Opaca

Hey all, Guess who was forbidden to join this Internet forum? Guess who also happened to leave said forum's page open and logged in on his computer screen? I sincerely apologize for my son's actions, and thank you for showing him he's not ready for this yet. He isn't even in high school yet, so I'm not sure what other lies he might've told you. Signed, "Opaca's" (displeased) mother

As mentioned before, my putting and chipping/pitching can use work. If you don't believe me, go to most any high school golf tournament and there'll be people hitting it over 300 yards all over the place, especially at altitude.

Sorry for offending your egos, gentlemen. I never said I was terrible, never said I was great, never said I only play in the rain or at night. If you're going to insult me, do it properly please.

Look at the driving range post just recently, where more then one had a displeasure towards kids. I'm sorry to offend anyone by my post, and sincerely didn't mean to brag. Also, it's hard to type quickly and efficiently on an old iPod, which is what all of my replies thus far have been on.

You know what, forget it. I was trying to see if there was some unknown hate for junior folders in the community, not start a hate-fest. Now, if someone would be so kind as to tell me how/if you can close a thread, I'll gladly do so.

Once again, I do not break par. I'm 4-6 over on my average slope home course. I've seen others playing much better, and am not sure how stating my flaws comes across as pretending to be humble. I am proud of my achievement of going from a 24 to a 6 in the past 2 years, but I don't think that makes me any better a player than anyone else who goes out frequently.

I wear nice pants or shorts (rarely) and a ventilated polo. I shake hands on the first tee with everyone, or wherever I meet with the group. I don't swear, but do occasionally talk to my ball/myself during my shot. I don't walk on the lines of people's putts, but will walk ahead along the side of the fairway when playing with people in carts to stay at a good pace. I guess I'm just unfortunate enough to get grumpy playing partners, or I'm committing an unknown offense.

Er, an hour longer, I should say.

If its a flat, close together course then I can't see any reason to not allow walking. However, courses like walking stick in pueblo and Marianna butte in Colorado have this rule for a reason. Walking stick has a 1/2 mile walk around a small gorge from green to the next tee on one hole, and Marianna butte has very steep slopes up and down the par 3's as well as being an overall quite hilly course. I normally walk 18 holes on a non-busy day in 3.5 to 4 hours or so, occasionally trying two different shot shapes from the same location for practice (I still count only the first shot). However, the two courses I mentioned both took me almost an hour to play, playing just as I normally do.

The range, at least for me, is only about how I swing it. As bad as the balls are, you can feel if you hit it solid wih a good swing. My advice then is to ignore where the ball goes, it's not what you will use on the course, but focus on if your swing has any major or minor holes in it. If you wan to hit a fade, just check that the ball indeed goes right (vice versa for lefties) and not anything else. I have yet to have seen one range ball that is balanced, or one teaching pro who worries how straight you hit it with a range ball as long as its not a drastic slice/hook.

People don't gawk, they just always seem annoyed severely when I join a group, and then surprised when I manage to hit a reasonable shot. I'm nothing special, just is frustrating when you try to play with others at first.

JV, not if. Sorry for the autocorrect.

First off, I'm not trying to get compliments. I live about an hour from Denver, at a higher altitude, so none of these are anything unusual. The fairways are firm as its been cold recently without a ton of water, and my golf team is much better than me. I was on the if team this year, but none of our varsity team players seem to get any of this when they routinely drive is 330 and shoot par or under, even at courses with a 140 and higher slope. Just seems a little odd to me. On an unrelated note, does anyone know any good drills/practice ideas for chipping and putting?

Hey all, i have a question for you today (obviously). I am a freshman in high school, 14, and maintain a handicap of around 6. This is not a low handicap, it's from scores posted during tournaments. I drive he ball about 300 yards each go, depending on the layout of each hole, and have juiced it to a par 4's green at 330 before. My question is his: Wh is everyone surprised that someone like me, 5'6'' and 150 pounds, can drive he ball and hit it solidly? Just today, I had someone ask what club I hit on my 165 yard approach shot, and look astonished when I replied, "My 8 iron". No, I'm not making these numbers up(and my handicap would be lower if I had a better short game, which is my current project). Have we, as a society, become accustomed to people who golf only on the weekends and hack around the course with their kid giving them misinformation? I've been playing for 11 years, but my grandpa had me tee off from the 200 yard marker at first and go me lessons with a kid friendly pro. Is this out of the norm, so much so that people are disgusted when they see a 14 year old will be playing in their group until I tee off. I'm not sure if this is just me, or if anyone else has experienced or seen this before. Thank you, Opaca