long par-5 holes can be over 600 yards.
The length of a hole directly affects how you should play it. A 100-yard hole might need only a short iron. A 500-yard hole will definitely need your biggest club at the tee, and then several more shots after that.
Length is measured in yards on most American courses. One yard is three feet, and a meter is just over a yard. Learning to feel what different distances mean — what 100 yards, 150 yards, and 200 yards actually look like on the ground — is an important skill that develops over time.
Professional golfers know their distances with extraordinary precision. A tour professional might know that with a specific iron, they hit the ball exactly 167 yards in normal conditions. That precision comes from years of measuring and paying attention.
Hole length is measured in yards (or meters). Short par-3s can be under 100 yards. Long par-5s can be over 600 yards.
Knowing the length of a hole helps you plan: which clubs to use, how many shots to expect, and where the dangers are.
Look at the scorecard for your facility and find the longest hole and the shortest hole. Write both lengths in your math journal. Now calculate: how much longer is the longest hole than the shortest hole? If you had to walk from the tee of the longest hole to the hole itself, and then walk back, how far would you walk in total? (Hint: multiply the length by 2.)