Formula For Determining Distance

No such formula exists.. too many vairables.

Maybe you could work it out if you were playing on the moon.

A golf ball doesn't fly like a simple balistic object, the club is designed to impart back spin, and the average golfer is designed to impart slice.

Is this fun or homework?

The simplistic answer would be to conside the situation in plan view assuming the flight of the ball will then appear as a straight line, let the deviation from the hole be ' d '

d/150=tan1.5^o
therefore d=150xtan1.5^o

d is in yards of course...

and here is the 'r' I missed of the end of the word 'consider'

Was aim off 1.5 degrees on the z or y? Maybe Air resistance should be incorporated in the calculation? I am sure they have generated enough aerodynamics data on golf balls by now.

Hi Del.

Then there is wind speed and direction to contend with?

Myself I shoot a hunting rifle of calibre . 287, when I am shooting at a target 250 yards away I have to adjust my sights according to the wind! The projectile travels at 1,203 ft per sec, and if the wind is coming from the side, depending on it's speed I have to adjust my sights accordingly or I will miss the target. There has been times when a sudden gust of wind will put me out by 2ins!

Spencer.

If your distance was perfect and you were off by 1.5 degrees, your ball would be 3.93 yards from the hole (11.8 feet). Your error would increase if your distance was either short or long.

The formula you want is x = y*tan(angle)

or x = 150 tan(1.5) = 3.93 yds = 11.78 ft.

Sinking a 12 foot putt is not a sure thing. I've seen Tiger miss a few.

The 'tan' approximation is OK for small angles. As the angle gets bigger, a more accurate value is given by:

x = 2d.sin(a/2)

where

• x = distance from pin to ball
• d = distance from tee to pin
• a = 'off aim' angle.

(This assumes that, by 'level with the pin', you mean that you hit exactly the right distance.)

I reckon the error is about 0.026% @ 1.5° (tan vs sin) - like it really matters ?.

I certainly don't think it matters...............if I could get to within 3,927yards of a hole after a 150 yard drive I would be ecstatic..........as Del said it is natural for most golfers to slice. I remember one horror day when I finished two fairways over........just a bit of a slice.

Hello JohnDG,

I assume a ball to be "level with the pin" if it lies on a line at 90 degrees to the fairway and is pin high. In that case, the tangent is the correct function to use. Maybe we should ask SparkY. He plays a bit of golf...has a beautiful bag, great equipment, but he takes forever to address the ball.

I make it 5.73 yards

11.78 feet is the answer you're looking for, but if you're really playing golf, you can throw 11.78 feet out the window . . .

The way some answers appear - I'm surprised no one has asked if he was using a Titleist or MaxFli golf ball.

Draw a triangle with your tee the narrow tip and the hole at the corner of the right triangle. The short side of the triangle is "X" your unknown distance from the pin. The distance from the pin is "y" which you know to be 150 Yards. This is a right triangle per your desrcription. You known all the angles 90, 1.5, and 88.5 degrees. Solution: Tangent of 1.5 degrees = side opposite(unknown) Divided by side adjacent(150)

.02618 = X / 150 or X = .02618 x 150 or X = 3.927 yards

Hope you can putt! It's an easy birdie!