Back in March of this year, Google made some substantial changes to the “Places of Interest” layer. While it certainly had some nice new features, the majority of you weren’t very happy with the changes.
A few days later, Google responded to your criticism and a few days after that they replaced most of the original layers.
However, one layer remained missing: Golf Courses. We wrote a blog entry back in June that showcased some alternatives, but none are as easy to use as the built-in layer. As announced in the Google Earth Help Forum earlier this week, the layer has finally returned!
You can access the layer by going to the “Layers” tab on the left side of your Google Earth screen, then choosing [More] –> [Parks/Recreation Areas] –> [Golf Courses].
I’m not sure why it took so long to restore this layer, but it should certainly make golfers happy. Any other major layers still missing, or have they covered all of the layers that you care about?
About Mickey Mellen
Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.
The Layer most notably lacking from previous versions is “Geographic Features”. It used to contain a large number of canyon names, creek names, and many, many other landform names when you zoomed in. Now it is just a shadow of itself. There are many forums out there where users are requesting that this be reinstated to its former state.
Who maintains this “Golf Course” layer and can public contributors help with maintenance? There are a lot of missing courses as well as many closed facilities. I would like to get involved for at least my area of the country/world!(Northeast Illinois)