Tips by BoomBoom

[Terry Grayson]

no but you can play the test hole you've created and move your golfer around to see how the wind affects ball flight, by rotating the golfer to have the wind coming from different angles.. takes
a while to chart this way but definitely worth it

[jarednich]

One other tip. If you make the whole thing OB, and create 18 holes, you can lots of shots on your published driving range without having to restart.

[alexgators1]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the game and the site. I'm trying to get the hang of the game but I can't figure out how to determine the firmness and speed of the green. I've seen people allude to numbers, but I don't know where to find them. I don't see anything on the top right of my screen other than my lie.

Thanks for any help.

Edit: I see the "feet" on the top right. I swear I didn't see it on the first hole. Still not sure about the firmness. Are the two related? Higher number (faster) = more firm?

BTW, when I saw the speed was 101, which is slower according to what I read, I overcompensated for a 4 foot put and sent it 8 yards passed the hole lol. I was putting just fine before then.

[dustin]

boomboom

can you explain this statement a bit? I cannot change wind when I do this, or am I not looking in right place?

"So you created the big green, hopefully you have a hole in the middle of it, if not put one there. Now, go offline, select play round, filter by unpublished, and boomer, you can now play any wind direction you wish"

Do you mean I can just turn any way and hit it? Or is there a way to actually change the wind direction/speed?

[boomboom]

Jul 6, 2016 16:37:46 GMT -5 dustin said:

boomboom

can you explain this statement a bit? I cannot change wind when I do this, or am I not looking in right place?

"So you created the big green, hopefully you have a hole in the middle of it, if not put one there. Now, go offline, select play round, filter by unpublished, and boomer, you can now play any wind direction you wish"

Do you mean I can just turn any way and hit it? Or is there a way to actually change the wind direction/speed?

Just turn.

[Deleted]

Well, as a "serious" golfer who wants to improve his game, I have read through these tips. Some I already knew. Others were new.

Thank you Bryan for your generosity. I hope to someday be good enough to join you at the top.

Now off to practice.

[digsb]

The 9 iron chip is broken wags ...proper broken don't even try it. . It resets your ball back to the tee and adds a shot. Don't try it.....don't even look at it. STOP LOOKING!

[Deleted]

Just wanted to pop in and say that Boomer's tips on putting do work. My problem is because my eye sight is so bad and I don't have the biggest monitor in the world, it takes a long time for me to line up a putt using this method. However, the reason I know it works is because when I went in the other direction after getting the lines to go flat, my marker ended up where it would have ended up using the system I do use which has been very accurate for me. It's easier to understand but harder to implement because it involves reading break speed. But for those who are maybe a little confused on the "get the lines flat" method or have poor res monitors or bad eyes or whatever, you might want to try this.

I break down the break speeds (how fast the lines move) into 3 speeds.

Full Speed
Half Speed
Drip Speed

After a while, you can tell the difference between the 3 with relative ease.

After I've determined the break speed I then take the putt distance and break it down into blocks. A block is from the hole (which will always been in the center of your grid box) to the center of the next grid box. That distance relatively corresponds to 10 feet of putting distance.

This is where the speeds come in.

On a 10 foot putt, a full speed break would be one full block.
On a 10 foot putt, a half speed break would be a half a block or to the edge of the first block.
On a 10 foot putt, a drip speed break would be one quarter of a block or about 2.5 distance from the hole to the right or left depending on how the break is going.

To simplify this for any distance, for full speed breaks, you take the distance of the putt and multiply by 1 and then divide by 10. That will give you the number of blocks you have to move either right or left. So a 23 foot putt would be 2.3 blocks you have to move right or left. A 17 foot putt would be 1.7 blocks right or left.

For a half speed putt, you simply take the above calculation and then divide by 2. So a 23 foot putt would be 1.15 blocks right or left and a 17 foot putt would be .85 blocks right or left.

For a drip speed putt, you simply take the above calculation and then divide by 4. So a 23 foot putt would be .6 blocks right or left and a 17 foot putt would be .4 blocks right or left.

Naturally, you still have to adjust your marker for uphill or downhill putts and allow for green speed. But by using this method, your line to the hole is going to be very close. You shouldn't miss by very much.

The advantage of this method is that it's easier (at least for me) to see the lines moving than to try to figure out when the lines lay flat. Again, bad eyes. The disadvantage is that there is obviously a lot more math to do. But if you do it and can read your breaks correctly as far as speed, this method is very accurate.

Problems will arise when the break between you and the hole is not consistent, such as breaking one way for half the distance and the other way for the other half, or when part way the break is fast and part way the break is slow or even non existent. This gets very complicated. What I do is take the total distance of the putt, say 23 feet, and look to see how far the break is fast (say the first 8 feet) and how far the break is slow or non existent. I then apply that percentage to the calculation I would do for max (assume fast all the way through)

So, for a 23 foot putt with a full speed break for 8 feet and no break for 15 feet, I would do the calculation for the fast break, coming out to 2.3 boxes and then multiply that by 8 and divide by 23. That will give you about 3/4 of a box or about .75.

One other thing about this method. It's more accurate the longer the putt. As the putts become shorter (putts around 6 to 8 feet are very hard) the method is less accurate. I haven't done the math yet to figure out why but it probably has something to do with the rounding. As you round large numbers, the margin of error is less. Rounding small numbers, like 3.6 to 4, the margin is of course greater. But I can't verify this just yet. It's just a hunch.

Anyway, use whichever method you're most comfortable with. They both work. I verified this by using Boomer's and seeing that it was winding me up in the same place as my method. My method, for me anyway, is just quicker because I don't have to battle with the screen resolution problem of trying to figure out when the lines go flat. On my PC, it's very tough and takes me a good 60 seconds or more. My method I can do in about 10 seconds tops.

Hope this helps.

In the meantime, I have to go work on the 2 areas of my game that totally suck.

Firm Greens
Lofting

Boomer's pitching wedge tip is going to help me a lot here.

Thanks again.

[roblandon]

Hey boom, great thread!
What's your take on elevation and wind ie wedge shots head wind strength up to driver? And big elevations.

My understanding is driver and woods are x2 most irons x1.5 and wedges x2?

And elevations +/- are dived by 1.5?

I know this can't all be correct as I have missed a few greens using this math but it could be I'm not factoring the numbers correctly?

Thanks for doing this thread btw it's nice to see one of the better players give out some decent tips especially the putting one

[boomboom]

Jul 8, 2016 18:00:53 GMT -5 roblandon said:

Hey boom, great thread!
What's your take on elevation and wind ie wedge shots head wind strength up to driver? And big elevations.

My understanding is driver and woods are x2 most irons x1.5 and wedges x2?

And elevations +/- are dived by 1.5?

I know this can't all be correct as I have missed a few greens using this math but it could be I'm not factoring the numbers correctly?

Thanks for doing this thread btw it's nice to see one of the better players give out some decent tips especially the putting one

My take on it has always been learning to putt.....

If you follow the thread a little you can see for yourself the wind is a beast, different clubs different lofts, even slightly different directions give vastly different results. Your choice if you decide to map everything, I just give you the tools, myself, i figured I would just get better at putting. I don't have the math or the charts to the required detail. By the time i figured out what a 7 mph wind did at 5 oclock it would change to 7 at 8 oclock.

Good luck in your quest.

[roblandon]

Yeah many a time I've been caught out by the wind changing direction even slightly I've also done all the wind stuff in Gncd but not done any elevation stuff what would you create in gncd to combat that? As I have no idea lol.

[nantez88]

Jul 8, 2016 18:00:53 GMT -5 roblandon said:

Hey boom, great thread!
What's your take on elevation and wind ie wedge shots head wind strength up to driver? And big elevations.

My understanding is driver and woods are x2 most irons x1.5 and wedges x2?

And elevations +/- are dived by 1.5?

I know this can't all be correct as I have missed a few greens using this math but it could be I'm not factoring the numbers correctly?

Thanks for doing this thread btw it's nice to see one of the better players give out some decent tips especially the putting one

Elevation is divided by 3 pal not 1.5
And will definitely make you miss greens.

1.5 for wind and putting pal hope this helps :-)

[roblandon]

Lol I don't know why I put 1.5 I did mean to put 3 lol I probably wouldn't have got to web using 1.5 lmao

[boomboom]

Ok time for a couple more tips, prepare for these they completely go against the grain of thinking by even the tour organizers, the course schedulers and many tin foil hatted enthusiasts here.

I'll try and keep this short. I'm likely considered to be the guy who practices the upcoming course the most. With that said however, practice rounds are completely pointless. I have tried taking notes of landing areas especially for the firm setups and can state categorically it is a completely useless and pointless exercise. If anything they hurt a lot more than they help.

Here's why. Ok so I can play a practice round or 2 and decide the best landing area for a firm setup is 8 yards short of a pin for a particular hole. Come tourney time I look at my notes and proceed to do everything within my power to hit it 8 yards short, make the great shot, wait for the great result only to be utterly disappointed in the result leaving me scratching my head. So wtf just happened, well the wind was different and caused a different result. My best results in tourneys at tgct have all come from tourneys that i did not practice much. You need make the decision on the fly and judgment based on conditions staring you in the face for the best results. Relying on notes from practice rounds is a mistake and will doom you to failure.

Same can be said for ghosts. These ghosts lie. I have seen the following example almost 50% of the time, hence I now completely ignore ghosts. I was playing a practice round the other day with ghosts on, followed the ghost ball and watched as it stiffed the flag landing 10 yards short and a little right. I proceeded to repeat that shot and got a vastly different result. However there I was now with 85 feet to the flag and who was putting from right beside me, the ghost ball I had previously followed. Ghosts lie and they lie bad.

So if you want to succeed, you need figure out how the wind will effect the roll out of the shot you are faced with. i.e, tailwind wind will roll it out a little more then side wind and a lot more than a head wind.

And ignore those ghosts.

[Deleted]

Jul 9, 2016 22:40:58 GMT -5 boomboom said:

Ok time for a couple more tips, prepare for these they completely go against the grain of thinking by even the tour organizers, the course schedulers and many tin foil hatted enthusiasts here.

I'll try and keep this short. I'm likely considered to be the guy who practices the upcoming course the most. With that said however, practice rounds are completely pointless. I have tried taking notes of landing areas especially for the firm setups and can state categorically it is a completely useless and pointless exercise. If anything they hurt a lot more than they help.

Here's why. Ok so I can play a practice round or 2 and decide the best landing area for a firm setup is 8 yards short of a pin for a particular hole. Come tourney time I look at my notes and proceed to do everything within my power to hit it 8 yards short, make the great shot, wait for the great result only to be utterly disappointed in the result leaving me scratching my head. So wtf just happened, well the wind was different and caused a different result. My best results in tourneys at tgct have all come from tourneys that i did not practice much. You need make the decision on the fly and judgment based on conditions staring you in the face for the best results. Relying on notes from practice rounds is a mistake and will doom you to failure.

Same can be said for ghosts. These ghosts lie. I have seen the following example almost 50% of the time, hence I now completely ignore ghosts. I was playing a practice round the other day with ghosts on, followed the ghost ball and watched as it stiffed the flag landing 10 yards short and a little right. I proceeded to repeat that shot and got a vastly different result. However there I was now with 85 feet to the flag and who was putting from right beside me, the ghost ball I had previously followed. Ghosts lie and they lie bad.

So if you want to succeed, you need figure out how the wind will effect the roll out of the shot you are faced with. i.e, tailwind wind will roll it out a little more then side wind and a lot more than a head wind.

And ignore those ghosts.

BoomBoom, I agree with you 99%. Almost all the time my best rounds are the first time I play the course. However, there are those holes where you're not sure if you're going to carry over the water on the drive even with the wind blowing out. It's nice to at least see what happens when you hit the ball off the tee at least once. Then you have a pretty good idea. Last thing I want to do is be confronted with a tee shot and say to myself, "Do I go driver or club up to play it safe" especially if playing it safe means I don't make green in 2. I would hate to give up a stroke when it wasn't necessary.

Now, these holes are usually the exception on a course. Most courses don't have these life and death decisions. Still, I want to look at a course one time just to see the layout of each hole and see if there are any of those life and death decisions such as clearing water or a bunker.

Having said that, there is no way I would have made my Web exemption had I not practiced that week's course as much as I did and made notes. The greens were firm all 4 rounds, a condition I am terrible at still to this day, and I absolutely had to at least try to figure out where to put my ball on the approach. And even with all that practice, I made it in by 1 stroke. Still, the first time I played that course, I didn't even break par. So in that particular case, practice was critical to my success.

But yeah, on most courses, familiarity screws me up totally which is why I hardly practiced this week's course at all. Was T2 after 2 rounds. Only 2 holes ruined the whole tourney for me in round 3. Again, something I needed practice on, elevated greens on the flop/pitch. Thanks to your tip I can now play those. I still can't play firm greens and for the life of me can't figure out how, but I'll keep working at it. That's the 1% exception where I will practice a course to death simply because if I don't, I might as well not play it at all. Firm greens are my kryptonite. I am totally clueless on them.

Anyway, thanks again for the tips. They really are helping a lot and I will be up there to join you soon.