tournament - windy putting strategy

[Qstick333]

I played a local C-tier event this weekend and the weather was cold with steady 25mph winds with gusts reaching 40. I ended up finishing 3rd in my division (out of 15) and was 1 stroke off of 2nd.

I missed a lot of putts that would normally be no-brainers. I also went for a lot of birdie putts that I probably didn't need to go for that resulted in 3 putts.

My question is - On really windy days where everyone is going to have problems, is it better to layup some of the birdie opportunities, make par and move on? Obviously the long-term answer is to get better at putting in the wind, but for now, is it not worth the risk?

How do you folks handle this situation?

Thanks!

 

[sisyphus]

Yep, sometimes a low probability putt is best played very conservatively. Better a three than a 'wind-aided' four.
I've also heard folks putting with an inverted fairway driver in high winds. Again, lower chance of success, but minimizes catastrophe, too.
I sometimes wish the rules would allow us to glue a couple of putters together just for windy days...let's see what 360 grams'll do!

 

[jdw80550]

If the wind is nasty, remember its nasty for everyone. You will see players force things that just arent there. Remember par is good thing. Nothing wrong with taking par on holes, because lets face it, it could be bogeys.

Let the birds come to you and don't try to force it. Play the game that is going to ensure you are in a favorable place when the chance for birdies do come.

Remember, when the winds at your back attack, when the winds in your face put with grace.

 

[teej21012]

If you are on the top card for your division, play the card, not the course. You don't have to shoot your best, you just have to shoot better than the guys on your card.

 

[DavidSauls]

Remember, when the winds at your back attack, when the winds in your face putt with grace.

This, more or less, and as much as possible, put your upshots where you'll have a downwind putt.

 

[DatRedDude]

If the wind is nasty, remember its nasty for everyone. You will see players force things that just arent there. Remember par is good thing. Nothing wrong with taking par on holes, because lets face it, it could be bogeys.

Let the birds come to you and don't try to force it. Play the game that is going to ensure you are in a favorable place when the chance for birdies do come.

Remember, when the winds at your back attack, when the winds in your face put with grace.

My best rated round to date(and a 3 stroke come from behind win) was in a foot of snow with crazy winds. An even par round, nothing special but as the above said par is good. Don't force and more often than not the field will come back to you.

 

[Qstick333]

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments!

I was on the lead card, tied with another person 1 off of the lead.

In the first few holes of the 2nd round I made the mistake of pushing a few birdie putts that ended up leading to bogeys and cost me, IMO, 2nd place. I'm not sure that I would have caught the leader, he shot the hot round for our division the 2nd round. While reflecting on the event, if I had just made smart lay-ups and played for par, I would have had 2nd by several strokes. Pushing for the win cost me 2nd...which might not matter much ultimately....lol, but I want to do as well as possible.

Either way, it was a learning experience and I will do better next time in those conditions.

I never even thought about throwing upshots that to a location that would give me a downwind putt....that is a great idea!

 

[biscoe]

In am divisions the player who screws up the least usually wins.

 

[rickles]

In am divisions the player who screws up the least usually wins.

or any division? :doh:

 

[DiscFifty]

This is where it pays to understand your current conditions before you drive or lay up. Do you want to putt with the wind or against it? Against...throw lower, with the wind...throw higher. Hyzer angled putts imop are more difficult in anything but zero wind. I'd play for par and only go for birds when they are very high percentage shots.

 

[biscoe]

or any division? :doh:

No- screwing up the least won't win you jack in the open division. There you have to couple it with making big shots.

 

[Agricolae]

Get some practice and figure out your personal strategy for crosswinds, also. Putting right-handed, I'm much more comfortable going for long putts with a left-to-right crosswind. Flat putt, or hyser, and it'll go in or get knocked down pretty quickly. With a right-to-left crosswind you need to make sure not to expose the bottom of the disc to the wind or it can sail a looooong away. Those upside down driver putts, mentioned above, are good for layups in a right-to-left crosswind; they turn over and dig in fast though a bit of practice for range and feel is recommended.

 

[kerplunk]

You can watch this year's Texas States to see how the pros do it. Wysocki threw quite a few jump putts with a Firechicken IIRC.

 

[ru4por]

If you are on the top card for your division, play the card, not the course. You don't have to shoot your best, you just have to shoot better than the guys on your card.

We, of course, all have different tournament approaches, but this is not my style. I play my game. I don't get wrapped up in the performance of my card mates. I would likely be guilty of playing the course, far before my card.

 

[KDFrosty]

How do you folks handle this situation?

I switched to using a Gator for putting in similar conditions. Something very predictable brick-like.

 

[tylerc]

in my highest rated round I played super conservative in wind like your talking about. I layed up everything outside the circle. which usually I run everything out to 80ish so it was a weird style of play for me but I watched my card mates 3,4, and 5 putt several times.. and I ended up shooting very well. as far as discs goes I never switched up putters or anything.. just make sure the wind always hits the flight plate on drives. and for putting I was using some beat mcpros which were fine even in headwinds, u just gotta know what the wind does to them. putting with drivers and such isn't really going to help..

 

[TalbotTrojan]

Back in 2013 I played the Glass Blown Open and for the first time was forced to learn to putt in the wind. Sure I had seen it before, but not like that. And let's be honest, it wasn't as bad as 2012. However you putt, your ability to go for putts will be dependent on the angle of the disc as you putt. Basically you are always trying to get the wind to push the disc down. ThiS will allow you to go for more putts no matter what the wind is doing. You'll have to learn anhyzer and hyzer putts. You also have to learn nose angles for head and tail wind putts.

 

[ferretdance03]

I played a windy event yesterday as well. Layed up a lot of putts I'd normally go for. Sometimes safe is smart. When it's steady 25mph it's all about minimizing mistakes and attacking when the opportunity presents itself.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Don't turbo putt.

 

[Moose33]

I used a slightly more OS putter and putted fairly straight instead of low to high like normal.

Winds were up to 30mph on Saturday and I only had one get knocked down very badly.