|
  Welcome to the 2013 Golf Megathread  In this thread we will discuss everything golf related. Individual threads will be made for the major tournaments, but all other discussion can be kept in here. Judging by the chatter in the previous golf thread, this OP will be geared more towards how to get started in the game of golf, as opposed to PGA tour chat(but feel free to talk about that too.) So, without further ado, let's get started. Golf has a rich history, the modern game of golf was thought to have been started in the 15th or 16th century! The Old Course at St. Andrews has been around since 1574, and is still around today! How is that for tradition?  The oldest tournament is of course the Open Championship, Golf is a very challenging sport, in fact it was scientifically determined to be the hardest sport in the world*. Because of the difficulty though, golf is a VERY rewarding game, and a game that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. In my humble opinion, there isn’t another feeling in sports that feels as good as hitting an iron flush and watching the ball just stick next to the hole. First things first though, we need to go over the basics. *Probably not true. ADVICE TO BEGINNERS Golf is tough(understatement), and starting out can be a little overwhelming. I can't stress enough how helpful it will be to get some beginner's lessons. Most courses will employ a PGA professional or two, and these pros will often hold beginner's clinics or packages aimed at first time golfers. Golf is hard enough as it is, don't make it even harder on yourself by trying to learn via the internet. Sure, some people here are great at giving general advice and small swing tips, but there is no substitute for a good lesson or two. Bad habits are very hard to break in golf(but very easy to start), especially once they become muscle memory, so find a good pro and get yourself started on the right track! When you are first starting out you will get the most bang for your buck at the driving range, I'd suggest having a few range sessions and then when you are feeling up to it going out to a par 3 course or an executive course until you get some rounds under your belt. It can be frustrating to go right out to a full length course and worry about holding other golfers up. Weekday evenings can be great times to find a wide open course and get some practice in! EQUIPMENT By USGA rules you are allowed to carry 14 clubs in your bag, this is normally some combination of driver, fairway wood(s), hybrid(s), irons, wedge(s) & putter. Then you have your miscellaneous items like bag, gloves, tees, balls, repair tool, shoes, etc. Lets start at the top! First things first, it's nearly impossible to recommend someone a club that will work for them. Golf clubs are very personal things, and some just don't work for some people. For example, I'm ~2 handicap and I hated my R11 driver when I had it, I literally hit it like 70% as far as my previous(and current) driver. The best advice we can give you is to go out and try some clubs for yourself. A lot of golf courses will hold demo days where they will have the latest models of every manufacturer and you can hit until your heart's content. That or stores like Golf Galaxy and Golfsmith will have simulators that you can try, but don't trust those numbers as they can often be inflated, but they are useful in comparing clubs side by side. Golf is also a somewhat weird sport in that just buying the most expensive equipment will not necessarily help you, and it can certainly hurt you. Just because you see a pro play a set of Titleist MB irons doesn’t mean you should. Unless of course you have to replace your irons every two months because you’ve worn out dime sized spot on the sweet spot of your irons. Fact is you will never be as good of a ball striker as the pros are, you will not hit the sweet spot with every club every time(neither do the pros), so it’s a good idea to pick some clubs that will help minimize the damage of when you do leave that face open, or miss the sweet spot by a quarter of an inch. Driver  This is your longest club in the bag. Normally used to tee off on some par 4's and most par 5's. This club has the least amount of loft and the longest shaft, making it unforgiving. That said, drivers nowadays are A LOT more forgiving than they were only 10 years ago. Another thing to note is that drivers are A LOT more ugly than they were 10 years ago. The two main components you will be looking at in a driver are the loft and the shaft flex. The loft of course has an effect on how high the ball will go(so do many other factors). Most drivers you will find between 9 and 12 degrees of loft, but you can find lower lofts or higher depending on the club. There isn’t one loft that will fit everyone, but I’d say a good place to start is around 10.5 degrees. Just remember, if you find yourself hitting the ball super high, that doesn’t necessarily mean the loft is too high on your driver, it could just be a poorly fit shaft for your swing. I will not pretend to be an expert on shaft technology and the physics behind them, but in general the faster your swing speed the stiffer the shaft you should play(this is not always true, tempo can have an effect on this too). The best way to figure out which shaft flex to play is to go get fitted or at least demo some drivers and see which kind works best for you. Fairway Wood  Fairway woods are the next club down in your bag, often used off the tee on shorter par 4's, long par 3's, or from the fairway/light rough on par 5's. Like drivers, you’ll want to consider loft and shaft flex, but you should also consider head shape too. Fairway woods these days fit into two main categories(to me at least), deep faced fairway woods, and shallow faced fairway woods. ‘Deep’ and ‘shallow’ refer to the height of the face, the ‘deeper’ the face, the easier it will be to hit off of a tee but the harder it will be to hit off of the fairway. The opposite is true for ‘shallow’ faced fairway woods. Hybrids  Hybrids are a mix between an iron and a fairway wood, you might even say that they are a....hybrid of the two. Hybrid irons have taken the golf world by storm in the last 5 years or so, and have really helped golfers of all ages and skill levels with those hard to hit long irons(2,3,4 even 5). They are MUCH more forgiving than a normal long iron, and usually launch the ball much higher. I would highly recommend replacing your 3 or 4(or both) iron with a hybrid. My one bit of advice with hybrids would be to treat them like an iron. I had a hard time adjusting to hybrid clubs because I tried to sweep the ball off the ground with them, like I would with a fairway wood, but it just doesn’t work well with most hybrids. Hit down on the ball like you’re hitting a 7 iron and watch it fly! If you are just starting to golf now, I would say skip trying a 3 or 4 iron and just get hybrids, they will help your enjoyment of the game. Irons The irons make up the majority of your set and for most golfers will be the clubs you use to hit into the green from 220-100 yards. This will normally be the most expensive component of your set, so make sure you find some that you like as they aren’t cheap to replace. The good thing about irons(and most golf equipment for that matter) is that they are built to last. It’s not uncommon to see people playing iron sets from the 80’s or 90’s. Of course once you get addicted to golf you will buy new clubs every year for no apparent reason. Irons fall into three major categories: Players clubs, game improvement clubs and super game improvement clubs. I’m using game improvement rather broadly here, but that’s okay. Most irons have a loft difference of ~4 degrees, this generally makes each iron go about +/- 10 yards further. The lower the number on the iron, the lower the loft, the lower the trajectory, the further the distance. Players  Players irons are normally musclebacks, blades or even very small cavity backs(I would consider the Mizuno MP-30 or Ping S56 irons to be players clubs, even though they feature a small cavity back). These are the most unforgiving irons on the market but they offer the most ‘workability’ of all the irons. Workability basically means that a good ball striker will be able to shape their shots easier with players irons. This could mean purposefully hooking(draw) the ball, slicing(fade) it, hitting it high, low, etc. While that’s a nice feature of blades, because the majority of the mass is directly behind the sweet spot, off-center hits will have a significant amount of distance loss. This can make players irons difficult to learn with, an overly generalized statement would be to not try playing these until you get close to a single digit handicap. Game Improvement  Game Improvement irons are, in my opinion, what 90-99% of non-senior golfers should be playing. They have a small to moderate cavity back, and small to moderate offset, making them much more forgiving than the players irons mentioned above. The cavity back redistributes the weight of the iron to the perimeter, meaning off-center hits will fly further and straighter than they would with players clubs. In addition, the center of gravity is often moved lower and further back from the face of the iron making it easier to launch the ball nice and high. I’d recommend these even for beginners, as the super game improvement clubs I find to be somewhat progress limiting. Super Game Improvement  These irons are your ultra huge cavity backs, offering supreme forgiveness and ease of use. In my opinion these clubs could stunt the growth of a new golfer and I would not recommend them for a young(ish) person who is just starting with golf. I think these are great for maybe really really young players, or older players who have lost a lot of their swing speed and flexibility. But if you are fairly young and can generate a decent amount of clubhead speed than I would look at the game improvement irons above. Don’t let that stop you from trying some of these out though, if they work for you then go for it! Wedges  Wedges are what most people use from about 100 yards and in. The most lofted clubs in your bag, these are used for short approach shots, chipping/pitching around the green and sand shot. It’s tough to find a club manufacturer that makes a bad wedge, so honestly I’d worry more about what lofts to put in your bag than what brand. The two main factors in picking wedges will be loft(like mentioned above) and bounce. A good explanation of bounce can be found here: http://www.healthygolfobsession.com/2011/04/wedges-have-bounce-bounce-explained-how.html Continuing with my theme of generalizations, more bounce will help in soft conditions as it will help the leading edge not dig into the ground, and less bounce will help in harder conditions. Normally a higher bounce makes it easier to hit out of the sand as well. Most people carry anywhere from 1-4 wedges, I would suggest at the very least to get a sand wedge, especially if you are using a set of game improvement clubs. A sand wedge will be a lot more versatile around the green than a pitching wedge will be, the added loft and head shape make it great for chipping out of the rough or sand next to the green. As you get more consistent you can think about adding a gap wedge or lob wedge to fill out those distance gaps under 130 yards. This OP is already filled with my opinions, but I think there is a lot more benefit to carrying an extra wedge as opposed to a long iron. Here is why: Let’s say you hit your pitching wedge 120 yards and your sand wedge 80 yards, on a full swing. What do you do when you are only 100 yards from the green? This should be a distance where a good player goes flag hunting, but you’ll have to hit a ¾ swing pitching wedge I guess. This is a shot that a lot of people struggle with, I think most people will agree it’s tougher to take a ½ or ¾ swing than it is to take a full swing. If you carried a gap wedge(fits in between the pitching wedge and SW), then you might have closer to a full swing shot that will go 110 yards. I’d much rather have my distance gaps covered in that 80-140 yard range than I would in my 210-230 yard range. Honestly I’m probably going to miss the green from 220 yards anyways, so carrying that 3 iron or hybrid isn’t helping me as much as carrying another wedge. Putters  The putter is what you use when you finally reach the green. I think the putter gets overlooked by a lot of golfers. I’m not saying you need to spend a ton of money on a putter, but I am saying it’s the most used club in your bag so you should make sure you have one you like. Luckily for you these are the easiest clubs to try out as most golf stores have 100’s of them sitting on racks waiting to be putted with. Go stroke some putts and figure out what head shape you like(blade or mallet), how heavy, what color, what site aids, head material, shaft length, etc. That sounds really confusing but really don’t think of it that way, go grab a few and hit some putts and pick one that allows you to hit the ball where you want and how far you want. Don’t sit and hit 30 footers from one side of the practice green to the other, set up some balls from 3 feet, 6 feet and maybe 10 feet and pick the putter that gives you the best chance to make putts. Balls Balls are another portion of your equipment that get overlooked, but are a very important part of your 'kit'. I'd wager that most regular golfers spend as much money on golf balls in their career as they do on clubs. It can be beneficial to play a ball that suits your game, and it can be detrimental to do otherwise. There is kind of a tier system when it comes to golf balls, you have your tour quality balls:  These are usually a four or now five piece ball which optimize spin, trajectory, and distance for the best players. These are generally around $45/dozen new! Also, there is generally two kinds of tour balls put out by each manufacturer, one model will offer the maximum softness and spin, with a small loss of distance(like 5-7 yards for the pros I think), while the other will offer slightly less spinability, and slightly more distance. The next tier down usually go for around $25-30 a dozen, these will offer good distance, and a moderate amount of spin, but will feel a little harder.  The bottom tier is your $10-15/dozen bargain buster balls. These feel like rocks, and will offer nothing but blind distance. These balls will not spin anywhere near as much as the top of the line balls, or even the second tier balls, but for beginners that's not too much of a concern, the main concern is you don't feel as bad about losing one in the woods.  This is another portion of golf equipment where more expensive /= improvement to your game. If you are a beginner and you struggle with slicing the ball then guess what. Buying a dozen Pro V1’s is not going to help you. The Pro V1 will spin more than the Top Flite in your bag which means it’s going to go even further right than you’re used to. And remember that every time you slice one of those in the woods you are basically wiping your rear end with $4 and flushing it down the toilet. Of course you are buying your balls from lostgolfballs.com though, so it won’t be quite that expensive . So keep that in mind, it would take a lot of time to list out the tiers of each manufacturer's golf ball line, but if you have questions just ask in this thread, or you can usually judge by the price alone, there aren't any real tricks to the pricing scheme. Top Tier: $40+. Some brands will offer buy 2 dozen get 1 free deals, Taylor made, Srixon and Nike come to mind. Forget about finding Titleist Pro V1's on sale. 2nd Tier: $30-$37 3rd Tier: <$25 Courses and Course Etiquette Now that you have your clubs and you are ready to play, where should you go? Good news, The United States currently has around 20,000 golf courses! Of course not all of those are open to the public, but that’s okay, there are plenty of courses for us lowly public course golfers. There are really 2 or 3 different types of courses. First we have Par 3 courses. These courses feature a full 9 or 18 hole layout of all par 3’s, with a par of 27/54. These are GREAT courses to learn on. You can play pretty quickly and normally they are filled with other beginner’s, younger kids or older folks. I would highly recommend finding a par 3 course in your area and play there for your first couple rounds. These can also be good to play if you want to work on your iron and wedge play as you’ll most likely be keeping your woods in the bag. Next we have Championship courses. These are normally full 18 hole layouts(some are only 9 holes), they normally have a par of 68-74 or so. These make up the majority of golf courses out there and once you start playing a lot you’ll most likely prefer these courses. Lastly there are Executive courses. Normally 9 holes, these are a slightly pumped up version of a par 3 course. They normally mix in a few par 4’s so that you might get a chance to use your driver. I hear from a lot of people that they’d love to golf more, but can’t afford it. I can understand this as golf can be quite expensive, but it can also be done on the cheap. Do a google search for golf courses in your area and start browsing their websites. The cheapest time to play is normally evening weekdays, most courses have what they call a ‘twilight’ rate. As long as you get a tee time near the start of twilight you can normally finish a whole round at a much discounted price. Getting a golf cart will normally ~double the cost of the round in these situations, so keep that in mind. If your back is up to it then carrying your clubs can save a lot of money, otherwise making a onetime investment in one of these can save you money in the long run. Another great option is to see if golfnow.com has a big presence in your area. Golfnow is a website that you can use to book tee times to any participating course. Courses will put up tee times they are looking to fill and you just click and reserve. The savings here can be huge though, I’ve played $100 courses for $30 before using golfnow. It ALWAYS pays to check here before you book your tee time through the courses pro shop because they usually won’t tell you to book on Golfnow, they will just charge you the rack rate. As far as etiquette goes, there is a real short list that should always be followed. You can be the worst golfer in the world and I'd rather golf with you than someone who doesn't follow these simple rules. Etiquette Short List - Play Ready Golf!!! - Be quiet while others are hitting. - Replace/fill your divots. - Fix your ball marks on the green. - Don't walk in another player's line while on the green(don't walk in between your ball and the hole, your footprint could damage the green). - Let faster groups play through. - Let faster groups play through. - If there is a quicker group playing behind you, let them play through. It honestly boils down to being respectful to your fellow players and the course. This is a gentlemen's game after all. Well I think that’s enough for now, here is the TLDR version: Advice to beginner’s -Demo as many clubs as possible before you buy something. -Buy used clubs. -Get a set of lessons EARLY. -Start on par 3 or executive courses. -Be patient, golf is hard. -Practice a lot and have fun! Links Places to buy golf stuff https://www.gppgolf.com – Has more sales than any other golf site I’ve been on. Especially great for golf clothing. https://www.golfwrx.com/forum - Probably the best golf classified section on the internet. You can get some ridiculous deals on used clubs here, only thing to keep in mind is that it’s home to a lot of ‘good’ players, so might be tougher to find game improvement stuff here. https://www.callawaygolfpreowned.com - large selection of used clubs(both Callaway and other brands), good prices, great customer service, honest club condition rating system. https://www.rockbottomgolf.com - Amazing prices on new clubs. The selection is a little awkward but if you are okay with clubs that are a generation or two old this is a great option. https://www.globalgolf.com - I haven't used this site before but a few people here have. They offer new and used clubs. https://www.hurricanegolf.com - Another goon recommendation, it looks like they have a weekly deal which is heavily discounted, along with good prices on other stuff as well. https://www.lostgolfballs.com – Used golf balls. Sounds dumb but it’s likely this site will save you more money than all these other ones combined. I buy most of my balls from here and am not ashamed to say it. Discount from retail is usually in the 50-80% range. Buy 2nd best quality if buying pro level balls, buy 2nd or 3rd quality if buying cheaper/harder cover balls. https://www.tgw.com - Large selection, usually full retail price. https://www.golfgalaxy.com – Large selection, usually full retail price. https://www.golfnow.com - Tee time website, will save you a lot of money, see if it’s used heavily in your area and book those tee times. Also good for when you go on vacation somewhere and want to save a little money. Although the absolute best place to buy used clubs is from me, so buy my crap please. Everyone can now discuss what’s in their bag for 2013, what part of my OP is hilariously incorrect, who’s going to dominate on tour this year, and whether or not osukeith will rant about Tiger Woods once every page or once every two pages. I think BCRock volunteered to take over 2nd post duties to keep up to date with the PGA Tour and everything, so a big thanks to him because when I tried to do that I lasted about 2 weeks. DoctaFun fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jan 18, 2013 |
#
¿
Jan 5, 2013 23:39
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 13:17 |
|
|
zinc68 posted:Hey DoctaFun, we should try to get into a few scrambles together this year like we tried to late last if you're going to be around MN this spring/summer. Looking at mngolf scramble winning scores from the past season I think we could clean up some gift cards... Absolutely, it's one of the thing I always talk about doing more but never get off my butt and sign up for. Let's plan on it! I've never done 2 person scrambles but I'm sure they'd be fun, and you shouldn't have to worry about cheating teams.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 6, 2013 04:49
|
|
|
Douchebag posted:So basically it's probably better for someone with a higher handicap, like me, to use a bonded driver so I'm not screwing myself by tinkering with adjustments and developing a more consistent swing? I could see myself slicing a drive, then adjusting it and duck hooking the next one, then adjusting it again, only to slice it on the 3rd shot. Which would be counter-productive I think. I think part of it depends on the driver you get. Some adjustable drivers like the new Ping one only allow like +/- 1/2 degree of adjustability, this isn't going to hide any major flaw in your swing, which I think is a good thing. I think some of the Taylor Made adjustable drivers offer a ton of adjustability which could potentially mask some swing flaws. That could be good for you if it helps you keep the ball in play more, but it's not going to do much to help you fix your swing, and your other woods and irons won't be adjusted the same way so that could possibly cause some inconsistencies. I personally haven't had any luck with adjustable drivers though, I tried the Nickent Evolver, R11, Callaway Ft-9(not adjustable but interchangeable shafts) and every single one was dead for me. I have no idea why, I hit the R11 like 220 yards(which is like 50-60 yards shorter than my G15), sold it to my uncle and he hits it as far as his normal driver. I guess it's possible I just mishit it every single time, but that doesn't seem all that likely to me... I might not be the best person to give driver advice though, I go Bubba Watson style and play a big cut with my driver even though I hit a draw with all my irons. Sounds weird but I went back to this method after 3 years of trying to hit it 'normal' and I kept the ball in play and in the fairway very well last year.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 6, 2013 21:13
|
|
|
Holy Crap, did anyone see the Tournament of Champions this weekend? Probably not because after Sunday they STILL haven't played round 1. They tried to play today but balls were being blown off of tees, greens, etc.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2013 07:38
|
|
|
thebushcommander posted:Also might buy my first golf membership! Local course I play from time to time that I consider one of the best public courses in the Charlotte area is only $1100 a year which I didn't know about. Normally a spring/summer/fall round is $60-80 so the cost is worth it, plus its free range balls too. Should be a good 2013 season! Getting a membership was one of the best things I ever did for my golf game. I just head over to my course after work 3 days a week or so and if it's super busy I hit balls at the range or I just hop out there and play.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2013 16:53
|
|
|
zinc68 posted:Speaking of, I'm looking to join somewhere this spring as well. Where you at Stoneridge or Stonebrooke? HOw do you like it? I'm at Stoneridge and I really like it there. If you are under 35 it's a really good deal for a course as nice as Stoneridge. The Junior Executive membership is $1800 and it includes unlimited golf with no restrictions on tee times, unlimited range usage and a half locker in the locker room. It's about as close to private as you'll get from a public course. They have a really nice locker room with a member's lounge(which is also really nice). They have a pretty good range(with a member's only side), practice green, two practice bunkers, and a very very friendly staff. Everyone in the pro shop knows every member's name and are just really cool guys. They run a lot of events throughout the year if you are in to that sort of thing as well, lots of tournaments with many different formats. The course is also fantastic, it's about as nice as public courses get in the twin cities, although if you don't like links golf it might not be for you. Plenty difficult though, if you are playing from the tips and there's some wind it's very challenging(I think course rating is like 74.1 or something). The greens are tough(but not unfair) and the fairways are always in great shape(gotta love bentgrass). I don't remember if you've played there before or not, but if you want to play a round in the spring let me know and I can show you around.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2013 19:34
|
|
|
Hmmm is page one too early to start hawking all my golf goods? I have a putter and three 3 woods that need good homes.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 8, 2013 20:41
|
|
|
Gibbo posted:I'm actually in need of a three wood. So I'm going to go with no. Booyah! Well here's what I have, let me know if any interest you or if you want more info: 3. Callaway Razr X Black 3 wood, stock stiff shaft. $95 shipped I bought this from Callaway Golf Preowned about a month ago and haven't even used it once  . I live in MN so it's a long winter. Club is in fantastic shape, definitely a 9.5/10.     2. Callaway Razr Hawk 3 wood, non-stock Matrix OZIK XCon 6 Stiff shaft. $130 Shipped Great shaft in this bad boy, but same story as above, haven't had a chance to try it . The face and topline are in great shape, but the sole is a little scratched up.      3. Nike Vrs 3 wood, stock Fubuki Stiff Shaft. $80 Shipped I've been using this one since the late summer and I quite like it, so I won't be too torn up if it doesn't sell. There is a small scratch on the topline, but besides that it's in great shape.    Prices are negotiable as always, but I think they are pretty reasonable, I tried to price them under the Callaway golf preowned prices. I've honestly never hit the Callaways. I'd be more than happy to post in SA Mart also if it makes you more comfortable, although I think a few people in here could vouch for me. Either way works for me! I took those pictures last night and posted them for sale on Golfwrx as well, PhilTickelson is my username on that forum. I can take another picture tonight with all the clubs and 'Doctafun' next to it if needed. I also have one of these for sale: I won't post my pictures because  , but if anyone's interested in channeling their inner Phil, I will post them. I'm looking for like $85 I think. http://www.callawaygolfpreowned.com/odyssey-metal-x-8-putter/putters-2012-metal-x-8,default,pd.html
|
|
#
¿
Jan 8, 2013 21:28
|
|
|
Gibbo posted:Interested in this. Issue is I would be willing, I'd have to check shipping costs though and if it's too much more you might have to help, if that's cool. I've never shipped to Canada before but I'm guessing I"ll have to fill out customs forms or something right? I love me some Canada though, so this is a no discrimination shipping service!
|
|
#
¿
Jan 9, 2013 02:40
|
|
Would you still be willing to ship it up?
|
DJExile posted:
Are you talking about his posture and swing or the fact that his caddie is holding his ball on the tee? Either way Bubba rules. Is he wearing an Oakley shirt there? I thought he was a Travis Mathew guy?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 9, 2013 18:04
|
|
|
Farking Bastage posted:I played golf on shorts today y'all I do too! I actually like the Nike one I have off the tee, but I just don't hit it the greatest out of the fairway. It's a tough club for me, my 5 wood I can get 240(but it's more reliable for those 230 yard shots) out of the fairway if I really catch it, so the 3 wood is for the 240-260 yard out of the fairway shot, which is really a risky shot of there is any trouble around the green. Part of me want's to just not carry a 3 wood and try to screw around with a 64 degree wedge. Honestly at my home course two of the par 5's are unreachable for me unless the tees are moved way up, and the other two are reachable with driver + 5 wood/hybrid/6 iron depending on the condition of the course. So adding the 3 wood really only gives me a slight help on two holes off the tee. There is like 2 holes at my home course where I sometimes hit a 3 wood off the tee, and I really could get by hitting a 5 wood or hybrid on those holes without much loss. There was about a month over the summer though where I was only carrying 12 clubs in my bag, I didn't have a 3 wood I liked and I wasn't even putting my 5 iron in my bag because I didn't have much use for it. I hit my irons pretty low, especially the long ones, so I actually preferred trying to hit a high cut with the 4 hybrid instead of hitting a normal 5 iron. I don't know, maybe I'm just weird. Troy Queef posted:He also got farm implements for shooting a low round. I also play 56* and 60* scratch wedges. I'm a big fan. My 56* is the 1018 forged and my 60 degree is the 8620, both are great.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2013 03:42
|
|
|
Farking Bastage posted:I don't carry a 5 wood. I use a 2 Hybrid 17 degree and a 3 Hybrid 19 degree. I don't really have any gaps at the upper part of my range. 3 Wood is 240-250 2 HY is 210-220 3 Hy 190-200 then 4 iron on down. The only thing that sucks is I have a hole dead on 100 yards since I don't have room for a GW, but I have pretty granular control from 90 to about 50. My home course is pretty short and I'm long enough off the tee that I can play around it. I guess I'd rather not have any holes in the 90-130 range than have no long gaps. It's rare I make birdie from 200+ anyways, so I'd rather give myself more options on the short end.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2013 15:53
|
|
|
Sir Bedevere posted:Hello golf thread, I've been lurking around here for a while now, and as I'm in Canada I figured the dead of winter is a good time to join the conversation. I live in Minnesota, so my winter is slightly shorter than yours, but I do feel your pain . At least we have ice fishing to fill the hole in our hearts(it doesn't fill it). As for Giga Golf, they are a knock off club maker. I don't really have any experience with them, there's a chance that they are skilled enough to reverse engineer other club manufacturer's designs and then make an equal product that sells for 1/4 the cost. But it just makes me nervous, honestly if they charged 2x their price I'd be much more likely to buy from them than at the prices they have now. That said, if they are working for you then that's what matters. As you get better you might want to evaluate how consistent the irons are. When you hit an 8 iron solid is the ball going the same distance every time?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2013 17:15
|
|
|
Sir Bedevere posted:I don't have a lot of money that I can justify allocating to golf, so finding that site was one of the best things to happen to my game. That, and being five miles from my home course with a membership cost of $750/year have really let this obsession take hold of me. But yeah, a nice solid hit produces a nice predictable shot. In that case stick with them. As long as you feel they are giving you consistent results then I don't see any problem with it! That's not to say that some name brand clubs will always be perfect either. I've had some very expensive irons that felt very inconsistent to me, so I had to ditch them. That was before I found my love for all things PING  .
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2013 19:53
|
|
|
ironlung posted:What are everyone's thoughts on traveling with golf clubs? Seems like it might be more convenient as well as cost effective to rent clubs instead of paying extra baggage fees, lugging clubs around, etc. not to mention the risk of damage/loss. I definitely prefer to play with my own clubs as opposed to rentals. I have traveled with my golf clubs dozens of times and while it makes me extremely nervous, I've never had a problem. If you do it I'd say get a hard case as they protect your clubs a lot better, and it's really not a bad idea to get old headcovers to put on your driver/woods/putter. It hides the fact that you have a $300 driver in there. And if you can, put the majority of your balls in your carry on. I get VERY nervous that they will be lost one day though, I would be absolutely devastated . My golf clubs are probably my most valued posession.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 15, 2013 22:35
|
|
|
insanity posted:I have taken some lessons before and I will say that they are tremendously helpful. Within one lesson a pro can tell you what's going on and how to fix it much better than some randoms from the internet. Unless those randoms from the internet are us  . I mean what other forum could you go on and find a maximum of 1 person who shoots under par with any regularity  . We are truly the cream of the crop here at something awful. In all seriousness though, on a scale of 1-10 a golf pro is a 7-10 and we are probably like a 4-6. Meaning the best we can do is not as good as the worst a good pro could do. We can probably get you started on the right track though. I thinking being able to see the ball flight is extremely helpful in diagnosing a problem though.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2013 02:16
|
|
|
So I have been talking with this super annoying guy at work about golf lately and then this really cute girl from work overheard us and said she loves to golf. I might have a brilliant 'two birds with one stone' opportunity this spring.... I've seriously wanted to play a round with this guy since last summer so I can shut him up, he says he's 'about a 10 handicap' but I don't believe him. Playing with the cute girl would be fun too.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2013 21:01
|
|
|
Josh Lyman posted:I just want to marry a cute girl who's good at golf and loves the NFL and good TV and is also a lawyer, doctor, or academic. Amen brother.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2013 22:23
|
|
|
thebushcommander posted:Anyone here use a Garmin S3 or something similar (watch gps)? I have a handheld SonoCaddie, but it's not very good from what I can tell, only used it once and it was a bout the same as using Golf Logix, actually golf logix might have been better. However, I've heard good things about the garmin watches as far as accuracy goes and having it right on my wrist seems pretty nice. I was also considering view range finders, but they don't really work well beyond 200 yards afaik. I have a Bushnell Tour V2 and it works great. I can get the distance to the pin easily anywhere from 10-250 yards away. If it's something bigger like a tree I can get it from 300 yards easily(probably 400 honestly). Anything further away than that is a non-factor for me(and I'd assume most other people). I could see you having a problem over like 200-220 yards if you have very unsteady hands, but the new lasers are very good. Once I get over 220-240 yards the exact distance ceases to be as important anyways. Finding a yardage from a sprinkler tells me as much as I really need to know. My guess is if you are 250 yards from the green your options are pretty limited, try to hit 3 wood or layup to your favorite yardage. If you are able to hit your 3 wood either 240 yards or 250 yards on command then you are better than I . Most have some form of programming that locks in on the pin instead of other objects behind it. The Bushnell's have what they call 'pinseeker' technology, basically if the laser picks up multiple targets, it will return the distance to the closer one. This makes it really easy to pick out the pin from a background of trees or something. I can't wear a watch while I'm golfing so that wouldn't work for me. GPS are nice but they are only as accurate as whoever marked the course + the accuracy of your signal(I think I've heard GPS units in general are 1-3 yards off to begin with). I'm not sure if GPS still have a membership fee or whatever to access the course database, but that's a major deterrent for me. I know the laser is going to give me the right distance every time. Accuracy to me is a lot more important the closer you are to the hole, and in that regard the laser will be more accurate. 3 yards could make or break a shot with my lob wedge if I'm hitting to a tight pin or something, if I'm 240 yards out then 3 yards isn't going to be as big of a deal because I'm likely not hitting into a tucked pin but rather trying to roll one up on the green or something. That's just my two cents though .
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2013 20:03
|
|
|
BCRock posted:Good Stuff... I won't really disagree with any of this, and I think adding a GPS/laser section to the OP might be a good idea! In the end it's a compromise whichever device you choose. I will add a few more points though if no one minds . I think I find distance to front/middle/back less than adequate in a lot of situations. At least at my home course a lot of the greens are oddly shaped, and so defining front/middle/back isn't necessarily black and white, especially when the pin finds itself on an odd part of the green close to the edge. My dad has a Upro and I've lasered next to his GPS on a 'middle' pin and found his GPS to be up to ~10 yards off in some extreme cases, but usually ~5 yards off from the pin. 'Middle' of the green can mean a lot of things. When I'm like 220 yards away that difference isn't too important to me, but if I'm 100 yards away and I hit the ball right at the pin exactly as far as the GPS says then I want to be rewarded with a 10 foot putt, not a 30 foot putt. As far as layups and hazards and stuff, that's a valid point, but my laser can get the distance to anything with line of sight, given that there is a big enough vertical space to shoot. This has been more than enough for me, most hazards aren't in the middle of the fairway and the only case it doesn't work is if there's water crossing the fairway. More often than not I'm okay in that situation as I'll get a distance to the grass on the other side of the water or something and just estimate. For example:  In a situation like this I can get the exact distance to the flag and distance to clear the water pretty easily. The one thing I don't like about my Dad's GPS is it might say that it's 140-170 yards to the water hazard. That's a pretty big range, unless the water is completely perpendicular to the fairway or me it's still kind of a guessing game on the yardage.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 18, 2013 05:13
|
|
|
I updated the OP with a few more URL's, I forgot Rock Bottom and I added global golf and hurricane golf.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 18, 2013 17:05
|
|
|
Halo14 posted:
Someone should photoshop in a guy standing like 40 yards from the tee box holding a beer and stitch that into their new 'no cup is safe' commercial.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 19, 2013 03:34
|
|
|
Gibbo posted:
Glad you got it! I wasn't sure how long it would take to get up north. I never hit a ball with it so you will have to tell me how it works.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 19, 2013 06:16
|
|
|
thebushcommander posted:Most golfers I know buy new clubs thinking they are going to improve their game because they just can't fix that slice with the driver they have now. Everyone knows that 9 times out of 10 it's not the club it's the person, but it's still an excuse to buy that new putter or 3 wood. I always tell people this exact same thing, but I've found that there are cases where a club change really does make an immediate impact. When I switched from my AP2's to my S56's I saw an immediate improvement in accuracy and consistency. I had played probably 4 different sets of irons in a 1-2 year span and there was an immediate improvement there. The other time was switching from an R11 to G15 driver. I don't think that was normal though as I really hit the R11 like poo poo. I've mentioned that before in this thread, but something about it was just not for me, same with the Callaway FT-9 driver, both of those were dead for me. I'd love to do a scientific study of why, because I honestly hit the G15 70-100 yards further. It's possible I mishit those other drivers literally every single time, but somehow that just doesn't seem right to me. I think it's something about the adjustable drivers, they don't seem to work for me. I might never play another non-PING driver again, the G5 and G15 are easily the best two drivers I've ever had in my bag, thinking back that includes: Tommy Armour 845(or something) Ping G5 Callaway FT-3 Fusion Cleveland 460 Cobra S9-1 Cleveland Launcher Nickent Evolver Pro Callaway FT-9 w/iMix TaylorMade R11 Ping G15 Although after Kameh posted that article about the Covert I might have to at least hit that. If I do get a Covert driver(doubtful), I will only wear red shirts, chew Big Red gum, and refer to the driver as Big Red. I'm jonesin for golf real bad though, I'm trying to pass the time by ice fishing and that works okay, but it's just not the same  .
|
|
#
¿
Jan 23, 2013 18:48
|
|
|
shrughes posted:A wild slice appears! This is absolutely amazing and I can't wait to say it this summer.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 24, 2013 03:13
|
|
|
thebushcommander posted:Why would you need a 5 iron? Are we talking people driving the ball 230 yard or something? I think if you only drove the ball 230 yards you'd have a hard time hitting a 5 iron 200 . I think you're right though, that's probably more like a 7-9 iron depending on the drive for me. Unless it's uphill or something.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 25, 2013 16:54
|
|
|
You can remove the grips(and salvage them), but it's going to require some work and some equipment. I use one of these: http://www.golfworks.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_VGGR There's probably cheaper alternatives but this basically allows you to get the grip off the shaft enough so you can squirt some grip solvent in between the grip and the shaft. This makes the tape not sticky and basically just lubes up the entire area. You then have to work this tool down to the bottom of the shaft. Eventually you'll be able to slide the grip off. You need something like this, some solvent, and squeeze bottle helps too. Grip solvent is pretty flammable though, I'd do it outside or somewhere well ventilated. If it was me I'd take them back to golf galaxy and tell them they did a lovely job and make them re-do them. There's no excuse for that, it's not a hard process. But yeah, once they are on there the combination of double sided tape, the grip fitting snugly, and the fact that rubber just doesn't glide well. Edit: after re-reading your post I'd take them back and ask them to fix them. It's pretty easy to stretch grips out by removing them and then they aren't quite usable anymore. They should have lined them up correctly, just raise a stink and they should fix them. DoctaFun fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Jan 28, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Jan 28, 2013 00:58
|
|
|
DJExile posted:God does it ever. I think that Taylormade... RX something (RX7? R7?) was one of, if not the first adjustable weight drivers and it sold like crazy. It's a hell of a way to market, to be honest. "You don't have to adjust your swing! Just adjust the driver to your swing!" That was the R7 I believe, which was followed by the R7 Superquad, which was followed by the R7 Supertri, or was that the R9? Anyways, yeah, Taylormade has a strangle has had a strangle hold on the driver market. And not all drivers have been ugly, I think the Ping i series have been very nice looking, and who doesn't like the Cleveland Classic? The majority are hideous though, I agree.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2013 16:31
|
|
|
thebushcommander posted:My father thinks adjustable drivers would be terrible because they aren't solidly bonded to the shaft. I don't hit an adjustable at the moment, but I plan on buying one and for me I think it feels the same, you just don't get the same sound off the face. However adjustable is good for situations where wind is a big factor, de-loft the club adjust the lie etc to keep it from going too high in the wind. I don't think they're meant to fix a slice or anything, but for someone that's consistently accurate with their driver it adds some utility that you might have otherwise had to adjust your swing for. Adjust your swing on the fly like Bubba you plebes .
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2013 20:44
|
|
|
Farking Bastage posted:Yesterday, I went to the one course in town that, for lack of a better term, intimidates me. It's not that hard of a course, but I loving crumble every time I go out there. ( Don Veller Seminole Golf course ) Shot a miserable 90, 3 putted 8 times, picked up a dreadful case of the hooks on the back. There's a course around my house that kills me everytime. It's Keller Golf Course in ~St. Paul. They used to host a PGA tour event(St. Paul Open) in the first half of the 1900's and had a few PGA Champioship's and a Western Open(Sam Snead won). It's pretty cool walking through the clubhouse and looking at the plaques with some famous names out there: Sam Snead, Jimmy Demeret, Ken Venturi, etc. Anyways, it's a parkland course and it's very short, probably not much more than 6000 yards from the tips, one of the other twin cities goons might know. It's fairly tight though as every fairway is lined with like 120 year old trees. For whatever reason when I go to Keller I can't hit a fairway to save my life. I don't need to hit much more than a hybrid or 5 wood on just about every hole but it doesn't matter, I just choke big time. I don't think I've broken 80 on that course ever, even though if I was able to hit the fairway I'd be hitting lob wedge into every hole.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 4, 2013 17:15
|
|
|
RizieN posted:But like the other guy said, you can and should work on putting and chipping, if you just want to wait it out. I think most people, especially those that are fairly new to the game, would be better off spending 90% of their time practicing chipping and putting, and 10% of their time practicing the rest of their game/playing a round. They'd save a lot of money too. When I started getting serious about golf I couldn't afford to play very much so I just went to this driving range/practice green by my house and chipped and putted like 3-4 nights a week. Within a couple months I was very adept around the greens and it really made my scores drop dramatically. At that time I was much less consistent but if I had a round where I hit 9 greens instead of 5, I could shoot in the 70's. But even on those rounds where I hit 3-5 greens in regulation I was getting up and down for par pretty often and 95% of the time getting up and downdown for bogey. You'd be amazed how low you can go when you have a reliable short game. Now I have a membership and when I get to the course I just want to play so I haven't practiced chipping nearly as much as I used to. It shows in my game but I'm so much more consistent with the rest of my game I don't have to rely on it so much. Next year I hope to change that though as my failure in our club championship was all short game. I had 0 penalty strokes over the two day tournament, I chunked 4 chips on day 2, missed 3 putts under 4 feet and lost by 2 strokes. Next year I have to be better under pressure.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2013 18:20
|
|
|
RizieN posted:Yea, I started off just driving balls and hitting irons, and hated putting because I was bad at it and I just wanted to send the ball, not that pussy child poo poo that is putting. Then I learned how to putt and chip, and I swear I shaved 20 strokes off my score (my scores were high at first). I think if you know how to hit the ball and get it moving and air born, then yea, focus on green to tee (not tee to green) to get better scores. But you at least have to know how to swing a club and hit the ball. I agree a little bit of practice on the range needs to be done. Although I think it would be an interesting study if it could ever be setup reliably. Take a sample of beginner golfers and give them 1 year to drop the most strokes possible. Make one group only hit irons and woods on the driving range, while playing 1 round a week. Make the other group only practice chipping, bunker shots and putting, while playing 1 round a week. Then have them play a 4 round end of the year tournament and see who shows: b)The most strokes dropped a)The most consistency of scoring I think those 'range' players are going to REALLY struggle if they are off at all with their irons and woods while the chipping putting group should be solid around the green. This would be especially interesting if you further split the groups in terms of practice time. Ie: 1-2 hours practice per week 3-4 5+ I think if you only have time to hit one or two buckets of balls a week you are not going to improve very much at all. Most of the time people will be trying the latest golf digest tip or trying to figure out what you are doing wrong as they switch from pitching wedge to 5 iron to 3 wood to driver, building very little consistency in any aspect of their game(wedges/short irons/long irons/fairway woods/driver). Meanwhile I think 1-2 hours of short game practice a week could one could definitlely develop a reliable chipping stroke and fairly consistent putting stroke which would have a very noticeable positive effect in just about any beginner's game. Now if you are putting in 5 hours of range time a week then you could definitely start putting together a swing that is reliable and repeatable. But I don't think a lot of beginner's can hit the range an hour a day and then play on the weekends. The final and most overlooked advantage of having a good short game is how F'ing frustrating it is to play against someone who gets up and down all the time, especially if you are competing against them. Seriously, try playing against someone who hits 7 greens in regulation all round to your 13 and still beats you by 3 strokes. Then tell me what you will be practicing the next week. Hopefully this doesn't come off as argumentative because I think we are in total agreement Riz . Just wanted to elaborate a bit.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2013 21:50
|
|
|
CPFinnit posted:
The laws of golf dictate that you will be half correct, you will not shoot in the 40's, but instead everything will go wrong and you will shoot 50. But you will chip in on the last hole which gives you juuuust enough hope to come back and try again.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2013 23:03
|
|
|
Those woods look like knock off Callaway FT-i woods, but square headed woods haven't been popular for the last 4 years or so. Now that I think about it, square headed woodshad a pretty short shelf life.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2013 20:02
|
|
|
SpeedyCow posted:That makes sense but wouldn't it scare potential buyers? I'm more knowledgable than the average golfer and it faked me out. If you've been playing Pings then you should probably just pickup a used set of S56's  . Or wait like 3 months and buy a set of those TM's off of golfwrx for about $550.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2013 21:48
|
|
|
SpeedyCow posted:I will try those out, too. They look great based on the photos I'm looking at, and those shafts are great! I've had my eye on the Titleist AP2s for a little while, but they're very pricey Used 5-PW AP2 710s for $350? http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/788423-titleist-ap2-710ap-712-gap-wedgev-steel-3-woodgamer-v2/
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2013 03:30
|
|
Forged irons
|
Shrapnac posted:Also used on GolfWRX a lot of time means, "I hit one thin shot and one fat shot with these, they're garbage, take them away for a song." You can pick up some incredible deals on barely used equipment. I think what you mean to say is: "I hit the sweet spot every time so the only wear is on a dime sized spot on the PW(because I'm never further away from the green than that after my drive), but I found the clubhead is too spinny and can't handle my swing speed so I'm going to look for some tour van Titleist MB's, I just hope those can hold up to my swing."
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2013 19:38
|
|
|
Josh Lyman posted:For all its shortcomings, there's nothing that compares to GolfWRX in terms of information and FS/FT. Yeah, there are hyperaggressive idiots, but they're easy enough to ignore. This is exactly right, I'll stick around WRX as long as I can get such great friggin deals on their FS section.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2013 07:44
|
|
|
shyduck posted:Just dropping in to say that Brandt Snedeker is awesome It's really not too difficult, and it's super easy to fix if you screw up. Get some Q tips and some acetone, you can buy nail polish remover that is 100%(or close) acetone, this is what you want. Dip the Q tip in acetone and scrub the paint you want to remove. As soon as the acetone touches the paint it should liquefy. You can use the other side of the Q tip to remove it then. I've used Testor's enamel paint in the past, you should be able to get it at any craft type store. Dip a toothpick in it and just kind of glop the paint over the recessed area you are trying to paint, Then take a scrap piece of cardboard from a cereal box or something thin like that and squegee off as much of the excess paint as you can. Then take a paper towel, dampened with acetone, and quickly take one fairly firm swipe over the painted area. If you go quick enough it will remove any paint still on the surface of your club but it should leave any paint in the recessed area alone. Oftentimes if you try to scrub more than one time it will take paint out of the recessed area, so try to be quick with it. This has worked well for me in changing the paintfill on wedges and irons, if you are filling something that's very thick you might be able to get away with carefully painting it with a small brush or toothpick though. You can also buy some clear coat nail polish to cover your paint job after it dries, that should protect it a bit.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 11, 2013 16:09
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 13:17 |
|
|
I'm kind of tempted to try out that Nike driver, but I don't know if I can handle the red or not. I went to the golf dome on Tuesday since we won't be playing golf here until April and hit balls for an hour. Overall I was pleased with how I was striking it, I made solid contact 95% of the time, with the other 5% being a combination of thinned shots and shanks. For some reason I shank the ball at this golf dome and I don't know why. Anyways, it felt good to hit the clubs again and I'm excited to see I didn't lose much of my ball striking over the winter(or at least I think). One weird thing that happened halfway through is my front foot started to hurt. Like the outside of it felt like it was really getting strained when I shifted my weight over to it. Like my legs were twisting too much for my planted foot to bear. It started to get rather painful. I took a video of my swing but don't know if I will post it, it was after my foot started hurting and I really started to lose form a bit after that.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2013 17:37
|
|