USGA’s New Interpretation of Rule 4.3 Reaffirms Legality of StrackaLine Greens Guides

(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) - After a six-week period of review, the United States Golf Association’s new interpretation of Rule 4.3 (use of equipment) reaffirmed the legality of using StrackaLine’s industry leading greens guides during competitive and recreational play.

The USGA, in conjunction with the R&A, initially proposed severe restrictions on the type of information - both printed and written - that could be included in yardage books, but after consulting with players, coaches and stakeholders, a revised rule will go into effect January 1, 2019.

The new rule places limitations on the size of books and the scale size of the image of a green, but those limitations will have negligible impact on StrackaLine as the company was building its books within those specifications prior to the announcement of the rule.

The new rule won’t place any restrictions on information that relates to slope so long as the greens images fits within the scale and book size limitations. There will also be no limitations to the type of notes players and caddies are able to record in yardage books.

Golf’s governing bodies did prohibit the magnification of putting green information and providing players a recommended line of play based on hole location, but neither of those regulations impact StrackaLine’s standard greens guides.

“It’s a credit to the USGA and R&A to conduct a comprehensive review process that got input from all the stakeholders,” said Jim Stracka, president of StrackaLine. “We look forward to working with the USGA to make sure our customers are using compliant books for their events.”

StrackaLine’s quality and accuracy have led to widespread adoption on the PGA, LPGA, Symetra and Web.com tours, in addition to their use by more than 300 Division I college teams.

StrackaLine scans courses for $1,500 and that includes 100 greens guides for resale. The scanning process takes five hours to complete and is unobtrusive to the golfer experience.

StrackaLine now has 900+ courses scanned, including some of the nation's most prominent layouts. Use of the greens guides at the highest levels of the game has surged and the company now counts nearly every Division I golf program among its users.

The greens maps, which feature easy to read arrows, allow players to view contour and fall lines, in addition to slope percentage, anywhere on the green, all information that will continue to be legal.

Professional usage has helped drive interest in StrackaLine Greens Guides, and the technology is just as valuable to "regular" amateur golfers hoping to improve their score.

For golf course owners and operators, the technology can be used to improve pace of play and help ensure quality course conditions. StrackaLine offers hole location software that allows superintendents to utilize a proprietary algorithm to help set hole locations.

For more information on how to order a greens guide or have a course scanned, go to www.StrackaLine.com.