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Cutting chip shots

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Here’s a bit more advanced concept that, as usual, requires some practice — but, once you start to get the feel for it, you’ll be able to save yourself a stroke or two per round!

Some pros use this concept on a regular basis for their chipping into sloped greens, but for us amateurs, there are really only a handful of situations where I recommend attempting this type of shot. You’ve got to find yourself in the unfortunate situation where there’s an extreme slope to the right with the pin on the very left edge of the green, or vice versa. If this is the case, a normal chip stands no chance of ending up close to the hole, and you’ll likely be left with a long, difficult putt afterwards.

Fortunately, there’s a way that you can get these chips much closer to the hole! Picture Great Wall #18 with the pin all the way at the top of the green. Your drive was a bit too long, and now you’re in the rough or sand to the left, just about pin high. You’re looking at a short chip into a right 10 slope with no green on the left with which to work.

Instead of bailing out, give this a shot — rotate once to the right and play about a 3/4 C2-type chip with backspin. Because of your lie, you have to hit it a bit harder than if you were hitting off fairway, since hook kills distance from bad lies (even chips). With this shot, you’ll actually have the ball working back up the hill with the backspin, and it should settle nicely around the hole!

Practice will be required to nail the distance, so this might be something to play with on chip shots where hook might not be required, if you don’t think you can make the chip shot anyway.

Let’s look at another fantastic example — Southern Oaks #16, the treacherous par 3 sloped towards the water. With a left-blowing wind and the X-22s, I often find myself bailing out to the right in the sand with my 9-wood. With a straight chip from here, it’s very difficult to keep the ball on the green, since the lie kills your backspin and the slope and wind are pushing to the water. To combat the situation, I rotate once to the left and play an A2-type 3/4 chip with backspin. Now I do have some action working against the downward slope, and it’s much easier to get the chip to stick on the green!

So, add this type of shot to your arsenal and give it a try when faced with one of these tough situations. With a bit of practice, you’ll impress your friends and help your score!

Master the “In Between”

It happens every round — you’ve put yourself in a situation where clubbing down and hammering a shot won’t quite get there, but clubbing up and hitting a smooth thumb shot goes too far. I think this is one area where the casual player can make big gains on the scoreboard with a little smarts and a little practice.

First of all, you can reduce the number of these types of approach shots by being smart off the tee. Know the gaps in your clubs and put your drive in a place that gives you a comfortable approach instead of just blindly pounding a drive out there. You know to try to line up with the wind if you have options off the tee, but you should also know the distances of the clubs in your set — lay back for a more comfortable approach instead of putting yourself in a position where you’re not sure which club to use!

On the other hand, you don’t have control of where you’re placed on the tee box. On par 3s and drivable par 4s, you may be left with a tough decision to make. First, look for danger short of the green and behind the green — this should be the most important information when choosing your club. If there’s trouble long and you’re afraid an easy thumb shot might carry too far, then club down. If it’s safe long, then take the longer club.

So what if there’s water short and long? Here’s where you need to add another shot to your arsenal — the 2/3 touch shot. I call it 2/3 because you’ll generally be pulling the club back 2/3 of the way in order to take enough distance off the shot to be safe. Let’s say you’ve got the X-22s and you need to carry 175 yards to an island green with a strong cross-wind. Your 5-iron is very risky only going 160 yards, and your 9-wood will go too far at 190. The solution? Grab your 9-wood, pull it back 2/3 of the way in the direction you’d normally be aiming, and thumb it forward at normal easy-thumb strength. This will create the 175-yard shot you’re looking for!

Another note — the length of the pullback is NOT proportional to the distance of the shot. Be careful not to pull the ball back, say, 80% of the way, because you’ll hardly be taking any distance off a full-strength shot. To get the desired effect of reduced distance, you’ve got to be between 50-75% of a full swing. I like to try to use 2/3 as a good baseline, because I know that will take the desired 10-20 yards off the distance to give me the shot I want.

As always, this shot takes practice, but I believe it’s easier to utilize than trying to finesse a very-soft thumbs shot that will most likely go too long or way too short.

There are several examples where this shot comes in handy — most often par 3s that have trouble all around the green. So instead of trying to superman a lesser club or finesse a longer one, use a shorter pullback and take your normal thumbs follow-through to take away some of the guesswork!

How the elements are affecting your distance

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Golden Tee golf clubs, Hitting out of rough lies • • Leave a Comment (4)

With the introduction of the dynamic distance indicator in Golden Tee Live 2010, players now get to see how differing conditions affect the distance of any particular shot. The amount of rain in combination with the lie of your ball triggers a formula that calculates the number you see on the distance marker with any specific club/ball combo. Sure, we all know that rain kills roll when the ball lands and that you can’t hit the ball as far out of a tough lie, but have you ever stopped to pay attention to all the situations that Golden Tee takes into account?

I’ve been working on this project for a while now, and it’s still got a ways to go, but I wanted to report my findings thus far. This attached file has a ton of information across many tabs, but I want to focus on how each specific lie/weather combo affects your distance.

The tab I’m most interested in completing right now is the “X22s-Gamer2s + Conditions” tab (now Flares and Trackers). These are the clubs and balls I’m currently using on each 2010 course, and so I’ve started recording the distance that shows on the distance marker with each club in that set. There are many situations I haven’t come across yet, as you can tell.

Now, if you pull just a specific club and a specific ball, like my 9-wood and the Gamer 2.0, here’s how the grid now looks (distances in blue are confirmed, while distances in black are best guesses):

X22 9-wood + Gamer2s (now Flares + Trackers)
Lie / Weather	Dry	Wet	Light Rain	Heavy Rain
Teebox	195	192	188	182
Fairway	193	190	187	181
First Cut/Shortcut Grass	194	191	188	182
Second Cut of Rough	180	177	174	168
Heavy Rough	167	164	161	156
Mud	97	95	93	90
Sand/Dust	146	143	140	135
Dirt	137	134	131	127

Now if we order the possible conditions by distance, we end up with this grid:

X22 9-wood + Gamer2s (now Flares + Trackers)	Distance	% Decrease
Teebox + Dry	195	0.00%
First Cut/Shortcut Grass + Dry	194	0.51%
Fairway + Dry	193	1.03%
Teebox + Wet	192	1.54%
First Cut/Shortcut Grass + Wet	191	2.05%
Fairway + Wet	190	2.56%
Teebox + Light Rain	188	3.59%
First Cut/Shortcut Grass + Light Rain	188	3.59%
Fairway + Light Rain	187	4.10%
Teebox + Heavy Rain	182	6.67%
First Cut/Shortcut Grass + Heavy Rain	182	6.67%
Fairway + Heavy Rain	181	7.18%
Second Cut of Rough + Dry	180	7.69%
Second Cut of Rough + Wet	177	9.23%
Second Cut of Rough + Light Rain	174	10.77%
Second Cut of Rough + Heavy Rain	168	13.85%
Heavy Rough + Dry	167	14.36%
Heavy Rough + Wet	164	15.90%
Heavy Rough + Light Rain	161	17.44%
Heavy Rough + Heavy Rain	156	20.00%
Sand/Dust + Dry	146	25.13%
Sand/Dust + Wet	143	26.67%
Sand/Dust + Light Rain	140	28.21%
Dirt + Dry	137	29.74%
Sand/Dust + Heavy Rain	135	30.77%
Dirt + Wet	134	31.28%
Dirt + Light Rain	131	32.82%
Dirt + Heavy Rain	127	34.87%
Mud + Dry	97	50.26%
Mud + Wet	95	51.28%
Mud + Light Rain	93	52.31%
Mud + Heavy Rain	90	53.85%

There are many things to note when looking at this data. The first thing that confused me is that you see a longer distance from the first cut (or “shortcut” grass that exists on several courses) than from the fairway! I asked around and found out that the ball is somewhat ‘teed up’ on the taller grass compared to the fairway, which gets the club under the ball better (also referred to as a ‘flier lie’) — so, that’s pretty cool that IT incorporated this aspect of golf into the game! You can see how mud cripples your distance, cutting it in half, while dirt, dust and sand cut off between a quarter and a third of your distance.

I never knew so many unique conditions on the course were measured so acutely! You don’t just have rain — you have wet, light rain, or heavy rain. And I’m sure I haven’t captured all the possible lies yet either (snow and ice aren’t included, for example, and neither is tall grass).

And if you think you can find just one number constant and use that as a factor in which to calculate the reduction in distance — think again. I tried, and the reduction factor differs per club! And if you think about it, it should, because of how each club is shaped and functions. So whatever formula the guys at IT are using to calculate distance given these conditions cannot be easily cracked!

Hopefully this article opens your eyes to the wonderful complexity of this game we all love. Let me know if you can help me fill in some of the gaps in my distance grids, and I’ll keep the attachment updated as I gather more data!

Dominate the Skins Game

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Improvement, Miscellaneous • • Leave a Comment (3)

Alright – we’re quite a ways into 2010, and maybe you’re looking to expand your Golden Tee experience beyond stroke play. Maybe you and your friends are ready to quit worrying about the blowup holes that ruin your round. Maybe you are ready to put your focus on each hole individually instead of your score as a whole to make the entire 18-hole experience more exciting. If so, you’re ready for Skins Play!

Skins can be played with anywhere from 2-4 people, but in my experience, 3 people in a group works the best. With 2 people you don’t really have the group competition going on; with 4 people, you’ll probably see too many carry-overs and it’s much harder to win a hole. But with 3 people, you have just the right blend of individual glory and tough carry-overs to make for an exciting round!

A fun way to get started with the skins game is to have everyone throw down $18 on the table (easily adjustable, of course, based on your financial situation J). A dollar from each person goes into the pot before each hole starts. If you win the hole, then you win the pot. If it carries over, you each throw in another dollar for the next hole until someone wins a hole, and then that person takes the pot.

If you’re playing for fun, you should take advantage of the built-in Skins game offered with Golden Tee 2010 – it will do the work for you! If you’re playing for money, though, you can go either way – you might want to just play stroke play and track skins on your own.

Okay, so you’ve got your 3 people and your money ready to show – so what’s your plan of attack? Let’s break it down into general strategies, situations where you should be aggressive, and situations where you should be conservative:

GENERAL STRATEGY:

Be long off the tee. This is very important, especially on holes with a difficult approach shot. If you’re closest to the pin off the tee, then you get to watch everyone else go first, which will feed into your decision on how aggressive/conservative to be on your approach shot!
Play your game. Just because you’re not playing stroke play doesn’t mean you need to abandon the things that work for you, especially if you’re going outside your comfort zone just to try to match a great shot. You’ll do best by sticking to your game, and your rewards will come with your opponents’ mistakes. Don’t give up easy strokes!
Never give up! So you got wet on the par 3 and your opponent hit the green? You never know what’s going to happen – he could 3-putt or even put his putt off the green. Remember, the pressure is now on him to finish the hole, and he might open the door back up for you! Plus, you always have a chance to chip in for the tie.
Have fun! The beauty of skins play is the friendly competition amongst your group and how every hole is a new opportunity. Don’t get caught up in the results of one or two holes, because the next hole is another chance to win!

BE AGGRESSIVE!

The hole is pretty easy and a birdie is sure to carry over. In these cases, let your opponents make their birdies – take aim at the pin or the green and go for eagle!
Your opponents already have birdies locked up. In this case, you can do no wrong, because they are going to cancel each other out anyway. Take a good run at the cup!
The pot is small. In this case, it’s okay to take a risk towards getting eagle, because you don’t have much on the line, but your reward is more than you invested!

BE CONSERVATIVE!

The hole is difficult and birdies are unlikely. In this case, you want to make sure you get your par so that, at worst, you force a carry over.
Your opponents are in trouble. If you’re last off the tee or last on the approach, and you see your opponents make mistakes, take the route that gives you the best chance to 1-up them. Remember, you don’t care about your score alone – you only care that it’s 1 better than the other guys on this hole!
The pot is large. Now, if your opponent has already put the pressure on you, then you must try to answer. But, you cannot be the guy who goes first and puts his ball in the hazard off the tee. Force your opponent to make a great shot to beat you, but don’t hand it to him by playing foolishly!

The Gamer 2.0 is here!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Golden Tee golf balls • • Leave a Comment (0)

UPDATE — The Gamers are here! So what does everyone think? I’ve rounded up the opinions of many and here is a summary of how best to describe them:

DISTANCE — Players seem to have more “feel” with these Gamer v2s, allowing them more distance control on thumb shots (especially when taking off distance). Compared with the D2s, the Gamer 2s travel up to 30 yards farther on full-full shots (A1 or C3) and 10-20 yards farther on hammer shots (B2). Thumb shots are almost identical, and judging from the distance marker, you should gain one extra yard on these shots. However, some people still insist that thumb shots fly shorter, so you can determine that for yourself. Also, drives into the wind seem to carry 10-15 more yards than the D2s. Of course, the red balls give you the boost distance on B2 shots, but if you’re having consistency issues with that ball, then the Gamer 2s should be in your collection as the longest ball of 2010.

CURVE — The Gamer 2s curve better than the D2s, and many agree that the curve is very similar to the Orange balls from 2 years back.

SPIN — Spin is comparable to the Freaks from last year. There’s enough of it, but not so much that it’s hard to control.

OVERALL — Some people think that these balls actually travel higher as well, especially with a 3-wood, so pay attention to that next time too. It can provide benefits on some holes, but it can also endanger skipping over water! The height issue is just a theory at this point, though. Overall, this is the most consistent ball of the bunch. With distance and curve, they are playable under most all conditions.

ORIGINAL TEXT — I don’t know that there’s ever been so much anticipation for a new piece of equipment being released in Golden Tee than there is with this virtual golf ball! Not only that, but this may be the first time new equipment is introduced in the middle of the “season.” Golden Tee wanted the release of the Gamer 2.0 to coincide with Top Flite’s release of the actual ball to the public, so here we are, waiting for January 15, 2010!

A lot of people have been frustrated with the selection of the 2010 virtual balls, and most people are hoping that this ball will be the one to use for them on Golden Tee 2010.

So what’s all the excitement about? Well, if you have a little history of the game, then this ball is best described as a combination of the orange balls from 2008 and the Freaks from 2009. The “Long and Soft Distance” (Orange) balls from 2008 were my favorite from that year, because they added distance while also maintaining a good amount of spin. And the Freaks from 2009 were my favorite from that year also because of the increased distance you got while still being able to hold the green and curve shots.

The expected result is that we’re going to end up with the longest ball of 2010 (besides the B2 hammer shots off the tee with the red balls) that also provides you with enough spin to get the job done on almost all your shots! We’re counting on that consistency and performance to help elevate our games for the rest of the 2010 season.

Please provide me with feedback after you’re able to play a few rounds with these highly anticipated virtual balls, and I’ll gather feedback from the community as well to share with you! Good luck and good golfing!

New Category — GTF Featured Holes!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Featured Holes, Features • • Leave a Comment (0)

Every week or two, I’d like to put focus on a specific hole that may be giving some of us lesser players some difficulty. For most of these, I’ll pose the question to the pros in the GT community to see how they are attacking the specific hole, and then I’ll bring the results to you! Whether it be a new landing spot on a par 5 or an approach into a par 4 that you hadn’t considered before, I’m hoping that discovering more about these featured holes will help shave some strokes off our games!

Click here to go to the Featured Holes category, which you can also find in the normal Categories section on the right. We’ll start with Bella Toscana Hole #5, a par 5 that had been very difficult for me to eagle until I learned of a great new layup spot off the drive that makes it much easier to eagle!

Check back here every week or two for a new featured hole, or sign up for our newsletter by entering your name and email on the home page — you’ll get notified every time important new information is added!

Skip it like a pro

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Miscellaneous • • Leave a Comment (3)

A fellow GT’er emailed me a while back asking for tips on how to skip the ball across the water, and I figured this would be a good opportunity to break down the variables that determine whether or not you’ll safely skip across or see your ball sink to the bottom! Golden Tee has done an amazing job taking into account all the factors that determine whether or not your ball will skip, and most of them would apply to skipping a rock across water as well.

Loft of club:
Lower lofted clubs are much more likely to skip than higher lofted clubs. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever attempted to skip across water with a club other than driver, although I know a 0-hybrid would work, and anything up to a 2-iron may work as well. I’m not sure about a 3-wood — does anyone know if it would skip? I’d be scared to try it. So, if you need to skip a shot but the distance calls for something less than a driver, stick with the driver but take some distance off of it. Be careful though because of the next variable…

Velocity of shot:
How hard you hit the shot definitely has an impact on whether or not the shot will skip. You can’t hit a little half-speed punch shot and expect it to skip, but you can get away with taking a little bit off the shot. Full power shots are sure to skip, but a skip will also work if you need to take a little off the shot. That is, so long as you maintain the next variable…

Angle of shot:
You really need to maximize the angle of the shot to ensure the success of the skip. Normal A1 and C3 shots won’t always work, so you’ll want to create as much angle as you can while also ensuring your shot will be accurate as it can be. A 3/4 speed A1 driver will skip even if you thumb it out to A, so long as you’ve pulled back to the left of 1 as far as you can register. Remember that you can pull back left of A and shoot forward left of 1 — there’s more angle there for you to take advantage of, and it’s especially important on skip shots. When lining up your shot, think about the next variable…

Spin:
I think that spin helps a ball skip as well, whether it be roll or backspin. Spin helps create skip when it contacts the water, so I always try to apply roll or backspin when planning a skip. I don’t believe that a skip shot would fail without spin, but honestly I haven’t tried yet — have any of you? Anyway, picture where your ball will end up when it hits land after the skip, and apply the type of spin that best helps you towards your target. Now, consider this often overlooked variable…

Wind:
Wind is important and can kill your chances at a successful skip. If the wind is blowing in the direction of your angled shot, then you’re good to go. If it’s blowing against you, though, you may want to second-guess that shot. A wind in the face of your shot will straighten out the shot, decreasing the angle of the shot which is so important to the success of the skip. Wind doesn’t matter as much on shorter shots, but the longer the ball is in the air, the more time the wind has to straighten it out. That brings us to the final variable…

Distance:
Distance comes into play most often in combination with wind and loft. Shorter shots with a driver, for example, don’t get as high off the ground. So, as long as you have enough angle behind it, the ball stays low enough to skip successfully. Longer shots that are lacking angle, however, do have a greater chance for failure, especially if wind is involved. You could see your buddy skip a long drive across to the fairway, but when you try it, you plop in the water and wonder why. Well, you probably didn’t create as much angle on that long shot as he did, and when you combine that with the distance he gained by hitting a fuller A1 or C3 shot, then you start to understand why you came up short.

You also need to have a good idea of where your ball will be making contact with the water. You can’t skip it twice, so you need to make sure that your ball will touch land after it skips. A skip followed by a plop isn’t good for anything!

Get to know the X-22s and Distance Balls!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: 2009 - Golden Tee LIVE 2010, Features, Golden Tee golf balls, Golden Tee golf clubs • • Leave a Comment (0)

For most of my 2+ year Golden Tee career, I’ve had the pleasure of playing almost every round with the “old birds” — the 2005 hybrid set. These clubs are preferred by a large percentage of players because they provide a nice set of distance gaps and have a lob wedge, and in general the lower-lofted hybrids are easier to control than low-lofted irons. After playing several rounds on 2010, however, I’ve realized it’s time to make a change.

Below you’ll see a breakdown of each course and you’ll learn why you should be playing the X-22s and the red distance balls on every course, with Monument Valley possibly being the exception where the D2 Feel balls could benefit a bit more. As you’ll see, the distance balls and the option of having a 7-wood or 9-wood available can help you shave strokes off a lot of holes in Golden Tee 2010!

THE GREAT WALL
Off the tee: The 7-wood can make your tee shot easier on holes #5, #7, #9, #12, #15 (up onto The Great Wall), and #17. The distance balls can rarely make #1 and #16 driveable, they can allow you to drive past the square landing area on #4, they can allow you a more lofted club on #15 if it’s tight, and they can make #5 and #14 driveable where they might not otherwise be.
On the approach: The 7-wood can make the approach shot easier on holes #2, #11, and #16.
As a bonus: The 4-wood can be an excellent option on every hole on the back 9 except for #13 and #17!

BELLA TOSCANA
Off the tee: The 7-wood can make your tee shot easier on holes #8, #12, #14 and #17, and it can make #7 driveable where it might not otherwise be. The distance balls can rarely make #1 and #2 driveable, they make #4 a lot easier by allowing you to go over the trees, they can give you a shorter approach shot on #6 which helps over the river guarding the green, they can help you drive the second fairway on #11, they can help you drive the grassy pods on #13, they can help you drive the second fairway on #16, and they can make #17 driveable where it might not otherwise be.
On the approach: The 7-wood can make the approach shot easier on holes #6, #9 and #11.

TAHITI COVE
Off the tee: The 7-wood can make your tee shot easier on hole #11. The distance balls can make #15 driveable, they can allow you to drive straight down the fairway on #5 for a shorter, unimpeded approach, they can help you drive past the neck of the fairway on #16, and they help with the tee shot on #7, #9, and #10.
On the approach: The 7-wood can make the approach shot easier on holes #4, #10, and #16.
As a bonus: The 4-wood can make #14 driveable with the distance balls in setups where the 3-wood clips the hill and the 5-wood clips the trees.
On the contrary: Holes #6 and #18 would be easier with a 2-iron available.

MONUMENT VALLEY
Off the tee: The 7-wood can make your tee shot easier on hole #12, and sometimes on #16. The distance balls can rarely make #1 and #15 driveable, they can make #9 driveable from the back box with a 5-wood over the top, and they can make #4 always driveable over the top where it might not otherwise be.
On the approach: The 7-wood can make the approach shot easier on hole #10.
On the contrary: The D2 Feels can rarely make #2 driveable. They can make the tee shot and approach shot easier on #5. They can really help curve your shot off the tee on holes #7, #14, and #16, sometimes making them driveable where they might not be with the distance balls. The 2-iron can also be an advantage on #14 and #18.

SOUTHERN OAKS
Off the tee: The 7-wood can make your tee shot easier on hole #16 . The distance balls can rarely make #1 driveable, they can help set up an easier approach on #2, and they make it much easier to drive the green on #7 and #14. They can also enable you to use a more lofted club on #17.
On the approach: The 7-wood can make the approach shot easier on holes #11 and #15.
As a bonus: The 4-wood gives another option to drive the green on #18.
On the contrary: The D2 Feels make it easier to drive the green on holes #4 and #18, and #16 can be much more difficult if the wind is in your face or blowing left.

Improving Through the Ages

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Improvement • • Leave a Comment (3)

You’ll find a lot of tips on this site to help you improve your game, and I’d like to think that everyone from beginners to very good amateur players can find something to take away to the Golden Tee machine the next time they play. But what happens if you seem to “max out” at a specific skill level? Are there things you can still learn to help break through and improve your game even more? Well the friendly folks who frequent the Underdog forum started up a thread on aspects of the game that have helped THEM get to the elite level where they currently stand, and I wanted to pass their comments along to you! So, I’ve broken down these comments (and added a few of my own) into skill brackets, with 1 being a beginner and 10 being a pro. Try to find yourself within this range, and then read the comments corresponding to that level to see what you can work on to make your game even better!

LEVEL 1
Welcome to the wonderful world of Golden Tee! Here you’re learning the nature of the trackball, how to curve shots (whether intentionally or unintentionally), and how roll and backspin affect your shot.

LEVEL 2
You’re starting to understand how to play the elements (wind and rain), and you learn how much wind affects the ball on each shot while also learning how rain kills the ball (especially now on 2010). You also know to club up or down based on elevation changes.

LEVEL 3
Expanding beyond palming every shot, you learn to thumb and how thumbing distance differs from palming distance. You’re getting consistent with your short putts, making most anything under 30 feet. You’ve learned how to play more break on uphill putts and less on downhill putts, and, more importantly, you’re figured out which putting approach works best for you (palm or thumbs).

LEVEL 4
You’re really starting to consider the loft of your club with each shot, learning when it’s best to choose the 5-wood over the 2-iron, or vice-versa. You’ve also gotten out of the habit of using backspin on every approach shot into the green. Instead, you know the best conditions to use backspin and roll based on the slope of the green, the wind, the pin placement, and the loft of your club. This helps you put more approach shots close to the flag.

LEVEL 5
You’ve added more shots to your game, such as pullback thumbs, pullback palms, and hammer shots, learning how each of these can increase/decrease distance of any given club. You’re learning the carry distances of each club to know when you can/can’t carry a rough lie. You’ve almost eliminated rollover putts by pulling back to C slightly and hitting it smoothly forward. You’re effectively cutting the ball into the wind when the situation demands it. You know when to put your ego aside and club-up instead of trying to pound one less club and coming up short. You’ve learned shortcuts on many holes that give you an advantage over a novice. You’re also getting more comfortable playing with different clubs and balls, and you’re not afraid to change clubs on a course where you know it will give you an advantage.

LEVEL 6
You really understand how the trackball is designed and how it works, and, because of this, you understand how spinny and non-spinny shots differ. You also avoid the trackball issue by a non-spinny C3 shot that happens when you hammer it out towards 3 and make the ball “jump” off track, causing your ball to come off straight ahead instead of out to the right. You’re able to accurately shoot B1 and B3 shots when needed. When there aren’t many other factors to consider, you try to line up your approach shot with the wind to give yourself the best chance of putting an approach shot close. Also, you know where to leave approach shots distance-wise to have specific clubs into the green. You make almost every putt within 50 feet, and you’re pretty good at bump-and-run chips with a single-club, like a 7-iron. You respect the wind, especially with your wedge, rotating once or twice when needed. You know where NOT to go on each shot, avoiding foolish mistakes most of the time by being smart. Finally, you’ve come across the “old birds” (the 2005 hybrid set) and have learned how they can help you.

LEVEL 7
You’re able to hole-out bump and run chips with many clubs, depending on the situation. You’re consistently hitting the ball smoothly to generate power as opposed to just hitting it hard. You can feel the correct angles of your pullback and follow-through, so you will reset your pullback until you know it’s right, and you’ll know upon impact whether or not your follow-through is on line. You’re able to consistently make 70+ foot putts because you understand how they differ from putts under 65 feet. You know how and when to thumb long, big-breaking putts as opposed to palming them, especially big left-breaking putts for right-handers. You’re in the good habit of keeping your hands clean and dry before each shot. You’re effectively scoring Great Shot Points to help you in the standings. Finally, you’re able to avoid going on tilt after a bad shot, and you know when it’s time to stop playing because other influences are affecting your game.

LEVEL 8
You’ve got your distances mastered in any situation, including 3/4 shots like a 200-yard 5-wood. You also know how much to club up when shooting through that tree because you know how much the tree will knock it down. You’re getting good at cutting chips into the break, which help them roll out more consistently and enable more hole-outs. You’ve been playing in tournaments to help build experience. Finally, you have a good understanding of your own personal strengths and weaknesses, and you’re not swayed into straying outside your comfort zone when competing with others.

LEVEL 9
You instinctively know the exact loft of your clubs from an unseen lie, which allows you to clear an obstacle or avoid a big mistake by going around. Your chipping is outstanding — you are not afraid to chip out of the sand or onto a lofted green aggressively to a front pin, when the penalty for coming up short would be at least 1 stroke. You’re also able to nail chips with severe side slope. You have the confidence that you can make any shot if you have to have it.

LEVEL 10
Your goal is to hole-out almost every approach shot, and you’re able to do this once per round on average. You don’t miss putts, and you make almost every chip. You’re having a lot of success in tournaments because you’ve mastered the mental game as well as the physical game, and your opponents are scared to play against you when money’s on the line!

LEVEL 11
You’re Andy Haas :).

And finally, at ANY level, it’s ALWAYS beneficial to play with, and learn from, players who are better than you! Whether that be at your local bar or at a tournament half-way across the country, you can always learn something new from that other guy. So, try to incorporate friends and Golden Tee pros alike into your routine, and I guarantee you’ll come away with some tips to help your game!

GoldenTeeFan takes on Cedar Rapids

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Improvement • • Leave a Comment (3)

Well I had another fantastic time at a Golden Tee tournament — this time driving out to Cedar Rapids, IA for the action. I got to the Double Inn by 4:00 on Friday. The setup was fantastic — there were 15 pedestals set up all around the perimeter of the seating area. With only 39 participants, there was always plenty of room to get in a game any time you wanted, all weekend. And the cost of prize play was lowered to $2.50/game by the vendors, so that saved everyone quite a bit of cash on the games too! The vendors did an outstanding job staying organized and keeping things running, so if you can make it next year, I’d recommend it above all other tourneys!

It took a bit to get used to the pedestals again. You have to get used to the putting a bit, and a lot of my approach shots were coming in long. Still, after you get used to them, there’s nothing else you’d rather play on. I’m not looking forward to going back to the old school machines after getting used to the big flat screen all weekend!

Friday night brought a lot of excitement. There was a blind-draw doubles tournament, and I was hooked up with a dude named Chris Dilly from Omaha. Unfortunately for everyone, the top 2 qualifiers (Kinz and Mouth) got paired together. And unfortunately for us, we had to play them in the first round!

As it turned out, this was the most exciting match I’ve ever been a part of in my short tourney career. We picked up a couple strokes early on, and then Kinz and Mouth kept chipping over the green on Black Hills hole #5, getting a 7 on that hole! So after 5 holes, Chris and I were up by 5 strokes — can you believe it?! As you may have guessed, they chipped away at that lead, getting 3 strokes back on hole 11 with an eagle while we bogied. They tied it up later on and we were all square at -18 after 17 holes! Mouth put it pretty close on the fringe on 18, and I stuck the green! Kinz made the putt, and then Chris had a tough, long right-sloping putt that didn’t quite go in. He had been money with the putter all day, but we couldn’t get that one to fall, so we lost -20 to -19. We also lost the next match, not playing as well, and Kinz/Mouth never lost a match on their way to the doubles title. Still, I’ll always have the memory of this fun match!

Qualifying was great with 39 guys on 15 machines — there were either 2 or 3 on each machine, and we got to play a full 5-course qualifier. It started at 12:30 and ran until 5:30. For some reason, I still get really nervous playing qualifying matches, and I had a horrible front nine (-9) on Grand Savannah to start. I recovered really well on the back, putting up a respectable -20. But, it never got better than that. I went -18 on Woodland, -15 on Black Hills, -15 on Sunny, and -20 on Bonnie…not very good. I was missing putts and just not executing well, and even with those not-so-great scores, I was right on the cut line. The top 24 made the cut to play in the gold bracket, and I ended up #25! My goal was to make the cut, and I failed there, but some exciting stuff was about to happen.

The “purple” bracket (which was double elimination) for the 14 guys who missed the cut started at 7:00. I had a bye and then played a dude named Dave on Bonnie. I fell behind by 2 early but recovered well after that, cruising to a 2-stroke win. Then I played an amazing guy from Omaha named Evan. Evan was involved in an awful motorcycle accident that left his right arm paralyzed, which he had in a sling. Still, Even was a great Golden Tee player, able to execute every shot and drain every putt using just his left hand. Even made a mistake early and gave me 2 strokes on hole #2, and I kept that slim lead most of the way, finishing with another 2 or 3 stroke win.

Next up was “Buffalo” Bill Spruce, and we had an epic battle on Bonnie. We matched each other shot for shot until I took a 1-stroke lead late in the match. Neither of us made more than 2 or 3 mistakes that round, and it took all I had to put up a -26 that edged out his -25! And that was it for Friday night. Since it was true double elim, Evan and Bill would play the next match Sunday morning, with the loser getting third place ($62) and the winner getting another shot at me.

Bill played a very clean round on Woodland and closed the door on 17 and 18 with outstanding tee shots. So Bill got a rematch with me, and Bonnie was drawn, much to my dismay — I couldn’t put up another -26 like yesterday! So we battled it out again, with me getting a nice hole-out on 2 to hold a 1-stroke lead for a while. We were tied going into #14, where I drove the green and he ended up on the fringe with the water between him and the hole. He caught a tough break when his chip went in the water, and I eagled, taking a 3-stroke lead. I was able to hold on from there to shoot a -24 to his -21, and that was it! Bill got $125 for 2nd place, and I got $185 for first in the purple bracket!

Needless to say, I was never so happy to miss the cut! It’s always great playing matches against players who share your skill level, where anything can happen and you always have a chance to win! I also found I wasn’t as nervous playing the heads-up matches, although I don’t know why — maybe I was less intimidated and had more confidence knowing I had a good chance against these guys. In any case, if I can make a run like that in the purple bracket, then anyone can — it just goes to show you how well the amateur players like me can benefit from playing in a big tournament!

New feature — GT Player Bios!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Player Bios • • Leave a Comment (1)

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce some new perspectives to the game, so I’ve asked around and gotten some of the best Golden Tee players in the country to share their history of the game as well as their best tips for us amateurs! The result is some great information right from the mouths of seasoned Golden Tee veterans who are willing to tell all of us how they got to where they are today, and how we might eventually be able to creep closer to their skill level!

Click here to go to the Player Bios category, and check back often, as I will be adding a new player bio every week — enjoy!

How to host an 8-man tourney at any bar in 8 hours!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Contests and prizes, Features, Upcoming Tournaments • • Leave a Comment (12)

Well I’m fresh off hosting my first local tournament, and it went really well! Due to availability and money constraints, we had to do everything over a Sunday afternoon, but we were able to come up with a format that worked great for everyone! Here are the rules I posted for our tournament, which was at a bar with just one Golden Tee machine. However, you’ll find that no one will be bored waiting to play and it will move along quicker than you’d expect!

Banana’s Golden Tee Tournament Information

• TOURNEY DATE – Sunday, June 7, with sign up starting at 11:00AM and games starting around 11:15. The tourney will run until around 7:00PM.

• Entry fee is $20 and players must have an established handicap. This entry fee does NOT include the cost of games played.

• The field will be limited to 8 players for this event, so the prize pool will be $160.

• An attempt will be made to rank players from 1-8, based on their handicap. If the handicap is not yet known, a best guess will be made to that player’s rank.

• Five 4-player games will be played during the tournament. The first game will be among players ranked 1,4,5, and 8, and the second game will be among players ranked 2,3,6, and 7. The top 2 handicap scores will advance, and the bottom 2 will move on in the loser bracket, guaranteeing everyone at least 2 games. The 4 players remaining after the first 2 rounds will all play together during the final round but will only be competing against the other player in their bracket.

• The courses played during bracket play will be as follows: Round 1 – Bonnie Moor and Grand Savannah, Round 2 – Woodland Farm and Sunny Wood, Finals – Black Hills.

• Advanced Play mode will be used, but Prize Play can be up to the individuals playing.

• Handicap will be applied to each match in bracket play. The player with the best handicap receives no strokes. Every other player takes the difference between this player’s handicap and his handicap and multiplies it by 80% to determine the number of additional strokes he gets to take off his score. In the example below, players C and D would advance for having the top 2 handicap scores in that round.

Player Handicap Handicap Difference Strokes Received Score Handicap Score

A                  +20                         0                              0                   -17                  -17
B                   +15                         5                              4                   -11                  -15
C                   +10                        10                             8                   -10                  -18
D                 +5                          15                            12                  -7                   -19

• The tie-breaker in the first two matches will be most Great Shot Points. If that is also a tie, players will play sudden death on the back 9 of the course just completed, with no handicap applied. Tie-breakers in the finals will be sudden death only.

• PRIZES during bracket play – 1st place in winner bracket ($70), 2nd place in winner bracket ($30), and 1st place in loser bracket ($30). In addition, the remaining $30 will be split evenly among anyone who gets a hole-in-one or double-eagle during bracket play! If no one accomplishes it, the winner will get $80, 2nd place will get $40, and 1st in the loser bracket will get $40.

A few more notes:
— We chose 4-player matches to get more people involved with each game, and it seemed to go quicker than two 2-player matches. Plus, you only have to be in the top 2 to advance, so one person can’t kill you right away! It worked well in the finals too, having two 2-player matches happening at the same time.

— I liked how we played the courses from easiest to hardest and included all of them since we had exactly 5 rounds!

— We played group A round 1, then group B round 1, then the consolation semis, then the winners semis, and then the finals. Because of that order, the only ones ever waiting around for more than 1 match were the winners of the first round, and that was fine by them!

— We didn’t have to apply any tie-breakers in this tournament, but we did have our 7th ranked player score a hole-in-one for $30, so 4 of the 8 players took home some cash!

gt-tourney-posterboard4

So how did it go? You can check out the image of the posterboard I put together above to see how it all played out. All of the matches except for the finals went down to the final hole! Handicap seemed to work great and kept everyone in it. I failed to advance in the first round because I putted in the water on Grand Savannah #17 and got a double-bogey! Similarly, Matt failed to advance in the semis because he putted in the water on Sunny Wood #18! Our friend Rob came out on top, taking advantage of both his handicap and a good day of shooting to win! I was able to recover after the tough first-round loss and win the consolation bracket.

Of course, it’s easy to expand off this and add qualifying rounds if you wish. I originally wanted us all to play 3 qualifying rounds any time, any place during the week before the tournament, and I would seed the players off those scores, giving additional prizes during qualifying matches. But, this turned out to be simpler, cheaper, and just as much fun! It definitely had the excitement we were hoping for!

I’d recommend this format to anyone, and I’d love to hear comments from anyone else who has attempted to have an amateur tournament in a city where it’s tough to get more than one machine in a bar! This is a great way to pull a group of friends together for a few hours on a weekend and have some hot GT Tourney action!

Why’d It Do That?

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Improvement • • Leave a Comment (3)

Ever hit a shot and wonder what the heck just happened? Sure you have — we all go through that as we’re learning the mechanics of the trackball and the game itself, and I still ask the same question every now and then when a shot goes awry. The worst thing that can happen, though, is you shrugging it off and not stopping to figure out why that bad shot just happened! As you gain more experience, you’ll start to recognize the source of these problems, and then you can help your friends and yourself learn from these mistakes to become a better player.

What happened: Your shot ended up way right or left of target

Why it happened:
The first concept beginners have to master is how the trackball works. Some people pull straight back and shoot forward left, expecting the ball to go left, when we know that creates a “schwerve” that ends up coming in left-to-right instead. Realize that the pull-back is more important to accuracy than where the ball starts its path, so focus on pulling back correctly.

Another cause is not playing enough wind with a lofted approach shot. Wind can be devastating on wedge shots, so often times you’ll even have to rotate once or twice to compensate enough.

What happened: Your approach shot comes up well short of the green (consider the opposite of what’s listed below if your shot just flew over the green).

Why it happened:
Several things could have gone wrong here, so I’ll list them out:
1) You didn’t compensate enough for a wind in your face or for a shot into an elevated green
2) Your playing partner hit his approach with deceptively smooth force, and your “smooth” shot really was not as strong.
3) Your playing partner is using Golden Tee golf balls that pack more distance than the ones you’re using.
4) You didn’t club up to compensate for a tough lie. You lose a bit of distance from areas like mud and snow, but you lose about 1/3 of your distance when hitting out of tall grass.
5) You tried to put curve on a shot from the rough. This KILLS distance. From the rough, you have to either play it straight or club up several times if you’re attempting a cut shot.
6) You tried to carry an island green with a low-lofted club (many times it’s better to club up to the 5-wood and hit a softer shot).
7) You tried to thumb a shot too softly. Some machines don’t read this type of shot correctly, and you’ll end up way short. If this happens repeatedly, try pulling back 3/4 of the way and hitting a full thumbs shot.

What happened:
Your attempted A1 or C3 shot took more of an A2 or C2 path, crashing into whatever was in front of you.

Why it happened:
Sometimes the trackball reads these funny if you don’t hit a “spinny” A1 or C3. I had problems for so long on Cypress Cove #9, where you can often play a C3 around the mountain cliff onto the green. I would pull back towards C, let the ball stop spinning, and slam it forward towards 3. Instead of shooting out right, it would slam right into the mountain straight ahead. Either the way I was hitting the shot or the machine itself (or both) contributed to the problem, but once I started to keep the ball spinning on my backswing before I shot forward to 3, I saw a nice, consistent ball path. Note that the “spinny” adds distance to your shot, so you might want to club down to help fix this problem as well. Finally, I’ve found that using thumbs to shoot forward on a non-spinny shot works consistently most of the time also.

What happened: You miss an uphill putt by not playing enough break, and then you make matters worse by playing too much break on the comeback downhill putt.

Why it happened:
It takes a while for newer players to get used to how uphill putts essentially have more break than downhill putts. What really causes the break is your ball slowing down as it’s going uphill, but all you need to know if that you’ll have to play as if there’s more break if putting uphill. Practice is the remedy for this, so you really need to consider the uphill/downhill slope just as much as you consider the side-hill break if you’re going to consistently make putts.

What happened: Your chip shot from just off the green still comes up short of the green.

Why it happened:
The surface off which you’re hitting can play a big part here, as can your backswing. There is some nasty dirt on Grand Savannah that seems to force you to hit harder than usual to get out of it and onto the green — I see many people “duff” chips off this stuff because it can kill your shot. Secondly, you can duff a chip by not pulling back far enough. People think they can compensate for not pulling back past their player’s ankles by hitting it forward with more force, but what you really need is the loft off the club at impact. Pull it back a bit farther and hit forward more gently — this helps get the ball in the air and onto the green.

The Missouri Open – Lessons Learned

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Miscellaneous • • Leave a Comment (4)

With this being the 3rd tourney in which I’ve participated, I should know better than to make some of the mistakes that I did. In this post I’ll break those down and give you the advice so that you may be able to avoid some of them when you get into a tournament!

1) Get there early!
If you’re arriving on Friday night, this might not be possible; when you get to the bar, you’ll probably see action on all the Golden Tee machines already. That’s okay – walk around and look for machines that could use an extra player where that group is wrapping up their current round. Most guys would be more than happy to invite you in for the next round!

On Saturday/Sunday, get there before the bar normally opens. With the tournament action going on, the doors will probably open early, and you can snag an open machine right away to practice before the tourney games start.

2) Play safe early on
You’re going to be nervous when those qualifying rounds start, so make things easier on yourself by playing safe and draining a couple putts. Before too long, you should fall into the flow of things.

3) Play at your own pace
Most of the pros play incredibly fast, and hitting ‘Quick Shot’ after every shot makes things move even faster! It’s easy to get caught up in the speed of play, and you may feel pressured into playing faster than you’d like. Try to maintain a comfort level by taking your time before each shot, especially putts!

4) Watch what the pros do…
You’ll be teeing off last in your group for most of the round, which gives you the advantage of seeing how the other guys are attacking each hole. This can help you make the right decision if you may have otherwise been unsure. Also, if you see a shot missed long, short, left or right, it may be a clue that you want to overcompensate a bit to avoid the same mistake.

5) But don’t watch what the pros do
If you’re trying to pay attention to how hard the shot was hit or the exact angle of the shot, forget about it. Not only do some of these guys disguise the angle on their shots, but they strike the ball so smoothly that the power of the shot is really deceptive as well. No one knows better than you how the ball behaves based on the angle/speed of your shot, so trust your instincts over what you think you just saw!

6) Stick to your game
So you just saw a pro thread the needle between some stone pillars on Black Hills. Does that mean you have to try the same thing? Of course not. If you’re not comfortable trying the same thing, it’s much better to play safe and preserve a birdie rather than shooting a high-risk, low-reward shot for a chance at eagle. The same goes for chip shots around the green. The pros are great at holing out chips around the hole with a lower-lofted club, but if you’d rather finesse your lob wedge, then do it! That’s your game, and it keeps you out of any further trouble. Finally, if you can thumb a shot and get the same results as a pro who pulls the ball back, don’t be embarrassed about it!

7) Don’t miss to the dangerous side
It’s easy to get too aggressive on an approach shot and miss the green altogether. I’ve made a habit of looking left, right, long and short to see where the trouble lies. A good rule of thumb is to try to place the ball on the green such that you put the flag between the trouble and your ball. For example, this means missing long, in the middle of the green, if the pin is on the front of the green.

8 ) Never give up
Four of my last five head-to-head matches went down to the 18th hole, and I won 3 of them when I was trailing after 17! The best example was during my first match in the Purple Bracket, where I was down by 2 and hit my drive in the water on Black Hills 18. A couple roll-off putts by my opponent later, I had a 1-stroke victory. Anything can, and does, happen!

9) Have fun!
If you fail to follow this advice, then you really have wasted your money and time. You’re surrounded by a bunch of great Golden Tee players who always know how to have fun, so follow suit and you’ll fit right in, no matter what your score!

The Missouri Open from an Amateur’s Perspective

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Miscellaneous • • Leave a Comment (0)

Well I’m back from the 3rd official Golden Tee Tournament in which I participated! Following is a summary of how things shook down for me, and then I’ll list off some new lessons learned from tournament play!

This event took place at Teachers Billiards, a sports bar/pool hall in the suburb of St. Peters, west of St. Louis. I think there were around 70 participants, and 15 GT machines were set up for us to use. The action kicked off with a doubles tournament that started just after 8:00 that night. I teamed up with Adam Kramer from IT, but with a single-elimination format, we were out after the first round! We played a couple of studs in Gervais and Gibby, and they didn’t have much problem taking us down in this alternate shot match. I messed up a couple shots on the front 9 at Grand Savannah, and we were not able to recover!

The rest of Friday night involved spinning games for fun with JACEN SOLO, AKA PEEPS, and his younger (bigger) brother, among others! Friday night was great for having some drinks and playing for fun.

I showed up early Saturday to play a couple games before the qualifying matches started around 1:00. The three qualifying courses were Grand Savannah, Sunny Wood, and Black Hills. Everyone played all 3 games with the same group on the same machine, which can be good and bad! My group included The Mouth and Billy Mac. I had an awful time in qualifying, shooting really poorly on every course. I only went -11, -13, and -12, well below my normal average of around -17 or so. There will be more on this in the lessons learned article to follow!

Those scores put me in the bottom of the pack for the Purple Bracket, where everyone not in the top 32 was placed. I played a guy named Glen (GB) from Denver, and I don’t even want to talk about our match. We both stunk up Black Hills, but Glen had a couple putts dive over the edge on 18, allowing me to squeak by.

My next match was against John (U. City), a local guy who lived only 10 miles away. I shot really well and had by far the most fun with this match. We played Bonnie and matched each other stroke for stroke going into 18. Even then, we both missed an eagle putt that left us deadlocked at -24 after 18 holes! The tie-breaker was sudden death on the back 9, and it didn’t last long. I backspun my approach off the green and missed my chip, giving John the win on the first sudden-death hole! Still, that match was exciting and a lot of fun.

That ended my run in the tournament, and the rest of the night was dedicated to playing more founds for fun. From throwing down Jager bombs to watching Mouth put on a waitress’s short skirt to listening to Gervais belt out Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” during karaoke, it was a wild time!

The main bracket kicked off Sunday, but I had to head back to Peoria. It was a fantastic time as usual, and be sure to check out my “Lessons Learned” article to get more tips on tournament play!

GoldenTeeFan takes on the Frozen Open

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Miscellaneous • • Leave a Comment (6)

feature_frozenopen I arrived at Flounder’s bar in the Lincoln Park area of downtown Chicago around 6:00 Friday night, and it was already hopping with Golden Tee action! I think there were 11 GT machines set up in the back, including 8 pedestals with the big, wide screens and stand-alone console. Those things are AWESOME — it was the first I’d seen of them. They took a bit to get used to — you become accustomed to your hand hitting the screen on a follow-through, but instead you almost fall over if you forget about that! Also, putting took a bit to get used to because of the games it plays on the eyes, but before long you don’t want to play on anything else!

I got in a blind-draw doubles tourney that started that night and was paired with a guy named Scott who was really good. We won our first match against Jimmy Mac and Jopper, but then we ran up against Thor and another great player (can’t remember his name), and they beat us in the next round. It was an alternate shot format, so there was a lot of pressure! But, it was also a lot of fun, and I held my own!

Oh, I also saw a guy ace Savannah #17 — he hit a half-strength 7-iron right at the hole, and he dunked it like it was a Bags game!

The next day I got there at 11:00 and we all played some warm-up games. I got to play a couple with Adam Kramer, the marketing guy at IT for Golden Tee, so that was cool! I also played with Brad Litz, a technical support guy for IT, and a few others along the way. Before the tourney starts, they do this thing called “Calcutta” — it’s basically an auction bidding war for who you think will win the tournament. There are bids of over $100 for the top players, but I didn’t even take the minimum $5 bid when my name was called — ha!

At around 2:00 or so, we started 2 games of qualifying. You get paired up and play a designated course with locked conditions, which means a card is swiped before you start and everyone has the exact same setup during play of that course. We started on Woodland and I came out pretty strong with a -18, but the next qualifying round was on Sunny and I only shot -10!

After everyone is done, they tally up the totals and rank you 1-52 (we had 52 guys in this tourney). Great shot points are tie-breakers. I ended up being ranked #36 with my -28. The cutoff was at -30, and the top qualifier (McCook shot -50)! I certainly should have been in the top 32, but hey, everyone has bad games, right?

So with the odd number of guys (20) in the “purple” bracket, I had a bye in the first round. Then I ended up having a bye in the second round because the dude left for some reason. So finally, I’m playing in the round of 8 against ANUBIS, a guy I can tell is certainly a bit better than I am. We play Sunny and it’s close all the way, and I’m down -17 to -16 heading into the last hole. He puts it in the water on 18! I hit a good shot, hold the green, and tap in for eagle, while he pars, and I win by 1!

So now it’s the final four and I have to play Baxter Segall, who flew in from North Carolina. This guy is a GREAT player who shoots sick scores, so my odds were slim. We end up playing on Black Hills, which both of us struggle with, but it ends up providing an opportunity as well since it’s easy to lose strokes there and have blow-up holes. He holes out on #1 for eagle (great), but I stay close until I have a stroke-limit hole by putting over the edge into the water twice on a par 3. So now I’m down 6 going into the back 9. I get it back to 4, and then Baxter has a stroke-limit hole where he does the same thing with putts over the edge! All of a sudden we’re tied. He takes a 1-stroke lead into 18, but his tee shot trickles off the back into the water! Again, I stick the green with a great shot, tap in for eagle, he makes par, and I win by 1! We could play 10 times and I might win once against him, so that was very lucky and thrilling!

Now it’s the final, and I’m feeling good against Brad Litz — I played with him earlier for fun, and we played on Woodland, which I usually shoot well on. Well, I couldn’t keep my momentum going, and he blew me out, winning by 8 strokes. He birdied all 9 holes on the back 9 and never gave me a chance to get back in it!

SO, for my 2nd place showing in the “amateur” bracket, I won $70 and a nice heavy-duty pull-pack! Other than winning that last match, I couldn’t imagine the weekend going any better! It turned out to be great that I didn’t make the top 32, otherwise I’d have been blown out by one of the top pros!

So see — if I can make a run in the lower bracket, anyone can! The purple bracket is great for guys who can’t compete with the top pros, and I’d encourage anyone to play in one of these tourneys for the amazing experience!

How to shoot -30 on Golden Tee

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Improvement, Miscellaneous • • Leave a Comment (1)

This question is pretty common among people who are just picking up the game. If you’re a casual player, you might average somewhere around -10 and think you’re pretty decent, but then you see that someone somewhere somehow shot -30 on this very course, leaving you completely baffled! How is this possible? What am I missing?

Well, I’m going to simulate a great round on the 2009 Golden Tee course Bonnie Moor and show you exactly how this is possible! No, you’ll probably never be able to reach this milestone yourself, but it can certainly help you know how to play the course so you give yourself the best chance of posting a much better score than you normally shoot!

Hole 1: The wind is directly in your face so you poke a driver straight ahead. With a back pin, you approach dead-on with an iron and use roll for a hole-out eagle. Score: -2.

Hole 2: You’re set up in the middle of the tee box, 350 yards away, with the pin on the right. You hit a nice A1 with backspin that clears the gully and cuts back onto the green. You make your eagle putt. Score: -4.

Hole 3: You float a 2-iron down the hill using no roll, and it sticks close to the pin. You make your birdie putt. Score: -5.

Hole 4: You hit a 3-wood with backspin over the tall grass and stick it short of the bunker. You nail your approach shot and make the eagle putt. Score: -7.

Hole 5: You have a decent tee box and rotate right a couple times to play a big C3 with roll into the fairway. You carry your approach shot to the green and make the eagle putt. Score: -9.

Hole 6: You take aim at a safe spot on the green that’s also pretty close to the pin, and you stick a 3-wood close. You make your eagle putt. Score: -11.

Hole 7: You carry your tee shot safely over the tall grass and stick it close to the hole, where you tap in for birdie. Score: -12.

Hole 8: You curve a C3 shot nicely through the neck of the fairway, giving you a nice, open approach shot. You nail the approach and putt in for eagle. Score: -14.

Hole 9: You’re on the left tee box and have a fairly straight look into the green, where the pin is on the right. You play a small A1-type 3-wood with backspin to hold the center of the green, and you putt in for eagle. Score: -16.

Hole 10: You poke a driver with backspin straight ahead into the fat part of the fairway, and you carry your approach safely up to the green. You make your birdie putt. Score: -17.

Hole 11: You’re on the right side of the tee box, shooting into the green on the right. You play a small hook with backspin using a 3-wood to stick the green, and you make your eagle putt. Score: -19.

Hole 12: You take the shortcut up on top of the hill with a 3-wood off the tee, and then you float a 5-wood down to the green. You make your eagle putt. Score: -21.

Hole 13: You thumb an iron to the top part of the sloped green and watch the slope carry the ball down towards the hole. You make your birdie putt. Score: -22.

Hole 14: You hit a 3-wood with backspin into the fat part of the green closest to the pin, and you ram in your eagle putt. Score: -24.

Hole 15: You hit an iron off the tee to leave yourself around 240 yards to the pin. You float a 5-wood over the tall grass and stick it close, where you then make your birdie putt. Score: -25.

Hole 16: The wind is helping and you have a decent spot on the tee, so you crank a 400-yard C3 with roll down to the second fairway. You stick your approach in the middle of the green and make your eagle putt. Score: -27.

Hole 17: You club up and play a small hook into the slope of the green with backspin, watching it curl up nicely next to the hole. You tap in for birdie. Score: -28.

Hole 18: You take aim at the green with a 3-wood, landing it just over the concrete wall. Backspin helps you hold the green, and you make your eagle putt. Score: -30.

So you see, it’s that easy! Golden Tee Par can set up to be -29 on this course, and if you add one holeout somewhere you’re at -30.

Of course, it’s the combination of getting a GREAT setup like the one above, on a great scoring course like Bonnie Moor, with no mistakes along the way, that makes it possible. But if you execute every shot and don’t miss any putts, you’re looking at -30 or something close to it! Most of us cannot execute all these shots and make all our putts, so that’s what separates the pros from the amateurs. Now you’ll have an idea how a -30 was posted the next time you come across one of these scores on the leaderboard!

GoldenTeeFan’s Top Tips for Golden Tee 2009

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Improvement • • Leave a Comment (6)

As I’ve bridged the gap from 2008 to 2009, I’ve noticed several things to keep in mind during the course of a round that can save you several strokes if you account for them. Alternatively, you can lose even more strokes if you fail to take these tips into consideration! So before you go out and spin some more rounds on the 2009 courses, make sure you’re doing these things below!

1) Club up on your approach shots.
Maybe it’s me, but after my first few rounds on Golden Tee 2009, I noticed that I was often coming up way short on my approach, sometimes even short of the green. I think some of this had to do with elevation changes (which will be another point), but mostly, I just had to club up more often and/or hit with more power into the greens. I see it all the time with amateurs — they fail to club up and try to pound the ball to compensate, and that usually won’t get the job done. So, especially if you’re using backspin or playing a small curve into the green, make sure you’ve got plenty of club to give your ball a chance to hole out!

2) Know how to play the wind on steep elevation drops into a green.
The best example of this is the first two holes on Black Hills, where you can take a par on either if you’re not careful. Both holes feature a steep drop in elevation as the ball is sailing into the green, and if you don’t compensate enough for the wind, you’ll be in some early trouble!

Tailwinds are easiest to play…club down and let the wind do the work, carrying the ball up to the pin. Headwinds can be tricky, as your ball can be coming straight down. You’ll almost never want backspin on these types of shots, while roll can be quite handy. If you play no spin, make sure the ball will land above the hole, because it’s not going to bounce forward. Also, remember how much more the wind affects the higher-lofted clubs!

I think the most dangerous winds are the cross-winds. Not only do you have to nail the distance, but you have to know where to aim as well. The first thing to keep in mind is that even though you’re shooting downhill, a crosswind is going to cut distance more than you think. As that ball is coming down, the wind will take over and it won’t be going forward very much anymore. It’s easy to come up short because you think you’re shooting downhill, so keep in mind the impact of this wind on the distance as well!

Finally, your aim becomes crucial here too. You’ll usually have to pretend the wind is blowing twice as hard as it’s showing, and aim your shot as if this were true. Even when the ball touches down on the green, the ball will continue on in the direction the wind was blowing it! So don’t lose sight of these facts, and you can save yourself from some tough situations.

3) Use the Big Bertha clubs on Black Hills.
As you’ll notice on the Black Hills writeup, these clubs will make playing the course much easier, and with a little practice, you’ll gain a 2-3 stroke advantage over anyone not using these clubs. Now, if you’re truly a beginner and have gotten comfortable with a particular set of clubs, then it’s okay to stick with that set as you hone your skills. But if you’re playing for prize money, you’ve got to practice with these clubs on this course…after a couple rounds, you’ll see how that 7-wood and 9-wood can greatly simplify some of the shots on Black Hills!

4) Learn how to survive Grand Savannah #17.
This hole has gotten more press than any I’ve seen, and with good reason — it can totally ruin your round. If you do NOT have a wind in your face, you’re got a chance at birdie. But if you do, I recommend two things. First, if you aren’t having a great round, play around with a 5-iron chip shot. Don’t use any spin, pull the club back about half-way, and shoot it forward at about 2/3 strength. Take note of where the ball lands and what it does after it lands, and make adjustments to your pullback or shot strength if needed. With enough practice, you’ll have given yourself a good chance at carrying the front of the green, where it will roll up, and back, and stick there!

However, if you want to protect a good round, play for par using these steps. First, club way up and aim for the grass/dirt behind the green on the right side. Landing it here is step one. Step two is making a small chip with backspin that lands on or just before this fat part of the green, where it will roll down a ways but not all the way to the water. Step three is making your big-breaking putt! Even if you two-putt for bogey here, you can bet you’ve done better than most guys playing the hole in this condition, and that should hold your rank in the competition!

5) Make your uphill putts.
I think the biggest concept of putting that takes amateurs longest to figure out is how to play the break on an uphill putt as opposed to a flat putt (or downhill putt). It’s not technically true that the ball breaks more on uphill putts, but this illusion is created because the ball is slowing down significantly more as it climbs to the hole. All you need to know is that you should PLAY more break on uphill putts, and play less break on downhill putts. It kills me when someone plays too much break on a downhill putt, flies past the hole, and then over-compensates by not playing enough break on the comeback uphill putt, missing again. Putting is definitely a touch phase of the game, and only experience can earn you the correct feel for each putt. Still, knowledge of situations like these can be half the battle!

6) Learn low-loft chip shots.
Finally, Golden Tee 2009 is a great time to start practicing your bump-and-run chip shots! Unless you have to carry the pin, you should be thinking of using a 2-iron through a 7-iron on anything under 40 yards. If you’re on the fringe, use a very-low lofted club, pull it back a fraction of the way, and gently shoot it forward. Again, this is a touch shot that takes a lot of practice, but now is the time! Similarly, if you have to carry a bit of rough to the green, club down appropriately to get more loft. Another good idea is to pick one club you will always use for your bump-and-run chips so that you have a better idea of carry and distance each time you use it. Not only will you save yourself a couple shots per round by learning how to hole-out short chip shots, but you will also be more confident attacking the pin if you know you still have a good chance of chipping in from just off the green!

Play like the pros!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Improvement • • Leave a Comment (0)

I took in a lot of tips at the Chicago Summer Classic last weekend, and now I’m going to pass them on to you! These tips are best for guys like me who average around -17 or so and are looking to pick up a couple strokes per round:

1) Pull the trackball back on almost every shot. I still am not comfortable enough to do this as often as I should. All the pros fight the wind by curving their approach shots into the wind or into the slope of the green to tuck it up by the pin. You also get more loft on your shot by pulling back, which may help you clear water or other obstacles. So, work on practicing the pullback angle with each of your clubs to fight the wind on approach shots into greens with tough pin placements!

2) Club up. A lot of amateurs, including me at times, try to pound the trackball with a shorter club, trying to maximize distance with that club instead of clubbing up and hitting it softer. I often saw these guys club up twice for their approach shots. The difference is that these guys have the touch on distance with their follow-through. While amateurs are pounding the ball forward, these guys simply club-up and flick it forward without much effort, but their results are so much better. If you are ever in doubt about distance, play an extra club and hit it a little softer!

3) Skip off the water when you can! I learned this way too late. There are several holes where you may not be sure whether or not you can clear the water. Well, if you have room to play an A1 or C3 shot with roll, I guarantee your ball will skip across the water if it hits short of land. There are several holes in 2008 Golden Tee Live where you have the opportunity to play a big curving shot and skip across water, so keep your eye out for them and take advantage of this trick!

4) Practice your chipping. The pros are not at all scared to attack the pin because they are so good at chipping if they roll off the green. Even from the sand, these guys hole out consistently. I still favor the low-lofted club for chips if I’m just off the green, but these guys even know how to hit a quarter-strength 7-iron out of the sand and hole out. This only comes with practice, but if you can learn how to chip in even once or twice more per round, you’ve saved yourself those strokes at least!

5) Practice your A1 and C3 drives on tough holes. The pros hit these big, curving drives off the tee whenever possible to maximize distance, and they can do so on dangerous holes because they know exactly where the ball will be going. I can still only shoot this shot if it’s pretty wide open. But, these guys aren’t scared to thread the ball between trees and water to gain an extra 20-30 yards because of the control they have. Pay attention to the wind and whether or not to use backspin or roll to help guide the ball where it needs to be!

Use these tips to take your game to the next level — good luck!

GTFan plays in the Chicago Summer Classic

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Miscellaneous • • Leave a Comment (1)

Well, last weekend I was able to participate in my first Golden Tee tournament! It was August 23 in Chicago, at the famous Flounder’s bar in Lincoln Park, by Chicago. Going into this tourney, I’d say my average was still only about -17. I put up my share of -20s, but I can still have some blow-up holes and have some -14s too.

I arrived Friday evening around 8:00 and saw a handful of guys I recognized from February at the PCC tourney in St. Charles, MO. 0verfiend introduced me to everyone I hadn’t met, including Graig Kinzler (Kinz), who set up this little tourney at this, his home bar. Before long, Kinz invited me to play a game with him and Chris Litzinger (Litz). These are 2 of the best players in the world that I’m playing with! Litz won the 2007 Indy Open and has posted -30 or better on 2 of the 2008 courses, and Kinz has also posted a -30 this year but is also the reigning 2007 World Champion! So, I’m a little overwhelmed but excited to get this opportunity!

I was pretty excited because I posted a -22 on Summit my first game, which was the best I’ve ever shot on that course! It certainly helps when you get to hit third behind these guys all game! I saw all kinds of sick shots during the couple rounds I spun with these guys — Kinz put a shot under a rock on Summit but somehow knew where he could hit it and still land on the frickin’ green, and in the meantime, I watched Litz roll off 6 or 7 straight holes where he got GSPs for landing his approach within 5 feet. Amazing. These guys love playing each other because they are at such a high level, so I’m glad I got to play along for a while!

I also got to spin with Mouth, Who Dat, Jimmy Mac, and Somori among others before the tourney started on Saturday. So I’m already having a great time. Qualifying started on Saturday around 2:00, where we played each of the 5 courses. I didn’t do that great, posting scores about average for me. But I did learn a whole lot, which I’ll talk about in another post!

With 12 people in the tourney, the top 4 got a bye. I probably qualified 12th, but maybe 11th (I know I was better than one guy there at least, ha). That paired me with Erik (Strow) Strowbridge, who, as you can imagine, is another one of the world’s top players from Minnesota. We played Cypress, and this was the highlight of the tournament for me. I was winning after 10 holes! But, the back 9 is where the best players make up strokes on the amateurs, and that’s what happened. Strow took a 1-stroke lead over me going into the last hole, but he missed the green on 18. It was a tough setup, and I couldn’t land it either. So that was it — my first bracket match was a close 1-stroke defeat, at -22 to -21! Still, I was excited hanging that close!

Strow moved on to play Mouth, who is one of the most amazing players I’ve seen. He takes the least time of anyone to size up his shot, but he’s so damn good. Anyway, Mouth had a 2-stroke lead going into 18 at Bayou. Both guys laid up, but Mouth put his approach in the water! That led to bogey, and Strow birdied to tie it up. Then Strow went on to upset Mouth by winning the 9-hole playoff.

What that meant for me was that I got to play Mouth, who’s from Naperville, next in the loser bracket. Great. We played Summit, and I was within 1 of him after 9 holes, but he blew me out on the back 9. There was no way I was hanging with him. He told me he was worried after 9 that I was hanging in, but I don’t know how true that was.

So, that was it for me! I knew I was going to get smoked, but I went for the experience, and I loved it. Litz beat Kinz to win the tourney, with Strow 3rd and Mouth 4th. So, I got a crappy draw, having to play the 3rd and 4th place guys, but I earned that crappy draw. However, I’m going to take that experience and everything I learned to become a much better player in the long term!

Revisiting short chip shots

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Chipping, Features • • Leave a Comment (8)

If there’s one area of my Golden Tee game I’ve improved the most, it’s probably my chipping from just off the green. Most amateurs have the mindset that if they roll off the green and can’t putt, they’ve lost a stroke. But, with enough practice and these tips, you’ll be holing out much more often!

Let’s start with this situation — you’re 7 yards from the cup, but you have to carry some fringe/rough to get to the green. Luckily for you, there’s a high percentage shot in play! A Lob Wedge flicked ever so gently forward, on a flat surface, travels 7 yards. If a bump-and-run is not an option, I love to line up my lob wedge and use my thumbs to flick the ball as gently as I can at the hole, and 7 yards seems to be the perfect distance for this. Now, if you have wind and/or slope, adjust your aim ever so slightly to find the bottom of the cup.

Or, if you don’t have a LW, you can use a SW too (but, I’d say the magic distance for the gentle flick of a SW is around 11 yards).

In addition, you can apply roll or backspin to either add or take away 2-3 yards on these shots, and it’s great having that flexibility!

Now that you’ve added that shot to your game, let’s talk more about the bump-and-run! If you’re in a situation where you’re back on the fringe far enough where you can’t putt (tip — pay attention to what club the game gives you — if you’re handed a wedge, you almost certainly can’t putt), it’s bump-and-run time!

So, what club do you use? My go-to club is the 5-hybrid (I play with a hybrid set). But, I also adjust my club based on how much fringe I have to carry. I’ll bump-and-run anywhere from 10 yards out up to 30 yards out.

Here’s what you do — ignore the wind, but take note of the slope. Since we’re going to keep the ball low and rolling, you still have to know how much slope to play. The great thing is that these shots come out low and quick, so you don’t need to play very much break at all, especially from 10-15 yards. So, pull the trackball back very slowly (usually straight back, but sometimes left or right for slope) until the club is about level with your calf (never less than this, but sometimes slightly more). Then, push the trackball forward with not much force, and watch the ball jump out onto the green and roll into the cup!

This is definitely a shot that takes a lot of practice, so hit the chipping green in the practice facility. Always make sure you pull back enough so you don’t duff it, but adjust the speed of your follow-through to account for distance.

Once you get comfortable with a 5-iron or 5-hybrid, you can add more clubs for this shot. I’ll go down to a 2 or 3 hybrid if I really need to keep the ball on the ground. It can still happen sometimes where your ball bounces over the hole if you’re really close to the cup, so use as low a loft as you can control to keep the ball on the ground!

Also notice how you don’t have to be very gentle with these shots if there’s no danger in going long, because the hole will suck up a ball traveling pretty fast, as long as it’s on-line!

What about that tricky 2-yard chip? You’re in the deep rough, but the pin is only 2 yards away! I tend to use something like a 9-iron and pull it back ever so slightly before shooting forward gently. You want just enough to get the ball going, but you want to make sure it contacts the green right away too so it won’t bounce over the hole!

One more shot I’ve been practicing is the 7-iron out of the sand. I saw the pros use this in the Chicago tournament, and I’m getting better at it. If you’re anywhere from say 15-40 yards away and in the sand, put on backspin and pull about halfway back and shoot forward about 50% as well. Practice with the touch and feel of this shot and you’ll be holing out a lot more often!

With enough practice and these tips, you’re sure to knock a couple more strokes off your score!

Beat the Clock to win prize money!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Contests and prizes, Features • • Leave a Comment (3)

I’ll bet many of the amateurs have noticed that you can put up a -15 one day and crack the top 20, but if you shoot the same score during a different time of day, you might end up 30th instead. Sure, a lot of this has to do with the random talent level in that specific tournament, but the time of day plays a big role in your chances of winning back some money.

Juan Schwartz helped me gather the following information so that amateurs can see, on average, what the best times of day to play are, and what scores it typically takes to finish in the money during those times.

Of course, this can also help very good players reach the next level and possibly start netting profits on the game!

Here’s the #1 rule — Don’t play during lunch time unless you don’t mind losing money! During lunch time or the early morning, there are only a few people playing. So, there are not enough random people playing for money to help weed out the big scores of the pros.

A much better time to play is any time after 3PM Eastern, on any day.

But, the BEST time to play is after 6PM on Friday. Everyone is out playing, and all the good players are getting drunk and not posting their best scores!

For reference below, we’ll split up three time periods:
#1 is midnight – 3PM Eastern
#2 is 3PM to 6PM
#3 is 6PM to midnight (after midnight, it becomes tougher again because there are not as many people out playing anymore, but there are a lot of pros still out)

EAGLE CREST, Time #1
Average 1st place score -24.
Average 5th place score -22.5
Average 10th place -21
Ave 20th -17
Time 2: 1st -23, 5th -21, 10th -19, 20th -16
Time 3: 1st -22.5, 5th -20, 10th -17, 20th -15

BAYOU BAY
Time 1: 1st -25, 5th -22, 10th -20, 20th -17.
Time 2: 1st -24, 5th -21, 10th -18, 20th -16
Time 3: 1st -22, 5th -19, 10th -16, 20th -14

MISTY SPRINGS
Time 1: 1st -24, 5th -23, 10th -21, 20th -18
Time 2: 1st -23, 5th -22, 10th -19, 20th -17
Time 3: 1st -21.5, 5th -19, 10th -17, 20th -15

CYPRESS COVE
Time 1: 1st -26, 5th -24, 10th -23, 20th -20
Time 2: 1st -25, 5th -23.5, 10th -22, 20th -19
Time 3: 1st -24, 5th -22, 10th -19, 20th -17

SUMMIT LAKES
Time 1: 1st -24, 5th -22, 10th -20, 20th -18
Time 2: 1st -23.5, 5th -21, 10th -19, 20th -17
Time 3: 1st -23, 5th -19, 10th -17, 20th -15

Keep in mind these are all AVERAGES. If you play the cycle (Eagle through Summit, in order) by yourself and not in a 2-player or more set, you can get stuck in a “crappy cycle” — you’re playing the same courses at the same times as 2-5 great players are. Getting stuck like this will make it a lot tougher to cash. Try playing the same course twice in a row, or mix up the order, if you find yourself “stuck” like this, and then continue.

Also, these averages are based on playing the same course 10 times in a row during these times. And unless there is someone “whoring” a course (playing the same course repeatedly, or more than one person doing this if you play Eagle Crest), these averages are pretty accurate for any day.

As always, Golden Tee is there for your amusement and is NOT meant to be your occupation! BUT, you can supplement your expenses on your game play by playing for prizes if you can hang with the big dogs and pick the most profitable times to cash. Heck, you may even be playing for free one day!

Shoot the outside J

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Using the track ball • • Leave a Comment (4)

Here’s a tricky shot that can make you look like a genius when you pull it off. We all know the shape of the C2 shot, where it goes out straight and curves left towards the target, and we know the shape of the B3 schwerve, where the ball heads out right but comes back to a target in front of you. We also know an A3 is a straight-line shot out to the right. But what do you do when you have to thread a gap where you need the ball to head out to the right, but straighten out towards the end, so it ends up coming straight-in to a target off to the right? Enter the outside J!

I needed a name for this shot, and when I realized the shape of the shot when going out to the right is like a ‘J’, it was pretty easy. So how do you pull it off?

It’s tricky, and you won’t use it very often, but you should have it in your arsenal. First, figure out how far to the right you need the ball to end up (for this shot, you should need the ball to end up about a half-rotation right of target). So, pull the trackball back just slightly left of B, but no more than halfway between A and B. This tells the game you want it to end up right of target.

Then, shoot the ball forward out to 3! This tells the ball to begin its angle way out to the right. So, when you pull it off, you’ll see the ball take off out to the right, but it will soon straighten out and end up coming in straight ahead to your target (hence the ‘J’ shape)!

Usually, you can get the ball to a right target more easily by rotating right and hitting some form of C2 or B3, but the J shot is for situations where you’re threading trees or find yourself behind some obstacle and have an offset look at the pin or target.

Of course, the same theories apply to the backwards J shot too, where you need to hit it out left instead!

Be careful shooting the outside J with a right-to-left wind, because the ball will have a much harder time coming back against the wind! Also be wary of pulling back too far left of B, or else you might just see the shot behave like an A3 instead.

Here are several situations when you might see the pros shoot this shot:
1) You’re offset so you don’t want it to come back to straight
2) There’s a big break on the green
3) There’s a strong crosswind to the left and you need to “undercut” it so that it will ride the wind back left more than actually cut back toward the hole.
4) You have a shorter shot with a strong crosswind to the right. Here you might turn left once and shoot the outside J so that it fights the wind a little bit. It might make a 12 mph wind act more like a 6 mph wind which helps you have more control of the shot once it hits the green.

It’s not an easy shot to master, but give it a try sometime and see what happens!

Golden Tee Fan’s PCC Experience!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Miscellaneous • • Leave a Comment (0)

Well this is coming a little late — this tourney was a month ago, but I still wanted to give my perspective of the first every Golden Tee tourney I’ve witnessed!

My buddy Matt and I rolled into St. Charles around noon on Saturday. I was concerned about parking and even getting into the bar, but Side Pockets is HUGE! It was one of the coolest sports bars I’ve been in. They took a whole section of the place and hooked up 30 or 40 Golden Tee machines there, and there was still room to move around amongst everyone! The players agreed it was a sweet setup. They also had two machines hooked up to a projector so you could watch the action on the big screen!

I was kind of awestruck for the first hour there. I saw Bernz right away, and then I met Dannyboy, and he pointed me to SeanO, the marketing director at IT who’s been helping support my site! From there I met a TON of players whose names I knew but whose faces I did not — Gopherfan, McCook, Rodney, Skipper, Moy, Miser, Mouth, and lots of other players, even Duffer Dan and Sobe!

After watching the action for a couple hours, Matt and I had to go out and play some GT for ourselves! We hit up a couple different bars during the evening, and then we came back to Side Pockets at night. When tourney play started to wind down, we got the chance to play with the pros! I played rounds with Dannyboy, Skipper, McCook and Rodney, staying till 1:30 in the morning!

Matt and I made it back over to Side Pockets around 11:00 the next day to watch some more action. We stayed till about 1:00 and then hit the road for Peoria! So, we didn’t get to stay to see the winner, but we saw some incredible matches, especially Haas winning an extra-holes round over Feijo that was just incredible.

So, you’d think we’d be burnt out on Golden Tee after that long weekend right? No way! It just made us want to get out and practice all the things we saw from the pros! Here are several things I noticed the pros doing that I don’t do:

1) Very smooth hits on the trackball. You never hear a palm crashing into the console! I also used to bruise my hand on the screen after a follow-through on a power shot, but these guys bend their elbows and have smooth follow-throughs that never make contact with the screen! I’ve since practiced that method and have improved a lot in that area!

2) Pull-backs on almost ALL shots. Some pros don’t do this, but most do. I’d see a shot where I’d just thumb it forward, but these guys have such precise control of their pullbacks that they can pull back on about any shot and still get it to end up right by the hole! I’m sticking to thumbs for now, but it’s easy to see the advantage these guys have there!

3) Deception! Since you’re head-to-head against a guy, you’ll see all kinds of crazy follow-throughs so that your opponent will have no idea how much angle you put on the shot! Of course, that’s bad for observers, but works great for them!

4) Slow pullbacks. Since the game only reads your pullback up to the top of your backswing, why pull back any further? I still pull back kind of fast, but I think that helps me create the angle I want. These guys have great control of the slow pullback.

5) Sick putting and chipping skills! You almost never see a missed putt, and even most chips from around the green go right in! Again, almost ALL of these guys putt with their thumbs, which I don’t do. I’m proud to say I’m a very good palm putter, so I’m not going to make the switch at this point. Still, you can see how these guys don’t give up any strokes around the green!

6) New methods of attacking holes! Everyone has their plan of attack give the hole conditions, but I saw several things I never knew about before. Some of these guys save their secrets for these big tourneys and then bust them out in competition, and you could see how much that paid off!

7) Rituals! Whether it be wearing a glove or wiping your hands on your shirt after every shot, these guys made sure they weren’t going to get a bad hit on the trackball!

To sum it all up, it’s easy to see why these guys are the best. Practice and masterful command of the trackball lead to great scores, scores I don’t know if I’ll ever reach! Right away I was upset that I didn’t enter the tourney, even if I was going to get waxed, because it was so much fun!

Hopefully I’ll get to participate in a tourney experience soon, and I’ll let you know how I fare!

Putting strength and “turbo” putts

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Putting • • Leave a Comment (5)

This topic is meant to address the question of at what distance you see the putt coming off the club more quickly, hence having to play less break.

Obviously, this topic had several different opinions, with no one being able to nail down exactly what you can expect from longer putts.

To expand, I wanted to see if someone knew the distance(s) that the “governor” for your putter changes to allow you to get longer putts to the hole. Let’s say I have a 60 foot putt with 3 degree break. I don’t know whether to play the break as if it’s a 30-foot putt, or as if it’s like an 80-foot putt. I don’t think I have to play as much break on the longer putt because of the extra power, but I’m wondering where those break point(s) are so I can know what to expect when the ball leaves the putter.

Consensus is that the “turbo” putt kicks in around 82 feet (though some say 80, 81, and 84). For a 90 ft putt (turbo), hit it like its a 40 footer. For a 120 foot putt hit it more like a 90 footer. This is important knowledge so you can play appropriate break and give yourself a chance to drain a longer putt.

Others claim there is no “strong putter” or “weak putter.” There is no set distance where it changes, and the reaction you get all depends on the hole and the specific putt.

A common recommendation is to try to hit EVERY putt the exact same speed. Speed control on putting is HUGE, as it allows your muscle memory to remember the angle and speed of every putt. The only time to hit a putt any softer is when you have severe down slope — like 9 or 10 degrees. For putts like these that also have side slope, you can either pull back to the A (or C) and hit it slightly softer. For straight downhill putts, you can pull back straight just a tiny bit to B and hit it very softly to 2.

Another example: a 50-foot putt on flat ground will always play the same. A 50-foot uphill putt will change speed depending on how much slope you’re going up (for an up 10, expect the ball to be dying in the hole).

One final note for long putts — if you use your thumbs to putt, play more break on a longer left putt and less break on a longer right putt. If the putt is uphill, of course, you’ll need more break on both of those.

Any additional comments are welcome as we try to nail down specific details of longer putts, if any more details even exist!

Diving deeper into the anatomy of the trackball

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Using the track ball • • Leave a Comment (4)

As an amateur player, I’ve come across some more questions regarding the trackball and how its behavior affects your ball in certain circumstances. I’ve addressed some of these questions in this article so that all of us can come away with a better understanding of exactly why the crappy shot we just executed was so bad.

Now you know most of what there is to know about A1 and C3 shots, while also getting an inside look at the trackball! But, always wanting more, I had some additional questions in mind that I got answers from by the expert community!

Q: Do the sensors only read the pullback angle up until your golfer is at full backswing?

A: Yes. This means two things.

First, you don’t have to crank the ball backwards, although for most guys, that’s the easiest way to generate a pure pullback angle. If you want, you can pull back gently until your golfer is at full backswing. From that point on, pulling back any more has no effect.

Secondly, you can’t change your pullback angle if your golfer is already at full backswing. Instead, you have to “reset” your golfer by rotating left or right (for example), and then perform the pullback again.

Q: Sometimes, when you pull back part way, you can push forward slowly to decrease the backswing. What effect does this have on your final pullback angle for the shot?

A: This created some controversial discussion. Here are several takes on what happens:

1) A1 spinny with the club coming down: club is pulled back all the way to A, start spinning, the club starts coming down by itself, but with slow downswing speed. Ball doesn’t go very far because of the slow downswing.

5-wood pulled back all the way, then nudged down to halfway, then thumb at normal thumbage speed. Ball goes a lot farther than expected. Why? I think because you pulled all the way back to begin with.

2) It will start the shot from the stopped point. However it will have read the first part of the forward swing. Stopping the club will not reset this. You really shouldn’t push the club forward and stop it because knowing exactly what read it got off the little bit it was pushed is damn near impossible. So it will affect the angle but to know how is dependant on where it was pushed forward.

Q: Is there a “maximum velocity” at which you can hit the ball forward? Meaning, is there a speed at which distance maxes out? Can humans reach this speed?

A: Yes, yes, and yes. There didn’t used to be a known max on the RPMs, so there were some crazy ways to hit the trackball to get just a “little more” distance. They finally put a max (or restrictor) on it to keep people from killing themselves while playing and to level the playing field a bit.

Q: How are distance and angle affected if you pull back “past” A or C or shoot forward “past” 1 or 3? Does this decrease distance because of how the sensors are hit? Are the max angles at exactly A and 1?

A: There are angles past A, C, 1, and 3. The max cut will yield the max distance. Some people refer to the “past A, past 1” (and C3) as an overcut. Spinning the ball while you do that is the Spinner (Spinny). If you don’t use these shots at some point in a game, you’re probably not maximizing your potential score. There are also variations of these shots (an overcut A, but hitting between 1 & 2, for example) to get a different effect.

Sobe has a seemingly contradictory stance on this topic also:

“Don’t Overcompensate:
When you hit the trackball forward outside of 3 (towards ‘choose club’) the shot will actually cut inside as if it was hit closer to 2 1/2. No, the trackball isn’t broken – you just missed your line, my friend.”

Q: Does it matter if you pound down on the ball as opposed to a smooth, straight follow-through? It’s hard for me to shoot forward at 1 or 3 the same way I shoot forward at 2, so I usually pound down on it since I can’t follow through as well. So, I’m wondering how this is affecting my distance.

A: Pounding down on the ball will reduce distance. Here is more explanation:

Pounding down on the ball has a much different effect then a smooth hit. The biggest difference is the RPMs are going to be way off. I guess the best way to describe it is comparing the shot to a change up in baseball. You can swing your arm as hard as you want, but it will not spin the ball as fast.

I am also a firm believer that you have way more control over a smooth shot as compared to the beating that gets put on the balls. A smooth shot is much more consistant. You get into a mode where you know the “feel” of a shot. To achieve this you have to have a consistant motion. That cannot be achieved pounding down on the ball.

It also wears the balls out quicker when they are being hit down on.

However, within Sobe’s article, he has another take on this approach:

“Top players know that hitting down on the trackball is not the proper way to play Golden Tee. Hitting across the ball smoothly is the way to maximize performance. But hitting down on the trackball is the most important element of a successful C-3. It will take practice and a little patience but trust me; it really works. Some shots, especially softer ones, have a tendency to come off the clubface straight even though you hit out towards 3. This is caused by the movement of the trackball within its casing. So, by hitting down on the trackball you’ll help prevent this from occurring. Try it – you’ll notice the results right away.”

Q: How much can accuracy and distance be affected by a “dirty” trackball?

A: Depends on how dirty! Accuracy and distance can be affected by a dirty trackball, but it’s hard to say how much.

Using backspin unnecessarily in Golden Tee

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Backspin, roll and bite, Features • • Leave a Comment (0)

Another problem that afflicts Golden Tee beginners and some amateurs is the overuse of backspin. These guys will take away any chance they have of getting close to a back pin by landing in the middle of the green with backspin, or they will spin a shot back off the front of the green by attacking a middle flag with backspin and coming up short. In most of these situations, I’ve learned to avoid backspin and roll the ball right up to the flag. You just have to get over being scared of being long, and play the shot with a little less power.

With a back pin in Golden Tee, there are very few situations where you want to use backspin. Your goal should be to land the ball on the front or middle of the green and let it roll back towards the flag. Of course, with a severe downslope and/or a low-lofted club, you can get backspin to check up by the pin, but usually, you’ll want to account for the slope and let the ball do the work!

With a middle pin, you can go either way, depending on the other factors (wind, slope, in-between clubs, elevation) of the shot. Still, I see backspin used almost automatically by most beginners when avoiding it would be the much better play. These situations are where developing a good “thumb shot” can do wonders for your game, since I believe it’s easier to control distance/power in Golden Tee with a thumb shot. Practice landing on the front of the green with a thumb shot and watch the ball roll up by the cup!

Underplaying a crosswind

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Playing the wind • • Leave a Comment (1)

There are many mistakes I see beginners make, but something I see more advanced players (including myself) screw up is not compensating enough for a crosswind. Let’s say you have a 6-iron into the green, where the target has you just right of the flag, and you have a 6 mph wind blowing to the left. I’d say that 8 or 9 times out of 10, the ball of the average player will come to rest left of the cup. Meaning, they didn’t play enough wind. And, I’m sure most of them never notice how consistently this happens. At first it’s hard to get a handle on how a 6 mph wind can blow a 6-iron all the way across the pin, but it does, and the sooner you understand this, the better!

Of course, if you leave the ball right of the pin in this scenario, you didn’t ever give it a chance to roll in the cup. This is true, but you can also be wasting valuable Great Shot Points!

Similarly, you’ll see beginners playing a 3-iron and a 9-iron as if wind affected them the same. One other concept you’d better learn pretty quickly is how drastically different wind affects the higher lofted clubs.

So, start taking note of whether you’re missing right or left of the cup, with all different clubs. When in doubt, err on the side of playing the wind too much, ESPECIALLY with high-lofted clubs! Rotate once or twice to offset the wind. I guarantee you’ll be surprised at the results!

File away in your brain the fact that an 11 mph wind blows a shot from a PW one full rotation, and for a LW, it’s 7 mph! You may just hole out a shot every couple rounds if you remember this tip!

Revisiting the “schwerve”

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Using the track ball • • Leave a Comment (8)

The schwerve (schwervy) refers to a B1 or B3 shot, and it’s important enough that I wanted to bring it back for discussion. I see several players lose strokes because they are scared to play this shot, but I think it’s just because they don’t fully understand it and its potential!

Usually, you use a schwerve as a mini-hook around an obstacle directly in front of you. So, your target is straight ahead, but maybe you have some tree branches you’re scared of clipping. The simple solution is to play a little B1 or B3 to go around the branches and come back in at the target.

More advanced players use the schwerve to optimize their angle of approach into the flag where the slope of the green or the wind might otherwise move the ball away from the pin. Let’s say the flag is on the extreme right side of the green. If there’s a moderate wind blowing left, or if the green slopes left, it’s going to be difficult to stick it close to the pin. More than likely, amateur players are going to end up in the middle of the green (if they play safe), or run the risk of missing right, off the green (if they play aggressively). In these situations, the schwerve allows you to fight the wind or the slope by coming in at the opposite angle. So here, you’d play a B1-type shot to come in at a right-to-left angle, increasing your chances of sticking the ball by the cup.

Of course, wind is always going to be a consideration. You won’t always be pulling back exactly to B. Remember, you pull back to where you want the ball to end up, so that’s the first thing you figure out. Then, you can apply the “schwerve” to optimize your angle of approach!

For free practice hitting a schwerve, just try it while teeing off on an easy, non-drivable par 4. Keep your eye on the point in the middle of the fairway where you expect the ball to end up, and then note where it actually does end up. Also note the degree of curve you just created on the shot and the angle at which the ball came in towards the target. Practice this with all the clubs in your bag, because the angle and distance the ball comes back towards center varies with each club. Here is a list of roughly what you can expect from each of the clubs by hitting a full B1 or B3. For example, the driver will come back about 10 degrees past center, but the 7-iron will come back only about 10 degrees short of center (assuming a flat landing surface with no wind):

Driver — 10 degrees past center
3-wood — 5 degrees past center
5-wood — about center
2-iron/hybrid — 15 degrees past center
3-iron/hybrid — 10 degrees past center
4-iron/hybrid — 5 degrees past center
5-iron/hybrid — about center
6-iron — 5 degrees short of center
7-iron — 10 degrees short of center
8-iron — 15 degrees short of center
9-iron — 20 degrees short of center
SW — 25 degrees short of center
LW — 30 degrees short of center

Notice how the low-lofted clubs come back past center, but the high-lofted clubs don’t come back all the way to center. Keep this in mind when practicing these shots! Also remember how much the wind affects the high-lofted clubs as opposed to the low-lofted ones! Finally, notice that if you pull back to B but hit between 1 and 2, the ball only hooks about half as much, and the wind will take it more here as well.

One final note to remember — when trying to stick a green with a schwerve, remember that the backspin will take it the direction its headed. So, let’s say you schwerve a 5-iron into the green with a B3. With no spin, it would land a little right of center but roll to about center. But, WITH backspin, it will land just right of center, but then the backspin will pull it slightly left of center.

So, hopefully you have a better understanding of the schwerve, and now you can go out and practice it on the course! Feel free to leave comments if you have anything to add!

The 180 rule

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Features, Using the track ball • • Leave a Comment (5)

Another lesson I understood only just recently is the impact of a straight-angle shot out of the rough vs. a curved shot. I was aware that curved shots lose a lot of distance when applied from the rough (or sand, etc), but I didn’t realize how far these straight 180 degree shots can go! I never really had these shots in my repertoire, but now I use them quite a bit — an A3 or C1-type shot is a great way to maintain distance from the rough while also fighting wind or slope by coming in at an angle! Also beware of how far woods travel in relation to high-lofted irons — I missed quite a few greens long before I realized the impact this kind of shot has. You’ll also notice the distance you lack if you don’t pull back on shots from the rough. Get some practice with these shots to recover from errant tee shots and still hit the green with ease!

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Putting strength and “turbo” putts

Diving deeper into the anatomy of the trackball

Using backspin unnecessarily in Golden Tee

Underplaying a crosswind

Revisiting the “schwerve”

The 180 rule

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