Anand

Congratulations! Great feeling to move into single-digits. Now keep it there ... ! BTW -- a gross 2-under is pretty darm spectacular for a 10 handicap. Many 3-5 handicappers struggle to shoot under par - nice work!

http://www.eyecandycaddies.com/index.html

Ditto here. I recently took delivery of forged MP-57s and I'm keeping em covered for a while at least. I don't buy irons very often (I had my Pings for 11 years), and given that these puppies are much softer, I'd like to keep them ding-free. The covers I have slide off and on in one swift movement and they are all connected with a ling string. So there's no chance of losing one. I'll admit, though, that these shiny new irons look fantastic uncovered, and I do like the sound of the chatter when I walk ... But hey, if I'm 'that guy', good for me!!

Today I can conclude with 100% conviction that FOR ME , it's all about the short game. This morning I played in our club's monthly medal (stroke play) - I hit 10/12 fairways (we have 6 par 3s) - I used driver 10 times and hit the fairway 9/10 - my average drive today was 285 (I measured with SkyCaddie - it was dry and it was running). It was my best driving day for as long as I can remember - I hit 10 greens (quite good for me) - I parred 9 holes All very good so far for a 12 handicap. However, I had no touch around the greens and zero feel with my putter. - I had 38 putts (averaging 33 this year) - I went past the flag and over through the green twice on chips - I never got up and down - I had 3 3-putts - I had zero 1-putts - I was pin high, but off the green on 5 of 6 Par 5s (5 are 510+) - did not make birdie on any - I duffed 2 chips I've been playing for 20+ years and am now sure that the tens of thousands of rocks I've beaten on the range have honed a great full-swing and helped my long game. In those 20 years have spent 90% of my time on the long game and 10% on the rest. This year it's been 50% long 50% short. From today onwards, it's 90% short, including putting, and 10% beating rocks. That's what I have to say about what's more important for me

I have been thinking about this as well. I just bought a new set of Mizuno MP-57's 10 days ago having played with Ping ISIs for 10 years. I strike the ball pretty consistantly. 5 iron 180-190, 4 iron 190-200, 3-iron 200-210. 6 months ago I bought a 2nd hand Cleveland HiBore 2i 19* hybrid. I can say in all honestly, that is almost a magic wand for me. I flush it 8/10 times with perfect trajectory and distance. Draw (my usual shape), fade when I need it. I can play it back and work it low and it's' a dream out of light rough. I find it much easier to make a true contact off a fairway with this club, than with say, a 3 iron. My dilemma is that I want to continue to improve my ball striking so that I can flush 3 and 4 irons from the fairway, work them as required. Maybe I'm a bit of a traditionalist and I would like to be a great iron player. But it is so darn easy to hit these Cleveland HiBores! So much so that I went out and bought the 16* 1i off eBay this week. And I'm crushing that too. I reached 3/6 520+ Par 5s in two today with Driver and hybrid. Far more accurate than with my 3 wood. I would love to pull out a 3 iron from 210 and stick it. And sometimes I probably can; but the margin for error is so much lower with the hybrid, and the success rate is so much higher -- I have to hit it. In my experience, when you find the right one for you and practice enough and get used to your hybrids, there's no going back. If you strike the ball well with a full swing, I'm sure with experience, you'll soon be able to work the ball. I also find them very forgiving. Oh, and do yourself a favour -- pelase go out and try the Cleveland HiBore. I know they have the new XLS Hybrids -- I haven't hit those. But the older ones -- like I said, magic wand for me

11-over 83 from our white tees (6,531). 40-43. Had 7 pars in a row - holes 5-11. 4 doubles cost me though, with 2 balls in the water. Even though I had 35, putts, I thought I putted pretty well with at least 6 from over 8 feet lipping out ... Given that I started the year at 16 and am now 11.6, I'm moving in the right direction.

Played a quick 9 late this afternoon in preparation for 18 with a buddy from out of town tomorrow morning. Par 5 558 yds 16th at The Shire London. Pulled my drive into heavy rough. Hacked out 80 yards with a 52 deg wedge. Left with 210 to the pin. Ripped a 16 deg hybrid into the wind and stuck it to 12 feet. Birdie putt lipped out ...

Man .. you can say that again. Incredible!! Sadly for me, parts of my home course was under construction when these satellite pics were taken (course is a year old), but most of it is well mapped. The ability to zoom close, rotate the angle, etc. is just fantastic. I'm going to add a whole load of yardage info to the standard yardage book ... WOW! //Anand PS. On a slightly related point, there are some big privacy issues here in the UK right now regarding all these Google Earth vans parked outside people's home, happily snapping away front doors, etc ... They're creating a treasure map for burglars and other criminals.

I don't think you have anything to worry about so long as you take care of two things: - get a solid travel bag (preferably hard cover) - ensure you have a travel policy which specifically covers you for for loss / damage to your equipment for the value you need. This may require buying separate travel or golf insurance. In the past 12 months I've travelled from the UK to California, Morocco and Mauritius with my clubs with no trouble at all. I have a soft travel bag, but am going to upgrade to a hard cover one now (now that I've upgraded all my equipment ). Amex Platinum has plenty of cover for golf & ski equipment so I don't even worry about a financial loss. The only problem would be if I was unlucky enough that they were stolen on the way out, I'd have to rent or worse, not play at all!! As for breakage, touch wood so far I've had no trouble. //Anand

Sunday - 85 at the monthly stableford. Monday - 85 with a buddy visiting from out of town. Consistantly not good enough!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the system you describe, you have to shoot 40 under par across all of your rounds. For instance, if you are 4-handicap and you shoot 10 rounds this month at even-par, you have shot 40 strokes below your handicap. And if they do a monthly adjustment, you would be at scratch. Similarly, if you shot 20 rounds at two-over that month, you would be cut 40 x 0.1 = 4 shots to scratch. Or am I getting it wrong? //Anand

I have to agree with all of this 110%. I am working hard to achieve a mental state of 'one shot at a time'. It's not easy at the start -- especially when you've doubled the previous hole -- but it REALLY works. I have had so many rounds of 45-40 or 44-39. Heck, I've even been 10 shots better on the back on some crazy occasions. I put that down to tuning out what happened in the past and just focusing on the current shot. In the past I would have looked at the card after a couple of bad holes and said, 'well this round is over', or 'I'm going up 0.2 or whatever ... ' On Monday I started, triple, double, double, double. Nine over after 4 holes. I finished the round 13 over. I attribute it to not worring too much about the score and just focusing on the next shot .... IT WORKS!!

(I have not yey read the article) I think those folks who said that it all depends on the level of the amateur have pretty much got it right. What's more important is focussing most of the time on the weaker parts of your game. If you are weak or wayward off the tee or with your long irons, but can get up and down very well -- you spend more time on your long game -- and vice versa. For me, every teaching pro says I have the long game of a 5 handicap. I am generally consistant off the tee -- in dry, summer conditions, I can consistantly drive 260+, and sometimes bomb it further. I can hit my hybrids exceedingly well from the fairway and rough. However, I struggle with pitching and chipping. For example on Monday I was pin-high and just off the green on 3 520+ yard Par 5s. I failed to make par each time. So I keep practicing chipping, pitching, putting, much more than beating rocks into oblivion. I am 5 shots better today than in January. I'm sure it's different for those with the magic touch inside 100, but spray it around off the tee. Work out the weaker parts of your game and spend more time practicing those areas!!! You cannot but improve!! //Anand

I saw this quote and your handicap index of 1 and I thought, WTF?! Upon closer examination ...

Congratulations!! - isn't it just the best feeling when it all comes together and you make all those pars?! There's nothing like a fantastic round of golf! Now you gotta hold it together for 18!!

The BBC webcast tells us that the tournament referee says if there are a 'considerable number' of balls moving about, they will stop play while the wind is too strong.

KJ Choi looks very, very solid right now. Terrific ball striking and he's only dropped one shot through 13 ... Everyone's faourite on here, Ian Poulter is also having a good round.

Yes, 'The Open Championship.' However, given that we're on a US-based forum, I used brackets for the thread subject very deliberately. 95% of the members here are from the US, so a little discretion is in order //Anand

It we're not behind on the course, then it's honours always. It's an important part of the game. If we're holding people up, then sure, ready golf until we've caught up. Personally, if I have the honour and am not ready on the next tee when I should be, I generally ask whomever is ready first to hit. For the vast majority if the time, however, I like to respect the game's traditions. //Anand

Great to see Rocco start so well. He's clearly loving every minute of these past few weeks. It's amazing what confidence can do for you in sport ... Pretty shocked at some of the big guns faring so poorly - Singh, Els and Mickelson are the obvious names. I thought KJ Choi played very well having started relatively early and had to contend with much of the worst weather. Looking forward to R2.

There is a great webcast from 9:00am BST on the BBC website, but owing to rights & licensing, I believe it's only available to users in the UK. Much in the same way that Clear Channel doesn't allow non-US users access to streams of US radio stations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/6103550.stm

OK - we're off and running at the year's third major. Perhaps we can have one thread to discuss all the goings-on over the next four days. Great to see one of my heros growing up, Tow Watson atop the leaderboard - even if only for a few fleeting moments. Here in the UK most of the so-called experts are picking Garcia, Westwood or Els to be holding the Claret Jug on Sunday evening. There are nods to Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Furyk and Jiminez. Will Harrington last four rounds? Many believe he may be forced to quit sometime today. My pick, Sergio Garcia - his ball striking is among the best and it seems that he's much happier on the green this year.

I would second that. The Eye 2s were iconic clubs - I used to borrow a friend's set once in a while, just for the thrill of hitting Pings (we're talking mid 80s) Fantastic off-set on the long irons made them a breeze to hit. However, they're VERY old and technology has move on so much since then. I would suggest going to your local pro shop or good golf store and hit a few from the 2nd hand section. You'll find something more up to date for probably the same money. //Anand

Have a look here for ideas: http://www.connoisseurgolf.com/courses.php?r=7 I wouldn't necessarily book with them, unless you are looking for a super-luxe experience. But they have a good selection all over Ireland which should inspire ... //Anand

I usually use any one from a bunch of change I grab as I leave the house. However I recently bought a Titelist cap with the magnetic ball marker and now I use that. It's fantastic - no more digging amongst tees for that coin ...