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St Andrews, c'mon it's not always like that !

• Shoot72 10 Posts

  Tue, Nov 16 2010 11:45 AM

  Why is it whenever I play a tournament at St Andrews full 18 it's always blowing a gale ? It's not always like that you know. Believe it or not theres actually days at St Andrews where the weather is great. However I play a front 9 tournament at St Andrews and the wind is low. It's puzzling me a little as to why this is the case.

  Also, cross winds, if they're slightly against you the ball would not fly as far. It's a fact. Yet the game seems to think it will when I club up a couple of clubs and then I end up flying the pin by X amount of yards. Yet if I don't club up I'm well short. I'm at a loss.

  I spend plenty of money on this game and I'm sure many others do so maybe a little time invested by the powers that be is in order.

• b0geybuster 2,574 Posts

  Tue, Nov 16 2010 12:03 PM

  I am assuming you are talking about the ready go's.  The conditions are preset and can be found....

  Here

  Cheers,

  B0geybuster

• Shoot72 10 Posts

  Tue, Nov 16 2010 12:21 PM

  Thanks Bogeybuster that page will help. By preset I'm assuming you mean for every tourny played at a particular course and set of holes the conditions will be the same every time. I'm thinking some variable conditions would be a good idea instead of knowing St Andrews will blow a gale every time. It's just not true.

• AvatarLee 1,644 Posts

  Wed, Nov 17 2010 10:37 AM

  Can I ask... were you around when St. Andrews was first released?  I had the nickname St. Eagles for it.  It was playing way too easy without the wind, and didn't do any justice to the amount of skill required to play the course. 

  As for the cross wind issue... A couple of clubs up??  Really??  There are a few consequences from doing that... First, the ball flight is lower, so less wind effect.  Second, less spin, more roll out.  Third, harder to judge choke amount for the club.

  Maybe I could recommend the next time you are faced with a cross wind that is a bit in your face, instead of applying full back spin, try partial or full top spin on the ball.  It will have the penetrating effect into the wind but not necessarily the other consequences of clubbing up.  And if you need to go up one club and try the same.  I don't think there is any situation where you would need to go up 2 clubs if the wind is more cross than in your face.

• Shoot72 10 Posts

  Tue, Nov 23 2010 2:34 AM

  Thanks for the advice Lee, I'll take that onto the course and see how things go.

• tiffer67 1,764 Posts

  Tue, Nov 23 2010 5:31 AM

  AvatarLee:

   

  Maybe I could recommend the next time you are faced with a cross wind that is a bit in your face, instead of applying full back spin, try partial or full top spin on the ball.  

  Wise words indeed.

  I don't think people appreciate just how important the correct type and amount of spin is in this game. I reckon a huge majority of players, not necessarily those in the Legend category, play full backspin on every approach shot to a the green.

  The number of players that hit full backspin on a lob wedge approach astounds me. They seem puzzled when the ball lands 2-3 yards short and then spins further back. The correct type of spin can see you avoid having to baby in an approach, which generally means the shot is more accurate.