This post contains tips, tricks, and information related to the 2007 Golden Tee course Glacier Ranch.

Holes #1-18 Tips and Tricks — Check out the expert advice here on how to approach each hole at Golden Tee’s Glacier Ranch!

This post contains tips, tricks, and information related to the 2007 Golden Tee course Rustic Bridge.

Holes #1-18 Tips and Tricks — Check out the expert advice here on how to approach each hole at Golden Tee’s Rustic Bridge!

This post contains tips, tricks, and information related to the 2007 Golden Tee course Indigo Mound.

Holes #1-18 Tips and Tricks — Check out the expert advice here on how to approach each hole at Golden Tee’s Indigo Mound!

This post contains tips, tricks, and information related to the 2007 Golden Tee course Palm Springs.

Holes #1-18 Tips and Tricks — Check out the expert advice here on how to approach each hole at Golden Tee’s Palm Springs!

Description

Low-loft Driver (8.5 degrees): 310
3 Wood: 275
5 Wood: 250
7 Wood: 200
9 Wood: 190
5 Iron: 160
6 Iron: 150
7 Iron: 140
8 Iron: 125
9 Iron: 100
Gap Wedge: 70
Loft Wedge: 40
Flop Wedge: 30
Putter

Description

Low-loft Driver (8.5 degrees): 310
3 Wood: 275
4 Wood: 260
5 Wood: 250
7 Wood: 200
9 Wood: 190
7 Iron: 140
8 Iron: 125
9 Iron: 100
Pitching Wedge: 80
Gap Wedge: 70
Sand Wedge: 60
Loft Wedge: 40
Putter

Description

Low-loft Driver (8.5 degrees): 310
3 Wood: 275
5 Wood: 250
7 Wood: 200
4 Hybrid: 190
5 Hybrid: 170
6 Hybrid: 160
7 Iron: 140
8 Iron: 125
9 Iron: 100
Gap Wedge: 70
Loft Wedge: 40
Flop Wedge: 30
Putter

Golden Tee’s site gives you a nice little graph showing the expected performance of each ball in regards to 4 factors: distance, backspin, curve, and loft.  So, at a high level, you can glance at the charts and see roughly how they compare, but I wanted to find out the numbers behind those charts.

When measured closely, you’ll find that the performance ratings vary quite a bit more than meets the eye.  Click here to open this spreadsheet in a new window.  In terms of pixels, the raw numbers you see in column D represent the length of each bar.  In the top center is a grid displaying the raw ratings.  Now, if you assume that the stock ball has average performance in each category, as seems to be indicated by the graph, then the stock ball should have a rating of 5.0 on a scale of 0 to 10.  Using this as our base, we get a better performance rating grid, as seen in the upper right.

From there, you can break down each of the 4 categories, sorted by highest-performing at the top (or left of the chart).  Now you can see more accurately how each of these balls stack up against each other in each category.

So, what categories are the most important to consider when choosing your ball?  In my opinion, distance is king and must be considered first.  Extra distance on straight shots alone can make the biggest difference in your score.  Curve is probably next — you want your ball to be able to curve sharply on your A1 and C3-type shots to give you even more potential to reach locations not otherwise possible with a lesser-performing ball.  Backspin is also important, but you’re probably looking for something in the middle — too much backspin can be hard to control, and not enough makes it difficult to stick some greens.  Finally, loft doesn’t seem to be much of a factor when choosing a ball.  You will learn loft much more from club selection than you will by changing balls.

Moving back to the grid in the upper-right, you can also see why most players choose Hurtles as their ball of choice.  They are among the longest in distance, and they have decent backspin and curve ratings.  According to the chart, they don’t have much loft at all, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, or a significant factor, when playing them.

Of course, all this analysis is contingent on the data being accurate, and according to many pros, some of the data is off base.  The distance ratings are solid — you can see proof of that with your distance marker off the tee as you change between balls.  Curve ratings should be pretty close.  For backspin, many believe the Hurtles rating should be higher (at least in the middle), while the Straight Jackets spin more than the Streaks.  Finally, the loft ratings seem to be off, lending even more support to the argument that this factor shouldn’t much be considered.  The Air-Os seem to have lower loft, while the Streaks and Hurtles have plenty of loft, it seems.  And there’s the final point why most of you should be playing the Hurtles in 2012 — they are long and don’t seem to have any weaknesses.

Too many people chalk it up to just having a bad day or a bad weekend.  After all, we all have good games and bad games, but mine just happened all at once.

In reality, there are a lot of reasons you didn’t play as well as you should.  Let’s take a look at some of the things you can’t control, and then we’ll focus on what you can control so that you do better next time!

First, you’re in a foreign venue surrounded by lots of players who are better than you.  This is intimidating.  You might not have pedestals with flat-screen TVs in your local bar, and you certainly don’t have them set up everywhere.  Even if you do, the elevation and size of the monitor will certainly differ.  And you can bet that pedestal has a trackball that rolls smoother than anything you play on.  SO, get there early, bang out a few games on several different machines, and get comfortable with the surroundings — you’ll be here a while!

QUALIFYING:
When the action gets underway, you’ll usually be paired with 2 or 3 other guys to play each course of the qualifier.  You will have several dangerous tendencies here — mainly your desire to show off your skills to others in your group or to try to mask your weaknesses.  You won’t even realize what’s happening until you’re completely embarrassed by shooting a score that you never would have shot back home.

BE YOURSELF.  Play your own game.  Don’t go pin-hunting just to try to show off; give yourself a putt.  Don’t try to do what someone else just did if you aren’t comfortable with it.  You’ll see a lot of new shots here that you haven’t even tried yet — don’t try something for the first time in a tournament!  Save it for next time.  Don’t lay up in a particular spot just because everyone else did.  Don’t hit a bump-and-run chip just because you see everyone else doing it.  If you do make a mistake, even a blow-up hole, shake it off!  There’s a long way to go, and you’ll see soon enough that everyone else makes mistakes too.  Qualifying won’t matter for most of us amateurs, because we’re not going to make the cut with the top guys anyway.  Allow qualifying to settle some nerves and give you confidence that you belong to be here.

MATCH PLAY:
Most of us amateurs will end up in the “Purple” bracket, meaning we didn’t make the top 32.  This is a good thing!  Now you get to play matches against other players who are of a similar skill level.  It’s a lot of fun to win matches, and you can do it if you are mentally tough!  More so than before, your opponent is going to make mistakes.  Your goal is now not to have a blowup hole or any dumb mistakes.  Play safe and smart.  Give yourself putts and don’t press until you absolutely need to.  Your opponent will be nervous too!  Have fun, be respectful, and play your game — you’ll do fine.

I’ve been to many tournaments and have my own experiences as well as those of other tourney amateurs I’ve seen, and there’s just something about a tournament that causes inexperienced players to be off their game.  Learn from my experiences in this and other tourney articles on this site, and you’ll be ready to go enjoy one yourself!

Many pros believe that spin absolutely has an affect on the putt.  Some players are completely sure that applying roll on a putt helps it out of the fringe.  Others believe applying roll to a putt reduces the chance of a rollover on a steep downhill putt.  Some believe that backspin helps slow a putt and gives you a better chance of reducing rollovers.  And many pros just laugh because they think that spin simply has no effect on the putt.  The stance from IT has been that spin SHOULD NOT have any affect on the putt, because spin has not been programmed into the game to affect the putt differently.  Yet the pros are the ones playing on a daily basis, so their opinions and results are certainly basis for this debate!

Finally, many pros believe that distance balls putt faster and farther than normal balls.  The evidence behind this is pretty easy to see by doing a couple tests.  I haven’t heard IT refute this one.

THE TAKEAWAY: Do what “you believe” helps you.  If you think that you make more putts by applying spin, then by all means, continue doing so.  But know that there is no true evidence to support this behavior, at least from the programming point of view!  Also know that the farther your ball goes off the tee, the farther it will go on the green during a putt, albeit not a very significant amount.
PLAYER CLAIM: Pulling back to A or C on downhill putts helps prevent rollovers.
IT CLAIM: This behavior has some affect, but it’s not programmatical.

It’s widely believed that you need to pull the trackball back to A or C on downhill putts to help prevent the chance of a rollover.  I follow this advice and I believe in it.  However, IT also claims that nothing is programmed into the game to support this theory.  IT did bend on this claim for another reason, though.

Due to the trackball design, it’s possible that a pullback to A, but especially C, slows down the putt due to the design of the trackball.  Angled pullbacks create different reads on the sensors of the trackball, so the evidence supporting this theory may just be physical, due to the design of the trackball and NOT the programming of the game.

In addition, most players hit downhill putts with less force anyway.  When you slow the putt down, it’s got the best chance to go in.

THE TAKEAWAY: Continue pulling back to C on your downhill putts of 5 or more, and try to hit them softer than normal putts.  The combination of the physics of the trackball with the slower velocity should certainly help you minimize your rollovers.
PLAYER CLAIM: Backspin adds elevation to your shot, while roll reduces it.
IT CLAIM: Spin has no effect on the height of your shot.

This one isn’t much of a debate.  While IT says that backspin and roll have not been programmed to alter the height of your shot, there’s overwhelming evidence supporting the contrary.  Specific player tests have proven that backspin gives you a little more elevation on your shot, while roll makes your shot fly a bit lower than with no spin applied.

THE TAKEAWAY: If you are ever in need of a bit of extra elevation, put backspin on your shot.  To reduce the height of your shot, apply roll.  This is, of course, considering distance and the function of the spin itself in addition to elevation.