bradsul

I love Stan Utley's method myself. I read his book the Art of the Short Game and it made a massive difference in my game almost immediately. His method is simple but solid and dependable. His sand method might seem a little odd at first but I've found it to be every bit as reliable as his chip and pitch shots. I went from just crossing my fingers and hoping to hack it out of the sand to being confident of getting up and down. http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Short-Game-Tour-Tested/dp/1592402925/qid=1364999713

I was stuck in low 90's for what seemed like ages. As has been repeated several times now, take basic stats so you have an objective answer as to where you are suffering the most lost strokes. That will tell you what you need to practice rather than what you think you should practice (not always the same). For myself, I was hitting fairways but not hitting enough greens. And when I did hit greens I wasn't getting nearly enough 2 putts. When I missed the green I was getting too many bogeys. So for myself I decided to concentrate first on my short game. I set myself a goal of getting up and down when I was within 30yds of the green. This covered chipping, pitching and putting. I decided to treat sand play as a separate area from the short game. This brought me down into the high 80's surprisingly quickly. After that I set to work on getting my approaches tucked in nice and tight. Which is not to say I ignored my full swing during that time, I definitely didn't. It just wasn't my main focus. The other thing that could be unknowingly costing you a lot of strokes is going crazy with the driver on every hole that is long enough to hit it. Take a look at the hole layout, the designer has generally left it pretty obvious where he wants your tee shot to land. It might be only a hybrid or fairway wood instead of a driver off the tee. Using the designated landing zone generally takes any trouble out of play and thus fewer recovery shots. Not as exciting perhaps, but the view from the fairway is nicer than from the trees.

I've spoken to a few people who really got their money's worth but it seems to depend on how flexible you are for tee times. I could never get onto a course in my area when I was availalble to play. So for me it really wasn't worth it (I didn't even make my money back in savings). I've decided on golfnorth.ca this year, I know lots of people who do really well with that.

Here is a pretty good read if you find this kind of thing interesting. I don't have any real interest in surfing but the stories about them and the scientists are pretty cool. The Wave by Susan Casey http://www.amazon.com/The-Wave-Pursuit-Rogues-Freaks/dp/0385666675

Golf Canada had a blog entry about it a year or two ago. I don't think our rules differ much [if at all] from USGA so I'd say it's most likely legal for you guys as well. http://www.golfcanada.ca/blogs/rcga-rules-of-golf/article2840.ece I messed around with it on the practice green a bunch. I found it worked quite well as long as the fairway was cut tight enough.

With all-grain you can start getting into some really fun stuff like decoction mashing as well. They make for long days but are so much fun! The end product is amazing too. My first full decoction mash was a Vienna Lager. After an 8 hour brew day, 2 weeks of fermentation, 3 months of lagering and another 2 weeks to carbonate the keg... we blew through the whole thing in one night at a poker game because no one could stop drinking it! Totally worth it though!

You can make a session beer in as little as 3 weeks. Though 4-5 is generally best for a nice session beer (ordinary bitter, mild, etc). I got out of homebrewing to get into golf but I was a full all-grain brewer. I actually miss it but I put on an awful lot of weight having all that delicious beer around. Especially once I moved from bottles to kegs! I also made FAR more than not only I could consume but even more than I could give away! I still have a pretty good library of brewing and beer books too that I flip through every once in a while. I'm sure the bug will bite me again at some point.

If you're trying to cure yourself is hitting it fat, try putting a towel a couple inches behind the ball. Move it progressively closer as you get more and more confident striking the ball. Nothing cures hitting it fat like the shame of having to retrieve your towel repeatedly from down-range. Otherwise definitely painters tape, I'd hate to use a mat after someone covered it in chalk or flour or something. I don't really want my clothes covered in it.

Have you tried Teksavvy (if they're available in your area)? I dumped Rogers for them and I have unlimited bandwidth for about what I was paying Rogers just for internet.

You're right that was a little confusing. I mixed comparing numbered size vs fit without really differentiating. Doesn't change the ultimate point though that you'll most likely want to buy a half size smaller than you normally wear.

I have both the 2011 and 2012 TRUE Tours and I found they run a half size smaller. I take an 11 boot (and shoe) but a 10.5 TRUE Tour. Not sure about the other models. You'll find they are bigger in the toe box than you're used to, but that of course is the point.

I joined a local simulator place for our long winters too. I enjoy playing the big name courses I'd never spend the money to play. Our place uses hdgolf.com simulators so the imagery is really nice (actual HD photos from the courses). The course I find I play quite a lot though is a compilation course called 'Famous 3's'. It's pretty cool to play those holes from all the famous courses. Really shows you why a par3 doesn't need to be 230yds to be challenging. In the end though you are hitting off mats of various styles. You have to take it for what it is. The fun of playing golf all year round and playing in lots of leagues more than makes up for it for me. Plus the beer and the food right on hand is nice too. No waiting for the beer cart. An added benefit is the launch monitor style feedback is also helpful for working on your swing.

If you don't have the time to practice your ball-striking, the best thing you can do for yourself is to be honest about the type of miss-hit you typically have. If your normal problem is fat or thin shots then the blade won't really make things worse. However if your problem is that you can't hit the centre of the club-face reliably, a blade will hurt your game (not too mention your hands) to at least some extent. Off-centre hits just don't go very far with a blade. Definitely try a players cavity back alongside whatever blades you were thinking of. A split set is a great option as well and will give you the best of both worlds. I went through the transition when I decided to switch to MP-33's I found for a great price (recently switched to MP-58's as I'd worn the grooves so dull I couldn't stripe a ProV1). I was a 14 at the time and I dropped to a 5 over the following year. But I also put in a lot of practice time. So I don't totally buy the 'blades made me a better ball striker' argument. I have no doubt ball-striking improved while using blades, but it's all the practice that actually does it.

This seemed pretty strange until I read the linked article about the large dinosaur he built between the 9th and 10th that not only moves but roars. He has some 'interesting' ideas for the course too by the sounds of it.

Maltby makes a line ( KE4 ) that have replaceable screw-weights. I doubt you'll find much more than weight ports though because most iron 'tuning' is done by simply bending the clubhead itself.

The Yes! Sophia is another nice one. I have the first 'version' of it and I really like the classic looks combined with the modern C-grooves.

If it's a pretty straightforward hole where a reasonably average drive from me will leave me within 260yds then I might take a driver off the tee and go for it. If I have no chance of hitting it in 2 then I'll rarely even hit a driver off the tee. I can get home and nice and tight with a couple 4i and a wedge or short iron instead. Not exactly exciting but I'd rather a birdie 5/10 times than an eagle 1/20. My buddies used to always look at me strange when I don't pull out the driver all the time; taking their money after makes up for it though.

I joined a local golf simulator. 20 something HD versions of famous courses, plus a fully stocked bar and food. Not the same as being out on the grass but it's warm and close by! It was great to hit the ground running last spring.

I think this is really a stealth poll to find out who watches Mythbusters.

Trial and error for me as well. I started by figuring out what my most comfortable and accurate approach shot was. When I'm on the tee I start with that and work backwards to figure out what I need to do to get me there while avoiding any trouble. Quite often this means leaving the driver in the bag even though it's a par4 or par5. I also almost always go for the center of the green rather than taking dead aim at the flag stick. My father's Pro had what I think is some good advice too. "When in doubt, lay up. It might not be glamorous but not being in the sh*t is better than losing extra strokes."

Most likely you were able to connect closer to the sweet spot more often with the heavier head. With a lighter swingweight some people can have issues delivering the clubhead to the ball accurately - I think basically the brain has trouble perceiving where the club head is. I find I can't hit my driver well without a swingweight of at least D0. Some people like it around C5 (very light), some people like it really heavy like a wedge (my brother likes D6 for his driver, to me it feels like a piece of concrete on a stick).

I carry 95% of the time. I usually only use my push cart if it's going to rain (umbrella holder). I find carrying much less work than pushing or pulling; it's less effort to simply walk with something on my back rather than actively pushing or pulling something. I know on really hilly courses I will always carry regardless of weather.

84 , Par 70, 72.2/129, 6622yds Had a rough round today, didn't hit many greens. Really windy with gusts up to 45KM/h at times. It was really bad on the front 9 where I shot +11. The wind died down a bit and I was +3 on the back 9 which was actually better than my previous round at this course.

I use one at the range if I'm working on my driver. I hate chasing my tee down all the time. Never used one on the course though.

82 , Par 70, 72.2/129, 6622yds Played a really challenging scottish links style course yesterday. Really windy so I didn't hit many greens, also had putting issues (didn't drain anything over 8ft).