Free tool
Plays-like distance and elevation calculator
Plays like
160 yards
Add 10 yards for 30 feet uphill.
Rule of thumb: one yard per three feet of height change. Wind, air, ball and lie also matter. It is a starting number, not a measurement.
Pick my club (optional)
The app shows plays-like yardage on the hole where elevation data exists.
How it works
Step 1
Enter the distance
Type the yardage to your target.
Step 2
Enter the height change
Say whether the target is uphill or downhill and by how many feet or meters.
Step 3
Read the plays-like yardage
The tool adds or subtracts one yard for every three feet, and picks the closest club if you enter your carries.
The method
The rule of thumb is one yard for every three feet of height change between you and the target. Uphill adds yards, downhill removes them: 30 feet uphill on a 150 yard shot plays about 160. In meters, one yard is about 0.9144 m, so the same rule is roughly 0.9 m of height per 1 m of distance, and the tool converts meters to feet for you.
Real conditions differ. Temperature, altitude, wind, the ball and the lie can each move the shot more than a few yards, so treat the answer as a starting point and trust your own numbers when you have them.
Questions
- What is the plays-like rule?
- A rule of thumb: add one yard for every three feet the target is above you, and subtract one yard for every three feet it is below. 30 feet uphill adds about 10 yards.
- Is it exact?
- No. Wind, air, temperature, the ball and the lie all matter. It is a good starting number, not a measurement.
- How do I know the height change?
- Hole elevation pages on ParHard show tee-to-green change for courses with elevation data. Otherwise estimate it from the course map or your device.
- How far will my club go from here?
- Switch to the second mode: enter your normal carry and the height change to see how far the shot will really fly.
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