Eric Hester, right, head golf professional at Nob North Golf in Varnell, Ga., checks his back swing near the No. 4 green.Tully Johnson used an old-fashioned yardage book to take his measurements at Nob North Golf Course.
As he kept playing there over the years, he began keeping the book in his pocket and gauging yards from certain trees on the course.
“I play up here all the time, so I have certain marks and visualize it,” said Johnson, now 62, whose name is on a plaque in the clubhouse.
He seemed hesitant when the public course rolled out a new feature earlier this year — a global positioning system system in every cart without an additional fee — to help Johnson and all golfers get precise yardage measurements from teeing grounds, fairways and almost any spot on the course, woods and weeds included.
“I look at that and then compare it to my local knowledge,” Johnson said. “It provides accurate distances and it’s a positive thing because it tells you the division of the greens and the exact location of the pins.”