bossbird:
What you are doing Nico is great , I am not knocking it as your concept , it’s just me that can’t understand how such scores can be had in that format. As fun , it is fun , as trying to get a low score it’s incomprehensible!! Lol
To explain, Tess is a long-time player, back to the days when they only had starter clubs and balls, and you had to learn how to play shots becasue it wasn't darts in those days. Then when new clubs and balls came in she would learn how those played. Of course everyone calculates, but some do a lot by memory and experience. She also used to play lots of Set of the Week tournaments when we had them in Flash, and, having tried most clubs (she was an avid shopper when new things came out) she knew how many different types of clubs sets played.
I too am a fast player, being able to play most shots within 15 seconds, the biggest problem being on or around the green, having to change clubs, change shot type, change camera, move the marker, change camera back, and then pull the meter and let it drift back towards the ding. If you are using a slow-meter ball this also eats up a vital second or two. And then on fairway shots the caddy often gave me the wrong club, so I had to change that too. I also change the putting meter to try keep the hitting power less than 10%; unfortunately the putter given doesn't have a 90ft meter making it a little more tricky becasue it goes from 60ft to 150ft, meaning I now have to think what to do for an 11ft putt for example, again eating valuable seconds. And changing the putting meter also eats up a second or two. Unfortunately in my attempts I still could not avoid a penalty shot or two for timing out.
After scoring a 68 last night, which included 3 bogeys, and complaining to her that there just wasn't enough time on the odd occasion (mostly because the caddy gave me the wrong club), her advice was don't change clubs, play the club given but with full backspin. Obviously you still have to take wind into account, but that should be an easy calculation in your head. The other bit of advice was don't miss greens as that is the key to not having to play shots around the green, so it becomes drive, approach (or possibly two approach shots on the long par 4 or par 5's), then one or two putts. The other thing is that you need to be a decent putter from distance since you aren't going to be close every shot; I don't put many approach shots close even with my own clubs, so my longer putts are often pretty good, sinking a fair amount of them. I am going to try again to see if I can better my 68 by using a cheap faster-meter ball.
Even though I'm never going to finish in the top 5 (or even top 25!!) of any of these type of no-tier tournaments, it is fun, although I do agree with you too that the players who are going to be winning no-tier tournaments are the ones who generally don't need handouts, and even if it was made tier-specific, it will be the same people within their own tiers winning once again as they do most tournaments. My advice is just play these tournaments for the fun they are intended to be and forget about how your score compares to the top scores or winning, and if you happen to get in the prizes one time consider it a bonus. Some of the top players who have played (Priestess, JSmithers, Irishking1916, - all long-time players) are those players for whom prizes aren't the main attraction, but to be the winner, which differentiates from those who only play tournaments where there are big credit payouts. And I actually think it's nice to be able to play with other (generally inferior) clubs to see how they play and how I'm able to adapt to them. I still wish the best clubs and balls were far inferior to what we have now because the game was far more realistic back then, and a good score was not got by shooting darts. Just look at The Masters tournament this past weekend - players weren't shooting darts even though they have the best real clubs and balls, and that's what I feel WGT need to get back to to make this game more realistic. But unfortunately that isn't going to happen because then the darts players will complain.
And finally, that 59 has now been beaten into 2nd place by a 58, by a darts player who most likley has restarted numerous times if he didn't get the desired start. I don't expect 58 to be leading when the tournament is over either.