Ben

You see that scenario play out more often then not on the PGA Tour. Just this week Sergio was down by two and needed to hole out on 18 to force a playoff. Some dudes come close. I remember CHIII actually hitting the pin in an event, but I can't remember seeing nor hearing of the shot actually going in for the win. That's pretty cool!

Exactly.

At home My normal 15 minute Yoga routine Solid breakfast. Usually oatmeal, banana, raisins. A few minutes with my SKLZ Gold Flex I lose the feel for a club in my hands if I use it right before the range, Its got a good weight to it. That's while I swing it before I take off for the course, But it certainly gives a good upper body stretch and helps find the back backswing that I look for. On the drive Rehearse my hole-by-hole gameplan At the course Putting. A full circle of short putts around a hole with some break. Putting. Start getting some 6-10 footers to drop Putting. A few longer putts Chipping: 5 minutes or so Range: Some SW pitch shots - a few 8irons - a lot of 6 or 5irons - two or three hybrids - two or three 3woods - about 5 drivers Range: Whatever the tee shot is on the first hole

When I was in high school it was strictly by ability/scoring. I wouldn't take high school golf terribly seriously though, that is if you want to go somewhere with golf? In my senior year I had the low scoring average in my division. Noone looked at me (schools) Being in the golf business now, and seeing all the young talent, competitive golf outside of high school is where you're gonna be noticed, and where you're gonna get serious competition. Particularly the AJGA. You say you play various tours, stick with those. Again, if that is what you're looking for? However, high school golf is a great way to get on some good local courses, without having to pay entry fees. And having fun with friends. Even if you're not playing with/against them in the same group.

I'm with you on this. There is a time and a place for spectators to be loud and rowdy, but I don't believe that place is a golf tournament. What may be an instant after impact on one tee box, may be an instant before a putt on the previous green, nearby tee box, etc. Did anyone catch what was said after Sergio backed off his tee shot on 17 cause the wind stiffened? I heard a lot of jeers from the crowd, directed toward the heckler.

Just search amazon for your favorite golfers and see if they have one written. That's what I've done. Autobiographies are few and far between, but Byron Nelson and Seve both published one. Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen too, I have their books but have yet to read it. There are a few quality biographies. James Dodsen collaborated on Hogan's and Arnie's. I prefer autobiographies cause the words are straight from their thoughts. That goes for instructional books too. I find absolutely no value in books theoretically explaining a certain pro's theory on the swing. If its not coming from the pro themselves, I'll pass. I learned a lot from Ray Floyd's book. And of course, Hogan's Five Lessons. If you're looking for the new ear, very few of the modern golfers (maybe just Tiger) have them published...

Totally him

Well, John is poised high up in FedEx cup rankings and with the start of the playoffs he got off to a bang. But on movind day yesterday, he was moving, but in the wrong direction. Let's see what today brings! Let's go HUH

I just bought my ticket. Things would be so much easier without having to worry about entry fees!

Today I shot +4, 39 on the front and a -5, 30 on the back at my home course. I can't remember having that much of a sway in a single round. I'll take it though. Great feeling to comeback like that!

yeah, technology certinaly moves things along! Some of the clubs I used in the 90s...

Nice to see more and more cyclists springing up! There's a little button on the toolbar above "Insert Image"

Sai-Jin, I like that you have a play set and a show set. No, your show set probably won't big huge bucks down the road, but to the right person, you may be able to get something. I collect Hogans and am always looking for sets that have matching serial numbers and original grips. I see un-hit sets of Hogans of ebay every once in a while. The people ask for far too much from them $1000 - $2500/set. I don't usually follow the auction to see if they actually sell. But like I said, there are probably collectors out there with money to burn. I'm a collector on a budget. I'll take the beat up ones. As far as Miuras go. Those are some pretty clubs. And, as already mentioned, the Japanese know how to forge metal. Golf clubs as a work of art? Yeah.

All-In Yoga app from the iPhone. GET IT! Its so worth the ridiculously low $.99 price. Tons of poses. Each pose has written instruction along with a video of how to get into and out of each pose and a guide to what muscles are supposed to be used.. On top of that there are pre-set routines "Quick Recipes" based on what you want to work (back, core, legs, balance) and your skill level (beginner, intermediate, advanced, guru). The Quick Recipes run with voice commands and are timed for each pose. I do the 15min Sun Salutation for Wellness every morning. Others are "Strong Abs" 51min. "Stretching" 41min. "Strong Legs" 70min. Just to name a few. I refuse to be a craggy old man that can barely get his club pointed in the air at his backswing, let alone to parallel. I see it far too much at my club...

Switched things up today and actually broke away from Brookside. There is a new tour that's starting to gain some momentum. The MTour. There's no site yet. They have one event a month. Luckily I knew the right people and got invited to their first one. Today was their third. Its a Korean heavy tour, In the first event I was one of two non-Koreans. Today there were five or six of us. Unlike a lot of the mini tours, the entry fees are low. $100 for the first event. Today was $200. And the payouts are pretty high. On the Golden State or Pepsi Tour the winner will win 4 to 5 times their entry fee. Today on the MTour, first place took home $2200! Unfortunately, I did not come in first place. My even par, 72 got me a T12. But I did get my money back! The course was California CC . Its not the longest course in the world, 6804y 72.6/129 But, if you miss the fairways, more likely then not, you're gonna get caught behind the mature trees. It starts off with a par-5. probably my least favorite course design feature. I want my first par 5 around the 4th or 5th hole. I know my swing is on and I'm really ready to attack. So I start off with a par cause I block my 2h into the trees. I managed to get myself on the green, but with a slippery left to right 14'er. Didn't get up and down from a bunker on the par-3 second hole. Had a look at birdie on 3, but didn't have the putter working, yet. Hole, 4. was another par-3. Hit a nice 6iron pin high, but it was right of the green. Kinda flubbed my chip, and left myself with 12' for par. Looking at the putt, I knew it was going in. Sure enough, center cup! and that's when my putter caught fire. 6' for par on 5, center cup. 12' for birdie on 6, center cup. 14' for birdie on 8, center cup. Hit my driver into the trees on the shortish par-5 9th and walked away with a lame par. After two early bogeys I got myself back to even after 9. 10 was an OKay par, gave my birdie putt a look but I misread the amount of break. 11, was good. 567y par-5, Janky driver putt my out there, but still had 280 left. Good thing was, I was in the first cut and sitting up so I could, and did, take a rip at my 3wood. It was alright, Left myself 42y to a back pin. Chipped up to 6' and drained that putt. 12, ah 12. Felt bad on the tee, never a good sign, hit a crappy drive. Nice escape shot out or the trees with my 4i, but didn't get up and down from 69y with my wedge. 13 was let down par. solid tee shot, pretty 8iron, but misread the putt. People say, "watch, you'll learn something" I always learn something, but its the wrong thing. The guy in my group was on a similar line about a foot away, his putt broke, mine didn't. Reading the putt on my own, I knew I didn't need to play it outside the hole, But I saw his break hard and miss low. My putt, broke, but not hard. Damnit I hate watching people putt! 14 was probably my iron shot of the day. I had 161y to the hole, but into a semi-stiff wind. I hit this sweet 7iron that was tracking the hole way. hit, and ended up 14' past the cup. Left myself with a tricky putt for birdie, missed it, and another let-down par. Then I went and 3-putt bogeyed 15, GREAT! 16 is a par-5. I ripped a driver out of anger. then hit a laser 3iron to the green. That was a pretty iron shot too. Couldn't roll the eagle putt in, but got a nice birdie. 17, is a bit of a beastly par-3. It was playing 212y into the wind. I just hit a great 3-iron on the last, let's try it again. I did! knocked that one to about 20' but, by this time, my putter ran ice cold. Left the putt on the left edge, one more rotation! grrrr! 18 is a golf hole, 463y, plays uphill off the tee, slight dogleg right. Reminds me of the 18th at Riviera. I smashed a drive. I was left with 192y to a back pin. Cranked a 6iron up to 14' and went on to miss that one too. booohooo :/

This thread came in a very timely spot. I had a tournament today, that I totally forgot I was signed up for. My friend text to see if I wanted to carpool. "Tournament? Huh?" Thankfully he was playing too. Anyway, today simply reconfirmed my style of putting works just perfectly, for me . On hole 4 my putter caught fire. A 12 footer to save par. Great read, and a solid stroke, I don't usually walk putts in, but by the time I looked up it had a foot to go and it was tracking, center cup. On 5 I made another 12 footer, but for birdie. Hole 6 was a solid par putt 6'. Hole 7 I left my 35' birdie putt about a foot and a half long. Back of the cup. Hole 8, I drilled another birdie putt from 15'. 9 was a great two putt. I was 50' for birdie and stroked it to 3'. From there, right in, center cup. 11 was a par 5. I chipped up to 5' for birdie. Right in the center. Then the putter went kinda quite. I did actually miss a short one though. About 4' for par, a downhiller. I'm talking severe downhill. That pin was in a crazy spot. If I missed that putt, it wasn't going to be 4' past, it was going to be 10' if not more. I've read a few replies here that some of you are afraid of what you're gonna have left if you putt aggressively and miss a short putt. That totally got in my head, and this train of thought simply boggles my mind. Worrying about a comeback putt just means that you aren't 100% confident in the first short putt you have to begin with, of course you're gonna miss. That's a recipe for failure. And, there you go, I missed it, cause I was too worried about what was next, instead of entirely focused on the putt going in. That was hole 15 too. Totally pissed me off! I got my focus back, stepped up to 16, a par-5. I got on in two, ran my eagle putt by a foot and a half, and rammed that birdie putt to the back of the cup.

Okay, yeah, I feel you Paradox . From a personal standpoint, and playing for as long as I have, adapting both putting mindsets over the years, I've been more confident over putts, and made more putts going with the ramer method. Not to say that I haven't had some wicked lip outs, cause I have. My friend Alex makes fun of me about that. Alex is just one of those friends who likes to talk a gang of sh'it. But I have more friends who know me to be automatic on short putts. I love the fact that I can use the line on my XG7, know for certain that its on my line, and stroke the putt to the back of the cup. I've posted it in putting topic threads before, making putts is the greatest feeling in golf. Forget 300y drives or sticking a 4 iron to ten feet, making putts is where its at! iacas so long as I at least hit the whole, I know if given my putt a chance at leastt. There won't be a time where I'm raming a putt home and not even sniff the hole. I've played with some members at my course that are so afraid of short putts, that they absolutely won't putt aggressively and end up missing the hole completely. we now have a Friday "Play with the Pro" game at my course, I was playing in a group of three members and my GM. He's an alright golfer, the GM, plays the Golf Channel Tour and carries a 7 hdcp. But there are aspects of his game that just aren't there. In our 5-some it was he and I best ball vs. the the members in three seperate two-man best-ball matches. He missed some shorties because of this exact issue. Didn't even touch the cup, decell to the extreme. It was so hard to watch. Particularly cause he was my partner. Thankfully I shot low that day and totally carried the team. Not to mention, the long putts that I make, tend to be traveling at a good rate as they drop in the cup. I guess its just me. I certainly vote for firm.

Well, it seems as though your selection in screenames is pretty accurate huh? Quote: So yes, you are right, the risk in hitting it firm is no great then the risk in dying putts into the hole. And thus is the subject of this thread, which does one prefer? There is no proper nor improper.

Yeah, you were on ESPN's Not Top Ten! HA

hahha, no, but now that you mention it, I do remember the bunkers there being like that! I'm talkin'bout Brookside!

Couples, Goosen. Super cool. How could one not like watching these guys?? I can't say that I hate anyone, that's pretty harsh. They are all doing something I only dream about. That being said its sooooo hard watching Bubba play golf. The swing, the bend to the shots, the look of uncertainty on his face everytime he takes a shot.

Risk and proper speed are both subjective. That's the whole point of the thread. As my previous reply suggests, I'm a short putt ramer. To me, playing break in a short putt is risk . There is one excpetion, the downhill super slider, they certainly demand break being played. But if I've got a short putt I'm playing it inside the hole and stroking it firm. More to that point, with a firm stroke, comes confident stroke, as nickolasjt mentioned. No decelling. One of the worst feelings in golf is decelling on a three foot putt and not even hitting the hole because the clubface is left wide open. Or the putt wiggles off line on less than smooth putting surfaces. Firm putts tend to hold their line better .

I see the golf staff mentioned that their greens there aren't in the greatest shape, but bunkers are a hazard afterall and don't necessarily need to be groomed to perfection with soft, fluffy sand. I play a course that has the same makeup to the bunkers you describe, and have no plan of renovating them. That being the case, I've learned how to play from the hardpan bunkers. All it takes are soft hands. No need to blast through the shot. Think regular bunker shot but half the energy.

Brookside