Bamma

I bet you would find little difference between either of these and the X-16's, 18's, or 14's either.

I have had them both snap and just come loose and fall off. I once had a putter come unglued about 3 holes into my first round with it. This was back in 93 or so. I do not recall what type putter it was (something in the style of an Anser) but I remember being upset enough about it that I traded it in a bought an S2H2 blade putter that I ended up keeping for nearly 10 years. I loved that putter.

My first thought is that if you are just now getting started on this, you are probably way behind the curve already. My guess is that folks who get the few scholarships out there to play golf are already playing in as many junior tournaments as they can, making a bit of a name for themselves, letting the golf coaches come and watch them play, etc. A few weeks back, I was watching a program on TGC showing the golf school that Hank Haney does for aspiring college golfers, and they start early, work their tails off at their game, while keeping their grades up, and still Haney has to make calls and sell these players to their future college coaches (even then, if they get a scholarship, they are sometimes just 1/2 scholarships). If you aspire to play college golf, even on a small division level, you should probably get real busy right now.

I am one who looks forward to the day when Tiger Woods would not need to be referred to as a Black golfer, or an Asian golfer, or an African-American golfer, or as any other race or combo. Why can't he just be a golfer? Why is it that anyone needs to consider him in any other terms besides just the world's best golfer? Does it matter what his race is to anyone? Should it? And if he is of the same race as other prospective golfers, why does he owe it to them to do something to help them along? Does Jack Nicklaus owe it to me to do more to help me with my golf career (okay, bad example, since my golf career consists of shooting rounds of 90-110)? Why would he need to? I don't get what Tiger is supposed to have been doing in these guys' minds to do more for them. Why can't they go and do it for themselves? Tiger did. So have many others. Granted, some present PGA golfers were born into fairly well-off families and had an easier road without the financial challenges, but many, many pros have had to do it the hard way; working other part time jobs in addition to club pro/teaching gigs, grinding through mini-tours making just enough money to pay for the entry fees into the next event, etc. But they knew that their own hard work was what would get them where they wanted to be, and they did it. The ones unwilling to put in the hard work did not make it, and are probably now sitting around wondering why someone else did not do more to help them, too. Sorry for the rant, but the whole topic just smells of entitlement to me.

I agree and would take that one step further in saying that, if everyone played at the kind of pace I would like them to, then it would not really matter so much that the course is overbooked. The problem with that is that it only takes one to ruin it for everyone else.

For some reason, fairway woods have always just been the one position in my bag I never look to replace. I have been through a ton of putters and drivers, and several sets of irons, but I am still holding onto my Steelhead fairway woods (3W & 7W). I guess I would say they are the only clubs in my bag that behave, so I have left them alone (okay, to be honest, I reshafted my 3-wood, hated it, replaced it with a couple different ones I hated, then went and bought another just like the first one I had after a few months in 3-wood Hell...lesson learned. Don't mess with what ain't broke).

So now, you are going to call others morally wrong based on the set of morals you have set up for yourself? They have an obligation now, just because you think they do? Look, the issue is pretty straight-forward here. AN invites people into their club that they want to be in. There is no policy saying "no women can be members." Rather, they have just not found one they wanted to invite yet. Hell, I wanna be a member there too? Are they morally wrong for omitting middle-class accountants with high handicaps who could not afford to be a member anyway? Of course not. As was said, even Bill Gates was left out for quite some time because they just did not yet consider him to be the right fit at the time. That's their option. There is no application to complete and then be denied. It is more likely you just get an invite from them and in you go.

Agree here. Remember that as a playing partner, one of your responsibilities is to protect the field. No need to be a jerk about it to him, but find a friendly way to let him know that, at least for tourney play, he has to follow the rules.

I remember when Golf Magazine (or was it Golf Digest?) used to run a "Keep Up The Pace" scorecard each month. John Daly was always rated as one of the fastest players, and Faldo/Langer/Norman were among the slowest. I have always been one who says that the cameras should spend less time on Tiger during tournaments because of its impact on pace of play. Not that he is a slow player (I have not seen any stats on that one way or the other), but because tournaments are so slow, and they show every single thing he does between shots, which often he only does because he has to wait, and people who want to be like him do all those things too. Take your time, drink a whole bottle of water between shots, eat a banana on the tee, etc. Granted, he has to kill the time, but the average guy on the course needs to get his butt in gear, not eat a banana.

Personally, I prefer to wear Dockers-type pants or shorts and a polo style shirt when I play golf. I really don't like to wear jeans any time, especially when I play golf, but more because I am just not comfortable in them. When the weather is a little cooler, I may wear jeans to the range, but never to the course. I don't really care if someone else wears jeans, cargo shorts, or a mock-T. I would prefer they reserve cutoff blue jeans shorts, tank tops, wife beaters, and jogging clothes for some other types of activities. Funny story. A few weeks following my wedding, I was out with the FIL playing a round of golf. There was a twosome of young ladies in the group ahead of us, both wearing sweats. After a few holes, though, we watched as they shed the sweats and ended up in Hooters-style shorts and tank tops. And they were built for those clothes. First and only time that inappropriate attire did not bother me in the least, nor did the day's slow play.

Being a new golfer or a bad golfer is no excuse for slow play. From the time I started playing, I was taught that the #1 rule was to keep up the pace. No matter what I would shoot, I would always play 18 in under 3 hours with a walking foursome (assuming a clear lane ahead). We were always the 2nd group off, with the first being quick and on carts. I could shoot 100+ and never hold up the group. It is as simple as "here's the ball, there's the hole..hit it." Sure, take a practice swing if you like. But don't sit there debating between a 7 and 8 iron when you are most likely gonna top the damn thing anyway. Play the correct tees. If you are way struggling on a hole, pick up and move on to the next. And if you are holding other people up, get out of the damn way. I hate to be rude, but go practice some more if you can't keep up. But the real problem is you just move too slow and are too indecisive. Just hit the ball and move on. I always said that Jack invented slow play, Bernhard Langer perfected it, and Tiger made it popular.

So you hitting the ball off the toe means there is a problem with the club? Not sure I understand that.

Well, I am sure you will be happy enough with what you got as long as you don't mind the bit of stigma that comes with playing a set of knockoff clubs. In many cases, the clubs do play well, as it seems could be the case with what you bought. Personally, I just don't like playing a knockoff/clone and think you could have still beat that deal with older clubs and still got the performance. Let's try: Taylor Made R5 Dual - $55 Ben Hogan BH-5 Offset $100 - These are so similar to the old Callaway X-14's you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference. Big Bertha 2004 3 Wood - $30 Callaway 20* Steelhead FW - $20 Adams Golf Tom Watson 3 Wedge Set - $50 Ping Anser Putter - $40 So, if my math is correct, I just put together a decent quality set of used clubs for under $300. I mainly stuck to as much game improvement gear as I could. Yeah, some of the stuff is old, but it is all good. I would much rather tote around old gear than clone gear, regardless of how the clones may work.

I just had my irons extended at $8 each, so you are correct.

Well, I am (or was) about a 20 or so (just returning to the game and have not played a round in years). My SS was right around 95 give or take a little, and my good drives, on those rare occasions when I hit a good one, were about 230 or so. I do recall on one particularly hot and dreadful day during the middle of a drought, hitting one of my good drives that landed at the point where the fairway slopes downward, getting a hard bounce off the concrete-like hardpan, and ending within a chip shot of a 350 yard green. So, yeah, I guess I drive the ball 340 too Seriously, that was one drive where course conditions allowed for something well outside my norm. I also do not hit 9 irons 150, but when I was playing well, 150 was my 8 iron distance.