Golf's cruelest moment: The physics behind the 'lip out' phenomenon

There’s math behind this maddening golf mishap

Math and physics explain the anguish of a golf ball that zings around the rim of the hole instead of falling in.

Golf's cruelest moment: The physics behind the 'lip out' phenomenon

Picture this: It's the 18th hole and the game's on the line. You line up your putt, take a breath, and roll the ball toward the hole. The pace is firm, the line looks good—until the ball dips in, then cruelly pops back out onto the green. New research led by the University of Bristol has looked at the physics of what's known as the golf lip out.

The dreaded lip out in golf isn't bad luck - it's good mechanics in ac