GolfClubAtlas.com > Golf Course Architecture
Fall line vs. fault line by Johnny Miller
ed_getka:
He also states in the same lesson that Shinnecock has a backboard on the front left side of 16 green. I haven't been to Shinne. but if the slope is where he says it is, isn't that a sideboard? The funny thing is is that he uses the term sideboard in his paragraph, but then gives an example that seems to be wrong when he calls something that sounds to me like a sideboard a backboard.
In JM's defense he is defining his commentary for viewers who may not understand what he is talking about. I just feel there are enough words in the English language already, why not just use what exists?
"A fault line marks the precipice of a tier or slope where the ball will take the break and roll away from the slope toward the hole."
DMoriarty:
"A 'fault line' marks the precipice of a tier or slope where the ball will take the break and roll away from the slope toward the green." (Johnny Miller in Golf Digest, January, 2005)
Like Ed, I've usually heard the term "fall line" in a skiing context. In skiing it means the direction down a slope where pull of gravity will move an otherwise force-neutral object, like a ball or water.
It is actually a very useful concept in golf, especially in putting. If you can figure out "the fall line" above the hole, then lag putting becomes much easier. I think the term has come up now and then on this site.
I looked the concept up online and it turns out that "fall line" has a related but distinct meaning in geology. According to allrefer.com a fall line is "boundary between an upland region and a coastal plain across which rivers from the upland region drop to the plain as falls or rapids. A fall line is formed in an area where the rivers have eroded away the soft rocks of a coastal plain more quickly than the older harder rocks of an upland region. Such erosion follows a crooked line along a coast." So there is a long fall line inland from the Atlantic, generally the point at which large boats can no longer pass.
It seems this second definition of fall line could also apply to golf-- the line at which one level drops down to another level could be called a fall line. Probably the meandering line at the top edge of a ridge seperating two tiers, or the meandering line at the bottom of a ridge seperating two tiers.
As for Miller's "fault line" I am not so sure where he gets that one. One can have an abrupt vertical break at a fault (where the movement has been up and down), but one can also have horizontal movement which will not necessarily result in a vertical drop. Not sure what he means by "away from the slope and toward the green."
Perhaps he overheard a conversation between skiers in Salt Lake where they were discussing throwing themselves off a precipice and down a fall line, liked the sound of it and he thought he'd apply it to golf . . . . just a guess.
Mike Benham:
I believe Miller is using the pro golfer's definition of "Fault Line" ... depending on which side of the cup the putt misses on, the pro will blame the bad read on the caddie or the grain ...
ed_getka:
David,
The last word is hole, not green. Thus the confusion. :) Thanks for coming out to Rustic the other day, I had a great time.
Bob_Huntley:
--- Quote from: redanman on January 01, 2005, 04:28:16 PM ---.
He is unfiltered, bit that's only good for some wines, I suppose, especially Pinot Noir.
p.s. Merlot is generally such crap, it doesn't matter what you do with it....... and it rots the mind. 8)
--- End quote ---
Bill,
Have you read or seen "Sideways"? Rex Pickett, the author agrees with you a thousand percent. As do I.
Bob
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