Club head speeds [SOLVED]

For all topics about the playing of Links, such as Swing Types etc.
Post Reply
User avatar
MrT
Posts: 172
Joined: May 24th, 2021, 6:48 pm

Club head speeds [SOLVED]

Post by MrT »

This weekend I have paid a lot of attention to the US Open played in Torrey Pines.

According to data I found online Torrey Pines South has a stimpmeter of 11. Hence that can be reproduced. (Mc/Mc or roughly that).
I paid close attention to how the golfers were putting, the nasty trajectories the balls were often traveling and I have to say that LINKS with the challenging settings can reproduce that. It was nice to see that they barely broke EVEN in the 4 rounds because that confirms the realism of the game with the suitable settings.

However, I know Torrey Pines South very well, among the courses I know best. When I select the challenging settings for the pins, they were not placed like they were for most holes in the US Open 2021! But, maybe the course has been modified a bit with respect to the most recent available in Links. I am saying this only to make a point that when going for Mc/Mc or faster, one has to be aware that difficult pin positions could not be suitable at all.

I decided to check also club head speeds for the PGA. I used the data from the site below.

https://www.pgatour.com/stats.html

and for instance

https://www.pgatour.com/content/pgatour ... .t010.html

Now, it would appear that the average for the PGA is around 115 mph, but there are players whose averages are considerably higher in the mid 120mph to low 130's mph. In Links, in RTS, I consider myself pretty good at driving. But my average speed is 110mph and my top speed ever is 120mph! Reasonably below what one should achieve in a realistic version of the game.

I noticed that in Classic Swing it is possible to hit further than in RTS, although not by a huge amount. My personal experience: smacking the ball at full throttle in Classic I was getting 10-15 more yards than in RTS. Those 5 to 10mph or so can make a difference as it could be the difference between sending a second shot on green or just nearby on a par 5 hole. And more. But, I am not sure that there is a way to increase the speed in RTS. I tried everything I could think of, but in almost 1 year of playing that is my best and I can tie it, never managed to bit it, not even by 0.1 mph.

I will continue playing in RTS because, as far as I am concerned, I just prefer it to Classic Swing. However, I am a bit disappointed as I made big strides to bring realism to my game (thank you to the help of other users here), but I feel that club head speeds will not match what I can see in PGA tournaments among the "fastest" players, at least, no matter what I tried. I even tried several mice, but really that did not make any difference. In some cases the way they handle can be beneficial or detrimental, but eventually, once I get used to them, they reach the same speed and the shots go the same distances.
Last edited by MrT on June 27th, 2021, 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
pmgolf
Posts: 1096
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 2:41 am
Location: near Richmond, VA

Re: Club head speeds

Post by pmgolf »

To get a good idea about pin positions, go into the Links game, selecting "Play Golf", and then "Practice". Choose "Torrey Pines South 2013", I suggest "Breezy, Firm, Fast challenging" for realism, and choose "Custom" pins. Click the "Custom Pins" button, and put a checkmark in the "Show all pin positions in the game" checkbox. Choose a player to use, and select "Back" pins.

Start the Practice round. You can pick up the ball and place it wherever you want. The object of all this is for you to see all the pins on the green, so go to the first green (either hit your ball to it or pick it up and place the ball just in front of the green). Every green can have as many as 18 pins. There are no rules about what makes a pin "easy" or "moderate" or "hard", so most designers just take a shot at it. It's just a matter of opinion, so many designers get it wrong. Rarely does anyone take strategy into account, like having a pin in a tight corner behind a bunker. When you select "easy" pins, or even "hard" pins, you have no idea what you're going to get. That's why you have to go look at every pin yourself, and make your own mind up about whether the pin is "easy", "moderate" or "hard". Don't blame the designer - they had no guidelines!

Pete
User avatar
Adelade
Posts: 1346
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 10:24 am

Re: Club head speeds

Post by Adelade »

MrT, one way of seeing it is that Links club head speeds and shot distances are more realistic (maybe not fully realistic - I dont know) if you consider club- and golf ball technology from back when Links was made.

There is a specific mod of the game that allows significantly further distances per club, I think its called the Pro Distance Mod, you obviously cant use it in Online play competitions and so, but if you want it ask around and Im sure someone will share it. Aside from that, have you tried messing with mouse sensitivity settings both within Links and outside?
Finished Courses - Main: Amedal (fictional), Nine Bridges (real)
Other: Austin, Sheshan, Kauri Cliffs, Le Golf Nat. Updates: Whirlpool, Royal Lytham, Royal St George's, Chicago, Chambers Bay, Munchen Nord E
Working on: 2 fictional courses + a couple things...
User avatar
Still Linksing
Posts: 583
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 2:43 am

Re: Club head speeds

Post by Still Linksing »

MrT wrote: June 21st, 2021, 2:28 am I noticed that in Classic Swing it is possible to hit further than in RTS, although not by a huge amount.
This was brought up during Links's prime period several times. You can't increase the distance.
For all the old golf games visit:
Golf Sim Clubhouse
User avatar
MrT
Posts: 172
Joined: May 24th, 2021, 6:48 pm

Re: Club head speeds

Post by MrT »

Adelade wrote: June 21st, 2021, 10:04 am MrT, one way of seeing it is that Links club head speeds and shot distances are more realistic (maybe not fully realistic - I dont know) if you consider club- and golf ball technology from back when Links was made.

There is a specific mod of the game that allows significantly further distances per club, I think its called the Pro Distance Mod, you obviously cant use it in Online play competitions and so, but if you want it ask around and Im sure someone will share it. Aside from that, have you tried messing with mouse sensitivity settings both within Links and outside?
Pro Distance Mod? Never knew and never saw it anywhere despite I went snooping around quite a bit in the game.

I tried messing a bit with mouse sensitivity, but need to be careful with the "settings outside" or else "I would hit out of bounds when using it to work in Excel" or similar! Now you had me thinking and may investigate further. However, if one achieves a higher speed at impact, that must translate in the ball traveling further or it would be completely useless in practical terms.

Did not think about that the technology issue... I assume that I was distracted by the fact that now there are settings to reach stimpmeter levels that just were not there in early 2000 or mid/late 1990's PGA or tournaments. The faster and faster greens "fashion" in PGA is a relatively recent thing.

Perhaps, in this regard the Classic Swing offers a more realistic option: you can take a big risk by loading the meter completely and then hit a John Daly's on the fairway or send the ball in the little town nearby and hit innocent passer-by's. In RTS that is just not possible, at least after one accepts a certain type of settings, I noticed that accelerating the movement does not produce top club head speeds which are attained with a smooth regular movement instead, a true "less is more" type of attitude.

Thanks for the pointers.
User avatar
MrT
Posts: 172
Joined: May 24th, 2021, 6:48 pm

Re: Club head speeds

Post by MrT »

Still Linksing wrote: June 21st, 2021, 10:46 am
MrT wrote: June 21st, 2021, 2:28 am I noticed that in Classic Swing it is possible to hit further than in RTS, although not by a huge amount.
This was brought up during Links's prime period several times. You can't increase the distance.
I only did some experimenting on my own. I could hit further while driving in Classic than in RTS. But I did not bother to check whether I went past the max distance. My top distance ever is over 400 yards, but that was with strong tailwind and on a very sloped downhill fairway (I think it was at Otsego!).
(371 meters or 407 yards). Still, I was never able to replicate that outcome. On flat fairways my top is probably 310-320 yards with strong tailwinds. Average is 275 yards in about 1 year of playing. My game version says that top distance for Drive is 285 yards. My driving is not my problem in this game. I was just curious as this game is so special and so much ahead of his time that it is almost mind boggling.
User avatar
Still Linksing
Posts: 583
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 2:43 am

Re: Club head speeds

Post by Still Linksing »

MrT wrote: June 21st, 2021, 7:11 pm I was just curious as this game is so special and so much ahead of his time that it is almost mind boggling.
Agree. I am still amazed how well say the ball physics replicate real life. It is a very complete golf game. Not sure if we’ll ever see anything like it again.
For all the old golf games visit:
Golf Sim Clubhouse
User avatar
MrT
Posts: 172
Joined: May 24th, 2021, 6:48 pm

Re: Club head speeds

Post by MrT »

Still Linksing wrote: June 21st, 2021, 9:33 pm
MrT wrote: June 21st, 2021, 7:11 pm I was just curious as this game is so special and so much ahead of his time that it is almost mind boggling.
Agree. I am still amazed how well say the ball physics replicate real life. It is a very complete golf game. Not sure if we’ll ever see anything like it again.
Yes, This game is mesmerizing. In my opinion, if they only had found the way not to have the water not look so still and/or the other players during a game not to look 100% stiff, this game would toy with near perfection! I think that the only way to play another game so realistic would be to play with golf simulator made by the same guys who made Links in first place. Unfortunately, those go for around $25k and you cannot exactly put them in one's office or studio. The physics behind this game is phenomenal. And in RTS one even gets the feeling to be really loading the swing for the shot.. Incredible, phenomenal^2
User avatar
Danny D
Posts: 1107
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 1:09 am
Location: SE Missouri

Re: Club head speeds

Post by Danny D »

MrT wrote: June 22nd, 2021, 5:57 am And in RTS one even gets the feeling to be really loading the swing for the shot.. Incredible, phenomenal^2
It's the tempo. When you play golf IRL, I'm sure you have developed a tempo with your swing.

When I play RTS, even though I'm swinging with my arm and hand, I still feel the same tempo as I do when I swing a real club. It's not as easy to get that same sensation with click. You have to hold your hand still, swing by pressing one finger downward, and try to IMAGINE the tempo. You can also get that same feeling of tempo with powerstroke, once you learn how it works. I played PS for several years back during the ball-mouse period, but when the laser-mouses came out, it literally destroyed my PS meter. I didn't have mouse drivers for the laser mouse. It used a generic Windows driver, and it made PS totally erratic. I eventually gave it up because my online partner only wanted to play click.

Dan :cheers1:
Completed Courses
Real Courses: The National Golf Club of Kansas City - Wakonda Club - Coeur d'Alene Resort Course
Fictitious Courses: Northern Lakes - Golfcom Tees
Southern Oaks - Hometown 9 hole real course with a fictitious back 9 added
Post Reply