A visual distance marker for a golf course fairway which provides viewable indicia of distance along the fairway such as from a tee. The device includes an elongated resilient maker strip having its lower end secured inside a tubular anchor portion. When the anchor portion is embedded or buried in the ground, the marker strip is supported in an upright orientation extending above the ground but is loosely secured inside the tubular anchor portion so that the marker strip can be rotated about its longitudinal axis through a small acute angle. The marker strip is thin and sufficiently resilient in one plane so as to be deflected and bent over against the ground as a reel-type lawn mower approaches and passes thereover, thus eliminating the need for removing and replacing the device during normal mowing operations.