gompers

IMO, I don't think the driver is really necessary for a lot of golfers, especially on Par 4s. The average recreational golfer hits it something like 220 yards. If you can get it out there 200+ with a hybrid, 3 iron or higher lofted wood, you're really only giving up 15 or 20 yards. So you can be hitting your second shot from 220 in the fairway, or 200 in the rough. Where it becomes difficult is when you're a lot longer with your driver than your next club. When you KNOW you can hit it 300 with the driver, it's hard to give up 40 or 60 yards hitting a 3 wood, even if it means being in the fairway vs. not. I think the biggest thing is actually knowing how far you actually hit your clubs. Being brutally honest with yourself will help you a lot. It's a lot easier to put the driver in the bag when you realize you don't hit it as far as you wanted to think you did

Some of that yardage might be due to the fact that the TMs have a little bit less loft than your LPs in anything more than an 8 iron...

I don't know how kosher it is to post links to other golf forums here, but there are a couple out there with extensive "whats in the bag" sections with lots and lots of pictures.

Here's what about 5 seconds in the pencil sharpener will do to a 2 3/4" tee, just FYI:

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but couldn't you just put some regular tees in a pencil sharpener and acheive the same effect?

Ping will bend the whole set and "recolor" them for 18 bucks plus return shipping (14 bucks - so 32 total plus what it takes to get them to ping). From what I understand, turn around time is usually less than a week. I'm not sure what the fitting process is, but I think when they have a demo day, they will fit you for free, even with the old clubs. As far as the others go, I don't know for sure if the factory will bend them, but any reputable club repair shop should be able to bend them +/- a few degrees. I think the place I go charges like 3 or 4 bucks a club to do it.

Driver - 250-270ish. I went at it with a Top Rock the other day, trying to cut a dogleg, and carried a water hazard 270. Ended up a little over 300. 4w - 235 3i - 225 5i - 190 9i - 145 a lot of it depends on conditions. It's been dry here lately and when I'm not going at a green, there's been a lot of roll (and bounce).

I played with a guy a couple weeks ago who shot like 70 on 9 holes, but he could hit the ball like 320. He even had a birdie somehow because he managed to hit a good iron shot out of the blue. And got on a 520 yard par 5 in two (his second shot was a 7 iron from about 190). Great drive, fat iron shot, skulled iron shot over the green, pitching wedge skulled over the green the other way, bad chip shot and a 3 or 4 putt on every hole will keep you up in the 30s really easy. The easier drivers get to hit, the more you're going to run into people who, for whatever reason, can hit the ball a mile with the driver, but are really bad at golf in general. This whole elitist "you have a high cap so you obviously can't drive the ball a long way" stuff is just BS. I was popping it out there 275-290 when I started the year off (when it went straight), and I was a 37 or 38 cap. This isn't to say that the OP is really putting it out there that far, just saying that it's certainly possible he can.

I don't think you can pin it all on the media. Sure they are partially to blame for overemphasizing things, but there are legitimate concerns about the integrity of the sport. Golf is different than those sports, but it's still an athletic competition. Strength certainly CAN help on the tour. Getting clubs through thick rough after you've driven it 300+ into the stuff in the first place requires some amount of strength. The difference between golf and other sports is that you need to have far more control of that strength. Advil is a pain releiver. It just masks the pain. It doesn't help your body heal. HGH does help your body heal. Your body hurts for a reason. It's because something isn't right, and it needs to recover. It might not be a dramatic difference between a pain-free body due to advil and a pain-free body due to HGH, but when every thousandth of an inch in clubs and one stroke can mean victory or defeat, it MIGHT make a difference. I don't see what it hurts to test for performance enhancing drugs on the tour.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2915988 It's inevitable that the PGA will start testing for drugs. Remember steroids aren't just for growing big muscles, but also for enhancing endurance (think cycling), or for helping to speed recovery (ever get sore after playing 36 holes?). If brute strength means zero in golf, why are so many golfers working out and getting in shape? I'm not saying any drug will make you a better golfer by itself, but I'd rather the PGA address it now before we end up with a baseball-esque situation.

Golf is, and always has been mainly a game of skill, but it's increasingly a game of strength and endurance as well. I'm not really defending Gary Player's comments, just saying that at the level that these guys play, anything that gives them a competitive advantage is something that needs to be looked into. If it wasn't the case, why would the PGA start testing next year?

You'll just have to keep your eye on E-bay. I'm not sure why they are hard to find, but they seem to be going for 30-50 bucks. The one I think you're looking for is a Ping WRX cover. There is at least one on there at the moment.

I could knock it 300 yards on occassion with the handicap I started the year off at (around a 36). Believe me, you can be really bad and hit the ball a long way. Drives are only maybe 13 strokes a round. Whether the hole ends badly after that is irrelevant. As far as the OP goes, I think you're far better off fixing your swing. 400 bucks is a lot of lessons, and if you're really looking to get better, you're going to be FAR better off with a few lessons. A driver will fix drives - sometimes. Lessons will fix every club in your bag. I've knocked 10 strokes off my handicap this year thanks in part to a lesson or two.

Generally speaking, graphite shafts flex more than steel shafts. They tend to give you more distance at the cost of control. They tend to go on clubs for people who don't have the strength to swing a steel shaft, or the ability to absorb strong feedback on mishits since they generally transmit less "feel" back to the body. That is, at least, the conventional wisdom. It's just a matter of preference, really, though. Whatever you can hit the best and you feel comfortable and confident with is probably what's best for you. I'm 29 and swing stiff steel shafts on my irons and stiff graphite on my woods.

Ping I3 O-size 2-LW (though I usually only play the 3-PW). Love them to death. Some people don't like the size of the head, but it doesn't bother me, and at this point I can certainly use the forgiveness. I've only been playing a year, and I picked them up used on e-bay.

I went from some 4 dollar goodwill footjoys that worked ok to Adidas tour 360 IIs this year. They are certainly more comfortable, but shoes aren't going to fix a broken golf swing. They aren't going to add yards to your game. They might make you a bit more confident and comfortable, but it has nothing to do with the shoes. It's all in your head. If you're comfortable, and have a solid base, which most golf shoes can do for you, it doesn't really matter if you paid 150 or 50 bucks for them. Spend the money on a couple of lessons and you'll be far ahead, IMHO.

Intelligolf is what I use on my palm. They also make a pocketPC edition. The Eagle version has GPS built in, but to be honest, I don't often use the GPS functionality. I prefer a rangefinder. It comes with a PC application too, which keeps all sorts of crazy stats. It's really an excellent program. If your pocketPC is internet enabled you can download all the courses they have in their database over-the-air for free. Otherwise, you can download them from your PC and sync them over. Or enter them by hand, which isn't too tedious. I highly recommend it.

Here in Des Moines, the 3 city courses (two are very good, one is a bit older and quite short - also, bring your hardhat), will run you in the upper 20s to lower 30s with a cart during the week. I don't know for sure what the fees are since I get a 25% military discount. 18 riding during the week runs me something like 25 bucks for a very nice par 72 course. Most courses around will run you in the mid 30s for a round and a cart. You can go spend 100+ at Tournament Club of Iowa or Harvester which are all quite nice, if not outside my current skill level. There are several private clubs around that are nice, and membership is fairly reasonable, running anywhere from 125 to 500/month. All in all, golf in Iowa is an awesome value, and there are a ton of courses considering our modest population, and they are generally quite well maintained.

I think it's just fine to learn on. You just have to understand that at some point in the future if you ever get serious about golfing (i.e. you golf competitively or keep a real handicap) you'll have to get conforming clubs. The biggest conforming club you can have is 460cc. There are some other specs that the club has to meet that are a bit more technical, but that's the one that makes yours non-conforming. It might make it a bit more difficult down the road when you go to conforming clubs, but if worse comes to worse, just don't hit driver for a while when you do. Think of it like playing baseball with a bat that is too big. The 10 degree thing is basically the angle that the face (the part that hits the ball) makes with the ground. This is known as "loft". The higher that number, the higher the ball will fly in the air (and usually the shorter it will go). Drivers usually are between 8 and 12 degrees, while the most lofted clubs in a typical golfer's bag will be around 60 degrees. The loft gets progressively higher as you go from your driver down through the "fairway woods" (typically 3 and 5 woods in a "standard" set), and into the irons (generally a 3 or 4 iron down to a pitching wedge (which is basically a 10 iron)). The higher the number, the higher the loft, and the shorter you will be able to hit the club, and generally speaking, the more accurate you should be able to be. If you're playing just for the heck of it, enjoy your new toy. Learn the etiquette of golf first (i.e. don't play slow if there are people behind you, don't hit into people etc). If you aren't pissing other people on the course off, nobody will care what kind of clubs you're hitting or how many of them you have in your bag. I've yet to go to a course to play a casual round and have anyone in the clubhouse check my clubs before I'm allowed to play. You might get some funny looks if you get paired up with someone, but my experience is that most people couldn't tell you what the rules are anyway, and those that do tend to break a few rules of their own (fluffing their ball up in the rough, taking mulligans etc). Golf is an awesome (and addictive) pastime. Enjoy it. And always remember, as bad as you are, there's more than likely someone who is worse.

However, this doesn't mean they don't have interest in the game (the title of the thread). Now we can debate all day whether those of us who aren't sub-20 handicap golfers are good or bad for the game, but all that really matters is that everyone is having fun.

I see plenty of kids who shoot in the 100s. It doesn't have anything to do with athleticism. I've played with guys who shoot in the 80s who look like they are on the verge of death, and I've played with guys built like tanks who shoot 150. It doesn't even require talent, really, to be decent at golf. Just a few lessons, a lot of practice and the skill that comes along with that. The VAST majority of golfers that I encounter don't have the time to commit to become "good". I've got tons of friends that would love to golf as often as I do, but they have families and houses and jobs and social commitments that don't let them get out. They have the interest, it's just that golf isn't a high priority in their lives, and rightfully so. Around where I live (Iowa), there is plenty of interest in golf. I've only been golfing a year or so (and yes, I'm one of those low 100s golfers), but at the few courses I usually play, there is seldom a lot of softness in the schedule. You can still get out for around 30 bucks (or less) riding for 18 holes here, and that probably has something to do with it. From what I've seen, though, there seems to be a lot more interest in the social aspect of playing golf than the competitive aspect of it. People just want to be outside and enjoy the weather, drink a beer or two and have fun with friends. If they shoot 150 or 85 it's still a great time. That's one of the greatest things about golf, IMO. No matter if I'm in the 90s or shooting 120 I'm a happy guy when I'm on the golf course. The irritating people to me are the super-competitive, throw-a-club-if-they-hit-a-bad-shot types who take the game a bit too seriously.

I just use a bit of water and a rag to wipe off the tee marks from wood tees from the sole of my driver. I don't have the problem any more since I use zero friction tees. They NEVER break (almost never anyway), and I don't think they are any harder on the club than regular tees. If you think about it, impacting a hard ball at 80-100 MPH induces a lot more force than the club sliding over top of a tee. The zero friction tees should run about .10 a piece, and one should last you until you lose it. They aren't made of plastic, they are made of cornstarch. They don't leave marks on my clubs like the white wood tees I was using used to.

I, and many others, just don't like the asthetics and sound they make. Most people who hit them seem to hit them long and fairly straight. My swing is horrible right now, but I golfed with a guy who's swing makes mine look like a pro, and he was hitting the SUMO2. That guy's misses were way better than my misses. The thing just looks and feels too weird for me. It's got a certain "Jack from Caddyshack II" thing going on that I just can't seem to get over.

I hadn't heard of that until a couple weeks ago. Then I came up to a tee box when I was playing a round a couple days later and noticed a tube of chapstick someone had left and wondered if people do that more than I think.

I"m enjoying it from my slingbox. It's really the coolest thing I"ve run across in a while: http://www.slingmedia.com I can watch my home TV at work, on the road, or even on my cell phone. It's pretty sweet.