PhilsRHman

I signed up a few months ago as a marshal at the practice facility. It's been a while since I got anything the training days, etc., and now I can't find the email. Any idea if I've missed something along the way? Sounds like you've had a lot more developments on your end (with changing holes, etc).

I've had great luck on there picking up a 5 wood and a couple wedges, getting them all well lower than the typical going price. My stategy was simple, just decide what I was willing to pay, bid that much, and don't get frustrated when outbid. Since I was looking for pretty common items, whenever one auction would run out, another was coming up. I got my 906f2 which was in immaculate condition for $49. Got two Vokey wedges for 17 and 29. I'd say the going prices on each was about double, but by being patient I got good deals. The most frustrating thing about eBay was getting outbid at the last minute several times, to the point I figured the seller was tossing in their own bids to either drive up as far as they could or just bad luck. But in the end, it worked out well and I made some nice additions for $100, for what would have run me close to $450-500 brand new.

My girlfriend tricked me into doing yoga/pilates the other night. We found the Excercise On Demand channel and there's a 10 min yoga-core workout. She was like, come on, just 10 min, even you can do that. Now, I'm so out of shape -- 5 foot 6, 220 pounds, but decided to show her up, did the whole 10 min program. When I say I have a new respect for yoga/pilates, that's an understatement. There are parts of my abs, obliques, etc that I didn't even knew existed. My sides were so sort the night after doing the exercise that i had to get out of bed and take 3 advil in order to sleep since I couldn't move off my side, and basically had to fall out of bed to get up. The bottom line is, every part of me that hurt felt like it was "golf muscle" and if I can get that part of me in shape it's going to be the No. 1 key to my golf fitness routine. Not only is that that region the engine for your turn, but you can tell it will have a big impact on balance.

These are some real clunkers. I lived in the area for years and can't say much good about most of these. I'd strongly steer you clear of Lakewood as my brother played it last summer and said the tees were free of grass and his standards for courses are as low as can be. Cream Ridge is OK, but very quirky. I played Gambler Ridge a long time ago and the fact I never returned is telling. Miry Run is another course along that strip that fits into this same category -- quirky, average (at best) conditions. Actually a step below the county courses in this area, but like you said, hard to get on Monmouth County courses, although a weekday afternoon shouldn't be bad, especially as a single. Hanover is a cut above in terms of conditioning, but it's short and not too exciting of a design. I'm not even sure what Spring Meadow is, but I'd be wary. Where exactly are you staying and how much are you looking to spend. The courses you list here cover what's probably an hour's worth of driving if you went from the two furthest apart, which means there are a bunch of other options. The nice thing about that part of the state is you can probably draw a 45-min circle around where your'e staying and choose from 25 places to play (although be careful cause you get on the wrong roads and what looks like 15 min on a map might take an hour thanks to traffic). I'm confident we can find you a great fit, I'm not just not sure these are the only or best options.

I think we might be blaming greenskeepers when in fact some courses are sending a $7/hour maintenance guy who has either little or no idea about golf and hasn't been properly trained, especially at courses where there isn't much of a staffing budget. Or you can use the tried and true: Greenskeeper was just really pissed to be working while everyone he knows was off at BBQs for the weekend and wanted to take it out on us!

I love the way the Winns feel and they seem like they'd get stickier and better in the heat and when sweating, but I never wanted to take a chance. Also, how do they hold up? My hunch is that on tour when they can change them out weekly they're great but that they won't have the lasting power of something like a GP cord wrap. What have you found?

I was shocked a few episodes back when the fist pump irked someone, and even more shocked last night. If I'm her and go up a shot with a birdie against a guy who's clearly the best golfer on the show, you better bet I'm going to feel good. And not to mention, it was barely a fist pump, any more than if she gave her caddie a high five if she had one. It wasn't emphatic, it wasn't some crazy Tiger fist pump. I think that was TV being TV and telling them to spice it up. All in all, I thought the last few weeks were boring and they never found a way to pull any personality out of these characters at all. But that's the risk you take when you stop using people like they did early on who were certainly not all tour level golfers but were pretty interesting (although the only other BB I've really watched was the very first one). Also, I couldn't get past the idea that it's got to be a bit embarrassing to be Derek, a guy who has won twice on a tour to have to play on something like this? I guess you can say $100,000 and exposure is huge, but it's the equivelant to winning a game show. Seemed out of place to me from the start.

Saltman: We're more alike than you realize ... I also fight a hook when I'm playing poorly. When I was playing great I knew exactly how big a draw to play, but for the life of me I couldn't hit a cut. That's something that I've been able to change, and while it's cost me distance, I'm now swinging much more under control, and I can work it in either direction, just not as consistantly as I will once I'm back to playing more (i.e. what I expect to be a 10 yard cut will be 2 yards, or what I expect to be a 10 yard draw will be 30, so still a ways to go). And I know what you're saying about it not coming all together. I was really floundering at the start of the summer and couldn't get out of the mid-90s and was extremely frustrated. But I noticed I kept making more and more pars and birdies, but they were offset with more and more 8s and 9s, usually thanks to brutal tee shots (OB, in water, etc), and compounded around the greens to turn bogeys into quads. Now, thanks to a lot of work within 15 yards of the green, I'm finding that I'm not only turning bogeys into pars, I'm turning triples into bogeys, which is just as important. My renewed passion came a couple weeks ago in Ocean City, Md. I'd been playing horribly, coming off several straight rounds in the mid/upper 90s, including the day before. We were playing a tough course, but I felt comfortable and started simply enough with some pars and a birdie or two. I got to the turn and knew I was playing well, but really didn't want to think of anything other than making another par on 10. Got to 13 and one of my friends goes, "Holy crap, you realize you're 1-over???" I nearly wrapped my club around his throat. I ended up collapsing down the stretch to shoot 83 (yeah, 12 over on the last 6, but I won't chalk it all up to mental game, my blood sugar dropped really bad for a couple holes to the point my hands got all shaky until I drank a gatorade and stabilized it, but it put me into a real fog). That day I realized how close I was. I followed it up with a couple more rounds in the low 90s, but then another round of 83 (with a frustrating triple thanks to a ball in the water on 18). Since then, two 85s that were quite consistent, and an 87 on greens so slow I three putted 4-5 times and only made one putt longer than 6 feet all day. I've got a nice break from work for July 4, so I'm playing this Thursday (possibly 36) and Friday, then Monday (probably 36), and possibly Tuesday and Wednesday next week, so I've got a nice chance to really pull things together. I've added this new 5 wood and a couple new wedges, which might mean a small setback, but I'm really confident I'm ready to move forward quickly.

Notastick: Makes total sense. My short game's always been awful, so whether I'm playing well and hitting 5 irons into greens, or wedges, I'm about as likely to make pars/bogeys at about the same pace. Ironically, some of my best rounds ever have been my worst ball striking rounds. I'll always remember my first even-par 9 holes I hit only one green (made the birdie putt) and got up and down 7 of the other 8. When I was 19 I couldn't sell myself on the importance of the shortgame, but now that my long game is sort of second nature, I see that there's no reason to hit 50 3 irons and 50 5 irons on the practice tee when I could hit 5 each, then 90 wedges. It explains everything, but also points me in the right direction.

I've noticed more and more that there are a fair number of people in the same boat as me -- played a lot as a teen and through college, but the mid- to late-20s were spent away from the game (either too busy with work, too broke, or too frustrated trying to score playing montlhy like we did when we played 5-6 times a week). I'm 31 now and even though I'm back to a 12, I feel like I'm in better position to play better golf than I did when younger because I understand the game better. I also have the time and money to spend on the game and while it's not as good as playing free while working in a cart barn for years, I can actually play 7-8 rounds a month and find a 4-5 days more a month to practice. Plus, most of my vacations are built around little golf trips (even if they're all within an hour of home), and for the first time, I can enjoy the game socially as my friends are all learning the joys of golf. All-in-all, I'm back and feeling incredibly passionate about golf. Here's where you guys come in. My last handicap index came in at a 13.2, but as I look at it, my next 8 scores to come off are 92 or higher. I've been in the low/mid 80s for the past two months, so I have a feeling I'm prime to drop back into the 9-10 range with a handful of good rounds in the next month or so. My goal is to get down to a 7 by next March so that I can start playing in some NJ tournament qualifiers -- State Am, State Mid-Am especially, which are early in the year. I've got the next 5 months to really get my game in shape before shutting it down for the winter (aside from hopeful trips in Jan and March). If you could set up a program that includes one day a week completely committed to golf, plus one night a week when I get 2-3 hours at a range/short-game area, how would you spend that time? What sort of routine would you get me into? At this point I try to play at least 18 on Fridays since I'm off and my fiancee works late. Then Sunday nights I get off work and go to the driving range and then spend an hour on their chipping/putting synthetic green since. It doesn't feel like quite enough (and I'm considering finding one morning a week to get to the range before work since I work from noon-11 p.m.), but I think if I maximize my practice/play time it should be enough to get me back to the upper single digits pretty quickly considering I'm back shooting low/mid 80s without much effort. Finally accepting that inside 100 yards is where I need to work and improve (and that hitting a 225 yard 5-iron gets a lot of ooohs and ahhhs and means squat when you three-putt), I think I'm ready to take a big leap forward this year. Another question for the really low handicappers: When I was playing a ton back a decade ago, I was always playing such hard, high slope/rating courses that even by shooting low 80s all the time, my handicap would stay around 6.5-8 (bolstered by a ton of 9-hole scores of 2-3 over par). But even when I went to an easy course, I'd have a hard time finding the mid-70s and often blew up to the 90s. Do you like to play as hard a course from the hardest tees you can? Or is it good for the pysche to mix in a round from the white tees? What's a good mix? 4 rounds at a slope of 135, then 1 at 118? More balanced? I'm saving my money to join a local country club next season so I can get into some competitive weekend tournaments, but I'm afraid playing the same course all the time will get me back to the point I struggle to play well anywhere else. Love to hear your thoughts.

The way I always remember it, whether into water, OB, etc, is 1 in, 2 out, hitting 3. Then you don't even have to worry about which is the penalty stroke, etc. Tee shot lost (1 in) Bringing it back out (2 out) Hitting three

[/ATTACH] Hahaha, that would be amazing. Especially if you ask her if she's got a Scotty Cameron Ball Tool in her nightstand to help you line things up! Not sure about you guys, but seeing a girl on a golf course automatically adds 3 points to her "rating". As in, even a 6 who bothers with golf goes up to a 9 in my book. Maybe that's from all my years working in a cart barn and being surrounded by 60+ year old dudes that the first time the least bit of tail shows up, watch out! Anyway, here's my tattoo. I've always had a thing for the Statue of Liberty. Seems so patriotic, but not in an over-the-top cliche eagle wrapped in an American Flag way, if that makes sense. Not sure how to embed a photo, but we'll see if it works:

Sorry, but not sure we define "keep it simple" the same way. For someone who can't hit the ball, this seems like a lot to think about, no matter how simple it sounds. Everything I've learned early on came from the Little Red Book and 2-3 fundamentals from my uncle. I've had great luck with friends who are knew to the game by instilling these few things: 1. Hitting a golf ball is an athletic move, so get yourself in an athletic position (this will inevitably help him get into a fairly good stance that will feel good). 2. Clip the ball off the tee (this is straight lifted from Harvey Penick, but it works wonders). Encourage your friend to be athletic and make sure he knows there's not some scientific formula he needs to solve. Swing the club, hit the ball, it's that easy. Once he's at the the point of making good contact, regardless of where the ball is going, give him one really easy, simple swing thought that I used for many years: See the triangle your arms and chest make at address? Try to maintain that as far back as you can. Obviously taken too far this could break down, but this will encourage a strong one-piece takeaway and should set the foundation for making good solid contact. This is also a good time to make sure the grip is in good position, as that will likely cure any weird, crazy directional errors an also help build a solid foundation. But more than anything, as with everyone I play with that's struggling, convince them that hitting a golf ball is as athletic a move as throwing a ball, something they've probably been doing since they were up on two feet. Once it's de-mystified, it's amazing how quickly progress can come.

You guys are right. I will try to revise.

You guys tell me if I was wrong. Ordered a 5W on ebay from a sellers with about 150 sales, no not a bit-time seller. I paid immediately after I won Monday morning then emailed to say that I'm playing Friday and really would love to have the club by then. He sent it quickly, but mailed it with the cheapest USPS option available. Now, if I paid something less than the $15 shipping he charged, I would have been last annoyed, but for $15, I expected it would arrive by Thursday. It didn't. Now, I got the club, and it's as described, in good shape, etc. But I'm pissed he didn't even offer that I could get the club faster by paying a couple extra bucks. I gave him a neutral rating, and explained exactly what I did above, thinking neutral is neither positive nor negative.

Man, what a kick in the teeth. Been dying all week for this 5W to show up because I'm playing tomorrow morning. eBay seller had it in the mail on Monday from Illinois. Got home tonight and still nothing here. Really sucks. Hopefully it at least shows up tomorrow while I'm playing and didn't get stolen out of the mail or anything. USPS tracker hasn't updated anything since he dropped it off though, so who knows.

OK, now I'm on a roll. Bought a Vokey Design 260-06 on ebay last night for $29 (plus 10 shipping). Ad says it's virtually new. I'm pretty sure it's an older model, but seemed like a decent price so I'll have it in a few days and see how it goes. Next up is a Vokey 56* of some sort. I'll be on the lookout on ebay as between this wedge and the mint 906f2 I got for $49, I'm finding what seem to be pretty good bargains.

I do this and have never met anyone else who does. I'm naturally left-handed (throw a ball lefty, right lefty, etc), but as soon as I could walk my dad had a baseball bat in my hands and I just learned to swing righty. So when I picked up golf, it was natural to swing that way. Pretty early on in golf I was messing around with a cross-handed grip on the putter and I had a Bullseye putter that could work either way. Before you know it, messing around I started putting lefty, but with my normal righty grip. So basically I putt left with a cross-handed grip. Been that way for as long as I can remember. Anytime I get paired up with someone I've never played with, I can guarantee within 3 holes they'll make a comment about it. Normally something really clever like, 'whoa, I could have sworn you were swining right' or 'man, you're trying to get in my head, huh?' It's funny how often you hear the same things.

My first thought was Crystal Springs in Northwest Jersey, but that's going to be right on the cusp of that $100/day greens fee. I haven't played out there yet, but have been trying to find a chance for a couple years now. I've heard such great things, and you'd have the choice of 4-5 courses all right there. Not sure if it's too far, but how about Atlantic City? Golf down there is incredibly underrated. You'd have the choice of 5-10 solid courses within 30 min of the casinos in a range of prices. Emerald Golf Links is a favorite of mine because it's a great value as a county/township course. A step up in price would be Harbor Pines, Twisted Dune, Brigantine, but should all should be under 100. You've also got Seaview and Blue Heron, but I've never played them because the others have suited me at a better price. Sand Barrens and Shore Gate are a longer drive from AC but Sand Barrens is one of the few courses on my list of just never having a desire to return. Whatever you do, stay away from Mays Landing. It's basically a muny. If you're like me and my friends, you'll want something to do at night, and at this point the casinos have rooms about as cheap as you'll ever find.

I completely agree with the earlier post about buying used ProVs if you've got your heart set on using them. But I've got to ask the question -- is playing the most expensive ball on the market going to help your game at this point? When I'm spraying it all over the place, I find that playing expensive balls only serves to frustrate me more. It's bad enough to lose one OB. Tack on a $4 price tag and it's a real kick in the nuts. I've always tried to pick a ball I like, then get a new and used batch. When I know I'm out playing for fun, or working on somethng, I use the used ones (even if by used I mean I opened them last round). Once I'm trying to really score I switch to a new ball. If nothing else, it helps get me into the mindset that I'm playing a serious round and really trying to post a score. I might try to cut fewer corners, go after riskier short game shot, etc. Basically I can transition into "tournament" mode without needing an actual tournament to play in. Give that a try and you'll not only save some dough on balls, you'll be using the same balls in both practice and serious rounds.

OK, lost that ebay auction, which I'm kind of glad since I rushed in. I hope I'm not being needy asking for so much advice. But I think it's really fun and interesting to open it up to you guys. Like I've said, I was really involved in all facets of the game years ago, and had really scaled back to very casual (couple rounds a year). Now hearing all your different ideas is great and I really appreciate it. Maybe I can pose this question -- make up my wedge mix. I've got $100 to spend on two wedges (figuring I can live with the Wilson gap wedge). I need something for 85-100 yards as well as greenside to replace my Wilson SW. And I need something to hit out of traps. Thoughts?

Man, now you've really got me thinking. I actually have room for a couple wedges, which is why I was thinking 56, then 60. I also just realized I have gap wedge from my Wilson Staff RM forged set, so I'll bring that out of the garage.

Yeah, I guess it didn't take much convincing. The sad thing is, when I was mid-single digits a decade ago, I was playing with the same wedges. Never thought anything of it. My plan was to pick up a Vokey Design 60 degree Lob Wedge (260-06) (says in the ad it's virtually new) that I saw on ebay and have my fingers crossed I can get cheap (what would you guys consider cheap? $30? $50? $75?) I'm trying to do my homework quickly, and it seems this isn't a spin milled, but not sure how big a leap it is between the two (titleist.com actually lists the 200-series as more expensive). Thought I could pair this up with my Wilson SW for now, but also thinking of going for the gusto and going right into a 56* Vokey, too.

OK, now that I'm getting more active on the site, I notice a big theme is wedges. I've had one Wilson Staff Midsize 56* SW with virtually no bounce that I've always used as an 11 Iron (90-105 yards with a full swing, good around the greens but can't hit it from a bunker). For bunkers, I still carry an old Hogan Radial that I can't hit from anywhere aside from sand (and I'm not very good from the sand with it, to boot). I tried a 60* wedge for a while but found that I could make any of the same shots with my Wilson SW, and that was even when I was playing a lot and down around a 6. I've sort of seen that SW as my "partner in crime" and over 15 years have figured out a way to do just about anything with it. Question is, it's quite warn and doesn't impart the sort of spin I'd imagine a SW should. It's also far from a precision wedge (it's not even the RM forged, it's the cavity back, which I'm posting a photo of here). So would all those shots I've learned to hit with this club transfer easily to something with fresh grooves and better technology? Would I just be better off sharpening the grooves of this one? Might I keep this one as a 100-yard club, then find something more versatile than the Hogan that I can hit from the sand and inside 70 yards? I'd love some suggestions from the gang about some wedge combos I should consider as I really concentrate on improving inside 100 yards this season, especially since I've a club to add now. I've got lots of length off the tee, and have never been able to capitalize because I simply don't stick it tight enough with my wedges and I turn too maybe birdies into pars and bogeys. There's the saying it's not the putter, it's the putter. Is this the case on wedges, too? Or am I placing myself at a significant disadvantage playing with what are basically 2 afterthought SWs that I never even considered replacing until now? I can see how you can grow emotionally attached to a putter and make it work for you over 20-30 years, but it seems wedges don't necessarily work the same way thanks to technology and grooves. Thoughts?

I've banished my 2 hybrid for now and I'm picking up a 5 wood. Something about the hybrid has just never been comfortable for me, and have never found a way to line it up square. I've hit some amazing shots with it, especially out of bunkers and rough that I could never have hit with a 2 iron, but it's so wildly inconsistent (it, the club, not me, the swinger of the club ) that after my most recent duck hook into the woods I finally decided it's out of my bag. Like everyone says, seems to be a personal preference thing.