Hi everyone,
I have been playing Gary's games since TPG1, as you can see from my forum join date. One thing I've never been able to figure out about the TPG series is chipping. I'm not sure if it's something I'm doing wrong, something the game has been doing wrong, or if it's something the game is doing on purpose for balance issues and to keep scores up a bit. I love what Gary has done to putting in the newest version (I always found putting very unrealistic, as pro players just don't regularly miss 35 foot putts by 15 feet), but chipping feels similar to the other versions. My main issue is that I will often have a very easy chip with a player with a very high or maxed out wedge rating and will chip it to like 40 feet. I know this happens occasionally on Tour, but it has been a constant plague throughout all of my time playing the TPG series. Hit one right off the green, chip to 50 feet somehow, and it feels like I have zero control over it at all. As a general rule, wedge shots in golf are easier for professionals, than, say, mid-irons, but in the games I constantly find myself playing conservative on purpose not for the normal strategic reasons golfers do, but because I feel like I have a much better shot at hitting it close from 160 than I do from 50, where it could just go anywhere. I think that's kind of the opposite of real golf strategy. My questions are:
1. Do you guys experience the same thing?
2. If not, any ideas what I might be doing wrong?
3. When do you guys use chip vs. flop? Do you ever use punch outside of trees scenarios?
And while I'm at it, do you guys ever use fades and draws, and if so, under what circumstances? I have never found them very useful.
Finally, has Gary said if he plans to bring back the better ball animation graphics from the first three games?