Stopping the balls on hard greens

[Curls]

Ah I see! Yes, it's been very dry in the South East of England (possibly other parts to but I can't comment on those as I'm not there!) for the last few weeks. It certainly makes things tougher for green keepers.

When I moved to England 10 years ago from Ireland I got panic attacks because it went A WHOLE WEEK WITHOUT RAINING. Still makes no sense but I'm learning to cope.

 

[patricks148]

Presumably that's the links golfers in Ireland and Scotland, rather than those that play elsewhere?

Links golf allows a ball to be run into a green typically. Parkland typically does not due to placement of bunkers etc. In my opinion, as I noted above, where the front of the green is well protected, the green keepers should make sure that the green is soft enough that a well struck iron shot from the fairway will hold on.

i wouldn't necessarily agree, we have plenty of greens surrounded by bunkers and its not possible to run the ball on, 3 or our par 3's for instance.

a soft ball is a start and a good strike the next. but at the end of the day you have to play the conditions and adapt to them esp if its a course you are playing all the time.

 

[pendodave]

We haven't had any decent rain for months in Herts. The fairways are rock hard and the greens are pretty firm. There is a limit to how much water we can extract from our borehole, so the greens can't be watered forever.

The older parkland courses with old-style clay based greens (ours is one) are particularly tough to play in these conditions. The newer sand based greens in the area seem 'deader'.

A couple of things worth considering :
- many of the newer irons minimize spin in the chase for distance (low lofts and low COG). Might be worth using irons which are shorter but generate more spin.
- On our course, the greens often have a tilt in. Using the width of the fairway sometimes allows an angle in which is into the slope and allows better control
- Use wind/shot shape so that the ball 'stalls' into the green instead of coming in with too much energy

 

[Region3]

It's not surprising that a lot of amateurs struggle to stop a ball on hard greens.

Already mentioned are less spinny balls and irons, but (assuming a good strike) swing speed is also a factor. Pros will take too much club and hit it softer to "take the spin off", yet their soft shot will be as hard if not harder than a lot of amateurs flat out swing.

 

[mikejohnchapman]

I played in a competition this week where the greens were quoted as running between 11 & 13 on the stimp meter and bone hard. One of my PP hit a good wedge into a green which pitched on the front and went OOB through the green. I appreciate it's been a dry spring thus far and too cold to water overnight but in all honesty we ended up trying to bounce bunkers short of greens which isn't a test of skill - more luck.

Highest handicap was 8 down to scratch and nobody got near par.

 

[palindromicbob]

Just what the course pro adviced me to use. I got on well with the tru soft balls. Have 3 dozen velocity left so may be a case of switching over to the tru soft balls again. They are cheaper as well

Mark Crossfield (as much as some hate him) has done some good on course ball testing lately and the velocity span significantly less than other balls including the trusoft which had surprisingly high spin.

Have a shot with the trusoft and maybe consider some other soft balls like the callaway supersoft, Wilson DX2/3 etc and even a premium ball or two. You may be surprised what you end up with.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Depending on the budget, get a few different types (say AD333 tour, TM Project A and maybe a premium or two) and see if they make any difference. Some great reviews about on the Trusoft though

 

[SteveW86]

Just received all of my balls from the titliest fitting day, looking forward to doing some proper on course testing to see how much of a difference a Pro v1 will make over my usual Callaway ChromeSoft

 

[Dasit]

My course has not seen rain in a month

Almost impossible to hold a green unless you hit really high. Not seen a pitch mark in a while either.,

 

[TomTom]

I played in a competition this week where the greens were quoted as running between 11 & 13 on the stimp meter and bone hard. One of my PP hit a good wedge into a green which pitched on the front and went OOB through the green. I appreciate it's been a dry spring thus far and too cold to water overnight but in all honesty we ended up trying to bounce bunkers short of greens which isn't a test of skill - more luck.

Highest handicap was 8 down to scratch and nobody got near par.

Augusta?!

 

[Hosel Fade]

I'm using the titliest Velocity Now. Sometimes the Trusoft if its just practise

Use anything but this, worst feeling ball on the market imo and spins really low.

 

[Oddsocks]

Chances are the OP isn't hitting down on the ball and is more of a sweeper. This type of strike just doesn't produce enough spin. Coupled with a softer ball and also clean groves, I'd get a lesson to check your impact angle

 

[ScienceBoy]

After reading this thread I've dug around my (new) shed and found my best balls.

These are in the bag for today's par 3 adventure (rained off yesterday).

I didn't know I had a pro v 1 and 6 srixon tri speeds!

 

[jhills89]

what a difference a few more weeks of practise makes. Must be hitting the ball on the sweet spot as the balls are now landing softly and dead when I am attacking the pins!

Time to start flag hunting!!