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Change the Putting Formula

• nivlac 2,188 Posts

  Fri, Mar 27 2009 4:51 PM

  OK, I'm kinda upset.  Two issues here and this is really getting ridiculous.  I'm tired of playing roulette on the greens.  I'm tired of seeing my perfectly struck 6 footers being randomly pushed and pulled (up to 20 degrees) offline for no other reason than the game chose a random number that didn't equal straight.  There is no excuse for flat putts with no break to miss the entire hole.

  I asked for the precision variance to be removed from the putting surface because it has no place.  Instead of removing it, you ADD wind.  Are you serious?  Wind on the green?  Really?  I've played in 30+mph winds that didn't affect my putt direction.  Why have you done this?

  A week ago you're telling us to virtually ignore a 5 mph wind because it doesn't have much effect on the ball when it's a few hundred feet in the air.  Now what I see are putts that are moving AGAINST the break because the 6mph crosswind is blowing them offline at ground level.   Do not misunderstand me.  I know when the game throws a precision variance at me.  This is NOT that.  I have watched putts actually curl INTO the break on more than one occasion.  I have missed more 5-7 footers in the last week than I have in the entire BETA period.  Did I all of the sudden become a horrible putter?  I seriously doubt it.

  So I ask you WGT, how much more of this game is going to be based on "luck of the draw"?  I've been one of your biggest proponents since you started the Charity Skills competition, so realize I'm not just some hot head who had a bad round. This is a serious issue for me and probably a lot of other players as well.

  To call this "the most realistic golf game" while allowing putts to be thrown offline by random chance is an abomination to the game.  It's a shame when the only difference between 66 and 63 is nothing more than "luck of the draw".  Luck of the draw is now deciding who is winning tournaments and prizes versus who's stuck in 4th and 5th.  That's computer generated BS.  I'm not going to be happy until my perfectly struck putts travel down the line I aimed them 100% of the time. 

  No matter how good this game looks or how many courses you license.  No matter how many modes of play it has, it will only add up to one word if you continue to allow this variation on the greens. That word is farce.

  I will not spend money on chance.  I can go to Pokerstars for that.

  Put the SKILL back into the skill game, please.

• tibbets 1,043 Posts

  Fri, Mar 27 2009 5:03 PM

   I definitely feel the same frustrations at times, and have highlighted all the same points as above.  I've also missed a ton of 3-7 footers in the last week that I just don't miss otherwise.  Like you said, our skill level hasn't decreased, the variance has increased.

  I was looking at the putter characteristics in the chart, and noticed the category called 'Balance'.  I can only surmise that since the Balance rating on this putter is 1/10 in concert with the 2/10 Precision rating, we get these crazy deviations that sometimes defy the laws of gravity and physics.  I'll be interested to see how future putters availed to us will cut into these deviations.

  Until then, I'm sorry we all have to deal with this deviation.  It really does add greatly to the frustration factor.  The putting may not be 'the most realistic' at this point, but I tell ya, the frustration level certainly rivals the real thing!

• nivlac 2,188 Posts

  Fri, Mar 27 2009 5:12 PM

  tibbets: the frustration level certainly rivals the real thing!

  You got that right. :(  I had a round earlier today that I missed 4 or 5 birds thanks to this nonsense.  They were read right and struck right but it didn't matter. Had that been a tournament round it would've been a complete waste of money.  Not because I did anything wrong, but because the game just decided so.  No way I'm spending hard earned credits for that.

   

   

• superterps2 5 Posts

  Fri, Mar 27 2009 5:32 PM

  Yes, i agree and would appreciate if my perfectly straight shot go perfectly straight and not a few INCHES either way.

• nivlac 2,188 Posts

  Fri, Mar 27 2009 5:53 PM

  I could just be confused but I'm not talking about regular shots.  Wood/Iron shots are fine the way they are. Precision variance works and makes sense.  You aim to a circle, not to an exact point.  I'm totally fine with that.

  My problem is that I cannot even get a chance to make up for the precision variance in the approaches if the putting is going to do the exact same thing.  It comes down to getting lucky and nothing more.  I feel like my end-result has been ripped out of my hands and has been replaced instead by a coded decision that may or may not work in my favor.

   

• badaboom 238 Posts

  Fri, Mar 27 2009 6:44 PM

   Agree totally with you guys. I have been able to hit it perfect on drives and irons in which the swing meter moves faster than trying to hit it perfect on putting which is a slower meter. For slight mishits the results are terrible. Then to have to try to figure in wind direction and speed has become a crap shoot. I agree that speed of greens should increase but not the variances that have been put into effect. I have better luck with longer putts than I do with the 4-6 footers. Love the direction your going on everything else but the putting!

• jbowles824 67 Posts

  Fri, Mar 27 2009 7:21 PM

   I have had a hard time putting. It is not so much distance but the break that gets me in trouble. I have had plenty of putts that I mishit or misread that should have missed and I know it that ended up turning and went in the hole. So while your putting has turned good putts into bad, my bad putts are turning into good ones.

  One mans trash is another mans treasure.

• Thetruth67 158 Posts

  Mon, Mar 30 2009 7:59 AM

   I have to agree.  Unfortunately, I just played in the weekly tourney and scored a -1.  I missed 3 birdies that were 10 feet or less and all of them broke the opposite direction of the indicated break..

• AvatarLee 1,644 Posts

  Mon, Mar 30 2009 9:02 AM

  I am right there with you guys (Niv and Tib) the frustration is mounting here too.  I just played an entire 18 holes WITHOUT the aid of the putting grid, just going by wind and memory.... not a single 3 putt... but more importantly I lipped out 7 times!!! If I were to use the grid I would surely miscalculate and miss more.  Why on earth does the wind have sooo much affect on the putt?!?!  Oh and for the record, I shot a -8!

• WGTalex 2,087 Posts

  Mon, Mar 30 2009 10:27 AM

  We will have a look into this. Thanks for the feedback.