Had an IDEA... 4 CLUBS

[kuteazn1]

Had an idea about wanting to play my irons better...
So I went out with a 5i, 9i, 58* and putter
Played from the White tees and shot a 96 should of broke 80 but putting killed me like always.

Does anyone think this was good or is it just me... My tee shots were going 185-200 yards and nice and stright, better then the driver that was going 280 on a good shot, but don't forget about the bad shots that duck hook or slice, LOL
I think I am going to concentrate on my irons for a month and see now my scores improve... and become better at my iron striking...

Any positive or negitive about this...

On a side note, I was out together with a lonesome and we pair up and I out drove him with my 5i over his driver on every hole... he was not very long with his driver at all... and he was having trouble on every tee shot.
He has been playing for 16 years and he is an older gentlemen probably in his 50's
I guess youth was on my side off the tee

[XMScott]

Its not unheard of when people abandon their woods.

Just thing about getting better at driving the ball and having a nice and easy 100 yard PW to the green. And sinking that birdie. Possible if you work on your drives sir.

[Shindig]

Had an idea about wanting to play my irons better...

That must have been a hell of a round... I've shot 96 plenty of times, but never felt that one of those rounds could have been in the 70s. As for the idea, that's awesome. If I had your distance, I would certainly consider it. My distance is increasing lately, and if mom makes good on her idea of starting to play, I may join her for a round at the red tees, teeing off with a 5-iron.

[kuteazn1]

That must have been a hell of a round... I've shot 96 plenty of times, but never felt that one of those rounds could have been in the 70s.

I had lots of 4 putts and one 5 putt...

The putter is killing me, I am on the green in regs only had 5 holes that I miss the green but chip it about 10 foot of the hole on the miss green... but can not putt to save my life... even a 2 foot putt kills me. I think I need to get me some lesson on putting. I need more stokes on the putting green then it does for me to reach it. STUPID I KNOW. All par threes was on the green in one, but then 3 putt... what the heck... I always putt for birdie on most holes but walk about with bogie or double bogie on most holes... That is the must frustrating thing to me right now...

[wkdspd]

quick and easy putting trainer:
- take 2 beat up golf balls and clean them up as best you can
- find a nice level working surface where the two balls can rest against each other and not roll away or move
- mix up a dime size batch of epoxy, and wait until it starts to thicken up, about 5 mins
- put a fat drop of epoxy on one ball, then press the two balls together at the epoxy point, set on newspaper where they remain touching, and allow to dry...

when they are finished drying, use them to put around your living room, den, putting green, wherever, lining them up with a straight line to whatever the target is. they will instantly tell you how your putter is swinging at impact - if they push right, you're not closing the face quick enough. if they pull left, you're closing the face too quickly. work on keeping your hands as still as possible through your stroke until you can roll the balls straight every time. if you still cant keep your hands quiet, take a nice wide stance and swing with your shoulders, this should help eliminate the hands.

good luck, hope that helps!

[Big_M]

Played from the White tees and shot a 96 should of broke 80 but putting killed me like always.

did you have 45-50 putts?

My distance is increasing lately, and if mom makes good on her idea of starting to play, I may join her for a round at the red tees, teeing off with a 5-iron.

why not just play from your own box... heck with paying full price for 3/4 of a course.

I had lots of 4 putts and one 5 putt...

If you are putting that bad I wouldn't even worry about practicing with your irons... spend the next few months on the practice green and don't play a full round again until you can get down in two from anywhere on the green almost every time.

[Bourbon and Coke]

Yeah, if your putting is that terrible why are you wasting time "fixing" your irons?

[Shorty]

I always putt for birdie on most holes

....and yet you tried this exercise because you want to improve you iron play...

[microcrayfish]

quick and easy putting trainer:

I might actually give this one a go, sounds like it'd work great to tell you if you're starting your putts on line.

[PiKapp23]

I have played a local course a few times with only a 7i and putter. When I do that I play from the women/senior tees. The yardage is around 5200 or something like that. I tried going out with only a 5 iron once, but just it just wasn't verstile enough inside 100 yards. I think it can help you become more creative with your irons because it forces you to do things that you do not have the correct club for. I've heard that Seve could play an entire round with just about any single club in his bag and still score well (I doubt he would have done well with just his driver since he never did drive the ball well).

Definitely sounds like you need to work on pitching, chipping and putting. If you're hitting that many putts I am also assuming you are leaving yourself a lot of long putts. It might be good for you to just go out and play a little par 3 course and work on pitching, chipping and putting. One thing that really helped my scoring was good chipping so that I don't have 30+ foot putts all day. For the most part pros and really good players dedicate as much time to short game as everything else combined. You'll often hear statistics that say 70% of all shots are inside 100 yards.

[Dub]

I know a guy who plays once a week on the weekend....and has a couple of range sessions during the weekday afternoons. He says that for at least half of these range sessions, he only hits the the one or two clubs that "offended" him during his Saturday round.

Interesting concept.

I did sort of like you did several years back and played a couple of practice rounds with only irons / wedges / putter. Not only did the woods stay out of the bag....but I stayed out of the woods.

One of the biggest things it did was getting me to actually think from the hole backwards for the first time....what yardages I'd need / desire for my approach....what club to start off with for the simplest combination...etc. Prior to this, I'd hit driver on every par 5 and follow it up with a three wood.....and take whatever was left to the green....certainly not always the best way to unlock a par 5.

[Mr3Putt]

In the bye week between the first and second half of our league, we have a 2 clubs and a putter round. I usually pick my 7 wood and 8 iron.

Most of the field shoots within 5-7 strokes of their usual score. You can surprise yourself with how creative you can be when you don't have your standard club available.

14 clubs is almost too many.

[thr33]

We used to do this about once a month during the summer. We'd play from the white tees using only 3 clubs. I'd usually just take a 3 wood, 6 iron and a wedge. I'd putt using my 6 iron and not have many more putts than if i had used my cameron :P

[lumpuckeroo]

There is a course in my area that is, for the lack of a better term, combo executive coure. The front nine is par 36, but the back is par 30 with 3 par 4's and 6 par 3's. When I first started playing and at this time of the year, I would go play the back nine only. If I went early on a Saturday morning no one would be on the course and I would play 3 or 4 balls from the tee. Really helped me with playing irons into greens and putting.

[XMScott]

quick and easy putting trainer:

Sounds like an awesome idea. Going to do that later. Thanks sir.

[mirv]

i've played several rounds with a minimal number of clubs. on my home course, i know i could get around that entire course with nothing but a 3 wood, 7 iron, pitching wedge and putter and still shoot within a few shots of my average. but then, i know that course backwards and forwards, so... yeah. i agree that playing a round occasionally with only three or four clubs is a good exercise.

there's a rumor that john daly plays (or used to play) a short course nearby (a par 67 course) and only took his 5-iron, pitching wedge and putter.

[HSip]

"He has been playing for 16 years and he is an older gentlemen probably in his 50's"
Ouch - Having said that - Sounds like you better work on your putting or some "old gentlemen" may be beating you one of these days. Cheers

[Brent]

I myself am taking part in a very serious struggle striking the ball well with my woods. Sometimes I hit my driver decent, but even then, it usually have an intense slice. The 9-Hole course I call home has trees everywhere. If you hit the ball semi-deep in the trees you wont find it. It goes without saying that my woods have lost me many a golf ball. Trying to hit any wood or hybrid off of a fairway lie is just impossible for me. I can putt the ball farther than I can hit it with a wood. I am going to tell my instructor about this problem and hopefully he can help me improve my ball striking with the woods.

- Brent