CMW

Told you so!

I bought Oakley half-jackets last year. Just after the six-month warranty expired, one of the lenses broke where it connects to the frame. I called Oakley, sent them in and they repaired them for free. I thought I was good to go when I got them back about a month ago. This week I noticed both lenses are cracking. I'm going to call them tomorrow and see if they would be willing to replace them.

Looks like T2G missed the cut with a snowman. Too bad. Maybe he will be back. But what about him and Bri?

41-39 = 80 Played with my 16-year-old daughter yesterday afternoon. I hear you on the slow play. My club had two 18-hole courses. The course we wanted to play had the back nine closed due to recent heavy rain. So the other open course was more crowded than normal. We had a slow group in front and a fast group behind. I felt pressured but it wasn't our fault. I started out poorly but got much better. I hate the last hole and almost always bogey it. I hit a decent drive but it got a favorable bounce of a mound and scooted down to a touch over 300 yards. I hit a decent 9 iron to 20" above the hole. The putt was tough but I thought, "Just hit is pure and don't worry." It hit the back of the cup for a bird and got me under 40. It's always a great day when I can spend four hours playing golf with my daughter.

Dollars to doughnuts it is a set up issue. I had a similar problem a while back. I was not making good contact wtih my irons and had lost distance. I took one lesson with a good pro. He watched me attempt to hit a few iron shots and then walked up and pulled my hands further away from my body. It felt akward at first but with in a few shots I felt like I had my swing back. He said I had probably slowly been letting the club creep to close to my body. I was having to come down far too upright to make contact and this caused a loss of consistency and distance. Now anytime I struggle a bit with my irons (or woods for that matter) I double-check everything in the set-up.

I don't like much in my pockets at all. I have a Crown Royal bag I keep in my golf bag in which I store my watch, ring, keys, change, pocket knife, etc... I take this stuff out of my pockets at the car and put them in the RC bag. When I'm done playing I take the tees, ball mark repair tool, etc... out of my pockets and put them in the RC bag ready for my next round. While playing I keep only a few tees, a ball mark repair tool with ball marker, and a provisional ball in my right front pocket. My money clip is in my left. Since I started using a bagboy push cart, I find I can keep a lot more of that stuff at the ready on the cart.

Go Tommy! My money is on Dave going down next.

39-41 = 80. I got to play by myself this morning and even got to hit a second ball on a few holes. I played a links course with US Open rough. You are luck to find your ball if you hit out of the generous fairway. The front nine went very well and I started off the back nine with 4 pars. Then my lower back started hurting and the wind got up in my face and I couldn't make anything but bogey all the way in. Still respectable but I thought it would be my first venture into the 70's this spring. I'm a little disappointed. My favorite shot was a 5 iron from a fairway bunker to 10'. I missed the birdie putt but the shot was great!

Stay with it. From now on bogey is your personal par. A true par is like a birdie, a birdie like an eagle, etc... Now see how often you can go beyond "par" and you will be in the mid-80's with diligent practice. Hit a decent drive. Get it close to the green. Chip up and two putt. At this stage, two-putt greens are golden. Avoid the three-peat. Congradulations!

Sounds like a no-brainer if you like the course. I spend more than $39 per month in range balls.

43/40 = 83 20 mph wind made club selection a bit difficult. Downwind holes played very short. Too many putts but only one 3. Not bad for me on a windy day. The best part was playing the round with my 16-year-old daughter. She started playing the first of March and shot a solid 106 yesterday. I'm impressed with her driving. If she can develop a consistent short game she will drop a lot more strokes.

Thanks Steve. I appreciate you putting these out here for us. Would you do this same drill with driver? I'm looking for a drill to keep the driver going down the line just a little longer in order to create a little more distance. More draw I do not need!

I'll go with pitching, say from 25 yards in. I usually get it on the green but often I've left myself a long lag putt. Of course the only solution is practice, practice, practice. I really enjoy chipping. I'll bump-and-run with a 7 or 8 iron instead of pitching when the course allows. Sometimes I would rather be off the edge of the green with my 8 iron than on the green with a long lag putt.

I'm new here so I don't want to be rude but a forum is a place to express one's opinion even if it differs from the majority. Many of the Tiger comments here and other places remind me of the old SNL skit with the guys sitting around talking about "Ditka" and "Da Bears." To them Ditka could do anything. I have complete respect for Tiger and his game. I've watched him since he was an amateur. He's grown both in physical skill and mental toughness. He's proven himself by his wins. What bothers me is all the hype that surrounds him. I heard commentators on XM radio last week talking about giving odds and taking Tiger hands down against the entire field. Please! Some act as though the other guys play just so Tiger will have someone to beat, as if they have no hope of winning. The hype and expectation around Tiger causes me to pull for his competitors almost every time. I always like an underdog and Zach Johnson's coolness under pressure and obvious humility in the post-round interview greatly impressed me. Contrary to what some might suggest, Tiger is human. He is fallible. He hit his shot in the water on 15. He took his chance and lost. Sure, he might beat Zach Johson if they could replay the final round. The thing is he didn't beat him when it counted. Again, I mean no disrespect to Tiger or anyone here. However, the hype doesn't attract me as a fan. Now I wonder who would win if Tiger and Ditka were arm-wrestled...

Practice : Spend time on the range and short game practice at least once per week. Practice short shots after hours in a large school yard down the street. Play : No less than once per week if I can help it. More often when I can. Irons : Work on consistency. Get GIR's up in the 50% range. Find a set of irons that suits my game better and learn to love them. Driver : Upgrade soon but work on fading the driver. I draw the ball on most every shot but an intentional fade would be helpful. Putting : Practice lags and get the number down to 30 per round. Mental : Be deliberate over every shot especially on the last 2-3 hole per round. Family : Continue to play weekly with my 16-year-old daughter and help her break 100 by the end of the summer.

Zack is a class act and very humble. I was rooting for him down the stretch and appreciated how he played within himself and didn't let the bogey on 17 get him down. I noticed he said he didn't look at the leaderboard until 17 and then he bogeyed that hole. He shook off his jitters and finished will with a delicate chip to gimmie range. I appreciate seeing course condiditions very difficult. We play in high winds a lot in West Texas and I like seeing the pros really challenged by a course. That's what the majors have always been about, the best playing the best.

I had a similar experience years ago with Hogan blades. Keep them. Try them for a while. If you decide to buy more forgiving irons, keep the Mizunos because if you improve you may come back to them. Hitting forged irons will help you know when your swing is on and when it is off. They will teach you how to play. If you get overly frustrated, try another set but keep the Mizunos.

Odyssey 2 Ball 41" Belly.

Hi, this is my first post but I have been reading the Trap off and on for a while. I was a golf nut in the late 80's-early 90's, playing and practicing all the time, watching all the tournaments on TV and reading all the magazines. A wife and two daughters and life got in the way and I only played socially for a few years. Last year my teenage daughter decided to join the school golf team so dad had to get back into golf. It's been even more fun the second time around. Of course there is all this new, inovative equipment I need to spend $$ on! Irons : I loved my Ping Eye 2's in the 80's but eventually traded them off for some Hogan Apex blades. Later I had a set of Lynx and the TA 845's which I kept during my "social golf" period. A while back I thought I would get another set of Eye 2's but I don't like them now as much as I did then. I've recently bought an Ebay set of TM rac lt's that I like very much. However, there is a big club demo in town later this month and I'm open to new options. Woods : I have an assortment of older Callaway and TM drivers and fairway woods but I am hitting a 10.5 stiff shaft Titanium Bubble driver and I got a 3 wood from ebay to match it. I just love the feel of hitting this club and have not yet decided on anything newer. Wedges : I'm carrying a Ping Zing SW I've had for years and a Hogan Special 60. Putter : I just recently set aside my Ping Anser 2 I bought new in '88 for $40 for a Belly Odyssey 2-Ball. Bag and Accessories : I use a Sun Mountain stand bag I bought several years ago but still serves me well. I don't buy expensive balls but look for sales and try different ones out. I'm very much enjoying the game again and hope to get my handicap back down where it was years ago.