Significant elevation changes: What is the rule of thumb?

[Snakeyes]

Greetings,

Much to my surprise and delight, I stumbled across The Golf Club for the PC and the TGC Tours website this week. I played Links on the PC years ago and Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the Xbox 360 more recently. Anyway, I've been playing a lot of virtual golf lately. I finished Qschool today and registered for the next tournament. I'm really impressed with the way all this is put together at TGC Tours. A super nice job by those that make it happen! The game is good, but the structure and competition make it really fun.    

I played a round on a new course named Teapot Point (IIRC) last night. It features some huge elevation changes between the tee box and putting green. Like 60-70 feet on some holes. So I'm wondering if there is a good rule of thumb for this? If I'm standing on a tee box on a 175 yard hole and the flag pin on the green is 50 feet below me I usually club up 2 clubs. For example, from a 5 iron to a 7 iron to compensate for the change. I'm sure there is a more logical and scientific solution than my gut feeling. I'm trying to wrap my head around this mathematically. Why does the shot described above play shorter? How is a golf hole actually measured for length? If it is direct point to point (tee to hole) than it makes sense to me using some simple trigonometry. Conversely, it is the opposite when you are playing to an elevated green. I club down to compensate the difference.

Thanks,
Pete Scott
      

[coruler2]

Hi Pete. Welcome to TGCTours.

There used to be some good charts for elevation and wind, but I just go mental math after playing the game long enough. The basic rule of thumb for elevation is for downhill: (yardage to pin)-(elevation change/3), and for uphill it's (yardage to pin)+(elevation change/3). Sometimes these won't be perfect, but it's a good starting rule to use. From there you can start dialing in differences in clubs, lofting, and wind with it.

[TreeWood]

Hi Pete,

Welcome aboard! You're absolutely right about TGCT - I can't imagine playing TGC without it. You'll find the wider community here is quite helpful and engaged. Of course, we have our moments, with the occasional drama / flare ups / etc., but at least it's never boring.

Agree 100% with coruler2: Elevation change in feet/3 and either added to or subtracted from original yardage as required. On longer approaches to a fairly elevated green (say 15 feet or more), I will tend to cut the final distance down an additional 2-3 yards, as the ball will tend to have a longer rollout than usual.

When the green is substantially lower, and I'm using a higher lofted club (e.g. wedge) in a crosswind, I'll account for slightly more ball movement left to right or vice-versa due to the additional time the ball spends in the air.



 

[Snakeyes]

Thanks for the tips. I will give that formula coruler2 mentioned a try when I play my next practice round today. Some of this I do by experience such as moving the marker to allow for crosswind, clubbing up or down for tailwind or headwind and lofting or delofting the club for changes in distance between clubs. I have started to play with the shot shaping for draws and fades. I needed a draw yesterday because a tree blocked my direct line to the green from the fairway. So I put in 2 clicks of draw and allowed for that on the marker alignment to the green. It worked as it should.

[Snakeyes]

Sorry, I meant to say feet (FT) on the elevation changes and not yards. My original post was corrected.

[TreeWood]

In your original post you mentioned Links. Man that brings back memories! The old days of Access, Mark Hulka, and the VGA Tour. Though it definitely shows its age, the difference is largely down to pre-historic gen graphics by today's standards. As a sim, it's still serviceable today!

I'll say one thing... course creation is a million times easier in TGC than it ever was in Links!

[KenTremendous]

On a slight tangent but somewhat relevant to original point...

Played a course last night on the RRCC Tour - 507 yards par 4 - simply wouldnt be possible to even green it in two with a strong headwind.

Bit silly.

[Snakeyes]

Nov 5, 2016 12:31:20 GMT -5 KenTremendous said:

On a slight tangent but somewhat relevant to original point...

Played a course last night on the RRCC Tour - 507 yards par 4 - simply wouldnt be possible to even green it in two with a strong headwind.

Bit silly.

The first round that I played during qschool was at the Old Beaver Creek GC. That had some serious wind blowing on it from start to finish. It was extremely challenging to say the least. I was in survival mode. LOL 

[Snakeyes]

TreeWood,

I really enjoyed the Links golf game when Access Software had it. They would always send out a postcard when a new course was ready for purchase. It was my go to game to relax and I played it a lot online with friends. I loved playing the chainsaw.wav file when my buddy was stuck behind a tree. LOL After Microsoft bought out Access I think I remember buying the first iteration of Links from them. After that I stopped playing for awhile and evidently Microsoft quit producing the Links series. Times have really changed. With broadband being so common, almost everything is available by digital download.