A long-time GC user asked me via email today to weigh in on an issue being discussed elsewhere in the APBA community. He said, “An interesting question was posed on the TGA Tour FaceBook page. Do you subtract 5 yards for every 15 yards you aim?”
As my GC friend correctly pointed out, the APBA rulebook doesn’t explicitly state that this is what you must do (for W/I shots). He believes that most FaceBook respondents support the “5 for 15” practice when aiming, but some are reconsidering their positions. Full Disclosure: The GC’s Aiming tool also subtracts 5 yards for every 15 yards you aim.
I am not on FaceBook and have no ties to the TGA Tour group. I also have no connection to APBA, other than being a loyal customer. But since my opinion was asked for, here it is:
The 5 for 15 rule is covered in How to Mark the Movement of the Ball in the basic rules.
In the Master Game rules, Rule 5.3 says “On the other hand, players who approach the green from the side opposite the pin may move their origin line as far left or right as they choose, adding the the appropriate off-center distance (see 8.0).”
Rule 5.4 does make mention of the 5 for 15 rule for aiming short approaches from the player’s origin line.
So it comes down to interpretations. On the one hand, the geometry of the situation suggests that an aimed W/I shot shot must fly a bit farther than one straight up the centerline, since the hypotenuse is longer than either of the sides of a right triangle.
On the other hand, rule 5.3 does not explicitly come out and say it for 2nd shots; nor does rule 5.2 for tee shots–other than the inference made from what I underlined above in 5.3 and what’s stated in 5.4.
In any event, a few yards either way seldom makes a huge difference in the larger outcome of things. I find it fascinating what people like to debate, although I appreciate that if you are playing against others you want things to be consistent.
Please don’t get me started on Rule 8 (Approach Shots). No wonder it takes 6 hours to play a round of APBA golf without the Game Caddie. This is a perfect example of why I put “a clear explanation of the Master Game rules” at the top of my APBA Wish List.
You can express your opinion on this topic by answering this one-question poll:
I Don;t subtract it from the distance of the shot results but rather add it to the distance of the shot i am going to take when aiming. it doesn’t take six hours to play a round of APBA Golf even if you are using all of the Master Symbols like the guys playing the TGA Tour.Most players including the games creator don”t play with all the Master Symbols. I am a play tester for Dr Cline’s latest version and yet unpublished version of the game which has a number of new rules and features and it takes me about 90 minutes to play a round with one player.
It may just be the way I read your article above, but the rule actually says to ADD yardage to the distance.
I suppose it depends on your process. If you determine the club and roll for the shot, measuring back up to the CL, you’re always going to come up short. If you determine the TOTAL (including off-center “penalty”), and then choose the club, you’ll be a little better off.
So far as aiming, there’s nothing, as you noted, that says not to measure the distance back, you still have the same distance to go. You’re just picking a new CL for your shot. That’s a game construct not a change in the real-life situation. Hard to tell if it was designed to affect the scoring. Only the guy(s) that wrote the rule would know the intent.
On the other hand, a 300-yard drive that’s 40 yards off-center only adds about 2.5 yards.