The 2013 Golf thread

[drjeff]

been playing prety well this season. Shot 79 today 40 /39 , no doubles , 6 pars and a birdie but big thrill today was a 305 yd drive , hit 16 fairwaysand had 32 putts . putting has been strong all season . been averaging under 34 putts a round so far . have dropped my average so far to 83 for the yr after 14 rounds. At 70 im happy with this . . Still trying to sharpen the accuracy of the final approach

Nice shooting their Warp! I hear you with working on those approach shots! Far too often I find that when I hit a "bad" approach shot it has more to do with the fact that my prior shot put me into a less than favorable location to hit the approach from than the actual approach shot itself. I really try before I hit my tee ball on a hole to mentally play the hole backwards and figure out based on what my rough ball flight typically is where I want to try and put the ball to give myself the best chance at making a decent score on the hole with the least amount of chance that i'll need to hit a "heroic shot" as opposed to a "realistic shot" to pull it off.

Sometimes my business partner, who's about a 25 handicapper looks at me funny when I'm teeing the ball up on the far right side of the tee box one hole and then say the far left side on the next hole, etc while he just keeps putting the peg in the ground in the center of the tee box on every hole. It's all about trying to use extra the angles that moving a ball side to side in the tee box can create to essentially "widen" my desired landing area. I won't even get into what he thinks when I DON'T hit driver on every hole and actually lay a ball back every now and then off the tee to a distance where I have a "comfortable" shot into the green

This game is tough enough on its own, any little thing I can do to keep the shots I'm looking at as "comfortable" for my game as possible, i'm going to do!

 

[Warp Daddy]

Nice shooting their Warp! I hear you with working on those approach shots! Far too often I find that when I hit a "bad" approach shot it has more to do with the fact that my prior shot put me into a less than favorable location to hit the approach from than the actual approach shot itself. I really try before I hit my tee ball on a hole to mentally play the hole backwards and figure out based on what my rough ball flight typically is where I want to try and put the ball to give myself the best chance at making a decent score on the hole with the least amount of chance that i'll need to hit a "heroic shot" as opposed to a "realistic shot" to pull it off.

Sometimes my business partner, who's about a 25 handicapper looks at me funny when I'm teeing the ball up on the far right side of the tee box one hole and then say the far left side on the next hole, etc while he just keeps putting the peg in the ground in the center of the tee box on every hole. It's all about trying to use extra the angles that moving a ball side to side in the tee box can create to essentially "widen" my desired landing area. I won't even get into what he thinks when I DON'T hit driver on every hole and actually lay a ball back every now and then off the tee to a distance where I have a "comfortable" shot into the green

This game is tough enough on its own, any little thing I can do to keep the shots I'm looking at as "comfortable" for my game as possible, i'm going to do!

LMAO Doc , i do some of the SAME things ,my tee plant is a variable as is my tee height depending on conditions , and layng up is now part of my game and that has helped quite a bit especially on doglegs where the damn woods at the elbow is too broad to carry with a tee shot . Used to try to BOMB the angle on those and often got in trouble . i still cut the angle whenever the woods is narrow enough but laying up really is smart and leaves an easy mid iron in .


And lets not even talk about READING the green , i spend a few moments getting that right and it has been a tremendous help. Just wish i could roll em up a couple of feet from the pin when i approach thatis MY issue . i think i,m not putting enough weight on the front foot ????


You and your game and analytics have been a great inspiration to me to keep on learning this difficult game , THANKS Doc !

 

[drjeff]

LMAO Doc , i do some of the SAME things ,my tee plant is a variable as is my tee height depending on conditions , and layng up is now part of my game and that has helped quite a bit especially on doglegs where the damn woods at the elbow is too broad to carry with a tee shot . Used to try to BOMB the angle on those and often got in trouble . i still cut the angle whenever the woods is narrow enough but laying up really is smart and leaves an easy mid iron in .


And lets not even talk about READING the green , i spend a few moments getting that right and it has been a tremendous help. Just wish i could roll em up a couple of feet from the pin when i approach thatis MY issue . i think i,m not putting enough weight on the front foot ????


You and your game and analytics have been a great inspiration to me to keep on learning this difficult game , THANKS Doc !

Glad to help Warp! Putting question for you? Do you take a sharpie marker and draw an alignment stripe on your golf ball? Personally I found that made a BIG difference, especially in my lag putting. All I do now after I've read the putt, is as i'm placing my ball down on my marker, I make sure that the alignment strip is pointed on the line that I want and then all I need to do at address is make sure the alignment stripe on my putter lines up with the alignment strip on my golf ball and I know that I'll have the ball on the path that I want it to be on. This way, as i'm putting, all I'm thinking about is the speed and not speed and alignment. I've learned that the LESS variables I'm thinking about as i'm getting ready to hit any shot, the better the chance that it will be a "good" shot!

I know that most folks try and use the logo on the ball as an alignment aide, but I found that the $3 plastic alignment devices that you can slip a golf ball into, and then take a sharpie to make a stripe that is both straight (not so easy to free hand draw a straight line on a dimpled round ball ) and long enough to go about 1/2 around the circumference of the ball makes a big difference. Plus, this way, I can also see based on how that line looks as the ball is rolling if I hit the putt square (it will look like one narrow, continuous line as the ball rolls) or if I "slid" the putter across the impact point with the ball (the line will look wobbly and wide). Since solid shots tend to get better results.

An added plus of the line that I draw on my golf balls is that with my irons and woods, especially on a tee ball where I try and have the alignment stripe that I drew be on the club face at impact, I can often see via a little ink from the line that rubs off on the club face exactly where I'm striking the ball and then if needed make a minor adjustment to either how far/close i'm standing to the ball at address or move the tee height up or down to increase my chances of hitting the sweet spot on the club face more often!

This great game is difficult enough as it is, and any little thing that I can do to make it "less difficult" (I purposely didn't say easy! ) i'm going to do!

True story. This past weekend I was playing in a 3 day member guest at a friend's club. He's a 22 handicapper that in the couple of weeks leading up the the member guest had been playing well. I played a couple of practice rounds with him and he asked me what swing thoughts I have. Frankly I told him that I try and think about as little as possible as I'm hitting the ball, since if i'm thinking about say grip pressure, shoulder turn, weight shift, wind angle, etc, etc, etc it's TOUGH to remember to juts hit the damn ball! He took that approach for during the practice rounds as was playing more like a 15 than a 22! (I liked our chances as my 5 handicap was the lowest in our flight and i'd be giving everyone in the flight strokes all weekend long so I wasn't expecting too many outright hole wins on my ball). My partner started feeling the pressure a bit and started playing more like a 32 and we lost our 1st 3 matches. I asked him what he was thinking about, and his reply "I'm thinking about NOT thinking and it's messing me up!" :lol:

 

[Warp Daddy]

Again ROFLMAO about your buddy ,

when i first started playing golf i played with my next door neighbor Jaime a scratch golfer originally from Latin America .His advice from Day ONE was: "Joost heet de ball Warpy , doooon think, thinking is verrrrrry baaaaad "

Never used that alignment tool Doc , thought about it , but after your ideas i probably will now.

keep it on the short grass friend !

W

 

[Warp Daddy]

best round ever for me today a 75 ! 37/38 11 pars , 2 birds , and only 31 putts with my new Taylormade Ghost Manta putter the Queen bought for me yesterday !! Im a happy camper

 

[ScottySkis]

best round ever for me today a 75 ! 37/38 11 pars , 2 birds , and only 31 putts with my new Taylormade Ghost Manta putter the Queen bought for me yesterday !! Im a happy camper

Nice going I don't know golf talk but sounds awesome and I'm happy for your great day.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Thank you Scotty , its very nice of you :grin:

 

[Nick]

I'm down in South Carolina for 2 weeks near Myrtle Beach at my in-laws condo. Played 18 at Blackmoor in Murrell's Inlet, and scored 117 for the round which is awesome for me (anything under 120 is a win, lol)

 

[Warp Daddy]

I'm down in South Carolina for 2 weeks near Myrtle Beach at my in-laws condo. Played 18 at Blackmoor in Murrell's Inlet, and scored 117 for the round which is awesome for me (anything under 120 is a win, lol)

hey Nick good round for a guy who very seldom plays . Its all about having fun and competing with yourself

 

[drjeff]

best round ever for me today a 75 ! 37/38 11 pars , 2 birds , and only 31 putts with my new Taylormade Ghost Manta putter the Queen bought for me yesterday !! Im a happy camper

AWESOME job hitting the small ball Warp! So you thinking about shooting your age THIS SEASON now??

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[Warp Daddy]

AWESOME job hitting the small ball Warp! So you thinking about shooting your age THIS SEASON now??

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AlpineZone mobile app

Yo Doc u inspired me last yr when i finally broke 80 for the first time after several yrs of getting close ,, YOU SAID. " i see a 75 in your future soon Warp . Well my friend now i did that one so hey WHY not try to get close to 70. Played today in 95 degree heat shot a meh 82 had 4 balls in the water darnit or it would have been another sub 80 GOT 3 so far this season

Finally learning course mft and using layups to start scoring on some really nasty ponded holes , we have 11 ponds on this course and a river runs thru it too:evil:.

U getting out much this season ?? Im sure u r posting some great scores ,with your skills.

 

[drjeff]

Yo Doc u inspired me last yr when i finally broke 80 for the first time after several yrs of getting close ,, YOU SAID. " i see a 75 in your future soon Warp . Well my friend now i did that one so hey WHY not try to get close to 70. Played today in 95 degree heat shot a meh 82 had 4 balls in the water darnit or it would have been another sub 80 GOT 3 so far this season

Finally learning course mft and using layups to start scoring on some really nasty ponded holes , we have 11 ponds on this course and a river runs thru it too:evil:.

U getting out much this season ?? Im sure u r posting some great scores ,with your skills.

Course management makes a BIG difference for sure! That's actually one of the things that I really pay attention too when I watch the pro's on TV, especially on shorter par 4's and par 5's where the majority of the field can't get home in 2. Those guys are almost always leaving themselves their favorite length approach shot, from an angle to the flag that takes the majority of greenside trouble out of play. It doesn't make the game easy, but it sure can make it less difficult for sure, and that more often than not shows on the scorecard.

I've been hitting the ball decent this year. I've been trying to play a few holes at my home course that traditionally have given me a "mental block" totally differently to see if I can get over that mental block with mixed results so far.... time will tell if this was a good or a bad experiment!

The biggest issue i've been having lately is that I've played a bunch of different courses that have had a HUGE difference in their green speed! Trying to get my putting, especially my lag putting dialed in when I've played greens that have ranged from literally the speed and firmness of a marble floor all the way up to something resembling a shag carpet over the last few weeks have brought a few per round of the dreaded 3 putt monster back into my game But that will all work itself out! Tee to green has been solid at least, so I can handle the speed on the greens issue!

 

[Warp Daddy]

On a roll. Just back shot a 79 , 38/41 blew the last hole with dreaded triple , but had 2 birdies , 7 pars , 33 putts . 4 th round this season in the 70s . It was 89 degrees here at 8 am , so it was pretty humid out there

Doc i hear u about playing fast greens one day and slower ones later on , getting that dialed in is complicated , but with your ability to. Focus it will be solved . its pretty dry here now so the greens are rolling fast but consistant . I tried that ball marker system for putting it helps . My biggest improvement this year has been putting AND course management . My driving has always been consistant since i got the Longer big stick . I hit 15 /16 fairways a round .

Well as of Saturday we h ve 11 house guests ( my kids , grandkids and BIL) coming up here for 9 days of thE annual Seaway Festival , so i huess i will be helping the Queen get ready for this annual onslaught the rest of the week. Well play a couple of rounds with my BIL. Sons and grandboys ....that is ALWAYS an adventure :beer:

 

[Warp Daddy]

Golf is a stange game , i waited till i was 69 last yr to Finally break 80 barrier , yet today shot a decent for me 37/40/77. It is my fifth sub 80 of THIS season . today 10 pars a bird and 32 putts .... Lovin that Ghost Manta putter i just got a couple weeks ago been under 34 putts consistantly .


Finally learning the discipline to lay up and avoid trouble rather than just bombing the big stick all the time has seriously helped lower my scores

 

[Warp Daddy]

So anybody been out yet ?

 

[xwhaler]

Played 9 locally this afternoon for 1st time out. Hit em ok. Amazing that 8 days ago I was at the top of Cannon in a wet snow blizzard with heavy winds and this afternoon enjoyed mid 70s in a polo on the NH Seacoast swinging the sticks.....I love the fact that I can transition so easily from my winter passion to my spring/summer activities in this region

 

[Warp Daddy]

Nice, x man !! Yeah its good you too have many interests , keeps you from getting stale

 

[dlague]

My wife and I just picked up new clubs - nothing spectacular just an upgrade from where I was at before. Technically a hack golfer but it is still fun to get out. This summer my wife and I plan on improving our game - so we shall see. We also picked up 11 2 fers for some of our local courses. Trying to attempt the same deal approach to golf as I do towards skiing!

Our wetsuits, surf boards and half boards are ready to go too! Now looking into kayaks! The problem with summer - it seems short and I have activity ADHD! At least winter has a single focus!

Golf will be at the top of our list!