Golf Sim Bunker Play!

[bubba22]

I must say that I am very happy with the Protee bunker play. The ability to setup the bunker penalty is great. I focus on the technique of opening the club, wider open stance and not grounding the club in the sim just like real bunker play. The Fiberbuilt mat is quite good. Its great to practice that type of shot just like a splash bunker shot and see the high launch of the ball. Fantastic when you need to get that high launch angle with some of the deep bunker shots.

[rdh]

Sounds just like my Pro 7 bubba. I fully agree...it is cool to have a decent simulation of those shots. In a perfect world I'd have a simulator with one of those sand panels so you could get the simulated feel even more, but the fiberbuilt mat is definitely solid.

[psace]

Have to agree with you two. I am really enjoying playing out of the bunkers. The ball behaves just like it should when landing on the green.

[TheGolfer]

curiuos how you guys are gauging distance?

i am using redchain s/w with gc2 and it has a preset % it takes off the swing for a sand penalty. It would be nice to be able to adjust it but having said that i find it very frustrating to hit certain distances in the simulated sand. the technique is not a problem. it's just outside i have a feel for certain backswing positions and whether i keep the face square, slightly open, or wide open the different combinations go around an approximate distances. i am not good enough to repeat precise distances for each combination but it does work in general

outside of just hitting the ball on the green i find it hard to guage real distances. similar to the rough. don't mean knowing what the distance is rather hitting that distance with the lie penalties.

i just got my trustrike mat. not going to help with this but i was also looking into getting a rough / sand mat with the hope not to use the % penalty and have the turf help dictate the spin / trajectory / carry. curious if anyone has found this option any different than the lie penalties and what turf they use. the folks at fiberbuilt told me the sand insert is the same as the rough insert just painted for the simulator companies.

ideally i would like to get a really good quality artificial rough turf and maybe the best we can get for sand is the fiberbuilt insert? If these produce shots close to outdoors (not exact) without any lie penaltie it may be worth the time and money for a dual mat setup. with the foresight gc2 i would just pick the unit up and place it on the second mat for the rough/sand shot - no calibration needed. since i use the launch monitor mostly in the range / club fitting mode versus playing the courses occasionally needing to move the unit shouldn't be a problem, but if you play the sim courses more than use the range then not sure if it would get old moving the unit.

[bubba22]

Let me come out and say this, aside from getting real sand, we will never simulate a sand shot from the current sand/rough options available. It just is not gonna happen. Just like rough, there are obviously different types of sand consistency, different lies that one gets in the sand, getting into a footprint in real sand etc. etc. etc. The best option is to find a practice bunker in the summer and practice the proper technique and feel for how much sand to splash and what speed based on amount of backswing most likely to get what distance. I love the sand, probably one of my favorite shots. Once you have that then the sim can give you a sense of how much to swing for the appropriate distance. The feel of splashing sound out will not be there unless you have real sand. It helps if you can adjust the lie penaly somewhat to feel how hard/fast to swing for the various distances. Thats what I have done and it probably is close to what I would get in real situation. Not perfect but close. Like I said, treat it like a real sand shot, open stance, open face and don't ground the club getting that feel of hitting with the club hovered over the ball will mimick what you really have to do out on the course.

[rdh]

For full-length shots, the simulator is a piece of cake. Just swing with the club you would use in real life, and watch the results. The short game is a different story. On my Pro 7, bunker shots have a great feel and putting is excellent. BUT...it's different than the real world where you can "feel" the shot based on what you're looking at. For the first while on my simulator I had a really hard time gaging both putts and bunker shots. After using the simulator quite a bit, I now know the swings I need to make (both putting and from bunkers) for various distances that it shows me on screen. i.e. I know how to swing for a "25 yard" sand shot and a "12 yard" sand shot. I know how hard to hit a 30 foot putt that is 6 inches uphill, and I know how hard to hit a 15 foot putt that is 6 inches downhill. This just comes from practice/experience on the simulator. You can't translate that from real life. I may be making the same putting stroke I would in real life for a 15 foot downhill putt, or I may be making a different stroke...I'm not sure. I know how hard to hit a putt in real life, and I know how hard to hit it on the simulator after getting used to the distances. It all just takes practice...and it doesn't mess up your real life game. If I'm on the course in real life and have a 15 foot downhill putt, I'm not thinking "oh this is how hard I swing on the simulator"...I just continue to putt based on feel and what I see. The simulator is a different beast...but I love it.

[bubba22]

Well said rdh. I agree. The point is you can work on your technique with the sim and it won't make you worse in the real situation. After practicing with the sim you will get a sense of your distances.

[ZMax]

Nothing compares to hitting out of a real bunker, so why not just build a little sand box down in the basement? Move the GC2 to the side of the sand box and off you go. Might be a little messy after a practice session but, hey, it'll be a lot better than any Fiberbuilt sand panel.

[CPA]

I agree zmax . Get that old kitty litter tray out...

[bubba22]

Hey I have kitty litter tray ......

[rdh]

Jeez guys...now look what you've done. I know bubba's now thinking he needs to buy a GC2 so he can try hitting shots out of his kitty litter tray. You guys are killing him here...

[bubba22]

I am testing the kitty litter tray as we speak rdh .....

[rdh]

Just remember to make sure it's clean fresh litter first bubba....

[ZMax]

Hmmm...and no need to build a bathroom down in the basement.

[ZMax]

I am testing the kitty litter tray as we speak rdh .....

I can't wait to read your review. What brand of kitty litter are you testing?

[bubba22]

Good point ZMax!!

[bubba22]

Suggest http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=11164126. Best litter ever. Just like real sand.

[TheGolfer]

funny guys. just curiuos since you come out saying how accurate the sand play is. the shortgame / rough / putting is one reason why i finding i don't use the courses and we spend most of the time in club fitting / practice mode. once a week we do zip around for 18 with auto put but still need to deal witht he rough / sand which is tends to be gamey.

not looking to recreate shortgame for gc2. if i can get rough / inserts that would make it seam different than hitting out of the sand with my old wii tiger woods it would be worth it to help during play days.

actually do have a bunker built into the basement complete with an adjustable lip with the short game greens and chipping. thought it was over the top but man its been awesome teaching her sand technique during the winter. she loves it. not looking at using the gc2 for this. if you are looking at doing the same be careful with the sand you choose - did some research I believe it needs to be silicate free which can be cancerous if you breath indoors. See the link below for a product called safe sand. Have 800lbs of the stuff for the bunker. Very soft sand.

[rdh]

TheGolfer, you have one crazy setup there...do you like golf much?

[bubba22]

TheGolfer you really go all out. You need to move to a warm place on a golf course so you can play all year round. Post some pics of your full setup!!

[CPA]

especially of the bunker!

[imanidiot]

yes I would like to see some pics also...

[ZMax]

Just finished building this in my basement last night. Let me know what you guys think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM4N6qXRoV8

[bubba22]

Awesome ZMax. Great bunker shot!!!!

[thenootz]

Wooow!!! Excellent ZMax...

[psace]

Speaking of bunkers, has anyone else noticed that the greenside bunkers for Augusta (for ProTee and maybe others) are labelled sand instead of bunkers and the ball goes much farther (like a regular sand wedge) than the greenside bunkers on other courses? I would be interesting in hearing from you.

[ZMax]

I don't recall them acting weird in GSA. What kind of LA and ball speed are you getting when hitting out of these bunkers?

[rdh]

This is the nature of GSA Golf. The courses have all been designed by various designers. For each course, the designer creates surfaces and names them (so one designer may call it a bunker and another may call it sand) and sets the properties for it...how much bounce/roll the ball should have, how shots coming out of it should behave, etc. It's great the designers have that kind of flexibility if they want to create some wonky terrain, but it definitely creates confusion and inconsistency. Red Chain is small so they have to rely on a bunch of designers to put together courses...but it would be nice if there was more central control over quality and unifornity between them.

[psace]

It happens only on Augusta, Zmax. All the other courses I have played thus far, have worked well with a 50% penalty for greenside bunkers. My launch angle and ball speed is consistent on most shots so that isn't a problem.

RDH, I have to agree with you. I have asked ProTee to check into this for me. Perhaps it is only happening with this simulator. It totally threw my game off when flying 70 yards out of the greenside bunkers with my sand wedge (launch angle between 38-42 degrees). I ended up having to play the bunkers like a normal chip shot with the sand wedge

[bubba22]

Just checked and I agree Psace, Augusta doesn't react the same way. The reductions I think are based on the course descriptions ie bunker, rough etc. Augusta calls their bunkers "sand" so I suspect Protee needs to adjust their software for this.