LovinItAll

It bugs me to no end when golfers are critical of the decisions/equipment of others. Your point is spot on. I was about a 12hc when I purchased my first set of blades (33s). I caught all kinds of heat from my friends about about the decision, but it was the best thing I could've done. One becomes more cognizant of off center hits and, if dedicated to improving, will learn quickly how to avoid the sting that comes from thin (and other) off center strikes. Btw, my index never went backward after buying blades. The idea that they're 'too difficult' to hit is simply not right. I'm not saying that I think all players should buy blades, but if you want them, get them.

Aside from the usual scoring/handicap goals: - More dynamic practice sessions. Often, I get stuck in a routine during practice: Hit x drivers, practice putting/short game y hours, etc. I need to focus more practice time on what I happen to be struggling the most with at that time. Seems obvious, but I need to be more cognizant moving forward. - Stop playing with people who impact my enjoyment of the game! Again, another obvious point, but there are guys I've been playing with for some time that can sometimes suck the pleasure out of a round. I need to, once and for all, ditch them as playing partners even if it means finding new people with whom to enjoy the game. - One of the biggest compliments I can give another golfer is this: 'No matter how you're playing, I can't tell if you're playing the best or worst round of your life'. While I think I do a good job of always maintaining a positive attitude while playing, I think there are always ways to be a better golfing buddy. - Do a better job of focusing 100% on every shot. Sometimes my mind will wander, and it usually costs me a shot or two every round. I love golf, and I can honestly say that, regardless of my score or the conditions of the day, I always enjoy being on the course. For 2013, I hope everyone gets the same satisfaction out of the game as I do. Happy New Year to everyone on TheSandTrap! L.I.A.

Thanks for the replies. My score from the uber windy day has been posted. I'm not sure one made one of my points clearly, to wit: - My home course is subject to very high winds quite often. The winds are unique to our course, so the entire golfing community in my area will typically play in easier conditions. - I'd like to play more tournament golf this year. As it stands, I think I'll be competing primarily in gross divisions. However, if I end up in a net division, it is very possible that my index could have been significantly affected by high wind conditions, thereby making it more likely to shoot an 'unusually low' tournament score. We aren't even in the windy season yet. From what I understand, March and April bring winds of 20+ several days per week at my home course, while courses in the valley (the rest of the golfing community) do not experience the same conditions. It is what it is, though, and I suppose the committee at whatever tournament in which I may play has probably dealt with the issue before. Thanks, and Happy New Year to everyone. P.S. Yes I understand that only the top 10 of 20 scores are used to compute index. As posters have mentioned, the knocking out of lower scores potentially raises one's index, and with the sheer number of days with unusual conditions (relative to the rest of the area), I just don't want to be accused of sandbagging.

From what I've been able to see watching my mates play, it isn't the early swivel that does them in, it's the 'rise and swivel' that results in crummy shots. As for rotating early, I think that's a personal thing. Re: The poster that mentioned a rotating head while putting - I don't think you'll find many examples of good putters who aren't keeping their head still while putting, but I may be wrong.

I'm a proponent of posting all scores, but I sometimes play in conditions that have a significant impact on scoring (high winds - 30+mph). It would be one thing if all of Las Vegas experienced these conditions simultaneously, but I play north at Paiute where the winds can easily be 15-20mph stronger than in town. The question is this: - At what point does the USGA recommend not posting scores? It seems like I once read something about not posting if conditions significantly altered the course rating, either by playing much easier or much harder. If there is an official USGA line on this, I can't find it. Anyone?

Even playing my very best golf, I never averaged 250+, nor did I need to in order to play decent golf. For me, it was simply my swing speed that kept me from consistently hitting it over 250, not a technical breakdown in my swing. Further, the vast majority of golfers don't average 250+ for whatever reason (except in Internet yards). With that said, I play regularly with a couple of guys that hit it long (265-285): - One of them is is in his 60's and has been playing his whole life. Played D1 golf, etc. - The other is in his forties and has only been playing 3-4 years. At 6'5", if he swings the club exactly the same as I do, he's going to hit it quite a bit further by virtue of a longer arc. Are there things I could do to learn to swing the club faster? Maybe, but I'm not that obsessed with length. I hit it pretty straight and rarely find myself in the junk off the tee, so I have a decent chance of making par on even the longest par 4 on our course (~450 yards). The 6'5" guy hits it about 285 but can't break 80. The dude in his sixties scares par every time out and gets it into the 60's on a regular basis. Though bashing it out there 265 helps, he'd shoot the same number, IMHO, if he magically started hitting it 245 tomorrow. The whole question and conclusion the OP makes is really a non-sequitur. Just because one group of guys can hit a golf ball x yards doesn't mean ALL golfers with similar physical characteristics can do the same regardless of training. Kobe and MJ are the same height, yet MJ has a vertical leap that's almost a foot more than Kobe's (10", I think). Not all 6"6' guys can bang their head against the basket no matter how much training they have, just as some golfers will never hit it x yards because, well, they just can't. Just because 250 may seem to be an achievable distance by the person asking the question doesn't make it so. One last point: in the past ten years, there really hasn't been any improvement in golf club technology that allow golfers to hit the ball farther with driver (nor will there be with any tech we currently know about). All things being equal, the only way a golfer is going to get extra yards is to improve their technique or hit a club with a longer shaft. On the technique side, I'd say that most amateurs have a physical limit that can't be overcome without turning golf into a full time job.

Man, I can't believe some of the hatefulness in this thread. As BuckeyeNut (and maybe others) has said, if a player can keep up, he has the right to play from any set of tees without being forced to endure criticism from other players (online or otherwise). Criteria like driving distance or some multiple of a players 5i distance are fine, but in no way should those metrics be the final determining factor for ALL players. For example: - I play with a very good player at our club who hits driver ~250-260 and 5i ~175. He plays from the tips on all of our courses including the longest, which plays ~7100 yards. He's a +2 and change. - Another player in our group hits it about 275 and can get 5i out there about 190. He rarely breaks 80 (and still shoots 90+ on occasion) from any of the tees, including the forward men's tees. It's been pointed out over and again that scores just don't change much, regardless of length, when a player switches tee boxes. Even a relatively short hitter (driver=210-225) should only see a 3-5 shot difference playing the longest set of tees on any course as opposed to playing up. Some players like to play back in order to manage their HCs, while others enjoy the challenge a longer layout provides. Some guys play forward because it's more fun for them. Whatever provides the best experience for the player is right for them. For the record, I typically play around 6600 yards, but I move up or back depending on the group with whom I'm playing. I shoot about the same number from all of the tee boxes. As always, it comes down to a player's preference. If a guy has more fun playing back and can keep up with the group ahead of him, more power to him. There isn't a soul on this forum that can speak for another re: what makes golf enjoyable for someone else. No interest in playing it forward? No problem, just keep up, please. BTW, I hear this same nonsense in the groups I play with. A group of guys in front of us will decide to play the back tees and proceed to hit marginal tee shots all the way around, yet they keep up with the group in front of them. Guys in our group will have negative things to say all the way around while the reality is that it makes no difference at all. I'm much more concerned with the hacks that play the white tees and then proceed to spend an eternity looking for their Top Flites that have landed in the desert as if they only brought one ball to the course. They're the guys that hold up play, not the guys playing from the 'wrong' tee boxes.

1. IMO, it isn't the set of tees a player uses that slows play, but rather a host of other factors. As I've said in previous posts, when my wife played her first round of golf, she shot 145 and we finished in 3 hours. Hopefully the OP doesn't slow things down playing back, but we've all seen the groups playing from the tips that not only hit poor shots, but they also do the little things that make their round slow. 2. This is true for so many people and they just don't realize it or they allow their ego to dictate which tees they play. I play from two sets of tees depending on the group I'm playing with, and we often have people join us who will say something like, "I usually play from x, but I'll play with you guys today." After watching a few 'crossovers' (singles that have played with me in both groups), the shorter hitters and the higher handicappers seem, for the most part, to have more fun playing up. Not true for everyone, but...... Man, play from the tees where you have the most fun! We are all so very lucky to be able to get out and play golf. We're here for too short a period of time to be unnecessarily frustrated with anything in our lives, much less with something that's supposed to entertain us.

Just getting around to reading this post, but the quote above is true for me as well. I think I'm a solid putter, and I think the reasons are because: - I'm meticulous about repeating my setup over every putt. - I gather as much information re: my read from others' ball actions, visuals as I approach the green, etc. (AimPoint, I'm sure, would also improve my green reading) - I do my best to focus 100% on every putt regardless of length - I try to disengage the 'thinking' side of my brain and just let myself stroke the ball as viscerally as possible after I've setup, aimed, and I am over the ball. After my last look at the hole, my backstroke is starting just as my head returns to its position over the ball. That may not make sense, but...... I recently switched putters. Old Faithful received some face damage off the golf course, and after trying several putters, I really liked a stick that had ~one shaft of offset. I immediately began missing putts...I'm sure for the reasons stated in the OP. I spent a few hours on the practice putting green making some mods to my setup, and I'm rolling it nicely now. Why didn't I just buy another putter with the same characteristics as my damaged putter? I guess I'm not that smart, plus I really liked the feel of the putter I decided to purchase. Spot putting - for me - is the only way to go. To anyone that wants to try it, remember that the spot you pick to roll over must be as small as possible - I'd say no larger than the hole a tee makes when stuck into the ground. Also, when I practice putting, I rarely putt to a hole, but rather to a tee. Sometimes I'll jam two tees in the ground about 50% wider than the ball and putt through those. Practice: At the very least, I practice putting both before and after every round (4x-5x/week) and when I go to practice on off days. I'd say I roll 2000+ putts per week, and I think that, more than anything, has made me a pretty solid putter. There's always room for improvement, though, right?

Both of these examples are fine indicators of which tee box a player should hit from. [quote name="Pablo68" url="/t/62203/at-what-hcp-did-you-make-the-jump-from-the-white-to-the-blue-tees/18#post_770504"] Good points...........................however, just because someone can hit the 250 yd drive + 170 yd 5 iron doesn't mean he shouldn't play the forward tees. Is that his AVERAGE and can he hit his target repeatedly? Playing the back tees should be based on score. Start getting under 80 regularly from the forward tees, then move back. [/quote] Yes, I made it a point to write 'average' in my post. As far as score, I don't entirely disagree with your '70's' statement, but if someone can shoot in the 80's from a particular set of tees, no one should be giving them a hard time. We had an older gentleman join us not long ago. We were playing ~7000 yards and he said, 'I usually play the white tees, but I'll play back here with you guys.' Despite us encouraging him to play from his regular tees, he joined us. He was a very short hitter (210-225 driver) and was hitting 5w-7w into many par 4's. Didn't matter too much, as he shot 77 and I think missed 5 greens all day.

I know it's now popular to use a multiplier of one's 5i distance to determine what tees to play, but I want to point out one thing: - In 1975, Medinah played about 7,000 yards for the U.S. Open (Lou Graham won with +3). - In 1980, the average driving distance for PGA tour pros was only ~260 yards. The leader in driving for that year, Dan Pohl, averaged ~ 275. Average drives were certainly shorter in '75. - Jack's 'average' 5i in those days was about 170. He could hit it further, of course, but that was his preferred distance for 5i. The point is that if a golfer can AVERAGE 250 off the tee, he's qualified to play any tee box. The USGA used to state that a scratch golfer drove the ball about 240 on average (I'm sure that's higher now, but I can't find the stat). I only mention this because a guy that drives it 250 and hits 5i 170 shouldn't be playing the forward tees even though 170*36-6120, which is pretty average for white (forward) tee boxes. Note that I'm an advocate of teeing it forward for many golfers, especially if it helps them enjoy the game more. I don't believe that the set of tee boxes from which a player plays is the primary factor in pace of play. I've noted before that I've played with golfers that can't break a hundred, but have no problem keeping up, while others who shoot in the 70's can be painfully slow. I also choose to hit 5i between 170-180. On a course with a slope of ~135, I'm going to be in the 70's the majority of the time, and I've posted many rounds of even par on similar courses. Just a thought on '5i should determine which tees to play'............

"The Guy" is absolutely a 5.x handicap based on the America handicap system. Period. If you're too lazy to do the research to determine that his is not a vanity HC, shut it.

As I've said before, Dan's handicap is not a DIY. It's incredible how some folks are so quick to criticize others, yet too lazy to do any actual research before opening their mouth and spewing bullshit.

Yes. I bought 100 shares in 1986 a year or so after Jordan signed with them, Now it's 1600 shares after a few splits. We got a nice bump when Tiger came onboard, and we've weathered the 'Tiger Storm' quite nicely. I'd like nothing more than for Rory to sign with Nike, and I don't think Tiger would care at all.