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As Promised... More Starter Club Tests

• donsprintr 2,063 Posts

  Wed, Feb 12 2014 4:31 PM

  RonCarr:

  That was fun ,and  awful,  at the same time..After the torture of the starter wedges,then the ice covered greens..lol.. Thanks for the set up.. RonCarr. :)

  ditto

  Highlight of my rounds was this holed shot from the fairway on the "normal" round...

  replay.aspx?ID=7f33917b 8be5 4e47 9dff a2d100159353

  Balls used: Nike lvl 85

  Uneven:45

  Crazy Green:42

  Normal:41

  Thanks for some fun tourneys Shoe...

• WigerToods2010 8,447 Posts

  Wed, Feb 12 2014 4:46 PM

  Consistant if nothing else....

  Olympic Front 9 UL's      41

  Olympic Front 9 Craziness   41

  Olympic Front 9 Normal    41

   

  123 total por moi. 

  Highlight of the 3 rounds was this putt in the 'Craziness' event - payback ensued on the very next green though..lol

  Actually, come to think about it, I reckon the real highlight was seeing the  #9 in the top right corner of the screen when teeing off at the last hole in each round. 

  I honestly never expected barely making the start of a f/w from the tee would  have me fist punching the air as if I'd just hit a double eagle!

  Used Cally Hex(Lvl33) balls.

  Thanks for hosting, Shoe.

  Cheers.

• CerinoDevoti 3,232 Posts

  Thu, Feb 13 2014 9:15 AM

  Corwyn:

  Oh you're too kind Cerino (or perhaps trying to add some extra pressure, lol!).

  I'm sure I'll be very rusty with the starters, but yes, I'm very excited to give these tourneys a go. 

  It's great to get these descriptions from everyone, and helpful to know which balls were used too. What did you play with Cerino?

  And huge kudos to Jerm on those stunning scores. Very impressive!

  I had a quick look back at our Tough-It-Out experiences at Olympic (those conditions were certainly easier, as we played both times from the Red (Easy) tees with less wind, but we were playing all starter clubs and balls, and with uneven lies, and under the clock with 90 second timer with partners). Round descriptions for TIO III start at this page if anyone's interested.

  In TIO II, Hans managed an extraordinary -3 for the front 9 (see this page) and went on to be our only player under par at Olympic (but again, it was from the Easy tees).

  Hey Corwyn,

  You could use some more pressure. You make it look pretty easy otherwise. ;)

  I used the 49 credit WGT GB's, the same ones I use with my L10 Golden Clubs. . Don't remember what they call it. I'm a little surprised at how many players used such high quality GB's. Me thinks it was a little overkill to use L81 balls with starter clubs. Half the fun was in using the low level stuff. Wish the starter rock was mandatory as well.

  GL Corwyn even though you don't really need it. :)))

  ~CD~

• Corwyn 2,410 Posts

  Thu, Feb 13 2014 9:34 AM

  Thanks Cerino!

  Well, I played the 'easy' one (lol) last night, going hardcore with the starter ball. 

  I sure had forgotten all about the run-on with starter wedges though, and couldn't get my distances right, and realized that I'd lost the feel for dinging that unforgiving starter putter. I dropped a couple of shots on easy putts that way, and also lost one making the same mistake Wiger did, forgetting it was a 30ft scale meter. 

  All in all, pretty pleased to come away with a 39. (And I did birdie #7 after getting a punched approach to run up and over the ridge).

  Looking forward to tackling the harder ones tonight!

  Corwyn

• 1,866 Posts

  Thu, Feb 13 2014 2:06 PM

  41 in the UEL

  47 in the crazy greens (max shots on #3. I drove the green and 8 putted, lol. The scale on the starter putter killed me there)

  38 in the normal one

  All 3 were played with the cheapest Srixons.

  My average has risen by almost 5 strokes since the new year on account of Icons tourneys and these 3. On the bright side, I might get some more MPC action from now on ;-)

  But I loved every one of these tourneys and I hope there are plenty more to come. Thank you very much, Icon and Shoe, for making this game even more exciting.

  Cheers,

  Matt

• Corwyn 2,410 Posts

  Thu, Feb 13 2014 11:28 PM

  Corwyn:

  Looking forward to tackling the harder ones tonight!

  Oh boo, Shoe! 

  The Crazy greens one closed already, and it ain't midnight yet!

  WGTdbloshoe:

  Tournament is from today through the 13th.

  Could you perhaps be more specific in the future about the precise closing time? I expected it to go to midnight WGT time as that had been the cut-off point for the other recent experimental ones. 

  Maybe it works as 24/48/72 hrs from the exact time the tourney is created... ? If so, can that be noted in the forum post or somewhere we can find it? Thanks!

  I'm really disappointed not to get a chance to play Oly f9 in crazy speed starters. Ah well! My own fault really for leaving it till last minute. I've just been so busy with the UEL Ryder Cup.

  ... Edit: also, getting over the disappointment, I just want to say these tourneys are FANTASTIC, and really force us to think about the courses in a whole new way! Thank you so much for setting them up. And I'd echo others who've said let's make the type of ball required as well, so we're all on the same playing field.

  For a number of months now, I've been considering plans for a Tough-It-Out From the Tips tourney, which I had thought would be a Best-Ball Pairs tournament, so that players would have some support while tackling the full set of 8 (or 10) courses in rotation using starters only with uneven lies from the back tees. I reckoned that it would be great going for a Best-Ball pair to manage +35-40. 

  Perhaps, Shoe, now that you have this capability, we could talk about doing a multi-round event like this (or as a mini-tour) but done single-player, with single-play 18 hole rounds?

  Any interest in these ideas?

  ---------------------

  I did start off tonight with the UEL Starters version, and did very well, despite bogeying the first two with lip-out putts (both of which were further away than the wedges should have left me from those distances). 

  I parred in after that for a +2 36, with a series of great saves e.g. 13ft on #3 when full headwind off tee led me to lay up - yes, lay up on a par 3! - to leave 2nd closer to 50 yards than the impossible flop distance one would have otherwise. Still couldn't get closer than 13ft after landing on the downslope but made the putt for par. After two more nice saves from 6ft and 10ft on 4 and 5, two shots into the wind on 6 still left me with downhill lie and very tricky 3rd that I could only get to 20ft, but then nailed the putt. On 7 I just failed to get over the ridge with a trademark punch run-up and had to settle for par, while on 8 I just misread the only real birdie chance of the round, an uphill 20 footer.

  Card and stats here.

  (Oh, and I decided to try a ball I had lying around in my bag, so I went with a WGT Tour GI-SD, so it wasn't truly hardcore this time!)

• CerinoDevoti 3,232 Posts

  Fri, Feb 14 2014 6:50 AM

  Hey Corwyn,

  Great play in the UEL(leader) as no surprise to me. Only 1 stroke higher than the "Normal" Tourney leader is amazing display of the UEL skills. Great summery as well. I have a very good idea of the shots you described.

  When we first talked about the Tough It Out from the Tips I thought it a little nuts but I'm on board with the idea now that we've had these tests and I can see others with the desire to try such things. If WGT could put up a weekly Single Play Tourney from the tips with only starter gear and ball, I think we'd have a cracking competition across all 8 courses.

  My guess is an under par round on CCC from the tips in UEL is absolutely possible. I think we know somebody that's done it. :))) The other 7 would take a putting day of a lifetime to get the score under par.

  ~CD~

• WigerToods2010 8,447 Posts

  Fri, Feb 14 2014 7:14 AM

  I really don't get the 'from the tips' with starter clubs/ball thinking.

  In one's own humble opinion It has nothing to do with UL's nor 'crazy' green speed capabilities.

  All it boils down to is who gets the luck of the draw regarding wind strength/direction.

  An example of a pointless excercise would be; from the tips with a 30mph full on headwind using the starter driver/ball combo @ Kiawah #17... comprendi?

  I'd gladly play all formats that appeared in this round of tournaments but tend to agree with earlier comments in the thread regarding shorter tees.

   

• Corwyn 2,410 Posts

  Fri, Feb 14 2014 7:41 AM

  I hear what you're saying Johnny, but here's my perspective...

  Playing the courses this way from the tips actually feels a whole new course (and we're all sad about waiting a year to get one otherwise).

  If you can forget the idea of making birdies -- just lose any attachment to that concept! -- and treat any par made as a major victory, then you're getting the chance to really think your way around the layouts. With these clubs and the desire to find the flattest areas for 2nd and 3rd shots, you have to plot every hole strategically.

  I agree that the wind makes things problematic. I'd almost be tempted to have every round set up with low wind so as to make it a more equal experience for everyone. 

  However, there are difficulties! When I tried out Kiawah, there are a couple of holes, e.g. #4 in particular where you need a tailwind to reach the closest far left fairway, and shooting for a front tee instead is guesswork due to lack of camera views. And with the starter wedges, a headwind is sometimes very helpful to get that rock to stop!

  When considering the idea as a Best-Ball Pairs, I was planning on allowing multiple play, so pairs could play all courses, and come back to any they felt they could improve on (and if they had a lousy wind set).

  Essentially though, the concept would require some pretty hardcore commitment to starters and unevens (and I wasn't certain it would attract too many other lunatics other than Cerino and myself, lol!).

  But if Shoe could help us find a way to do it single-play across most if not all the courses with a fair wind set, that could be much more popular... even enjoyable for anyone looking for a different kind of challenge!

  -----

  P.S. Cerino, Wasn't your -1 at CCC with the "putting day of a lifetime"? I'm still flabbergasted at how you managed that great round (although one hint, folks, is that you need to think creatively about how to use forward tees).

  To me, posting a par or under score in that kind of setup would be far more satisfying than any sub-60 round with the fancy clubs. I would rate it one of the hardest, but still attainable, feats on WGT.

• CerinoDevoti 3,232 Posts

  Fri, Feb 14 2014 9:10 AM

  Corwyn:

  P.S. Cerino, Wasn't your -1 at CCC with the "putting day of a lifetime"? I'm still flabbergasted at how you managed that great round (although one hint, folks, is that you need to think creatively about how to use forward tees).

  To me, posting a par or under score in that kind of setup would be far more satisfying than any sub-60 round with the fancy clubs. I would rate it one of the hardest, but still attainable, feats on WGT.

  Yes I think it was the greatest putting round I've ever had here so far. Also, the most satisfying round as well. The par saves I made thrilled me to no end. I may have made 3 birdies tops but I remember best the 1 putt par saves. For me, that's the way this game needs to play.  Using the game tee glitch of hitting from the back tees to the forward tees on 3 holes worked like a charm as well. The ball ends up back on a tee and you can then hit driver to the fairway with a short shot to the greens.

  To WT2010's point, yes there's an element of frustration and exasperation playing from the tips with the starters knowing the wind is going to kill you on some holes. Really it's craziness but for me the enjoyment comes in defeating the conditions to play to an acceptable level anyway. If WGT could offer single play rounds of this kind on 8 courses, to some degree the wind penalty would level out for all players. I think it would be the ultimate "crash test dummy" Tourney of really nutty players and a heck of a lot of fun. :)