brightonrock

So many great replies but I really love this one! The two that spring to mind for me were both in matchplay tournaments, one fourball and one on my own. The one on my own was on #14, I was 2 down and looking out of it. It's a dogleg left par 4, SI1, maybe 200y to the corner and then easily over 200 coming into a pretty small green with a bunker at the front. Everything left is thick rough and scrub and trees too, so it's risk/reward depending on how much of the corner you're prepared to bite off. I tried to play safe with a hybrid to the corner but hit a horrible thin, fadey thing that ran through the dogleg into some trees at the back. I should've taken my medicine and pitched out sideways but I tried to get clever and punch a 6iron out, hit a tree and bounced back even further behind me, now out of the trees but blocked out by them, and requiring a huge cut if I stood a chance of making it. Knowing my opponent was about to go 3up unless I did something I pulled my 4 wood and decided to go for it, GPS (which is allowed in this tourney to my great pleasure) read 236 to the middle. Never before or since have I caught it so pure off the deck with that club - 40/50 yards of cut on it, perfect contact, and it bounced over the bunker and released up to the pin in the back right to 5 feet. I was on such a high I got really heavy handed with the par putt and knocked it past so had to settle for a bogey, but the adrenaline in my veins for the last few holes saw me string together par-par-par-birdie to sneak it 1up on the 18th :) The other was on the 18th of a fourball game, we're 1 down, and my approach shot was pushed way right and ended up lying on pine straw underneath this really low tree. My partner was out of the hole and one of their players was out too, although his partner had hit a scruffy chip to about 7/8 feet having come up short in the fringe with his approach. I'm maybe 40 yards from the green, and have to go over a bunker to make it - but I have no room to make a proper pitch swing in that direction as I'm completely impeded by the tree. I even thought about chipping into the bunker and trying to hole out but my sand game is very average indeed! In the end having looked at it a bit I see the right edge of the bunker as I look at it has a high bank, making a sort of bowl feeding down into it. With no other option I hit a 7iron chip through the rough and bounced perfectly on the bank, it pops out at a 90 degree angle onto the green and rolls over to the pin, absolutely stiff for an unorthodox but nevertheless, tap in par. My opponent is gobsmacked and fluffs his par putt so we sneaked a half! As a higher handicapper I love the stories in this thread because it gives hope that whatever trouble you're in, you can escape it - something I need to try and do far too often for my liking!

Okay so I'm wondering what the best "impossible" shot is people have hit? By that I mean not a hole in one or a big drive or putt, but a shot where you stand over it scratching your head as to what to do, thinking "this is going to need to be an absolutely brilliant shot to get out of this trouble". The sort of one where you know you won't make it 99 times out of 100, but for one reason or another you decide to go for it, even if it's that unlikely - maybe in a deciding hole in matchplay or because you have literally no other shot possible to play. I ask because I've had a couple myself but last weekend I watched a buddy hit a 4 iron out of a water hazard with a high draw around a huge oak tree which guards the green, and drop his ball absolutely stiff on the flag to salvage a ridiculous birdie. I was beating him quite comfortably and had a chance to go dormie so he felt like he had no option but to risk it. An absolute once in a lifetime recovery and I had no complaints whatsoever in losing that hole, that shot deserved to win any hole in any tournament! What would yours be?

4 600yard+ par 5's...3/4 200yard+ par 3s...6/10 par 4s more than 450yards...wow. That is just obscenely long. I have played (and miraculously parred - and up&down; though, could never get home in regulation) just one 600yard+ hole in my life. I think I'd have a heart attack going that far in one day! It would be so demoralising hitting a perfect, flush drive and seeing still a long iron at the green on every single hole. Good luck though, hope your buddy makes it and we can look out for him at the full tourney!

That's a great feeling, I got my first (and only) last summer on a short par 5 - nice drive, a 3 hybrid to the front edge and a 20-footer which *just* dropped in like Tiger's famous chip. I'd like to say I was composed and walked up calmly to get it out of the hole like I do that sort of thing every day, but actually I jumped about like a crazy person whilst screaming like a pre-teen girl at a Justin Bieber gig. I have never holed out though, it must be a fantasic feeling, congratulations to you without doubt! I've never even really come that close...I spanked the pin on the full once with a 100-odd yard GW...which then proceeded to squirt off into a bunker :(

I know a lot of you guys are in the US so I'm not 100% sure whether you can access BBC iPlayer online (it may have region restrictions, I'm not sure) but there was a really touching documentary about Seve's life and career and his legacy, which aired a few nights ago over here in the UK. If you can access it, it's really worth watching...he was a little before my time unfortunately but even before I took up golf he was one of my sporting idols, for the way he played the game with such charisma and flair. Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b012lt4d/Seve_The_Legend/

Quote: He hit 64% fairways this week (ranked tied for 26th) according to the US Open website which admittedly isn't great but also isn't awful, at an average of 310 yards. Only 6 players who made the cut (Garrigus, Woodland, Johnson, Quiros, Bubba and Westwood) averaged further. I think when you hit it that far and leave yourself a wedge at the green, whether you're coming out of rough or the fairway, you stand a good chance. All these stats speak for themselves. 83% FIR for the week. That is obscene iron play over 72 holes.

Quote: That's shocking on your part I'm afraid. McDowell was ranked 37 the week he won the US Open last year. And going into the US PGA Kaymer was ranked 13. I don't pay religious attention to the rankings but I reckon I could name off the top of my head a minimum of 2/3rds of the top 100, let alone the top 30 or 40 players in the world. I'm not pitching into a US v Europe argument either but saying they were unknown because you hadn't heard of them is like me saying I have no idea who Matt Kuchar is. He hasn't won an major but it doesn't make him a wildcard.

Quote: I have been doing this recently when I'm struggling on/off with my driver, and find I hit it straighter too. I'm quite tall thoug - 6'2/6'3 - so I'd've thought a shorter shaft (or shortening it by choking down) would not naturally work for me. Who knew??

A lot of it is personal - how you feel with the wedge yourself. Try some out on your local range, see what feels a good weight and balance, looks nice and you feel confident with at address, and that has a nice feel/sound off the clubface. Generally you can't go too far wrong with manufacturers, the technology nowadays makes little difference to high handicappers like you or I - I have 52/56/60 Nike SV wedges but as mentioned already, the 60 may take a little practice - I mostly use it when I need to hit a high, soft lob or when I've not got much green to work with from a bunker etc. - my 56 sand wedge is my go-to club for 95% of chips/pitches around the greens. Talk to your local pro shop about bounce on the wedges, which will I would say will affect you more than the loft itself.

Quote: Thanks for your comment. I think I have a half-decent set-up for my standard as I've played cricket since I was a kid and it's quite similar posture-wise. I will get myself down the range this week with the camera and film some face-on shots.

Hi guys. I am fairly new to golf, have only been playing a couple of years, and have in that time managed to drag my handicap down from shooting 120 regularly to the low-mid 90s, which I'm pleased with, but want to take the next step. I have broken into the 80s three times, but looking for that golden tip that makes it all 'click' in your head and suddenly things become a little easier. I seem to have rounds of entirely 10/10 shots or 1/10 - absolutely pure and flush out the middle of the clubface or just the more dire slices and tops and thins which make the end result approx 90-100 no matter how well or how badly I putt. I have previously had a big problem with over-swinging leading to every awful result possible, so I have made a conscious effort over the last few months to shorten my swing a little to gain a bit more control. I tend to hit a (relatively) controllable fade with my longer clubs, but a draw (or push when it goes a bit wrong) with my shorter irons and wedges. Right now my two main faults as I can see with my pretty newbie eye, are that my wrist breaks far too early, and this combined with an inside takeaway is leading to some inconsistent ball-striking as I have to work my hands quite hard in the downswing to square the clubface. Secondly I have noticed that through the downswing my left foot turns to open my hips (obviously something I want to erradicate) and through impact I don't rotate my shoulders enough so my follow-through position looks pretty cramped and untidy. This may be due to the fact I have quite weak ankles from old sporting injuries in my early teenage years, as I have tried to keep my ankle a lot more parallel but it is quite uncomfortable to do this under the torque of a full swing. Can anyone lead my the way of some tips to help the wrist break/inside takeaway, or anything else to maybe get me to a place of my swing being a little more repeatable and consistent? Thanks very much. DRIVER HYBRID 7 IRON

Quote: Being remembered and considered a 'great' like Nicklaus, Ballesteros, Watson, Woods etc is surely different from being No.1 though. The No.1 reflects the most consistent and best golfer over a period of time, not over his entire career. Right now I don't think there can be a single golfer in the world more feared than Luke Donald, he is absolutely unstoppable, top 10 after top 10. If he never wins a major he will never be considered 'great' like the multiple-major winners of past and present, but right now he is undisputedly the best player around.

This is the greatest advice I ever had: 1) Take your time to examine the green and consider the speed. If its wet it will break less, and later. If you have an alignment aid/mark on your ball, choose this moment to point it exactly where you want to hit the ball. 2) Before you step up to address the ball, split the putt into two or three "sections", say 2 for a 5-10ft putt and 3 for a longer putt. This is not about the read of the green, but the physical power you will exert on the putt. 3) Play some practice strokes. These must be done in fairly quick succession as your muscle memory will still be fresh when you step up the ball. a) Practice the stroke for a putt a third of the length of what you are faced with (or half for a medium putt). This should be a fairly short one and your mind will never forget how hard to putt something a couple of feet, its a short we're faced with so often you will already have this information. b) Now practice for a putt two thirds of what you have. With the memory of the first practice fresh, this is just proportionally ramping up the power. c) Now practice for the full weight, again ramping up the power you will put into the putt. 4) Step up to the ball. Take your stance and grip. As you have already lined up your putt by reading the green in (1), you don't need to think again about the direction you're stroking it. The muscle memory of (3c), the full length putt, is fresh in your mind. Keep your head still and play the stroke down the line you have marked, not letting your head lift until a full second after the ball has travelled out of your peripheral vision. I found practicing with my eyes closed to learn the feel of a certain length putt is a good practice. With your vision removed you concentrate only on the feel of a putt being too hard or too soft, and encourages you on the course to keep your head still and not look up at the hole as you hit it, thus increasing the risk of snatching at it. Lastly, lower your targets a little. I found aiming to two-putt every green and walk off with 36 putts actually made me putt a lot better, and my current average is 31 (which is more than decent enough for a hacker like myself - if only I could get GIR I'd be a much better golfer!). If you're putting pressure on yourself to one-putt from 6ft+ you will inevitably leave long ones short and then choke clutch putts that lead to three-putts. Whatever distance your first putt is from (with the exception of short putts obviously), aim not to get it in, but to get it within a foot, two feet, three feet, whatever you feel comfortable you can sink as your personal 'gimme' length. You'll find that actually by learning to get it close and within tap-in range, more will drop as you'll be giving it closer to the perfect weight, rather than over-thinking the break and then over or under-hitting the shot.

Recently I had some real issues with my driver, shanking and duffing everything, eventually diagnosed by my coach as being caused by a really inside takeaway. I worked really hard on the range concentrating on getting myself on plane and have made some real progress. However, in the time I've been doing that I've neglected my short game a bit and I've now developed a huge tendency to thin my wedges when I'm hitting a full shot. Playing a high pitch shot or chipping in and around the green from less than 70 or so yards I'm ok, but if I'm trying to hit a full lob 80 yards, a full sand 90-odd, or my gap 100-odd, I seem to blade it through the backs of greens, or worse into trouble at the front of them. Does anyone have any tips for hitting purer full shots with the wedges? I worry that my work on plane with the longer clubs has indirectly affected what I'm doing with the shorter ones, as previously sub-120 yards was my absolute forte and even as a high handicapper I felt confident I'd be in the hole in three shots, maximum. Now I'm putting myself in some tricky up-and-down positions and having to gamble on longer approaches as I don't feel confident coming in with anything less than a pitching wedge.

12 @ Augusta has to be harder. It's the swirling wind you can't detect above the trees, the bunker short and long, has to be a precise shot but can be a 2-club difference depending on the breeze. 17 @ TPC is by no means a walk in the park and I haven't had the fortune to play it, but I've had a go at quite a few lesser known island greens from 120 to 190 yards, and not found to them to be particularly difficult.

Quote: Spot on. I make no bones about it, 96/97 times out of 100 if I have 200-210y left, I probably won't hit the green. BUT, I have hit my 3hybrid 235y off the ground before, and it's in a way my inconsistency which makes me wait in that situation. Someone who knows their swing is consistent and they will hit X club Y yards, fine, hit to lay up or whatever. But because I'm not a good enough player to know exactly what I hit, I could hit that hybrid anywhere between 160/170 if I thinned it and 220/230 if I flushed it. I'm not taking the risk of hitting into someone putting out ahead of me just because someone behind me thinks I'm not good enough to hit it that far. I'll wait, let them clear the way, and then hit - because if it's the 2 or 3 times in 100 I flush it perfectly, and I kill someone, its me who gets to deal with the ramifications, not the jackass on the tee getting huffy because he has to wait 30 seconds.

A couple my buddies do: Stepping on my line when I putt. ESPECIALLY in the winter/when the greens are wet. It's not a difficult thing to remember, but one mate in particular does it on EVERY. SINGLE. GREEN. No matter how many times we tell him. In fact, when we remind him, he gets a bit arsey about it and says "it's not like we're on the PGA tour". No, you're right. But I also have zero % chance of getting good enough to be on the PGA tour if every putt I hit bobbles through your spike marks and shoots off at an angle. Perfectionism. Another mate of mine has a tendency to drop his club, especially off the tee, if he feels the contract isn't quite perfect. He's one of the better players I play with and it's very, very annoying as a higher handicapper when you've just sent your tee shot boring into the woods like an exocet missile, when he hits a 3 wood down the middle and drops his club because "it felt a bit thin". Pipe down, you're in the fairway. I'm pretty sure, however thin you hit it, you wouldn't want to swap position with me now. Jingling of keys/clubs in the bag when I'm addressing the ball. I don't need absolute silence across the county when I hit, but at least from my 3 or 4 ball, it'd be nice if guys just stopped what they were doing for at most 10 seconds whilst I step up to the ball and hit it. Not rocket science. "Free" drops. Again from the school of "we're not on the PGA tour", getting a free drop when you don't like the lie, are up against a tree or in deep rough, is not in the rules. Either take the drop with a penalty, play it where it lies, or do what you want and we won't count. But don't expect me to congratulate you in the clubhouse on your best ever round when you've given yourself half a dozen free drops or lie improvements because otherwise it would've hurt your scorecard. The excitement of a great round is that you've not been in those positions, you've beaten the course bvy shooting it straight all day. Not playing as badly as you want and manufacturing your score to declare an 85, when it's really a 98. That's just pure fiction. How about I'll just write down 1 on every hole? Look guys, I shot 18 today! And some others do: Don't get right up behind me, shooting into me or standing 140 back huffing and puffing with a hand on your hip, if I'm clearly being held up by the group in front of me. I don't play slowly - me and a buddy finished 36 holes in 5 3/4 hours the other day, quite a reasonable speed. Get it into your head, if you're on the tee and I'm in the fairway 250 yards in front of you, and I'm waiting for the group in front to putt out, it's not my fault. I don't have golf insurance. I'm not going to bankrupt myself, let alone the moral implications, by hitting into a green when there's someone on it. People who arbitrarily throw around 'bandit' accusations. Just because I hit one good shot does not mean I hit them all well. That's why I, or my buddies, are mid-high handicappers. I teed off first, in the first fourball, in a recent 40-man competition. My legs were like jelly, there were some very accomplished players in the tourney, and I banged a drive 280 up the middle, laser straight. Cue mumblings of why I declared 26 handicap. Well, because I ended up shooting 97. Old guys who bitch and moan and try to give you a lesson on etiquette, but have no idea of it themselves. I watched a fourball of snooty members, all 60+, hitting simultaneously, talking, playing out of turn, failing to rake bunkers, and then DEMANDING, not politely requesting, that our group let them through because we were "all over the place" and how they "dreaded to think who taught us etiquette". We were being held up ourselves by another fourball in front of us, and fair enough, none of us were playing particularly well, it was a bit wayward, but they were no better themselves. It was just the look on their faces at seeing four twenty-something guys in front of them that they didn't recognise. We're not members, no. But we're just as entitled to play here as you, we're following the rules, and we're not downright rude, unlike you. People who just walk up and hit the nearest ball they find. What is the mentality there? That's the FIRST thing I do, check whether the ball is even mine. But the other day I was playing a course where the par 4 I was on with my group runs parallel to a dogleg left down the right hand side of that hole. These two guys hit banana-slices and walked into our fairway and just hit the first thing they saw, both of them, which happened to be mine and my buddy's balls. I mean, c'mon. I can't get into my head where the logic is there. "That's a ball, it must be mine!" NO, it's mine, it's in our fairway for a start! Lady members - I'm no sexist and play in a mixed group fairly often, so I don't know if it's just the clubs I play at, but when you're on a 150 yard par 3 hitting driver and not making the green, understand that I can hit it further than you and you need to let us through. I would do the same if there's a group catching up, right on our tail behind me. So just extend the courtesy of knowing your own limitations and letting quicker groups play through. It's not a speed of play thing necessarily, it's a politeness thing. The one guy who, last weekend, ran onto a fairway I'd hit into, FULLY NAKED, grabbed my ball, and ran off into the woods doing cartwheels. I don't know who you are, but I can assure you, you're not funny. If I'd've been close enough I'd've teed another one up and given you a fright. You're not in Jackass. You just ARE a jackass.

Just very nearly had a similar thing happen - there's a bit of a bottleneck on the course I played today, where the fifth fairway has a row of trees on the left from about 80-140 yards from the green, behind which is the 6th tee, a par 3. To the right of the 6th green is the 7th tee, hitting back at the 6th again, a par 4. Me and the mate I'm playing with are on the 6th tee, I'm teeing up an iron, when a shot comes in from the group behind on the 5th fairway which spanks into the tee box literally a foot away from where my head is as I was bending down. This guy has hit it from probably 170+ and pulled it badly, he can see me clearly from where he was, and doesn't say a thing. I'm a bit rattled and thinking of this exact thread, but bite my tongue and start to go through my pre-shot routine. Next thing I know I hear a driver being hit on the 7th, and a second or two later a second ball comes fizzing past me at about chest height and buries itself into the woods behind our tee. I can't believe it's happened a second time but hit my shot, walk off the tee quite ruffled, and my mate steps up. Next thing, what do you know, a third ball comes down, this time about eight yards short of our tee, from the 5th fairway again, and bounces up onto the tee where we're standing. Admittedly this third one bounces short and has much less power on it, but it still makes it onto our tee. Two groups, three shots out of four all but hit us, and not one shout of 'fore', not one apology as we walk down to the 6th green - just silence. I had going through my head this very thread, and for a second considered teeing it up and lacing it OB, but was actually the slightly calmer one as my mate was very pissed off to say the least. I told him to let it go as the guys behind especially clearly had no idea of any etiquette, they were in a buggy roaring up and down the wrong fairways without checking to see if someone was hitting, they were shouting and swearing, revving the buggy engine when people were putting - as we walked into the bar there were a couple of other groups complaining to the course pro about them, so it wasn't just us they got to. Either way, my experience today tells me the OP wasn't going too far - I had to stop myself from doing it when it didn't hit us, so if it had, God help the guy, I'd've teed it back at them, let alone into the woods.

Quote: In my mind being number one is nothing to do with winning a major, which is what everyone seems to judge Luke, and Lee Westwood, on. Since Tiger has dominated for so long, everyone compares his contemporaries with his achievements. "Tiger was world number one and won loads of majors, Donald hasn't won any so he doesn't deserve it". Wrong. Who would you fear more right now if you were going into a tournament? Michael Campbell, or Lee Westwood? Vijay Singh or Luke Donald? Trevor Immelman or Rory McIlroy? Winning a major is a superb achievement, but it can easily be a one-off. Had McIlroy shot just a two or three under in his final round at the masters he would have won, such was his start to the tournament. The rankings are to do with consistency over a period of time. No-one can argue with the top 10 at the moment, and players like Donald and Westwood have been infinitely more consistent over the last couple of years than the likes of Tiger. By the end of their careers, Tiger or Phil will be known as the golfers who won multiple majors and dominated for a long period of time. If Donald or Westwood end their careers having been no1 for a month but with no majors, they will be forgotten. But for the time they top the tree they are the best - that's how it works, and how it should. If I come second in 10 tournaments and you win 1 and miss the cut in the other 9, who is the better player?

I got a grade 2 about 3 months ago, had some pretty violent bruising, couldn't put any any weight on it whatsoever for about 4 days. RICE is the way to go, ice it on/off every few hours and make sure you strap it up as tight as you can for the first couple of days. Took me about 3-4 weeks in total before I felt comfortable again but even now playing football (soccer :D) its still in the back of my mind.

I played a local course in January on the day of a VERY heavy British frost, after a week or so of freezing temperatures. We tee off at 8am when its even colder, not feeling very enthused about the prospect of a round in sub-zero temperatures, and my buddy comments on how he feels so cold and stiff he can barely make a practice swing. The first hole is a short par 3, about 130 yards but with a small green and very well protected by bunkers. He tees off first, and spanks it into the heavens. It looks good but comes up short into the bunker, and springs out fully 40 ft in the air and lands on the green. We wander down after hitting our shots and there is a block of sheet ice at the bottom of the bunker, and his ball has flown miles into the air off it, and finished about 3ft from the cup. He rolls in (needless to say) the only birdie of the day as we gave up after 9 holes to avoid frostbite! Also I just played a new course which has a dog leg left on the 12th with power lines running across the fairway (as in, above the fairway) about 160-170 yards from the tee. I'm in a four-ball and tee off first, ping a hybrid down the middle, good start. The second player goes and hits a long iron also down the middle. The third (the same mate as the first story) pulls a 3 wood and hits an ugly snap-hook which is heading mega OB when it spanks into the telegraph pole and bounces off like a trampoline about 30 yards past our first two tee shots. We're all laughing about how lucky he gets as the fourth player steps onto the tee. "I never get luck like that!" he says as he tees it up. He hits driver and the ball hits the actual wires overhanging the course, and drops straight down like a bird laying an egg, fully 60 or 70 yards back from where we've hit ours, and maybe 100 back from my particularly lucky mate. Point proven, he doesn't get luck like that...

Yeah, I've been having lessons for a while but I seem to have hit a bit of a block with them as my last two lessons have been on this and despite some pretty consistent practice I've seen no change for about 8 weeks. I am going to stick with it though - I think in a way as I said it's become a mental thing now - it probably is a swing issue, but I'm probably over-thinking it - the doubt in my mind is because whilst other areas of my game have improved with practice and coaching, driving seems to have gone backward! Oh well. I've been hitting hybrids or a 5 iron off the tee recently which does mean I'm striking the ball more consistently and has certainly taught me how many holes you actually need to take driver on - far less than you think. I can hit 2 hybrids/long irons at most short or average length par 4's (within reason) and even with a bit of strategy remove the risk element of the driver on some par 5's. But there seems to be a couple of holes on any course I play where you just have to take driver, and all the time this is a problem for me I'm at a major disadvantage. It also means there's no margin for error on the shots I do play - I'm further from the hole so any slice, duff, top or fat and I can kiss par goodbye - if I put a drive within 160 of the hole and duff it 30 yards at least I still have a chance of getting it on the green with my next shot! Tbh I'm not sure of the length of my driver - I experimented on the range, choking down the grip a little to shorten it up, there was a (very) slight improvement, but not enough to confirm one way or the other if it was anything more than flukily hitting a couple better. As I say I'm quite tall (6'3") so I had sort of assumed a longer shaft was more suited to my posture. I'll give it some more work on the range, another lesson or two, and hold fire on another club just yet - I think I was sort of hoping for a magic fix that put me back to where I was so I could actually start to feel happy about my golf again!

Hi - and apologies in advance for the essay that follows! I'm thinking about a new driver for the new season - but at a loss where to start! I currently use a Dymo2 Str8 Fit, 11.5 degree, regular flex. I have a little offset on it as I find I can play a controlled fade (when it's going well) whereas with a neutral setting it can be quite wayward. I struggled all winter off the tee, in fact went through a horrible 2 month period of the shanks, but only with the driver! I had one round in particular where I took driver on 7 of the front 9 (the other 2 are par 3's) and flat-out shanked or duffed the ball barely off the tee with every single shot. Needless to say it stayed in the bag for the back 9! What is most frustrating is whilst I've stunk the place out off the tee, I've honed my iron and wedge play a lot over the winter, and feel like I'm hitting them better than I ever have - if I could hit even 5, but preferably back to 6 or 7 fairways out of 10, I feel like I could slash my handicap (currently unofficially 26) really quickly. The problem may now have become less a mechanical thing, more of a mental block, as I now have no idea when I step on the tee whether I'm going to hook, slice, duff it into the ground, just literally anything can happen off the club. It also feels very light and whippy to me - I'm at a loss whether to put it down to low confidence and poor touch, or whether it isn't right for me and maybe I could do with a change. I have thought about a stiffer shaft - although I am a high-handicapper I am quite tall and so create a good lag, and have a noticeably quicker swing than any of my golf buddies. I am trying to talk myself out of this though, as I am convinced this is something that would benefit a better player than me. There isn't a custom-fitting service anywhere near me per se - no flight tracker or anything anyhow, just a pro shop with a couple of different heads and flex shafts on the assumption if you're buying, you know what you're looking for. I asked for some advice in the pro shop and they said the 11.5 degree loft might be too high and reducing the loft would help make my drives a little straighter. I had always been led to believe though, for beginners such as myself, HL drivers were ideal as lower degree clubs would not be forgiving to a less than consistent swing. To put all this in context, last summer (using GPS and stat tracking for my lessons) I was averaging 247 with my driver with 59% FIR accuracy, which was passable for the standard I play to. But over the winter, even considering the wetter fairways, I have dropped to 231 and 32% FIR. I have looked at other drivers and I do like the Cobra S3, but I have grown used to the square head of the Dymo2 and since the square drivers are also (to my knowledge) generally easier to hit straight, I'm at a loss as to what to do. As a higher handicapper I don't know whether custom fitting will help as clearly my swing is not consistent or technically good enough (although visually it has improved considerably with lessons) to be able to provide reliable data as to what I need. Similarly I'm unsure whether to just stick at it on the range to try and get myself out of this rut, or invest in another club that might help. And if I do splash some cash on a new driver, would a lower loft or stiffer shaft even be likely to help me? If HL & square drivers are the most forgiving, surely its telling me it's my swing, and not the club, that is the problem? I don't want to spend £200+ on a driver if it's really more likely to be down to my inconsistency. What is weird is everything else in my game seems to be coming together. I'm shaping shots, controlling spin, getting my yardages right, and sinking putts. Discounting driver I feel as if I'm playing to 10 shots better than my handicap. But as soon as I need to take the big stick I can see the 8s and 9s writing themselves on my scorecard before I've teed it up. Does anyone have any advice???

Was playing last summer and having an absolute mare - slicing every drive woefully, couldn't make a putt, the ground was rock solid and I was thinning every approach, it was hot and I was carrying and tired. I was playing off 26 but looking more like 36, it was ridiculous. I got to hole 13, a 490 yard slight dog-leg right par 5, and having already all-but given up on my round I took driver against my better judgement and absolutely smoked one out of the sweet spot, laser-straight, and counted it out with my mate's GPS as 332 yards. Went into the green over a lake with a 6 iron to 12 feet and two putted for my only birdie of the day. Every time I step on the tee now, no matter how badly I'm playing, even if I've hit 80 or 90 bad ones already, I know I still have the potential to hit a good one. That's why I hate golf! One good shot a round keeps you coming back for more! :D