What Is the Length of a Pace (Golf Measurement)?

In golf, "paces" (or singular, pace) are sometimes used as measurements. If you are watching a golf tournament on television, for example, you might hear a commentator say that "the hole is cut just four paces from the left edge of the green." But what, exactly is a pace? Just how long are golf paces?

The measurement golfers call a pace is one yard in length in its modern uses. When you hear a TV commentator refer to paces, they are talking about yards.

So a golf pace measures out this way:

• 1 pace = 1 yard
• 1 pace = 3 feet
• 1 pace = 36 inches

When you hear a broadcaster report that the hole is cut four paces from the left edge, that means the hole is four yards, or 12 feet, from the left edge.

What about in countries where golf courses are measured in meters instead of yards? The term "paces," as a measurement of distance, isn't really used much in those R&A-governed, metric-system-using parts of the golf world. (The term "pace" can also refer to the speed at which a golf ball rolls on a green; and to the speed at which a golfer plays her way around the course. Those uses are universal in the golf world.)

And in the USGA-governed parts of the golf world, pace, as a measurement, is most-commonly heard today on golf broadcasts. Before the advent of rangefinders and golf GPS devices (affiliate links, commissions earned) — going back even farther, before the common usage of yardage books — "stepping off" or "walking off" paces was one of the primary ways golfers and their caddies measured distances. How far is this putt? Walk from your ball to the cup, making your stride as close to a yard long as you can. It was obviously an inexact science.

Today, the advances in tech devices designed for golfers (plus the availability of high-quality yardage books and of markers placed around the golf course) render the golf measurement called the pace a fading bit of knowledge.

The definition of the length of a pace is not included anywhere in the Rules of Golf or interpretations of the rules, although in the R&A/USGA recommendations on running a competition the governing bodies do say that "it is recommended that generally the hole be positioned at least four paces from any edge of the green."

Many hole-location sheets, however, are still marked in paces. The tournament officials and golf course personnel who measure out those paces work at getting their strides consistently to one yard in length.

The continued use by some golfers today of "pace" is nothing more than tradition. And the folks who make those pin sheets and who provide the commentary on tournament broadcasts would probably confuse fewer people if they stopped using "pace" and stuck to yards.

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