Forget the architecture, read the paper - Vector Putting

[Mike Sweeney]

    

A Putting Seminar: Finding The Target Line
 
1)  The Geometry of Putting on a Planar Surface
 
paper at:
     http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.1698
 
videos at:
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6bvgIBPqrc
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzHjqjfFIY0
 
This is an extension of the original work by H.A. Templeton (Vector Putting).  It turns out there is a very beautiful underlying geometry to putt trajectories which amounts to the mapping of a circle onto a diamond.  While I know the math can be oppressive, the gist of the paper is summarized in Figs. 12-23, which are images of putt trajectories. The point to the paper is that when lining up a putt it is useful to look at putts a couple of steps to the left and a couple of steps to the right.

[Jim_Kennedy]

The ultimate "Cheater" Line.

[Mike Nuzzo]

This is a good example of why greens shouldn't be planar.
Cool video
Cheers

[John_Cullum]

Good to see that the Yale Dept. of Applied Physics is spending their grant money well. This will be great for pace of play too.

[David Harshbarger]

Ok, that's cool.

Actionable info:

1.  There's a single target point for all equidistant putts to a hole cut on a plane.
2. The target point is directly above the hole.
3. The farther the putt, the higher the target.
4. The target is the same for all putts on greens with a common slope/Stimp product.

4 is quite interesting from a GCA perspective, as it effectively proves that some putting characteristics are mathematically equivalent along a strict inverse relationship between green speed and slope.