Area Selection

Before you can draw a hole, Parkdly needs to know where on Earth your course is. Selecting an area sets the map bounds the course editor will work with -- the satellite imagery and background terrain all come from this step.

Choose an area that comfortably contains your whole course with some margin around the edges. You can adjust it later, but starting with the right area saves the hassle of re-anchoring holes if the course grows beyond the initial bounds.

Already have the tee and target coordinates for every hole? You can skip drawing the area by hand and let Parkdly derive it for you — see Build the area from hole coordinates below.

Finding your course location

When you open area selection for the first time, a dialog prompts you to locate your course. You can:

  • Search by city, address, or place — including nearby landmarks such as parks, sports fields, and schools, which is useful when the course has no street address
  • Paste coordinates, a Plus Code, or a map link — type a lat, lng pair (e.g. 61.5, 23.76), a Google Plus Code (e.g. 849VCWC8+R9), or paste a Google Maps, Apple Maps, or OpenStreetMap link to jump straight to that exact spot
  • Use my current location to jump straight to where you are
  • Browse the map manually by closing the dialog

If you have other courses in the same project, their locations are shown as markers on the map for quick reference.

Selecting the area

A selection frame is shown in the center of the map. Pan and zoom the map until your course fits inside the frame.

  • Keep the area as tight as possible -- a smaller selection gives better satellite detail
  • The area dimensions are shown at the bottom of the frame (e.g. "500 m x 334 m")
  • The Satellite detail indicator shows the expected image quality -- green is best, orange means the area may be too large for sharp detail
  • If the area is too small or too large, a warning appears at the top of the frame

When the frame covers your course, click Select area.

What happens after you select

Parkdly downloads two things:

  1. Satellite image -- the aerial photo that forms the base of your canvas
  2. Terrain elements -- roads, buildings, forests, water, paths, and other features imported from OpenStreetMap

This may take a moment depending on the size and density of the area. A loading dialog keeps you updated while the download is in progress.

Once complete, you are taken to the Canvas where you can start designing your course.

Tip: All background elements can be edited directly in Parkdly. If terrain data is missing or outdated at the source, you can update it on OpenStreetMap and reselect the area to pull in the changes. Parkdly uses a weekly snapshot of OpenStreetMap, so wait about a week after editing before reselecting — until the next snapshot is cut, reselecting will show the same data.

Build the area from hole coordinates

If you already have the Tee and Target coordinates for every Hole — from a GPS app, a spreadsheet, or another mapping tool — you can skip drawing the area by hand and let Parkdly derive it from your coordinates instead.

Open Build from coordinates in the Course Builder. It's offered as a choice alongside Select map area when a course has no area yet, and also appears as Build from tee and target coordinates in the Where is your course? dialog.

In the Build course by hole coordinates panel:

  • Enter each hole's Tee and Target as a lat, lng pair in decimal degrees (e.g. 61.5, 23.76), one per field. A new row appears as you complete each hole.
  • A live preview builds beside the grid as you type, with the map background fading in behind your holes once it loads.
  • Anything that can't be read as a coordinate, a hole sitting far from the rest, or a hole that's implausibly long is highlighted so you can fix or remove it. The remaining holes still preview.

When everything looks right, click Create course with N holes. Parkdly then:

  1. Derives a map area that comfortably contains every hole.
  2. Downloads the satellite image and terrain elements for that area — the same data as a manual area selection.
  3. Creates each Hole with its Tee, Target, and a default Tee Sign.
  4. Takes you to the Canvas to keep designing.

You can fine-tune fairway shapes and hole positions on the Canvas afterwards.

Tip: Coordinates in a different format? Use Format with AI to copy a ready-made prompt, paste your hole list into any AI assistant, and paste the result back with Load holes. The expected format is one line per hole: teeLat, teeLng | targetLat, targetLng.

Reselecting the area

You can reselect the area at any time from the course navigation. This replaces the satellite image and terrain elements but keeps your holes, objects, and other course data intact.

PreviousProjects
NextLayouts