JonnyGolf

I've hit them all, but in terms of softness around the green and distance off the tee, no ball compares with a Pro V1x for me. However, I have a balata Titleist in my practice bag that is so soft, much softer than a ProV1. I wish I could have a ball like that around the greens. And, I still like Pinnacle Exceptions for a value ball.

and, that is with tournament pressure. those guys are grinding because they know the promised land is so close. I watched Canadian Tour guys (Spencer Levin was on of the competitors) and they were just stunning. Pounding drivers in cold, blustery April day down tight fairways that I'd have a hard time pulling the trigger on a 7i.

I'd take a baseball bat and hit that ball into the deepest ravine I could find. Looking at it would just fill me with disappointment.

hit a big drive but pulled it left. i guess it took the cart path express and i was left with 90 out. hit a trap draw with the sand wedge, landed pin high and it spun back left to the pin about 6ft out. the shape and contact was just like I had imagined it, but i thought it would spin harder and end up below the pin. anyway, missed the putt, but it was a great approach shot.

played 18 (in 3 hours) and finished the last hole in the dusk. shot 80 and only made 1 putt (but it was for birdie!). I was actually pretty happy because I hit some good short irons.

i can make some pretty spectacular shots around the green, like little 60 degree trappers that stay low, then hop and stop or high floating lobs. but, my best shot is a Pelz shot where i put the ball back in my stance, and do a little no-wrist chip with my 52 degree that stays low and rolls like a putt. It's deadly accurate. Anyway, my short game is generally better than any of my partners and competitors. Now, if I could stay out of the trees with my driver...

I'd definitely go driver, 7i. I can open my 7i and make it a wedge.

Unless you're very lucky and happen to have a technically perfect swing, a self-taught swing generally requires many years of practice under competitive situations in order to be ready to compete professionally. If there are any flaws, your swing will break down under pressure. So, although you've made fantastic progress on your own, I would say that you may experience a plateau that will make it difficult to get to the "next" level. BTW, you'll know you're ready to play professionally when everyone you play with says you're the best player they've ever seen and that you make more putts than humanely possible. Have fun! jg

Agree here. At my home club, they sequentially rebuilt the greens and used bent grass instead of poa. But, the poa always comes back. So, by the time they finished, the first greens were already slowing down with the poa coming back in, while the newest greens were much faster with the bent. Long story short, very inconsistent green speeds from green to green. It would drive people playing them crazy.

really unlikely to be 13 or 14. those are really hard and fast greens. Unless you hit the ball super high, you wouldn't be able to stop anything more than a 9i.

I think we'll see her on the Champions Tour!

I hold myself 100% accountable for bad shots. And, if I fail to execute a shot that I have, I can get pretty upset with myself. For bad breaks, I figure they offset all of the good breaks I get. I'd much rather have a good swing with a bad outcome than a bad swing with a good outcome. If I've made one good swing, I've got some more coming. And, if I've made a bad swing... So, if I hit a great shot and it goes OB because it bounces off a sprinkler head (yeah, it's really happened to me!), c'est la vie. I'll hit another great shot and make birdie.

That's a funny analogy. I can remember my brother and I shooting left-handed with iron sites and still shooting better than the guys with the full set-up. It's the Indian, not the arrow.

Wow, that's some cool paganism.

Crack me up. This was a throw away post that I made when I saw that Jason Day didn't make it in Q School. Just for the record, somewhere there is another Tiger. Heck, it could be the 6yo that I played with at a local 3-par that shot a couple over. But, they will need the perfect combination of genetics, parental support, and internal drive. Without all of them, they won't be the next Jones, Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus, or Tiger.

If I'm dropping 100 bucks (or more on a round), I could care less about $10 in tips. Play muni courses or lug your own bag in from the car if you don't like it.

Or, he will be, once he gets back on the Tour. Or, I mean, if he does. Anyway, he's really good and could be the Tiger of the Nationwide Tour.

How did he measure your swing speed? I'd try out a couple of stiff shafted drivers. If your swing speed isn't high enough, they will drive you crazy because you won't be able to feel the flex in the shaft when you swing, so it makes you swing harder. Maybe that pro is dead on in his analysis, but I'd get on a monitor before I made any changes.

I don't think AK should be the model here. I agree with what you've said, but AK grips down because that's where he feels comfortable. That guy could center cut a 60" driver every time, but he'd still grip it down the shaft.

Why is that surprising? 95 to 97 is about the average swing speed and that's what 10.5 and regular shaft setup is designed for. I play that same set-up with a TaylorMade (although it might not be exactly the same as Ping)

She's now 1 under through 7. I've gotta give it up for the girl, she turned it around.

2 over through 2 today. We'll see if she can pull herself together or melts down.

She's probably already made $5M without a Stanford degree. I'm not sure she's going to make that anytime soon with a degree from Stanford.

Hmmm, that would be because she hasn't teed off yet.

Oh man, I would have taken that thing home as a trophy!