Par 3 Delema

[AussieGolfBoy]

Just a quick post about something that happened to me last game.

we've got a Par3 on our course that runs about 166m. the top was redone last year and is very hard, with a sand underlay, though it does have a good cover of grass.

i hit a perfect 6i where the ball landed 5m left of the flag, made a good divot and i'm thinking to myself "sweet i'm perfectly placed on the green".

however when i got upto the green i find my ball over the back 5m down the slope.

a little about my game. i use a Taylormade TP Red, 166m is maxing my 6i out, ball flight was high and there was a slight divot off the tee. wind was with me at 5-10kts. after hitting the ball i thought i had maybe hit it fat until i saw the flight and divot indicated i hit the ball first.

So, why didn't i stick on the green... is it the fact that the green is like a cricket pitch, or did the trailing breeze take all the spin off the ball.. it's got me stumped.

my gameplay is very up and down. ie. hit the ball high for a certain distance and i usually get the ball to stop well within 5ft if not where it landed.

any theory's?

[ReefBoy]

Re: Par 3 Delema

G'day mate,

One thing you have to remember with an elevated green is that the ball can react like it was a low shot. When calculating my shots, I find it helps to only think of the flight of the ball from the level of the green and up. So if I am hitting to a green that is elevated by 10 mtrs, and I hit a shot that peaks at 12 mtrs then it is going to behave like a ball coming in to the green that has 2 mtrs height to it ie. it will more likely run after hitting the green then to land and stop. The opposite is also true when hitting to a down hill green, more height to the shot and therefore more likely to land soft.

Christopher

[AussieGolfBoy]

Re: Par 3 Delema

tee to green is preety flat. maybe at most 2m uphill. but definately not enough difference in elevation to affect shot.

[ReefBoy]

Re: Par 3 Delema

I agree that a 2m difference is small but the dynamic I mentioned will still apply. It will not have as much impact as the example I gave, so maybe the hardness of the green is more in play.

Just a thought, if the direction of the ball coming off the green is too unpredictable maybe another way of playing it is to look to land the ball short and play a nice "chip and run" shot up to the hole for par.

Christopher

[AussieGolfBoy]

Re: Par 3 Delema

yeah. i know what your saying... i probably should have explained in more detail the hole.
from the tee, the fairway falls about 5ft on a very gradule slope over 150m, then rises infront of the green,. flat on right hand side to fairway, falls off the back and left..

so, a high shot into the front of the green on the fringe/fairway would basically stop dead.

it probably is the hard cricket pitch like green that is to blame. but still. you'd think if you made a considerable divot the ball would still stop.

[BrianW]

Re: Par 3 Delema

You need a fairly soft green to spin the ball to a quick stop. A hard green will bounce the ball forward and lose spin.