Audaxi

Well, depending on how bad it was, I would definitely tell the pro shop. Carts on path only is one of the bigger rules to break, but I know some of the ESA rules are just to collect balls that people aren't allowed to retrieve, so I would be lenient on that if it was easily within sight, or not an obvious nesting ground or something that really is an ESA. However, if it's new grass and they're driving all over it, I'd notify the person at the counter, but wouldn't really go any further than that.

The only plus about range balls beating your clubface is it keeps rust off the clubface if you occasionally forget to clean off your clubs after a round.

I love my Scotty Cameron. I got a used (looked like it had only rolled about 10 putts) Newport Pro Platinum for $125 at the local Golfsmith, and am glad I bought it. While Scotties may be expensive, I've tried the Nike and Yes putters and just don't like the feel as much. However, it is a largely personal thing, so I'd go to as many golf shops as you can and try out their new and used putters of the brands you are looking at. For reference, this is the putter I use: http://www.scottycameron.com/putters/archivedetail.aspx?id=92&modelID;=191&seasonID;=8

That happens, it's just the paint rubbing off. That's why you tape up irons in the store to try them out, even though you hit off mats. The balls often have nicks, and ranges have sandy grass, so as long as you're not hitting rocks, it should be fine.

The real reason that Copper Beryllium irons are worth more is the simple fact that they aren't made anymore. This is due to health hazards for the people working in the plant (so don't worry, hitting them isn't dangerous) and something to do with the fact that beryllium dust is not fun to inhale.

I would recommend that you stick with a few clubs you feel confident about, at least until you can start to gain some level of consistency. Something you might think about is take the odd irons (9,7,5) and a 3 wood, then whatever wedges you like along with your putter. That keeps it a little simpler, and you learn some shotmaking by getting your 7 to fill where you might hit an 8. At any rate, you won't start to see the need for the missing clubs until you gain consistency, and then I would add them when you can hit your 7 iron and be fairly sure of how far it will go. If possible, you should also look into getting hybrids for at least your 3 iron (when you start using a full set if you follow my advice), and possibly even down to a 4 and 5 iron. This really helps you get the ball into the air, and I often will swap out my 4 iron for a 4 hybrid on a non-windy day, because it's easier to hit and it gets into the air effortlessly compared to its iron counterpart.

Yes, you should definitely get fitted properly regardless of what club you were to buy. With a high swing speed, lower lofts may come into play, but shafts are hard to choose without knowing current spin rates or how you load the shaft. In response to mdl, the spinning out could be the fact that I don't believe he is wearing golf spikes, or the fact that he was swinging while on a mat.

That's part of what disappointed me when I tried them. I bought my Eye 2's lightly used, but the spin was still pretty nice on the sand wedge I got. I'm still hanging on to the irons with my non-conforming grooves for a while longer, at least until I buy a new set of irons.

Surprising. I personally can't stand living in the city, mainly because I grew up on 32 acres out in a no-man's land. Isn't it always the best though when you're alone on the entire course, with nobody to rush you or start cursing about their bad shot?

I've played Coyote Creek, it's a pretty nice course. Georgia Boys is pretty good though, definitely worth the drive. On an on topic sidenote, the new B330 does seem to have more spin from about the 6 iron up for me. I noticed it when I was trying a few I found on the course, and one had the double dimples, while the other two didn't.

Ping recently rereleased the old Eye 2 wedges with the newer groove style. I looked at them when I was purchasing new wedges, but settled on the Tour S Rustique ones I currently own. I can't vouch for the fact that they are willing to make entire iron sets, but I know the wedges were on the market a year or two ago.

There is a noticeable difference for the new B330's, but I only noticed it with a 6 iron or longer. Not much more spin anywhere else, which makes me wonder why they changed it in the first place anyways.

I would highly recommend getting a 60* or 58* wedge if you can. I personally have Ping wedges, but that's because the grooves on my Vokey 60* wore out (from being used very often) and I felt like replacing my 56* as well, since it was pretty worn down as well. I went to Ping's mainly because they matched my irons and the store didn't have more Vokey's in stock. But, for sure, get a lob wedge. If you can learn to use it well, you have multitudes of options from the full swing with it in. You can learn to hit it high, hit it low, make it stop, let it run, pretty much anything you want to do. Don't take this as me saying a lob wedge will improve your scores immediately by 5 strokes, but it can be deadly if you learn to use it. Just remember, if you like to use one club around the green, it's easier to decrease loft than it is to add it.

Yeah. Where I'm at in CO it's supposed to be another 6 inches tonight and 3 more tomorrow. Sadly, that means the golf season is probably over. Have you ever come down and played Ute Creek or Twin Peaks?

No, but I've bought the older editions of them from Sports Authority.

I always use them for tournaments, but practice rounds are another thing. Due to their cost, I'm that one guy who can be found walking along the edge of a lake looking for easy finds that other people "forgot" about and took a mulligan for, so long as there isn't anybody waiting on me without someone in front of me.

I've demoed the MP-64's, and found that they will give you a much lower ballflight than the MP-69, or MP-59. My trajectory flattened out far to much for my tastes when I hit these with the same shaft, but the feel was excellent. They also were slightly more forgiving than the MP-69, but I wouldn't recommend them unless you are confident that you can hit the ball cleanly and in the center of the face probably at least on 80% of your shots. When you catch a club like this (a blade, or variations thereof of most players irons) on the heel or toe, it will reduce the distance and accuracy of your shot much more than any more forgiving iron. Personally, I found a small mishit to give me about 5 yards of reduced distance (compared to very little with the 59, and around 7-10 with the 69) and anything larger than that would exponentially reduce distance and accuracy. I would say you might want to look at the MP-59 or MP-53, as well as the JPX line if you want to stay with Mizuno. Above all, though, you should try hitting any iron you wish to purchase (including these) before you buy it to avoid a mistake and irons that will only frustrate you.

Growth in golf is like growth in puberty. It comes in stages. Until last year, I had never had a handicap lower than 18. Then I dropped it to 14.5 by the end of last year. This year, it has gotten down to 6.2, mainly due to hard work. What you should focus on is not how far you hit the ball, but how the shot felt. Was it solid, was it clean, did you hit it fat or thin? That's where I made the most improvement, by trying to hit cleaner shots and play smarter. One last thing that'll help is to live on the putting/chipping green for a few months. If you can tune up your short game, it'll help until you start hitting more greens.

I've got a G10, and honestly can say I haven't found anything longer for me yet. I haven't tried 9* drivers yet, though, as it would be like comparing apples to oranges. Though with where my launch has gotten to after improving my swing, I'm definitely looking around. Also, what's wrong with 250 driving distance? Anyways, I would guess maybe your ballstriking is off with a shaft that doesn't fit your swing. Either that, or you could touch up your short game and approach shots. I'd go into a golf shop to get your SS measured, as well as try many different shafts to see what works. If a previous driver worked well, you can always use the shaft that was in it as a baseline for what you know is a performer for you, or at least what used to work well. I doubt it's the clubhead, unless it's a counterfeit, but it's fairly likely that a regular shaft is too soft for a swing that is giving you 250 yards. I would assume, based on the fact that Ping stock shafts are generally 1 flex softer than they say they are, that your drives are all carry, with very little roll? This, as well as ballooning shots, would be a sign of a too soft shaft.

I wasn't meaning to imply that the opening of the face causes a fade, I was just stating that it can happen. It was a compensation move I used to have due to an extremely shut clubface at the top of the backswing, because my grip was far too strong and I had to open the face coming into the ball to square it. Didn't make sense to me until I saw it on video, where it became obvious as it looked like the club didn't turn at all from parallel to parallel (shaft angle, not arms) on my downswing/follow through. When the ball hits the toe, it's a completely different thing, at least, to the best of my knowledge. I was just stating how I used to open the club through impact, and how that means that the offset gives you more time to rotate the clubface open before impact (instead of giving you more time to close it if you were to actually release properly), which makes for a bigger slice since the clubface is opened further at the moment it hits the ball. Sorry for the confusion.

Ask anyone here what an open clubface compared to the swingpath does, and they'll all tell you it creates a fade. For a right hander, if the face is pointing more to the right than the swing path, you will get a shot that goes to the right, or a fade. When I put it in these terms does your error make sense? Just because it has a spin axis doesn't mean that an open clubface to the swing path will create a fade, nor does it mean that you can't express it as rpm of sidespin and backspin separately. It may not be accurate, but it gives the majority of people the idea of what is causing the ball to curve.

You can, but it might skew the results. I've heard stories of parts of the face beginning to curve if you smile. Sometimes, if you laugh, it can go so far as to create a hole in the face, which would certainly create unstable data.

Sorry, was talking about closed in terms of relative to the swing path.

I personally like that more myself, though on bright days you better wear sunglasses.

Perhaps you overdid the drill. A snap hook is indicative of either a very closed clubface, or a very inside to out swing path. Get your swing on video to see which of the two it is, and then you'll know which of them you need to work on. Perhaps instead of just putting on foam tube to swing under in your downswing, you could make a "gate" for the club to pass through so you can work on not coming too far from the inside as well.