TST Explores GAME Golf

[No Mulligans]

I'd buy Classic again.  I don't think I'd use the live features.

[kpaulhus]

48 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

I'd buy Classic again.  I don't think I'd use the live features.

I like using the live features when I am out playing 9 holes by myself after work. Its great to know that info right then and there. 

 

When I play in my group on the weekends I typically use it like the classic version so Im not messing with my phone between shots and what not. Usually Im talking to my playing partners or smoking a cigar so I dont have much time then anyways.

[Big Lex]

After reading through this topic, I'd like to ask for some opinions. This is my summary of what I learned reading this thread...I'm asking any experienced users to comment on these observations.

1. It seems that overall this is an excellent product which allows you to easily gather a robust amount of data that is conveniently presented to the user.

2. Technical complaints regarding the hardware are minimal. It works most all of the time, seems very accurate most of the time, and is durable. There have been some rare, weird things, like people with tags that failed or a sprung belt clip, etc., but in general these are the exception. The rule is that it's well made, holds up, and works well.

3. A slight limitation is that it isn't super detailed in tracking putting.

4. For a variety of reasons, most people edit their rounds afterwards, to make them accurate. This is mainly adding in any penalty shots, and fixing the shots on the green to reflect the correct pin location.

5. It's a common experience to forget to tag shots, but people seem to eventually get the hang of this and get thru entire rounds without missing shots. And if you do miss, it's possible to fix it later by editing.

6. Although not in this thread, the software side now converts your data into strokes gained.

Finally, one question I have is: At the beginning of the thread, it was mentioned that TST would be evaluating the product with regard to how it dovetails with the principles of LSW. While the strokes gained feature clearly helps with the instructional side of LSW, I am wondering about the game planning side. How specifically does the software help - or NOT help - the golfer construct decision maps? It was mentioned that there could be a problem constructing decision maps if the software always assumed you were aiming for the center of the fairway or the center of the green. It seems that it DOES in fact assume this, so I'm wondering then what the final verdict is for the product regarding game planning.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Missouri Swede]

6 hours ago, Big Lex said:

5. It's a common experience to forget to tag shots, but people seem to eventually get the hang of this and get thru entire rounds without missing shots. And if you do miss, it's possible to fix it later by editing.

The device usually detects the motion of a missed shot and records the location.  When you upload the round and edit it online, it flags it for you as a possible missed shot.  All you have to do is edit that shot to show which club you used.

It's not really common to miss a tag, once you get it into your routine.  I only rarely miss a tag, and that's if I get distracted and out of my routine; e.g., being asked if I want to play through a group when I wasn't expecting it.

It can have some false positives, too.  I've had it show practice swings as a possible missed shot, but that's not a real problem--just delete the "missed shot."

Unrelated to missed shots, I'm so used to wearing a pager on my left hip for the last 30 years or so that it feels "normal" for me to have the device there in place of the pager (instead of the right side suggested by GG).

--Craig

[Lihu]

53 minutes ago, Missouri Swede said:

The device usually detects the motion of a missed shot and records the location.  When you upload the round and edit it online, it flags it for you as a possible missed shot.  All you have to do is edit that shot to show which club you used.

It's not really common to miss a tag, once you get it into your routine.  I only rarely miss a tag, and that's if I get distracted and out of my routine; e.g., being asked if I want to play through a group when I wasn't expecting it.

It can have some false positives, too.  I've had it show practice swings as a possible missed shot, but that's not a real problem--just delete the "missed shot."

Unrelated to missed shots, I'm so used to wearing a pager on my left hip for the last 30 years or so that it feels "normal" for me to have the device there in place of the pager (instead of the right side suggested by GG).

--Craig

These features are only available in the work units like classic and live? That in itself is worth purchasing the whole unit.

Can you show an example screenshot prior to editing?

[Missouri Swede]

13 minutes ago, Lihu said:

These features are only available in the work units like classic and live? That in itself is worth purchasing the whole unit.

Can you show an example screenshot prior to editing?

Yeah, I've got the classic unit.  I tried the free phone app only version for a couple rounds before I bought it.  I didn't like using the phone app to tag my shots (too intrusive IMHO), but I saw how the data could be useful so I got the classic unit last spring.  I hardly even notice it's there when I'm playing.  I've tagged a club a second time a few times when I didn't remember tagging the unit ("did I tag that or not?" as I'm putting my club away)--but almost always, I've tagged it without even thinking about it.

I don't have any unsigned rounds right now.  If I get out sometime soon (weather looking iffy for this weekend), I'll skip tagging a shot and post a screenshot.

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Missouri Swede said:

Unrelated to missed shots, I'm so used to wearing a pager on my left hip for the last 30 years or so that it feels "normal" for me to have the device there in place of the pager (instead of the right side suggested by GG).

Tagging became such a habit to me… I found myself tagging my table tennis serves. True story.

[mvmac]

5 hours ago, iacas said:

Tagging became such a habit to me… I found myself tagging my table tennis serves. True story.

Haha, too funny.

[Lihu]

13 hours ago, Missouri Swede said:

Yeah, I've got the classic unit.  I tried the free phone app only version for a couple rounds before I bought it.  I didn't like using the phone app to tag my shots (too intrusive IMHO), but I saw how the data could be useful so I got the classic unit last spring.  I hardly even notice it's there when I'm playing.  I've tagged a club a second time a few times when I didn't remember tagging the unit ("did I tag that or not?" as I'm putting my club away)--but almost always, I've tagged it without even thinking about it.

I don't have any unsigned rounds right now.  If I get out sometime soon (weather looking iffy for this weekend), I'll skip tagging a shot and post a screenshot.

Yeah, thanks. I haven't got a problem with forgetting to tag, but some times while waiting for partners to shoot I might "tag a shot" by mistake or something like that to try to get ahead of the game.

I just found myself editing my last round which was horrible, but at least the putting stats make more sense.

[Missouri Swede]

21 hours ago, Lihu said:

Can you show an example screenshot prior to editing?

@Lihu, I got a round in today.  I got distracted on my way out the door and left my putter at home.   They let me borrow an old putter they had in the clubhouse--signed by a Horton somebody-or-other.  (No, not really.)

I skipped tagging an iron shot, and here's what it gives you when it uploads:

Select the box for the second shot, and it gives you the option to select a club (or to delete it if it was just a practice swing or something):

Select the club you used:

And it's done:

[Lihu]

13 minutes ago, Missouri Swede said:

@Lihu, I got a round in today.  I got distracted on my way out the door and left my putter at home.   They let me borrow an old putter they had in the clubhouse--signed by a Horton somebody-or-other.  (No, not really.)

I skipped tagging an iron shot, and here's what it gives you when it uploads:

Select the box for the second shot, and it gives you the option to select a club (or to delete it if it was just a practice swing or something):

Select the club you used:

And it's done:

This is a great feature.Thanks for sharing it!

[Mike Boatright]

This thing looks cool. My question is how does it know a fairway hit vs 3 yards in the rough?

[iacas]

1 minute ago, Mike Boatright said:

This thing looks cool. My question is how does it know a fairway hit vs 3 yards in the rough?

They map the courses.

[Mike Boatright]

Looks like a great tool maybe i'll buy it someday.

[RandallT]

On 3/10/2015 at 3:26 PM, Golfingdad said:

Hit a drive into a hazard, then your next shot is from where you drop, so depending on where you crossed the hazard, the machine might mark you down for hitting a 15 yard drive.  But I think the software recognizes and excludes those types of situations when it calculates averages and such.

Late bump on this, but just wanted to see if others have a better solution to this scenario:

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/randallt/round/853190?hole_id=23335841

Shot 1 is a total chunk into the water with an 8-iron.

Take penalty.

Drop from the designated drop zone for Shot 3 (way over there to the left of the green).

Here's my issue: the 8-iron shows up as a 185yd shot, when it was really just totally fatted into the water, maybe about 75yds. It shows up like that in the hole description below. Plus in the insights area: Off the Tee indicates a 185yd 8-iron, my approaches area shows a 185yd shot that was wide left (really it was straight and short), etc.

As you say, @Golfingdad, I'd prefer the software just ignore it (if not automatically, allow me to tell it to ignore that shot). Maybe I just delete Shot 1, and add a +2 penalty to Shot 2.

 

[Hardspoon]

11 minutes ago, RandallT said:

Here's my issue: the 8-iron shows up as a 185yd shot, when it was really just totally fatted into the water, maybe about 75yds. It shows up like that in the hole description below. Plus in the insights area: Off the Tee indicates a 185yd 8-iron, my approaches area shows a 185yd shot that was wide left (really it was straight and short), etc.

I had this problem a couple times...what I did was create a "dummy club" and use it for the penalty shot.  So, I'd actually move the 8-iron to where it actually landed, then create a "shot" with the dummy club from that spot over to the drop area.

I haven't logged enough rounds to know whether this works well for stats and such, but it was the best solution I could come up with to avoid "false data".

[Missouri Swede]

14 minutes ago, RandallT said:

Late bump on this, but just wanted to see if others have a better solution to this scenario:

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/randallt/round/853190?hole_id=23335841

Shot 1 is a total chunk into the water with an 8-iron.

Take penalty.

Drop from the designated drop zone for Shot 3 (way over there to the left of the green).

Here's my issue: the 8-iron shows up as a 185yd shot, when it was really just totally fatted into the water, maybe about 75yds. It shows up like that in the hole description below. Plus in the insights area: Off the Tee indicates a 185yd 8-iron, my approaches area shows a 185yd shot that was wide left (really it was straight and short), etc.

As you say, @Golfingdad, I'd prefer the software just ignore it (if not automatically, allow me to tell it to ignore that shot). Maybe I just delete Shot 1, and add a +2 penalty to Shot 2.

 

This doesn't address the data processing problem you've noticed, but the drop zone you've indicated isn't in accordance with the Rules:

Quote

33-8/2

Local Rule Allows Drop on Green Side of Water Hazard When Ball Fails to Clear Hazard

Q.The design of a hole is such that a player must hit the ball about 100 yards in order to carry a water hazard. A Local Rule has been adopted to assist players who cannot drive over the hazard by allowing them to drop a ball, under penalty of two strokes, in a dropping zone that is located across the hazard. Is such a Local Rule authorized?

A.No. Such a Local Rule substantially alters Rule 26-1b as it allows the player to drop a ball on a part of the course (i.e., on the green side of the water hazard) that the Rule would not have permitted him to reach. Furthermore, the penalty for taking relief under the water hazard Rule (Rule 26) is one stroke, and may not be increased to two strokes by a Committee through a Local Rule - see Rule 33-8b.

 

[RandallT]

1 hour ago, Missouri Swede said:

This doesn't address the data processing problem you've noticed, but the drop zone you've indicated isn't in accordance with the Rules:

Ha! Great catch. It did feel awkward to play from there, but I couldn't pinpoint why.

If I were to say I had a home course, this would be it. I've played it (and the sister course on the same plot of land) maybe 30 times over the past few years, so this hole maybe 15 times. I've hit in the water maybe 2 or 3 times, and usually every group is good for 1 splash or so. So that's a lot of balls in the water there, and I've never seen anyone use the drop zone. We just re-tee. I didn't even know the drop zone existed until this round!

This round, I played with some slow players who worked at the facility, and there was a group breathing down our neck by this point. Two of the guys hit the water before me, and they said they were gonna play from the drop zone. I didn't think much of that comment, other than "ha, I won't need a drop zone! Wonder where that is, anyway." Then proceeded to get wet, of course.

In the pic, you'll notice it's around behind a little building of some sort, and I always walk well to the right of that. 

Anyway, great catch. Thanks for ruining my *asterisk bogey!  I actually got a nice bounce on my pitch shot, and sunk a nice mid-range putt. It felt like a cheap bogey, but I'll be a skunk and leave it be. But honestly,  I do want to learn the rules inside and out this year, and this is a nice addition to my knowledge-base. Always good when you can relate a rule to a personal experience.

 

1 hour ago, Hardspoon said:

I had this problem a couple times...what I did was create a "dummy club" and use it for the penalty shot.  So, I'd actually move the 8-iron to where it actually landed, then create a "shot" with the dummy club from that spot over to the drop area.

Good idea. That should work pretty well. 

In the Approach the Green area shown below, that dummy shot still might show up in the yardage range that the shot was from the hole, and then (in this case) show a wacky wide left approach- but at least you'll see the dummy club if you hover over the data point. I like the idea, and might try and give that a go. Helps you remember the round a little better to see where the tee shot actually went.

Hey, I wonder what "Lie" it would use for that dummy shot from the lake!  The choices for Lie below are Tee Box, Fairway, Bunker, Rough/Other.  No choice for "Middle of a Lake." I suppose "Other" would work.