Effington

Hey guys, I'm hoping to put a golf simulator in my garage, and looking for suggestions as to how to keep the price down. Once ready, I plan to use it nearly every day, so don't want it to look like crap. It was suggested to me from some avid golfer friends to go with the Bushnell Launch Pro, they said it was the best quality before you get into the crazy/professional level details that cost double/triple the price, but would love any other suggestions. For the screen, projector, and software, do any of you know of a good piecemeal set-up, or is it better to go with a package? I'm not handy at all, but I was told with some research, they're not too hard to put together. My goal is to be able to play a few courses, hitting into a screen, and with accurate figures. Would also like some swing data, but don't need to go crazy with it. My friends suggested I could have a nice set-up (BLP launch monitor, screen, projector, software) for about $7k (if I assembled myself), is that a good estimate?

Thanks, appreciate the ideas. I did have my clubs fitted/adjusted, but suspect it was not done well. IE, they cut them down but did not adjust lie angle or adjust weight. I went back there a couple weeks ago to get a second opinion on this, and the associate was about to instruct his team to make adjustments without even measuring anything, which is where the red flags starting going off for me.

Hey guys, I'm curious if any of you know the differences between the men's and women's clubs. The reason I ask is because I'm of super short stature, and have found it difficult to find clubs that have the proper lie angle. Toe is always sticking up in the air unless there is some extreme revisions. For hybrids, I have been told that they can not bend the lie, so don't have any proper options. Since women are typically shorter than men, I'd think their construction ranges are different. I tried a women's hybrid and it did seem to lie a little flatter than the male counterpart, but unsure if this was just a placebo. I know there are some smart people here that may know more--is this a thing?

Hey guys, I'm looking into the idea of starting a golf podcast, and wanted to get your thoughts as to if this would be a concept you'd have any interest in. The basic idea is that golf is hard, and the base of it will be my trials and tribulations in trying to not suck, but the majority of the content will be meant to be entertaining and self-deprecating. I enjoy the podcast Chasing Scratch, so this is partially inspired by it, but those guys are good players. My hypothesis is that there are a lot of bad golfers out there like me, and trying to break 100 (or something similar) is more relatable than trying to shoot par. I know there are similar series out there (I see that Fore Play Golf did a Youtube series for one of the hosts on this topic), but I have a different slant since it's not my full-time job and I have an unusually long history of being a duffer considering the time/energy, which I believe to be relatable. Thoughts?

Didn't record, but I'd agree with your assessment. Do you have any recommendations as to how to "get out of your head" and make freer swings more regularly? It appeared to have the desired results.

Hey guys, I'm sure many have had similar experiences here, so want to get some insight as to manage best going forward. I was on the driving range, and like a typical golfer, was ignoring my teacher and trying out the latest tip that I heard on a podcast. And something magical happened. Instead of my driver carrying 160-170 yards and then slicing off weakly to the right, it hit flush and carried 200 yards down the middle and rolled another 30-40. So I did what anyone would do...try it again. And it worked. So I then got the biggest bucket of balls I could find and kept doing it over and over, to try and engrain that feel and get some muscle memory. I didn't want to let this one go. Hit about 150 balls, almost all exactly the same. It was the greatest feeling in golf I can ever remember. Two days later, I played a round. Miraculously, the swing kept, and it was the greatest round of my life. Made it all the better that it was with old friends (that hadn't golfed with before), and this is how good they thought I was. And I beat my typical playing partner for the first time all year. Beers tasted great that night. A few days pass before I'm swinging a club again, and back on the range, the magic is gone. For about two weeks now I've been searching for the feel. Once in a while I'll blast a good one, but haven't been able to replicate. How do you get it back? PS - the tip was inspired by a recent podcast episode of "Chasing Scratch", where they determine they were lined up wrong on the course. I looked at my alignment and found it off as well, and that led my body to a different shoulder turn to compensate, and...boom.

Happy to share that I had my best round of my life this week, shooting 96. I had two blow-up holes or it could have been even lower. Beats my previous personal best by 3 and typical score by 5+, and beat my typical playing partner for the first time all year. Something magical happened with my driver--it was smashed down the middle all day. Felt something on the range 2 days previous, and it miraculously stuck. Was getting +30-50 yards compared to normal and life was glorious for the entire day. Here's to hoping I can keep that swing the next time out!

Nope

Hey guys, apologies if this scenario was already asked/replied, but I didn't see it. Was out recently with 4 riding, and we paced at 4:30. We had just finished the 16th hole right at 4 hours. Ranger came by and said we were playing slow. Is he right? There was a two-some behind us that skipped a hole to get in front of us. It was twilight. We did have one beginner in our group who was not always ready at his turn that probably cost us about 15 minutes, but it didn't seem like we were slow.

I'm in Chicago suburbs. It's tough if you are not looking out a week in advance if the weather forecast is looking good.

Hi guys, One of my friends recently shared their key stats that I loved and never heard of before, so wanted to see if others here use something similar. Most golfers talk about GIR, nGIR, putts, up/down saves, fairways, the typical stats you see on TV. But if the point of the statistics are to tell you what it is that led to your score, my friend shared me his simple, one stat that said it all: For each hole, what shot made you lose strokes to par? The stat is simple and it's just a score for each type of shot: Driver, approach, pitch/chip, sand, putt. The lower the better, as you get one point for each shot that caused you to lose a stroke on the hole. It's a little subjective but can be scored based on your skill level. Example: Par-4, 380 yards: Driver is hit 180 yards, leaving 200 yard approach shot. Approach shot lands 30 yards off the green, then pitch on and two putt for bogey. I would score this 0.5 for driver and 0.5 for a pitch that doesn't get close enough to one-putt, or 0.5 for putting if the chip was good but missed a short putt. There's obviously some grey area, but I have done this for the last few rounds and it seem to be insightful. It straight up tells me, this shot is where you lose strokes. Anyone else have this kind of metric? Would love to hear any feedback. Thanks!

I probably live in a bubble, but I have many Japanese colleagues and this was a big deal to them. One of them literally said some of the higher ups were in tears at such an accomplishment.

Announcer's reaction is fantastic.

Appreciate all the feedback! Definitely sounds like the general consensus is in agreement with my theory. For what it's worth, I'm player 1. While I was never a top athlete in my younger years, I consider myself reasonably coordinated. That being said, playing golf has been a humbling experience. Based on my readings here, I've struggled to improve more than the huge majority of players, despite great efforts. However, there's a ying to the yang. What my enormous struggles has given me is a really great appreciation for any player who can hit the ball consistently well, and all it takes (right now) for me to enjoy myself is decent ball striking, which I'm defining as anything that is even remotely sniffing regulation. Which is better than most.

Hey guys, On this forum, the common story I hear here is that a lot of people pick up the game, take 6-12 months to break 100 and another 1-2 years to break 90. My hypothesis/question is, isn’t this story a rarity? While a golf message board is more likely to be frequented by better golfers, I hear this story more often than I would have expected. Here is the profiles of my four-some: Player 1: Playing 8 years, practicing daily & takes lessons. A good drive goes about 220-230. Scores 100-110. Not tall/strong/athletic, but is reasonably coordinated. Player 2: Playing off/on about 10 years. Drives 250 dead straight on the regular but rest of game is below average. Scores 95-105. Never practices, doesn’t even warm up. Thinks practice doesn’t help him. Driver never misses. Same build as player 1. Player 3: Late 40’s, great swing and as a teenager could score in mid 80’s. Very little practice, now doesn’t break 100 due to poor consistency. Same build as player 1. Player 4: Early 60’s, is/was very athletic, great distance with all clubs, but inconsistent. Usually scores about 110 but once in a while can card in the low 90's or better. To add to this narrative, when I am on the course and casually walk by other groups, I notice that most swings are much worse than ours. So, what I see is that us hacks who rarely break 100 seem to be above average, but reading this forum gives me the impression we’re very much in the weaker category. So, my conclusion is that the audience on this message board do not accurately reflect the general population of golfers and/or is a bubble of the upper echelon of golfers. Thoughts?

If it's not about trust, what is it about?

Golf in 28 degrees is a bold move, I like it. I have a net in my garage. It's OK down to about 15 degrees outside. Then it gets uncomfortable. I haven't tried to get on a course when it's lower than about 40, but I'm going to try that when the snow melts.

San Diego's weather is amazing, but where can you live for under a million dollars?

Gotcha, this is what I wasn't seeing. If I was playing with someone who took 20 seconds to look at his 2 foot putt, marked his ball, etc., I think I'd get frustrated with that. We don't spend much time with a routine on the green, so it goes quickly.

Seems like a lot. I would have thought it'd be a quarter of that.

There is a distance, just a couple inches, where the conversion rate can reasonably be said to be 100%.

So, I gotta ask... if there is any kind of competition, why are you giving them 1 footers? They'll obviously make most of them, but once in a while they'll miss and it is to your advantage.

Hey guys, I am sure this topic has been discussed at great length, but didn't seem to find a thread specific to my question. My regular playing partner & I are aligned well that we don't give each other anything. The ball must go in the hole, unless it's within a couple inches. Thus, I practice a good amount of short putts. We don't play for money but there are substantial bragging rights and a lot of trash talk and our families see each other often. Had a couple other people join us the other day and they were surprised that we had these rules. They had played for 20+ years and always gave putts within a few feet and were surprised that we played so strict, especially with no money on the line. They used the "pace of play" line, but I'm not sure playing your 2 feet putts each round contributes to slow play. Is playing these strict rules uncommon? As noted, it has led me to practice short putts much more than I otherwise would be. If I was given all my 2-3 footers, I would spend my practice time elsewhere.

Thanks for the feedback! I see the pricetag on that is roughly $260, which seems like a lot when comparing to something that's a couple bucks. How is the value for the dollar?