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Halo14
Sep 11, 2001
Hope it helps.

Chipping is a feel thing for me but I'm always very conscious of the leading edge of the club. I test out the ground next to the shot I'm going to play - practicing the shot a couple of times to get a feel for how the club will react to the surface.

Oh and never decelerate when chipping. In fact never decelerate for any shot in golf. You would rather be on the green with a somewhat make able putt than come up short and have to replay the chip again or even worse - flop the shot into a bunker.

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Mr. BT
Oct 14, 2002
Just ordered a set of Ping G30 irons, and picked up a used G30 driver and 22 degree hybrid.

Oh, and I made 2 50-foot putts on the practice green. There really isn't a feeling like watching a ball roll one way, and then the other and then.... drop in. Now if I could replicate that on the course. . .

I got steel shafts. Should I have sprung for the graphite?

Halo14
Sep 11, 2001

Mr. BT posted:

Just ordered a set of Ping G30 irons, and picked up a used G30 driver and 22 degree hybrid.

Oh, and I made 2 50-foot putts on the practice green. There really isn't a feeling like watching a ball roll one way, and then the other and then.... drop in. Now if I could replicate that on the course. . .

I got steel shafts. Should I have sprung for the graphite?

For the irons, if you're a woman or a senior golfer then yes. Otherwise definitely no.

Furnaceface
Oct 21, 2004




Is there any reason whatsoever to drop that kind of money on clubs if you suck? I expect the effect would be so insignificant in for someone like me that is basically re-learning the game at even the most basic level that Id be better off sticking with my 15 year old set of Nike whatevers. At what point is it a good idea to actually invest in a decent set of clubs?

Halo14
Sep 11, 2001

Furnaceface posted:

Is there any reason whatsoever to drop that kind of money on clubs if you suck? I expect the effect would be so insignificant in for someone like me that is basically re-learning the game at even the most basic level that Id be better off sticking with my 15 year old set of Nike whatevers. At what point is it a good idea to actually invest in a decent set of clubs?

As much as I'd love to I don't think I'll ever buy new clubs again. I mean, my previous 2 drivers have been a $50 Taylor Made R11 and a $100 Titleist 910D3.

If I were you I'd try to look on ebay or a pre-owned website for the previous years model of driver, putter or irons. The advancements year to year don't justify the expense. You can take them to a golf shop and have them adjusted in length or get new grips and still be ahead.

shyduck
Oct 3, 2003


My whole bag currently is preowned/closeout stuff. R11 irons, R11s driver, R11s 4 wood, rescue hybrid, ATV wedges, Odyssey PT9 putter. I paid nowhere near what all of this would've cost brand new, and the preowned stuff was in good to great shape.

The driver was a steal, I think I paid like 40 bucks for it at Golfsmith. It looked like it was in really bad condition, but all the head needed was a cleaning with some Simple Green, and it was like I had a brand new club.

Callaway Preowned is always running good deals. They practically want to give their clubs away. They had some crazy putter sale a while back and that's how I ended up with my PT9

shyduck fucked around with this message at 06:37 on Jun 11, 2015

Halo14
Sep 11, 2001
Damnit, I'll have to buy that PT9 putter now now because it looks sweet :)

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Halo14 posted:

Damnit, I'll have to buy that PT9 putter now now because it looks sweet :)
It's a great putter. I had to abandon mine, but it definitely sets up great.

Halo14
Sep 11, 2001
drat you guys...



Actually that's a pretty good price!

Nerdrock
Jan 31, 2006

I graduated from the Pinemeadow beginner's set that was $140 to a bag full of SLDRs. I got the irons for 400, and paid about 350 for the driver / fairway / hybrid. It's a noticeable difference according to everyone I've let swing them... but I'd say from my little experience that so long as you're not using total poo poo cheapo stuff, you're probably fine. Another friend hits a $150 set of Adams irons and those perform great! My excuse is that it was all an anniversary present, anyways.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Long as we're posting swing videos, I cannot recommend Payne Stewart enough if you want to work on your iron play. His tempo was phenomenal and a lot of these lessons get some great lag in your swing to make sure you're taking a divot ahead of the ball. He concentrated on taking the entire club back at once, not just pulling the clubhead first.

Here's another good look

aehiilrs
Apr 1, 2007
I think I made a mistake picking my home course this year. I finally snuck out for 9 at a time when it was mostly empty and didn't have to, say, tee off with a 5i on the par 4 holes just to keep up pace of play, and miraculously my score dropped quite a bit. drat 4500y par 66!

(The league is a hell of a lot of fun though)

EnsGDT
Nov 9, 2004

~boop boop beep motherfucker~

DJExile posted:

Long as we're posting swing videos, I cannot recommend Payne Stewart enough if you want to work on your iron play. His tempo was phenomenal and a lot of these lessons get some great lag in your swing to make sure you're taking a divot ahead of the ball. He concentrated on taking the entire club back at once, not just pulling the clubhead first.

Here's another good look

I love Payne, but this video is hilarious. It has a lot of....do this this this *perfect swing* hahaha

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


EnsGDT posted:

I love Payne, but this video is hilarious. It has a lot of....do this this this *perfect swing* hahaha

Oh yeah it's basically every VHS instructional tape you've seen in the 1980s, which is funny as all hell.

Furnaceface
Oct 21, 2004




DJExile posted:

Oh yeah it's basically every VHS instructional tape you've seen in the 1980s, which is funny as all hell.

You cant mention awesome 80s instructional videos without bringing up Lee Trevino!

Omerta
Feb 19, 2007

I thought short arms were good for benching :smith:
Played Bobby Jones yesterday and shot 64. It's a par 70, 6000 yard course, so doesn't really count for ~shooting in the 60s~, but it felt good and made me less angsty about my offense.

Ribsauce
Jul 29, 2006

Blacks in the back.
I have all my dad's old clubs. Ping I3 oversize irons with steel shafts. I have been trying to decide if I should change to game improvement irons or not.

Is it worth it? Or should I just grow into my irons?I tend to think I should stick with them but I am open to input.

EnsGDT
Nov 9, 2004

~boop boop beep motherfucker~
Where are you on my chart? :P

EnsGDT posted:

The order is this:

1 realize you want to try golf

2 borrow clubs

3 fall in love

4 buy a lovely used set

5 play terrible golf

6 take lessons

7 get better at golf

8 realize that the limiting factor in you game is your lovely clubs

9 get fitted by a professional

10 bliss

Edit:

Also, as far as real deal instructional videos go, I understand these are pretty good:
http://access.revolutiongolf.com/discover-the-secrets/embrace-your-uniqueness

I haven't bought them, but my fitter sent me that link to watch. My favorite info from it is the 10% swing thing.

EnsGDT fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Jun 11, 2015

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Furnaceface posted:

You cant mention awesome 80s instructional videos without bringing up Lee Trevino!

Hahaha oh hell yes

Holy poo poo you guys I could get so used to this membership thing. Wanna hit balls? Sure! Chip around the short game range all you want too! Wanna carry, push, or cart for a few holes? Go nuts! Wanna skip ahead a couple holes to get around a few groups? Be our guest!

Golf loving owns. Memberships own. Everything owns. Goodbye productivity.

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari

Ribsauce posted:

I have all my dad's old clubs. Ping I3 oversize irons with steel shafts. I have been trying to decide if I should change to game improvement irons or not.

Is it worth it? Or should I just grow into my irons?I tend to think I should stick with them but I am open to input.

I bought some Demo game improvement irons (Ping Karsten) at the end of last year when they were getting rid of last years stuff. I went from shooting 110 to to my best round ever of a 94.

EnsGDT
Nov 9, 2004

~boop boop beep motherfucker~

DJExile posted:

Hahaha oh hell yes

Holy poo poo you guys I could get so used to this membership thing. Wanna hit balls? Sure! Chip around the short game range all you want too! Wanna carry, push, or cart for a few holes? Go nuts! Wanna skip ahead a couple holes to get around a few groups? Be our guest!

Golf loving owns. Memberships own. Everything owns. Goodbye productivity.

Ugh, the mens club at my local course are the reason I don't play Sunday mornings anymore. They keep trying to get me to join, but then I'd be one of them :(

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Omerta posted:

Played Bobby Jones yesterday and shot 64. It's a par 70, 6000 yard course, so doesn't really count for ~shooting in the 60s~, but it felt good and made me less angsty about my offense.
LOL Bobby Jones is a goat track. But it has a couple decent holes.

Halo14
Sep 11, 2001
This is the best swing instruction video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGtGmRT4v24

Ribsauce
Jul 29, 2006

Blacks in the back.

EnsGDT posted:

Where are you on my chart? :P
I am at 6) Taking lessons

My dad gave me my entire bag of clubs (they are his old ones) except a hybrid I bought after playing great with my friend's (Cobra Baffler 4 hybrid, the exact club he had). Of course I immediately sucked with it after buying it hah

The instructor said my clubs should be fine to learn on. I'll finish my lesson series, practice for a month or two while also playing, and reevaluate. He is going to check my fit next week. Tonight I learned my grip was off. My left hand was on the club fine but my right hand was not correct. Hopefully this adjustment helps me improve my longer shots.

Ribsauce fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Jun 12, 2015

EnsGDT
Nov 9, 2004

~boop boop beep motherfucker~

Ribsauce posted:

I am at 6) Taking lessons

My dad gave me my entire bag of clubs except a hybrid I bought after playing great with my friend's (Cobra Baffler 4 hybrid, the exact club he had). Of course I immediately sucked with it after buying it hah

The instructor said my clubs should be fine to learn on. I'll finish my lesson series, practice for a month or two while also playing, and reevaluate. He is going to check my fit next week. Tonight I learned my grip was off. My left hand was on the club fine but my right hand was not correct. Hopefully this adjustment helps me improve my longer shots.

Lessons are so important to improving. Good on ya :)

I know for me, I did a cursory search in my area for well regarded fitters, then searched the various golf forums for people with first-person experiences with them.

I ended up here http://pasadenaclubfitter.com/

Bob is loving awesome. I sent him an email introducing myself and asking a few questions, and this was his response:

quote:

Thank you for reaching out to me for help in getting fitted. The fitting process is similar to an artist working with a blank canvas. There are no preconceived ideas of what the golfer needs. working with different styled heads, different length, weight and flex shafts we come up with the formula that best fits you. If your Burner Plus irons are that fit great, if not I will tell you. Although I do sell clubs, my primary purpose is to get the golfer fit. It is not a short process. The first session will take up to 2 hours, followed by you going out on your own and hitting a test iron to see how it works in real life, then get back together and see ball flight. If needed we tweak the test club, or totally rebuild it until we get the formula of shaft, head and grip as correct as possible. Now if your iron heads are the right design for you it may only be changing out the shafts, or maybe they are perfect the way they currently are. One word of caution, a number of the TaylorMade irons are impossible or very difficult to bend. I'm not familiar with your particular model but will call TaylorMade on Monday to find out if and how much they can be bent for lie and loft. The fitting session with follow ups is a cost of $155. I only work by appointment and normally am booked at least a week out.
I look forward to helping you get more out of your game through properly fitted clubs.

That was, and remains, the kind of attention to detail I wanted in a club fitter :)

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


EnsGDT posted:

Ugh, the mens club at my local course are the reason I don't play Sunday mornings anymore. They keep trying to get me to join, but then I'd be one of them :(

we accept you, we accept you

one of us, one of us

Kameh
Apr 27, 2004

Resident Sergio Apologist
CHAMPION

Omerta posted:

Played Bobby Jones yesterday and shot 64. It's a par 70, 6000 yard course, so doesn't really count for ~shooting in the 60s~, but it felt good and made me less angsty about my offense.

I don't know anything about your Bobby Jones course, but I know a few 6,000 yard courses that take driver out of your hands and anything sub par is a terrific round. Great round, imo.

Played that tough course, didn't drive the ball nearly as well as I should have, paid for it. Hit 6 fairways and 5 greens, 25 putts. 2 birdies and 6 bogeys.



TL;DR - The manageable fade off the tee became a weaker push slice. Scoring is tough when I'm hitting longer irons and hybrids into greens to make up for poor tee shots, and the up and down magic ran out on the back nine.

Hole 1 - Nasty driver to the right, muscled a hybrid to right of the greenside bunkers, hit a pretty great flop shot that carried the bunker enough to roll off the fringe and settled a few feet from the hole.
Hole 2 - Hit a push fade 4i hybrid into a pond. Got up and down with a 12 footer for bogey.
Hole 3 - Good drive up the right, yanked a 4w left but in an okay spot. Hit my pitch from 40 yards to probably 7 feet, then left just enough speed off the putt to break in front of the hole instead of into it. I did this 3 other times in the round. The greens were perfectly smooth and extremely quick, so they were all my mistakes.
Hole 4 - Squared up on this drive and hit it very well. Hit a solid 9 over the pin, made a 20 footer for birdie.
Hole 5 - Hit an ugly slice that managed to find the edge of the fairway, overcompensated on my 6i approach and pulled it left. Up and down for par.
Hole 6 - Hit a 5i on a good line to a tucked pin. Finished a few feet into the fringe, only had maybe 10 feet total to the pin. Easy two putt for par.
Hole 7 - Hole is a narrow dogleg right. Played both shots as I wanted, had a 10 footer for birdie that I played just like my birdie attempt on hole 3. Settled for par.
Hole 8 - Par 5 that I did not play as well. Sweeping dogleg left - sliced a driver to the right, laid up with a 3i hybrid through the fairway, hit a wedge on what I thought was a decent line but caught a false back(?), leaving me with a ridiculous uphill putt. Probably a 20 foot putt, but 4 feet up. Barely got my first putt up the front, then rolled my par try in on the last rotation.
Hole 9 - Getting sick of these weak slices, I strengthened my grip and decided to roll my forearms a bit more. The result was a bullet into the left trees. It was long enough to leave an opening to the green...from 160 and over water. I hit a knockdown 5i that was actually a pretty great shot that finished on the back fringe. Rolled in an amusing 40 footer, humped the air for the group behind us to see.

So at this point, I'm feeling okay about managing my misses.

Hole 10 - Hit my drive left, attempted to hit a low chasing 4w under a tree, hit said tree. Got my third on the green, 2 putt for bogey.
Hole 11 - Got away with a shoved drive to the right. Hit a hybrid to a good wedge distance, hit a great wedge to 6 feet. Babied the putt, watched it curl in front of the hole and stay out.
Hole 12 - I'm running hot at this point. Hit a drive behind a tree, but I have to play over the tree because under won't put me anywhere I need to be. Hit a 6i to 15 yards short of the green, misjudge my pitch from the thick rough. 2 putt bogey from 30 feet.
Hole 13 - Birdied this hole on my own in a scramble about a month ago. Hit probably my last good drive of the day on this hole, too. Drive up the left, and I'm gonna pull a Sergio and complain about the grounds crew. At a course this nice, they've got maintenance staff out on the course all day, watering greens or raking bunkers or whatever. This guy is posted up in the middle of the green, literally spraying water at the flag. We wait and wait and wait, and I decide that, since he's seen us and has continued watering, I'm just gonna hit and pray I don't hit him. I bail right but catch a slope and settle on the green. Two putt from a good distance for par.
Hole 14 - Par 3 that I beat the pro on in the scramble. So I've got good feelings, right? Hit the same club (the scramble wasn't from the tips, but the wind was into us then and with us during this round) on a good line but came up more than one club short. Misjudged my landing spot on my chip, came up 15 feet short. Par putt didn't really have a chance.
Hole 15 - Left is dead on this hole, so the "strengthen grip and rotate forearms" experiment was shelved. Caught this drive a little thin, but it worked out. Still had a freaking hybrid in to this par 4, and my hybrid finished in an okay spot - pin high left. I started thinking about the chip on the previous hole and emulated it perfectly - short. I read break that wasn't there, watched my putt tumble end over end right by the hole.
Hole 16 - Blocked a hybrid right, pin high again. Right rough grabbed the hosel, pulling my pitch left and finishing even farther from the hole than it would have been otherwise. Left just enough speed off to miss it low. Bogey.
Hole 17 - Blocked driver right again, but this was an okay spot. Tried for a fade 6i (why am I trying this?), overdid it. Finished on topside of a bunker. Two putt from fringe for par.
Hole 18 - Played this hole like a hero. Straight forward par 5 that's probably NOT reachable in two with the wind in my face. Pulled a drive into a clump of trees probably 230 yards from the tee. I didn't really have a safe layup into the fairway that would have left me a scoring club (long pond on the right side of the hole), so I decided I would hit my 4w up the 17th fairway. Instead, I hit this amazing slice out of a chute, up into the air, and sliced back into the 18th fairway. I was intending on leaving it near the 17th tee box, but I'll take it! Had a full gap wedge in, and though I missed the shot, I saw exactly the miss I had been dealing with all day long. Blocked, with the face open even more than I needed it to be. Left my first putt from the front right fringe 8 feet short, but I made the par putt to beat my playing partner by 1.

Weird round. My chipping and putting kept me in it, but I didn't have my driver working, and I rarely capitalized on it when it did. It's also demoralizing to hit long clubs into par 4s! I've been spoiled by good drives on short courses.

Oh well, can't wait to play again.

Kameh fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Jun 12, 2015

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Looking at it, I'd say you played a drat good front 9, that's for sure.

Speaking of goofy par 4s, I've been meaning to get back out to some Pete Dye courses around my area. Dude was known for 3 things:

Short par 4s
Teeeeeeeeeeeeny tiny greens
Old wood railroad ties in bunkers

They're very much meant for shotmakers and can be a lot of fun.

Also I'll be damned if I haven't just loved hitting 4W off the deck at every tee box these days. It has to be some mental thing where I'm not thinking about how the tee has to be just the right height, and not to try to kill the ball, etc. I'm just dropping it, taking one practice swing, and hitting the drat thing with my giveashit meter pegged as low as possible and it's amazing how well it works.

DJExile fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Jun 12, 2015

Suprfli6
Jul 9, 2008

:shepface:God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title:shepface:

I've been using those plastic "4 More Yards" tees you see advertised every now and then, I have one length for my driver and one for my 3 wood. I doubt they really add distance but is nice that they're always the right height for me just by sticking them into the ground as far as the little ridge on them lets you. Also, I haven't broken or lost any in 100+ rounds so I've saved some money and never realized partway through a round that I broke my last tee.

EnsGDT
Nov 9, 2004

~boop boop beep motherfucker~
Weird, but I stopped breaking tees with my driver when I fixed my swing so that I swing up on my driver swing, instead of attacking down.

I used to mow through those motherfuckers though.

thebushcommander
Apr 16, 2004
HAY
GUYS
MAKE
ME A
FUNNY,
I'M TOO
STUPID
TO DO
IT BY
MYSELF

DJExile posted:

Looking at it, I'd say you played a drat good front 9, that's for sure.

Speaking of goofy par 4s, I've been meaning to get back out to some Pete Dye courses around my area. Dude was known for 3 things:

Short par 4s
Teeeeeeeeeeeeny tiny greens
Old wood railroad ties in bunkers

They're very much meant for shotmakers and can be a lot of fun.

Also I'll be damned if I haven't just loved hitting 4W off the deck at every tee box these days. It has to be some mental thing where I'm not thinking about how the tee has to be just the right height, and not to try to kill the ball, etc. I'm just dropping it, taking one practice swing, and hitting the drat thing with my giveashit meter pegged as low as possible and it's amazing how well it works.

I've played numerous Pete Dye courses and I will agree, but I think the biggest consistent feature on all of his courses is weird elevation changes and LOS issues from the tee. Most of the courses I've played you stand on the tee box and can't see the fairway landing area well and what you can see looks very tiny when it might be pretty large. Prime example being Kiawah Ocean Course. Greens are small there too mostly, a lot of turtle shell and horrific elevation changes.

DoctaFun
Dec 12, 2005

Dammit Francis!
Some dude on the European tour carded a 17 on one hole today.

Perhaps more impressive than that is that he still shot 90 for the round.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/13063603/andrey-pavlov-scores-17-first-hole-lyoness-open

thebushcommander
Apr 16, 2004
HAY
GUYS
MAKE
ME A
FUNNY,
I'M TOO
STUPID
TO DO
IT BY
MYSELF

DoctaFun posted:

Some dude on the European tour carded a 17 on one hole today.

Perhaps more impressive than that is that he still shot 90 for the round.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/13063603/andrey-pavlov-scores-17-first-hole-lyoness-open

Yikes. Seriously though a Russian pro-golfer? that's new. He's ranked 1,598th on the EUROPEAN Tour alone.. so he's clearly great.

DoctaFun
Dec 12, 2005

Dammit Francis!

thebushcommander posted:

Yikes. Seriously though a Russian pro-golfer? that's new. He's ranked 1,598th on the EUROPEAN Tour alone.. so he's clearly great.

I know that makes him sound bad, but I'd love to play a round with someone like him, just to see how good they really are.

I'm guessing playing with the 1,500th ranked player on the PGA tour would have me saying, "holy poo poo, those guys in the top 50 must be gods because this guy is drat good".

thebushcommander
Apr 16, 2004
HAY
GUYS
MAKE
ME A
FUNNY,
I'M TOO
STUPID
TO DO
IT BY
MYSELF

DoctaFun posted:

I know that makes him sound bad, but I'd love to play a round with someone like him, just to see how good they really are.

I'm guessing playing with the 1,500th ranked player on the PGA tour would have me saying, "holy poo poo, those guys in the top 50 must be gods because this guy is drat good".

Uh probably, but consistency is a nightmare.

For stats on this guy...

For the years 2004 through 2008 he played 1 event per year and missed the cut each time.

2011 - 2 events, 2 missed cuts
2012 - 2 events, 2 missed cuts
2013 - 2 events, 2 missed cuts
2014 - 3 events, 3 missed cuts.

Based on this I am going to guess he's a teaching pro that is being invited to events to fill spots.
Edit: Also his WG Rank @ 1598 means he is tied for the worst. There are dudes that haven't played in 4 years with better world rankings.

thebushcommander fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Jun 12, 2015

Keyser_Soze
May 5, 2009

Pillbug
Putin sponsors him and has anyone denying him a spot murdered.

Ribsauce
Jul 29, 2006

Blacks in the back.
How much does hitting off mats vs grass at the range change things? I went today and hit probably 80 balls with my wedges and irons (up to 6) and only like 3 didn't go in the air. Now, they didn't all go straight in front of me but the ones that did not were consistent in their bad aim (to the left). Most flew straight and about 15 yards to the left of where I was aiming.

I would like to think it was my hard work and grip changes, but I am afraid the mat might have made them go up and compensated for slight mishits. Would a mat do this?

Kameh
Apr 27, 2004

Resident Sergio Apologist
CHAMPION
I played another round this afternoon at a familiar course. Shot -1, but I was -3 through 4. I switched putters and drivers on the back 9, as well. I lent my Scotty Cameron to a scramble partner a month ago and just got it back in the bag, so I used it on the back 9 instead of the TaylorMade Spider with a SuperStroke USA grip that's been helping me out the past few months.

As far as drivers, I went to my newer (for me) Cobra Amp Cell driver with a heavier Grafalloy Epic shaft. It's only 70g, but that's 20g heavier than my other two shafts. I might lose a little speed, but it's not very noticeable, and for whatever reason, my shot dispersion is much tighter. Doesn't fix a nasty swing, but it seems to shrink my misses. I didn't miss a fairway on the back 9.



Instead of another novel that nobody reads, I'll just address the highs and lows:
  • Hole 2 - Absolutely mashed a driver here, hit a SW from 85 yards to 8 feet below the hole, rolled it in for birdie.
  • Hole 3 - Driver - hybrid to rough right of green. Sidehill, downhill lie, went with a little pitchy flop that came out right and then rolled back left to the pin to a few feet. Knocked it in for birdie.
  • Hole 4 - Laid back with a 4 wood to right around 100 yards. Left myself 15 feet up the hill and breaking hard right for birdie, knocked it in with a little pace to spare.
  • Hole 5 - Shoved another hybrid right. Pitched to the spot I planned, but couldn't make the 6 footer coming back.
  • Hole 9 - Okay driver up the left, ripped a 4i from a little over 200 yards to pin high. Thought I was safe in the bunker, but I was in this thick rough between the bunker and the fringe. Misjudged it coming out, left my attempt on the fringe. Two putt from the fringe for bogey.
  • Hole 13 - Hit another 300+ yard drive, then just shat the bed on my second shot. Tried to reach it in two with my 4W, hit a thin pull into the left gorse. Had to take a penalty drop, then nearly holed my fourth shot from 60 yards. Made a 3 footer for par.
  • Hole 15 - Played this hole like I'm supposed to play it. It's not very long, but it plays into the wind. Hit driver - PW to 18 inches.
  • Hole 16 - Played this hole like I'm not supposed to play it. It's not a reachable par 4 most days, and there's too much trouble straight at the green, so I laid back with a weak 4w (Gonna have to sit down and have a chat real soon with it), leaving me with a 90% GW. Pushed it right, got cute again with my chip, had to two putt for bogey.
  • Hole 17 - Par on the card, but what a rotten par. Smoked a driver, then hit a PW that hit the freaking pin and spun back nearly 40 feet (13 paces). Tagging the pin is always nice, but seeing my ball zoom back to the front of the green is not. Birdie putt was laser straight up the hill, but I was sure it was gonna break a little towards the water, so I played enough break to keep it out of the hole the whole way there.
  • Hole 18 - 440 into the wind, finally followed up a decent driver with a decent hybrid. Two putted to finish at -1.

Houston's supposed to catch some pretty nasty weather next week, so I'll probably have to hang the clubs up until next weekend. I say that, but I might go play in a downpour if there's no lighting.

Kameh
Apr 27, 2004

Resident Sergio Apologist
CHAMPION
Unrelated -

1.) Today, I was paired up with a threesome who never showed, so I joined up with a foursome on the 3rd tee box, and one of the guys was an ex-college baseball player in his late thirties. I don't think I've ever played with somebody as long as this guy was. He was a bigger guy, but he definitely had a good golf swing, and he asked smart questions about what clubs to play and shots to use. I watched his tee shot on the first hole I played with them, and I joked that he needed to scoot back to the tips with me. He obliged at the turn. I was proud enough to keep up with him off the tee, but he was usually playing for shot shapes to fit the holes and not necessarily distance. When he went after one...dear god.

On the 11th hole, I gave him some course advice off the tee, and though he hit the right shot shape (a gorgeous mid-height draw), he started it just left enough to find a hazard. He dropped from 245 and hit a 3i iron over nothing but hazards to the back of the green. Like, the ball carried 250+. His playing partners don't sniff 100, but when I said, "Jesus Christ," they just laughed and nodded. Unfortunately, he three putted for bogey. He also drove hole 4, which was a shade over 300 from the set of tees he was playing at the time. I don't think I've been closer than 10 yards out on that hole, and he didn't look like he gave it much gas. I bet I could make some money if I had that guy's length.

2.) On my round Wednesday, my buddy and I were paired up with a twosome that no-showed. So, the starter sends us off, and we're putting out on the first green when we see a cart coming up the path. It's two brothers (one early high school, one middle school) being driven by their mom. They were the twosome. They joined us on the second tee, and after watching them on hole 2, I knew it was going to be a long round. After playing the par 5 3rd with them, my buddy and I thanked them and played on ahead. I honestly don't mind playing with beginners, but they were taking FOREVER. The older kid kept slapping his ball right. He hit 3 houses in two holes. The younger kid kept hitting his shot but not watching it, so he's always looking for his ball. They also insisted on marking and putting out EVERYTHING. I know it was only two holes, but the group in front of us had disappeared, and the group behind us was already waiting. So I felt a little jerkish, but I wanted to finish in less than 6 hours.

They were understanding (especially the mom), but from hole 4 - 9, they stayed on our asses. The younger one stopped hitting tee shots or approach shots (one or the other per hole), and the older one wouldn't putt. I watched him run up to the green, pick up a 20 footer, and run to the tee box with his driver. I thought it was kinda weird that they decided to pick up the pace in that manner. By the time we made the turn, another twosome played through them and joined us (since we were backed up at that point), but we weren't holding the brothers up. On the very last hole, the older one decided to hit a drive while I was walking across the fairway. I've never been closer to firing a shot back at somebody. I kept my cool, and I didn't bitch them out because maybe he didn't see me, plus I didn't want to yell at these kids in front of their mom, but honestly!

In short - I'll gladly play with a beginner, but be courteous and keep up!

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Furnaceface
Oct 21, 2004




Thats actually something Ive noticed a lot so far this year. When I was younger and had memberships, people were mostly courteous and let faster groups play through. These days I feel like that is all gone and its all about entitlement. Its makes for a really lovely day when youre stuck behind a foursome of whackfuck idiots that spend more time doing everything but playing the game.

Is this just a local thing or do you guys notice it too? The course Im a member of is on a military base so there are a lot of military members, but I have a hard time believing that would make a difference.

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