bluenar9

I keep my iPod in my pocket and run the wires under my shirt. Even if I don't have an iPod, noise doesn't really bother me, because sometimes I'm the one making the noise if I'm helping my girlfriend or something.

Honestly I feel more comfortable hitting my 3-iron than my 3-wood. Huge loss of distance, but my 3-wood is the only club that still has any sort of slice to it. I've got a 17* hybrid coming to me. I've never used one before, but maybe the "not quite a wood but longer than an iron" is my answer?

The 18th hole of a local course is nicknamed "The Monster." The tee box is about 40 yards into a farmer's cornfield, and you have to hit over 40 yards of wasteland (corn field) onto the fairway. The whole tee box is surrounded by big boulders, so you have to walk to it and walk through an arched lattice entrance at the front of the tee box. I was with my girlfriend standing at the front of the tee box, off to the side, outside the entryway and the other twosome we were paired with was teeing off. I figured there's no way they were going to hit us because we were 15 yards ahead of them and about 10 yards to the left. Wouldn't ya know he swings for the fences and hits it off the heel and it comes at our heads. Luckily it wasn't right at our heads because I don't think our reaction time was fast enough... but I'd say it was less than 2 feet from my head and 3-4 feet from my girlfriend's. Scary. Now I stay behind the people teeing off.

Exactly my approach, except I hit my PW 135 so I'd need to hit my 54* (95-105 yards) to get the right distance for my PW, which I am most comfortable hitting at a full swing.

I've never had a caddy, but... $35 goes to the caddy for 4 hours of work, is less than $10 an hour. I would try to make it so he gets at least $15/hour, which would be another $25 to make it a total of $60 for 4 hours of work.

I don't know what this ESC thing is, but I've been calculating my handicap by posting all of my scores to a website (greenskeeper.org)... I'm about to go read the popeofslope website, but I am presuming from this thread that with ESC I wouldn't count anything over a 7?

I only somewhat understand the concept of handicap, and I've never been in tournaments or anything like that so I don't know how it's used in them. Though, I can discern from the previous posts that it's pretty simple. Anyway, that would suck if you had to add points to your net score for a tournament just because you went sub-scratch. p.s. I get my handicap by greenskeeper.org and filling in the score and course rating/slope, so I'm not just making it up. Maybe I should learn what a handicap even means eh? haha

Wow, I've never gambled playing golf. I don't think I would like it, because I don't like taking peoples' money unless it's a casino or something for traditional gambling, or an office football pool. The most competition I've been in is a family championship, haha. I came in to my new position at the end of the summer, so I missed the "golf outing" that my company throws, which is pretty competitive I hear.

I was playing with my grilfriend about a month ago, and there's a 150 yard par 3, and right behind the green (within 10 yards of the back edge) is the tee box for the next hole. (Now, as a preface, this course has hole/yardage things at each tee box, made out of stone so they're pretty. The faceplate that has all the information on it is on a 45* angle on the stone post.) So back to the story, the day before I had overshot the green with my 7-iron, so I pulled out my 8-iron (new clubs, still getting used to yardages). So I took my tee shot and I must have been feeling good, because I hit it straight and I was excited to see it drop right on the pin.... annnnd over the hill it goes, over the small tree behind the green, and I couldn't believe it. All of a sudden I hear a loud THUNK and I'm like great, cart path... it's probably bounced 3 holes over now. So we cart to the green and I go searching for my ball. a couple of minutes later after I can't find it, I go back to drop, and I see this white speck on the back lip/rough of the raised green. It was my ball, and I don't know how it got there, but my best guess is that it bounced off of that 45* stone hole info plate thingy and came back. No idea what happened, but from now on I choke up and make sure to swing slower on my 8i. I've tried my 9i on that hole but it comes up 5 yards short of the green.

Greystone is freaking beautiful. I've only played it once, but next season I'll be there a bunch more. I also agree that Eagle Vale is way too expensive. It's a nice course, but certainly not worth $45 when there are courses like Greystone and Shadow Pines around. Well I grew up playing Webster and the Shadows, and actually grew up 5 minutes from Greystone but it was always too expensive to go, so I've gotta make up for that, haha. I just graduated from RIT and got me a job, so I've finally got income and I can afford to play rounds of golf, instead of just hitting the driving range. I've been playing the Shadows a lot lately, mostly Shadow Lake with my girlfriend. Also, since she lives out in Brockport, there are like 6 courses within 10 minutes of her apartment (all on Rt-104/Ridge Rd). They're decent... flat, open, and arid fairways and greens, but hey it's golf (and it's pretty cheap, too). So far I've only tried Deerfield, Arrowhead, and Brockport CC. Also, when I've got an hour or so and I want to play, I'll go to this nice little place down in Rush called Executive South Family Golf Center. It's a nice little par-3 course that you can play for $7. It really gets me working on my approach shots. I'm still making golfing buddies at work, because it's big corporation (Harris) and everyone golfs here.

Haha, indeed. So you play Eagle Vale or the Shadows much?

Ohhh OGC? I used to live about 5 minutes from it. Never played the course, but I got offered a job there when I was younger because my father was friends with the course pro. And yea, the 18th is a freaking monster. If you birdie it, you get a free round of golf. The scorecard says it's impossible to get up and down if you miss the approach shot, haha. My girlfriend actually chipped up from the front (a very narrow apron) and putted it in; a miracle for sure, haha. Where on the east side? I'm in East Rochester, Brighton area, but my girlfriend is out in Brockport so it's easy for us. What courses do you normally play? I lived in Penfield for a little while and I grew up around here, so I've played almost everything. By the way, this Sunday they're doing a special: $40 to play and you get 2 free greens fees and a voucher for either a free set of wedges or a hybrid. They did it last weekend too, and I chose the hybrid because I don't own one yet so I figure it's worth a try. www.magiquegolf.com is the vendor. Besides, $40 for 3 rounds of golf is a good deal :) Anyway you've gotta be on the 'mailing list' to get the deal, but if you're interested I can send the coupon to a friend via e-mail.

Roody, which course was it? I'm up here in Rochester, too... I played Brockport CC last weekend and it was 55 degrees at my 8am tee time, but it warmed up to a nice 65 and sunny by 11am. I feel your pain about being cold in the morning, I could barely feel my fingers while teeing off. It definitely screws up your game. This weekend's supposed to be nice though :)

I love that Callie Forged, but damn they're expensive!

Maybe someone could help me in my problem, too. PW - 45* ... I only hit this from 125-135 SW - 54* ... I hit this from half-swing 60-110 full swing, and use it for all of my chips LW - 60* ... I hit this from 40-60, and use it up close if I need to stick a shot. I've noticed some distance control problems between my SW and PW, namely that I end up 110-120 yards from the green and I take out my SW and it comes up a couple yards short I feel like I should have something in between my PW and SW, and maybe I should get rid of my 54* and get a 56* for my chips/close shots and get a 52* for my GW? Also, I very frequently feel like I wish I had something in between my 54* and my 60*, because I hate hitting my 60* on anything more than a half swing, but I'll hit my 54* too far.

One pair of 2-year-old brown saddle footjoys. I need a new pair because they're becoming stretched out and loose. I think after the snow melts I'll invest... unless I find a good end-of-the-year sale. Which ones are the sneaker-like shoes? Adidas I think makes them... are they good? I want to try them but I've never fit Adidas shoes because my feet are very wide. I'll probably just go with footjoys again; a brown and black pair because I hate not matching.

He showed me a section from a David Leadbetter book. It was pretty clear that the picture in the "WRONG" section was basically a mirror image of my glove.

So after I got off the range last night, I went to purchase a new box of NXT's. When I put my glove on the counter so I could pull out my wallet, the guy at the counter walked away, grabbed a book, and said "you're holding the club wrong." He said I was palming it too much, and that I should be holding it in my fingers more. I've been playing for 10 years and the only thing I've done to my grip is making it a little stronger to correct my slice. I hit the ball well, pretty consistently but not "consistent." I've tried the new suggestion for the grip and it feels really funny. My glove wears down at the point "150f" and he said it should be wearing at around "118" Any thoughts? The new grip feels really funny, though I haven't tried hitting with it yet.

My Ogio stand bag has that strap too... it's an awesome invention. My bag never shifts/moves/rotates at all, and although I've never had anyone pull that bullshit trick on me, it would definitely serve as extra protection. By the way, I think that stuff is immature and completely uncalled for. I play with older guys (father) and my girlfriend most of the time, so I never have to deal with that crap.

Compete against yourself brother. I've only played by myself on a par-3 course, where I play 3-4 balls at once. Today I'm scheduled for 18 with the girlfriend, but I've got Pre-operative consultation for LASIK, so I don't know if I'm going to be able to play 18 with my "super-dilated" eyes. As for the solo rounds, I just started a new job, so while I make golfing buddies I have to play by myself. I'm going to try to fit in 9 or 18 after work a couple times this month, before winter sets in. Then, for Christmas, I'm going to Myrtle Beach for a couple of days :)

I usually just wear khaki shorts and a Polo or Chaps polo. I just recently picked up a couple pairs of plaid shorts though, so I'll be wearing those. I don't have a lot of disposable income now-a-days thanks to student loans payments, but I love to look good in the office and on the golf course, and I think vibrant colors and sharp patterns instill confidence in yourself and intimidation in others sometimes.

straighten your left elbow on your backswing, tuck your right elbow to your side, and push your left wrist out like you're opening a door (when you're in the backswing, palm should be facing behind you). Usually when I start screwing up shots I just concentrate on those 3 things and I get back in my rhythm.

It's funny becausae I understand the physics of the golf swing with all the different swing path/clubface variations and even what causes each of the different changes in the aforesaid elements... yet every time I go to the range, my swing is different. Sometimes my divots are straight and sometimes they're angled to the left. I started using a strong grip a couple of years ago and that corrected my chronic slicing problem. Now I have a swingpath problem where I come down too over-the-toppish. I'm not the most flexible person, so I like the straight back, straight left elbow, push my wrist out, then come back straight down method. But sometimes I come outside-in and it creates pull issues.

Sometimes I'll pause at the backswing to make sure things are positioned correctly then follow through, and it seems to work pretty well because I use it to get out of slumps with my irons... The concept of this swing is to "pump" your hands up and down a few times like you're cocking a baseball bat (as someone else mentioned) and then swing through. It sounds like you'd look like a fool. I'd rather master a tougher but better-looking swing than try this thing.

I don't mean to take this thread off-topic, and in the same regard ask such a dumb questions, but I guess I must have missed the "hybrid train" because all of a sudden EVERYONE has at least one hybrid in their bag. Personally, I love hitting my 3 and 4 irons. They're not always perfect but I can usually get 'em going. I haven't used a fairway wood in regulation play for 5 years because I simply cannot hit them very well and I haven't taken the time to correct it, even though I carry a 3-wood in my bag. Maybe I should look into a hybrid? I honestly don't know anything about them and completely missed the jump on the train.