Flopper218

So we all have 300+ yard drives I am curious from what distance you expect to be on the green? For me anytime I have GW or SW in hand I expect to be on and reasonably close, so maybe 125 and in. I don't often find myself in the 130-160 range, but from there I am confident in at least a chance at an up and down. Are you the type person who sees 190 to the pin and thinks 'no worries' or are you the type person who says, 'oh no, not another chip to chunk'

I hit all my irons sky high but for some reason my driver just doesn't like to fly, unless it's a block out push :( It's great in the summer on a dry day, but during the winter it can be a bit rough. I marked the 260ish to 280ish range. I have driven low 300 yard greens and in a scramble when we have a decent drive already in the short stuff I am sure I can hit it farther, but that's my 'comfy' power band.

I also am all for blind shots and being creative, but on a course you have never played it can be less fun than on a course you know well or have someone who knows the course well. I also forgot to mention another on of my fav courses. Don't laugh but Ballinger Lakes. Great 'practice' course as there is so much hazard in the Fairway it is not a Driver-SW kinda place. Really makes it fun and dirt cheap.

I live out in Kenmore and just got the clubs out 2 weeks ago but thought I would chime in. I am not willing to spend the $$$ it takes to play a 'top tier course' but there is lots to like at the middle of the road courses around here. Courses I like: Avalon - 27 holes and totally worth it if get the all day special Kayak - On a good day. Last year the course was waaay to dry at the end of the season West Seattle and Legion - Both are PGC course and the best of the 5 or 6 if you ask me Foster - Fun course to walk, super cheap and didn't find it to be busy Courses I loathe: Willows - Great course if you have the 6 hours it takes... Echo Falls - Hole #10 shouldn't even be a hole, you can't walk it. Harbour Pointe - Can't explain it, just don't like it Course I want to play: Gold Mountain, getting an Oki card so Newcastle and Trophy I worked at Seattle Golf Club in college. Nothing I have played compares to that course. I did play Bear Mountain, the summer it opened. I would agree with the blind shots issue and, at the time the immaturity.

My favorite drill when I am screwing up at my hands is this: I take my 9 iron and use just my right arm to hit the ball. I don't do full swings. I start out just pointing the end of the club shaft at my belly button and keeping them in line as I swing back and then forward. Maybe 2 feet behind the ball then 2 feet through. I watch as the club head starts to turn up as the club follows my belly button backward then watch as it starts to turn up again on it's way past the ball. Obviously you can't line up your belly button and the shaft of the club for a full swing, so after a few swings I start to break my wrist(no more than parallel to the ground with the shaft), but focus on getting the club back in line with my belly button as soon as possible and following it through the entire time. This is just a good 'reset' drill for me. Breaks it down to the basics and gives me something small, but important to focus on. As an aside, when I get the duck hooks it's not usually my wrist that is the problem. For me it starts lower. My duck hook is usually the result of popping up and back just before impact. Makes it look like my wrist is off, but really it's a result of a problem earlier in my swing. That might just be me though...

What grip do you putt with? I do the reverse grip, Left Hand on bottom and that helped my distance control and my 'cutting across' AKA 'yips' on the shorter putts. I like the reverse grip because it changes my mentality... there is no rotation in the wrist as there is with everyother golf shot you hit. Also, focusing on pulling the Left hand thru rather than pushing the right seems to help me on the short ones. Everything I have read and everyone I have talked to says that lag putting is all about figuring out what the putt will do and picking out a spot 10 feet in front of you that you want to hit and trusting your read the rest of the way. I imagine you are playing your matches on your home course so your lag putts should be closer than 6 feet since you know speed and break pretty well. If I were to guess I would just say it's that you aren't using your tools on the course. Are you using the side hill to kill the speed on a downhill putt? Are you trying to power through the break rather than play for it? Are you playing too much break too much early in the putt and not enough late in a long putt? If you want to practice your lag putts go out to a practice green with a lot of hills and stuff. Practice different lines with different speeds and see what happens. Maybe you will learn a new strategy for those long putts... of course you are pretty low handicap... but just my .02

Wayne is not pretty bad... it's horrible. I dig on Nile, though Ballinger is a great little 'practice round' course. I like the Seattle Muni's(Jackson, Jefferson, West Seattle) as well. Legion and Walter Hall are just a little to far north for me. If I am going up there I might as well just go all the way up to Kayak or Battle Creek. Late in the season, but if there is a Saturday/Sunday outing I am always down to find new golfing people.

I happen to play 'knock off' Calloways. My sig says 'Calloway X-16', but my clubs actually say 'Acer XP'. I bought them from a guy who custom made them. Measured me, adjusted my lie angle, suggested and installed a particular shaft, and even allowed me to pick out my own grips. My Irons cost all of $200 after all was said and done. Your club needs change so much the first few years you play I don't see any reason to go spend $800-$1200 on a set, especially since you probably won't be hitting off the fairway very often when you first start If I were you I would find a place that does something like what I mentioned above and get some new clubs that are made for you for $200 or less.

1- Length. Not Overall lenght, but varying length of holes. Nothing worse than a golf course with 14 par fours that are between 390 and 410. Driver-SW gets old real quick. 2- Condition. I don't mind long grass in the fairway or rough sand. I hate, HATE poorly cut cups and hitting off of clay in the fairway. 3- Setting. Agree with the comments about houses and roads, they are a great way to turn an cheap course into an expensive outing. 4- People. I really hate hearing people cheering when they make a 15 putt for double bogey 3 holes over. I am certainly not a golf snob, I am much less likely to spend $275 to play a TPC course than I am to pay $13 to play twilight at my local muni, but I don't think these things are reserved for the uber expensive course

As long as it's not Wayne... ugh I am actually out in Kenmore... where do you play most of your rounds?

Everyone admires a 315 yard drive... but it's the full swing flop shot from 17 yards out over a greenside bunker onto a downhill slope that lands softer than a butterfly with sunburnt feet and nuzzles up to the pin that I love. When my buddy or I have a shot like that we will finish out the whole and then have a 'flop off' to see who can land it closer. oh and 218... my b-day 2/18

Just popping to say 'Hello.' It's been a good year of growth for me on the golf course. Starting to regularly shoot in the 80's and starting to expect 1 birdie and a few pars a round. Even won the long drive comp in a tournament at Washington National! Woo hoo!\ Anywho... just saying hello

Par 5... crush my tee shot right down the middle and have about 165 left to the green. I am literally dead center of the fairway. Dismayed, I grab my 7 iron and take a nice easy swing, sounds great and feels good... with my head still down I hear the thud of my ball hitting the White and Black Striped 4x4 marking 150 out flush... ball comes flying back over my head. 3rd shot I am lying 210ish out and really, really disappointed

None of my buddies have Handicaps so we usually play Bingo-Bango-Bongo. Nice game for people of different levels. On from farthest out(not necessarily least strokes), closest to pin(sucks when you hit a great shot from 150 to within 10 feet and somone winds up on the fringe ), and first in, not counting gimmes(inside the leather). We usually play for .50 to $1 a 'bean' though we never pay out. Greenies are another fun one that we throw on. I would love to say, your low net vs. my low net $25, but no one I plays has a handicap or wants WAY to many strokes.

I'll introduce myself in the other page when I can start new threads, but I shot a 6 over 42 at Seattle Golf Club today. Could have been a lot better! I play this course a lot and I had two 3-putts. I also double bogied both of the par 5's which is just stupid. Oh well... shot of the day was on the first hole, was under a tree on the right hand about 150 from the elevated green. Had to keep low to start but then get it up in a hurry to get over and through a narrow gap in some trees. Hit a hooded, chopped 9-iron and put it 15' from the cup. Almost sank the put too... always nice to have a tap in par after a crappy tee shot on #1.