Quote:
Originally Posted by UpNorth
Since pinsetters always try to set the flagpole perfectly vertical, Gary Player always looked inside the hole. If there was more dirt above the rim of the cup on one side, that was the high side. Easy way to see the break at the hole.
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Your method of looking at the amount of dirt above the metal cup that is inserted in the hole and the many other methods of looking at the frayed/browned edges are all true. However, in The Villages, as others have noted, the employees who set the pins are often inexperienced, or careless, or both.
Time and again, when I look at a cup, I find that the worker started the plugger at an angle and not vertical. Sometimes, he will "correct" the angle of the plugger to vertical as it is being pushed into the green. If so, this leaves a cup which is round on the half away from the worker and oval on the half where he started the plugger.
If the worker doesn't correct angle, then the entire hole becomes an oval.
Lately, I have seen several instances where the worker pushes the plugger too hard into the green and leaves a depressed circle around the entire hole, making it look like a donut. Last week there were two occasions when one of the players in my foursome missed the cup by more than an inch yet the ball hit the outside edge of the depressed circle and turned into the hole. It was like watching water circle around the drain in the sink.
Bermuda greens are notoriously difficult for players who learned the game on and played on bent grass or a hybrid. I had a particularly difficult time as I use a "forward press" to initiate the putting stroke. In The Villages, I quickly realized that by using a forward press, I was driving the ball downward into the Bermuda with the result that I didn't know in which direction it would go. I tried to give up the forward press. Having used it for 60+ years, this proved impossible. Finally, I solved the problem with an angle grinder and a good file by adding a couple of degrees of extra loft to the face of the putter. This solved my problem and I am now putting a good "roll" on the ball. I may not make the putt, but, at least, the ball goes where I was aiming.
If anyone wants to try this, please don't start with your $400 Scotty Cameron. Also, don't make your first effort on a putter with a steel head. Buy a used putter with an aluminum or alloy head and mark the top of the putter and the bottom of the face so you will be able to tell where and how much material you are removing. Clamp the head in a vice with wood blocks on the top and bottom and go at it. With a good file, the job shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. My first effort was on an old Zebra with an aluminum head using a hand file. When I moved on to a steel head, I had to use an angle grinder and a belt sander. If I was doing a Scotty Cameron, I would probably seek the services of a machine shop.