Surratt noted that the flight of the shot can dramatically change the effective yardage.
“Another thing people don’t really talk about sometimes is how the flight of the number or the flight of the shot is going to change the yardage so much,” Surratt said. “So, if it’s a back pin and I want to flight my wedge, it’s not going to get like the normal 15% or 20%. It’s going to get like 5% to 8%. But if it’s a front pin and downhill and I’m trying to send it up in the air, it might be getting 25% because the ball’s in the air for so long.
“Just these little nuances that you got to think about and factor into your shot. But it’s certainly tricky.”
Surratt added that golfers have to accept some imperfections.
“I think you’ve got to realize you’re not going to be perfect, right?,” Surratt said. “You’re going to hit some shots that are perfect and then come up short or go long. I think the thing is everybody’s kind of going to have a little bit of that. So, yeah, it’s just get an adjustment game and trust your shots.”
McKibbin admitted it’s cool hitting 400-yard drives because of the altitude but quickly pointed out the downside.
“The trees come into play a lot easier when you hit it that far,” he said. “So, yeah the driving’s cool, but the second shots are definitely very hard. Much harder.”
He explained that approaches are especially tricky depending on the lie.
“Especially if you’re hitting uphill and the ball doesn’t get as high, it might not carry as far, and downhill and downwind it can really get away from you, so I think it’s very tricky,” McKibbin said.
The ball also lands with less spin in the thinner air, so shots that normally check up can release more aggressively on approach shots. Therefore, not only do players have to rethink their yardages, they also have to rethink their landing spots.