Moonnerd

I have played the Resort course, and will have a chance to play the Palmer course this weekend. I know there are blind shots which make it difficult if you have never played it before. If any of you have played it, do you have any general advice, or remember any particular aiming points that could help? Thanks in advance!

Dublin is right on the mark. We did that last summer... played the Nicklaus course "Angeles National" (wonderful) in LA, then drove down to San Diego and played Maderas and Torrey Pines. Maderas is a Johnny Miller course with dramatic elevation changes, and is run by Troon Golf and they do a great job with it. Its been rated the best course in San Diego County for 7 years. And Torrey Pines is the most magnificent municipal course you will ever see. If you try to get a tee time you'll need to do it months in advance, but you can "walk on" early in the morning or in the afternoon. Getting on Torrey without a tee time is a fun challenge and is worthy of a separate forum thread to see how guys have done it. You'll get to know the starter very well in the process. If you play Angeles National and Maderas, driving accuracy is at a premium. At Angeles National, if you miss the fairway its a lost ball. Literally. Fairways are lines with native areas you cannot go on because of the snakes and other creatures. Here are some links: http://www.angelesnational.com/home.html http://www.maderasgolf.com/the-course.html http://www.torreypinesgolfcourse.com/_tpgallery/gallery.htm Let us know what you decide!

When visiting a new course, Ben Hogan always asked what the course record was and who owned it. If it was the local pro, Hogan would make sure not to beat it since Hogan saw himself as his guest. At my local course, a highly rated college links course, a touring pro showed up one day and beat the record the first time he ever saw it. My guess is that this happens a lot. I agree with David - these guys are stupid good, and we have no idea how great they are. There is a big chasm between a scratch golfer and a touring pro.

Thanks for those videos. The most helpful thing for me regarding lag is when I quit thinking about it in terms of an angle between your arm and club, and started thinking about it in terms of increasing the pressure on my right index finger as the club accelerates. Think about the grape in video 1. The pressure on the grape continues to increase as the club accelerates. And you want the club accelerating (pressure continue to build) through impact. I didn't realize that my club was reaching max speed before impact. But now I can feel it reaching top speed after impact. This causes several good things to happen. First, the transition to the downswing is a lot smoother. I was reaching top speed right after the transition and was yanking the club and losing control. Now its a smooth transition because I want that pressure to gradually build during the downswing. Also, it helps me get my hands in front of the ball at impact

I have the J40 driver and J40 irons (dual pocket cavity in 3-4i, and cavity-back in 5-pw). I absolutely love them. I'm 49 years old and hit the ball farther than I've ever hit it. As a reference point, I love my J40 driver as much as my RBZ 3-wood, which says a lot. I had too much spin on my driver in the past, so I got the J40 (spin killer) and tee it up a little farther forward. I like the J40 irons because they are forgiving but are also forged, so I like their feel. If you like forged irons, then you should consider Bridgestone. They are commonly regarded as one of the top three companies for forged irons, along with Mizuno and Srixon. You can find a 6 iron pretty cheap on ebay in case you can't hit one locally. I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

When a tour player misses a putt, what usually causes it? Lets say its a 15' putt with a little break. If he misses, what percentage of the time is caused by: Bad read Wrong speed Face not square Wrong swing path I know we're just guessing, but I would like to see your thoughts. Thanks.

2 years later, I would love to hear your current answer to the same original question. Thanks.

Great thread. I have read it several times, and have been trying to incorporate a hip slide into the beginning of my downswing. It has helped a lot! Occasionally though, while my hips slide forward, my shoulders dip down too much and I chunk it or sky a drive. What have y'all found (either swing thoughts, drills, mechanics) that help prevent that? Thanks in advance.

I was getting over 4,000 RPM with my driver. I moved it up in my stance (to the front of my flared out left foot) and went to a Bridgestone J40 driver, and my spin as down to just over 2,000.

I am like you in that I practice more than I play, so I can relate. BUT, one of the most technical minds out there, Johnny Miller, has "Play more than you practice" as one of his 10 rules of golf. That surprised me at first, since he practiced so much and thought so much about the golf swing, but I think he is right. I used to be a single digit handicap. Then I got married and had kids, and had to walk away from it... probably played 20 rounds over the last 20 years. Now my oldest son has fallen in love with the game, and the last 3 months I started back again. My swing came back quickly because of remembering the fundamentals, but my short game is still a mess. I can already shoot in the high 70s at a good local course where there are a lot of level lies and Bermuda greens. BUT, when I play at the local beast, where there are no level lies, and bent grass greens, I'm shooting 90. I bring that up because the courses you and I normally play at are nothing compared to the ones the pros play at. A friend of mine is a member at a course where they have had 2 major championships over the years. After the event, the superintendant leaves the course in the same condition as it was in the tournament so their members can see the difference. The club champions can't break 80 on it. The difference is that extreme. So, if you want to get as good as you're saying, go find the toughest course around and play a lot on it. Many people can score well pfrom level lies. You need to work on uphill lies, sidehill lies, bunkers where you can only go backwards, slick greens where putts end up farther away from the hole than you started, chips that end up going away from the hole, etc. Thats where you need to be playing to see how you compare with the pros. Let us know how it goes.

Great thread. The way I cured my slice was to adjust my hip movement at the beginning of the downswing. Ideally I want my upper body still facing a little bit away from the target when I drop my hands on the downswing. But my lower body is much stronger than my upper body, so when I fired my hips to face the target on the downswing, they went too quickly. My upper body was facing towards the ball when I was lowering my hands, so the only thing I could ever do was "come over the top" and swing outside-in and cut across the ball. So I slowed my hips at the beginning of the downswing, which allowed my upper body to face somewhat away from the target when I dropped my hands, and now I swing on the correct path when I make contact. The way I slowed my hips was to have a lateral movement/bump/slide/move them towards the target at the beginning of the downswing without them spinning towards the target very much. And then after that bump, I can spin my hips as hard as I want and my swingpath is correct. This "2 speed hip turn" is my swing thought on just about every shot unless something unusual has been creeping into my swing. By the way, here is a helpful video that demonstrates this, as well as having a wonderful drill: Hope this helps. I'm really excited about my game now, and can draw it, fade it, hit it straight with any club in the bag.

Tell us about your swing... how cleanly are you hitting the ball, and when your full shots go wrong, what usually causes it?

Its good to think about if you hit the ball fat, which means that angle isn't staying there long enough. It might be more helpful to think about other things that make for a good lag, like proper grip pressure, good rhythm during your swing, hands in front of ball at impact, and not trying to kill the ball.

I don't know if there are any Bridgestone reps near you, but I was in a similar search recently and decided on the J40 irons. (Dual Pocket Cavity for the 3-4 irons, and Cavity Backs for 5-P). I love them. They are forged, and people on this forum often say that Mizuno, Srixon, and Bridgestone make the best forged irons around.

I try to play a few holes a round where I take one more club than I need in order to calm down my swing. I kept finding that those were the shots where I hit the ball the best, kept my balance, had good tempo, etc. So now I try to swing like I have an extra club unless I have to land the ball quickly. That helps to negate the side spin (as well as backspin).

Rusty - you said that much better than I did. I like the way you explained it... A much better way to think about it.

I've been swinging about 80% lately and have been hitting my irons a lot more consistently, without losing much distance. I was wondering if you guys are doing the same, or swinging closer to all-out.

My old bag has a 3 way divider, and I'm looking at new ones. Do you find that 6 way dividers are adequate, or should I focus on bags with 14?

Yes - it is possible. I'm originally from Augusta, and I know many people (men and women) who have played the course. A lot of women play the Augusta National. Someone who would know once told me women play over a thousand rounds a year there, which for a winter-only course is a lot more than people would expect. So it is likely that your friend was telling the truth. By the way, the women who go there say they are treated with more respect than anywhere else they go.

I usually choose a punch shot instead of a gap wedge from 100 yards and in unless the pin is tucked behind something nasty. I would definitely teach it younger players. I've got more confidence in it than in any other shot I hit.

I was searching for words in the previous post when I was talking about your belly button. What I should have said was when your hips start moving laterally early in the downswing, keep your chest facing away from the target. When I come over the top, its usually because my hips turn too much too soon and my chest no longer faces away from the target. There are a lot of good things you can learn from that video.

This is a great short video from the Golf Channel. Note the difference between her hips on the correct transition and what they do on the over the top move. When coming over the top, we often turn our hips too far too soon which brings our upper body around (where the belly button faces in front of the ball) and then the only thing we can do is come over the top. Instead, on the correct move, the hips move laterally/slide/drive/bump/twist slowly (choose your term) but your belly button does not pass the ball before impact like it does in the over the top move. That allows your club to drop in the proper slot "inside the line" (with your right elbow by your right hip)instead of coming from the outside-in. there is another video I will hunt down for you shortly. Feel free to ask any questions that this brings up.

Years ago I was a USGA member and was able to get a US Open Program before the tournament. I just rejoined, and did not see that as one of the member options. Do you know if it is still possible to buy the US Open programs?

oops - i meant to say 861s. Thanks guys.

The last few weeks I've been talking to the pro at the local golf shop about Bridgestone irons. I've been debating between the J40 cavity backs and the J40 dual pocket cavities. Fortunately he knows them well and has let me hit both. So today I wander in, and he runs over and says he's just been talking about me. (That made me a little nervous). He walks over with brand new J40 cavity backs that have been hit once on the range. The original owner decided they were too much club for him and was in the store to sell them on consignment. $400. Decision made. I might eventually get a 3 iron in the dual pocket cavity but I'm really excited about the cavity backs. While he is making them 1* upright, I played a nice round with some old Titleist 681s I use for practice and fun rounds with my son, so I think the CBs will do nicely. Bridgestone irons would not have been on my radar if it wasn't for this forum, so I appreciate all the insights I've learned from you about them, and am really excited about them. Thanks for all your help!