abubacar

I don't know about anything in FL, but I was considering looking into the Golf Channel Amtour when I feel I am playing well enough. They have events all over the country including a handful of major events. From what I can tell it is broken down into divisions based on handicap, so if you are a 10-12 you'll compete against other 10-12s. Seems like a lot of fun since adding competition to anything makes it a bit more interesting.

Its not that i don't like hybrids because they are for baby men who can't hit irons (im def. a baby man). I just prefer the feel of a long iron such as a 1 or 3 over a hybrid. Like the one guy said, i can pick it clean off of the fairway or rough with an iron. When i hit a hybrid, most of the time i hit it really poorly, usually topping it. I just thought it was odd that i turn to my 1 iron but am an average golfer and still in the process of learning the game properly.

I usually prefer to play alone. I've been paired up before and its been fine, actually had some fun and met some decent folks. But if i take the time to go golfing by myself, there is usually a reason. Usually i want peace and quiet, want to practice particular aspects of my game, and have something stressful on my mind and would prefer to concentrate on something other than that stress, golf works wonders for taking my concentration. As for the angry birds things, who cares?! Not sure why everyone is getting their panties all bunched up because the guy made a joke about playing around with a smart phone. I do it all the time when I am waiting for people infront of me. Just grab the phone, check emails, send a text, google random things, and the occasional angry birds. I don't hit the ball then automatically start flinging birds around, but yeah if there is a lull in the play i'll look at my phone. I shoot the same either way.

If its super hot, (above 95) i tend to just skip golf that week. But if you must play try taking an ice pack and putting it in a paper towel. Position it on the back of your neck where you feel the top of your spine. Someone told me that this is the site of large veins and cooling it down well help cool the rest of your body down. I've used this method before and its helped, not sure if the whole vein thing was the reason but i know the cold ice helped me feel a bit better about the heat.

Believe it or not... i bought a new driver. I was using an old ratty hand-me-down that i had been using for like 8 years (I am 22 so that means i used that club as a 14 year old). I went with a Burner superfast 2.0 and tada the slice was gone. I think that the longer club (the burner 2.0 is a few inches longer than a standard driver length) caused me to hit the ball closer to the center of the face. I seemed to hit a lot of shots off the toe and with an open face. Also the burner is a bit of a closed face which helped. I don't slice at all anymore. Most are a bit right to left, a few are really bad hooks, and even fewer are perfect straight down the fairway . Anyway, maybe making sure the driver is long enough is a good plan? ALl i know is I am happy that i don't have to aim at a 50 degree angle to get my ball in the fairway anymore! :D

I seem to be a bit backwards. Most people seem to hit a 9 iron or other shorter iron better than the longer irons. However, my 1-iron is probably my most consistent club. I rarely hit it fat, duff it, top it or anything like that. Nearly all of my shots with it are very nice straight shots with good height that carry about 180 yards. Now go down to like a 6 iron or even a 9 at times, and my solid contact is gone... I've read quotes like "only God can hit a 1-iron" which seems to indicate that its an incredibly hard club to hit (or i am a god..). I can hit it out of the rough just as well as i can the fairway, which is something i can't do with a hybrid, I always seem to hit it with the toe or top it when I try one of those.. Anyway, just thought it was interesting and wanted to see what others thought on the subject.

I am not sure I understand why this club is considered hard to hit... I am by no means a PGA level golfer. I shoot in the low 100s, and have only been taking golf seriously for less than a year now. My hand-me-down clubs included a 1 iron. I thought it was neat and gave it a go ended up hitting it perfectly straight, with great trajectory around 185-190 yards. I don't think my swing speed is ridiculous (not sure exactly what it is, but i am not a big hitter... i drive the ball around 210-230). Out of all aspects of my game my iron play is the best so maybe i just have a good swing when it comes to long irons? Honestly I don't think this is a hard club to hit at all. I do get my occasion botched shot, but i tend to get more of those with my 6 iron than with my 1 iron (i think its mental, i just can't hit that damn 6iron). So should i be considering joining the PGA since i can hit this thing?

I use a 1 iron fairly often when I am playing. My clubs are hand-me-downs from my grandfather, which i think he bought in the early 90s. (one of these days i'll buy new clubs). I don't like the way hybrids or woods feel out of the rough, the bigger head ususally causes me to top it for one of those roller shots. So if the shot is around 200 Yards, I grab my trusty 1 iron. I don't notice it being any more difficult to hit than any other iron, and 7 out of 10 times (about the same as any other club) I make great contact with the ball and get that 200 yard shot. Now with this being said, i am a high handicapper (somewhere in the 20s but haven't officially computed it), my average drive is about 210 yards (usually a slice), and I have a decent amount of miss-hits. But for some reason that 1 iron is my club. If I am really stinking it up with my driver, I'll use it off the tee.

Your slicing and left to right movement might be caused by a weak grip. I used to slice the ball wwaaay to the right and then watched these three videos and now only have a slight fade. Pay really close attention in the "Understanding why we slice the ball" video when they explain why a weak left hand grip will cause the face to open and the slice to occur. These videojug videos are pretty good, IMO. I am not too sure about the swing itself, it seems like you have decent rotation and what not, but check your grip and alignment. These three videos improved my shots more than anything else i've tried.

Oh man, i know what i am yelling when someone in my foursome has a nice drive this week.

I've played the e6 (i like the bright orange ones because I can easily lose my ball in fairway length grass....) the other day and i didn't hate them. Decent distance and had a nice feel off the tee, but i wasn't a fan of it on the green or for approach shots) However, I remember on one hole i played the e6 and it went to the right into what i thought was think trees so i played a provisional. The provisional was a Pro V1 (we were hurrying and i grabbed the first ball i had in my bag) and managed to hit it straighter than the "straight distance" e6. The e6 gave me around 7-10 yards more distance than the ProV1. So really it would be better for me to play the ProV1 or similar tour ball than the e6. I figured the e6 would help me because my swing tends to vary as I am still finding my game (i shoot in the 100's), and i tend to slice the ball. The e5 will give you more spin but less distance, but if it is anything like the ProV1 only about 10 yards different. I think I would prefer the e5 and intend to get a box as soon as they come into my work. It is the cheapest ball i have found with a soft urethane cover (same cover material as high end tour-level balls).

Ah yeah true... I guess its the same if you really botch a shot and make a big divot next to your ball but still manage to move your ball a few feet. I've just never seen it before in about 10 years of golfing. Atleast we scored it properly.

I took a gander in the rule book at unplayable balls and sort so I found my own answer. Causing the ball to move with anypart of your equipment (even if it isn't a stroke) is a stroke penalty. Technically i should have replaced it back in the tree though...

I was playing with my friends yesterday and had a strange occurance happen.. My tee shot went way right (typical) and onto the adjacent fairway. There was a tree line between the two, so I figured I would try to punch it through below the tops of the trees and back on to the other fairway. I hit an iron and kept it low (about 5 feet off the ground) and hit a small pinetree. I watched for the ball to drop on the other side of the tree (since it had some speed) and saw nothing. Walked up to the tree and checked for my ball... still nothing. My friend comes over and points this out to me: Thats right... my bright orange e6 is lodged between two branches of a tree... Honestly who does something like this. I figured my best bet was to try and baseball swing it out (to try and avoid a drop and just for fun). Since i've never played baseball, I missed the ball and hit the branch instead making the ball fall to the ground. I never struck the ball in any way, I simply moved a branch which happened to dislodge my ball. My question is should this count as a stroke penalty or not? I am not particualirly well versed in the official rules of golf, but i figured this would fall under some sort of "Changing the ball's lie" penalty or something of the sort. My argument was that I never struck the ball with any part of my club, but my friends didn't buy it. I took the stroke penalty but I am still curious...

Wow that sounds a bit like an average round of golf for me... I'd be happy with that. hehe.