Over the course of the last year there has been a revolution on The European Tour. Leading players including Jordan Speith, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Andy Sullivan, Danny Willet and many others are turning to a new product which is fast becoming an essential part of a professional golfer’s toolkit – the Green Book.
The Green Book developed by the specialist design team at Clere Golf simply shows the detailed slope information in and around the greens to help players predict the roll of the ball towards the hole with speed and precision. Any tool that helps to eliminate misreads whilst aiding accurate shot decision making will always be a huge success on professional golf tours where one shot saved or lost can equate to a substantial amount in prize money.
At first glance the information may look complex, but once understood it makes the process of deciding on reads much faster…. reducing the need to spend time viewing the putt from every angle.
Since its launch in 2015, the Green Book’s reputation has been steadily growing and it is already becoming recognised as the world’s finest green reading tool. First launched at The Scottish Open in 2015 the book was used by Ricky Fowler, who went on to win the tournament, and it’s success since then on tours including The European Tour, The Ladies European Tour, The Asian Tour, The Ecco Tour and The Alps Tour has cemented its reputation.
Essentially, the Green Book provides very accurate slope information about putting greens and their immediate surrounding areas. It stands to reason that the better the information you have on the course the more accurate your planning and shot making will be. The Green Book enables players and caddies to plot the most effective route around the course and at the same time speed up green reading.
Furthermore, the Green Book works in synergy with players using percentage fall figures which are used for other Putting methods like AimPoint.
As Paul Homersham, the MD of Clere Golf explains, “The book is simply intended make green reading faster and more accurate.” He added “It’s been great forming working partnerships with other organisations who offer Yardage Book information to players on various tours like Dion Stevens (DSi) on the European Tour, Craig Scott on the Challenge Tour and Jeff Collington on the Ladies European Tour.”
Clere Golf have been determined to create the best product on the market and with this in mind, significant research into the subject and the latest technologies began. This research produced new software; the ClereGreenCreator, which is used exclusively by to produce the Green Book, which has also won industry awards for innovation.
The team at Clere Golf understood that a key part of producing an up to date, cutting edge Green Book was to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the data captured is of the highest quality. Major investment in the latest state of the art GPS and 3D Laser scanning equipment and employed skilled surveyors to carry out the information gathering on each site has also taken place further demonstrating the commitment to the long term future of The Green Book.
Clere Golf have already begun developing versions of their Green Book designed for every golfer, the first of which is being produced for Royal Dornoch who celebrate their 400th year anniversary in 2016 and are still clearly innovating and working hard to ensure the experience enjoyed by every golfer visiting Royal Dornoch is the best it can possibly be.
The scan information is also of huge value to courses for Course Managers and Greenkeepers preparing greens and setting pin positions.
For now it is safe to say that the success story of the Green Book has only just begun. With the golfing season now underway for 2016 it will be interesting to see how the Green Book shapes up and takes off.
Souvenir tournament style Green Books can be purchased at http://www.progreenbook.com/ however if you would like a Green Book developed for your club or resort contact the team at Clere Golf or register your interest here.