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Question from a newbie about game flaw?

• AugustWest123 15 Posts

  Fri, Feb 17 2017 7:48 PM

  I've been playing for a few months and am only a Tour Pro thus far but I've got a question for you vets that I can't find the answer to when searching these forums or Google.  It has to do with an approach shot that lands in the area exactly between the rough and green, with no hill.  The ball will fly out in some direction in a ricochet like fashion across the green and into the rough, like it hit a sprinkler head or concrete wall or something.

  I'm curious if this is part of the game--some flaw that has never been addressed or if I'm not picking up on something. 

   

  Also, while I'm here: I don't plan on moving up from the starter balls and am probably going to stick with my current equipment too, maybe get new irons that get better height/spin.  I'm wondering if it's possible to move up from where I'm at (69.2 ave right now)while using the starter balls.

   

  Thanks for any help you folks can provide.

   

• ScottHope 10,607 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 8:33 AM

  Replay.
  
  Landing on a downslope that faces away from you will naturally kick the ball forwards, and if it is elevated, the effect is even greater. The more familiar you become with the courses, the better you will be at navigating around these hazardous areas.

• MainzMan 9,591 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 8:51 AM

  The fringes are notorious here.  You play what you think is a perfect shot only to land a yard short and hit the fringe instead of the green itself.

  Landing on the green you can usually rely on backspin keeping things under control, the fringe appears to kill all spin.

  It's frustrating any you'll still occasionally do it, no matter how good you get but, as Scott pointed out,  it will become less frequent.

• fmagnets 3,640 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 8:53 AM

  AugustWest123:

  The ball will fly out in some direction in a ricochet like fashion across the green and into the rough, like it hit a sprinkler head or concrete wall or something.

  I'm wondering if it's possible to move up from where I'm at (69.2 ave right now)while using the starter balls.

  Yes, this is a poor bit of programming. The fringes around the edges of the greens always give unrealistically concrete-like bounces. When WGT first mapped Kiawah and St A, the courses may have been baked hard with tightly cut, unwatered fringes but watered greens. This would have led the measurements of the bounces off the fringes to be far removed from the norm. WGT then seem to have applied this to all the other courses without giving it much thought. Once you get the right mix of club and ball spin attributes though, you can use it to your advantage. Approaches that come up unexpectedly short can get a helping bounce forward off the fringe.

  And yes, you can go a long way with just starter balls as long as you can handle the meter speed. If you level up far enough to get some top-end clubs, they give enough spin even to starter balls to make -5 or better per 9 perfectly achievable. Much easier this way round than using top-end balls with junk clubs.

• pmm711 5,770 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 8:58 AM

  AugustWest123:

  Also, while I'm here: I don't plan on moving up from the starter balls and am probably going to stick with my current equipment too, maybe get new irons that get better height/spin.  I'm wondering if it's possible to move up from where I'm at (69.2 ave right now)while using the starter balls.

  I made it to Legend with Starter Irons, Wedges, and the free Starter Balls...used a RocketBallz Driver & 3-Wood & a Daytona Rossa Putter which did make things easier. 

  I only use the free balls...it makes the game more challenging and lifelike.

  You can move up...it just takes more time.

• MainzMan 9,591 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 9:02 AM

  fmagnets:

  If you level up far enough to get some top-end clubs, they give enough spin even to starter balls to make -5 or better per 9 perfectly achievable. Much easier this way round than using top-end balls with junk clubs.

  An outstanding piece of advice. Come to think of it maybe you do know a thing or two about this game eh?  :  ))

  You'll so often see someone compensating for a poor set of clubs by using expensive balls, such a waste of credits. A decent set of irons will allow you to use a lower price and spec ball but still play well.  And those irons will still be in your bag when the other player has thrown away sleeve after sleeve and wonders why their game isn't getting any better while their credit balance keeps getting smaller.

• MainzMan 9,591 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 9:05 AM

  If you really want to try a better ball then the Tour SD is hard to beat.

  And you can 12 sleeves of them for the price of 1 sleeve of the most expensive ball.

• alosso 21,088 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 9:10 AM

  This ricocheting is one unnatural thing happening here - either from the fringe or on flagstick bounces. We all get used to it.

  About tiering up:

  Next step is Master, when you reach a 67 average. This should be possible with Starter equipment.

  Masters play one tee further back, "hard", and this will cause some problems with Starters. Some FWs will be unreachable, some water will be impossible to pass from the tee (?KIA #11?). It may be quite unpleasant. You can try it out in practice games.

  It's not the ball causing the problems but the clubs. The lengths are low by design, and only by purchasing better clubs will this change. Then, the meter speed will be lightning fast, so custom balls will come to your mind. (The cheap ones will do as a starter)

  Decision time, do you want to stay a TP or rather invest some in your pastime?

  BTW: The first clubs to buy are two short wedges, but only after the decision!

• AugustWest123 15 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 1:05 PM

  Thanks for all the help guys, very much appreciated.

  I'm not sure if this one is answerable but I'm curious as to when or if the greens fees for Cabo and Whistler will be removed and we can play those courses for free like the others.

  I'm assuming there were, at some point, greens fees for the free courses but that's just me guessing.

  Just wondering.

   

  And thanks for the info about the score average that will move me up (67).  I don't think I want to purchase balls or even get better equipment, other than maybe new irons like I mentioned earlier.  I think this game is cool as hell and think all you folks who put in the time to get the scores you put up is all kinds of awesome, but I think for now anyway, I'm going to keep my average score above 67 so as not to be moved up and be forced to get better clubs/balls.

  Thanks again for all the help!

   

   

   

   

   

• PaulTon 10,731 Posts

  Sat, Feb 18 2017 3:55 PM

  AugustWest123:

  I'm not sure if this one is answerable but I'm curious as to when or if the greens fees for Cabo and Whistler will be removed and we can play those courses for free like the others.

  Probably never, those 2 courses do not belong to WGT, they were made by Trugolf.

  AugustWest123:

  I'm assuming there were, at some point, greens fees for the free courses but that's just me guessing.

  Nope, no other courses have ever had green fees.