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I had some good playing results lately, and it’s been suggested to me that I should write another tutorial on how to score low in GBC. I agreed, as I felt that since I wrote the previous tutorial my game had improved, so that I am now fairly regularly beating 60 and had scored as low as 54 (-18). True, the conditions on that occasion were conductive to low scoring, but to be able to score this low one has to have a good understanding of some of the finer aspects of play in GBC, some of which I will now try to pass on.
So, how do I do it? First of all, unlike some other good GBC players, I do NOT power hit as a rule. However, every rule has to have some exceptions. In this case they are restricted to those situations where I feel that I have nothing much to lose by going for the power hit. For instance: the ball is in the rough for my second shot on a par five hole and no club can take me to within 30-40 yds from the pin. I might then go for a power hit, knowing that even if I’m going to miss, I would still have a good chance of getting home in 5. Sometimes I also decide to power drive off the tee, if the penalty for missing the fairway isn’t too severe. Thus I might power hit once or twice during the entire round, more often not at all.
Low scoring comes as a result of the following: Driving
accuracy, ability to correctly read the ball’s lie and the
wind effects and, of course, good putting. And, above all, a
proper timing. The latter seems to require some inherited ability
that is difficult to learn, some of us have been blessed, others
will perhaps never get it quite right.
Out of these, perhaps the least understood is the effect of slopes on the ball's flight, so I'm now going to concentrate on this.
According to an old Chinese proverb, picture is worth a thousand words, so I have included some snapshots in this tutorial. Let’s look at this situation:
(par five 2nd hole at Bohemian Forest).
The flag appears to be hopelessly hidden behind the trees. The
computer players with their astonishing artificial intelligence
will go for it in a straight line and, of course, end up bush
whacking. To us, humans, the odds are nevertheless in our favour.
The fairway is sloping to the left and the wind is from the right
side, both helping to move the ball in the desired direction.
In this case I will set up the shot for a draw (CTRL+right
arrow), as wide as possible. I usually play with the Tower View
(Cam3), as this usually gives me the best idea of the shot’s
trajectory. I would then move to the Tower landing view (Cam7) to
make sure that the ball is not going to clip any overhanging
branches. I will also have the grid on, to see which way the
terrain slopes in the green area. All I need to do now is hit the
sweet spot...
...and the ball is on the green, in this case about 40’ from the pin. An outside eagle chance...
The most important thing is to be able to deal with the side hill lies. To explain this we will move to the next picture, taken on the 7th hole at Abbot’s Bridge.
Here I am facing a long iron shot to the green with a fairly severe left to right slope and 5 mph wind from the left. The automatic caddy would select 1 iron, but I will use 3 iron hit on a low trajectory, though a 2 iron hit high would do the job too. To predict the effect of the slope is a combination of feel and experience, only practice would make you perfect here. However, there are some basic rules to be followed. The first one is: The longer the club you are using, the more will the flight of the ball be affected by the slope. In this particular case I have estimated that about 20 clicks on the left arrow would do the job. I had to add further 5 clicks for the wind, the total of 25 clicks. And I was right, as proves the next screenshot.
On a longer shot with 3 wood from the same lie I would probably click about 10 times more, on a shorter shot with 5 iron I would only need about 15 clicks, including the 5 mph wind allowance. With 7 iron I would click only about 10x, with 9 iron about 5x.
17th hole at Apple Isle is a good example of the dilemma golfers might often face. Should I go for the green or should I play it safe? My answer in this case is that nine times out of ten I would play it safe! The penalty for missing is just too severe and it could ruin the entire round if I missed the sweet spot. To play this shot the safe way in calm winds I would probably move down from 3 wood to 1 or perhaps even 2 iron, but I would still keep aiming for the flag. The severe slope would cause the ball move way to the right, probably ending on line with about the third pine tree seen in the distance, and in the fairway. On some occasions I might gamble and go for the green with the 3 wood. The only way to do it is manufacturing the shot by aiming approximately for the end of the rocks below the cliff with some added draw, probably about 7-8 clicks on CTRL+right. The draw is need here, otherwise the ball would almost certainly roll into the bunker right to the green. As shown on the next screenshot...
...I had almost succeeded, the ball stayed in the fairway just short of the green, leaving me a chip of about 20 yds. Had I played it safe, I would have been left with a pitch of about 50 yds, still a very good birdie chance. Just a proof that in this case the gamble probably isn’t worth it.
The 10th hole at Abbot’s Bridge. I had found myself in this situation several times while playtesting the course and going for the strip of fairway just short of the green. So I have recreated it here, because it is a good example of the slope effect (or rather the lack of it) on pitches of medium to short distance. Everything here screams at you - you must allow for the slope! Well, you just have to resist it. As you see on the next screenshot...
... I only use two clicks left, that’s all, folks. One for the slope, one for the wind from left. And I’m correct, because I have almost holed that pitch! Actually, I have holed it on the previous attempt, but the screenshot with the ball in the hole appeared somewhat unconvincing, so I had better replayed the shot.
Let’s recapitulate on the slope effects.
Very severe slopes on shots with the 3 wood - allow a lot, up to 50-60 clicks, sometimes even more. If I had to play 3 wood from the lie shown on the previous example, I would aim way left, something like 30 degrees. With long irons, still a lot of allowance, 30-40 clicks. Medium irons - substantially less, about 20 for 5 iron. Short irons - 10-12 for 7 iron, 4-6 for 9 iron, 2-3 for wedge, 1 for lofted wedge.
Severe slopes - 20-40 wood, 10-20 long irons, 5-10 medium irons, 2-5 short iron, hardly any allowance for the wedges.
Medium slopes - 10-20 woods, 5-10 long irons, 2-5 medium irons, short irons and wedges very little.
Slight slopes - 5-10 woods, 2-5 long irons, you don’t need any allowance with the other clubs.
Finally, I have one tip that can save you quite a few shots if used sensibly. How often does it happen to you that you hit what you think is a perfect shot, only to see it roll off the green to end up in the short grass, a couple of feet from the edge? I used to accept the chipping club selection that the game gave me, but now I have taken to putting the ball from just off the green whenever possible.
On this screenshot the ball is in the fairway, about two
putting squares away from the fringe. If I were to chip it as
prompted by the caddy, the odds against holing the chip would be
pretty high. When I put it with the correct setting, in this case
I would be kicking myself if I did not hole it! Just as I would
if I were putting on the green. The distance to the hole on this
example is 31 feet with the medium fast greens, the ball is
1’’ above the hole, the put is dead straight. I set the
distance to 42 feet - in accordance to this formula: an extra
5’ of distance per each putting grid square + 2’. That
makes 12’ of extra distance, but I have taken off 1’
for 1” of downhill run.
Generally treat the shot as any normal put, just add about
5’ for a fairway lie, 7’ for light rough, 10’ for
heavy rough per each square the ball has to travel over before it
gets onto the green.
I use this method particularly on straight or near straight shots from just off the green, up to about 3-4’. I estimate that it’s been saving me about one shot per round.