SirMilton

15" hole - Why 15"? Why not 24"? I totally agree that one of the reasons for golf's decline is slow play. Here's more reasons: 1) very poor TV coverage - too many talking heads and "human interest fill ins"; when I watch golf on TV, I want to see actual play 100% of the time, 2) "prima donna" pros - I want to see a tournament where the pro has 15 seconds to hit the ball once he is within 10 feet of his ball and its his turn or suffer a one stroke penalty for every 10 seconds thereafter. Plus give every spectator an air horn to be used whenever they wish and a flash camera too. Dump all of the Marshall's with "QUIET PLEASE" signs and give them stopwatches instead. 3) The $ paid to pros are ridiculous. Cut their payout by 75% and put the left over money into a program to build and maintain more municipal golf courses. 4) Lets find a way to take the stigma out of the red tees for older players; some courses are just waaaay too long for most golfers. Age 50 makes you a senior for the pros, but even at 65 a guy is labeled a sissy unless he plays off the gold tees. 5) Require one motorized cart for every two golfers and no more. On private courses its not unusual to see 6 players together and each one in his or her own cart - ridiculous. And I absolutely HATE walkers; if you want to walk do it elsewhere, I want to play golf, not watch you walk.

I like the suggestion that you control your emotions; its just a game, not a life or death situation. And don't be a prima-donna like most pros, you don't need absolute silence to hit a shot, a 5 minute pre-shot routine, or ten minutes to line up a putt. I am reminded of all of the rookie poker players who take a full minute or more to think before each play and make the game miserably slow, and its all because they saw someone on TV doing it. To me it makes a person look like a moron who cannot analyse the situation and make a quick decision. 90% of the time, the person taking a long time to make a shot does no better than the person who just walks up and hits it.

1. Never offer any advice relating to another person's golf game, unless you are a Nationally-known, professional golf instructor or a top 20 pro on the PGA Tour, AND the other person ASKS for your advice. 2. Pay attention to what the other players are doing; know when its your turn to play; tend the flag if you are the closest to the hole on the green; watch the others' shots to be able to help them find their balls on errant shots, etc. In short, your are playing together as a group, do your best to let everyone know you are into the game and not distracted. 3. Turn the @#$% cell phone OFF! If you have business so urgent that it won't wait for you to play a round of golf, go to work! 4. If you can't say something good about a shot, say nothing. Further, do not let anothert player catch you rolling your eyes or making similar derogatry looks at the rest of the group when someone hits a poor shot. Keep in mind that there was probably was a time when you were worse and as you age, you may return there. 5. Don't bet what you haven't got cash to pay off immediately if you lose. 6. When someone shows you their cart, clubs, bag or whatever, do not belittle their objects of pride. They may be playing a complete set of clubs and bag that came from KMart for $79.99, but it does not warrant you being haughty. 7. Anyone that you play with has the potentail of being your nest best friend. Regardless of their age or skill, treat them like you want to be treated yourself. 8. Don't be a prima-donna, golf snob just because you have a better game. Even if someone is a total duffer with a 150 average, you should treat them as your equal on the golf course. I sometimes have to play a mind game that that person who is awful is 1) a wealthy relative that may leave a great deal of money to me, 2) Natalie Gulbis or Paula Creamer and I have a late, dinner date with them after the round, or 3) they may be my boss next week. You never know! 9. No schoolboy foolishness, please act like a adult. No passing gas loudly, no over-emphasized belches, etc. 10. Know you limit when drinking. The main objective of half the golfers I have met is to be drunk before the turn. If you want to guzzle beer, play with other guzzlers, or save your thirst for the 19th. There is nothing better than a few cold ones after a round, and nothing worse than someone who has drank so much that they are urinating behind a bush after every other shot. 11. Respect your elders! 12. Mark your ball! 13. Pick up when you have doubled par on a hole. 14. If you ride in someone else's cart ALWAYS pay your half if its a rented cart, and offer to pay a liitle over half of what a rental would be if you are riding in someone's privately owned cart. 15. Avoid offending anyone when you are a guest at a club.

I wouldn't consider myself a watch nut, but I have 3 favorites I wear based on what I am doing. - My daily work and dress watch is a 2007 model (the year they came out with the full link watch band) 18K Rolex Datejust with diamond hour markers; this is jewelry and an investment, - My non-water sports outdoor watch is a Seiko Titanium with a black face (weighs almost nothing - great for golf), - My watersports watch is a Seiko Scuba Divers watch with a SS band (made like an older Datejust band) instead of the rubber that comes stock. Its a wonder that anyone wears a watch anymore as everyone seems to have a cellphone and mine always displays the time and date on the start up screen.

Suntanning!

I believe most pros have signed contracts with Satan. I believe worm burners do not burn worms. I believe Mulligan was a optimist. I believe less than 1% of golfers know the proper definition of a foursome. I believe most course marshalls are ex-Marine drill sargents who just like to pick on people. I believe the comment "nice shot" is lame and could easily be replaced by a more descriptive statement or silence. I believe the main objective of playing golf is to have fun; getting some sun and exercise are also admirable objectives. I believe stric, anal-retentivet adherance to the rules and placing a great deal of emphasis on scoring well should be restricted to tournament play only.

Get real everyone. Most golf is played on private country club courses and most private country clubs do not allow black members because the membership wants it that way. Black boys look to the best chance (most slots) they can get for a professional sports career, basketball first, baseball second, and football third (higher risk of injury) and it has become such a economic game that white boys are almost totally excluded from basketball where blacks also attend school. My nephew is a 6' 10" high school sophomore that can dribble or shoot with either hand (and really well!) and at his high school he wasn't even allowed to try out for the boys high school basketball team because he would be taking a "disadvantaged" black boy's slot (which is BS, but the coach is black); its OK with him as he is a national class swimmer and there are no blacks there looking to become millionaire athletes. Personally, I think you could train a pygmy eskimo to be the world's greatest golfer if you start at birth and let them have no life. Kind of like a Russian gymnast or Tiger Woods. I don't envy Tiger one bit. I have a life; he has never had a life and never will. Wait another generation, if golf is still popular and still pays well, it will be dominated by blacks. Ther must be 100,000 black children out there with youth clubs trying to be the next Tiger. And with their greater propensity for athleticism, they will get there.

Every pro that I have met personally was a complete and total jerk. They are just about all unbelievably arrogant prima donnas. Much like Tiger Woods saying no amateur could break 100 at the U. S. Open. They all seem to think they are Gods. The more successful they are the worse they are, and the young and successful are unbearable. Further, the image they present on TV is total bull; they all behave like rock stars and revel in late night carousing, drinking, women chasing and generally raising hell when off the golf course. The ones who pretend to be family men are often the worst at this behavior. At one time I was the Executive VP of a land development company that started up one of the TPCs where a major tournament is held annually. One of my duties was "showing" the course to pros before the course was officially open (they all seemed to want the experience and to give their caddies a chance to start a course book); that is actually playing a round with one or more at a time. I was also expected to take them to dinner and "entertain" them, which usually just meant listening to them boast and brag and paying their huge bar bills. Fortunately, we had another VP at our firm who actually wanted to do this and as soon as I could, I put most of this chore on him. Frankly, I would have rather played with whomever I could get matched with by the starter at a public course. Th only pros I found I always enjoyed following were Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriegez.

A perfect day for me would be to have a 10:00 AM tee time (after all of the dew has dried) hit the men's grill for lunch at the turn, and then do the back nine. I really get irritated when a course has a Marshal or a Marshal/Starter that won't allow you to take a lunch break. As a matter of fact, I don't like Marshals much at all; they all seem totally tactless and somehow don't realize you are the one paying their wages.

At my club the course isn't extremely well-maintained and areas that would give you a free drop in a well-marked course simply are not marked. If I get a bad lie in a place that's obviously not as it should be, I'll move my ball. There is one other rule I ignore, if I get a clump of mud on my ball when in the fairway, I clean it. There should not be mud on any fairway. The rough and any hazard is another matter entirely. I rarely play for millions of dollars like the pros, and don't expect to ever do so; thus, I'm not so anal retentive about the pros' rules.

Most of the time I play a course with very tiny greens, some are about 400# or less (or a 20' diameter circle) and hitting a green usually puts you within less than 10 feet, over 20' is rare (maybe once a round). So I probably only get 5 or 6 GIR and pitching and chipping well are critical to scoring. But you have to putt well enough to consider a 6' putt or less a "gimme".

What a bunch of bull! Women have everything needed to play in the Masters except male genitals (maybe if they wore a jock strap with a sock in it?). If the Masters would invite all of the women who win one or more LPGA tour events each year some would place in the top ten every year and within 5 years a woman would win. Not many women can expect to putt for an eagle on a 600 yard par 5, but that's a tiny part of the game. Watch the LPGA, some of the women seem to be able to put the ball in the middle at 275 as frequently as men make 6" tap ins, and the women seem to shoot at the flag much better than men on their tour. They're at zero disadvantage from 175 in and as far as the stamina to walk and play 18 holes a day for 4 days, you have to be kidding. If they want to discriminate, kick out all minorities (white males for example).

Tee shots - the ball is clean, the lie is perfect, absolute precision (as with a putt) is unnecessary, everyone has the same shot, and I hit a excellent tee shot on 16 or 17 holes every round (why is it that there is always one poor shot?). I still putt by feel and find it easy, but boring. Approach shots are my weakness and I don't like my weak area, which is natural for most people. One of my major pet peeves is playing with people who do not watch other people's tee shots. I probably see only about 1/3 of my tee shots and while I can guess within a 30 foot circle where my ball lies, I really appreciate it when someone watches my tee shots. I ALWAYS watch everyone else's tee shots and frequesntly am the only person who knows where everyones' balls lie.

I have been very fortunate to play 5 rounds with one or more pros, but the best golfer I ever played with was a professional hustler on a high end municipal course where a lot of doctors play. I happened to take a day off in the middle of the week and the starter matched me and this guy who had a John Daly type body with a couple of guys who quickly revealed themselves to be doctors. The two doctors were almost scratch golfers and at that time I was about a 3and we all played the first 3 holes very close with the John Daly Type struggling. One of the doctors suggested we play for $10 a hole and the John Daly type was hesitant but said OK. We played the next 3 holes dead even except the John Daly type lost two and won one hole. He wanted to double the bet and we did. Again he won one and lost two. At the turn, one of the doctors suggested $50 a hole and the John Daly type said he was down but starting to feel good and thought he could go $100. The doctors got greedy and agreed; it was to much for me to risk so I begged out of the betting entirely. What followed was the most awesome exhibition of golf I have ever seen - the longest, straightest drives, iron shots that always seemed to hit in the perfect place to run up close and lots of tap in birdies and an easy eagle on the par 5. He shot 10 under on the back 9 of a par 72 course and both doctors were writing sizable checks. My guess is that he did it again to others the same day. Never saw that guy again, but he was the best I ever saw play; I just wished I could have seen his "A" game for a full round and a possible 52.

I whole-heartedly agree that the PGA would never have anyone "throw" a tournament and also agree that every professional should be regarded as honorable and honest until proven otherwise. However, courses are designed and redesigned everyday to favor one type of play over another. Tees are moved, forced carries can be shortened or lenghtened, trees are planted, bunkers are moved or added, OB lines are moved, greens are reworked, rough is cut differently, etc. A course can be set up to favor fades vs. draws, long vs. short, accurate vs. inaccurate. And regardless of how any course is set up, it will favor some players' games over others. Every should know there are some tournaments held on courses where Tiger Woods has not done well historically and he usually drops those from his schedule, except his ego won't let him drop a Major. I think this is a wise move on Tiger's part; you can only play so many and still have a life, so why not drop the courses that do not fit your game well? I am certain that the PGA could identify the courses which Tiger avoids because he does not score well on them, and then the PGA could set up a Major tournament course using some of the same characteristics which bother Tiger. Could they? Of Course! Would they? Even if they did, its still the same course for everyone, so what's the big deal? Consider that the main source of the PGA's revenues are TV and TV depends on audience share. Golf coverage depends upon getting a lot of non-golfers to watch golf coverage and you need competition to get interest and viewers. If Tiger won every time out, even golfers would stop watching golf on TV. My personal opinion is that if the PGA isn't already influencing the set up of courses to make them as competitive as possible, they will do whatever it takes to keep their TV revenues. Those high-priced guys at the PGA will definitely not take a pay cut voluntarily. Major League Football fields and Major League Baseball fields are ALWAYS set up to favor the home team's game. Why should golf be different?