Turkish

A few weeks ago I was teeing off on a 320 yard par 4 and hit a huge drive. Straight towards the fairway, but none of us saw it land. I had to drive back and pick up a headcover that fell off at the end of the last hole and when I got back, I saw everyone already chipping by the green. I got up there and asked if they saw my ball and why they hit so fast, and they pointed to my little Top Flite D2 sitting right off the fringe on the fairway, 20-25 yards from the pin! I still only got par on the hole. Stupid 2 putt.

Contact as in, topping the ball or hitting it fat? Or, contact as in hitting it left or right of where you are aiming? Is it on full wedge shots or the shorter stuff? I noticed the other day my sand wedge chips started going left and right, turns out I was being a bit lax on the grip and alignment of the face. Very simple fix for me and I'm back to chipping with confidence.

Picked up a used Ping Anser 2. I absolutely love this thing, great weight and feel, I'm actually confident in my putting now.

It really is a nice course, unfortunately I don't think I'll play there any time soon. I liked the fact it had narrow fairways and tough greens .... but ... Very crowded, and my experience with the two ladies they paired us up with, spoiled it for me. They were great people, but very slow, and chatty (they were on a 1st date, so it was a bit understandable, just not on the course while I'm trying to shoot please). The one lady could really drive it though! I'd recommend it if you can tee off at a quieter time. Took us 5 hours to finish the round...

Sweet, playing there tomorrow at 2:20 with my bud for their summer special rate. Should be fun if we don't melt!

Has anyone played Oak Meadows in Addison? Going to go there Saturday (around 2ish, should be hot!).

What's forward press?

I think the same thing happened to me this Sunday. 160 yard par 3, green behind some trees, over a small little creek. I hooked it over the trees, but saw it land between the bunkers off the green, which are about 15-20 feet from the creek. The people in front were still waiting for the next tee. I go to grab my bag and turn to see someone walking away from the spot of my ball. When I get down there I can't see my ball. I know it didn't land in the water, I've lost balls in the water there before, I know what it would look like. So I ask them if they saw a ball land around here and the couple with their teenage son just shook their heads no. I asked if they were sure and the lady gave an annoyed 'No'. Luckily I found a ball sitting on the rocks in the creek, a marked Titleist SoLo (same as my ball, just marked with a logo and sharpie dot), still irked me though.

There's a look for this? That's kinda sad. I tried to play alone at my local 9 hole on Sunday evening, but it all of a sudden got busy and I got paired up with a father / son combo. All was still well, the little kid was incredible 100 yards and in!

I'm pretty much brand new to the game. While I hit drivers on the driving range, ever since I started actually playing, I've kept the driver at home when I go to both the course and the range. On shorter par 4s I usually tee off with my 4 iron to get it a solid 180 or so before setting up a short iron shot that hopefully rolls on. It does hurt slightly when my younger cousin blasts a big drive off the tee though.

Tried out the details in the PDF and had immediate success at the range with my short irons. Long irons and woods I had a mean hook though, but at least it got rid of the slice, right? I think it was a matter of focusing on my left arm on the downswing, just gotta learn to keep that focus each and every time. I also think I'm holding onto the club too tight. If I was out there any longer a blister would probably have formed on my left middle finger.

I was actually thinking of playing the Maple Meadows 9 tomorrow, looks like a great value / my kind of place. :)

I'm always up for a good 9 and new course. Where do you usually play at?

I just received it, it's a 1.5mb pdf page. I'll try taking some screenshots of it to break it apart and posting it here. It's a page of text with 5 pics. Thanks Leek.

Hi everyone, I would have posted sooner but the anti-spam measures kept me from it. Name is Behic, c sounds like a 'ch', from the western burbs of Chicago. I'm 27 and played my first round of golf on July 1st, 2007 and have been hooked ever since. Was at the driving range at a local 9 hole, par 27 course when my cousin, golfing for the past 2 years, coaxed me into playing a round. Never tried to play since I had only hit a driver on a range before that as something to do, but have always wanted to play golf. Some quick lessons on how to hit an iron, a quick round and 2 days later I bought an $80 set of Dunlops that were on clearance, a bag, and some balls. I've played about 7 9 hole rounds and one full 18 since then. Glad to have found this place, lots of info around here and pretty friendly people so far. - B

Thanks again for the support and direction. This is kind of the reason I want to try and get rid of some bad habits I might be forming before I go in for my first lesson, while I'm still very much a newb. So when the 'real' proper techniques are shown, I have some sort of idea what the instructor will be talking about, or won't be so tempted to go back into the bad habits since it's still fresh in my golf timeline. I'll probably take a lesson once the courses close down here in Chicago, I just want to try and enjoy the rest of the good weather for now and teach myself what I can.

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll be sure to check out that book this weekend.

I played my first big 18 hole round at White Pines last Saturday, West Course. It was beutiful, challenging without being frustrating. www.whitepinesgolf.com The only other two courses I've played are small 9 holes, Zigfield on 75th in Downers Grove and Green Meadows right down the street from my house. Hoping to go to Oak Meadows this weekend, $32 after 2PM special this saturday and sunday. www.dupagegolf.com I know it's not Northern burbs, but figured I'd put it out in this thread.

In my almost month of playing, 230 or so with a 4 iron. My driver stays at home for now. Though at the driving range, with my driver, I've hit it past the 250 marker a couple times, by sheer luck of course. Usually those go wide right or short and straight hehe.

I keep reading threads where an instructor changes the original poster's grip, and boom, hitting with much more consistency. I keep reading it shouldn't be very tight, and should be around the tips of your fingers instead of nestled towards the base. I can't get those through my head and keep wanting to wrap more of my hand around the grip. I've also watched some videos showing the proper grip and resting the grip on the index finger with the two middle fingers providing the pressure. It feels pretty awkward, almost as if I won't be able to hold the club when I swing through. Any pics / pointers?

I'm still figuring out my driver / wood positions, but with my long irons I put the ball in the middle of my stance, short irons just to the right of middle, and my chips the ball stands right at my right foot (tip from a wedge salesman, works like a charm for me!).

Newbie question ... When you say tee it right above the grass, is the ball sitting just on the tips of the blades, or is the head of the tee? I'm trying to get in the habit of teeing up my long and short iron shots (I'm pretty bad with a wood / driver), but I can't seem to quite get it when teeing off with a 7 or 8 iron on a shorter par 3.

First round on July 1st, 2007. Small 9 hole, par 3 course. I bought my first super cheap set of clubs and bag 2 days later. :D