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#18 Congressional

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Sat, May 24 2014 12:55 PM

  Okay, I really don't like complaining because I know y'all get enough of it, but 2 things on this hole and one, IMO, should be being addressed already. I just had a 177 yard approach shot, with the green 27 feet below the shot, a 12 mph right to left wind but more at you than left.

  Knowing how easily that hole can ruin a round for you, I placed my aim well right of the pin made sure I hit the ball with enough power, but then missed the ding to the right, which is a slice as we all know. However, somehow, this 12 mph wind blew a sliced ball that was already aimed right all the way to past the left of the green, bounced in rough and in the water. That's just not possible and I regret, very much, not saving the replay. I was a bit mind blown at the time.

  Now the part that I truly hope is being worked on right now is where you have to drop if you hit the water there, and in many other places on other courses. Drop spots are not in the 2nd cut of rough, EVER. That's like a 2 stroke penalty when your errant shot only calls for one stroke as a penalty.

  Out of the many suggestions WGT has to choose from, this should be 1st on the list and should be changed yesterday. Now, you may have a drop spot in the middle of rough, but it is kept mowed and with a white circle around it on every course Ive seen in my life. How this was done wrong in the 1st place really worries me, but that's another topic.

  So, thanks for the Bogie that should have easily been par, and I'll soon know if it had any effect on the outcome of the 100 Credit Tour Master bracket I just played the 1st round of.

• alosso 21,037 Posts

  Sat, May 24 2014 2:48 PM

  It's not the only unfortunate drop of the game - ever had to shoot through that tree at CCC #11, of from sand over the pond @KIA #17, 180+ yds carry?

  I don't expect any change, hope abandoned.

  And how can you possibly expect a Par if your fourth shot after the water penalty is to the green?

  My 2 Pfennig: Take the pill, accept the bogey and be a happy rabbit! ;->

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Sat, May 24 2014 5:08 PM

  And wouldn't ya just know it? Final score 76-76 and I'll prolly lose the tie break thanks to the water shot that went against the laws of Physics, as well. I play this game on this site because I thrive on competition and getting better at something I enjoy. I pay to play in tournaments because it serves to elevate that level of competition that I feel, as well as makes me a better player.

  It doesn't matter that it cost me a whole US dollar to enter the tournament. What matters is the fact that, thanks to a glitch and a horrible decision to place penalty drop spots in deep rough, I may very well not have a shot at winning the round, much less make the money rounds.

  And I'll be the 1st to say that 76 is a terrible score, period. But, over the past couple of weeks, it has become evident that green speeds and wind speeds have been changed to the point where it affects scoring. That's actually fine with me, as making things harder also makes you better, but in my 5 months here I've never missed so many birdie putts by mere inches, and watch balls, literally, roll by a cup when they were obviously dead on line to go in just a foot away.

  Like I said, make it harder but make it correct at the same time. If your programmers had the time to change how the greens and winds affect the ball, they had time to get rid of the terrible drop spots and put them in a place that doesn't amount to a 2 stroke penalty, as opposed to the one stroke the rules call for.

  Come on WGT, get it together. Honestly. And I'm not taking lack of income as an excuse either. If you have a problem there that is 100% your fault, because lord knows we spend enough cash here, and with the sponsors you have the amount we spend is most likely a mere pittance in comparison to what they bring in for you.

  I can take losing like a man when I know I lost or was simply beaten by a better player. But losing because of something like this is something none of us should have to take. Not at 450 a sleeve and so on, and so on, and so on.....

  Signed,

  Not Real Thrilled by the Site Any Longer

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Sat, May 24 2014 5:15 PM

  alosso:

  And how can you possibly expect a Par if your fourth shot after the water penalty is to the green?

  Well, my friend, either I did a poor job of describing what happened, or you didn't read what I wrote. I never should have been hitting my 4th shot from the drop zone because the ball should not have ended up anywhere near the water. Period, end of story. At worst, I should have been hitting a 3rd shot from rough to the right of the green then putting for par.

  Also, I expect tough shots or I wouldn't even play. That's part of the realism for me. What isn't even close to reality is having a ball, that is aimed well to the right of the pin towards the right of the green, that is then sliced rather well, being blown by a 12mph wind 40 yards to the left and into water. Never seen it happen here or on a real course.

• alosso 21,037 Posts

  Sat, May 24 2014 11:18 PM

  Sorry to say, it plunged, period. (and I referred to the second part of your post only)

  There are wtf shots, there are "gusts of wind" etc, having unexpected influence on our shots, good or bad. This we must accept IMHO. There are those unfortunate drop spots, too. 30 months experience told me that it's no use to claim "fix it asap!" because most of the time they don't. Neither will drop zones be installed by hindsight.

  Honestly: Take the game as-is. The only alternative would be to vote with our feet.

  Peace!

• mobrienjr 240 Posts

  Wed, May 28 2014 12:25 PM

  People always fail to see what they did wrong.  That 12 wind should have moved your ball at least 6 yards, missing the ding can have all sorts or different actions.  You could be short, you could be left, you could be right.  

  The club distances only say "Average", that wind all have gusts.  That is what makes this game the best on the net. that is also why Tiger Woods went belly up.

• fatdan 3,379 Posts

  Wed, May 28 2014 12:36 PM

  What club did you use and what/how much spin?

  I'm betting I know what happened, been there done that...lol.

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Thu, May 29 2014 12:52 AM

  The treatment of hazards in this game is one area that needs some serious improvement. It is way off of the rules of golf, which give the player various options depending on the circumstances. Here if a drop is possible the player always gets the drop, but not necessarily the drop the player would take. Also there is no ability to roll up your virtual trouser legs and play from a hazard.

  Rule 26-1:

  If a ball is found in a water hazard or if it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in the water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:

  a. Proceed under the stroke and distance provision of Rule 27-1 by playing a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or

  b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or

  c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

• alosso 21,037 Posts

  Thu, May 29 2014 1:52 AM

  zagraniczniak:

  It is way off of the rules of golf, which give the player various options depending on the circumstances. Here if a drop is possible the player always gets the drop, but not necessarily the drop the player would take. Also there is no ability to roll up your virtual trouser legs and play from a hazard.

  IMHO, there is Rule I of WGT game simplification: Give the player no options!

  I agree that there more than a few "unfortunate" or nasty drops, but imagine the effort to calculate, give and limit all the thinkable legal options at lateral water hazards (Merion, CCC etc). It's a huge task to do, not talking about the time delay involved during a game.

  Furtheron, many players here don't know about the rules - how to instruct them?

  As a "real" golfer knowing the rules, I'm contended that by far most of the drops are legal automatic choices - I found only four rule breaches until now.

  And, it's "fair" because it's the same to everybody!

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Thu, Jul 3 2014 5:48 PM

  alosso:

  but imagine the effort to calculate, give and limit all the thinkable legal options at lateral water hazards (Merion, CCC etc). It's a huge task to do, not talking about the time delay involved during a game.

  To me, the answer is a simple one. You simply decide on a spot as equal as possible to any place the ball enters the hazard, mow the damn rough twice a week, paint a white circle around it, & call it a drop zone. Problem solved on any course & any hole. It's clear that WGT can't go by every USGA rule of play there is, so what difference would drop zones, on any course we are forced to hit from crap rough on, after already taking a stroke penalty, make?