I Now Know What Hell Feels Like

[The Gill]

Just got my new X-Forged 09 irons, and the only grass range in town closed early for maintenance! I have 3 options:

1. Hit them off mats
2. Fire my box of Srixons off into the local greenbelt
3. Wallow in self pity and finish my tequila and Squirt...

[M2daRizzle]

get your booze on.

[Nyper]

I hate mats with a passion... but it's better than nothing (if the other ranges wont be open soon)! They won't hurt your clubs. Yes, it'll leave green stuff, but it comes off with a little elbow grease.

[walk18]

drive to the next town

[MI Rob]

Go to another town or just go hit off the mats. Wont hurt anything really.

[enis750]

booze it up bro! hahaha!!

[BigBoy]

drink up and enjoy the anticipation one more day - imagine all the shots you'll be able to hit with them while holding them in your hands in your house -

whenever I get a new club that is the best part of the relationship I have... that sweet anticpation -

once I start playing with them, the relationship becomes much more complicated

[mposter]

Drive to range but take the bucket and fire those old balls into "the local greenbelt." I know my range could use a few balls from this decade and I would be doing them a favor

[The Gill]

Drive to range but take the bucket and fire those old balls into "the local greenbelt." I know my range could use a few balls from this decade and I would be doing them a favor

Ha. No doubt. Those hard old things would leave ball marks in the trees!

drink up and enjoy the anticipation one more day - imagine all the shots you'll be able to hit with them while holding them in your hands in your house -

The squids are feeling good now! [Squirt] + [Tequila] = Squid = Delicious I have a tee time at a 4700 yard executive course tomorrow @ 3:00. I'm leaving the boom sticks at home. Only irons. We see how the relationship is this time tomorrow!

[HSip]

Skip the Squirt.

[pjsnyc]

Booze sounds about right

Though whenever I get new sticks, I like to hit a course first before a range anyway. Kind of a tradition for me

[billm408]

FYI... the mats will bend your forged irons over a period of time. Where I am, finding grass to hit from is difficult so I just check my lie angle a couple of times a year.

[CarlSpackler]

Road trip!!!

[DavidFehertysBike]

Just throw some water down on the mat, and you'll be fine. Hitting the long irons off of the mat probably isnt much different than hitting them off of a grass surface, anyway.

[Lefty22]

Hitting the long irons off of the mat probably isnt much different than hitting them off of a grass surface, anyway.

There are a lot of people that disagree with this 100% - I'm one of them.

Personally (as a high handicap) I think the mats let me get away with WAY too much. You can hit an inch behind the ball and still get a decent ball-flight off a mat since the bounce just runs the club face up to the ball. No dice on grass, that same shot one inch behind the ball will punish you and give no illusions of a good strike. People talk about how you "should be able to feel that wouldn't have been a good shot" but once again as a higher handicap playing for a year I feel I need visual and physical feedback that will be accurate to on-course situations. Maybe it's not so bad for better ball-strikers...

[CarlSpackler]

Even on mats, I can tell if I hit it fat from the feel or the sound. I still prefer grass though.

[DavidFehertysBike]

There are a lot of people that disagree with this 100% - I'm one of them.

Thats one way to look at it i guess. But Ive never found too much of a problem with it because im hitting the ball first, anyway. Back when i was begining, id use to try to knock off a penny an inch or so in front of the ball to make sure i was hitting the ball right.

But when ive had to, ive found hitting the longer clubs off of mats could be better practice (fairway woods in particular) because the lie is much tighter than you will ever see on a golf course. I get out on a course from practicing on a mat and hitting a long iron from the fairway almost seems like its teed up.

[Lefty22]

ive found hitting the longer clubs off of mats could be better practice (fairway woods in particular) because the lie is much tighter than you will ever see on a golf course. I get out on a course from practicing on a mat and hitting a long iron from the fairway almost seems like its teed up.

Good point with the longer clubs - I can see this helping with fairway woods...