**Golf Talk** thread

[listen2me 23 1,541]

Ha, says the young one... As Curtis Strange told Tiger back in that '96 inverview, "you'll learn." In all seriousness, you have the luxury and mentality of charging the hole - a common theme with all young players since prolly the beginning of time. As you get older that philosophy changes a bit bcoz your nerves are not the same on short putts from 5 feet at 43 years of age as when you were 23.

 

I would just try not to take it as serious. Especially rounds where you are doing something different. Again, not everyone has the luxury of playing 50 times a year. Those that don't, value their rounds more and don't use rounds as practice. But if you play a lot, who cares where the ball goes somedays? Snugging it 8 inches dead center and short is a nice way to 2 putt and have less stress. But going after the hole is more fun. If you miss the putt coming back....so what? That just means you have to practice those that much more until you gain that confidence. I've always viewed it as if you are that worried about 3-5 footers then you aren't going to get anywhere anyway. If you are worried about 3-5 footers then your putting isn't really where is should be or isn't good enough to shoot low anyway.

 

People learn the most from stress, if you play with stress. If you always play safe you will rarely feel the pressure of making a 5 footer. So what happens when you do go by the hole on the last hole and you need to make a 5 foot breaker for your best round ever? You never play that way, so you won't handle it as well.

 

I agree the older you get the philosophy changes. The score matters more than the experience. Playing it safe and having a pretty standard routine is the norm. Older members of clubs pretty much know what club and what shots they will have before the hole even starts.

 

I don't want to get older.

[cbfalcon 824]

As was the thinking and style of such greats as Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, and even Tiger Woods. Then there is the other kind of putter, the one who prefers to die the ball into the hole. Such putting greats as Ben Crenshaw, Lee Trevino, Brad Faxon, Dave Stockton and this other guy you might of heard of preferred to do it this way:

 

The average golfer, from my observation, plays about half as much break as is necessary and hits the putt too hard. I would rather play more break and hit the putt easier.

 

 

It really boils down to your personal style - which will more often than not mimic your golf swing. I've shot my fair share of low scores and I've had days when I feel like I couldn't make a putt if the hole was the size of a bucket. To me, when I'm not making the short ones it's all in my alignment.

 

I think you have to be flexible depending on the course. It sounds too obvious, but the obvious goal is to determine which method will produce more 1 putts than 3 putts. And that changes depending on the course on that day.

 

Give me slow flat greens, and I prefer to attack every putt. Leave nothing short. As I'm confident I can drill a 4 foot comeback putt on a slow flat green...But put me on a really fast green with lots of undulations, and I prefer the Jack line of thinking. Just die it at the hole.

[Cruzer 1,992]

I would just try not to take it as serious. Especially rounds where you are doing something different. Again, not everyone has the luxury of playing 50 times a year. Those that don't, value their rounds more and don't use rounds as practice. But if you play a lot, who cares where the ball goes somedays? Snugging it 8 inches dead center and short is a nice way to 2 putt and have less stress. But going after the hole is more fun. If you miss the putt coming back....so what? That just means you have to practice those that much more until you gain that confidence. I've always viewed it as if you are that worried about 3-5 footers then you aren't going to get anywhere anyway. If you are worried about 3-5 footers then your putting isn't really where is should be or isn't good enough to shoot low anyway.

You strike me as one who plays for casual fun - not one who plays in money games, I mean real money games. I play for fun 2 different times - when playing with my dad and when playing for work. At the club we play for $$$, and trust me - it makes a difference.

[listen2me 23 1,541]

The days I am missing the shorter putts I feel it is a direct result of not trying to hit the back of the cup. Taking some off it and not trusting that I can hit the ball straight. Playing the half inch of break that I see for no good reason.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Give me slow flat greens, and I prefer to attack every putt. Leave nothing short. As I'm confident I can drill a 4 foot comeback putt on a slow flat green...But put me on a really fast green with lots of undulations, and I prefer the Jack line of thinking. Just die it at the hole.

Of course, pretty obvious way of thinking on easy greens. Not sure about your course, but ours are fast and they break. Which is part of the fun - you have to put the ball on the right side of the hole coming in or you are in for some grief.

[Cruzer 1,992]

The days I am missing the shorter putts I feel it is a direct result of not trying to hit the back of the cup. Taking some off it and not trusting that I can hit the ball straight. Playing the half inch of break that I see for no good reason.

Pressure is a huge factor in golf in general, but putting especially. Do you or have you ever played in money games or are most of your rounds casual? Ever hear the phrases, "What do you want to play for?" Whatever amount makes you nervous."

[listen2me 23 1,541]

You strike me as one who plays for casual fun - not one who plays in money games, I mean real money games. I play for fun 2 different times - when playing with my dad and when playing for work. At the club we play for $$$, and trust me - it makes a difference.

 

I started playing at age 5 and took the game way too serious as a kid. I wanted to be better then every other kid around my age that played at the same course. High school golf team I would get all worked up if I played bad.

 

Then it all dawned on me that I play my best when I truly don't give a ######. I mean you have to work on your game, you have to try different things. But there is no sense in putting that much pressure on yourself as if it is the Masters. PGA Tour players falter all the time when they put more pressure than needed on themselves.

 

I play the local tournaments. I play our club championship and pro am. I play our end of the season 2 man team event that is basically all gambling where every team is auctioned off the nigh before the 1st round. Teams go for 250-600 bucks. On top of the other fees like skins and parimutuel betting.

 

But on regular days of the summer I like to get drunk and play with friends and have a good time. Still trying to shoot well, but not concerned if I don't. Depends what you call money games. Is 8 guys throwing in 20 bucks a piece for a skins game....a real money game? Is 8 guys throwing in 10 bucks for a 2 man best ball Sunday afternoon a real money game? I'm not sure. It adds importance and I take those days more serious. But it isn't MJ and Charles out there playing for real money. Some days you win, some days you don't.

 

I play for small money all the time. That is what golfers do. But I am lucky enough to usually play 50-60 full 18s in a given year in the past. Short year at that. So any single day that isn't some tournament isn't the world to me.

 

I can go out at 5pm on a summer night and walk 9 by myself and have a good time trying out new things. I can play 18 at 630AM with a buddy and play in 2.5 hours. I can play in 2 foresomes for money on a hot afternoon and drink 12 beers. I can play in serious tournaments where I go practice for an hour before I go play. I can go play at 9AM with a regular 4some and just play regular golf, no games, no beer, just golf. I can go play in a charity tourney with some friends who hardly golf and have fun showing them a few things. That is the beauty of golf. Plenty of different ways of playing the game and I enjoy them all.

 

I have played some of my best rounds drunk at 3PM with a buddy. I have never shot under par for 18 holes. Yet one day fairly drunk I go 42 on the front...as I got drunker I went and shot 33 on the back. A lot of times when I am having swing troubles I find it when I am drunk just swinging away not thinking about a thing.

 

Money games are one thing. But some days playing for Pride with your friends is just as competitive. You always want to be the guy who shoots the low round in your group.

[listen2me 23 1,541]

buzzed up is probably a better word than drunk. I'm not saying go out there cockeyed and find your swing. I mean feeling good and carefree.

[cbfalcon 824]

Of course, pretty obvious way of thinking on easy greens. Not sure about your course, but ours are fast and they break. Which is part of the fun - you have to put the ball on the right side of the hole coming in or you are in for some grief.

 

Yep. It's really no different than standing in the fairway and looking at the trouble up around the green and deciding. Am I going pin hunting, or do I want to take trouble out of play and just put it on the safe area of the green.

 

I just think it's a mistake to say you subscribe to one style or another. Always knocking it 18 inches by the hole, or always trying to putt it as soft as possible. Every situation and every putt is different.

 

But yeah, it's obvious thinking.

 

I play on a variety of courses. If I have a home course with my dad, it's Cross Timbers. Extremely fast and tons of break. Anything outside of 5 feet and you are often just looking for the 2 putt....But with my low cash flow friends, the home course is likely Rockwood or Willow. Give me a 20 footer, and I'm taking dead aim and not leaving it short.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

2. Dont leave putts short. Generally speaking. I recall an jnstructor I once worked with having a competition between some of the students. And 18 hole putting green. First to finish wins. The catch is no putt can be left short of the hole. If you dont make it, you better give it enough to pass the cup or you start over. Ill never forget that little drill/game

 

I read a stat one time that said something like 95% of all putts that are short don't go in.

[BudBro 117]

Pressure is a huge factor in golf in general, but putting especially. Do you or have you ever played in money games or are most of your rounds casual? Ever hear the phrases, "What do you want to play for?" Whatever amount makes you nervous."

there was an article in one of the major golf mags that had brain scans of pros while putting vs scans of amateurs while putting. the pros were cool blue and the ams were red like fire...all of their brain. i watch golf on tv and am amazed at the way they putt. there is a physiological difference, not just mechanical, between good and bad putters. you could make a billion dollars if you could come up something that could help amateurs change their brain physiology over a putt.

[Cruzer 1,992]

I play on a variety of courses. If I have a home course with my dad, it's Cross Timbers.

Played X-Timbers many a time, was a starter out there for a short spell as well. This is a very underrated track, with plenty of grit when the wind picks up - which is most of the time. I do with they would do something with holes 13, 14, and 15. Short, dead straight holes are boring - and they add nothing to any course much less this one. When XT first opened they had bent grass greens - did you ever play here back then?

[Cruzer 1,992]

Then it all dawned on me that I play my best when I truly don't give a ######.

And everybody is a touring pro on the driving range and everybody throws no hitters in the bullpen. I enjoy casual golf, especially in the evening after work - it's very relaxing. But I also enjoy the hunt - I enjoy posting a low number when the pressure is on. As much as I love hitting it around, chasing the sun down, beer in hand - I also love knowing that if I shoot 79 I'm going to get killed.

[cbfalcon 824]

Played X-Timbers many a time, was a starter out there for a short spell as well. This is a very underrated track, with plenty of grit when the wind picks up - which is most of the time. I do with they would do something with holes 13, 14, and 15. Short, dead straight holes are boring - and they add nothing to any course much less this one. When XT first opened they had bent grass greens - did you ever play here back then?

 

Yeah, that stretch is the only stretch on the course that lacks in character. An occasional hole like that is ok, but stringing them together creates a dead spot.

 

All things considered, it may be my favorite local course. The greens are really really nice in recent years. And it's one of the few courses in the area that feels like you are out in the hill country or something, as oppose to standing in any spot and looking around you and being able to see 4 holes at any given time.....and it's cheap! $35 or so on Saturday mornings.

 

I am not sure when it first opened, but I played it 10 times or so back in the late 90's. Then after a lengthy hiatus, I probably have played it 25 times the last 3 years or so.

 

I've put up multiple 80's on the course. Including I believe lows of 38 on each side. But I am still looking for "that day" out there where I put up something with a 7 on the front of it.

 

#3 probably owns me more than any Par 5 I've ever played. Just putting my drive in play is an achievement. But even when I do that, the hole bottlenecks at all the right spots for my game. I've had plenty of days walking up to that tee and thinking "if the golf Gods offer me bogey, I'll jump at it. And if they offer me a double, Id probably be stupid to not take it". This despite it not seeming like that difficult of a hole on paper. It just owns me. It's in my head.

[DankNuggs 305]

Yep. It's really no different than standing in the fairway and looking at the trouble up around the green and deciding. Am I going pin hunting, or do I want to take trouble out of play and just put it on the safe area of the green.

 

 

I've always heard and believed when sizing up a shot with hazards in play, not to look at the hazard, just focus on where you want the ball to go. The more you look at the hazard the more you will subconsciously hit it there..

[Cruzer 1,992]

#3 probably owns me more than any Par 5 I've ever played. Just putting my drive in play is an achievement. But even when I do that, the hole bottlenecks at all the right spots for my game. I've had plenty of days walking up to that tee and thinking "if the golf God's offer me bogey, I'll jump at it. And if they offer me a double, Id probably be stupid to not take it". This despite it not seeming like that difficult of a hole on paper. It just owns me. It's in my head.

That hole is a B, even if you happen to hit a good drive. The wind makes the tee shot and 2nd shot damn near impossible........... #10 owns my ass, have lost many a great round bcoz of it..... I think and wish they would build a pavilion type area - say in between the putting green and the range. They could do so much more business and get all kinds of tournaments if they did.

[listen2me 23 1,541]

And everybody is a touring pro on the driving range and everybody throws no hitters in the bullpen. I enjoy casual golf, especially in the evening after work - it's very relaxing. But I also enjoy the hunt - I enjoy posting a low number when the pressure is on. As much as I love hitting it around, chasing the sun down, beer in hand - I also love knowing that if I shoot 79 I'm going to get killed.

 

Are you talking like straight stroke play individual tournaments?

 

I think I play 1 a year and it is the club championship. Not really into that as much as I used to be when I was younger. Also play in a presidents cup type bracket at my club that goes from April to August. That is match play by yourself.

 

These days I'd rather play best ball with a friend, tournament or with other friends. Still makes it competitive, not as much so as individual stroke play. But I'm trying rather hard when I'm trying to beat a friend who will run his mouth until the next time we play if I don't.

 

You mentioned "money games" earlier in the thread. What exactly are you referring to? 4 to 20 of the local regulars playing every Sunday afternoon for 20 a head? Same lines but much bigger money? Or local tournaments that has a sizable fee and money payout with very serious golfers?

 

It would be awesome to be even on a small tour and fighting your way through weekend of golf to try and earn the biggest check you can. That would be fun. But local stroke play events don't really float my boat. I'm not trying to be Tiger out there pretending I'm battling Phil. I lost desire to play those types of very serious settings since I left high school.

[Cruzer 1,992]

I've always heard and believed when sizing up a shot with hazards in play, not to look at the hazard, just focus on where you want the ball to go. The more you look at the hazard the more you will subconsciously hit it there..

There is a ton of truth to this, least I believe it........... When faced with a trouble lined drive or shot, I try and pick a spot 20 yards ahead of me and hit to it. I block out all of the crap and pretend I'm just hitting a shot on the range. When it works it's a great plan, when it doesn't I'm too pissed to care about it anyways.

[DankNuggs 305]

Of course, pretty obvious way of thinking on easy greens. Not sure about your course, but ours are fast and they break. Which is part of the fun - you have to put the ball on the right side of the hole coming in or you are in for some grief.

I play alot with a guy who was captain of his D1 golf team back in college... Always talks about missing putts on the 'pro' side... the high side of the putt. He gets irritated underestimating the break.

 

He also has a great practice putting routine called 5x5's.... Start with a 1ft putt...have to make 5 in a row, if you miss you start over again. Once 5 made move the 2 ft, repeat...etc until you get to 5ft...miss and start over again. When i do it i just do it until i make 5 in a row at that distance, don't start over at 1 ft again mostly bc of time and the fact I'm a 12 HC.

[Cruzer 1,992]

It would be awesome to be even on a small tour and fighting your way through weekend of golf to try and earn the biggest check you can. That is fun. But local stroke play events don't really float my boat. I'm not trying to be Tiger out there pretending I'm battling Phil. I lost desire to play those types of very serious settings since I left high school.

You speak as if you are 40, aren't you still not even 30 yet? H.s. wasn't that long ago......... Money games are, like I said, ever makes you nervous. If $2 makes your b/p rise then that is a real money game. If $10 is what makes your breating eratic and your brow sweatl than that is a money game. Our MGA is pretty competitive so I get all the tournament play I need in that, then of course the Club championship. I also play in other club tournaments of friends who belong to different clubs. Most of our play is stroke play. But like I said, to each their own - whatever it is one derives pleasure from on the golf course I'm all for. Me personally can only take so much team events - I'm not too interested in playing scramble or two-man formats most of the time.

[cbfalcon 824]

I've always heard and believed when sizing up a shot with hazards in play, not to look at the hazard, just focus on where you want the ball to go. The more you look at the hazard the more you will subconsciously hit it there..

 

Yeah, that's obviously the way to play your shot once you've made your decision.

 

But in deciding on a target, you absolutely have to analyze the trouble. If there is water left, a bunker front left, a shallow green, and anything long is in the woods, then you don't need to be aiming at a far left edge pin. Just aim towards the right front of the green and be ok with a two putt.

 

But sure, once you decide where you are hitting the ball, it's best to block the trouble out and just take dead aim at your target, as oppose to worrying about where not to hit it.

[Cruzer 1,992]

I play alot with a guy who was captain of his D1 golf team back in college... Always talks about missing putts on the 'pro' side... the high side of the putt. He gets irritated underestimating the break.

 

He also has a great practice putting routine called 5x5's.... Start with a 1ft putt...have to make 5 in a row, if you miss you start over again. Once 5 made move the 2 ft, repeat...etc until you get to 5ft...miss and start over again. When i do it i just do it until i make 5 in a row at that distance, don't start over at 1 ft again mostly bc of time and the fact I'm a 12 HC.

I'm a bonafide range-rat, love doing stuff like this. Of course I have to alter my drills like this or otherwise I'd still be there when the sun came up.

[listen2me 23 1,541]

You speak as if you are 40, aren't you still not even 30 yet? H.s. wasn't that long ago......... Money games are, like I said, ever makes you nervous. If $2 makes your b/p rise then that is a real money game. If $10 is what makes your breating eratic and your brow sweatl than that is a money game. Our MGA is pretty competitive so I get all the tournament play I need in that, then of course the Club championship. I also play in other club tournaments of friends who belong to different clubs. Most of our play is stroke play. But like I said, to each their own - whatever it is one derives pleasure from on the golf course I'm all for. Me personally can only take so much team events - I'm not too interested in playing scramble or two-man formats most of the time.

 

HS was about 7 years ago. Which over a quarter of my life has went by, so it seems like a while.

 

I lost the desire to play real serious individual play then because there is no where to go with it. I was into it when there were league or county titles involved. When you would get your name in the paper showing the results of the local section qualifier or something. It was a bigger deal for me to show well back then.

 

Honestly my home course doesn't have a ton of single stroke play on the schedule. 3 maybe 4 events. Plus it seems like the majority of winnings have to be pro shop credit besides skins. Most clubs around here have this. Not sure if it is different down south? There are a few big tournaments that pay cash a year. I can only handle so much pro shop credit. To get my betting fix in it is usually weekend golf amongst 4-20 members/friends, usually best ball or skins.

[listen2me 23 1,541]

Side betting is always fun as well. May play best ball in a 4some. And one of the opponents and I might have a side bet straight up between us as well.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Honestly my home course doesn't have a ton of single stroke play on the schedule. 3 maybe 4 events. Plus it seems like the majority of winnings have to be pro shop credit besides skins. Most clubs around here have this. Not sure if it is different down south? There are a few big tournaments that pay cash a year. I can only handle so much pro shop credit. To get my betting fix in it is usually weekend golf amongst 4-20 members/friends, usually best ball or skins.

Yea all of our mga prize money is in the form of pro shop credit too, although we do have occassional cash events at the club not associated with the mga. If win and do not really need anything I will pick up a new club and then turn around and sell it on ebay - did this a couple of times last year. Our regular weekend games are where the fun is. I have 8 standard 2-man team bets and 2 individual bets - depending on who all shows up both of those numbers can go up. We always schedule an hour in between when we finish and the Emergency nine (E9 we call it), so it gives us a chance to eat and settle up the sheet. Actually, we use laptop and enter all of the bets into a spreadsheet - spits out the totals and you just pay or collect what you did. It's kind of cool really.

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

I started playing at age 5 and took the game way too serious as a kid. I wanted to be better then every other kid around my age that played at the same course. High school golf team I would get all worked up if I played bad.

 

Then it all dawned on me that I play my best when I truly don't give a ######. I mean you have to work on your game, you have to try different things. But there is no sense in putting that much pressure on yourself as if it is the Masters. PGA Tour players falter all the time when they put more pressure than needed on themselves.

 

I play the local tournaments. I play our club championship and pro am. I play our end of the season 2 man team event that is basically all gambling where every team is auctioned off the nigh before the 1st round. Teams go for 250-600 bucks. On top of the other fees like skins and parimutuel betting.

 

But on regular days of the summer I like to get drunk and play with friends and have a good time. Still trying to shoot well, but not concerned if I don't. Depends what you call money games. Is 8 guys throwing in 20 bucks a piece for a skins game....a real money game? Is 8 guys throwing in 10 bucks for a 2 man best ball Sunday afternoon a real money game? I'm not sure. It adds importance and I take those days more serious. But it isn't MJ and Charles out there playing for real money. Some days you win, some days you don't.

 

I play for small money all the time. That is what golfers do. But I am lucky enough to usually play 50-60 full 18s in a given year in the past. Short year at that. So any single day that isn't some tournament isn't the world to me.

 

I can go out at 5pm on a summer night and walk 9 by myself and have a good time trying out new things. I can play 18 at 630AM with a buddy and play in 2.5 hours. I can play in 2 foresomes for money on a hot afternoon and drink 12 beers. I can play in serious tournaments where I go practice for an hour before I go play. I can go play at 9AM with a regular 4some and just play regular golf, no games, no beer, just golf. I can go play in a charity tourney with some friends who hardly golf and have fun showing them a few things. That is the beauty of golf. Plenty of different ways of playing the game and I enjoy them all.

 

I have played some of my best rounds drunk at 3PM with a buddy. I have never shot under par for 18 holes. Yet one day fairly drunk I go 42 on the front...as I got drunker I went and shot 33 on the back. A lot of times when I am having swing troubles I find it when I am drunk just swinging away not thinking about a thing.

 

Money games are one thing. But some days playing for Pride with your friends is just as competitive. You always want to be the guy who shoots the low round in your group.

 

sounds like we have some things on common. I started playing golf at an early age as well. I was in the 3rd grade I believe. when I was younger, I was a perfectionist. I also put some heavy golf expectations on myself. I got frustrated very easily, angry, broke a few clubs when I was a teenager.... quickly learned reshafting fees were not worth it (before I knew how to do it myself ). By high school, I was a mess..... Did not make Varsity my freshman year and really had no interest in playing. I had let my anger get the best of me and generally didn't like the atmosphere of the team.

 

I managed to sneak on as a Soph. Then, I managed to relax myself and enjoy the game again. I was playing better by my jr and sr. years but I was still too hard on myself.

 

A few years later I got my cousin into the game and eventually just stopped giving a ###### if i scored poorly. I changed my whole approach to the game. Started spending more time on the range than ever before, just working on little things and when I got out on the course, I was more relaxed and tried to play well but didn't beat myself up if I hit one OB and made an 8. Of course, i started playing the best golf of my life. I'm sure maturity had a lot to do with it.

 

Beer helps too, but i definitely play worse when i'm more than buzzed.

 

The past few years I have been lucky to play 5 or 6 times a year and it pains me. Still hit the range quite a bit. This year I have made a promise to play much, much more golf

[Frozenbeernuts 1,652]

I am the best geek golfer in the interwebs.

[cbfalcon 824]

I am the best geek golfer in the interwebs.

 

Oh yeah? How far can you hit the big stick?

[edjr 5,556]

Oh yeah? How far can you hit the big stick?

 

Drive for show, putt for dough

[Cruzer 1,992]

The past few years I have been lucky to play 5 or 6 times a year and it pains me. Still hit the range quite a bit. This year I have made a promise to play much, much more golf

Omg, are you serious? Here's to hoping you get out much, much more in 2013.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Unveiled the claw this weekend for the first full live round. First few holes I was nervous as hell. About mid round I started to get comfortable with it. By the end of the round it felt so good that I stopped thinking about it, the awkwardness disappeared, and I got back the feeling of expecting to make putts again. Obviously the short putts felt good, but what really surprised me was how much on line the 25 footers were and the distance control. I 3putted early on hole 2, but never really came close to it again. This one is a keeper for spell I think.

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

snow

[cbfalcon 824]

Unveiled the claw this weekend for the first full live round. First few holes I was nervous as hell. About mid round I started to get comfortable with it. By the end of the round it felt so good that I stopped thinking about it, the awkwardness disappeared, and I got back the feeling of expecting to make putts again. Obviously the short putts felt good, but what really surprised me was how much on line the 25 footers were and the distance control. I 3putted early on hole 2, but never really came close to it again. This one is a keeper for spell I think.

 

I spent about 15 minutes in the living room with the claw grip this weekend after watching a short Phil video demonstration of it on youtube. I felt like I couldn't control the club and would have no chance at distance control. That said, it's golf. So odds are I was doing it wrong.

[Cruzer 1,992]

I spent about 15 minutes in the living room with the claw grip this weekend after watching a short Phil video demonstration of it on youtube. I felt like I couldn't control the club and would have no chance at distance control. That said, it's golf. So odds are I was doing it wrong.

Funny you mention this. I was on the putting green just before we went off and a buddy of mine came over and watched what I was doing. He said, "no, you're doing it wrong." He proceeded to show me how to properly grip the claw, in his eyes of course. I just laughed and told him thanks, but my version of it was more comfortable to me....... There is no one right or wrong way to the claw grip, whatever version fits your hands and your eyes the best is the correct one for you. As far as distance control, only one way to get the feel for that - get out and do it.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Prolly not a lot of LPGA followers here - but a pretty incredible story right out of the gates at their opening tournament of the year. 15-year old phenom Lydia Ko shot an opening ten under par, 63 to take the early lead.

 

Her round included 11 birdies, 1 eagle, and 3 bogeys - wow.

[KSB2424 3,082]

Major set back yesterday. 94, no birdies and only a handful of pars. For about a three hole stretch I was hitting hosel rocktets ( shanks). It took me a good three holes to figure out wtf I was doing wrong. Ugliest round in a long time. I was playing 10-5-5 against a guy too. Had go fork over 90 bucks. I'm taking a two week break from golf. : sadbanana:

[cbfalcon 824]

I bought a knee brace today and headed to the range, as I hadn't hit a ball in 3 weeks. So bad knee, no practice, and going through swing changes. As you can guess, the result was....

 

Shanks, toppers, and 6 irons that I couldn't hit as far as my 9 iron. No balance, duck hook drives, and damn near felt like I was going to miss the ball at times. Anyone watching me probably thought I've never broken 100. It made me not even want to play anytime soon.

 

Honestly, I've always been horrible on the range. I will shank balls right and left warming up for a round, then walk to the first tee and find a way to shoot a good score. But this felt pathetic. That said, I may head back to Leonards tomorrow and hope to get on the course next Saturday.

[DankNuggs 305]

Tiger played w Obama today in FL

[Cruzer 1,992]

If you ever want to get biatch slapped back to earth, just play a round with a club professional. Ha, ours played in my group yesterday - 20+ mph winds, from the tips, he threw up a smooth 70. Of course he was not too happy, could of easily had been 66.... The claw is really feeling good - missed some well struck putts y-day but that happens in wind like that - posted 76 and was pretty happy about it.

[cribdog 0]

Had a good round yesterday and finally returned to some form. Partner and I lost the match on 18 when he 3-putted to give it away, but I couldn't really complain because I was already out of the hole. Had a bit of daylight left so we played 3 extra holes which we pressed heavily. We won the first 2 to get ahead, then they doubled up on the last hole in the dusk. I threw a sweet 7-iron to a foot in the darkness for tap in birdie to end it and we ended up taking the cash. Always nice to be buying the drinks