Due to the reflective property of an ellipse, you can aim your putt at any part of the border. The ball will reflect off the border and go directly into the hole.
Practice makes perfect
a
Let's recall the properties of an ellipse with center (0,0).
Properties of Horizontal Ellipses
Standard Equation
x^2/a^2+y^2/b^2=1
a> b>0
Major Axis
Horizontal
Vertices
(± a,0)
Co-vertices
(0,± b)
Foci
(± c,0) on x-axis
Properties of Vertical Ellipses
Standard Equation
x^2/b^2+y^2/a^2=1
a> b>0
Major Axis
Vertical
Vertices
(0,± a)
Co-vertices
(± b,0)
Foci
(0, ± c) on y-axis
We can see that the given ellipse is a horizontal ellipse. The hole and tee are located at the foci, (± c,0). Therefore, the distance between them will be equal to the value of 2c. To determine the value of c, we first need to find a and b. The length of the major axis is 2a, and the length of the minor axis is 2b. Let's identify the values of a and b.
Finally, using the value of c= 11.124, we can determine the distance between the hole and tee.
Distance=2 c ⇕ 2( 11.124) ≈ 22.25 feet
b
The definition of an ellipse is a circle stretched in one direction with a set of points that have a total fixed distance from two points. Because of this, ellipses have a reflective property. Aiming the putt at any point of the ellipse border will directly go to the hole.
