ILLZ

OK so turns out it's not a TP just a regular Superquad. I played 9 yesterday... it was windy and 42 degrees. I really only hit one beautiful drive... it's going to take some getting used to. I couldn't turn my old driver over fast enough so I played it pretty far up in my stance. I obviously set up the same with the R7 which resulted in a hook. When I tried holding back my wrists a little bit I held them back too much and pushed it. I'm sure just moving the ball back in my stance while maintaining the same swing as before will be the key here. Can anyone lend some advice on using the weights? TIA...

OK I bought an R7 Superquad at a golf expo this past weekend (10.5, and reg shaft) for $250.... I don't know if it's the TP or not... I just realized there's a difference between the TP and just the regular Superquad. Can anyone shed some light on that? Also I'm not sure how to properly use the weighting system. I'm going to play 9 now, I'll report back with my thoughts on the club in general in a few hours. Thanks in advance for any help!

Wow... I didn't think there would be any kind of simulators or other stuff at this thing... I imagined a large amount of local shops/pros trying to sell off the last of their '07 stock. Just boxes of clubs and quickly set up displays.

I'm getting a new driver at a local golf expo next weekend. I'm hoping on a Taylor Made but who knows what will be there. My main question is I don't know what degree loft and shaft is best suited for my game. I'm about an 18 handicap and I'm a relatively short hitter. A great drive is about 260 and a great 6 iron is about 155. Thanks in advance for any input!

I define a sport as anything that involves competition (i.e. there is a winner and a loser) and demands physical skill. By this rationale, chess and poker are NOT sports, but golf is. The one "activity" that I'm on the fence about is auto racing. I mean, is it physical skill? Hand eye coordination? Is it a brain related skill to be good at driving a car? I can't decide.

My friends and I sometimes go out at 7:00 and play 4 hole tournaments in which you can add the "hand wedge" to your bag. You have the option to throw the ball, overhand or underhand, from anywhere you want instead of hitting it with a club. It's very fun. Basically chipping isn't needed, and sand traps are completely useless. The real fun thing that we found is that there's a thin line between what you should actually putt and what you should try to roll in with your hand. About 6 feet seems to be the threshold where putting the ball makes more sense. It's surprisingly hard to roll a ball into the hole with your hand from 6 feet. I suggest trying this sometime, especially if you have friends that are really bad at golf.

I always talk to myself when I'm playing alone. I play much better, but I'm not sure if it's the talking or the fact that I don't have any partners. I feel like an idiot though.

Do you join a group if it's in the interest of speeding up play? For instance, there's a deuce behind you and a deuce in front... would you join up in that scenario to speed up play? I HATE infringing on someone else's group, like you I assume, but I've never refused to join a group if there was another group directly behind me.

I really wish my friends were better at golf so we could play some of these. I'm an 18, and my friends don't keep handicaps, but my 3 best golfing partners are probably 24-27ish. It makes it tough to play these games, even if money isn't involved.

I love to play as a single but I would never get a tee time by myself. The course won't take your tee time because they risk having to send you out by yourself, which means an entire "group" is taking up a spot on the course with only one greens fee being paid. Not sticking you into another existing twosome or threesome is ridiculous though, that makes no sense. On a side note, I actually won't play with someone if I go up to play by myself. I don't like to intrude on other people's groups. If two of my friends and I are out there, we're very lax about etiquette. Now all of a sudden I have to pay close attention to every little thing I do because there's some dude with me shooting 120 that I don't even know? I know what that feels like so I don't want to force it upon someone else. I'm not criticizing the single who does this... lack of golfing buddies should never hinder one's ability to play this great game, I'm just saying I don't personally like to do it.

First hole at the Town of Colonie, I wiped my drive right under some trees. I get up to the ball and the lie isn't too bad, there's an opening that I can punch it out of back into the fairway. I hit a 3 iron off my back foot with my stance a little too open and it hits a tree and ricochets backwards and slips under the net into the driving range. Hello triple bogey, so nice to see you!

A friend of mine who doesn't really golf hit his ball THROUGH his own legs on the first tee once. That was quite funny.

What's the big deal with having an official USGA handicap? The only thing you'd need it for would be to enter sanctioned events. If you're looking to gamble with someone based on their handicap and you hold back because they don't have a USGA 'cap, that's just stupid because who's to say this stranger with a USGA card that says 7 actually scores himself correctly? I enter my scores on the internet in any of various handicap calculators and it spits out my handicap. I know it's correct and legitimate because I know and abide by the rules of golf. To hell with a USGA card.

This is obviously not out of the ordinary by any means, for any golfer. I think it happened mainly because I was so emotionally deflated from the front 9. I parred 1 and 2, bogeyed 3, and parred 4, Walking to the 5th tee I'm thinking about how it's set up to be a great round. Parred the 5th, bogeyed 6, parred 7. Now I KNOW it's an outstanding round. Bogey on 8. So I'm standing on 9 tee knowing I need a par for 39. Play it safe and hit hybrid off the tee, in the right rough about 165 out. I hit a 5 iron just off the green. Played a nice little bump and run to about 5 feet and drained the putt. I was so elated that the back 9 was almost an afterthought.

Yesterday I went out and put down a 39 on the front... my best 9 hole score by 2 (previously I've shot a 41 and a bunch of 42's). I was elated, I told every starter and ranger as we made the turn. I could smell 85. Then on the back it fell apart and I turned in a 52 for a 91! Ridiculous. 12 strokes difference?

The farthest drive I've ever measured out, and by that I mean subtracted distance from the green from total hole length, was like 265 I think. That sucks.

I personally love watching anything about Van De Velde. What a disaster that was. I think the comedic height of the whole thing isn't when he's standing in the creek with no shoes on, as is the easy choice, but rather the fact that he NEVER TAKES OFF HIS GLOVE when hes putting his shoes and socks back on. It is getting a little old, but I laugh whenever he's mentioned.

I think I figured out what the major (among others) leak in my game is. Long putts. My overall putting is 2.03/hole, which is bad, but my putts/GIR is 2.42! That seems really bad but I don't have anything to base it against. What is your putts/GIR and do you consider it good or bad?

Honestly I usually wear a baggy pair of cargo shorts and a plain white tee from Gap. Some days I feel classy and go with a Polo. Comfort is my main thing. I don't care if I look like a high school drop out. I play at public courses for less than $20, to hell with impressing people. Although I must say I have never worn jeans and don't ever plan to. I draw the line there.

I teed off at 7:18 tonight and walked off the 9th green at 8:38. It was dark. If I hadn't kept the ball relatively close to the fairway and green on 9 I would've been screwed. I shot 42 and hit 6 fairways though. Hell yeah!

A swoosh that stretches across both butt cheeks.

When we were about to tee off, the ranger pulled up and told us to be careful on the greens because it had rained all day and they were completely soaked. Good enough for me!

A friend and I went to hit a bucket tonight around 7:00. The pro shop had just closed, but the kid washing off the carts told us after 7:00 you can just walk on for free and play whatever you want. We played the first hole, then turned around and played 16-18. It was awesome. I can't believe I've been playing here 3 days a week for 2 years now and never knew that.

Thanks again for all the replies... they're all very useful. As far as distance is concerned, 160 for a 6-iron is maxed out. That's not my standard 6-iron. More like 150-155 is average for a well hit shot. I was under the impression that I was a short hitter, perhaps not? And as for what I'm taking away from this entire thread... I think I'm a great chipper, but do I have anything to base that on except personal feeling? No. From now on, I'm going to start to track my chipping. It's obviously discretionary, but I'm going to decide if each chip gave me a realistic up-and-down opportunity, and I'll go from there. My suspicion is that I AM a great chipper, and I'm THAT MUCH WORSE at putting than I thought.

Well I understand that... but like I said, I'm a 19, I suck, I have to improve EVERYTHING. If I'm in the 36th percentile in driving accuracy among 19's, then that obviously means I'm even below average compared to 19's, which means I'm REALLY lagging in that department. I think it's just as useful a measure. How is your analysis of my game different based on the two? A scratch golfer can look at my GIR and putting numbers, and say "yeah you need to hit more than 24% of your greens and that 2.03 putts per hole has to come down". Well, that's something I obviously knew because I'm a 19. I feel like this type of analysis based on the perecentiles gives reference to otherwise somewhat abstract numbers.