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Post by CongoGB on Nov 24, 2015 13:54:30 GMT -5
I just ignore the moaners - people throw their toys around complaining, stamping their feet and saying "I'm not going to play until they fix X, Y, or Z", and then it turns out they just took a 20 minute break and are back again.
People just can't keep away because ultimately, this game is amazing.
Anyway, back on topic, I was fairly happy with my tournament, but judging by these early scores, I'll be glad if I make top 20.
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Post by AFCTUJacko on Nov 24, 2015 14:17:43 GMT -5
There's nothing magical about what the leaders do. They play thoughtfully and skillfully. I was about to post almost those exact words earlier today, but didn't as i didn't want to upset anyone, but you're spot on. Fact is, the numbers the top guys shoot are available to anyone - you just have to understand and use the games mechanics effectively. Once you can do that you can go low on pretty much any course. Instead of coming here and saying "I don't know how they do it" - study them, study yourself and how they do it should be pretty apparent. Actually doing it is pretty difficult, but possible. ****Coming from a guy who shot +5 in Q School and spent the first 3 months of Season 1 worrying about the cut line
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Post by drlowdon on Nov 24, 2015 14:25:32 GMT -5
Fact is, the numbers the top guys shoot are available to anyone - I'm not sure that's true.
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Post by AFCTUJacko on Nov 24, 2015 14:41:20 GMT -5
Fact is, the numbers the top guys shoot are available to anyone - I'm not sure that's true. Well, we can all flick the little stick back and forth reasonably straight and achieve 100% power. The rest - distance control, how to play the wind, how to play the slopes, how to play firm greens, how to putt - can all be learned, by anyone.
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Post by drlowdon on Nov 24, 2015 17:12:48 GMT -5
I'm not sure that's true. Well, we can all flick the little stick back and forth reasonably straight and achieve 100% power. The rest - distance control, how to play the wind, how to play the slopes, how to play firm greens, how to putt - can all be learned, by anyone. I've been playing this game virtually every day for a year and I'm not able to shoot even close to what those top guys manage. I had the round of my life in the Honduras charity event to shoot -12 and I'm still 7 shots behind the leader!
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Post by boomboom on Nov 24, 2015 17:16:57 GMT -5
Fact is, the numbers the top guys shoot are available to anyone - I'm not sure that's true. I was +6 I think in q-school. I never really bothered with to much learning the game beyond a certain point. I came here last August and have picked an area of needed improvement each week. I have made improvements, I still make dumb decisions and cannot close out my rounds, but I will. The numbers they shoot is totally within reach. Their putting is something to marvel at, I swear I never will be able to comprehend what they do with the flat stick, I think it might come down to not using the grid, IDK, but what they do astonishes me. Watching Doyley for example, well he's a master, that's all there is to be said there. I'm gunning for his chipping next. I do however watch as many streams as I can, I chat a little, but mostly I'm ripping them off for tips on how I can improve my own game. I love the competition here, never been better that 17th I think. I cannot make them worse, so I can either be content with my position and do nothing, or do what is necessary to improve. Presently I choose the ladder. I will not however, no matter how many times the thought creeps into my head, ever go with the theory that there is some unknown influence that I have no control over making them better and I will never be able to beat that. That is defeatist, it will not help me get better 1 little bit. In any event, part of the fun is doing what is necessary to get better and taking it out into play the next week without ever stepping further then an arms reach from my ash tray and 6 steps from the fridge. How much better can this get.
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Post by drlowdon on Nov 24, 2015 17:43:08 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong I really enjoy the Golf Club and playing on TGCTours but, whether it's due to the amount of time they can put into the game, natural talent or a combination of both there will always be people that can do it better. I've gradually improved since joining the tour (until this week I'd not missed a cut this season on the Euro Tour) and my goal is currently to make the top 150 in the WGR but there is no way I'll ever be able to shoot consistently in the 50's virtually every round like the top guys do.
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Post by edi_vedder on Nov 24, 2015 20:07:36 GMT -5
After a solid opening round of 62 (-10) I had an almost perfect Rd2: 58 (-14) It was just one of those rounds where most of the things you do end up the way you wanted them. Very good approach shots from almost any distance, solid putting this time, and a little bit of luck... there we go! I wish every week would be just like that. -24 was top of the PS4-leaderboard when I quit. We'll see what it'll be worth at the end of the week. Good luck to anyone out there!
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Post by edi_vedder on Nov 24, 2015 20:16:26 GMT -5
How many practice rounds do the top guys put in before playing a comp? Last season, I used to play at least 1-2 full rounds on each course before going into the tournament. Now I just don't find the time to do that (due to real life beating me up). So I normally just do a few holes (max. front 9) to get a quick feel for the greens (especially to see what the ball bounce/roll-out is all about), and then I tee-off. I don't wanna sound arrogant or so, but I think my gameplay has reached a level where it generally doesn't really matter what a course (design) looks like or how fast/slow the greens are. For me it's mainly about ball bounce/roll-out on the green. As soon as I know that, I'm ready to go. And I think for a lot of good players it's about the same. I might be wrong though...
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Post by kireishoujo on Nov 25, 2015 4:24:57 GMT -5
How many practice rounds do the top guys put in before playing a comp? I sometimes get in 1 if time allows but this week didn't have time to have any before I played rounds 1 and 2. I noticed that Ian Sweeney had posted at least 3 or 4 scores on my Dainton Park course before the tournament. 0.
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Post by Andrea on Nov 25, 2015 7:45:37 GMT -5
How many practice rounds do the top guys put in before playing a comp? I sometimes get in 1 if time allows but this week didn't have time to have any before I played rounds 1 and 2. I noticed that Ian Sweeney had posted at least 3 or 4 scores on my Dainton Park course before the tournament. I don't know exactly about the top guys - even if I did about 3/4 rounds at the same time with couple of them this week (so they practice quite a lot) - but for me practice is key. I'm only 5 months into the game and I didn't reach that kind of confidence/consistency to be able to just start a tournament without even see the course. So I practice as much has I need - and most of the times it isn't even enough. Besides I'm kinda competitive person, so if I'm not aiming for the top I'm not having fun. I just can't play for nothing or for "fun only". And of course this kind of mindset has pros and cons. In general I think practice will always be important. This game is all about knowledge and confidence and, IMHO, almost 0 about talent - the "talent" from my point of view could be that someone is faster/better than others to understand the mechanics of the game, but that's it. Also I think everyone of us has or will hit a wall sooner or later; it's perfectly normal - this game lacks in tutorials and practice facility so it's very very difficult to tackle every situation in a short amount of time. Plus I think this is a game where we grow really slowly. Like in the first weeks you need to learn how to shoot straight and 100% power all the times, then you need to learn the math behind the winds and the pin heights, then club distances and lofts, then putting power with fixed reference points, then bounces on different greens. And then the most difficult: reading the @!$#ing slopes on greens Whenever I hit a wall, I go back to this of list and ask myself: do I always shoot straight and 100%? Yes - so maybe I learn to do it with 101% loft on driver and woods. Do I know the math behind winds? Do I know every club carry distance on every "loft step" and even in the middle between one and the other....and so on. For now all this has worked for me - even if I'm just an average player right now - and since I'm so passionate about the game I don't care how many of my free hours it'll "steals" me.
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Post by Andrea on Nov 26, 2015 7:30:50 GMT -5
After couple of rough days at work I finally played my rounds. Not quite happy with myself tbh - my shooting on this course fluctuated since the practice rounds (bad front 9 - good back 9 and vice versa) and the trend didn't stop on the official rounds. My putting was good but I misplaced so many approaches in the four rounds. Could have gone at least another 5-6 shot under on the total score Instead 64 (-8), 63 (-9), 64 (-8), 64 (-8)A -33 for the tourney Now I'm gonna take a break playing in the Honduras Charity Open event and then right onto TideWater Plantation for practice Good luck boys and girls
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Post by t2theb2 on Nov 26, 2015 11:57:12 GMT -5
I'm not sure that's true. Well, we can all flick the little stick back and forth reasonably straight and achieve 100% power. The rest - distance control, how to play the wind, how to play the slopes, how to play firm greens, how to putt - can all be learned, by anyone. Dont take this wrong but i think your lack of confidence is holding you back. If you want to improve fix what your doing wrong instead of making the same errors over and over like many players do, also believe you can do it. There is plenty of players who were not great at this game from the start and have had to learn. I am another just like jacko who scraped on the euro tour with +5 in Q-school. Missed cut, so i practised. Made the cut, practised. Top 25, practised more. Runner up, still practised. Win, kept practising because the field got better. And i know alot of you will say i play the game every day so i do practice but do u change anything or keep making the same errors. Add more for the wind, less for the wind, more break on putts, less break on putts ect.
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Post by drlowdon on Nov 26, 2015 12:09:11 GMT -5
I feel like I play the game to a pretty decent standard and usually finish between 40th and 50th in the Euro Tour events. I don't make any major errors during my rounds and hit most fairways and greens in regulation. However, to shoot those scores that the very top players shoot (and I'm talking Sweeney, Garcia etc) you need to either knock every approach stone dead or hold virtually every putt and no matter how much I play the game I can't do that as consistently as they do.
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Post by t2theb2 on Nov 26, 2015 12:57:23 GMT -5
Being consistant is the hardest part of the game for me. I cant compete with brad and ian every week but i will give them a run for their money from time to time. You do play to a decent standard i agree but as u stated above there must be 40-50 people on average above you each week so it depends on what you want from the game. There is obviously room for improvement because of the 40 or so ahead on the leaderboard. But if your happy where you are thats fine. I personally would not be, as i am not happy being #8. I don't mean that to sound disrespectful
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