QED Review, REFINE, IGNITE, TGC2019 and a ball solution

[Plumz]

First time caller, long time listener.

Was sent to this forum by a buddy when starting to build my, at the time, indoor hitting net. I learned a lot about everything from a lot of people in here and I'm sure over time I'll pay that forward.

I ended up going with a QED. I liked the idea of overhead, but not really that it was marked ball technology. The price was right and was willing to make the sacrifice against the much more expensive options. Set up was super easy. Software installation was well laid out and the try and everything comes on a USB stick. Basically worked immediately, which was very nice.

I have had the system set up since Dec 20ish. I thought I would practice a lot but have ended up playing more. Not sure how this will change as we get closer to the golf season.


IGNITE

• Program stats up fast and takes you basically to the only screen there is. The first thing I couldn't wait to see was the high speed replay cam. Took a shot and everything worked exactly as expected. The ignite program alone gets old pretty quick. The range sucks because there is no full screen option and its just weird to hit into the numbers. I do like all the data and have some questions on some differences I'm seeing down below.
• I kept on skipping the update because i just wanted to play. One day I had some extra time so I updated. It wrecked everything. I would hit one shot and IGNITE would crash. I called support and they logged in through team viewer and got me set up. They also got me setup on a trial version of REFINE.
• To me, it seemed the problem was when I had POD open with IGNITE and TCG. everything worded fine until the update. After the update i guess you don't need POD anymore? as I was troubleshooting i noticed the place where it normally says NO BALL said CONNECTED TO TCG. POD wasn't open. I hit a shot and it worked fine. I really wish they would communicate these things better...

TGC2019

• Program loads up very slow. I learned this week that you can press enter through all the screens. Loads fast now. I haven't done much outside hit balls and play golf.
• I have found that playing a round with a buddy online is awesome, yet very difficult to do. I cant really explain how to do it and quite frankly don't know if we will be able to figure it out again lol. Its very confusing to find friends, add friends and find and select them in game. The experience is cool because you get to see each others shots, but weird because you can see their player, but they don't swing.
• I spend a lot of time at the driving range. I wish there were more options to see past ball data on screen. Maybe there is and I just haven't played around with the settings.
• Chipping range, what a great idea and what terrible execution. Why do we always have to hit out of the heavy rough? What if I want to practice, 20, 30, 40 yard chips? Make this easier. Select your desired settings and place me there. What a wasted opportunity...
• The golf itself is amazing. I cant believe I played the courses I have played the detail is incredible And depending on the setup, feels very real. I don't like the "i cant hit the ball over this hill" bug, but other than that the ball flight responds exactly as I would expect.
• I'm about an 8 handicap at my course and a +6.5 on TGC, lol. I'm not really interested in putting simulators at the moment so I have gimmees set. I wish I didn't get an auto birdie on every decent shot and an auto double when missing the green by 1 foot, but it is what it is. They need to make this better...

REFINE

• So, to be honest, I thought IGNITE was REFINE or at least included it. I was VERY excited for the driving range and short game areas. There are targets and it just seems way more fun.
• The driving range and chipping areas are SO MUCH BETTER than TGC2019.
• The range leaves up the last 10 or so ball trails so you can see. Club data appears on the sides of the range for easy viewing. The club path data appears on the screen then disappears. It is a really nice system.
• The short game area is much the same. Very well thought out and makes sense TO PRACTICE. You can set different distances and even pick from different challenges. I cant wait to explore more
• I haven't played the courses but they don't look great. I would compare TGC more to an XBOX version of Tiger Woods and REFINE is more like a Nintendo Wii version. Something is just quite off, but very well designed.
• IMO, not worth an additional $1,000 at the end of a build.

BALLS

• Lets be honest. The 2-piece bridgestone balls are trash. I hit em with my old clubs, got used to golf again (winter here), then changed to my current bag. Felt way softer and I thought I was OK with them. They get 0 spin around the greens. Set the green conditions to very soft and very slow and this helps.
• My wife has a cricut machine. I made 3/8 dots, they were way too big, Made 1/4 dots and they seemed to fit into the dimples of a prov1. I tested it and it works amazingly well. the shots had much more of the ball flight I remember and are very soft and spin well on the greens. I ordered some permanent vinyl and plan to make a bunch for the winter.
• While I was waiting for the vinyl to arrive, I picked up some TP5x pix. Yeah yeah, I read that too and saw the video. My thought is that that dude for for Unicorn Balls. lol
• The balls have a triangle pattern all over the ball. The UNEEKOR picks it up quickly and ready it PERFECTLY. I have had no misread or weird looking shots. I am VERY VERY happy with these balls and I promise you will be too.

CURRENT ISSUE

• So, while playing my buddy I noticed he was smashing his drives by me (GCQuad) but we were hitting our irons the same distance. Figured I was just weak. The next day I worked on this., I hit some drives and noticed different readings on the 2 screens.
• TGC showed 100 swing speed, 150 ball speed and 284 total yards
• IGNITE showed 100 swing speed, 150 pall speed and 306 total yards.
• Why the difference (pics attached)

Thanks again for the help and I'll be sure to post photos and help where I can.

Cheers

Mike

[myrison]

Wow, epic post. You’ve indeed started on the “giving back” in a big way. . Thanks for all the detail.

first. ... I can’t not comment on that laser straight drive. Wow.

re: distance, looks like you are comparing carry + rollout and it’s safer to compare carry only to take some variables out? TGC is always a bit different due to assumptions about ground hardness or maybe how level it is or isn’t. Was this on the range ? Are you playing at sea level in Ignite settings (TGC doesn’t honor altitude adjustments).

I've seen a lot of people here use a TGC19 course called mthunt dead flat range (with auto-rewind on) to make sure they’re landing on a perfectly flat surface when practicing. I’d check a few of those things and see if things are closer.

[Plumz]

Thanks for the reply. I had thought that it might have something to do with altitude as it’s about 10%, same as it would be when I’m on the coast.

I appreciate the input!

[968Cab]

You should’t run POD and Ignite at the same time. TGC19 needs one or the other to get its data from the QED. Running both simultaneously screws things up.

Distances: similar thing... Ignite uses its own native algorithm for calculations. TGC19 uses the QED to collect physical parameters, then uses it’s own algorithm for calculations. Results in same strike giving different end results.

Glad you’re enjoying your sim!

[Supraracer]

You can work on your approach from different yards in Refine driving range if you didn't already know that. It's in the menu button select at top of the new screen..

[stevnkrn]

I just found that feature about a week ago. It is now my favorite go-to practice area. I use the random distance feature and set it to shots between 20 and 80 yards (a current weak point of my game). It allows you to set shots between 20 and 150 yards. By changing yardage between each shot it makes me change clubs frequently, just like real play, so I think it is a better way to practice than just banging balls on a driving range, or hitting 20 or 30 balls to the same target from a fixed distance.

[Plumz]

Thank you. Been experimenting with REFINE, but it just takes so long to load up. I have found that that ultraflat range suggested above in TGC to be pretty good. There are targets to hit to and feels more like practice.