Slicer

You can see what I play below. Maybe I am naive and uneducated, but if you get fit for irons you can have them set to whatever works for you - offset or not. I love my PING's by the way, and would never switch, because they really work for me.

At the Johnnie Walker Classic.

Heck yeah, sounds like the kid is hitting it great! My 6 year old has no interest in golf. Main thing is to keep it fun for him. If you try and drag him around the course with you for 18 holes you'll lose his interest. No more than 30 minutes at a time should you have him out there. And remember - always make it fun and make everything a game. Don't keep score, and make the shots and putts some sort of game within itself.

Tried to submit my survey, but the results timed out. Not sure it went through.

Catawba Country Club (see www.catawbacc.org ), which will be within 15 minutes of where I'll be working in Hickory, NC here is a private club I played yesterday for free. My father has a residual deal through his club here in Asheville, and just for fun I inquired of membership of the membership director. Get this girls - NO INITIATION - $337 a month!!! And that includes the wife and kids!!! A Donald Ross design that dates back to 1946. His next to last course design that was finished 2 years before his death. The course is in unbelievable shape, and has the same turtle back greens that you'd find at Pinehurst. Plays about 6,600 from the tips, but the entire front nine is up hill, so it actually plays 1 or two clubs longer on every hole. It's a heck of a track if you ask me, and the greens were running about 11 on the stimp, and it was wet and cold!!!!! They've got a weight room, a Olympic sized pool, and all sorts of social activities going on all the time. You guys will love this one. Here's their New Years Eve deal...$112 per couple, which includes live band, hors deourves, party favors, champagne at midnight and (drum roll please) OPEN BAR!!! I mean, for $56 I could not believe that price. OPEN BAR!!! Unbelievable!!! It might be a little tight, but $337 a month is a steal if you ask me. I play 10 rounds a month and I've paid for the membership!!!! Gotta love country living!

Sorry, but I have enough trouble trying to play the game right handed. I have enough of a challenge already without adding insult to injury. Thanks, not interested.... NEXT!!!

I liked the show. I thought it was interesting. Yeah Natalie, you need to turn off the cellphone when paying Butch $1,000 an hour to kiss up to you on the golf course. I thought it was strange that Butch didn't attempt to cop a feel while he was standing behind her. That would have been on my mind. Natalie's Dad is just wierd. I saw Natalie's episode of "Playing Lessons with the Pros" on TGC and Natalie's Dad was there. Can you say possesive? No wonder she's single. Daddy probably still sleeps with her. Then again, I can't say that I would blame him for that. Natalie will only realize success when she figures out that her old man is an anchor that is dragging her down. Dude needs a haircut and a bath. It's not cool.

My driver is a Ping G5 13.5*, but I also carry a regular 15* 3-wood. I hit both about 290 when I nail it. I just have a very low trajectory on all of my shots, which is why such a high loft in my driver. But it seems to work well for me. To each his own.

Did someone say golf movie? I'm there. Greatest golf movie of all time is still Caddyshack though.

Here's a breakdown of the courses we played, just so you know in case you ever get down there. Wild Wing Plantation - 4 good courses - good rangers keep pace of play moving. Avocet - best course at Wild Wing. over 7,100 from the tips (I played one tee up - 6,600 yards, which was more then enough for me). You leave this course knowing you just got more golf then you asked for. Great track! Falcon - my Dad says it is just like golf in Ireland, which is saying something. Nice layout, good challenge, great condition. Wood Stork - Very average track - comparatively speaking. Easiest course we played at Wild Wing. Very flat and straightforward on this one. The only negative to Wild Wing is that they neglected to tell my Dad they had just aerated and topdressed the greens. So we putted on sand on all these courses. But even with that the Avocet was actually in pretty decent shape as far as that goes. The Witch Golf Links - A group favorite. Shotmakers course. Target golf at it's best. Greens were REALLY fast, and if you miss the green you double bogey. Had to hit it straight as the fairways were very narrow and you either got a forest or water if you missed the fairway. You definitely need your "A" game when playing this one. Believe it or not, but I had my best round here, as I was consistently in the fairways. That was the key to taming this sucker. Man O' War - Worst course and experience of the trip. 6 hour round, with no rangers, no starters or anyone resembling course staff checking on your round. We had to wait on every tee box behind the two groups in front of us. 3 hours of golf, and 3 hours watching the guys in front of us play. Layout was what I would consider a "hackers paradise". Wide open fairways, no rough, and the only danger is water on every hole. Several interesting holes though. A island green par 4, followed by a island green par 3. I'm not sure if I can even fairly assess this course though, as the conditions were pretty good. But I shot a 39 on the front, and then exploded on the back nine as I couldn't putt any of the greens. I ended up with 41 putts and shot an 87. The 18th hole was a perfect example for me. Ripped a drive to about 270. Then ripped a 3 wood onto the front of the green. Left my eagle putt about 10 feet short. Missed my birdie putt to 3 feet past the hole. Then missed the 3 footer for a 4 putt. And you better believe I never heard the end of that from my brothers the rest of the weekend. Not that I'm making excuses for putting so bad, but after waiting forever on that round (and the 2nd round of the day) I was probably mentally bankrupt, which was probably reason enough for my putting meltdown. And the greens were not that difficult at all. Myrtle Beach National West Course - A Sunday morning yawn fest. Flat and straightforward golf course. Lots of retired local guys teeing it up here. Rangers and starters have a great system here, as they were teeing guys up on both nines simultaneously, but that works against them when guys are making the turn. We finished the front 9 (first group off in the morning) in 90 minutes, and then had to wait 30 minutes to tee off of the back nine as we had to wait for the rest of the scheduled tee times to go first. I would have preferred playing the King's North course, which is supposed to be the premier course here (Arnold Palmer course). I doubt I'd return here, as I think it's stupid to penalize someone for playing faster then their expected pace of play. But I will say this - we were done in 4 1/2 hours. It just seemed a lot slower as we were waiting on every shot on the back nine. This course reminded me a lot of the courses I played in South Florida. Flat with little danger, other then a lake or tree thrown in just for fun. And boy do I hate Bermuda greens!!!

The question is, would you swap out your irons just because they are like 20 years old, even if you are hitting them great? I've got a set of Pings that I've had since forever, and I was considering upgrading to something a little more recent. But after nailing every approach shot tight I have to ask the question, would you screw with something that honestly is working real well, just for the sake of having the "latest and greatest"?

Well, I knew my avatar was good for something.

You got that right. I'd have about 100 clubs if it wasn't for the wife screen. But thank God for that though. Nothing wrong with having a conscience.

She's not 28. She turned 29 back in January. I'm with you though - if she's 28, then so am I.

Went out yesterday and fired a smooth 77. 39 on the front, 38 on the back. 2 birdies, 10 pars, 5 bogies and 1 double. I also mixed in a putt for eagle which I left about 7 feet short of the hole. Made the 7 footer for my bird. The most interesting aspect of the round was actually seeing a deer standing on the green on #14 before I actually teed off. I don't have a picture of the actual event, but here is a picture of the hole where the deer was standing. It was just one of those days when my irons were really clicking. I even had a 4 footer for birdie on one hole that I missed, so I could have gone even lower.