Steel

play those 2 holes as par 5's take your bogie and move on, some holes you have to take your lumps on, just don't make doubles or bigger and you will be better off

Funny thing, mine have all cracked rite in the middle of the sweet spot, just a small hairline fracture, the Taylors broke verticly, the Callaways broke horizontially between the grooves, the FT Tour came apart at the epoxy joint where the metal meets the carbon body. My swing speed is 100-110, but they still break, I am surprised more guys don't break them, did play with one young guy a couple of weeks ago and he said his Nike driver cracked in the compression chamber, and Nike warrantied it for him

When I am trying to score I will often just try to get it inside 150 yards for the approach, unless its a fairway I am very confident I can hit. 350-390 yard par 4's I will use 2 iron or 3 wood, par 5's I almost never go in 2 unless its wide open around the green, greenside sand traps are no big deal but well protected greens with water and tree's are a no go, risk reward is too high. I can pin my wedges inside 15 feet 50% of the time, and from inside 130 I almost never miss the green, so there is no need to go in 2 risk putting it in the water or trees, pitching out and making a bogie or worse on a par 5, thats an easy 4 strokes per round, if you bogie par 5's if you make double or worse on them you cannot recover. I average 2-3 birdies per round

If you are driving the ball well the tips can be great, if your not driving it well its a nightmare, get on the bogie train and stay aboard for the round trip! another thing that makes courses yardages seem longer or shorter is location, play high altitude thin air the ball carries a lot further, probably 2 clubs different from where I play at sea level. Sea level when its cold and wet can make the white tees feel like the tips

Get to the course early and get properly prepared, I stretch out and loosen up before I hit any balls, then I hit at least a warm up bucket, then I hit some pitch and chip shots, then practice my putt's from inside 5 feet for about 5-15 minutes. Then I tee it up and play, if you do this I can guarantee you a much better result. You can probably lower your score by 2-5 strokes, give it a try, get there an hour earlier, you can thank me later.

Why are you making double's or bigger? Driving it OB or into trouble, or is it iron play, sounds to me like you have to keep the ball in play instead of blasting away. I rarely go for par 5's in 2, I find I can make more birdies with a wedge from 100-130 and it takes the big numbers out of the equation, same on shorter par 4's I will often hit 3 wood or 2 iron to make sure it stays on the short grass

I have broken 2 Taylor's and 3 Callaway's, Taylor didn't warranty my last driver, so I stopped buying them. I broke 2 great big Bertha's, and recently broke my FT Tour 9.5, all were warrantied by Callaway. I think main difference is how many range balls you hit, I hit a lot of range balls with the driver and those things are like hitting rock's, my SS is around 100-110. I love my Callaway Drivers, I would not hit anything else at this point in time, great customer service, nice to have an open face, almost everything else looks closed to me

What does the "skin's" mean under your avatar, I haven't noticed it under anyone else's avatar/signature

for me it depends on the day, pin placement and the course. If the fairways are cut really tight and the greens are holding the ball I find it a lot easier to get the ball close, pin placement is also key, I draw the ball, so back right is impossible, I just hit it into the middle, back left, piece of cake, on good greens and fairways I can back the ball up 5-15 feet. The biggest variable is me, if I'm in the "zone" I can hit them inside 15 feet 50% of the time, if I'm not I'm happy being inside 25 feet. I rarely miss the green from 100-130 yards, yardage for me is between PW and 9 iron

Anyone played Chambers Bay this year? What kind of shape is it in? Going there next week, going to play Chambers Bay, West Seattle, Druids Glen. any advice/opinions?

If you can't get it in play off the tee you will never score well. As far as I am concerned one of the most important clubs in the bag, if you are going to be a successful low handicapper you have to be able to launch it off the tee. I am not happy unless I am hitting it 260-280 on the short grass, and regardless of what I'm hitting 10-12 fairways per round

I have met lots of very interesting people on the golf course, Judd Hirsch-actor, Joe Nuewndyk, Craig Berube and Greg Smith-pro hockey players (Calgary Flames), president of the Mitsubishi Company Canada division, A UN Economist, John Garrett, former NHL goalie, Vancouver Canucks, now a TSN sports Broadcaster, lots of interesting people out there its surprising who you get paired up with sometimes

Cross-handed, standard baseball grip, shoulders level

must be something in the spring air, 77 with a triple, 4 bogies, 2 birdies. Can't wait for it to warm up a little more!

the easiest way to practice bunker play is with no ball, make practice swings in the bunker taking out dollar bill sized "divots" make sure you accelerate through the shot and have a good follow through high to the hole. If you can make a good swing through the sand finishing high to the hole knocking the sand out of the bunker and toward the hole your sand game will improve ten fold. After you are comfortable with this drill just add the ball and concentrate on making the same swing taking the same amount of sand as if the ball were not there, if the sand comes out, the ball comes out, simple

club up and swing easy. "Swing with ease into the Breeze" Go to the driving range and practice in the wind, the more you play in the wind the better you will get at it. Played yesterday in a horrendous wind, 150 yard into the wind 5 iron, with the wind 50 deg wedge

It's only my opinion, but it makes sense to me when you are hitting down on the ball with an iron I would prefer it to be sitting on the turf. I would like to see some slow motion photography of what actually happens to the ball when it is on a tee compared to when it is on the turf

playing in competitive tournaments is a different ball of wax, keep at it, it will get better, sometimes the nerves get the best of you. First mens am tournament I played in I did the same type of thing on day 2, the mind starts to race a little, just pretend your out with your buddies it will relax you a little. Just imagine how a struggling pro feels coming down the stretch in contention of his first win on the PGA, I think I would be whiffing it!

you know your short game and putter is working well when this happens, I have scraped the ball around for an entire round and ended up with a mid to high 70's score, just because I got up and down every hole and when I was on GIR i made a couple of bird's. Conversely I have hit 12 fairways and 14 GIR and shot low 80's, almost impossible, this is a crazy game

Congrat's Ross 80 is a tough one to break for the fist time! Some quick advice that I hope helps your game, I see you have already discovered how important it is to not let bad shots/holes bother you. Take it one step further, only concentrate on the shot you are about to make. Don't think about the last hole, the last nine holes, or the next series of holes coming up, only concentrate on the shot your going to hit, think it through and fully commit to your decision. I think this will help with your mental game a little. As far as your play from inside 120 I am also most comfortable when making a full swing or a half swing. Having only 2 basic swings for me is an important key for my play inside 100 yards, I carry the ball about the same distances as you do, pitching wedge 110-120, I also carry a 50 deg 90-100, 54 deg 80-90, in combination with a half swing this gives me enough of a variation in lofts to cover all my short distances, hope this helps, good luck with the continued success to your game.

For me the snap hook is produced when I start "slamming the door" with the right hand at or just before impact. When I am at the range I will concentrate on 1 - Swing path and finish high to the target, start with a short iron, 9 or wedge set up to a close target preferably the 100 yrd marker, then slowly work your way up to the irons that are giving you trouble, if possible get a stall directly in front of the 100 yard marker this makes it easier for alignment just keep following through to the marker with all your irons. if that doesn't work I try firming up the left wrist so it is not overpowered at impact by the right, this will help get rid of the "flip" motion at the bottom of the swing. I work on making the ball go directly over the marker with all my clubs, this way I know my aligment and face position is square to the line. Hope this helps, fighting the hooks can be a nightmare

I love it when your striking the ball that well and some rubberhead tell's you you can squeeze another 20 yards out of your drive if you could just hit that draw! hahahaha

If your hitting a push/fade and your hitting it consistently don't mess with it. If you start to work the draw for an extra 5 yards it can quickly deteriorate into a hook and believe me, when you start to fight that it will be the sorriest day of your golf life.

it definetly happens, sometimes you blow your brains out on a couple of holes, sometimes you strike the ball well but put your brains out, sometimes you putt well and nothing will drop. just keep at it and it will all fall into place someday!!

Hey Gerald Check out the Scratch web site, they have an unbelievable selection of wedge grinds available, i don't have a set, but I have heard they are top of the line. Playing off of a 5.8 you must have a good sand game, I used to play off 4 and I don't like any bounce on my wedges, I tend to pick the ball in the trap and take very little sand, I grind/file the bounce off my wedges for 2 reasons 1 - playability/versatility, you can take the wedge and lay it wide open or close it according to what you need, you can lay it wide open to hit a high flop from a tight lie without worrying about blading the ball, also opening or closing the face along with different ball positions in the trap will create different trajectory shots. 2 - swing weight, i like my wedge's to be the same swing weight as the rest of my clubs. For me in the trap if I open the club face and stance, place the ball near the front foot and pick the ball fairly clean it will create a high trajectory with lots of spin. place the ball mid stance and close up the face will result in a lower trajectory shot with some run. Take your old Cobra wedge and grind off the bounce and then go to a bunker and experiment with it, you may be very surprised at the results.