NEOHMark

I guess I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish. If the course already has a course hdcp, how was it done? Did the USGA do it, some other agency, or was it just done by someone's best guess? For starters, you can probably find a wealth of information here - http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Handicap-System-Manual/Handicap-Manual/

USGA is the gold-standard for handicapping, but they'll charge you for the 'privilege'. I use a website called http://www.greenskeeper.org/main.cfm that allows you to post scores and track a handicap at no charge. For years, they used the actual USGA formulas but I suppose they got into trademark issues because you can no longer use actual course ratings and slope factors. But they do have a conversion to their 'X' course factor, so it's still basically the same data as what you'd get through the USGA (though probably wouldn't be accepted at USGA-sanctioned tourneys). I'm sure there are other sites - maybe google it and see what kind of hits you get? There's also independent software available. One of the leagues I'm in utilizes a software program because we choose to use our 5 best from our last ten rounds - it makes a 20-week season much more fluid and dynamic and usually is a better indicator of how a player is playing right now, versus what their best scores were from halfway back through last season. Question - does your club already have USGA course and slope ratings? If so, that'd probably be your easiest way to get set up.

Point taken.

I don't know a whole lot about S&T;, but it seems to restrict the natural weight shift from the back leg to the front leg.....keeping it 'stacked' on the front leg throughout. In my mind, anything that inhibits or restricts a natural weight shift from back to front will very likely lead to some pain simply due to tension in the muscles you are trying to restrict. JMHO

Good point. And I have to thank you for starting this thread! I have Sirius but never realized that the PGA channel was on the 'plus XM' tier. If not for this thread and checking out exactly which channels I have (and don't have), I would've missed the final round this coming Sunday!! I added the 'plus XM' for a whopping 2 bucks a month today. Cheap insurance to be able to keep track of the final round this Sunday. Thank you, i-Guy.

I look at it this way, if you have the technology available in your pocket to accurately see weather fronts approaching and somewhat predict when/where they'll hit, why not use it? I like seeing the radar before I head out - and having it with me while playing - if there is any possibility of severe weather. Our storms develop seemingly out of nowhere - but the weather radar is very nearly real time and they usually have a pretty good notion of the possibility of it happening. Yeah, I've had to take shelter during a nasty electrical storm - a few times - and I was glad it was there. But that's not really anything I want to do again. It was during the days prior to cell/smartphones. The last time it happened we didn't even get so much as a horn warning from the clubhouse. THAT pissed me off because they most certainly did have The Weather Channel on cable in the clubhouse. So I'll be keeping my weather app and phone handy, and hopefully avoid being Trevino'd on the back nine.

I too am curious about radio coverage as I have to drive on Sunday for a work travel. Gonna research it and get back to this thread. Hopefully Sirius has it on one of their sports channels. Stay tuned (pun intended)......... .......FWIW, Sirius XM is covering it live everyday Thursday through Saturday. XM channel 146 and Sirius channel 209. CBS Sports is covering the prime time feeds on TV, so maybe their radio affiliates will have live coverage?

I'm not a speed freak, but I do hate NEEDLESS slow play tactics. There is no need for the entire group to watch your shot, and THEN start figuring out what club they are going to hit. In last week's league play, another group member and I were about the same distance away and I got ready and hit first. No rushing, normal pre-shot routine, etc. After I hit, I look over and this member is then JUST NOW starting to look at his lie, and thinking about what club to hit. WTF were you doing while I went through my pre-shot routine and shot? I didn't say anything, but that's needlessly slow play. Same for around the greens. Most of the time, other players in the group can be lining up and assessing their putts while the person away putts. Obviously you don't want to interfere with the person playing their shot, but there's no reason the rest of the group has to be entirely spectators at that point. They can usually be doing something to prepare for their putt. It's all about efficiency - not about rushing and racing through a round. Little things add up to a lot of time wasted needlessly. If I'm walking, I'll approach the green at an angle that allows me to study the green and prospective line as I'm walking up to it - saves maybe thirty seconds of just MY preparations on the green. Times four, that's a couple minutes per hole. Over 18 holes, thats a half hour. If I'm riding and my riding partner is away. Instead of sitting in the cart and watching him play, I'll hop out and walk to my ball, if it's safely across the fairway and out of other players' lines - usually it is. I can look at my lie, visualize the shot I want to make, maybe even get a cursory gauge on yardage and start thinking of club selection options, fr when my riding partner brings the cart over. There's absolutely no reason for me to sit my ass in the cart and watch another guy(s) hit. I could. But I prefer to stay inside my own game and getting a few seconds to myself as I gather my situation really helps. I'm not rushing or racing, but I am being efficient. It saves time but, more importantly, it helps me focus. And for God's sake, if there is a group waiting in the fairway behind us ready to make their approach shots? I get REAL nervous about the group member who thinks it's a great time to write down our scores, or have a gulp of Gatorade, while we're still just off the green. It's not only rude, but it's dangerous if they think our being 10 feet off the green is sufficiently clear for them to hit. I'd rather do that stuff on the next tee box - safely away from the target zone. Again, that's not rushing or racing, that's just common sense, common courtesy, and helps speed up play by being more efficient with the time you do have. And yes - 4-5 hours is entirely too long to play 18 holes. Five hours is almost 17 minutes a hole - barely more than 3 holes an hour. Crazy slow.

FWIW, the OP has indicated that what had started as a straight slice has now become a nasty push-slice. Quote: I have always had a slicing problem with the driver (has almost always been a straight slice), but Saturday I started out with a push slice and it just continued to get worse...... I initially had a straight slice, starting out down the line then curving right. Now the ball is starting to the right and continuing to slice......

I wish we could do that here in the Great Lakes region. Severe storms can pop up in less than 30 minutes here because we always have so much humidity in the air. When warm fronts come through to feed that humidity some energy, the speed at which major storms can develop is breathtaking. Tornadoes have literally destroyed towns with less than 15 minutes of warning. You don't want to be on the golf course around here when those kinds of conditions exist. Walking versus riding here in the lower Great Lakes can literally be a question of survival when storm conditions are brewing. If the weather is that iffy, I take a cart. Unfortunately, our weather is just as unpredictable. It's imperative to have decent weather info on a cell phone when on the course. No joke.

That swing looks awfully good to this layman's eyes.

The weather channel on cable TV? The Weather Channel internet? Weatherbug.com? Personally, I like the TWC's radar imaging but it almost always seems to hang up when one needs it most - when there's a lot of activity in the area. Weatherbug loads faster and seems to be more reliable, but the graphics are almost cartoonish. On the cell phone, at/on the course, it's a no brainer for me - Weatherbug all the way. TWC app takes forEVER, plus a day to load up. How do you stay one step ahead of the weather?

I've read some pretty blistering reviews of Bionic gloves - mostly due to them lacking in the robustness dept. I play almost exclusively in TM H2O all-weather gloves anymore....both hands.

This: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/list/3801

I'm betting your strong grip has far exceeded the point of diminishing returns. I believe an overly strong grip can actually hinder the natural rolling over of the club - pretty much locking up your wrists and keeping the face wide open at impact. I'd suggest going back to a slightly strong left hand grip - V pointing at your right ear/shoulder and getting more neutral with your right hand (assuming you are RHed). Try to swing less 'fast' with the arms and more 'turn' with the hips early in the swing. I've had my best days when I'm not consciously thinking about 'squaring' anything and allowing the arms to swing freely, pretty powerlessly in fact, through the swing and just naturally letting 'it happen' at the bottom of the swing and beyond. It'd be my bet if you get those hips started first and don't try to 'muscle' the hands - you'll get better ball flight almost instantly. Maybe even try a bit shorter backswing until you get things straightened out.

Well THAT was fast.

I can't imagine a diluted solution would do any harm. The polymers they use for golf balls these days are pretty robust. Maybe a chemist can chime in, but I think the cover material itself is pretty much inert and not likely to react with a fairly weak aqueous chlorine solution. Bleach itself starts off about 5%, so if you dilute it even just by half, you're down to 2-3 %. I think it's a different story if you are planning to use pool chlorine - percentage wise. Perhaps start small and try one or two balls and see how they do?

Golf shoes or, in warm weather, golf sandals. Funny that Crocs were mentioned. They used to own the Bite Golf shoe brand but I believe that went kaput. I own a few pairs of Bite shoes and sandals. Very comfy golf footwear. I'm sorry they are no longer available.

IMHO all those penny bid sites are nothing more than a glorified raffle-ticket system way of buying. You might get lucky once in awhile, but usually not. Great 'business' for them. If they sell, say, a Macbook for $90.00 - that means they received 9 THOUSAND bids on it - usually at $ 0.75 or so ea. 9,000 X $ 0.75= $ 6,750.00 in revenue for a computer that might have cost them a grand. Nice work if you can get it.

That is a very valid point. I rarely, if ever, used my 3w off the tee so that didn't affect my strategy at all. For anyone who utilizes a 3w tee shot, even infrequently, that has to be considered. Agree completely.

Cross-handed - left hand low, or lefty grip,whatever you want to call it. I started that a couple years ago to fight a tendency to pull putts and found that it worked exceedingly well for me. I'm so used to it now, a standard grip feels weird.

With, or without, sixpack mini-cooler and flask? For the serious golfer (hic!):

I just did exactly what you are thinking about doing. For whatever reason, I can hit more consistently with a 2h than the 3w. I think I may be giving up about 5-10 yds on a perfect hit comparison (have never tracked it via GPS or anything like that - it's just a gut feeling). But I'll gladly sacrifice that for more consistent ball-striking and confidence. The 2h, with its smaller head, seems to be better at handling some marginal lies too. So IMHO, there can be some real advantages to it. FWIW, my Adams V3 2h is either 16 or 17 degs (depending on whose spec you're reading), and I think my Taylormade R7 3w was 15 degs.

Not to mention, there are many course designs (too many, IMO) that make it virtually impossible to walk. Example - my brother and his family used to have a condo on Tidewater in N Myrtle Beach. The first time I played it I was shocked at the distances between one hole's green and the next tee box. It's a nice enough course, but they have - quite literally - entire streets (sometimes several) winding between holes......with condos on both sides of the street. Some of the distances between green-to-next-tee probably rival the length of a long par-5! It's ridiculous.

The P90 had nothing to do with it...sorry. I SWEAR I'm not a shill for this guy, but consider these two 'tips': http://www.peakperformancegolfswing.com/golf-swing-tempo/ http://www.peakperformancegolfswing.com/cure-for-fat-shots/ These two short lessons have probably made a 70% plus impact in my better ball striking in this young season. In addition, this image can NOT be beat (KUDOS to delav for this gem - give him a 'Thumbs UP'): http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/45005/wedge-trouble-from-the-fairway#post_586690