Bigacito

I saw this video posted in the NY Times and it says you can choose to his left handed. Of course in this case hitting left handed is the better play in this video but I am not sure he is forced to take a left handed stance... http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/sports/on-par-with-bill-pennington/1194811622291/index.html

You could make the rounds you play with your family practice rounds. I try to play at least one practice round a month. And to be a practice round you don't have to change much. Sometimes I will take extra shots in the fairways and not putt as much, sometimes I just put an emphasis on using certain clubs more than i normally would, like using my long irons instead of fairway woods. Or sometimes I will just try things that I would not normally do in a handicapped round, like going for long carries over water that I have know are bad risk/reward options. The point is that if I decide it is a practice round first, I dont count it in my handicap.

Yesterday I had a 4:30 tee time for myself and my usual playing partner at a local course. This course has a starter but he stays up a the club house and acts as a kind of golfcart keeper. When you come out of the clubhouse he takes your slip and checks it and then gives you a key to a cart. From where he usually sits, he cannot see the first tee box. After we get our key and cart loaded we drive down to the first tee. There is a foursome there, warming up and stretching before hitting off on a completely empty first hole. We stopped a respectful distance and waited. Well, between the stretching and practice swings, they take until about 4:45 to clear the tee box. As we are watching them drive off, another twosome drives down and joins us to make it a foursome. Now it quickly becomes clear these two nice young men are beginners. They hustle to their shots, don't look for long for their balls when they go into the woods (which they both did) but they still take a good many shots to get to the green. My partner and myself both make quick bogies. As we tee off on the 2nd hole I see that the group ahead of us is already on the green. And I notice that the group behind us is a threesome and they all hit their approaches onto the 1st green already and are walking up with putters. AND there is another foursome behind them with excellent approach shots. Both my partner and I hit our shots onto the fairway but the beginners pull both their drives into the woods. Still, I see them hustle out to where they went into the woods and while they are looking, both my partner and I hit our 2nd shots. When they see we have finished, they immediately drop balls and hit, though both of them hit topped shots. Now, while we are waiting for them to hit again, the ranger pulls up next to us. "We got complaints from the group behind you and yall are going to have let them play through," he says. I look back and see that he does have a problem, there is that group waiting on us, plus at least two groups on the first hole. They had a league that night and I am pretty sure they had a crowd on the first tee waiting to go off. I told him that with that crowd behind us it would be difficult to let the threesome through without having to let the whole league through too, so instead we would pick up the pace and make sure we never let there be an open hole in front of us. I could not see the foursome in front of us, but neither could he and I was certain they had not finished playing the 3rd hole, a par 3. He sighed and rolled his eyes at me and drove back to the group behind us. By now the beginners with us had hit up next to the green and were starting to chip on. I drove to where my ball and just picked it up, I had missed the green way right anyway, but my partner was on and she went up to try her birdie putt. As I am sitting in the cart waiting for them to putt out, the ranger drives right back up and says again that we have to let them play through. I said he has to at least give us a chance to catch up with the group in front of us. I was afraid that if we let this fast playing threesome through, the just as fast playing foursome behind them would immediately catch up to us too and then what do we do? Wouldn't they complain about having to watch my beginners tee off on a par 3 with a water carry? He said he was just doing his job and he had to think about all the other golfers on the course. I said if we let one play through we would have let several play through and then we would be lucky to finish by dark and that it was unfair to us to ask us to sacrifice our round. He said he was sorry but he had to insist that we let them play through. At that point I decided I wanted to speak with his manager. My partner and I got in our carts and drove back up to the clubhouse. We were told that the manager was not there, there was no one authorized to talk to us about the issue and we could not be issued a refund or a rain check. We did get a phone number for manager but had to leave a message. With the course this crowded we felt we had no other choice but to leave. So guys what should I have done? I guess I have been lucky because I have never been approached by a ranger about slow play before but it is my understanding that you receive a warning first. I have never heard of anyone being ordered to let a group play through either, especially on the 2nd hole. Should I have done what he said and let them play through and then repeated the process with the group behind them? Should I have just pointed the ranger to the beginners and said talk to them, they are the problem not me? But I am sure they would have let the other group play through which would have just delayed the problem until the next group complained...

Iacas, I just cut and pasted your post and sent it to my best golf friend. A real nugget, thanks!

I don't understand why it is a big deal to play from different tees with different people. I have played with a scratch golfer who hit from the blues and I did not mind letting him hit first every hole. (and yes he still out drove me every hole). And when I play with my girlfriend or her step dad, they hit from the forward tees and I hit from the whites (and yes they outdrive me every hole too). Of course if you are playing for money I could see it making a difference...

I was just in the Bi-lo in Seneca last night! I played Oconee Country Club during the day...

Ok, if you and three others saw the ball go out, then that is an open and shut case. I mean, no matter how convinced I was about which ball I thought I was using, if three other golfers playing in competition told me the facts as laid out, and one of the golfers was my playing partner, then I would have to assume I was mistaken and take the penalty. I mean, the only other explanation is that you are all part of a conspiracy to make me think I am crazy. And if I believe that, I need to quit this league anyway. And maybe go back to the full dosage on my meds.

Just so I know I am following this thread, the cheating he is accused of is not deliberately lying about which ball was hit first and which ball was hit second, is it? I mean, none of you saw when he teed up both times that he hadn't this one time used the found ball first and the marked ball second. It just seems awfully, conveniently coincidental. Therefore it is possible that he honestly hit his first shot without paying attention to what ball he hit (I could see myself doing this) and then hit his provisional without noticing which one it was (ditto)? So is the cheating that when you were all standing over the balls and he could not unequivocally state that he was sure he hit the found ball first but then proceeded to play it that he committed the cheating act? And just out of curiosity, what should I do if make the same mistake? I often carry around similar balls and when I hit a provisional it could well be the exact same type of have been hitting (though not anymore. Next round I am gonna make sure my extra ball is different!). So if I find my self standing over two identical balls, not sure which was hit first, what should I do? Call them both lost balls and hit again? Or what if I hit one in a hazard and I get there and lying there is Taylor Made 2 but I suddenly can't remember if I was hitting a 2 or a 3? I coulda sworn I was hitting a 3 but here is a 2 sitting right where my ball should be, no other ball around. And I know I have some 2's in my bag...

Rules Question: What is the ruling when a ball is hit by a player and then hits a tree and bounces back and hits the golfer who struck it? It hit his body, not his club. What if it had hit another player or the golf cart?

Titliest has a free personalization offer for their golf balls. I want to buy a buddy a box with something funny on it. A website had an example of "This Ball Shanked By John Smith." Not bad but I was hoping for something more flattering, like maybe "John Smith: Long and Straight," but funnier. Anybody got any suggestions?

Oobgolf is my choice too.

Oobgolf does automatically apply equitable stroke control...

Did you get this figured out? I have the same problem, I have to re-figure out how to get it open every time. It is not real intuitive...

I vote for Bingo, Bango, Bongo. We play that around here and it is a lot of fun for golfers of different skill levels. Though the best golfer insisted we add the Boo-yah, which also gives a point to the golfer with the lowest score on the hole.

I experienced pain in my left wrist last year and after a couple of months of it went to an orthopedic surgeon who took x-rays and told me I had arthritis. The bad news is that there is no cure short of surgery. The good news is that playing golf won't make it worse and will probably slow down it getting worse.