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putting from the fringe

• longball2006 60 Posts

  Sat, May 1 2010 6:47 PM

  Fringe, not fairway, not rough...This just happened to me on #10 BP. 18 ft, hole is 9 in below me. I have approximately a foot to cover before being on the green. I choose 30 ft range, and maybe hit it 1/6th strength. It went 2 INCHES...TWICE! Sorry, but that really needs to be fixed. It is fringe, not velcro.

• Doublemochaman 2,009 Posts

  Sat, May 1 2010 6:58 PM

  Like it or not, other than your putter, all clubs need to be struck about 55% or more to be effective.

• longball2006 60 Posts

  Sat, May 1 2010 7:01 PM

  I would consider it constructive criticism in able to make the game more realistic.

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Sun, May 2 2010 7:10 AM

  longball2006:

  Sorry, but that really needs to be fixed.

  Nope, I disagree.  I think you severely miscalculated how hard to hit the putt.  1/6th of 30ft range would be ~5ft of power?  You needed to hit it @ 9 to 10 ft of power.

  Here's how I calculate it.  Many months ago there was a tip posted on the forums to add 3FT of power to the putt when putting from the fringe.  No matter if you're an inch on the fringe or 2 ft on the fringe.  Add 3 ft to the putt.  I've used that tip successfully ever since.

  To demonstrate, I hit a shot to #10, with the back pin, to a spot I think is pretty close to where you were.

  

  I would calculate the power like this

  19 ft - 10(for downhill) +3(for the fringe) = 12 x .8(for very fast greens) = 9.6 ft of power

  I hit this putt with about 10 ft of power and it ended a foot past the cup.

  

  As you can see, I'm not a great putter.  But I think I judge the speeds pretty well.

  In this case I added about 15% to the length of the original putt because of the fringe.    Its not velcro, but there is a threshold of power that needs to be crossed to get off the fringe.  Its somewhere between 5 and 9 ft of power.

  So if you are on the fringe, add 3 ft to the length of the putt and calculate normally from there.

• longball2006 60 Posts

  Sun, May 2 2010 4:24 PM

  Andy, I see where you are coming from, but I believe the calculation would be higher, considering a putt on a flat, very fast green will often roll up to 20% more. At absolute worst, the putt should have at least reached the putting surface. Even at 1/6th strength on a surface shorter than fairway length (often 3/8" for Tour events, which I believe this course should be emulating...ie. US Open). A putt on very fast greens, let's say 11 on the stimp for argument's sake, and fairway length as noted...A similar putt that travels 6 feet on flat surface will travel approximately 1.5 feet on fairway length, based on the fact that the first 3-4 inches of the putt is airborne. I feel justified in my stance. Golf isn't all about numbers and mechanics, you know. :)

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Mon, May 3 2010 8:48 AM

  What your saying, if I understand correctly, is putts on the fringe behave more like putts on the fairway and they should behave more like putts on the green.

  Maybe its because I've never putted under US Open conditions IRL, but I don't think its unrealistic to hit a putt from the fringe with the power to go 16' on a very fast green and it goes 12 feet.  In other words, the 3 feet of fringe sucked up 4 feet of length.  BTW I did this on BP #11, right side pin, flat putt from the fringe right of the pin.

  The fact that one needs to hit the putt with a minimum of about 8' ft of power just to get off the fringe doesn't bother me too much since its always going to be about 15' to any flag from the fringe.

  Found these two videos of putts getting airborne and thought you'd find them interesting.

  This putt is airborne about 12 inches.

  This putt is airborne about 4 inches.

   

• molideha 213 Posts

  Mon, May 3 2010 10:08 AM

  molideha:

  putting 101;

  tip #1; the break in the last 5' of a putt is most important...for example a 20' putt that is a double breaker...slightly left breaking off the club with a slightly right break near the cup...focus on the break right at the cup....the speed of the ball off the putter will not allow the early break to alter the direction of the ball

  tip#2; uphill putts break less than downhill putts...again, the speed of the ball on an uphill putt will negate much of the break until the ball slows near the cup....conversely, a downhill putt will roll slowly and be nearly doubly affected by the break.

  tip #3; many players tend to not play enough break...if you tend to not ding your putts, intentionally miss the ding to the side that will help keep your ball rolling on the high side of the cup. (the old "never up, never in"

  tip#4; remember to adjust for uphill and downhill when determining the power to apply.

  tip#5; remember to check your max distance selector...learn to use the same distance selector for all putts within a given range...for example you might want to use the 45' setting for all putts less than 45'...this offers an advantage of repetition and familiarity.

  tip#6; add 3' when putting from the fringe...it doesn't matter if the beautiful HD picture shows you 1" or 2' into the fringe...just add 3'.

  tip#7; always click the reverse view...if the 2 views tell you the same break, fine...if not, play (line for) a compromise between the 2 views.

  gl

  I just wish my wife listened to me as much as some folks on the WGT forums.

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Mon, May 3 2010 10:12 AM

  That was it!!  Thanks molideha!!

• longball2006 60 Posts

  Mon, May 3 2010 2:12 PM

  lol...I did not read the tips. Hitting a golf ball in a video game is really not that difficult. I am trying to improve the hard way. Again...my comment is a piece of constructive criticism aimed toward making the game "more better" than it already is...It is already the most realistic in terms of frustration.

• dorkfeatures 712 Posts

  Mon, May 3 2010 6:37 PM

  Hi longball,

  Andyson is spot on with his comments.

  You totally miscalculated the strength of that putt - thats the bottom line.

  Also, dont forget the wind effect. Some people will disagree with this, but from my experience - if you have a 25 mph wind into the putt, add around about 2% to the power of the putt. It does make a difference.

  Always aim for your putts to end up 2 - 3ft past the pin, that way even on a mishit they will sometimes drop. Has happened to me many times.

  You know what they say - never up - never in !!

  Good luck

  Cheers Doug