On most American courses the colored posts and plates beside the fairway mark 100, 150 and 200 yards to the center of the green: red for 100, white for 150, blue for 200. Some courses add a yellow, black or gold marker at 250. A few use different colors, and a few measure to the front edge instead of the middle. The card or the pro shop settles it in ten seconds, and it’s worth asking once, because a marker only tells you how far away the green is. It says nothing about how far you hit each club, and that half is on you: find your real club distances and the markers start earning their keep.
| Marker | Usual color | Distance (yd) | Usually measured to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post or plate | Red | 100 | Center of the green |
| Post or plate | White | 150 | Center of the green |
| Post or plate | Blue | 200 | Center of the green |
| Post or plate (less common) | Yellow, black or gold | 250 | Center of the green |
| Sprinkler head | Stamped or capped | Varies | Center, or three numbers (front, middle, back) |
| Tee sign | None | Hole length from that tee | Center of the green |
On this page
The colors: red 100, white 150, blue 200 (and the exceptions)
The three-color scheme is a convention, not a rule. Nothing in the Rules of Golf says a course has to mark yardage at all, and nothing says what color 150 is. The convention grew up because 150 yards was the distance most golfers wanted to know first. The USGA Green Section was writing about it in 1976, calling a marker 150 yards from the center of the green the standard that courses had settled on, and suggesting that a fairway sprinkler head could do the same job. Red, white and blue followed as courses added 100 and 200, and it stuck because it’s easy to read at a glance from a cart.
The exceptions you’ll actually meet:
- The single 150 marker. Older and simpler courses often have one white post, or a bush or a small tree, at 150 and nothing else. From anywhere else you pace or estimate.
- Different colors. Some courses match the markers to their tee colors or their branding. A green post might be 150 and a black plate might be 100. If the colors don’t look like red, white and blue, don’t assume.
- A 250 marker. Yellow, black or gold where it exists. Most courses don’t bother; the golfers who need a 250 number tend to carry a device.
- Front-edge courses. A minority measure to the front of the green. On a 30-yard-deep green that’s a 15-yard difference, or one and a half clubs, so it’s the first thing to check on a course you don’t know.
- Cart-path stakes. Markers on the path are measured from the path, which is not where your ball is. Treat them as a rough guide and pace from a plate instead.
What they measure: the center of the green, usually, and how to check
The reason “center” is the default is that it’s how the hole itself is measured. Under the course rating procedure the USGA and its allied golf associations use, each hole is measured horizontally from the permanent marker on each tee to the center of the green, along the line of play, with a bend point for doglegs. The Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association’s course-rating FAQ describes the same thing: monuments on the tee to the center of the green. So the number on the tee sign is to the center, and the markers along the way were laid out from the same point. When a marker disagrees with that, it’s the course’s choice, and they’ll usually tell you.
Three ways to check, from fastest to slowest:
- Read the scorecard. Many print a line like “distances are measured to the center of the green” or “sprinkler heads marked to the front.” Thirty seconds on the first tee.
- Ask the shop. The person behind the counter has answered it a thousand times.
- Walk it once. Stand on a 150 plate on a hole where you can see the front edge. If the front edge looks like about 135 and the back edge like 165, the marker is to the center. If the front edge looks like 150, it’s to the front. A GPS or a laser makes this a two-second check; a good eye makes it a one-hole check.
Front, center and back are three different numbers on the same green, and each has a job. The distance-to-the-green explainer covers what each is for; for markers, the working assumption is center until the card or the shop says otherwise.
Sprinkler heads: front, middle and back stamps
The most useful markers on the course are often at your feet. Sprinkler heads are spread along every fairway, and on a lot of courses the cap carries a number. The USGA Green Section’s 2019 piece on making yardage accessible encourages courses to do this and points out how cheap it is: a paint pen on the cap, or a custom cap that fits over the head. Its argument is fairness. A golfer who reaches the 150 plate has a number to glance at; a shorter hitter playing from 90 yards often doesn’t, and the piece argues that a golfer with a slower swing gets as much from a number inside 100 yards as a longer hitter gets from one at 170.
Reading the cap:
- One number. Usually the center of the green, and usually the same convention as the plates. Confirm on the card.
- Three numbers. Front, middle and back, in that order top to bottom or left to right on most tags, often labeled F, M and B. The middle one is the club-selection number; the other two tell you how much green you have to work with.
- A number and a letter. Some tags show one distance and mark which edge it’s to. F means front, and it means add half the green’s depth to get the center.
The catch is the same as with the plates: the head is where it is, and your ball is a few paces from it, so read it on the walk to the ball and adjust.
Fairway plates, tee signs and cart GPS
Plates and discs are the in-ground version of the posts, usually at 100, 150 and 200 and sometimes 250, set in the center of the fairway or at both edges. They’re mowed over and easy to miss from a cart, and they tend to stay put, which is more than you can say for a post that’s met a mower.
Tee signs give the hole’s length from each set of tees, to the center of the green, plus par and the stroke index. The number runs along the line of play, so on a dogleg it’s longer than a straight line from tee to green. Combined with a marker it gives you a sanity check on your driving: a 380-yard hole, a drive that ends four paces past the 150 plate, and you’ve hit it about 234.
Cart GPS screens show a map of the hole with distances to the front, the middle and the back, and often to bunkers and water. Two things to know. The distance is from the cart, not the ball, and on a cart-path-only day the cart is nowhere near the ball. And the screen is only as good as the map behind it. Walk to your ball, look back at the cart, and adjust.
Their limits: you’re never standing on one
Every marker has the same weakness: it marks a spot, and your ball isn’t on it. The 150 plate is 150 to the center. Your ball is eleven paces past it, at the far edge of the fairway, in the first cut. From there you have three corrections to make, and the marker helps with none of them.
- Forward or back. Eleven paces past the plate with a one-yard stride is 139, not 150. That’s a full club. This is the correction people skip when they’re in a hurry, and it’s the one that matters most.
- Sideways. A ball level with the plate but 30 yards across the fairway from it is about 3 yards farther from the green than the plate is, because it sits on the long side of a triangle. Small, but it only ever goes one way: sideways adds.
- Center versus flag. The marker is to the middle of the green. If the flag is on the back of a 32-yard-deep green, the flag is 16 yards past the number. Whether you should play to it is a separate question, and the answer is usually no: aiming at the center is the better play for most golfers on most holes, which is the quiet reason the center convention has lasted.
And then there’s the rough, the trees and the next fairway over, where there are no markers at all, and every blind or sidehill shot where you can’t see the plate from the ball. Markers were built for a golfer in the fairway. The rest of us need a way to get from the nearest marker to an actual number.
From marker to number: pacing, laser, GPS
Pacing is the free option: stand on the marker, walk to the ball, count. It works if your stride is a yard and the marker is close, and the pacing guide covers calibrating your step and, just as important, when not to bother. Walking 40 yards back to a plate while three people wait is how a four-hour round becomes a five-hour one.
A laser rangefinder gives you the distance to whatever you aim at, usually the flag, from wherever the ball is. It needs a clear line of sight and a steady hand, and it’s the right tool when you want the flag itself rather than the middle.
GPS gives you the distance to a mapped point on the green from wherever you’re standing, no line of sight needed, which is why it works on blind shots and from the trees. The GPS explainer covers how satellites turn into a number; the short version is that GPS.gov rates a GPS-enabled phone as typically accurate to within about 4.9 meters (16 feet) under open sky, worse under trees, and 16 feet is about 5 yards. Yardage is the simplest form of it: one number, the distance to the mapped center of the green, on your iPhone and on its Lock Screen. It’s the same convention the markers have used since the 1970s, without the walk. Under the Rules of Golf a device that measures distance is allowed unless the committee has adopted a Local Rule against it, so on most days it’s fine in your club event too; the rules guide has the details.
Questions
What do the colored posts on a golf course mean?
On most U.S. courses, red is 100 yards, white is 150 and blue is 200, measured to the center of the green. Some courses add yellow, black or gold at 250, and a few use their own colors. If the posts don't look like red, white and blue, check the card or ask the shop.
Are golf yardage markers measured to the front or the center of the green?
Usually the center. Holes are measured to the center of the green for course rating, and most courses lay out their markers from the same point. A minority mark to the front edge; on a 30-yard-deep green that's a 15-yard difference, so it's worth confirming once on a course you don't know.
What does the 150-yard marker mean?
It marks the spot that's 150 yards from the center of the green, usually a white post, plate or bush. It's the oldest and most common marker in American golf; the USGA Green Section described it as the standard reference point as far back as 1976. From the marker, you add or subtract the paces to your ball.
What do the numbers on sprinkler heads mean?
The distance from that sprinkler to the green. One number usually means the center. Three numbers mean front, middle and back, in that order. Some tags carry a letter, F, M or B, to say which edge the number is to. Read it on the way to your ball and adjust for the paces between.
Why is my GPS number different from the yardage marker?
Three usual reasons. You're not standing on the marker, so the plate says 150 and you're at 142. The marker and the GPS may be measured to different points, center versus front. And phone GPS carries a few yards of uncertainty, about 16 feet under open sky per GPS.gov. A difference of a few yards is normal; a difference of 15 means one of them is measured to a different edge.
Is there a yellow yardage marker in golf?
On some courses, yes: yellow, black or gold usually marks 250 yards to the center of the green. Most courses stop at 200 because few golfers need a fixed 250 number. If you see a fourth color, ask what it means rather than assuming.
Do courses use the same yardage marker colors?
Most American courses use red, white and blue for 100, 150 and 200, but there's no rule requiring it, and some courses use their own colors or match their tee markers. Treat the convention as a good guess and the card or the pro shop as the answer.
Sources
- USGA Green Section Record (January 1976): The 150-Yard Marker (Turfgrass Information Center archive)
- USGA: Handicap Manual, Section 12 Measurements
- Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association: Top 10 Questions about Course Rating
- USGA Green Section Record: Making Yardage Accessible For All
- GPS.gov: GPS Accuracy
- USGA: Use of Distance-Measuring Devices (Rule 4.3)