StrackaLine system: How useful overall?

[ChipNRun]

I will be playing in the area Senior Amateur Championship next week. I have played the course in question twice before, more recently a practice round this week.

 

Question: What are pluses and minuses of buying StrackaLine hole and green book for the course?

 

For practice round, I had gone into BlueGolf and copied the green close-ups onto paper and printed them out. During the round, I marked general green slopes and dips in pencil.

Here is a to-scale example

of one of the green images.

I believe the  image is small

enough to pass USGA rules

on handwritten notes.

 

As per e-mail on tournament processes, the organizers have arranged for us to be able to purchase the StrackaLine paper books and phone apps for course for 20% discount.

 

But, the e-mail's next paragraph warns us that player on-the-clock violations will be strictly enforced. Using the green reading maps looks like it could be a bit clumsy, especially with clock violations looming.

 

So, is the StrackaLine system worth it for a course you don't play very often, especially under clock constraints?

 

The course riding carts have a high-grade GPS display system,

including the pin location on green using pin-sheet style

yardage markings.

 

I need your advice...

 

Should I use StrackaLine in this situation, or just avoid it?

[Golfcrzy]

It takes no time at all and it is very useful information. The most time consuming aspect is figuring where the pin is on the map, but if you’re being given pin sheets and precise GPS overviews? I spend no more than 20 seconds with the book in total. The new ones with high res imagery makes it easier.
 

Most of the work is done before you get to the green. Mark your book based off the GPS and you can pace it off on the green. It’s pretty intuitive but you should practice using the book before showtime. It’s very good for confirmation or rejection of a read. 

[golferdude54]

It's illegal to use any greens books that you didn't handwrite into now. If you bring Strackaline green books, you'll be DQ'd if any of the players in your group are strict eagle-eyes.

[SBH9458]

@ChipNRunMy view on the Strackaline is they are quite good for courses you don’t play often (or once ever).  I agree with @Golfcrzy that it is a glance after you read the put which takes very little more time really.  The biggest benefit to me has been where I want the approach shot to land to give me a best chance at making a putt.  Doesn’t mean I execute that planned shot all the time (ha!) but definitely tells me slope of the green from 150 out and enables a strong commitment.  

[chinaski]

4 hours ago, golferdude54 said:

It's illegal to use any greens books that you didn't handwrite into now. If you bring Strackaline green books, you'll be DQ'd if any of the players in your group are strict eagle-eyes.

What?

[golferdude54]

7 hours ago, chinaski said:

What?

 

https://www.usga.org/content/dam/usga/pdf/2023/rules/Green Reading Materials_FAQs_2023 - Final.pdf

[chinaski]

13 hours ago, golferdude54 said:

 

https://www.usga.org/content/dam/usga/pdf/2023/rules/Green Reading Materials_FAQs_2023 - Final.pdf

 

Strakaline is USGA scale compliant: https://strackaline.com/usga

 

Handwritten books can be any scale, just need to follow the size limit. 

 

 

 

 

 

[golferdude54]

8 minutes ago, chinaski said:

 

Strakaline is USGA scale compliant: https://strackaline.com/usga

 

Handwritten books can be any scale, just need to follow the size limit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not talking about the scale dimensions. I'm talking about over a hundred break direction arrows on Strackaline books along with the 1" inclination lines and the color coded slope severity. That type of greens map is illegal now.

[YellowV1x]

 

On 9/17/2024 at 4:41 AM, golferdude54 said:

It's illegal to use any greens books that you didn't handwrite into now. If you bring Strackaline green books, you'll be DQ'd if any of the players in your group are strict eagle-eyes.

 

19 hours ago, golferdude54 said:

 

https://www.usga.org/content/dam/usga/pdf/2023/rules/Green Reading Materials_FAQs_2023 - Final.pdf

 

5 hours ago, golferdude54 said:

 

I'm not talking about the scale dimensions. I'm talking about over a hundred break direction arrows on Strackaline books along with the 1" inclination lines and the color coded slope severity. That type of greens map is illegal now.

 

I don't see anything in the Green Reading Materials FAQs that says green books must be handwritten.  Rule 4.3a/1 and its clarification specifically allow the use of a putting green map or other putting green information as long as it meets the scale and size limit.  Committees can restrict the use of green reading materials like Strackaline using MLR G-11, but per the USGA "This Local Rule is intended only for the highest levels of competitive golf and, even then, only to competitions where it is realistic for the Committee to undertake an approval process for yardage books."

[ChipNRun]

On 9/17/2024 at 5:07 AM, SBH9458 said:

The biggest benefit to me has been where I want the approach shot to land to give me a best chance at making a putt.  Doesn’t mean I execute that planned shot all the time (ha!) ...

 

Course we played for championship had seven really tricky greens. Saw putts from 5 feet above cup roll 25 feet past down to front fringe. Another green we faced: if you hit a cut shot that landed a foot toward the right half of green, ball would funnel down greenside slot into trap.

 

This course the Strackaline  would have helped - if I had been hitting the ball decently. Another course we play on occasion Sl would also be useful.

 

Our amateur circuit has a dozen or so courses that regularly appear in area rota. So a couple of years in the circuit and you have a semi-home course advantage for most of the 18s.

 

On 9/18/2024 at 5:42 AM, chinaski said:

Handwritten books can be any scale, just need to follow the size limit. 

 

My greens images were captured from Blue Golf site on course. The pasted-in the individual images were  2¼ x 2⅞ inches, so they were well within size limits. I sketched general rise and fall in pencil. Didn't burn up the greens, but only had a couple of three-putts over two days.

 

Note: I sent sample page (nine greens on 8.5 x 11" typewriter paper) to tourney officials, and they said my notes were well within legal size. 

[JessWilder711]

On 9/18/2024 at 6:54 AM, golferdude54 said:

 

I'm not talking about the scale dimensions. I'm talking about over a hundred break direction arrows on Strackaline books along with the 1" inclination lines and the color coded slope severity. That type of greens map is illegal now.

I had a USGA rules official sign off on the Strackaline book with greens in a US MidAm qualifier last year and was by no means the only person in the field using one. As others have pointed out, there's not a blanket prohibition on using green reading materials under the updated rules, they just are limited on the amount of detail they are allowed to show and scaling. Strackaline revised their books when the rule came out to make them compliant.