Do you drive 250+ yards and have a 20+ handicap?

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

and if you don't have Slice Of Life's somewhat unique problem of being better at a 200 yard shot than a 100 yard shot.

What can I say? I'm a statistical anomaly.

Actually, I've solved the problem (for now). I'd rather have the 100-160 yarder

[Jeremie Boop]

For me, anything in the 130's is comfortable.... That's about it rofl. Well, besides putts, I'm pretty confident no more than 2 putting.

[res0n0xg]

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

A little something I noticed at the BO this weekend - Phil isn't even carrying a driver these days - apparently Calloway has created him some kind of 2-wood.  And he is playing some really good golf.  Also, on Saturday sometime, Tiger pulled his out for the first time of the tournament.  And he played pretty well, too.

I think the moral of the story might be to hit the longest club that you have a high percentage chance of keeping in the fairway - even if it is a lot less club than you pictured - and especially if you are a higher handicap - and if you don't have Slice Of Life's somewhat unique problem of being better at a 200 yard shot than a 100 yard shot.

I think I wrote this before, but 20+ caps aren't getting many GIR's on 350 yard holes anyway - so usually on in 3.  With 3 decent 7-irons, you can cover 450 yards or so.

a 20+ hcp player isn't hitting 3 decent 7i in a row either though, such is the game of golf. Granted he has a better chance to not go crazy, lose a ball, etc. but that's not a viable solution really.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by res0n0xg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

A little something I noticed at the BO this weekend - Phil isn't even carrying a driver these days - apparently Calloway has created him some kind of 2-wood.  And he is playing some really good golf.  Also, on Saturday sometime, Tiger pulled his out for the first time of the tournament.  And he played pretty well, too.

I think the moral of the story might be to hit the longest club that you have a high percentage chance of keeping in the fairway - even if it is a lot less club than you pictured - and especially if you are a higher handicap - and if you don't have Slice Of Life's somewhat unique problem of being better at a 200 yard shot than a 100 yard shot.

I think I wrote this before, but 20+ caps aren't getting many GIR's on 350 yard holes anyway - so usually on in 3.  With 3 decent 7-irons, you can cover 450 yards or so.

a 20+ hcp player isn't hitting 3 decent 7i in a row either though, such is the game of golf. Granted he has a better chance to not go crazy, lose a ball, etc. but that's not a viable solution really.

It is when you are just learning the game.  Start small and move up.

[inthehole]

I'm about like the OP ... carry about 220-230 yds for a total drive around 245 on avg.      The secret to my recent success - hcp trending way downward is to leave the driver in the bag unless its a really nice wide open fairway.  I love hitting my 3 iron off the tee for super tight fairways or the 4 wood if I have a little more room, but not enough for driver.    I should be closing in on single digits with the rest of game - putting is holding me back profusely.      My putting is so much worse than the rest of my game - it's almost funny.    I jokingly tell my wife my goal is to be the first single digit hcp player in  history averaging 36 putts per round !!

[Meltdwhiskey]

Originally Posted by res0n0xg

a 20+ hcp player isn't hitting 3 decent 7i in a row either though, such is the game of golf. Granted he has a better chance to not go crazy, lose a ball, etc. but that's not a viable solution really.

Totally agree that 3 good 7-irons in a row are not terribly likely.  Was just an example of what 3 shots can get you - assuming that you are probably going to take 3 anyway. But that also covers 450 yards, not the 350 or so needed.

Maybe they go 4i, 7i, and chip.  Or a not-so-good hybrid, 6i, and chip.  Or n-s-g 4i, n-s-g 4i, and chip.  Or some other combo that got them in pitching distance with a lot less risk of going OB or LostBall or whatever.  In my experience, pulling out all the stops to get there in two gives me higher scores than sometimes playing to get there in 3.

And that can apply to the second shot as well as the first - like going for the green from 190 with bunkers/water in play near the green.  And remember, you still have the par 3's and 5's which are probably better ops for the elusive GIR.

[Meltdwhiskey]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

What can I say? I'm a statistical anomaly.

Actually, I've solved the problem (for now). I'd rather have the 100-160 yarder

That's awesome.  It's always great when something clicks!

[Lihu]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

It is when you are just learning the game.  Start small and move up.

How about 5 PW

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Lihu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

It is when you are just learning the game.  Start small and move up.

How about 5 PW

Whatever works.  It's one of the beauties of golf.  There is no one way to play.

[phan52]

My problem is that I am an amateur, I work at my job,  and don't have the time to work on my game. There is always something that is missing from my game round-to-round. On the days that I am driving it in play and getting my approaches on or around the green, my short game sucks. When my short game is on, I end up putting way to much stress on it because I am scrambling from being in a poor position off the tee. I drive great, I putt horribly. I putt like Phil on the back nine on Sunday at Muirfield, and I can't drive or hit irons to save my life. To quote the late great Rosanne Rosannadanna,  "If it ain't one thing, it's another."

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by phan52

My problem is that I am an amateur, I work at my job,  and don't have the time to work on my game. There is always something that is missing from my game round-to-round. On the days that I am driving it in play and getting my approaches on or around the green, my short game sucks. When my short game is on, I end up putting way to much stress on it because I am scrambling from being in a poor position off the tee. I drive great, I putt horribly. I putt like Phil on the back nine on Sunday at Muirfield, and I can't drive or hit irons to save my life. To quote the late great Rosanne Rosannadanna,  "If it ain't one thing, it's another."

Totally ... seems there are basically 5 aspects to the game:  Driving; long irons/hybrids/woods; short irons/wedges, chipping/pitching; putting.     I usually have 2 or 3 of these working well, with the remainder lackluster.    I've been playing almost 3 years with well over 200 rounds under my belt - haven't come close to that magic round when all 5 aspects of the game are my "A game" ... if that ever happens, that will be the day I break 80.

[saevel25]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

What can I say? I'm a statistical anomaly.

Actually, I've solved the problem (for now). I'd rather have the 100-160 yarder

You'd be shocked at how often people can drive the ball well, and have crappy short irons. I honestly think its because drivers are much more forgiving. You can hit up and down on a driver. You can't hit up on an iron shot, so you can get away with some things. So you can go from -2­° to +4° angle of attack with a driver. For an iron your looking at negative only. So people who top irons shots can get away with that with a driver.

I know two guys who suck at wedges, who bomb drives. Golf is a weird game like that.

[phan52]

Originally Posted by saevel25

You'd be shocked at how often people can drive the ball well, and have crappy short irons. I honestly think its because drivers are much more forgiving. You can hit up and down on a driver. You can't hit up on an iron shot, so you can get away with some things. So you can go from -2­° to +4° angle of attack with a driver. For an iron your looking at negative only. So people who top irons shots can get away with that with a driver.

I know two guys who suck at wedges, who bomb drives. Golf is a weird game like that.

I think it is more a case of not practicing the short game. I don't have a lot of time, but I like to mix it up as much as I can. When I go to the range I rarely see people working on their short game. Most want to just bomb away.

[Motown88]

You sound like me. I've turned to my 3-iron a lot more in the past few weeks to try to lower my handicap back down. But like you, my putting is HORRIBLE. I had a round earlier in the season that I had only 24 putts, since then I don't think I've been below 30. That's golf for you though. To piggy back on everything you said, I think if anyone is struggling to lower there handicap the easiest way to do this is to put the driver back into the bag and hit something that will find them the fairway.

[goatlord]

Yes, easily.

[late347]

- Less than average putting, maybe? Some holes it's threeputt, but if I get into good position on the green (closer to flag) then I sometimes make twoputts.

- Less than average wedge shots. I never quite understood how people are able to pitch the ball reliably with a pitching wedge etc... High altitude pitch with small roll and steep descent angle. I need to learn this kind of shot with a pitching wedge ! Please keep in mind that I never really gotten any formal golf teaching except maybe 10 years ago, when I had a beginner's golf camp where they taught us kids about basics of golf.

- But I did take two golf lessons so far this summer. My instructor actually taught me, to play with three swings essentially. He said that I gotta hit wedge shots (pitch and lob) with stack&tilt; swing, without any weightshifting. Stack weight mostly on forward leg he said ?!?!  (about 60% forward leg and 40% rear leg)

- Then I play irons with normal golf swing. And for driver swing I try to either bomb it at max power, or go slightly below at about 85% power.

- Slightly less than average chipping, I feel. Getting better aiming, and better feel for the rolling speed, will be beneficial, I think. You can always improve accuracy closer to the pin, assuming you had a decent lie in the first place, I think. I always chip shot with my 8-iron, because that's what my instructor suggested for a chipping club.

- Duffs and low-altitude push-slice (shank?) with irons (oh dear !!!)

- Driver straight slices / excessive fades. It happens occasionally, but when I get the driver in play, I have good scoring opportunities. In theory, a straight drive should  go further, than a fade, though?

-I was also thinking about maybe trying a genuinely strong grip on the driver. Has anybody done this kind  of thing in their own golf game, play normal shots with neutral grip, but sometimes play with strong grip driver shot off the tee?