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St. Andrews' 1st hole

• LizzieRossetti 1,545 Posts

  Tue, Jan 25 2011 3:33 PM

  Hiya Olds.

  I recognise your dichotomy.

  First tip I would offer,is get some balls with high spin values.The free ones don't have any,but they do provide sport and mirth for anyone you play with,as they watch them roll away into the sunset,while their balls hug the pin.That,more than anything else made me decide that never again would anyone laugh at me in this game,for my playing skills,or distinct lack of it.Safe to say,those particular players don't want to play me anymore.

  Now it's no good me getting all techy,because I would be fraudulent if I said I knew what I was talking about,but I have read that starter sets,i.e the free ones,are not designed to impart much spin.So if you decide to buy upgraded clubs,you will be able to stop the ball very much more easily.( I know right now you are saying to yourself-"Im not paying for anything here"-but trust me,we all did say that)

  When I play this hole,I try to drop a tee shot into the "wedge" zone,which means I can use a wedge for the final approach,and for me,thats anything from 105yds downwards. Personally I never give any club 100% at this distance,and my preference is to shoot with the shortest club according to distance to pin.I knock a little off the power for a tail or side/tail wind,and add a bit for head and side winds,allowing also for wind direction as it acts upon ballflight.(this means I move the marker into the wind,typically 1yd per mph per 100yds.ish)

  If you end up on the edge of the burn,don't chip/pitch or flop,you will just end up adding to the pile of balls already in there from my attempts.In that scenario,I wedge,with extra power,and then call upon the gods to help me birdie the resultant 38ft putt.They are deaf,I swear.

  You could also try standing at the tee tapping your foot with arms folded across your chest,until they change the pin,or phone your Dad and have him sack somebody important at St.Andrews,but I'll be honest,neither have worked for me,heaven knows Ive tried them both enough times.

  Aside from that,give it time,dilligence,and a few balls in the burn,and you will master the SOB soon enough.

  Good luck!

   

  Lizzie

• Noobingalltheway 222 Posts

  Tue, Jan 25 2011 10:36 PM

  Oldstir:

  has 'anyone' ever stopped the ball within 30-40 ft aiming straight at the pin when it is situated nearest the creek?

  Oldstir - view my second replay. I believe it lands 9 feet from the pin, aimed straight and it was certainly nearest the creek. 

  If you would like a little more help, please feel free to invite me as a friend, and invite me to play a round there with you. I will inform you whilst playing what kind of shot needs to be done

  I can only assume that if you are having this problem, then you are landnig very close to the water on your first shot, and therefore your "caddy" is choosing a chip shot for your approach...

  Rob

• BriRock 148 Posts

  Wed, Jan 26 2011 6:55 AM

  OLDSTIR

  I took the challenge as well, going back to the starter set and free balls, the two best shots i could manage from around 90 yards with an 8mph tailwind were 4 and 5 yards...out of 5 attempts, 12 yards was my worst approach...The two best shots can be seen in my replays (NOOBY3 & NOOBY4)...

  In addition, i attempted this shot with my current clubs, one from around 70 yards, and the other from 170 yards (to show you that with better equipment its possible to stop the ball).  Again out of the 5 or so tries at both distances, my worst was around 4 yards for the shorter shot, and 11 yards for the longer one...Replays in my profile (NOOBY2 & NOOBY1) if you want to take a look...

  I get where you're coming from with the frustration, but keep at it, with a couple of months of practice and some upgraded clubs, that hole gets quite easy.  It's become mostly a guaranteed birdie for me now with any putt inside of 20'.

• PGAbound67 565 Posts

  Wed, Jan 26 2011 7:28 AM

  Oldstir:

  Roger, I see You figured out the necessity to go 'Left'. :)  But no one has answered my main query yet.  Which is; even with the best possible set of irons, has 'anyone' ever stopped the ball within 30-40 ft aiming straight at the pin when it is situated nearest the creek?

  Every day. Just keep practicing and tinkering with you shots, you'll get better with time just like all of us.

• Oldstir 434 Posts

  Wed, Jan 26 2011 7:57 AM

  Thanks for confirming Rob.  If upgraded clubs can't get anyone closer than 9 ft on this simple hole or even possibly eagle it, then it's just a money-grab but I'm sure it's a lot more fun to play if one can afford the better clubs and balls. :)  WGT is certainly the best PC golf sim out there but I think the owners could have just One golf course for hackers to play using the best clubs and balls for free?  That way, it would allow beginners to truly enjoy the WGT virtual experience as it was programmed to be rather than just enticing people to hack around with beginner's clubs hoping newbies will "buy into the WGT experience".  It would also allow beginners to practice and find out if they are competant enough to join Tournaments etc. and then they would be more inclined to "pay" for the better clubs.  Otherwise the majority will just find another Game to play.

  Because I don't think the owners realize; the way it is now, most beginners will simply get fed up with guessing and hacking around with the lousy Beginner's Clubs and never return to the site because Nobody likes to be made a fool of.  Which is likely what I will do too but mainly because I hate being conned.  If WGT is just out to make a buck and this site is just for rich snobs to play with their rich toys desinged by a rich programmer, then they can have it. :)   At the same time, I respect Free Enterprise and I congratulate the owners for creating this concept and now they're laughing all the way to the Bank. :)  Well done!

  That being said, at least I can break 100 even using the lousy beginner's clubs.  In fact I've shot an 81 on one course and 80 on another.  So I try to enjoy the challenge of being the Best Hack playing with Hack Clubs but if they want to attract more members to "buy into" the WGT experience, I guarantee this is not the way to Do It. :)  Indeed I'm sure they're losing more potential members than gaining, by their "dangling a carrot" approach.  Pun intended. :)

   

• 3puttsSuk 361 Posts

  Wed, Jan 26 2011 8:08 AM

  If we could pick and chose holes in practice mode, this would be a fun experiment.

  "Today's challenge...blah blah blah"  Then people could post their shots, comments or whatnots.  I guess for now it could be done for all the 1st holes, stroke and  CTTH.  Might be fun.

  As for the OP,  i think it's the Beginners Clubs, so yeah you answered your own question.  A Beginners Club only challenge might be interesting too. LOL

• borntobesting 9,632 Posts

  Wed, Jan 26 2011 8:22 AM

  Oldstir:

  Thanks for confirming Rob.  If upgraded clubs can't get anyone closer than 9 ft on this simple hole or even possibly eagle it, then it's just a money-grab but I'm sure it's a lot more fun to play if one can afford the better clubs and balls. :)  WGT is certainly the best PC golf sim out there but I think the owners could have just One golf course for hackers to play using the best clubs and balls for free?  That way, it would allow beginners to truly enjoy the WGT virtual experience as it was programmed to be rather than just enticing people to hack around with beginner's clubs hoping newbies will "buy into the WGT experience".  It would also allow beginners to practice and find out if they are competant enough to join Tournaments etc. and then they would be more inclined to "pay" for the better clubs.  Otherwise the majority will just find another Game to play.

  Because I don't think the owners realize; the way it is now, most beginners will simply get fed up with guessing and hacking around with the lousy Beginner's Clubs and never return to the site because Nobody likes to be made a fool of.  Which is likely what I will do too but mainly because I hate being conned.  If WGT is just out to make a buck and this site is just for rich snobs to play with their rich toys desinged by a rich programmer, then they can have it. :)   At the same time, I respect Free Enterprise and I congratulate the owners for creating this concept and now they're laughing all the way to the Bank. :)  Well done!

  That being said, at least I can break 100 even using the lousy beginner's clubs.  In fact I've shot an 81 on one course and 80 on another.  So I try to enjoy the challenge of being the Best Hack playing with Hack Clubs but if they want to attract more members to "buy into" the WGT experience, I guarantee this is not the way to Do It. :)  Indeed I'm sure they're losing more potential members than gaining, by their "dangling a carrot" approach.  Pun intended. :)

  On # 1 front pin placement unless I am just having an awful day I generally can get with in 3 to 5 feet I make more birdies on that pin placement than just about any other hole. I never use a full shot to that pin. I use the punch shot with my wedges there and they work wonders. And No WGT is not a rich man's game. Most of the clubs that i have bought I earned the money needed by either taking surveys or completing the free offers.There are plenty of free offers. And many of the ones that's aren't free are things you might want to do anyway. Like book clubs,DVD clubs, Netflix, Direct TV. Just check them out and you might find some that you want to do and earn enough credits to get the clubs that will make the game easier.  

   

• Oldstir 434 Posts

  Wed, Jan 26 2011 8:27 AM

  Thanks for taking the time to go back to beginners clubs.  I won't be spending good money though just for a PC pasttime experience.  And yes it was frustrating but I finally realized they do that intentionally so you'll give them Money to enjoy the game more. :)  But heh, be happy to play a Round with you with both of us using Hack Clubs.  I shot an 81 on this course once and 80 on another.  What's Your best with Beginner's Clubs?  If They're too cheap to offer at least One Free Course with Good Clubs and Balls, the least they could do is offer a special Beginner's-Clubs-Hack-Tournament to see who's the Best Hacker out there? :)  Otherwise, the "Free" WGT experience is little more than just time-killing and not much fun.  But in all fairness to the Paying Members, it's best I cannot afford to upgrade because if I did, I would probably be unbeatable? :)

• LizzieRossetti 1,545 Posts

  Wed, Jan 26 2011 9:50 AM

  So despite the help we have tried to offer,looks like we will never know huh?

   

• Noobingalltheway 222 Posts

  Wed, Jan 26 2011 10:41 AM

  The clubs have very little influence on the shot to be honest....If I were able to shoot a round from beginners tees with beginners clubs, I am sure I would shoot within 2 shots of the scores I get now...

  As for getting credits Oldstir...complete a few free offers, play some ranked rounds and you will get credits. If you're a good player, you will get to "Pro" tier without ever needing to purchase new clubs...you'll get credits for moving up to this tier and can then buy the starter set without ever spending a penny or completing any offers.

  Oldstir:

  Thanks for confirming Rob.  If upgraded clubs can't get anyone closer than 9 ft on this simple hole or even possibly eagle it

  As for this - I'm unsure where that came from - If I shot to 9 feet away with a "barely" upgraded club (1 better than the ones you're using) on my first try, then I'm sure an eagle is possible...I've got to less than a foot from an eagle on this hole a few times....its not about the clubs you use it's about the way you play, its about practice (you'll like that Lizzie) and it's about not moaning just because you can't do something on your first try...

  All that upgraded clubs do is make it so that you can hit the ball further, and stop the ball quicker. I don't see a particular benefit to the "precision" rating of clubs, and the forgiveness is pretty much required when you have a faster swing meter, so isn't really a "benefit" over the beginners clubs IMO...others may disagree

  Rob