How to Use a Pinsheet in a Tournament Round
The short answer: A pinsheet (hole-location sheet) tells you where today’s cup is on each green — usually as front/middle/back, paces, depth, and a center mark. Use it to place that hole on your USGA greens guide’s 1-yard grid before you putt. A sheet that shows 9 or more holes on one page may be larger paper if each single green image still meets the 3/8 inch to 5 yards scale. Do not draw a recommended line from the ball, magnify one green past that scale, or treat a pre-round phone view of hole positions as a free oversized putt map.
This page is for the golfer in a counting round. It is not the facility product hub. Clubs that set pins and print sheets start at Hole locations and pinsheets and order through Facilities. College marking notes — what to write on yardage vs greens pages — stay on How to Mark a Yardage Book. How to turn slope percent into an aim you chose is still on How to Read a Green Book.
Jim Stracka invented the proprietary green-reading map in 2007. The same scan that prints in a StrackaLine greens guide is the green a facility uses in StrackaHoLo. The database is 31K+ courses; 13,000+ have full hyper-accurate green data. That is the map under both products — not a second invention story for pinsheets.
A pinsheet shows today’s hole locations. Transfer that point onto the USGA greens guide before you putt.
What a pinsheet is in play
In a tournament round, the pinsheet is the day’s hole locations for the field. It answers: where is the cup relative to the front, the middle, the back, the center, and the depth of this green — and how many paces is that from a known edge.
For years, many sheets were blank circle greens that did little once you reached the putting surface. A StrackaHoLo sheet can print a real view of the green plus surrounding bunkers and penalty areas. Staff choose how much detail goes on the print: slope, directional arrows, fall lines, front/middle/back, paces, depth, and a center mark. Formats include 18-up, 9-up with fold, and greenskeeper 2-up. Those options are on the facility hub; you do not need every layer to use the sheet legally.
A pinsheet is where the hole is. It is not a recommended line of play from your ball. That line is still your read — grid, percent, and aim — on the greens guide or a legal digital map. Rule 4.3 language is on What’s Legal? – USGA Rules and at usga.org/GRM.
How to read front / middle / back, paces, depth, and center
Read the sheet the way the committee printed it for that day.
- Front / middle / back places the cup along the depth of the green from the approach. A “front” hole is nearer the front edge; “back” is deeper. Middle is the band between.
- Paces are a distance from a labeled edge or reference on that green’s diagram. Count from the reference the sheet names — not from a sprinkler you prefer on the ground unless the sheet says so.
- Depth is how deep the hole sits from the front (or from the sheet’s stated edge). Pair it with left/right or a center offset when both are printed.
- Center mark is the sheet’s reference for left/right of center on that green image. Transfer both depth and left/right onto your book’s grid; one number alone is not the hole.
If the sheet also shows slope, arrows, or fall lines, those are the same proprietary surface language as the book. They still do not pick your start line. You pick the aim after you know where the hole is.
Transfer today’s hole onto the USGA greens guide
The pinsheet tells you the location. The book is what you putt from.
- Open the matching green in your USGA greens guide (4 1/4 × 7 inches; green images at no larger than 3/8 inch to 5 yards). StrackaLine currently only offers the USGA legal version.
- Find the hole on the pinsheet using front/middle/back, paces, depth, and center as printed.
- Place that same point on the book’s 1-yard / 5-yard grid. Handwrite the hole on the printed grid. That transfer is the same step described on How to Mark a Yardage Book.
- Read the putt from the book (or a legal digital map): slope in percent, fall line, aim you chose. Do not draw a recommended line of play from the ball on the sheet or in the book.
College and high school teams on the NCAA program get digital access for custom pin sheets with the StrackaBook package. Transfer those locations onto the printed grid the same way. Individual golfers order books through How to Order a Yardage Book; checkout is on StrackaLine.com, not on this site.
The Rule 4.3 size exception for 9+ hole sheets
Any book or paper with a putting-green map must not be larger than 4 1/4 × 7 inches — except a hole-location sheet that displays 9 or more holes on a single sheet may be larger paper, provided each single green image still meets the 3/8 inch to 5 yards scale limit.
That exception is for the pinsheet as a multi-hole location sheet. It is not a license to print one green oversized and use that enlargement to read the putt. No magnification of putting-green information is allowed other than prescription glasses or lenses. Handwritten notes, including a hand-drawn green, must live in a book or on paper that meets the size limit; hand-drawn images do not have to meet the scale limit. CAD output is not handwritten.
Printed and phone maps are both held to those limits. The paper-vs-phone comparison is Printed Green Book vs App.
What not to do
- Do not draw or follow a recommended line of play from the ball on the pinsheet, in the book, or on a phone map. Rule 4.3a(1) is explicit.
- Do not magnify one green past the scale limit — pinch-zoom, an 8½ × 11 single-green blowup used to read the putt, or taping an oversized single-green printout into the book for the line. The 9+ hole sheet exception still requires each green image to meet scale.
- Do not treat a pre-round phone view of hole positions as a free oversized putt map. Facilities can publish hole positions so players view them on a phone before the round. That view is for knowing where the cups are. On-course green reading is still a USGA greens guide or a legal digital map (Putt Line + GPS). StrackaHoLo is the facility tool that sets and publishes the hole — not a substitute greens guide with unlimited zoom.
If you need the club’s product path (set pins, print sheets, wholesale books), use Hole locations and pinsheets and Facilities. More guides sit on Resources.
College & high school packages How to order a yardage book
FAQ
What is a pinsheet in a tournament round?
A hole-location sheet for the day’s cups — typically front/middle/back, paces, depth, and center on each green. Use it to know where the hole is, then transfer that point onto your USGA greens guide.
Can a pinsheet be larger than a greens guide?
A hole-location sheet that displays 9 or more holes on one sheet may be larger than 4 1/4 × 7 inches, provided each single green image still meets the 3/8 inch to 5 yards scale. See What’s Legal? – USGA Rules.
Can I use an oversized single-green printout to read the putt?
No. The size exception is for a 9+ hole location sheet with each green still at legal scale. Magnifying one green to help read the line of play on the putting green breaches Rule 4.3.
Can I draw a recommended putting line on the pinsheet?
No. Rule 4.3 does not allow a recommended line of play based on the location of the ball.
The club sent hole positions to my phone before the round. Can I pinch-zoom that map to putt?
Viewing published hole positions before the round is fine. Using a device to enlarge the green past the scale/size limits, or to produce a recommended line from the ball, is not. On-course green reading stays on a legal greens guide or legal digital map. StrackaHoLo is the facility tool; Putt Line + GPS is the on-course app product.
Where do college teams get custom pin sheets?
The NCAA program StrackaBook package includes digital access for custom pin sheets. Transfer those holes onto the printed grid as on How to Mark a Yardage Book.
Is this the same page as StrackaHoLo for facilities?
No. Facilities set and print pins from Hole locations and pinsheets and start at Facilities. This page is how a golfer uses the sheet in a counting round.