Teaghee wrote:Being relatively new to PGLS I quickly learned that the Competition leader board is dominated by scores that can only be achieved by impossibly great play - or cheating.
Here's a tool that might help get your putting speed down.
http://golfers.africamotion.net/t88-swi ... -stimp-map
I'm not affiliated with the GW group, but they invited me and I found that little gem of a putting chart on their forum.
I agree that a lot of guys probably push the boundaries of what's considered acceptable gameplay. But, take that one chart, and multiply it by 10, and you'll just begin to scratch the mathematical surface of how precise you can actually play this game.
I've been charting several club power distances of every beta, since before beta 1.2, when the driver only went 287 yards.
You really have to practice every single conceivable shot, in both the long game and the short game, to become consistent at the game... and then actually have any idea of what a given shot does - when you need to call upon it.
Since early access, I've been able to discover and report bugs and physics anomalies by charting club distances. The power to distance ratio in this game is not linear... not even terrestrial. (read: It's neither Arcade nor Sim) So, common sense doesn't always work very well, in this game.
At times, some of the development team has taken the reporting of these discoveries a bit too personally. Perhaps, I've not mastered the art of forum tact, as much as video golf. But, if they're going to claim to have an accurate simulation of golf physics, "within 1 percent," than how can, say - higher lofted clubs, roll out moreso than longer clubs, hit with the same power? - They've only been able to answer that question with, "developer license," and Not physics.
The truth of the matter is that this game was deliberately designed to prefer sadists to casual players... so that no one could play laser golf, like golf games of yore. With each update, the developers would try to make things that seemed perfectly realistic - harder, and oftentimes impossible to judge with precision... to keep the scoring down. So, it's more of a mantra to satisfy the sim purist, than an actual indicator of what would happen on a course, or even in a golf simulator - kind of thing.
Nevertheless, once you have charted your full golf bag, long game, short game, putting; including chip, flop, and splash shots... taking note of various hardness and stimps... then we can participate in table talk. But, pull up a chair, first... because it will take a while, and it won't make a whole lot of sense.
Nothing around here is realistic. "Knowing," is a purely a matter of learning this game's own brand of fuzzy math, and then applying it to the best of your ability. Then you can begin to score, given the conditions, of course.
One more tip. The rough power loss percentages are exact. (Only saving grace of being able to play this game, and some guys still want to get rid of that!) Nevertheless, if you are 100 yards away, and the rough says, "10%," you will need to hit roughly 111 yards, or 110 yards, whichever you prefer, although keep in mind that the ball rolls more out of the rough, so you can usually err on the low side, so long as you cover the front of the green, taking false fronts into account. The idea is to begin to get a picture of how the ball will finish, given the conditions. So, you need to take carry and total yardage into account, and then Bryson Dechambeau the green, before ever setting foot on it. - Try to imagine the best place to miss to have a hole high or slightly uphill, straightish putt.
Before hitting into the green, press F2 or F3, or F5 (free cam) to look forward and see your landing area. Feel free to scroll over the surface with the BLI indicator, taking note of the changes in elevation; so that you know whether you'll need to club up or down... assuming you know what your clubs do at approx. 85% through 122%, with an emphasis on 95% to the 105% range. But, knowing when you need 85% or 122% is crucial to understanding the conceivable outcomes in the game.
Don't just take the club the game gives you and hit it. Otherwise, the conditions, or the course layout, or both, will catch you napping.
For instance, a 122% wedge will garner unrealistic backspin zip on the green, upwards of 30 to 60 feet of zip, into any gradient, including mild. But, at 85%, that same wedge has equally unrealistic forward kick, almost akin to a long iron. Discovering the nuances within these quirks will allow you to review the overhead map, prior to teeing off, and tee off into a decent yardage for a club; preferably for a PW, or 9-Iron approach... both of which are well controlled clubs, as far as, descent, skid and landing.
The minute you just start gripping and ripping like big John, you start to enter what's called experimental golf; trying to figure out how to hit a 78% wedge, and get it to cover and stop. It's a fool's errand, in this game. Because, wedges don't perform like real wedges. They are rubbish under say 90%. There's really no such thing as a three-quarter shot - in this game... at least not one that works like it should. So, you have to play more towards the upper end of full clubs to control your distances, because otherwise there is far too much roll in this game.
The caveat to that is that above 100% the mishits start to get very penal, particularly on Tour Pro. So, knowing when you absolutely need to rip one to carry an obstacle, versus playing a comfortable 95-100% shot, safe into the heart of the green - is what it's all about.
Instead of just playing away, from the very tee, try setting up your shots ahead of time, almost like you would play chess, favoring the best angle in to the pin, from the fairway, and the best yardage of attack for a soft but not fiery landing... and you will begin to score well.
Warning, this strategy involves, "laying-up," a good portion of holes that aren't pushing 475 yards, or aren't par 5's. The only strategy where just hitting it as far as you can works, is on par 5's, that are reachable in two. To wit: It's better to try to reach par 5's in two, in all cases, because even if you miss the fairway on a par 5, it is no worse than laying up off the tee, to begin with. So, better to try, statistically.
However on a 375 yard par 4, there is no advantage to having a wedge that will spin 10 yards in reverse when in lands, only if you're within 5 yards of its peak spin... versus possibly rolling forward 10 yards, if you're in-between clubs.
The key is to take control of your destiny, and try for a more realistic approach yardage, where you can get a more predictable result.
Taking this a step further, if you're striping it out there in a given round... now you can look at the flattest part of the fairway, and start to play for that; to, again, get more predictability over the favor of your next shot. A flat lie is always better than a lie that kicks up-down-left-right, and everything in between. A severe upslope for example, may require a few more yards, or several. It's hard to judge. Conversely, downslopes kick harder forward.
There's just so much out there, to "try" for, to play better. That's not saying that one can always hit their target. No one is perfect, even if someone were playing with a straight-hitting controller, they couldn't possibly predict a shot result 100% of the time.
But, having a general landing area, where you think you can gain more control over your next shot, is the whole idea. - And then, knowing the worst case miss area, and splitting the difference. Just think: Tiger Woods hardly ever fired at the flag, and has 79 Tour victories. The key is simply in missing better than everyone else.
That's it for now. Cheers and stripe em out there.