The Golf Thread

Greg said:

I'm sure it's synonymous with putting a beginner skier on an expert ski...

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times two..

Word. Not looking to buy top of the line clubs (definitely staying the game improvement stuff) but more interested in what type of shaft best suits my swing speed. Still seems like it would be more applicable down the road but as I look to fill up the holes in my bag, I just don't want to be making "learning the hard way" decisions on shafts.

riverc0il said:

Being new to the game, I have two comments on the issue of the short game. The first is that I immediately noticed how important the short game was on my first round of golf. Which is why I went out and ordered wedges ASAP. Though wedges are great to have, you still have to learn how to use them. Most folks hitting the range swing mostly drivers, hybrids, and low irons. You don't see a lot of people show up to the range and go through a bucket of balls with their wedges and low irons. When I hit the range, I usually start with my wedge and higher number irons and work my way up towards my 6I and only go for the woods once I feel I have improved my iron swing.

The other comment I have is in regards to equipment. It seems most people buying drivers and woods are all about distance. If it doesn't go long, then it ain't worth it. To me, accuracy trumps distance by a long shot. I have only played full courses in scrambles, but I noticed that on most holes except for the longest par 5s that you can easily hit the green or close by with a non-driver wood teed off accurately in the fairway followed by a mid-number iron. It seems silly to risk going left or right for an extra dozen or two dozen yards when accurate shots will get you there just as quick if not faster in many cases. The long drive sure is fun, but there are few things I enjoy more than a perfectly hit straight as an arrow 6I off the deck.

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Solid thoughts in this post Riv! +1

When your short game progresses, a GREAT drill that I tend to do ALOT when I do get the chance to practice is hitting to short targets (basically a 25 yard, a 50 yard and a 75 yard) using 3 different lofted clubs for 3 different tragectories. Sometimes I might hit to each target with my 3 wedges (Lob (59*), Sand(55*) and Gap(51*) ), sometimes I might use my lob wedge, gap wedge and 9 iron and sometimes maybe something like Sandwedge, pitching wedge and 7 iron. Basically I want to hit the same distance with a high shot, a mid shot, and a low shot - sounds easy, but give it a try

The big thing that I'm really trying to work on then is giving myself the option to hit the type of shot that I think will work the best, so if I need to lob a shot to a flag just over a bunker or if I want to hit a lower shot with some run when it gets to the green, I both have that option and feel comfortable with it.

This is where watching the pros on TV, especially short game magicians like Tiger, or Mickelson or Sergio Garcia can really help ones game. Watch how they'll alter the tragectory of their shots when they have to and use different clubs to do it(sure they have the "bread and butter" club and tragectory. The other thing where watching the pros can really help, is LISTEN + WATCH when one of the commentators gives a "playing lesson" They tend to do a GREAT job and giving some simple tips about shots that most golfers find difficult (the CBS guys with Peter Kostis doing full swing stuff typically, Gary McCord doing short game stuff and Nick Faldo doing the "speciality shots" are my favorites), and if you get The Golf Channel, they having a show called "Playing Lessons" where its a PGA/LPGA/Senior PGA tour pro playing a round either solo or with some amateurs and literally telling you what their mind is thinking and it tend to be a GREAT show for learning some relatively simple things that can make a quick and noticeable difference to the scorecard!

Just got my new wedges and went to the range and all I gotta say is that....

I LOVE THE SHORT GAME!!!

50-70 yards easy with a full swing at 70-80%. Real fun aiming for the closest green and getting closer with every shot and often hitting the green. Sweeeeet. Had a large bucket of somewhere between 70-80 balls and played just over half of them with my wedges.

Went over to the practice green for working on my pitching which I found really hard to do with a 9I. After tweaking my technique a tad, I was reliable knocking em' up onto the green from within 10 yards of the green. Finally was able to get enough loft to get it up and stopped hear the pin. Accuracy was not super but 1/4 was close to the pin, 1/2 were good shots for a 1 put, and the remaining 1/4 sailed a bit long. Not bad for a first day with new wedges.

Got into the sand for my first real sand wedge action. This may make some long term golfers that have issues with the sand irate, but after watching a ton of video, I knew the right setup, took my first swing, and put the ball up on the green within 5 feet of the pin. Holy moly! The swing was effortless and I had expected to make some sort of contact with the ball, but I got under the sand just right and knocked it up. Felt great. I just kept walking back up onto the green and tossing balls down just past the fringe, into the sand, and into the rough. Sun was setting and I was over due to get home but I just wanted to keep on working the short game, sweet!

Dialed in some errors for my regular swing as well. My first issue was moving too much weight onto my back foot during my back swing. Instead of using my upper body, I was sliding my lower body back too to disasterous consequences. The other issue (probably due to over powering the back swing and forward swing) was not hinging my arms enough after I broke the quarter swing plane. That played into the previous issue of taking too much of my body weight and getting my balance too far back.

The other issue are my grips. My new wedges have jumbo sized grips. I had feared that they might be too big, but they are just right and going back to my regular clubs really sucks after swinging my jumbo grips (hand size is 8+"). Also I got 1/2 inch longer shafts on the new wedges and that really helps too (heavier weight but I think that helped even the tempo out on my swing). I feel my stance with the wedges is sooooo much more natural. Having a quality shaft on them is nice as well (went with the standard TT Lite though my CG11s have a Dynamic Gold which seems a bit much but I think I can grow into that).

Now I just gotta learn to hit the long ball and get more consistent with my irons.

SOMEBODY"S got it BAD now

Warp Daddy said:

SOMEBODY"S got it BAD now

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I'm sensing there might be a post from Riv in the next few weeks talking about the joys of some early season hiking for turns followed by a round of golf!

Right on Doc -- maybe even the ZEN of the Short Game N' playing the bounce

Warp Daddy said:

Right on Doc -- maybe even the ZEN of the Short Game N' playing the bounce

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Nice, Nice, Nice!!

I will admit to being a sucker for the two bounce and then stop dead pitch myself And even though I've seen them end up giving me a much longer putt, the super spin wedge that draws the ball back 15 feet always has me feeling like the Zen Master too.

Now, all this golf Zen talk combined with the absolutely gorgeous day it is here this AM in my part of CT really has me itching to cancel the rest of today's patients and go use the sticks for 18 holes!

Yo Doc : Check out my signature line -------that philosophy will keep ya SANE man -- DO IT !!!

Warp Daddy said:

Yo Doc : Check out my signature line -------that philosophy will keep ya SANE man -- DO IT !!!

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Trust me Warp, I'm a fan of that Sig line and my front desk is currently VERY busy trying to move a few folks around to get ALL of us out of here early today!

The one predictable thing is that during warm weather months, on a REALLY nice day, we tend to get a few last minute "I'm sick" cancellations. I figure I can fit most everyone in this AM, thus generating enough $$ for the day to pay the electric company(and maybe my staff too if they're nice to me for the rest of the day ) and still get to enjoy a great looking afternoon! There are definately some days when it's nice to be the boss

Keerectamundo !!!

I'd tell ya to keep it on the short grass later today but hell with your 6 handicap YOU should be Giving ME lessons -- have fun -- i'm going to !!

Warp

Warp Daddy said:

Keerectamundo !!!

I'd tell ya to keep it on the short grass later today but hell with your 6 handicap YOU should be Giving ME lessons -- have fun -- i'm going to !!

Warp

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Warp, the game's too easy from the short grass It's much more "mentally challenging" to figure out how to hit that 30 yard hook that has to stay between to trees and then climb over a 3rd and then stop dead to a pin tucked right in between a bunker and a pond. That's what keeps me coming back

Played yesterday and played well. The game is fun when you are "on'...but control can be fleeting. Enjoy it while you got it.

Bump for stroke!!

:lol:

riverc0il said:

Bump for stroke!!

:lol:

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Oh boy...lol..since you bumped the thread for stoke...I'm playing golf with my Dad and his BFF(Best Friend Forever) at Iron Lakes Sunday morning at 7:30AM..It's a fun course but the yardage markers are off. Luckily my Dad has one of those yardage pro scopes to get accurate distances. There are a number of elevated tee's and greens along with two par threes over water..One is only about a 125 yard carry and the other is 160ish..there is also a short par 5 with an island green. A good tee-shot will get you within 200 yards of the pin but it's such a risky shot that I usually lay up and approach the pin with a wedge. If the ground is really dry..my tee shot could get into 7-iron range..160-170 yards and then I have no choice but to go for the green in two...There is also one par 4 that is only about 290 yards from the whites where a bogey feels like a double bogey..good stuff..

Tomorrow is going to be an ugly day on the course!

Just hit the range in prep. for tomorrows tourney. The only thing I was hitting well was my D & 3W. All of my irons were crap.

MR. evil said:

Tomorrow is going to be an ugly day on the course!

Just hit the range in prep. for tomorrows tourney. The only thing I was hitting well was my D & 3W. All of my irons were crap.

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drive for show, putt for dough.


my game is so far in the toilet its ridiculous. i just dont get out enough.

MR. evil said:

Tomorrow is going to be an ugly day on the course!

Just hit the range in prep. for tomorrows tourney. The only thing I was hitting well was my D & 3W. All of my irons were crap.

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JUST RELAX forget today's practice

like one buddy an 8 handicap from Ecaudor says to me ( JOOOST HEET DE BALL WARPY--DOOOON TINK")-- it works wonder s if you don't tense up or overthink the damn game --Have fun

MR. evil said:

Tomorrow is going to be an ugly day on the course!

Just hit the range in prep. for tomorrows tourney. The only thing I was hitting well was my D & 3W. All of my irons were crap.

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Sounds like some "swing lube" is just the thing to loosen you up a bit and let you forget about the range session. Of course by "swing lube" I mean this

drjeff said:

Sounds like some "swing lube" is just the thing to loosen you up a bit and let you forget about the range session. Of course by "swing lube" I mean this

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LOL, when I played Nemicolin, I brought a 375ML bottle of Johnny Walker Black to share with my buddies when we played. The bums wouldn't share so I had to drink it all by myself . I still played well.