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WARNING: Before spending money on clubs...

rated by 0 users
Fri, May 1 2009 3:02 PM (2 replies)
  • chicagorob14
    2 Posts
    Fri, May 1 2009 12:46 PM

    I bought the full set of PING clubs, and there are a couple of things that I wish I’d have known before I bought clubs. 

    First, the game gets A LOT harder immediately after you buy clubs. 

    The PING clubs are vastly less forgiving than the free-bees.  When you miss the accuracy line by even a small amount, you're punished by having the ball spray all over the place.  And given the extent to which you're punished for hitting even the light rough, you end up doubly punished.

    AND the shot meter moves 3-4 times as fast as the freebees.  Now, this wouldn't be a big deal, as I could get used to it if it weren't for the fact that the shot meter "pauses," so to speak, in the middle of a shot, thereby making the speed of the shot meter inconsistent.  So with the new clubs I don’t have the time that I need to adjust to the pause, and end up being further off of the accuracy line that I expected.

    Now, I played well enough with the freebees that I was upgraded from "Hack" to "Amateur," which is cool, but by doing that, they moved the tees back, significantly.  When I played a round with the free clubs, I quickly realized that hitting 3-wood as my second shot into a 390 yard hole was problematic, so I was inspired to upgrade.  But the distance that was added by the upgrade in clubs is more than offset by the loss of accuracy, such that I regret upgrading and spending the money on the new clubs.  It's possible, with additional rounds, that I'll change my mind, but I went from shooting between -1 to -4 on the back 9 at the South Carolina course to battling to make pars.  After 3 rounds (two 9-hole; one 18 hole) I have yet to see a score under par, even in practice rounds switched back to the short tees.  My last round (18 holes from the standard tees for an amateur at SC) I shot +14; twelve holes into the round I was wonder why I was still playing.  (I really can't say why I finished the round...I guess I was hoping I'd get used to the it at some point.)

    Which brings me to my final point: ONLY put enough money into your account to give you the credits that you need to buy those clubs.  You cannot withdraw money that you used to buy credits; only money that you win in tournaments.  Therefore, it looks like I’ve wasted $30, rather than just the $17 that I’ve spent on the clubs – and I leave feeling that I haven’t gotten anywhere near $30 worth of entertainment out of this thing.  Don’t make the same mistake.  You can always add more money later, if you disagree with me, and like the new clubs, but you can’t take the money out once you’ve put it in.  Here’s my advice: If you buy clubs, you’ll want to play practice rounds with the clubs to adjust to the differences (which have been highlighted above). 

    But if you’re like me, the game could very likely become a source of frustration and stress, instead of a fun outlet for a moment’s break during the day.  At this moment, I’m not certain whether or not I’ll play this game again.  I know that I’m not looking forward to playing another full round, so playing tournaments seems like a punishment, rather than a treat. 

  • jollygreen
    20 Posts
    Fri, May 1 2009 2:00 PM

    come and join the ladders then bud at www.wtg.agls.org.uk and play the game for fun, lets face it, many of us are not good enough to win a tournament, i certainly am not going to spend money on something i aint got a cat in hells chance of achievng.

  • nivlac
    2,188 Posts
    Fri, May 1 2009 3:02 PM

    I used to be in the same boat as you rob, so I definitely feel your pain.  All I can say is that there is an adjustment period to swinging these sticks that took longer to get used to than I thought.  After forcing myself to play these clubs for 3-4 days straight I have definitely seen an improvement in my game and my ability to hit these clubs on the mark.

    I can imagine it's going to be a little more difficult for you because not only are you adjusting to the clubs, but you're also still adjusting to the Amateur tees.  Having to deal with both at the same time is probably quite a frustrating experience, but I urge you to stick with it and battle through it.  It should get better.

    As far as the meter goes, make sure you clear your flash/browser caches after every version # change.  If you still use IE, try switching to Firefox or Chrome.  Try bookmarking the WGT client so you open straight into the game, instead of having to go through the website first.  Also, make sure you close down any extra programs or processes that don't need to run.  This game is a resource hog at best, so try to give it as much free memory as it can chew on.  Lastly, make sure your system is up to min spec (2.0 ghz P4 w/ 2GB ram).

    Hope this helps.   Good luck and don't give up!

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