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Uphill putts going less than half distance

• beerstine 718 Posts

  Mon, Nov 16 2020 9:24 PM

  Lately, I've been having a recurring problem with uphill putts going less than half the calculated distance.  This isn't just underestimating the putt by a foot or two, but setting up a putt of say 20 feet, setting the distance for that, and having it go less than halfway and stopping.  It's been happening 3 or 4 times per round recently, sometimes 2 hits in a row on the same hole.  I've had it happen on different meter scales and even when I don't change the meter at all when calculating the distance.

  I'm playing PCEA on a Mac.  I'd love to show a replay of what's going on but I can't save them on this version as of yet.

   

• G1ler 40 Posts

  Tue, Nov 17 2020 4:52 AM

  It may be a genuine bug as you say, but I know I've been caught out on numerous occasions by the fact that, when you change views on the green, it sometimes automatically changes the meter scale (but only occasionally - it doesn't seem to be very predictable.) It's really easy not to spot it when it happens, and impossible to tell after you've played the stroke.

  It seems to 'guess' the right scale on the simple basis of length from the club to the hole, so on an uphill putt it may switch because it assumes you want a shorter scale than you actually do - hence the ball rolling significantly short.

  Just a suggestion and I may be wrong! But since I started double-checking the scale just before every shot, I've noticed it several times and have thus been able to correct the error before playing the stroke. So that maybe worth trying - but then again, it may be a completely different problem!

• DonCaron 5,502 Posts

  Tue, Nov 17 2020 5:52 AM

  beerstine:

  Lately, I've been having a recurring problem with uphill putts going less than half the calculated distance.  This isn't just underestimating the putt by a foot or two, but setting up a putt of say 20 feet, setting the distance for that, and having it go less than halfway and stopping.  It's been happening 3 or 4 times per round recently, sometimes 2 hits in a row on the same hole.  I've had it happen on different meter scales and even when I don't change the meter at all when calculating the distance.

  I'm playing PCEA on a Mac.  I'd love to show a replay of what's going on but I can't save them on this version as of yet.

   

  If you have a 20 foot putt, 10" uphill. The math would be hit it 30, I usually add 3' extra to make sure I get there.

• MarchieB 1,530 Posts

  Tue, Nov 17 2020 7:56 AM

  DonCaron:

  If you have a 20 foot putt, 10" uphill. The math would be hit it 30, I usually add 3' extra to make sure I get there.

  This is totally dependent on what the Green Speed is. It will be two totally different numbers for a 7.4 GS vs. a 13 GS.

  As for the OP's issue, i would say it's either a GS miscalculation or you have accidentally hit it on an incorrect putter scale. Without knowing the OP's exact situation (distance, elevation, GS) it's impossible to know if there's an issue or if it's just not being calculated or hit correctly.

• beerstine 718 Posts

  Tue, Nov 17 2020 1:13 PM

  It's happened even without changing the scale.  My hypothetical is a calculated 20 foot putt including the uphill distance and the putt dribbling less than 10 feet, sometimes only 5-7. Perhaps wasn't totally clear on that in the original post.

  Edit:  Just happened again.  13 foot putt goes 5.7 feet without changing the scale.  Only seems to happen on uphill putts.

• DonCaron 5,502 Posts

  Tue, Nov 17 2020 2:06 PM

  MarchieB:

  DonCaron:

  If you have a 20 foot putt, 10" uphill. The math would be hit it 30, I usually add 3' extra to make sure I get there.

  This is totally dependent on what the Green Speed is. It will be two totally different numbers for a 7.4 GS vs. a 13 GS.

  As for the OP's issue, i would say it's either a GS miscalculation or you have accidentally hit it on an incorrect putter scale. Without knowing the OP's exact situation (distance, elevation, GS) it's impossible to know if there's an issue or if it's just not being calculated or hit correctly.

  I have a chart with different green speeds. All I need to know is the 30.

  

• beerstine 718 Posts

  Tue, Nov 17 2020 4:21 PM

  It's happening on different speed greens, but often on speed 10 which is what I mostly play for ranked rounds.  My calculated distance on uphill putts is close to the combined distance+elevation, I could understand if it came up a foot or two short, not 10-12 feet.  The severity of the uphill rise doesn't seem to matter, just uphill.  It doesn't happen on downhill or neutral elevation changes at all.  It's really perplexing when it happens and I don't touch the scale at all.

• G1ler 40 Posts

  Tue, Nov 17 2020 5:07 PM

  beerstine:

  It's really perplexing when it happens and I don't touch the scale at all.

  I realise *you* aren't changing the scale, but are you double-checking that the scale isn't being changed automatically by the view angle (per my post above)? If you're 100% positive that you're on the correct scale when you play the stroke, then I'm stumped!

• DonCaron 5,502 Posts

  Wed, Nov 18 2020 5:52 AM

  beerstine:

  It's happening on different speed greens, but often on speed 10 which is what I mostly play for ranked rounds.  My calculated distance on uphill putts is close to the combined distance+elevation, I could understand if it came up a foot or two short, not 10-12 feet.  The severity of the uphill rise doesn't seem to matter, just uphill.  It doesn't happen on downhill or neutral elevation changes at all.  It's really perplexing when it happens and I don't touch the scale at all.

  10 Speed is Very Fast. You have to adjust the increments of the putter for the distance you want. You can't use 10 increment for a 14 foot putt.

  If you look at chart above, VF would be 60% of 20 increment(14.4 '). I would give it a touch more. 

• Tigerpaw509 1,285 Posts

  Wed, Nov 18 2020 6:23 AM

  Most likely you are in practice mode and with the PCEA/Mac the putting scale will change on you when you do a reverse view or change clubs.Best advise is to triple check the scale before putting.

  I have played the Mac EA for four months now and never have that problem but I only play ranked games.

  Perhaps this might also help