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The Golf Thread

riverc0il

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Chile. Welcome back! I took up golf since you have been gone :D

Humbling day today at the local par 3. Granted, this was only my third ever round of golf. But my 39 on the par 27 last time out on my second round ever had me feeling high on my horse. Didn't get a chance to hit the driving range and just never felt comfortable today. Walked away in a hulf with a 54.

Was trailing a slow pair for the first 6. They offered to let me play through but that is tough to do on a par 3 without making them wait for a full hole. I didn't want the pressure of having to keep in front of them if I passed through as I didn't feel I was going so much faster that they wouldn't catch me. Sure enough, I really catch up to them just off the tee on 7 and play through.... to the tune of 4 swings just to get on the green and start putting so they could begin play.

The only condolence of the afternoon was one of the pair letting me pass through was really surprised how well I was doing for my third round of golf and having just started this summer. He was really surprised when I told him about my 39 last weekend. I was about to pitch onto the green and I was mentioning how I just bought a set of wedges.... and the guy was about to stop me with a "here, let me give you a tip....." when he bit it back as I got into good stance and chipped it up with 8 feet. That felt good, lol. I would have appreciated the tip for what it was worth, but knowing I knew how to do it enough that the tip stopped the second I got into my stance was a helpful for my damaged morale at that point.

Interesting to see the mental game in action. By hole 4 after shooting 6, 6, 5 on the first three holes, I knew I needed to turn it around and refocus but I was still enjoying things. By hole 7, I knew I was having a bad day. When playing through, I was told "don't rush, take your time!" but I replied "I ain't just hurrying to pass through, I am hurrying to get this one over with!" Hitting an 8 on 8 was just pathetic. Every hole the mental approach just got worse. Rushing through practice swings, not even bothering to line up putts, etc. I just wanted to round down with.

Mostly I was concerned about practicing bad habits. I wasn't swinging well at all and I couldn't fix my faults on the fly for what ever reason. The mental aspect also came up during my practice swings which were generally acceptable. But then I would address the ball and tense up a bit. I would get to 1/2 swing position and feel like my feet weren't even on the ground and I knew the ball was going to get topped or skid across the grass before I even made impact. But last week I was walking around head high like a champ cause I was having a good round.
 

Greg

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Sounds like you discovered something new and fun for the summer months, Steve. Good on ya!
 

riverc0il

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Oh, I am forgetting one of the rules of golf.... it is never your fault. So let me follow up by saying it was humid as heck and having to play behind, through, and then in front of another couple totally disrupted my rhythm right from hole 1. Worst of all, I recently learned the correct way to chip and pitch balls and I haven't had any practice time, so if I had had more practice time, I would have had far fewer errant shots. So if you take all that into consideration, I would have had at most a 43 today if it wasn't for so many factors playing against me.
 

Greg

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Oh, I am forgetting one of the rules of golf.... it is never your fault. So let me follow up by saying it was humid as heck and having to play behind, through, and then in front of another couple totally disrupted my rhythm right from hole 1. Worst of all, I recently learned the correct way to chip and pitch balls and I haven't had any practice time, so if I had had more practice time, I would have had far fewer errant shots. So if you take all that into consideration, I would have had at most a 43 today if it wasn't for so many factors playing against me.

:lol: Nice try. You hit a 54.
 

Warp Daddy

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Riv : Keep your chin up-- WE ALL screw up now and again !! Golf is a humbling game . !!

Keep working at it


RELAX don't TENSE UP your forearms or put a death grip on the club. Try a nice smooth swing with good alignment to the target spot .Often trying to kill the ball can really mess up a game and lead to the infamous "snowman " score on any given hole

Above all have fun with it

Warp
 

riverc0il

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Steve, I've gotten so bad with my quiver right now that currently I have only 1 club in my bag that I didn't put together myself :rolleyes: That's my driver which is one of those "big, ugly" square Nike Sumo Sasquatch.
I have been looking at adding a 5W to my bag since I can't hit a hybrid to save my life and the square clubs look interesting. Probably would look into the clones because I ain't spending $300 on a club. Wish there was a place to try clubs out around here.

Haven't read a bad thing about the squares except from purists and people with sensitive ears :lol: Being a newbie, I thought drivers were supposed to be loud! Some say accuracy sacrifices distance but that is more than fine by my standards! Consistency is was more important than distance. If I drive straight as a nail for barely better than my 6I's max distance, I am a happy man. I'll take straight at 200 yards every time compared to slight slice often and big slice sometimes for 240+.
 

riverc0il

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Riv : Keep your chin up-- WE ALL screw up now and again !! Golf is a humbling game . !!

Keep working at it


RELAX don't TENSE UP your forearms or put a death grip on the club. Try a nice smooth swing with good alignment to the target spot .Often trying to kill the ball can really mess up a game and lead to the infamous "snowman " score on any given hole

Above all have fun with it

Warp
Indeed! Chin is up high, just got humbled a bit after coming off the horse a bit high last week. Been working on relaxing a lot lately at the range. It really helped. My biggest stance issue is my shafts are too short and grips too small. Being a tall dude with a high ground to wrist distance, I really should have .5"+ on my clubs. Not having good fitted clubs makes me want to bend my knees or push my arms away from my chest to get the club closer to the ball. It takes a real conscious effort to not bend the knees so much and get in close to the ball and that effort often tenses up the muscles. Definitely have been hitting better since I loosened up and just went with it. New clubs are all ordered with an extra half inch though!! That is... when I get new clubs. :roll:

:D
 

drjeff

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Indeed. But come the end of October, I am dropping golf like a bad habit until at least May (and only then, mid-week at best).

:D

This is just another reason why golf is a great compliment to skiing. When the ski season is finally (and reluctantly done) the golf season has already started and when the golf season is done, the ski season has started. 52 weeks a year, you're set!
 
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This is just another reason why golf is a great compliment to skiing. When the ski season is finally (and reluctantly done) the golf season has already started and when the golf season is done, the ski season has started. 52 weeks a year, you're set!

tru-dat..I've skied and golfed in the same day a few times. Back in March of 2007..I skied 20 quick runs at Blue mountain from 7:30AM to 10:30AM..then drove home and at Noon my dad picked me up to play golf at Riverview in Easton. I was freaking beat after playing 18 holes.
 

Warp Daddy

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This is just another reason why golf is a great compliment to skiing. When the ski season is finally (and reluctantly done) the golf season has already started and when the golf season is done, the ski season has started. 52 weeks a year, you're set!

TRUER words were never spoken thats why i got into it . It is perfect . By the time you're sick of one sport the other season is upon you :D
 

ChileMass

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Glad to see a bunch of hackers on this site now.

Steven has taken up golf - oh my. Cats and dogs will be living together next and hell will freeze over. :lol: Seriously, Riv - enjoy it. And for Pete's sake, slow down that backswing......

Golf is a great complement to skiing - not in the big muscles/footwork sense like hiking or tennis, but in the idea of getting all the moving parts going in the right direction. Both golf and skiing require a lot of precision, and that may be why it has a cross-appeal.

But, skiing is obviously better since you can't go 50mph in a golf cart.........:wink:
 

riverc0il

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Glad to see a bunch of hackers on this site now.

Steven has taken up golf - oh my. Cats and dogs will be living together next and hell will freeze over. :lol: Seriously, Riv - enjoy it. And for Pete's sake, slow down that backswing......

Golf is a great complement to skiing - not in the big muscles/footwork sense like hiking or tennis, but in the idea of getting all the moving parts going in the right direction. Both golf and skiing require a lot of precision, and that may be why it has a cross-appeal.
Backswing definitely gets out of control every once in a while. What I have found that helps is gradually building up a practice swing. Start with a quarter, then a half, and then a full practice swing. Then I address and take one more quarter+ rotation and let it rip. Really slows me down and builds the rotation muscle memory over the "swing" muscle memory. At least that is my theory, all I know is it works!

I don't know about golf complementing skiing much. It does use a lot more muscles in the back, shoulders, etc. than I ever would have thought. But I doubt I will see any application to cross training for skiing during the non-snowy months.
 

riverc0il

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Much improved swing today :D In an effort to save a few bucks, I decided to take a 9 Iron down to the local elementary school and tee up a 16 balls. Figured I would get some exercise in addition to saving a few bucks. After my foraging effort, I returned with only 12 balls and decided that "saving money" is all relative due to the price of balls and the dollars per swing ratio. So $7-8 at the driving range it will have to be, alas. But I really cranked a few balls and felt good. Started off drawing the ball and noticed I had an error in my club face address alignment. Once corrected, I was hitting my 9I the best I have hit it. Which means tomorrow, if I go out again, will be a pretty terrible day for sure :)

Think I have finally settled on a 5W. At the risk of no resale value, I think I may go with a Nike Sumo clone. Add on a decent shaft with an extra half an inch and get a grip that fits my hand, $53 shipped with a 30 day refund policy. If I wanted a graphite shaft, I would probably go with a used version of the real mccoy. But I current prefer steel shafts (maybe I haven't found the right graphite shaft, who knows). Four new clubs in less than a month? Maybe Warp Daddy was right........
 
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riverc0il

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Speaking of my drawing incident tonight with the 9I, I just realized that I often draw my lower irons, get pretty straight hits on my 6 Iron, and slice my drive (sometimes 3W but no where near as bad or often). That sound typical? I figured I would have the same type of slicing issue with all my clubs but my tendencies are different depending upon which club I am swinging.

Warp---as far as that maybe goes---I haven't gone out and bought a new set of irons or anything. I mean, so far I haven't really replaced any of my original set (besides a PW I left at a driving range, oops) but am just filling in the holes. That maybe changes to a definite when I start replacing clubs :)
 
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Speaking of my drawing incident tonight with the 9I, I just realized that I often draw my lower irons, get pretty straight hits on my 6 Iron, and slice my drive (sometimes 3W but no where near as bad or often). That sound typical? I figured I would have the same type of slicing issue with all my clubs but my tendencies are different depending upon which club I am swinging.

Warp---as far as that maybe goes---I haven't gone out and bought a new set of irons or anything. I mean, so far I haven't really replaced any of my original set (besides a PW I left at a driving range, oops) but am just filling in the holes. That maybe changes to a definite when I start replacing clubs :)

Yard sales are a great place to find additional clubs for your quiver. Yes there are some 1970 Ben Hogans but I've seen some lightly used modern clubs at yard sales. We recently had a yard sale and I sold a bunch of my old clubs along with some of my Dads old clubs. Certain clubs like rescue clubs and belly putters that I have owned in the past but no longer use sold so quick. I also got rid of my previous two golf bags which were just collecting dust and an old pull-cart. A good golf-bag is also essential. That way you don't accidently hit your 6-iron instead of your 9-iron...I almost hit the group on the next tee-box..doh. The key when getting started is to hit lots of balls....also practice alot out of the sand. After 15 years of casual golf, I'm finally comfortable in the sand..also practice shots on downslopes if the practice facility has grass tees..The worst thing ever is having a perfect drive end on with a downhill lie..and topping the ball..
 

ChileMass

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Speaking of my drawing incident tonight with the 9I, I just realized that I often draw my lower irons, get pretty straight hits on my 6 Iron, and slice my drive (sometimes 3W but no where near as bad or often). That sound typical? I figured I would have the same type of slicing issue with all my clubs but my tendencies are different depending upon which club I am swinging.

Riv -

Most golfers will tend to overswing the shorter irons and underswing the longer ones. It's really just the weighting and the length that screws with you. Most golfers will therefore place the ball a little further back in their stance (4-6" right of center for a right-handed hitter) when hitting shorter irons (and maybe open the clubface a bit) and place the ball further forward when hitting a longer iron (and maybe close the face a bit). However, don't put the ball too far back or you will catch too much dirt, or too far forward cuz you will tend to "top" to ball. And then go to the range and do it about 100,000 times over a 25-year period, and you might break 90 someday.

Doesn't that make you feel a whole lot better - ?? :wink:
 

Warp Daddy

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True about yard sales -- IF YOU KNOW what is a "decent" club for YOUR game

I sold 2 complete sets last fall ( One set were "muscle back blades" the other was perimeter weighed , a good set for game improvement) . Also sold several bags
 
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