HenrikLindhardt:
... Shots are deliberately made shorter than they actually are shot if there is a bunker or water in front, so it is impossible to avoid getting in the bunker or water.
This is my first post.
I just started recently and am at Pro level using starter equipment. I understand from this thread and others that things get better when you upgrade your eq, but I'm still not ready to invest money into getting credits, and surveys haven't been working for me, so for now, it's starter eq.
Hopefully the lynch mob is finished with Henrik and have moved on, giving me a chance to squeeze in a word to say that I have to concur with his opinion about bunkers or water dramatically reducing distance. From my observations, I would add fescue and deep rough to that when hitting off the tee on certain holes/courses as well.
I found hitting over the bunker complex in front of Kiawah's 2nd hole would result in my shot being consistently short and into the bunker like a magnet. I tried different approaches, clubs, swings, etc., with similar result (and mumbling).
I played a round today on St. George's (my first on that course). I dinged a drive that I expected to reach over 200 yards to my intended target, but half way there - that's 100 yards - the ball dropped into a bunker like a pheasant that some hunter just shot down.
Thanks to lonniescott711 and his post about vem/deviation, I had my "aha" moment, so I read up a bit on it and am now aware that it exists and why (sort of). I have already adjusted my playing by viewing those problem areas as "no fly zones" and taking a different route instead when possible. For now, it's better to potentially have one extra stroke by going out of my way, than to stress out with the problem area and end up with a few more strokes. In normal conditions, I seem to get out of bunkers well enough after landing in them by my own errors, but when my ball gets sucked into them, for some reason, the follow-up shots result in two or three 0-3 yard hits out of the bunker, then the rough/fringe, etc.
It's a game, and I understand that you have to practice in order to play better (like anything), but I'm also learning that we need to understand the AI and how to work with or around it to get where you need to go, which we don't have to deal with on a real course.
But knowing about vem/deviation or not, we still can't blame someone for being frustrated about it, whether they've been playing for a week or a couple of years. If Henrik didn't express his frustrations, lonniescott711 wouldn't have responded, and then maybe I wouldn't have known about vem/deviation for some time or not at all. So, thanks to both of them.
Cheers!