beisenhauer

1) I'm a cheapskate. 2) I have a two-year-old. That siphons off a lot of time and money (see #1). 3) In the last few years I've taken my handicap from 20+ down to single digits without lessons. That progress might have been faster with lessons, but I enjoy the process of sifting through swing advice from a variety of sources and figuring out what works for me.

My miss with my driver used to be a slice, and I've worked for the last couple years on flattening out my swing plane and keeping my right elbow closer to my body (not "chicken winging"). Now my usual shot is a little push-draw and probably 20 yards longer than it used to be. If I miss, it's a straight push that I think is caused by my head moving forward in the downswing. If I start getting that shot, I'll imagine a wall against my left ear and focus on staying balanced through the finish. YMMV.

Congratulations. I'm happy to say that I've just joined you. 12.1 at the start of the season, and 9.8 as of this morning. I haven't shot anything like a +5, but I've come tantalizingly close to that even-par-for-nine that I'd like to get.

20 for me. Lower your handicap at least five stokes in one year Make a hole-in-one (or at least witness one) (Witnessed, never made one.) Make at least three birdies in a row Be the first to tee off at dawn Be the last to complete play at dusk, playing the last hole in near dark Hit a least three balls in a row out of bounds Make par on hole after hitting a ball out of bounds (Lost ball, not OB.) Play a wrong ball in a tournament Hit a drive 300 yards (even if it’s downhill, downwind on a rock-hard fairway) Reach a par five in two Par every hole at your home course in one year Play 18 holes in less than three hours Play a round on two different courses in one day (9 holes each, not 18. Not sure if that counts.) Call in sick to play golf Play 18 holes by yourself Try teaching a spouse, child or friend to play Read the Rules of Golf Call a Rules violation on yourself Break a club in anger Play 18 holes while having had a few “tasty” beverage

Because unlike other sports, the golfer bears final responsibility for his/her own conduct and score. I don't see any reason why professionals should be held to a lower standard than the rest of us in that regard.

"We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." --Ayn Rand Sooner or later, reality catches up. That's karma.

I just have one question: Is it considered acceptable to use a white driver after Labor Day?

How often do you carry your bag? If you don't carry, I'd recommend a cart bag. I quit carrying my bag a couple years ago (my shoulders didn't like it.) and switched to a Ogio cart bag. I've never regretted it.

+1 for Perdido Bay. It was a little soggy when I played it, but I thought it was a fun course, and reasonably priced.

Not sure if this counts as saddest or happiest. 475 yd, par 5, dogleg right . Try to cut the dogleg and blow my drive 30 or 40 yards right into long grass. Reload. Successfully cut the dogleg and wind up in right rough. 4 iron to middle of green, leaving a 20-25 foot, downhill, right-to-left putt. Holed it.

I've read this before, but it was phrased in less absolute terms. It was merely an observation, based on USGA handicap data I think, that most golfers don't improve much after they've been playing for three years. Which is probably true, especially for casual golfers who don't hang out on Internet forums.

June '08: peaked at 21.8 End of '08: 16.9 End of '09: 12.5 Current: 11.7 and will definitely drop with the next update. Looking for single digits by the end of '10.

I've got nearly enough GigaGolf clubs to put together a full bag. Everything but the irons. All their clubs are good, and their service is great. I got a driver with a shaft that was too stiff; I sent it back and they replaced it with a more flexible one. I just had to pay for shipping both ways. I really like the SGS wedges. I'm not good at controlling spin, but if you want to spin the ball, these will do it. I just wish they had more loft options. (I need a 50° and 54°.)

First, lateral hazards have all the same relief options as yellow-staked hazards, with the addition of the two-club-lengths option, so you could have used the "imaginary line" option described by MrKadash. Second, you could have taken relief from the lateral hazard by dropping on the cart path, then taken relief from the cart path as an immovable obstruction. It sounds as though this is effectively what you did, merely skipping the intermediate drop. Probably fine for a casual round, but if you're in competition with someone, it'd be better to adhere to the proper procedure.

Tony Romo gets paid very well to play football, not golf. I know the workout was voluntary, but as QB he's supposed to be a leader on that team. He can play golf on his own time.

Make an Ace. Shoot even par for 18 holes. Play at least one of the following: Augusta National, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews.

Annbriar GC: 70.9/129 from the league tees.

Right before that shot I said to my wife, "I'm afraid this is going to be another I'm-Such-An-Idiot moment." I was really glad to see him pull it off, though. I loved his comment in one of the interviews afterward: "A great shot is when you pull it off. A smart shot is when you don't have the guts to go for it." Pretty much sums up Phil.

I liked the show except for one thing: too much of the Donald's face on the screen. They could have made better use of Blair O'Neal too. Basically: more Blair, less Donald. Thanks.

He doesn't say Tiger isn't great. Just that he's seen other great players.

Reminds me of the old joke about two men complaining about a meal: "The soup was cold." "The meat was tough." "The potatoes were dry." "And the portions were small."

The October '08 issue of Golf Digest had an article on just this topic. It lists four stats with averages for various levels of player. (I've kept that issue just to have those numbers around.)

There were two things missing from my high school golf experience that the coach should have emphasized more: knowledge of the rules and course management. Others have mentioned the rules, but I haven't seen course management brought up. Teach the kids how to get the most out of the game that they have. This will make your good players more consistent and your marginal players more competitive.

Golfer Metal? I'm not familiar with that genre, unless you mean Alice Cooper.

With all due respect, from your account, it sounds as though he wasn't the only person acting like a jerk in that case. FYI, the reason forged clubs are less brittle than cast clubs is a difference in the grain size of the metal, even if both clubs are made from the exact same steel alloy. The clubmaker may not have known why some clubs are more brittle than others, just that they are. He probably didn't appreciate some guy walking in and questioning his expertise. He may have handled it poorly, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't know his business or that he deserved a profane response.