Dave2512

I have a mat in my office. We rent and the carpet is ghetto x100, old commercial carpet that was ready to be replaced when we moved in 14 years ago. It looks like hell but it's carpet over concrete with many defects and it's better than just about any artificial green I've used. So between that and the mat, I hit floppy balls against the partition, I have a pretty good practice space. I use the office to get my steps in too, I've paced 5 miles in here when it's too snowy to be outside.

First 9 in I think 8 months, that was the last time I posted a score. I shot 43 with a double to start and a double to end. Kind of surprised it wasn't worse that's basically where I left it 8 months ago. If anything my drives were better.

I started golf in April 2012, wasn't my first time but I literally had no recollection of how I previously played or what to do other than try to hit a ball after a multi decade time away. I bought used PING's and the day I had a complete bag I asked my parents if they would meet me at the driving range of their club. We skipped the range and played 9 and it was so bad I had to pick up the ball on every hole, in some instances that happened before I got close to the green. It was intimidating to the point I nearly gave it up that day but I spent time on the range and frequenting a very short pitch and putt par 3 where only one hole is over 110 yards. It was common to take 3-4 strokes to get to the green on that hole, in a word I was awful. I didn't move to a longer course until I was getting close to breaking 30 often on the pitch and putt. I hit it hard over the summer and I signed up with GHIN after I graduated from the pitch and put and with long practice and study, much of it on this site, I started to quickly improve. When handicap season ended in CO that November I was down to 12.3. By end of season the following year I was down to 8.3, may have been 7.3 I don't remember and I'm too lazy to look. This will be the first season I won't keep an official handicap since then.

You can buy a dozen Titleist Surlyn X-Outs at Walmart for $9.86. I open the boxes and look for the ones that have the most Velocity balls but it's always a mix of the Velocity and NXT. I don't see many DT's in the there.

Going with dormant since I have no idea of what to expect considering I haven't been on a course since late last summer. Today was the first day I've touched a club in at least 5 months. Last year I went from playing over 100 rounds in 2015 to maybe 20 rounds and I rarely practiced. I intend to head out Sunday and the goal will be to keep it under 90, my guess is that is wishful thinking.

Any consistent luck is the byproduct of skill.

The X outs are $29.99 at Dicks.

Painted junk. Someone gave me a box of those and a few looked like lake balls when the paint came off. Which was quick, after a few iron hits.

Interesting considering it's probably a inch or so shorter too.

I averaged 230 ish (total) in 2016 so it can be done. I play from 6400-6700 yards sometimes longer depending on my group. A typical round for me is a worst drive of 200 and best of 280 or so with everything in between. I break 80 often, didn't play much in 2016 but my average score was 80.9. You don't have to be a bomber to score well if you are playing the right tees relative to your skill. But it requires some consistency to your inconsistency, your worst shots have to leave you in a spot that gives you a chance. At my home course I only hit driver on ten holes. The holes I don't are the holes I par most often, short par 4's. I know where I am most likely going to make a bogey or worse and I don't try to push it, I play smart.

Not sure that knowing this would change much for the average golfer, IME people make golf decisions based on best not average. Ask a male golfer how far they drive it and the answer is going to be closer to best of season drive than reality. That's why you see golfers that can't break 90 on back tees.

He's ranked 37, it could happen. If he wasn't hurt lately he'd probably be ranked higher. He doesn't win a lot but when heathy he usually near the top of the board so he's a points machine.

Metal, lots of metal. Winter is metal season for me.

Yes I know I will return it but can't assume the same for everyone else. I once forgot to grab a few clubs I took to the range while I waited for a friend to show. We were nearly late for our time and that course is kind of weird, range is 50 yards from the cart path that leads to it and not near anything else with the first tee a good 500 yards away, it's actually on the other side of a residential street from the club house and down a path at that. I treated my parents to a round at a pricey local course when GolfNow was doing the deep rewards discounts ca. 2012. My step-dad had just bought new hybrids and fairways and left a couple on the range by accident with this silly ancient wedge he loves that's ready to be thrown away, it actually has a bent shaft. When he saw the empty slots in his bag on the first tee he darted back to find a guy walking off the range with his new hybrid and fairway but not the old beater wedge. He stopped the guy and said those were his clubs and the douche replied oh I was turning them in to the clubhouse. He left the wedge behind, still learning on the bag stand where all 3 clubs were.

Missed the news because I've been away from forum life. Much deserved recognition, congrats.

Yep mail in is a must for me. I hated waiting in line back in the day, though I hated liquor stores and bars being closed more.

I could go either way. It's a weird time of year when it's still dark at 7:20 AM and after the switch it sucks getting dark at 5. But I start getting crabby about it mid July when I can't golf until 8:30 PM, the long June days are perfection.

I didn't get any call just a few things hanging on my door. Still the barrage of "news" and ads has been a grind. On Wed I suspect I will feel like I was freed from a dungeon and see sun for the first time in months.

My experience has been my swing doesn't suffer much, in fact I tend to be more fundamentally strict after a break whereas in mid season form I can get kind of sloppy if I'm just playing and not working on it. Same goes with course management I don't get silly when I'm not tuned up. But my putting and greenside play is abysmal after a break especially distance and speed control. I've only played maybe 6 times since June and aside from the occasional chunk my ball striking is solid. Last time out I was whacking putts 15 feet past the hole and leaving it 10 feet short on the next hole thinking I'd do it again. One thing I do see is out of nowhere I'll have a really bad hole, I put up a 9 on a par 5 and that was not something I did all of last year. That was after several pars in a row.

Fortunately the courses we play are casual in the winter, even the private courses look the other way concerning dress code. My go to is a light North Face hoodie over compression mock and heavy canvas Columbia pants. They key is warm hands and dry feet so I keep hand warmers in the pockets and appropriate socks and shoes. Though I'm not die-hard enough for golf under 30 degrees or so and in CO after a few weeks of cold weather that is no jacket and long shorts weather if it's sunny and calm.

I solved it by not using GG anymore. Through 2 seasons it didn't tell me anything I didn't know, didn't change the way I practiced.

I've encountered a few GG users since I've had one and all were mostly interested in "how far", club tracking stats. Those that see me using it always ask the same thing, does it track drives. I'd be surprised if many to most signed rounds regarding putts are only accurate to the number of putts rather than where from. Is it even possible to correct that? And even then if it was accurate to dead on does it matter as a game evaluation tool the answer is going to be improve ball striking for all but a few. Nothing about GG would change my putting practice.

I see it differently. Pence "won" because the bar for all things Trump is so low that anything better than not throwing a tantrum is a win. He definitely dodged Trump because he had no choice, a lot of it can't be defended and his job for the night was not doing anything that hurt the campaign. But it wasn't like he destroyed Kaine because Kaine's job for the night wasn't to be the good guy on the ticket but to go after Trump. Which he did at his own expense in a political sacrifice fly. What he did do that Pence didn't was defend his running mate, what lost him debate points was being a dick and it appeared to be intentional. The real loser in the debate was Trump.

Find something you enjoy. It's okay to ask for suggestions until you find it but the key to sticking with it is wanting to do it and honestly anything that's not sitting on the couch will improve your golf fitness. I like biking and calisthenics but others may find that dreadful so experiment on the cheap until you find your thing. I've seen lots of noobs waste money on equipment only to hang laundry on it until they sell it on craigslist.

First one maybe last night no.