Gas Hawg

The OP has an extremely narrow minded view of people and / or human nature. Seeing as how, in his era, Hogan worked to become the best player he could, it stands to reason that if he were of this era he would still do the same. I believe that if he needed to hit the gym daily to compete and win at the highest level so he could drive a ball 300 yards, he would do just that. Professional athletes work hard to beat their competition. Your argument is only valid if Hogan were to be completely satisfied with being a weekend hack like me. I am neither a Hogan follower nor a true follower of any modern day golfer. But for the OP to definitively say Hogan would be a poor golfer in today's golf world is crazy. People who are champions rise to that level by working hard to out-gun the competition. It appears he is one of those folks we come across in life that will argue for the sake of arguing. Right or wrong my 2 cents.....

My game suffers something awful if I ride. Last year I walked and pulled my bag on a pull cart. This year I have a new lightweight stand bag and I carry. I absolutely love carrying them. Better than putting the pull cart around for sure. I find that I visualize the course management better when I walk. Riding I seem to spend too much time yaking and not enough time thinking...

I recently watched a biopic staring Jim Caviezel titled Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius. I really enjoyed it and gave me better understanding of why he never played as a pro..

I'm extremely fortunate. My membership is only $300 per year for unlimited golf (walking) and range. I played other courses to the tune of ~$180 for the year. My irons and bag were a gift from my employer through an incentive program, and my wedges, putter and woods were a gift from my father. I won a ton of balls from a golf outing this year, so I have had no equipment expenditures in quite some time. So, for less than $500 I managed to play over 100 days of golf since June. If it had not played out this way I would not have been able to play at all due to some financially draining medical bills. I also feel lucky the doctor let me play.

Shot a 43 on my home course front 9. I would normally be disappointed a little but it was a 20+ mph westerly wind. I golfed in the wind purposely to learn how to chose clubs in the wind and how it affects ball flight. I can't always pick wind free days to play when it counts so I needed more practice. What was alarming during this round was how much the wind affected the ball on the green. During one healthy gust the ball rolled toward the cup as I was walking onto the green. I had never seen that before....

I started out small. I shot in the 90's at the beginning of the year and hoped to shoot in the low 80's consistently by the end of the year. I managed that early on in the year so I reset my goals to playing each round with one ball. I had never done that before. I have since finished 85% of my rounds on the ball I start with. So that is a huge improvement. So I set new goals of fairways and greens in regulation. Mostly fairways. I hit many greens in regulation, but I seem to hit many of them from the high grass. It sure feels good when I have the chance to do it from the short grass!! So next year I will try to set some realistic goals for fairways, greens and putts.

We get some warm weather here in NW Ohio right up until Thanksgiving. So I plan to play on into December if it stays in the 40s or above....

Well, played the same 9 as yesterday and I guess without the standing water and 20+ mph winds I just didn't feel at home... Shot a 46. Had a couple of great holes and then BOOM - POW, a couple of blow-up holes...

I have never been able to hit a 4 or 3 iron very well until I got my Ping G15s. Now I have the confidence to use it as often as I need to. It feels goods to hit a long iron that well.

Shot a 41 for 9. The course was soooo sloppy wet with all the rain we've been having here in NW Ohio. Not to mention the 20+mph winds were beating me up pretty badly today. The highlight was chipping in on 18 to save par from about 25yds out....

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but when I am on the course with my pals we tend to go the exact opposite direction. Even if we're playing a buck a hole, we tend to help each other and be supportive. None of us are very low handicappers and pretty evenly matched. We seem to be genuinely happy for one another when the other guy plays a hole, a shot, a round well. I guess we just favor good sportsmanship rather than gamesmanship.....

On my home course the juniors are definitely the slowest players out there. Not only are they going through their checklist, they are jacking around with their amigos on the tee, walking to each ball as a group, and reading greens for an extended amount of time... I have played behind enough to also see them tear up the course....

I hit a TaylorMade R580XD S-flex driver. I just this past weekend test drove a Nike Sumo2 with a stiff shaft. I hit it well but could not get the distance out of it I get with my TM. For now I will still roll with my TM....

Amazing to watch. I hope he transitions well to the tour. He'll be quite fun to follow. And I never heard a "boom" or "pow" once... Oh what he could do with a Hammer 2....

I think technique has a lot to do with it... I started yelling POW as I swing and have seen at least a half to a full yard improvement! It has definitely helped my game and self esteem! Thanks Hammer!

My game suffers tremendously when I ride. I guess I don't have the focus in a cart as I do walking. I also tend to think my next shot through as I walk to the ball so I think I lose some prep time in the cart... I would definitely play all walking courses if they were out there. Luckily all the courses I play here in NW Ohio allow walking.

83 on my home course, par 70.... Getting my drive sorted out is helping lower my scores.. Shot a 91 yesterday on the same course... Drove the ball horribly after switching drivers...

I was actually looking at the Ralph Maltby shaft offerings. They are reasonably priced and the local PGA pro and fitter at my home course recommends them for the same reasons you mentioned. I have no desire to turn my $8.57 trade-in value club into a $408.56 club by reshafting it with a $399.99 shaft. I really like the way the head strikes the ball, but unhappy with how the shaft fits my current swing. Does anyone have any pros or cons to the Maltby line of shafts? I am gearing up to hit some this coming week.

Lessons are the way to go in my opinion. A local PGA teaching pro can get you hitting your current clubs consistently. Then once you are hitting your clubs well you can decide what your next club should be to improve your game. I hit my clubs very consistently, although not exactly how I would like, but they are an inexpensive set of Dunlops that were a package deal. I just ordered my next set after my game became consistent and I knew what I was looking for in the next club. Tons of research later and my new Pings are on their way... Just my thoughts on your situation....

I have been reading and researching as much as I can about driver shafts. I have read many reviews of the the stock TaylorMade shafts, most specifically on my R580XD driver and 3 wood, that say the shafts are mediocre at best. Does anyone here have any experience with this? The reason I have begun researching this is that I am no longer able to swing the club fast enough for the stiff shaft it came with and am looking to replace it. Does anyone have any experience picking a regular flex replacement shaft? I was going for the OEM replacement until I found so many negative reviews on stock TaylorMade stuff...

Apologies for the double and triple posts. I thought my browser lost my thread and did not submit it. Hawg

Hello everyone, long time listener, first time caller... I have been playing golf for many years, but until recently I only used golf as a way to get beered up and have fun with my buddies. I now play 4-6 times a week and am trying to get better and have left the beer behind. I am still using entry level equipment, but I am about to land a set of Ping G15 irons. We'll have to see where that takes me. The forum looks like a great place to learn game improving tidbits as well as learn all things golf. I'm looking forward to learning from and sharing what I've learned with others. See you out there on the tee! Hawg

Hi everyone! Long time listener, first time caller... I have been playing for a long time, but just recently decided that it was more than a time to get beered up and hang out with the boys. I try to play 5-6 times a week after work and and on weekend mornings. I have been fortunate enough to have played many places around the country, from Connecticut to Hawaii to Florida and St. Croix. I am still using entry level equipment but am working on upgrading soon. I hope to be able to share some of my fun experiences as well as learn something from those more skilled and proficient than I. This appears to be a great site with great folks so I think I'll stay and listen and learn a while. Have a great Labor Day weekend of golf!! Hawg

Hi everyone! Long time listener, first time caller... I have been playing for a long time, but just recently decided that it was more than a time to get beered up and hang out with the boys. I try to play 5-6 times a week after work and and on weekend mornings. I have been fortunate enough to have played many places around the country, from Connecticut to Hawaii to Florida and St. Croix. I am still using entry level equipment but am working on upgrading soon. I hope to be able to share some of my fun experiences as well as learn something from those more skilled and proficient than I. This appears to be a great site with great folks so I think I'll stay and listen and learn a while. Have a great Labor Day weekend of golf!! Hawg