Earlsferry

I can only comment on the Golf Digest Top 100 outside of USA - - Royal Dornoch, Scotland - Carnoustie Championship Links, Scotland, - St Andrews, Old Course, Scotland, - Cruden Bay, Scotland, - North Berwick, Scotland, - Royal Troon, Scotland, - Muirfield, Scotland - Western Gales, Scotland, - Balgownie, Scotland, - Machrihanish, Scotland, - Turnberry, Scotland, - Wentworth West Course, England, - Royal St George's Sandwich, England - Ganton, England, - Rye, England All the Scottish course are links and as such are beyond platitudes; golf was invented for such places - each one unique and each one a destination everyone should experience regardless of competency. Royal St George's where Ben Curtis won The Open is magical, Wentworth is millionaires golf, inland of course and different yet unmissable and not just for the history attached. Ganton is links golf inland if that makes sense; Ryder Cup has been there so that'll tell you all you need to know, Rye is quite short and quirky but again is link-sy and the greens are minute so hard to hit and hold. Go find them and if you visit Scotland then Gullane #1, Gleneagles Kings' Course, Rosemount, Dunbar (20th oldest course in the UK!), Panmure, Montrose Medal (3rd oldest course in UK), Monifieth, Murcar Links and Old Moray shouldn't be missed either. All are great course, fair yet testing and all are sites of historical interest to boot! The home of golf is Scotland remember! Good luck!

How about putting some clubs in there! Rangefinder, pencil, yardage charts, snack bars, water bottle, alignment sticks.

Of course always play with better guys to stretch you; it's a given! But if that's not possible what I do is give full handicap allowance to the others as that will make me focus more and play to the highest standard I can so not to lose the money!

I'd say needed at least once a month during the height of the 'season'...it should be looked upon as 'coaching' not 'going for a lesson' - that's for hackers and beginners but when they become better they need to maintain all parts of the swing so find the pro that's good for you and stick with him and get COACHED; money well spent! Hell, $50 once a month for 8 months is the same as buying that new driver/putter/rangefinder that you didn't need - stop wasting money on equipment and start INVESTING in your swing. Coaching cannot ever be a bad idea!

He has the big key moves in his swing that work; all pros and top amateurs do and they (more or less) do it consistently but JS has what I'd call a home-made swing ie: no coach would purposely teach the bent left arm and the 'lift' that JS makes to get the club shaft to the horizontal but he has great lag on the downswing and the hip turn. I just get a feeling he'll encounter trouble in maintaining this consistency but there's no doubt he's taken the tour by storm.

what's his name?

I really think you need to go to your pro and have him sort it out; asking advice here is no substitute for getting the pro to custom-fit according to the uniqueness of your swing etc. For hybrids I use a 15 degree and don't carry a 3-wood normally but carry a 1-iron and depending on the course I'm playing and/or the specific characteristics of that course or the conditions on the day I will change things around. I think all amateurs should adopt a more flexible attitude based on such factors.