PhilGood

I manage to hit less than half of the greens in regulation. I think that's a sign of poor iron play. Basically brought about by lack of distance and consistency. Same with the driver and 3 wood. While putting isn't that much of a strong suit, my wedge play around the green is what always gives me a shot to save par.

Corporate Lawyer

Have you tried the speed stick? I think Vijay uses it.

tembolo381 is a 0.8 hdcp and his comparing his specs to a 24 hdcper? Are you sure shindig needs a 4th wedge? He already has the pitching wedge (46), and a choice of lofts for gap and lob/sand wedge. Based on his count, that's 14 clubs, including 3 wedges. And high handicappers don't need a 4th wedge as badly as low handicappers. I can screw up as badly with a sand wedge as I can with a lob wedge

I know what I'm getting for X-mas: some golf shirts and a shitload of cash so I can buy what I want... and I want a set of irons (Nickent 3DX or Cleveland Hibores). OK, maybe its not that big a load

14 clubs - varies depending on need, feel and course conditions Driver, 3W (15*), 3H (17*) , 4H (21*), 5I-PW, SW, LW, Putter are regular. 14th club is either a chipper, gap wedge, or 5W although sometimes I bring along an extra driver or putter that I'm trying out.

For someone capping a 3, that qualifies. I on the other hand, am a completely different story. I'm a short knocker so "blue collar" pars are the norm for me. When I play on a course I'm not familiar with, more than half my pars come from 1 putt greens. Even on my home course, which features a lot of par 3s (par 69) and short par 4s, a huge bulk of my pars are still 1 putt pars. I would probably have less if I played the tees that were more appropriate for my game but I play with a lot of single digit cappers and they insist on playing the tips which puts me at a serious disadvantage. And when I'm out of town, it's normally at a tournament so I have to play the designated tees, which are normally longer than my home course's tips. Let me tell you that it's no fun hitting a good drive, nailing a 3 wood, and still left with 30 yards to the green facing an up and down for par on a regular basis on a course you've never played before. The only reason I'm carrying such a low index is cos my home course is super tight and has greens that rival Augusta's. This drives the scores of tourists sky high (and we get a lot of em due to the beautiful weather and the number of tournaments held), thus its high slope rating. But I digress. The topic was about your favorite "blue collar" par, and I haven't answered it yet. Guess it's cos I don't really have any. When they come on such a routine basis, it's hard to get excited about one that I remember them 3 days later. But reading about all these pars just brought up memories of my game and how I can relate so I felt like responding. In my last round, I was faced with a 349 yard dogleg left par 4. I hit a drive about 210 into the light rough right of the fairway. Faced with a 180 yd carry to a green fronted by a creek, I decided to hit a 3 hybrid that I felt would max out to just in front of the creek (about 160 yds). I hit a flyer that, for the life of me I can't figure out how, ended up over said creek but in a bunker fronting the green. Blast it out to 4 feet, sink the putt, story of my life.

It's funny that you should equate drug use with steroids (juice). From what I hear or have been reading, beta blockers seems to be the drug of choice. This is a drug that is used to calm nerves. Apparently, most golfers are smart people who realize that steroid use has harmful effects that could do just as much damage to their game as help it. Beta blockers, on the other hand, have not been shown to have harmful effects as of yet. They are merely being used to calm nerves. The reason they are being objected to is because they provide an artificial advantage to those who use them, as opposed to a natural advantage. Think of it as using hypnosis or valium to calm your nerves. Right now, they're not banned. But once they are, is it reasonable to demand that a golfer caught cheating with regards to the use of drugs deserves a lifetime ban? Even if it was through the use of steroids, should the penalty be that severe? While golfers are supposed to observe a certain code of ethics and conduct, it should be noted that many golfers have been caught cheating in the past. Cheating regards to scores, equipment, etc. Were those golfers banned for life? Should cheating of one form be more preferable than another? The PGA is looking towards developing a drug policy and that is a good thing. Along that line, I believe that they will also develop a reasonable policy with regards to violators of that policy. One that will be harsh enough towards violators, but fair enough to give them a chance to reform.

Agree with Fastrack. Clubmaker's right. When you lengthen the shaft, holding the club as you did before will raise the toe. You'll need to flatten the club head in order to compensate for the lengthening of the shaft. If you doubt this response, do this simple test. Stick something down the grip to simulate the lengthening of the shaft. Then try to assume your regular grip around this extension and view the result.

Can I include Pres. Bill Clinton? I know he's not a pro but he is a golfer, and a pretty damned good one. Plus he's a pretty interesting dude. I'd also include Tiger. He's really locked in during tournaments but looks pretty laid back during casual rounds and should be good for a few tips and quips. My fourth would be a toss up between Jack and Arnie. Probably Arnie so I can get some pointers on how to build a financial empire out of a golf career.

Is that the one with a professional tour where you get to play for real cash?

And if it was a 3 club tourney, I'd take a 4H, PW and Putter. I am really surprised that fourputt would leave out his putter in favor of a 9I or GW. Is putting with a hybrid really that easy for you? The only time I leave out the putter is in a 2 club tourney, in which case I might replace the 4H with a 3H or 3W, just for the lower loft. But the 4H probably stays. I'm just too comfortable with it everywhere else.

3W, 15* - Chose it over a driver due to versatility. Can hit it off the tee or the deck. 4H, 21* - Use it on long par 3s and long approach shots 7I - Approach shot distances between easy (9:00) choked 4H and full PW. Can also chip with it. PW - Short approach shots and around the green. I can use it from the sand but have trouble hitting SW from the fairway. Putter - As long as I don't have to face any forced carries, I can use this within 20 yards from the green. Most reliable club around the green,especially with a tight lie and under pressure. It's also quite handy on it.

How do you feel about your fairway woods? I've never heard of that brand. Is that from a component company? It might be easier to test out fairway woods in simulators or driving ranges as the differences are more tangible, but like I mentioned in my earlier posts...

Have you tried sandpaper? From your posts, I'm assuming the listed clubs are yours. If you're not satisfied with the performance of your wedges, try working the sandpaper over the face, paying particular attention to the grooves. That'll clean it up good and improve the spin off em. Still don't see why you should get new clubs when you're on a tight budget. If you didn't have wedges at the moment, I could understand why you'd want to check out clones and copies. But you already have the real deal. All that R&D; and technology and you want to replace them with copies? And the clubs aren't even 1 year old. Sorry, but I don't get it. You've got an 8.8 index kid. Way better golfer than me. I may be the wrong person to be giving advice, but I still think that unless you're not getting the results you want out of your clubs, don't change them. Especially when it's for the simple expediency of trying to buy a better game. Leave that to people with money.

Hard to give advice when I don't know what kind of course you play. Is that tournament a 2 club + putter or must you choose that as one of your clubs? If this were being done in my home course then I would bring a 4 hybrid and a pitching wedge . The hybrid is a very comfortable club to use and is quite versatile, off the tee box, fairway, rough, or green. And with only 2 clubs, you're going to be around the green, instead of on it, a lot. I picked the pitching over the sand wedge cos' I can get out of bunkers with a PW just fine but the added distance I get off it from the fairway on certain holes makes a difference.

I can go 2, sometimes 3 rounds without losing a ball. In fact, there have been rounds were I actually end up with more balls at the end of a round after finding some balls lost by other golfers. I play in a mountain course that gets a lot of rain during certain times of the year, leaving the course pretty soggy in certain areas. Add that to the elevated tee boxes and this results in a certain number of balls being lost by people, sometimes even in the fairway!!! Plus the course is pretty short so it was designed to be tight with a lot of trees to increase the difficulty (slope rating of 124). That explains why I lose an average of 2 to 4 balls a round.

When you tilt the club head forward, is this accompanied by a weight shift forward? And does that weight stay in front of the ball throughout the swing? You might try moving the ball back farther in your stance as this will help make sure that your clubface is flattened out and help keep your weight ahead of the ball. Of course, the best advice would be to go to a pro or have a video made of your swing and have it examined by a pro, but I hope my tips help.

Haven't tried out clones but I actually got one of those copies made in China. Alignment is pretty decent. I don't think you could do any worse with the real deal. As far as putting with it goes, doesn't offer much feel but the MOI on this thing makes short straight putts a small matter of point and shoot. If you're thinking of getting a clone, the only advice I can offer is that even though the putter I have doesn't have an insert (the face was painted white but is basically made from the same material as the rest of the head), I was getting pretty good results from it. In fact, I prefer it over my Rossa Daytona. The Rossa has a nice soft feel when I putt but after getting used to the weight of the 2 ball copy, I've been having difficulty keeping it's head on line so I've been using the copy more. I recently picked up a Monza Corsa so I could have the best of both worlds, high MOI for keeping the head on line in short putts but with the AGSI insert for better feel and a truer roll. First time I used it was on a course I played for the first time (since I was out of town when I bought it) and I can honestly say it was a mix of garbage and gold. Short putts were as good as advertised. Maybe better. I was ramming in 5 and 6 footers like they were 2 footers. Problem was the long putts. Most of those 5 and 6 footers were the result of me bombing 20 and 30 footers that far past the hole. That wasn't a problem for me with the 2 ball copy. MORAL OF THE STORY: When it comes down to putting, practice is more important than equipment. Confidence in your equipment is important and practice with it will give you that confidence.

How about the 2004-05 Suns? Nash and co. blew the Association away that year. As for the current iteration of the Pats, they're great, but the greatest ever? They're not even as good as the 2005-06 Colts where Manning set all those records and Indy posted the best regular season record that year. Now, if THAT team had a defense...

You've got an index of 8.8, you're playing Callaways and using V1s, and you're thinking about getting "clones?" If you're really on a budget, I suggest sticking with your 1 year old clubs. You'll save a lot more money that way. There hasn't been any real earth shaking innovations in golf that demand that you change your current club set and make-up.

Depends on your needs. Vokey if you're a good player who can control the ball well but need the extra spin which these wedges provide. CG 14 is more forgiving but has less feel and control on full shots. Easy to hit though and very easy on the hands too. Shot dispersion is tight and spin is satisfactory. 588 is a good model for SW. If you're having trouble with it, you should check if the bounce of the club is suitable for the conditions of your course, particularly the type of sand in the bunkers. Rule of thumb is tight lies, less than 10 bounce. Fluffy lie, 10 or higher bounce. If the PW is integrated into your set, then you're better off sticking with it because it will lessen the need to adjust yardages. Most set designers try to adjust the lofts of the clubs in their set in such a way that their is a natural progression of length from their lowest lofted clubs to the highest lofted. If you drop the RAC to pick up a Vokey or CG 14, the club head will be of a different design from the rest of your set. This might result in a serious yardage gap between your 9I and PW. The gap between PW and GW/AW is not as serious because you are normally close enough that accuracy, rather than length, is the primary concern. Considering you already have a 45 and a 56, a 50 and a 60 should round out your set nicely. Although they will be different models, the yardage variances shouldn't be too great. Hope this helps. I was lucky enough to get to try out Vokeys on the course and I love them but Titleist wedges require a lot of practice because they offer so much maneuverability and are very demanding. CG 14 test was done in a simulator.