WGT Pinhunters

 

For any shot from rough up to 50%, use 5% LESS THAN the minimum percentage to ADD to your shot. For instance, 30-40% rough will be 5% less than 30%, which is 25%, and 40-50% rough will be 5% less than 40%, which is 35% that you would add to your calculated distance. (side note...when you have a long-distance shot and lots of fairway to work with, use a punch 3-wood. You can get up to 250 yards on a punch 3-wood (like at the 4th at Merion) when the shot goes downhill, and you can also use backspin for loft to clear a trap in the distance up to 140 yards with a 3-wood or hybrid punch shot. Try it in practice. I have seen Legend tier players give up on doing this and rob themselves of decent yardage and make bogey on a hole they have a decent chance to still make birdie because they sacrificed distance on their second shot. DUH.

Also, when you are in rough all the way up to 60%, there is a "FLIER" factor of 8% of total yardage calculated that you SUBTRACT from all your shots. . Of course, dinging the meter is important. A slightly late hit won't affect the distance much and will actually give you some spin and loft. A slightly early hit will knock the shot down and rob you of distance. All of this is based on that 8% subtraction AFTER you add the percentage of rough calculation initially done when you need to calculate a flier.

I have also found that rough of 15-20% or even 20-25% will NOT produce a flier, so don't subtractthe 8% rough calculation UNLESS you go digging down to put spin on the ball. Just do a calculation for 5% less than the minimum and add that to the shot. It's called "picking" the ball from the rough. A normal shot from rough that light will not "air mail" the ball the way 30-40% (most common) rough will. Heavier rough like 60-70% will knock the shot down and the "flier" factor goes out the window. You have to really have touch and pick a lot of club to make that ball fly from rough like that. A punch shot is more effective to at least get you out of trouble in deep rough like that, and make sure you have fairway under you after a short distance, or you will haveanother rough shot to contend with....not fun. Experiment when you practice. Just hitting shot after shot trying to beat a course while practicing is useless. Take PLENTY of mulligans and use your notes to compare what you see with what I have posted and send me feedback so all of us get better at this monumental game.

A SHORT CUT TO ROUGH CALCULATIONS WITH NO SPIN

When I don't want to go digging down for a spin shot from the rough, and my shot is less than 150 yards, I do a quick calculation that works just about every time from 30-40% rough, 25-30% rough and 20-25% rough. It's easy, fast, and mostly accurate.

30-40 %      add 11.5% THEN figure 1/3 wind average and add or subtract the wind push

25-30%       add   5%   THEN figure 1/3 wind average and add or subtract the wind push 

20-25%       add   3%   THEN figure 1/3 wind average and add or subtract the wind push 

This works quite a bit of the time for shots under 150 yards and know that there will be bounce and roll of about 8-10%, so allow for that, making sure nothing is in the way for that last 10% of bounce and roll. You'll be surprised at how well this works.

 

PLAYING FROM SAND

Most sand is a lie of 30-40 % and for starter clubs, which don't have a high spin rate, you would ADD 5% more than the maximum lie, which is 45% for 30-40% sand. If you are playing better clubs than starter clubs, you would NOT add 5% more than the maximum, you would just take the maximum percentage UP TO A POINT. The longer the shot (up to around 25 yards of calculation...that is..when you add the total distance and elevation) the less the sand affects the shot. 

1. Add the distance to the hole and the FULL elevation together.

2. Add the maximum percentage indicated for the lie factor.with purchased  balls, and 5% more than the maximum with starter balls IF your shot is under 25 yards, and if  the initial shot calculation comes to more than 25 yards, add the minimum indicated on the percentage of lie indicator.

3. For higher-spin rated clubs, subtract 2% - 3% from the final calculation.

4. At higher lies (60-70%) you add 10% more to the maximum indication of lie, since the ball is buried like an egg over easy. So, you would add 80% for a sand lie of 60-70%.

When you are around the greens and have one of those short shots that figures at less than 40%of your "full" shot setting, know that you can actually use a pitch shot. The pitch shot seems to follow a pattern of 77% (for now) of what is indicated. Take a lob wedge or a sand wedge, and see if you can take the height and distance, add both together as figured, and then multiply by 77% and use whatever club you need as a "pitch" shot to get it close to the hole. Elevation counts for a lot, and don't think you can use the pitch shot all the time when the height out of the sand to the green is more than 33%, since a pitch shot travels much lower than a normal full shot, so be careful you don't get caught on the rough past the lip before it lands on the green. You can actually put backspin on a pitch shot from sand and make it do nice things like at Bethpage, or just about any other course you want to do it.

Try this and send me feedback.

EVEN MORE ON SAND...LOL

I've found that sand shots at around 25 yards on my 50-foot lob wedge go a bit longer sometimes, and I subtract 2% from a shot to let it settle near the hole instead of rolling past. Most of my calculations are for shots LESS than 25 yards, and for that, I use the HIGHER percentage to add, and for shots more than 25 yards, I use the LOWER percentage to add. So a shot of 22 yards with an 8-foot elevation would come out to a 30-yard shot PLUS only 30% for a 30-40% lie, and a shot of 20 yards with only a 2 foot elevation would come out to 22 yards and I would add 40% to that shot. Once that final figuring is done, I subtract 2% from the shot, and it settles near the hole. 

On 10-15% or 15-20% lie in sand, I do the same type of calculations, but ADD 5%  BELOW the minimum to add to the shot. This will get you close enough for an easy putt. You can also flop from these lies without serious fear of disaster occurring. I'm working on that part now to get the accuracy down pat. EVERY type of shot you hit, know that it's there and ready for you IF the math is correct.

MULCH

For mulch, use a punch shot and move the little dot on the ball down to the exact point on the ball where it touches the mulch and ADD 5% to the maximum percentage indicated on the "percentage of lie" indicator. For instance, 20-25% mulch would be an addition of 5% to the maximum, which is 30%. Then take the distance indicated on the "punch" selection of club and you will find it hits whatever division you make for the punch shot on your swing meter. A punch shot from that 20-25% lie will need 30% more of the calculated distance and what is indicated. You can actually hit 200-yard shots from mulch with a rescue club (hybrid) if you know exactlywhere to move the dot and do your calculations correctly. Practice at Kiawah on the first par 5, which is the second hole. (or on Best of Par 5's...the first hole presented) It has mulch if you hit it left off the tee trying to clear the sand.

FESCUE

Put total topspin on the shot (move the little dot on the ball to the top of the ball indicator, thus giving it overspin), select a punch, and treat it like you would figure a normal rough shot calculation. The ball will go the exact distance you plan. One thing to remember though, is that a punch shot goes much lower than a full shot, so make sure you have some fairway(usually about half the distance figured) underneath you when you aim.

BRUSH

I'm working on brush. LOL

For brush at 50-60%, I do a 55% addition to the shot and calculate a punch shot. The ball needsno "rough" calculation for a "flier." You're going to get lucky if the brush is less than 50-60%, and I don't like spending a lot of time in the brush practicing with purchased balls, so my brush play is weaker than it should be. At 70% or higher, the only real club that will hit it more than a few yards is the pitching wedge. You will have to aim SIDEWAYS to get the ball back on the fairway or any manageable rough. Good luck. 

Most brush shots at 30-40% can be treated like a normal rough shot without using punch mode, and 40-50% brush seems to be in the "twilight zone"  between a punch and a full shot. Let me have some feedback if  you decide to practice in brush. Frankly, it tickles my legs and I try to stay out of it..