The Golf Thread 2009

[drjeff]

Were you the first golfer out???? Wow that's a fast round..

Yup, got to my course about 3 minutes before the usual group of 6 to 12 "old timers" who go out almost every AM 1st thing. At first they were giving me the dirty look kind of like "how dare you head out before us", but after my 1st tee ball went about 50 yards past where there's end up from shorter tees and I was done with the 1st hole in about 3 minutes, I was nothing but a distant memory to them.

As I was putting my cart away when I finished my round, I waved to that group that had given me the evil eye about 2 hours before as they were teeing off on #10.

I just LOVE speed golf!

 

[riverc0il]

I just LOVE speed golf!

Speed golf is the best! Yesterday I hit up the local par 3 after work for a quick 9. The guy at the desk was warning me that a scramble started in an hour. I had to laugh! If 9 par 3 holes takes me an hour, I deserve to be off the course! Sadly, I didn't get to finish the last hole but that was due to getting stuck behind a pair of scramble players warming up on a few holes and slowing me down. :evil:

My swing is definitely improving as of late. I have a few key swing thoughts that have really helped with my iron play. My hybrids are touch and go and I have long since stopped even trying to hit my woods until I get a lesson. It is amazing how well you can play by only using irons and hybrids.

Now that my regular clubs have improved, my once "best part of my game" short game and putting has tanked so my scores have not shown improvement despite more consistent iron play. Funny game, this golf.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Yup, got to my course about 3 minutes before the usual group of 6 to 12 "old timers" who go out almost every AM 1st thing. At first they were giving me the dirty look kind of like "how dare you head out before us", but after my 1st tee ball went about 50 yards past where there's end up from shorter tees and I was done with the 1st hole in about 3 minutes, I was nothing but a distant memory to them.

As I was putting my cart away when I finished my round, I waved to that group that had given me the evil eye about 2 hours before as they were teeing off on #10.

I just LOVE speed golf!

Is this at a country club??

 

[drjeff]

Is this at a country club??

yup

www.Quinnatisset.com

 

[campgottagopee]

yup

www.Quinnatisset.com

Nice track---here's mine

www.cortlandcc.com

 

[riverc0il]

I am really starting to groove my iron swing. Was drilling my 7I over 160 yards today which is about 15+ yards longer than average (without a tee, no less!). Really starting to get a "feel" for my swing with the irons though I am sure I have a long way to go and the consistency is not there yet. Driving range pass is paying off!

 

[drjeff]

I am really starting to groove my iron swing. Was drilling my 7I over 160 yards today which is about 15+ yards longer than average (without a tee, no less!). Really starting to get a "feel" for my swing with the irons though I am sure I have a long way to go and the consistency is not there yet. Driving range pass is paying off!

+1 Sometimes, especially as you're developing your swing, there just is no substitute for a good session of beating balls at the range!

 

[campgottagopee]

Back in the office after the Pro-Scratch Team Event (CNY PGA event) at Bighamton CC, which by the way is a sa_weet track built in 1919 by A.W. Tillinghast. I really wonder if that guy EVER built a flat green :lol:.

Anyway, our teram really stunk it up shooting 144 -----132 won so we took a good old fashion butt kickin'----didn't stop the cold ones or the laughs after the tourney tho.

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

So i was just up in CT visting for 2 weeks i cannot believe how green it is up there, unreal lush when playing golf, granted it seems to rain far to often from what i used to remember. Played here in FL today it was about 101 out there, the good news heat keeps old people away and long rounds the bad well the greens are just cooked, not enough water to keep up with the heat

 

[campgottagopee]

Mark Calcavecchia birdied nine straight holes Saturday in the Canadian Open to break the PGA Tour record. :-o :-o

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Mark Calcavecchia birdied nine straight holes Saturday in the Canadian Open to break the PGA Tour record. :-o :-o

wow!!!!

 

[drjeff]

wow!!!!

Calc seriously has the lack of fear to go low, and even today when he's on can still bring it as good as he could in his prime 15 or so years ago!

 

[Trekchick]

Can you say, in the words of Frank Barone.......Holy Crap!

 

[Warp Daddy]

9 birds in a row simply amazing skill and concentration without tension. Man that's really defines being "in the Zone"

 

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

pretty good article on tiger.....

but, geesh, dude has surgery and doesn't win every tournament in sight, and the wolves start circling....i remember when he could walk on water.

Woods needs to clean up his act
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
By Rick Reilly
ESPN The Magazine

Tiger Woods has outgrown those Urkel glasses he had as a kid. Outgrown the crazy hair. Outgrown a body that was mostly neck.

When will he outgrow his temper?

The man is 33 years old, married, the father of two. He is paid nearly $100 million a year to be the representative for some monstrously huge companies, from Nike to Accenture. He is the world's most famous and beloved athlete.

And yet he spent most of his two days at Turnberry last week doing the Turn and Bury. He'd hit a bad shot, turn and bury his club into the ground in a fit. It was two days of Tiger Tantrums -- slamming his club, throwing his club and cursing his club. In front of a worldwide audience.

A whole lot of that worldwide audience is kids. They do what Tiger does. They swing like Tiger, read putts like Tiger and do the celebration biceps pump like Tiger. Do you think for two seconds they don't think it's cool to throw their clubs like Tiger, too?

He's grown in every other way. He's committed, responsible, smart, funny and the most talented golfer in history. I just thought we'd be over the conniptions by now.

If there were no six-second delay, Tiger Woods would be the reason to invent it. Every network has been burned by having the on-course microphone open when he blocks one right into the cabbage and starts with the F-bombs. Once, at Doral, he unleashed a string of swear words at a photographer that would've made Artie Lange blush, and then snarled, "'The next time a photographer shoots a [expletive] picture, I'm going to break his [expletive] neck!"

He's grown in every other way. He's committed, responsible, smart, funny, and the most talented golfer in history. I just thought we'd be over the conniptions by now.

It's disrespectful to the game, disrespectful to those he plays with and disrespectful to the great players who built the game before him. Ever remember Jack Nicklaus doing it? Arnold Palmer? When Tom Watson was getting guillotined in that playoff to Stewart Cink, did you see him so much as spit? Only one great player ever threw clubs as a pro -- Bobby Jones -- and he stopped in his 20s when he realized how spoiled he looked.

This isn't new. Woods has been this way for years: swearing like a Hooters' bouncer, trying to bury the bottom of his driver into the tee box, flipping his club end over end the second he realizes his shot is way offline.

I can still remember the 1997 Masters -- arguably the most important golf tournament ever played. Woods, then 21, was playing the 15th hole on Sunday. He had just hit a fairway wood out of the rough and was watching it. A young boy came up from behind just to touch him -- just to pat the back of this amazing new superhero. That's when Tiger pulled the club way back over his head and slammed it down, nearly braining the kid he couldn't see behind him. And this was with a huge lead.

Look, in every other case, I think Tiger Woods has been an A-plus role model. Never shows up in the back of a squad car with a black eye. Never gets busted in a sleazy motel with three "freelance models." Never gets so much as a parking ticket. But this punk act on the golf course has got to stop. If it were my son, I'd tell him the same thing: "Either behave or get off the course."

Come to think of it, if I were the president of Nike, I'd tell him the same thing.

Put it this way: Will Tiger let his own two kids carry on in public like that?

I know what you're saying. We see more Tiger tantrums because TV shows every single shot he hits. And I'm telling you: You're wrong. He is one of the few on Tour who do it. And I keep wondering when PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is going to have the cojones to publicly upbraid him for it.

Golf is a gentlemen's game. Stomping and swearing and carrying on like a Beverly Hills tennis brat might fly in the NBA or in baseball or in football, where less is expected, but golf demands manners. It's your honor. Is my mark in your way? No, I had 6, not 5. Golfers call penalties on themselves. We are our own police. Tiger, police yourself.

Tiger does a boatload of work for kids. He raises millions for his Tiger Woods Learning Center, which has helped teach thousands. But teaching goes the wrong way, too. Tiger is teaching them that if he can be a hissy hothead on the course, they can, too.

I remember Tiger's dad, Earl, telling a story. One day, when Tiger was just a kid, he was throwing his clubs around in a fuming fit when his dad said something like "Tiger, golf is supposed to be fun." And Tiger said, "Daddy, I want to win. That's how I have fun."

Well, it's not fun to watch.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4347419

 

[Trekchick]

I sorta agree with this article.
It was a pleasure to watch Tom Watson play the British Open and then listen to his interview in the end....his disappointment was clear, while he held himself with dignity.

I like Tiger, that will not change, but there is something to the temper tantrums that irk me a bit.

 

[Warp Daddy]

The man has the goods and i'm certain most of his pressure is self -assumed. Given that ,one of the singularly most complex skills for many talented geniuses to DEVELOP is that of EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. I'm sure the guy "suffers" this in private ,afterwards as he reflects on his own BEHAVIOR and performance on the course .

He is a very bright young guy ( Stanford is a SERIOUSLY strong school academically)

So while i do not admire the Tantrums , i certainly empathesize with the guys angst as he struggles to find emotional maturity. He'll get there I'm sure when he realizes that GOLF is NOT his MOST IMPORTANT NOW (Colllecting and nurturing those who support him is his new MIN)

He has nothing more to PROVE on the course ,his sperformance record speaks for itself -----Relax Tiger smell the roses

 

[riverc0il]

Waaaaaay slow play, yesterday. Back 9 at Waukewan. I called up ahead of time and asked what the course looked like. Tournament on the front 9 but no one has teed off in 30 minutes on the back 9. No kidding, huh? Okay, I am game. I played two holes and then bumped into a group in front of me and had a foursome pressing me from behind. The walking threesome in front of me was being slowed down by an uber slow foursome (with carts!!! GAH!!!!) so I joined the threesome to at least alleviate some congestion and make the folks behind me happier. Didn't much matter though because everyone was being slowed down by the slow foursome with carts.

Always amuses me that folks walking are often faster than folks with carts. I think folks walking are more likely playing ready golf. While walking to the ball, walkers get their club selection ready and already have a good idea how to play the ball. When I play scrambles in a cart, I am much more relaxed about that sort of thing and spend time in the cart chatting.

Any ways, I played terrible and am finally looking into lessons. I can't handle playing this inconsistently any more. A driving range season pass has helped my iron play and has added 10 yards to my irons. And I can usually start off killing the ball long and straight. But when I get tired, my swing goes completely away. And I still can't hit my longer clubs. I am at a substantial disadvantage teeing off with a 6I. I haven't played a wood on the course since my first day out this season. The local course has a 5 hours for $200 package so I am going to talk with the Pro to see if he would be a good fit and see if I can get one lesson and put that cost towards the package after I have done one lesson and see how it goes.

 

[Trekchick]

The man has the goods and i'm certain most of his pressure is self -assumed. Given that ,one of the singularly most complex skills for many talented geniuses to DEVELOP is that of EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. I'm sure the guy "suffers" this in private ,afterwards as he reflects on his own BEHAVIOR and performance on the course .

He is a very bright young guy ( Stanford is a SERIOUSLY strong school academically)

So while i do not admire the Tantrums , i certainly empathesize with the guys angst as he struggles to find emotional maturity. He'll get there I'm sure when he realizes that GOLF is NOT his MOST IMPORTANT NOW (Colllecting and nurturing those who support him is his new MIN)

He has nothing more to PROVE on the course ,his sperformance record speaks for itself -----Relax Tiger smell the roses

All that hypertension adds up, eh?

 

[riverc0il]

I played some of my best golf every today visiting Lakeview in Belmont, NH for the first time. This is a 9 hole course that costs $20 for 9 on the weekend and despite its name, does not have a view of Winnisquam. :lol: This is a par 35 course with two par fives (505 and 550 yards) and three (mostly unfair) par 3s (at 220, 175, and 195 steep uphill). The 175 par 3 was acceptable but the other two were just demoralizing.

I played boogie golf for the first five holes.with exception of a double on the par 4 4th hole which I made up for with an incredible par on that long 220 yard par 3 due to a perfect put from the fringe, about 15 yards uphill.

Currently, I am playing with irons only until I get some lessons to work out my disaster of a woods game. Since I broke my 6I, that meant my longest club used was a 7 iron (which is my 160 club). I scored a 53 despite two snowmen and a 7 on the last par 3 uphill 9th hole. 2/3 of my greens were two putts with 2 one putts and an unacceptable three putt.

I feel really confident with my refined iron swing. Most of my iron shots today were straight with perfect trajectory. But not having a club longer than 160 yards is a challenge to good scoring, especially on longer par 3s and par 4s. My swing broke down on the 6th and 8th holes because I let the distance get to my mental game. So instead of a relaxed swing, I started thinking "the pin is way out there... I need to kill it!!!" I don't really think that but that is what my body does if I don't relax and focus on a smooth swing.

Overall, I am thrilled with my play and a 53 is only three shots over 50 and breaking 100 is my ultimate goal as a new golfer. Not having anything longer than a 7 iron is a handicap, but I can still play boogie golf and score well (boogie golf is actually 90 on many courses). Just gotta get my woods swinging and start practicing that short game that used to by my best skill but has slid back since I have focused on practicing my irons.