Huffy2k

Finally broke down and succumbed to Taylor Made's marketing machine, bought an R11 10.5 degree driver and the RBZ 3 wood. Can't wait to see if the launch monitor results translate to the course!

Here is our schedule for our annual Myrtle trip commencing on 4/28 4/28 - 18 @Shaftsbury Glenn 4/29 - 18 @ Legends Moreland / 18 @ Legends Parkland 4/30 - 18 @ Glenn Dornoch 5/1 - 18 @ Wild Wing 5/2 - 18 @ Legends Parkland (not thrilled with repeating a course we played 3 days earlier) 5/3 - 18 @ Myrtle Beach National, Kings North / 9 @ MBN South 5/4 - 18 @ Heather Glenn Of the courses we have in the lineup for this year my favorite would be Kings North. I do like the Glenn courses too and am glad to see them back in the rotation this year. The Legends courses are great and since we always stay in the Legends condo's, we usually play a couple rounds there during the week. Other courses mentioned that I like are Willbrook Plantation, TPC Myrtle, True Blue, and Grande Dune. Not a big fan of the big cat courses (Lions Paw, Tigers Eye, etc) - They were in pretty poor shape when we played there last year.

Ha Ha!

And pray that you are playing Match-Play and not Stroke-Play!

I'm not sure where I read it but I remember seeing a golf pro a few years ago that basically said, for high handicappers, it's more important to practice the full swing than the short game. The theory behind that is that if high handicappers can't get off the tee, hit their full approach shots, etc with any sort of consistency, they won't score (and more importantly, they won't enjoy the game). We all know how miserable it is to play if we can't get off the tee. Now, as you lower that handicap into the range of the OP, the short game becomes much much more crucial imo...

That's the beauty of the trip for me - I just have to show up! ;) One of the guys who organizes the trip makes all of the golf plans and I honestly have no idea how he does it! My favorite track from this year was Willbrook plantation while the Big Cats courses we played were the bigger disappointments.

Oh yeah, it's happened to everyone I'd imagine. Here's the deal, if your -19 had won, there would have been a team sitting at -18 figuring that you guys had cheated too!

Go PENS!!!!!

Just got back from Vegas and played at the Legacy Club while I was there. Very nice course, very well maintained, two thumbs up! http://www.thelegacygc.com/sites/courses/custom.asp?id=944&page;=53440

96 yesterday (51-45) ~sigh~ On the plus side, my ball striking was very good. I hit 11 of 14 fairways and all 4 of the par 3's but my putting was HORRIBLE! I only 2 putted 2 greens, 3 putted 15, and 4 putted 1!!! I could blame the condition of the greens as they had just been aerified and given a fresh layer of sand, but still, no excuses for that kind of putting... I play on a pretty tough course, rating 72.4 with a slope of 134 from the white tees.

domc36 - I had the same issue with my irons and it turned out I needed a lie adjustment. After hitting off a lie board, the club fitter determined that my lie was 1 to 2 degrees too upright on my irons. Too upright of a lie causes you to hit the ball more toward the heel of the clubface, effectively pulling most of your shots to the left. A quick lie adjustment on my irons has solved that problem and my irons are working much better for me now.

I'm with fourputt, shorts and golf sandals!

So I just watched a rebroadcast of Stacy Lewis holing out the 18th hole at the Kraft Nabisco where she was almost immediately met by a group of friends who proceeded to douse her with champagne - right on the green! Courses treat their greens with such reverence that I was kind of surprised they would allow a champagne shower - I'm assuming that won't do any damage??? Also, did you hear that Lewis's mom broker her leg on the leap into the Poppie's Pond - ouch!

Interesting.... I have always thought it was exactly the opposite, courses preferred carts to drive on the fairways rather than the rough. Of course the best place to drive a cart is the cart path but when not on the path, I always thought the fairway was preferred...

Our Myrtle Beach trip

Besides my regular game at my home course, once a year I get together with a group of 40 guys every April in Myrtle Beach. This will be my 11th year but the core group and founding members will be on their 28th consecutive year. This group started as a trio of brothers and their friends from Eastern PA but as the core group has moved around the country, the number of attendees (new friends, business associates, etc) has grown over the years to it's current number of 7 foursomes (about the biggest manageable number you can get off a course in a day). The 2 brothers who spearhead this group have really done a cool job combining fun and a well organized week of activities/games with a sense of history and tradition. At the end of each week, a "Green Jacket" is awarded to the golfer who performs the best relative to his abilities. Lots of other "awards" are given including rookie of the year, ironman (biggest partier), and best dressed (tongue in cheek). This year they have put together a web site that documents the weeks activities along with the various betting games that we play while we are down there. It takes an accountant to decipher the scorecard at the end of a round in keeping track of all the bets but it really is a great way to spend a week. The web site is here for anyone who is interested in seeing how one group runs their spring trip to Myrtle!

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm just trying to battle the inner club-ho in me that's trying to get out. Deep down, I know it's crazy to spend $400 on a driver and seeing some of your responses made me realize that it really is a stupid thing to do (speaking only for myself and my handicap, not saying others couldn't/shouldn't buy an R11)! I do think I need something with more loft than my current driver though, an extra 10-15 yards would be nice for some of the holes I have to play week-in and week-out on my course. I think I'll go back to my club fitter (the guy that put me in the Wishon irons) and have him analyze my swing and see if he can make me a nice deal on one of his component clubs...

I have made it my mission to really improve my golf game this year. I have been golfing for many years, with many breaks along the way due to family obligations, so I've never really put in the time required to take my game to the next level. As you can see by my handicap index, I'm not a horrible golfer but I've got a LOT of room for improvement... So far this year I've replaced my irons with a nice set of GI irons that I really like. I've taken a couple of lessons from my club pro who has made adjustments to my grip that have really helped me correct a problem fade I have always had. I've purchased a "Tour Striker" practice club to learn how to hit down on the ball and correct my flippy swing. I've joined thesandtrap.com and have been gaining as much knowledge from you guys as I can! And finally, I've been trying to get out and either play 9, hit the driving range, or hit the short game practice green every day (weather permitting) for the past month or so. I'm showing progress as I've already shot an 84 at my home course this year (which beats my best score from last fall by 2 strokes). After reading some of Tom Wishon's work on optimal driver lengths and lofts, I think I need to replace my Taylor Made R9 9.5 driver with something that is more suited to my abilities and swing speed (around 91 mph). Although I hit my current driver fairly well and pretty consistently, I feel that I could get some additional yardage with a higher loft. Seeing as how I've already blown my golf budget for the year, does anyone have any suggestions for a good, reasonably priced driver that won't set me back the $400 of an R11? Thanks in advance!

Great question and great answer. I had been wondering the same thing this year...

I'm pretty much in the same situation as Double Bogey above. I joined a club last fall that is about 10 minutes from my office. A few weeks ago, before winter returned to my area, I was heading over every day and either playing 9 (in about 1.5 hours) or simply practicing my short game in the short game practice area (the driving range is not open for the season yet). In my opinion, any time spent practicing/playing is time well spent!

My group is heading down at the same time (4/29 thru 5/6) and we are playing the Big Cats too. We're playing Lion's Paw and Tiger's Eye on Sunday and then finishing the week on Friday at Leopard's Chase. I don't make the plans so I can't give you any insight as to replay costs and overall costs as our organizer collects all money up front and pre-pays all our green's fees for the week. I CAN tell you that, having played the Cats courses previously, they are great courses and $250 for all 4 sounds like a good deal. You'll love it! Restaurants/bars/nightlife - wow - lots of options. The liveliest place in Myrtle is "Broadway at the Beach", lots of bars, lots of people!

I usually just pick up a broken tee laying around in the tee box and just tee it up on that. As others have said before, just high enough to give you a perfect lie!

Have you met Cici yet?

Ard, As you can see by my signature, I just went with a combination set of Wishon Irons along with Wishon #3, #4, and #5 Hybrids (gave up on the concept of 3-5 irons). I was fitted by a custom clubmaker in my area. I love these Wishon clubs! In the few rounds I have played with so far I have already bettered my best score on my home course by a couple of strokes. My clubs are currently back in the shop for a lie adjustment after a lie-board test confirmed my suspicion that my clubs were a bit too upright. Will get them back on Wednesday and can't wait to get back out to check out the adjustment.