nstphillips

I have to say 0%, I haven't heard of any pro's getting to scratch in their first year of golf, could be very wrong here though. However, I don't believe in not trying to realise your dreams. So why don't you set yourself smaller short term goals. I.e obtain a recognised handicap, then try and play consistently to it. Then work from there setting short term goals every month and reviewing them. You will have more of a chance to get to your goal. I think if you trained really hard every day, depending on ability you could become a single digit handicap in a year, but the difference between that and a scratch is massive. You can train to be a club pro (in England, not sure if it applies in America) after you reach a 3 handicap and these guys have got talent and have practiced all their lives. Good luck anyway, keep a thread or something to let us know how you are doing!!!

O.k, cheers man. I am not a wealthy duffer, just a duffer that hasn't learnt what was good for him yet. I think I will meet half way and take Hurley 9192' advice and get some NXT's.

Must be quite a good routine if your club champ, lol!

Yeah I totally agree, my point however, was not that I desperately wanted to have pro-v1s, it was that I asked to buy them and was denied! Shouldn't I be able to buy what I want with my money? The question I was trying to raise is that would it matter if someone of my ability ie. "duffer" hits pro v's, is the ball going to do unusual things that hinder my progress because it is being hit inconsistently? Also would a 24 handicapper like myself be able to realistically tell the difference between the balls? My experience with the locos which I bought for £8 for 24, were that they seemed to feel very hard off of the face and made a "snap" like sound when hit, the pro v was quiet and smooth, and I hardly noticed I had hit it, which in my opinion makes it a lot easier to concentrate on hitting through the ball.

I usually wake up too late if its an early tee time, or leave with not enough time and just about make it to the club 5 mins before tee off time. Of course I usually plan to clean clubs, spend 10 mins putting, 10 chipping and 25 on the range but rarely actually get round to doing it that way.

I do take your point, but I am having one lesson a week with the club pro and then practicing like mad all week. Maybe I don't need to buy the best balls, but I left with the cheapest balls in the shop and felt the lamest golfer in the world. There is a strong possibility that because of this I hit all the shots subconciously bad with the balls I bought and with the found prov1 I thought it was my duty to prove to myself that I can use the best balls out there. I am however glad I'm having the lessons, have improved a great deal since taking them up. I was wandering if there is a ball that performs well but then again isn't gonna break the bank? Thanks again for all the replies

Thanks for the reply guys, I won't feel like such an idiot when buying decent golf balls now. I know I should have just said " are you gonna sell me the balls I want, or shall I go else where" but the guy works at the club I belong to so almost felt obliged to take his advice. I will however, get down to Nevada Bobs and stock up on some Pro V's. Maybe I will lose them all in one round, at least it will be me that decides if I am worthy of them then.

I do respect that I think he was trying to help me out by coming to the conclusion that an expensive ball is the same as a cheap ball if it is at the bottom of a lake in my case. However I thought I would treat myself to some decent balls after finally getting my handicap certificate and regularly going around the course without losing a ball. I play regularly 4-5 times a week and practice loads because I am fully addicted to the game, so like to think even with my relatively short golf career, that I would benefit from the best equipment available.

"Pro V1's, you don't need Pro V1's" was the reply from the pro shop staff member named Dave upon my request to replace the American Lake Balls that line the lower pockets of my golf bag. He then went on to imply that I was not good enough to know or feel the difference between a £32 set of balls and a £12 pound set of balls. So I left the pro shop with a 24 pack of Dunlop locos and every shot I hit seemed to clunk off the face of my irons and fly off in a rather ungraceful manner. I got to the 2nd hole par 3, which is one of many water hazard holes and tee'd up the loco and let rip, needless to say my ball steered clear of the water, about 60yds right of it as a matter of fact and flew into the some bushes about 120 yds short of the hole. After 2-3 mins of searching I found a ball, low and behold a Pro V1 at that. I played that ball from a drop and landed it about 10 ft from the hole. I played the rest of the round with it and every shot seemed to fly gracefully from the club face. I couldn't hit a shot wrong, it was light and soft around the greens and flew off the tee like a rocket. My question is " Was the pro shop worker right, or can even a 24 handicapper feel the difference with these balls?" I honestly believe I can, but have a horrible feeling that my mind wanted to prove the pro shop worker wrong. What d'ya reckon?

I shot a really bad 111 the worst round of golf of my life. I had a John Daly moment where I continually tried to make a shot over some water with my SW and went in 5 times. Acted like a complete idiot!! I am in a very low period of my golf game, have gone from shooting mid 80's to barely ever being able to break 100. Ah well, as someone said somewhere "a bad round of golf is better then a good day at work".

My Lob wedge, on the practice green it is the most accurate pinseeker I have, but on the course it is the most agonisingly consistent shanking device I have. All in the mind I know, but it is my most feared club, I would pretty much use every other club in my bag before reaching for my LW.

At the moment I am playing almost everyday due to the extended sunlight hours and not having a girlfriend to nag me. But under normal circumstances driving range two times a week and one or two games at the weekend if I am lucky!

I shot a dismal 101, 52-49, after consistently being able to break 90 I have not been able to break 100 for my last 3 rounds. My slight slice off the tee has turned into a violent hook, I think I lost 4 balls off the tee in a row. Ah well, still in love with the game!