Chuckles76

I want to lower my average score by 6-8 strokes. It's that simple and I believe attainable. Obviously, I intend to practice more often and have a lesson once every quarter. I don't actually practice and was able to reach my goal for 2013, so this is a realistic goal IMHO.

Getting back! I had the best round of my life and shot an 86, then my wheels fell off completely. The next several rounds have all been over 100. I'm so inconsistent, especially since i'm not playing much as of lately due to unusually cold weather in southeast texas. We don't normally see temperatures in the 30's until February. I do love to hit my driver but i'm all over the place with it. It has a regular flex shaft so I'm probably going to buy another club with a stiff flex. The better players that I play say that I'm flexing the hell out of the shaft. I just ordered some new irons that fit my size better. I haven't had my current set checked since I bought them, so I don't know what the loft and lie is like on them. I rarely practice,so I'm working on hitting the range and buying a practice net for the back yard. My putting isn't terrible but definitely needs some work. I guess you could say that I'm planning to work on everything and have another lesson with the local PGA pro planned shortly.

I finally broke 90 a couple of months ago while playing front to back 18 at Bayou Din in Beaumont, Tx. My wife and me were playing with another couple and my game was just different that day. I beat my previous best by 7 strokes! I also hit the longest drive of my life by driving onto the back of the green on Hole 15 during the same round. The card shows 366 yards to the center of the green off of the white tee, so I'm guessing about 370 yards. What sucks is that I've totally fallen apart since that round and haven't even broke 100. With the weather deteriorating this time of the year, I can't play as often so i'll get it back next spring, hopefully.

I was on the green trying to kill an ant while another guy is putting. I didn't even realise what I was doing. I'm the Mood Swing ADD guy. Playing golf with ADD is a bitch! Lol

At a municipal course, that I often play, the grounds keepers are all city employees. They will not move at any rate which is infuriating!

Shot an 86 last week at Bayou Din. I finally broke 90!!

Pappy, I know that there are several tournaments every month at Bayou Din, Babe Zaharius, Iron Oaks, Brentwood, Idylwild, Wildwood, and Henry homberg in Tyrrell park. I don't play in them myself, but since i'm a shift worker playing during the week, I often have to play around their schedules. From what I've seen, you just pay the fee for the tourney and put your name on the board. I don't know if that helps, but there are always scrambles going on somewhere.

Yeah, I got a buddy, Gary, that drives me nuts! He claims to be a better golfer than most of us and may be, but his score is total BS. So, we're playing at Gray Plantation a while ago and he hits a soaring hook out of the tee box and into the houses. He wants a mulligan which is no big deal since we play 1 per 9. He hits 3 more out of the tee box and then cards a bogey! WTF!!! So, I call him out saying that he hit 3 extras out of the tee box, and he gets his feelings hurt. Now he's pissed off because he says he took a mulligan, so I explain that everyone else calls a mulligan 1 stroke, not as many strokes as you want from that position. I wouldn't engage him except that he tells us that he won the 18 hole round. He carded himself a 91 and had pulled similar stunts on several holes. Hell, I shot 102 (plus 2 mulligans= 104, wink, wink) but should have carded an 83 according to his scoring method. I don't mind 2 mulligans per 18 because it's just a little mind trick. I'll add the 2 strokes back for the real score. I told him we should count all of the strokes and stop taking mulligans, including those out-of-bounds shots that he forgets to take a penalty stroke on, conveniently. His best round to date is a 78, by his scoring method. It's hilarious. I shouldn't let it bother me but it does. My friends next door are aspiring golfers much like myself. She says that she'll "smoke my ass" on the course next time we play. I respond, "not if you play by the rules" because she like "do-overs" when the shot sucks. I, still, won by 10 strokes even with her imaginary score. More imaginary than mine, anyways. LMAO! I can lose with the best of them as long as it's legit. Years ago when I had a totally BS score, I would tell people that I didn't count all of the penalties and used as many mulligans as needed. I agree with enjoying the game, but be realistic.

I didn't think about that. We see alligators so often in southeast texas that we've learned to check the area before getting close to any water. My first experience with an alligator was sort of funny, though. I was playing 18 at "The Palms" at Pleasure Island in Port Arthur, TX, when we see an 8-footer with 1 front leg lifted and standing perfectly still. We actually thought that it was a statue because we were golfing noobs and hadn't seen a gater on a course. My buddy throws a golf ball at it and the gater takes off back to the pond. We both run screaming like school girls back to the cart and got the hell outta dodge!!

#9 at Bayou Din in Beaumont.

Chipped in for birdie from about 30 yards out on hole 18 at Henry Homberg municipal golf course in Beaumont, TX. None of my buddies/opponents were looking so I just sat in the cart until they asked. I know, I was being a jerk. Lmao, but it was sweet!

I watched a funnel cloud form while on the golf course yesterday. It was a few miles away, but freaky.

Played the front 9 at Bayou Din golf club in Beaumont, Texas. Shot 8 over for a 44 including 2 penalty strokes. I had 4 pars, with 3 of them back to back!!!! That's a personal best for me. I love golf,.........today.

Played the Babe Zaharius golf course in Port Arthur, Texas. Shot a 96 and followed it up with a 93 for 36 holes. Both of those were my best scores ever! Woohoo!!!!

You're a much better golfer than I am, but I too deal with anger. One statement that I make often is "they ain't payin me to play". It helps me remember that I'm there to enjoy a round of golf. I tend to put myself under a magnifying glass and over analyze every aspect of my game. Do you have realistic goals for your golf game? Make sure that your expectations don't exceed you effort. I don't practice as often as I feel that I should, yet get frustrated at a slow improvement. How can I attempt to make a comparison to a professional if I don't dedicate the time that they do. Realistically, I never practice and when I do attempt a session at the range, it sucks because I don't practice the way my instructor said that I should. So I try to remember how much effort that I put into the game before I set goals. Give yourself a break so you can enjoy the game.

Become a bogey golfer. I've had several rounds just under 100, and my driving has taken a big step for better. I'm confident that I could already be at the target if my sessions at the driving ranger were better. In retrospect, I'll get the small bucket of balls so maybe I won't feel the need to hit 'em as fast as I can. I, originally, wanted to break 90 but feel that is too lofty of a goal and I don't need more pressure. I hope y'all make all of your golfing dreams come true! Lmao

After the 1st session with an instructor, he said that I'm releasing to early. So, I've got to work on that lag mentioned above. I'll try to get some video on my next off-days.

Update: Age: 36 Height: 6' 2" Where are you from: Southeast Texas How Long have you been Playing: 10 years, but have only started trying in the past year having dropped 27 strokes. Best Score: 97 as per USGA rules Favorite club in the bag: TaylorMade RBZ sand wedge Golf Books / DVD's that have helped you: haven't used any, yet Where do you play: southeast texas, southwest louisiana, Houston area Best courses you've played so far: Grey Plantation in Lake Charles, La; Lake Buena Vista in Disney World, The National golf course, Westlake, La; Rayburn Country, Brookeland, Tx; Eagle Pointe, Mont Belvieu, Tx; Things you enjoy most about golf: Meeting new people. Enjoying nature. The challenge. Goals for 2013: Improve overall ball striking, and break 90.

Amazingly, no I don't have a problem with balance. After an awesome fellow on this forum did a video analysis, I was able to bring my swing back on plane. And since then, I've taken my first golf lesson. The instructor says that I have good swing mechanics, but have some work to do, obviously. I've been locking my right leg on my back swing which is causing some of the up/ down motion, if not all of it. I've got to increase lag in the down swing. My grip was fubar. I think too much which is really an issue being seriously ADD. Maybe I need a higher dosage! Lmao He gave me some drills to practice and said to see him after 500 balls.

Something my instructor had me to try was hitting a few balls with my eyes closed. Apparently, I'm relying entirely on my vision and not feeling the swing. You want to see how consistent you are? Do that! I dug a 2 feet deep hole with a few swings or that's how it felt, anyway. :)

After the first session with an instructor, I'm working on: 1) my grip 2) keeping my right knee bent during the back swing 3) more lag on the down swing 4) feeling the club head more 5) turning my left foot out away from the ball a little in my stance He said to hit about 500 balls and then schedule the next session.

Had my best round ever at Chamber's County golf course with a 97. I had 3 pars on the front 9 but started flubbing shots on the back. Glad to break 100 again!

The last 3 courses that I've played have been difficult, so my score has increased by about 6-8 strokes. I'm sure changing my swing is adding some to that, but today I will be playing an easier course, so hopefully I'll be able to see different results. Kaosati Pines, Kinder, La Slope:137; Rayburn Country, Brookeland, Tx Slope: 136; The National Golf Course, Westlake, La Slope:?