Making adjustments for playing uphill and downhill

Golf has one of the steepest learning curves of any sport, they are so many variables that influence how a course plays from one day to the next. When weighing up a shot there are many things that an experienced professional player will consider before choosing what shot to play and what club to use. One of the things that amateur golfers fail to calculate when they are out on the golf course, is how much impact playing uphill or downhill can have on the distance your golf ball travels. 

I see it so often when I play in Pro-Ams, whereby one of my team will hit what appears to be a beautiful looking shot uphill to the flag, only to see it land well short of the putting surface. The look of dismay that is etched over their faces at this point can be avoided by factoring in slope when calculating your yardage. 

Many of the modern rangefinders and Golf GPS units now have a built-in slope function that calculates how much effect the slope will have on your shot. Whilst this mode is illegal for use in competitions it is invaluable to use in practice, as continued use will soon have you instinctively knowing how much you need to club up or club down. If you don’t see yourself owning one of these any time soon then just remember the following... 

A ball travelling uphill will not fly as far as a shot on level ground. The longer the shot is, the more difference the slope will make. Club up! 

A ball travelling downhill will fly further than a shot on level ground. The longer the shot is, the more difference the slope will make. Club down!