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#18 Congressional

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Jul 30 2014 6:47 AM

  Martin333:

  So you choose from being close to the hole somewhere between 50-75 % of the time or 90% of the time

  More like being close 95% of the time with a makeable putt. If I fail to execute the shot, that's on me, not the calculator.

  Martin333:

  Or you can hope that all shots are played from spots and wind you have tried once before,

  No, you just don't fear being someplace you haven't been before because you're not afraid of anything and are confident you can make any shot you're faced with. That's the confidence that comes from knowing all 5 shots with every club.

  I didn't say anything about not taking wind, slope and spin into account, of course you have to do that. All that calculator does is take care of the simple math. The thinking part isn't found on any chart.

• MainzMan 9,591 Posts

  Wed, Jul 30 2014 9:56 AM

  I play some rounds using 3 different wind calculations; side, head and tail.  I then use the pitch view to accurately aim my approaches.  I have no shot pal of any sort, home made or bought so have to use judgement for that.

  Other times I just quickly work out the side wind in my head and move the marker to where seems (if feels is the wrong word) right.  No grid to be precise, just a judgement call.  Same for how hard to hit the shot, just drag the meter until it looks right.

  And the results are pretty much the same 90% of the time.   I might play 1 shot better per 18 hole round using the maths method but it isn't the holy grail to playing good rounds here.

  I'm with Jim, experience counts for much more than many people seem to think.

• fatdan 3,379 Posts

  Wed, Jul 30 2014 10:27 AM

  I have played rounds that I just moved the flag to where I thought it should be and used the power and club that felt right...

  rounds that I did the math ...

  used wind/distance programs...

  and rounds that I moved it then did the math....

  you would be surprised how close your brain is if you let it do it's job w/o interfering after a 1000 rounds...and much much more fun...

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Jul 30 2014 10:27 AM

  A better way to describe feel would be in an example like this. You have an approach into a moderate head wind, the kind that knocks a shot down. The calculator (or head math/experience) says hit it this hard but do you club up, use back spin (headwinds are great stopping winds) and choke the shot to stick it or do you club down and use top spin to run up to the hole?

  Keep in mind, choking a shot runs the risk of a more severe deviation if you miss where being able to hit a full shot minimizes the damage on a missed hit. Maybe you're catching the ding at a good rate so you opt for the first way-you had a feeling. Other times you might be struggling to get close to the ding and you might opt for the second way. It depends on your feeling. 

  This is where knowing your clubs pays off. Give yourself a number of choices for each shot and you'll feel the one that's right.  :-)

   

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Wed, Jul 30 2014 11:45 AM

  Martin333:

  You choose ill go math way ( i use a calculater)

  Many, many do. I can always spot them in alt-shot games....very slow to pull the trigger, then the putt comes along, which goes way slower. Like YJ, I'm a "feel" chick...one look an "b00m". I just can't personally take all that time to fiddle & faddle, check & re-check, consider this'n'that and then miss.

• alosso 21,072 Posts

  Wed, Jul 30 2014 11:56 AM

  I agree, SP!

  Only on the green do I need my tables and scale, but I do my lil' math mentally. With more calcs I'd too much feel like playing calculator instead of playing golf.

  And the "feeling" becomes better all the time. Now I can estimate approach distances better than before, and at some time I'll become better in side winds.

  It's like "body memory" on the real courses, only problem being that so little "body" is involved: Eye & index finger.

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Wed, Jul 30 2014 11:59 AM

  SweetiePie:

  Like YJ, I'm a "feel" chick...one look an "b00m".

  That calls for a song!

• fatdan 3,379 Posts

  Wed, Jul 30 2014 12:49 PM

  Martin333:

  I just played a macthplay challenge on Kiawah my proxmity to hole was under 6 feet.

  Actually that's not that big of a deal on Kiwiah...my avg. distance is like 13ft i think and I have had a 4 avg there when I shot a 55 and countless 6ft avg using any method...if I played BPB front 9 and KW everyday I could cut my avg in half in a couple of months(most of these folks could too)...

   

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Thu, Jul 31 2014 1:32 AM

  Looks like Andy, SP, & at least 2 others know exactly what I'm talking about. I'd bet more that a player who can play by feel will beat a player who can't, more often than not.

  Feel is intuition, and if you have an intuitive feel for a certain game, you can't help but be among the better players. I know that sounds arrogant, but I'll never consider anyone incapable of rising to the top here. Some just have a natural, or familiar, reason for having a better feel for the game than others.

  Others are math freaks and should be sterilized at 16 and then strapped to a table for life, only learning math and spitting math theorems out for our advancement. ...and other math shitt lol

• philking62 40 Posts

  Tue, Jan 10 2017 9:47 AM

  I just had almost the same shot....left to right wind at 7-9 mph...220 to the hole...hit a 210 yrd shot because of the downhill...aimed just left of the pin..DINGED THE SHOT..and it goes hard left into the water...my aim was about 2 or 3 ft to the left of the pin...not in the middle of the lake...35ft dn hill with a 210 yrd club..should have put this shot on the green...

  previous hole...orange downhill...12 ft putt...carefully putted...ends up a little short...HOWEVER...THE NEXT PUTT....light blue uphill...meaning a steep incline...now how the ***, can a dn hill putt short, turn to a steep uphill putt!!!????????