Dave33200:I’m not sure what you mean by “Online Graphs” but if you are talking about charts that tell you how far you hit your clubs then yes, the pros do use them charts. Every pro & his caddie carries a yardage book with the club distance, yardage to the hole, or bunker, the lay of the green and + or – elevations. They also have hand written notes on every hole and what to do, like lay up or go for the green. So to say the pros do not use charts is inaccurate, in fact the have a bigger advantage, they also have a caddie with the charts giving them a 2nd opinion.
Jeez when it suits the advocates of using assistance then this is just a game and not comparable at other times it's less assistance that real golfers have.
I'll take one aspect for now, putting. What some of the top players do is use a stopwatch to count every dot as it moves across the screen and then work out from the average speed of movement and the distance I suppose (I'm not absolutely sure precisely what's done) how much the putt will break. They get something like this.
N Time PcTime Comment
1 00:00:03:59 24/10/22 18:10:37
2 00:00:04:18 24/10/22 18:10:38
3 00:00:04:59 24/10/22 18:10:38
4 00:00:06:31 24/10/22 18:10:40
5 00:00:09:67 24/10/22 18:10:43
6 00:00:12:67 24/10/22 18:10:46
7 00:00:16:88 24/10/22 18:10:50
and feed it into their formula. Yes, that's for one putt!
Others, and the same people in less important competitions, when other than friends are watching, or with a shot clock, will pick one dot that looks like the average and use that.
I'm not sure what the equivalent for a real golfer would be but I suspect one of these would be involved or perhaps just a spirit level and measuring tape.
In fact this is what the rules (of golf) now say about putting:
The End of Green-Reading Books?
Another rule implemented will see greens-reading books completely revamped. Players as well as caddies will be enforced to use “committee-approved” yardage books which contain general information about the green.
A memo sent to all the PGA TOUR players and caddies state that these new books “will be very similar to a traditional yardage book and, with respect to greens details, will have only general information on slopes and other features.”
Notes can be added within these books, however they must be notes from first-hand observation of the green or notes during a telecast. Tools and devices will not be allowed to be used to measure any contours or slopes the green features.
“The purpose of this local rule is to return to a position where players and caddies use only their skill, judgment and feel along with any information gained through experience, preparation, and practice to read the line of play on the putting green,” stated a memo the sent to PGA TOUR players.
This rule is now in place.
While real golf, as well as other sports and online games try to stop the influx of RTA (real time assistance) it seems this one celebrates its use and rewards its most accomplished users.
The original poster was right to expect to be attacked for voicing his frustrations and he even said that was what they were. The comment about scoring 55 I'm sure wasn't meant to mean getting that score very very occasionally, I've probably managed that and the op certainly has (two 49's even), but more to do it almost every time. The only times it not being managed by some are generally down to getting unfavourable winds, lol and they'll then complain about how the random wind makes the game a lottery. They have reverse engineered the game in all possible aspects, so a random element is most unwelcome.
Dismiss it all as sour grapes if you want and applaud the technology race within the game too if that's what you see as the way to enjoy it. It's all within the rules (probably). Those of us that think the game would be better, and is more enjoyable, without all the RTA are just as entitled to voice that opinion.
And yes, shot clocks would be a way of limiting the opportunity for RTA, probably not enough but a start. It may be necessary to cut out one or more of coaching, stopwatches, wind charts, advanced charts, simple and complex spreadsheets.........