billm408

IIRC, there was a core group of 6-8, but at it's peak, there were probably 12-20 people living in the trees. They were getting ground support for supplies, but never really came down until the very end.

A handful of protesters lived in the trees on the Berkeley campus for 738 days protesting the removal of a small grove of trees to build the new football stadium. How long they think they can stay there depends on their dedication to stupidity I guess.

Yup. My newest set of irons (and primary sticks) are early 80's Titleist blades. Also have two sets of mid 70's Ram tour grind blades. Haven't found a good reason to switch yet.

Yes, both hands but just thumb & forefinger. It removes your hands and forearms (small muscles) from the swing completely. Its a great drill and let's you see how the club will do all the work if you stop trying to control it.

One of my favorite drills- both as a warm up & reminder- is to swing the club with just a thumb & forefinger grip. It forces you to use the big muscles in your swing and allows you to feel how the club sets at the top and releases at the bottom. You can hit balls this way (off a tee) and is a good feel drill for how your arms and hands should behave in your swing.

Nice rounds Mulldog! I had a totally scizophrenic round yesterday. Four birdies, four doubles, two brainless 3-putt bogies and 8 pars for a 78. Couldn't get out of my own way and had absolutely zero mental game or course management. Just never got it together like my mind was somewhere else the entire time. I'm playing Spyglass & Poppy Hills in Carmel next weekend so hope to have a different mental approach. We'll see, eh?

Agree with mvmac. Lowest point of the swing is aligned with the left armpit. Everything should be played about a ball back of that point- approx. ball to ball & half inside left heel. I play everything just inside my left heel unless I'm trying to manufacture a lower ball flight or adjusting to uneven lies. Hoping 3 iron is just confusing ball:divot relationship. Divot is always after the ball.

I play my driver just inside the left heel and everything else about a half ball back. The only time I move the ball around in my stance is if I'm trying to manufacture a different ball flight. The bottom of my swing is just inside my left heel. That doesn't change based on the length of the club in my hand.

Kind of ham & egg'd my way around today. Didn't hit a lot of greens but scrambled pretty well on my way to 76. A consistent two club wind came up today on the back 9 so that posed some interesting new challenges.

Played Cinnebar Hills today- 6561/ 72.6/ 136 Shot 77 and again missed a number of makeable putts inside 20'. My misses are always reading more break than is there. Hard habit to break.

Yes. New technology in woods (metals) and balls makes it hard not too. I play old forged blades so I don't notice a significant change in my irons. Other than I believe I'm just better (let me have the fantasy), but its noticeable off the tee.

OK- we're arguing symantics. My point is that the average golfer (18-20 hdcp), playing the pro's tee shot, is still going to flair an 8 iron into the bunker or chunk one halfway to the green, where the pro is going to knock a mid-long iron onto the green and often have a makeable birdie putt. I stand by my theory that distance is not the difference. But everything after the tee shot is a huge difference.

Really? A full 60* wedge from 90 yards is "long game"?

I'd be happy to do this and am willing to put up cash on the outcome. IME, your average 20 hcpr isn't a slouch, but a guy that can knock the ball around OK, that has 4-5 blow up holes where they tend to compound self inflicted wounds by bad decisions and the attempt to hit a career shot where there are better/safer options. I'm not a 4 because I'm a great ball striker (although I hit the ball OK), I'm a 4 because I make better choices and make fewer mistakes around the hole.

Big difference here is what you define as the "long game". Everything outside 100 yards is hardly the long game as I would define it. This a skewed theory based on a simplistic theory. What happens beyond 150 yards? 175 yards? 200+ yards? It's an arbitrary definition designed to support a hypothosis, not an accurate description of how game is played. Where are the stats that show the pros vs. amateurs only off the tees? And only on par 4 & 5 holes? No disrespect, but this is hardly empirical data to base a conclusion.