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LordEmery had a thread about 'Measuring out your tee shots'; which sort-of ties in with what I wanted to post:

I know the (my) range's markers well, and I know my handful of courses well - at least I thought so. It was more out of interest that I descended upon inter alia my home driving range, home club and another 'favourite' course from the vantage point of Google Earth.
Then I started playing 'round with the distance/measuring tool (a ruler icon) that can do miles, yards, meters, kilometers etc ('calibratable' to suit the/your relevant altitude) with seemingly pretty good accuracy (heck, I don't own a GPS, so this was nearest next-best-bet) and found that on the courses my distances were not quite what I thought they were. (OK, there is a serious lack of distance posting (boards) around both courses, and the hole distances [at the tees] are the same - and on the same boards - as in 1652 when they were put up.)

Point is I could look down on a hole from about <300 - 500 meters up, compensate for the forward- or aft-shifted tee markers, fairway placements & flag positions, and place my ball/drive/shot to a point where I know I've driven/clubbed it. I'd say you cannot have an accuracy error of more than 5 to (at most) 10 yards* from that height. (You can of course take view from any altitude, though things do get a bit fuzzy from 3'000 miles up )
Keep in mind that you'll have to mentally compensate/account for lofted tees, downhills, inclines etc; but if anything it's cool to see your course(s) from the air. First thing I said to the wife was: "Here's to where I drove that ball on the 3-rd, and that $%^@ Andre drove it to here (pointing aggressively, spitting, hissing... )", or "... and here's where ol' Werner shocked himself on the electric (hot-shot) fence..." etc.

I think next time I might just print a pic of the course and plot my play as I plod, and whoever I'm playing against - just for reference during the week.

PS: For those who don't know, Google Earth is a fantastic freeware program and a great all-round tool which can keep you busy for hours... hope I haven't bored too many GRs with 'old hat'.

*PSPS: GE does not seem to account for relevant ground elevation - readings are at mean sea-level. For us at the coast it's OK, but for accurate inland readings you might want to verify/calibrate it using a known measure (length of a street, local football field etc.)

Interesting. I use Google Earth, and it never occurred to me to do that.

I also use Google Earth and have looked at my home course... but I never thought to use it like that. I will have to check with my wife who has Google Earth Professional Version... I understand it is much better, but pricey.

Yeah, my home course was taken in the winter and it was summer when I was looking at it... I doubt they lengthened the holes since then though, so it should still work...

I have used Google Earth, and I used it to find waypoints when we'd take a trip, and then insert them into my Garmin GPS. They are pretty accurate! I dunno if I'd go telling everyone I hit a 325 yard drive from their measurements though! Cool program!

The one for mine was far older than that...and you couldn't get in very close either. Not to mention, I had odd cases of spyware during its use but when I removed it from my computer, they simply went away. I liked the program, but it was too risky for me to keep using.

You should try logging on again. Last week I was auto-prompted to download the/an upgraded version/variant/add-on which was about 20 or 30 megs or so (I think). Didn't seem much different where I normally navigate around, but with such a big access system & database it would be worth having another look anyways.

I love google earth!! I used it a couple times though ill try out the course thing.

I have noticed that there are differing levels of resolution on the photography. Where I live in Northwest Arkansas, our photos are very detailed. You can even see our delivery truck sitting in my stores parking lot. But, my hometown in eastern Arkansas is very low resolution photos and you cannot see any detail. It is best viewed from several hundred miles up.