Desert Driver

Win a Major . . . no contest. Would love to hang out at Augusta National every Spring. Desert Driver

Hoodies ? Some guys care about how they look on the course and dress to the nines, others don't care and wear pretty much anything comfortable that's allowed where they play. My level of dress improves when playing nicer courses or in a league tournament. Playing with Hood Up is a no-go for me.

Lying about distance? What's the point? If you're actually planning your shots on each hole, how many holes do you actually get to hit away on ? A handful on 18 holes? (hopefully there is enough architectural character to your course that you get the opportunity to figure out which club is best suited for the tee box and you don't just default to the driver) Still, a skycaddie can measure all of this stuff and call it as it is. DD

I keep my profile handicap updated to the nearest whole number using my regular State Golf Association handicap. I also belong to a golf association that keeps a separate handicap using only association tournament scores. It supposedly prevents or limits sandbagging. None of you would sandbag, of course.

Which Do I Prefer for a Closing Hole, par 5, par 4 or par 3? I like both par 4's and par 5's as finishing holes, but not par 3's. A par 3 finishing hole has an odd feeling to it and I haven't come across one yet that doesn't seem out of place. Each course should have its' own character or personality and an ebb and flow to play. How that play ends should fit in with the flow of the course. JMO DD

If I've measured this shot before, and remember it, and the green is relatively flat and without features, most likely NO, I wouldn't spend the time re-measuring the distance. However, if I was on the far left or right side of the fairway or needed to land the ball somewhere specific on the green due to the dangers, I would.

IF THEY WERE BANNED. It would have a negative impact on my game for sure. I have become very accustomed to taking a distance reading with my rangefinder not just to pins, bunkers and hazards, but to all sort of objects including golf carts in front of us to see if they are out of range before hitting. I would be back to walking off distances from known yardages which certainly takes more time than raising the laser and taking a quick reading. Back to yardage books. That being said, those are the very reasons that support the use of rangefinders and GPS'. Be grateful for them.

I agree with David, excellent advice. Make sure you are playing from the appropriate tee for your current skill level. As for the hooking problem on this bad boy, make sure that your nervousness isn't translating into a TIGHT grip. And if the sight of all the trouble out in front of you gets you a little psyched out, try something that helps me. Stand behind the ball and look down the fairway and select the target where you want the ball to go allowing for your flight characteristic. Look for the line the ball will take to get to that point and pick a spot out in front of your tee'd ball that you can use for alignment that you want the ball to pass over on the way out to your target. Ok, now go up and take your stance and align yourself to that point a few feet out in front of the ball and imagine your shot. DO NOT LOOK UP AT ALL OF THE HAZARDS AND TROUBLE AND OB AND ALL THAT, just look at that spot out in front of your tee'd ball and then take your swing and put the ball right over that spot you picked out. This lttle pre-shot routine has really helped me get over some of the difficult shots that I come across out on the course. Focus on the shot and the target, not the trouble. Good luck -

First book that I've read that really talks about how to PLAY golf to score. Lots of books out there talk about mental toughness and how to hit great shots, but this book goes over strategies of playing YOUR best game, whatever that is. I've bought several copies of this book, two for myself and the rest as gifts for golfing friends and family members. I re-read the book a couple times a year to go over the basics that I seem to stray from time to time. I would highly recommend this book to those who are attempting to lower their scores.

Left Handed, Left eye dominant, and play righty. Had a lot of trouble squaring up the clubface to a truly square position in relation to my stance. Finally took a lesson from the club pro to figure out what my alignment problem was. We figured it out. I have to be very careful in aligning myself for a shot since my lead eye is dominant. Driving range practice with alignment sticks is helpful. My best success came from selecting an intermediate target a few feet out in front of the ball when standing behind the ball, then algning myself and the clubface using that intended line at address. With putting, I have two things that help me. I putt left hand low, which is my dominant hand and align the ball with my big toe of my front foot. I also use a mallet style putter that has a lengthy line to use for alignment. I mentally look for the path to the hole including the break and then make sure that my putter alignment corresponds with my intended line. Then I roll the ball into the hole. Hopefully, I've read the line and break properly. I've been told I am a very good putter. Like anybody, when I am having trouble hitting the ball where I intend, I go back to the basics and check my alignment first. I usually find the problem there.

A few years ago, a local golf course had aerated the fairways earlier that day and left the castings to dissolve on the fairway. When I asked the front desk how to deal with the holes and castings they said they are doing "lift, clean and place" for the next week to 10 days until they fairways have healed. This last week another course was aerating the fairways right then and there, but picking up all the castings. I asked if they had any rulings for balls coming to rest in an aeration hole, and I received the the instruction of, "lift, clean and place" if in an aeration hole. Asking for the local ruling seemed to be the best idea. Everybody was on the same page at the first teebox. Fairways and Greens . . .

Depends on who I am golfing with. Guys I golf with most of the time are not much on gambling. Most of the guys don't think they golf well enough to gamble on every hole. Consequently, If there is any betting, we will usually pick one or two of the shorter Par 3's on the course and have a closest to the pin contest; a buck or two each for those that want to opt in. It makes it fun for the higher handicappers to take a few bucks off the better golfers, if they can.

Par 3 - My tee shot spins off the front edge of the green back down the hill into a mostly dry water hazard between several tall clumps of grass. I can get a club on the ball but only if I swing Lefty. (I play righty) So I turn my SW upside and aim for a spot up on the green. Catch the ball perfectly and it comes right out, takes one bounce on the face of the hill and hops up on the green. To cap it off, I have a 12' putt uphill with a right to left break and roll it right in the middle for par.

I love my fairway woods, they are 2 of my favorite clubs. The 3-wood is my go-to club if my driver is having trouble and the two FW's are great for shorter par-4's and long par-5's. I have 15 yards difference between the two clubs. Several hybrids have gone through my bag. None are close to replacing either of the FW's. Warning; Neither club has the high trajectory of a hybrid from the deck (for me anyway). I can get a beautiful high flight by adjusting tee height, but off the deck they have a lower boring flight that is great when playing in the wind. Driver - TM Burner - 10.5*, stiff shaft. 3-Wood - TM Burner Superfast 2.0, 15*, stiff shaft. 250 yds. 5-Wood - TM Burner Superfast 2.0. 18* stiff shaft. 235 yds. Irons 4-PW, 4 iron is just over 210 yds. GW - 50* SW - 54* LW - 60* Putter I have a 25 yard gap between my 5 wood and my 4-iron. Where I play, I rarely have trouble with my spacing, so my bag is pretty well set. If I was consistently looking for a 220 club, I would have to pick up a club to fill the spot and drop a club from somewhere else. Also, I find it easier to hit my fairway woods well than a hybrid. Just me I guess. Good luck. DD

Thanks for the reply - I can relate with you. I have been a right to left player for a long time. (lefty that plays right handed) On occasion though, I've had trouble with the dreaded pull hook which can be a disaster. Consequently,this last year, I neutralized my grip a little bit and am trying to eliminate all that is left of the left side of the fairway. This works well with the G15's as they do a nice job of straight. They really square themselves up and are consistant at distance. I can work the ball some, but I have to overcome the weighting of the club to do so. And I don't get a lot of feedback as to where I hit the ball unless it is the extreme. I can always tell if I get way out on the toe and thin. High on the face gives a weak feeling and too close to the heel is an unknown unless I should strike a hosel, which is a dead giveaway. (Don't say that word) My scores have come down a lot over the last year, So, overall, I think weakening my grip has been a good move for me. I do get in periods where everything seems to be right and I feel a little bit like I'm protecting against the pull hook by blocking shots right and this is a hard rut to get out of for me. I can get plenty creative with my clubs, but there are limits. I THINK I could use some more feel to my game. I would also like to have an easier time of hitting shots under the wind, or at least, lower than I am currently hitting. It seems at times I get the ball up there in the jet stream and the next stop is going to be off in the rough or well off the green. A narrower sole would certainly help with difficult lies and playing from the rough. Wet rough is another story. My big questions are; How well am I capable of striking the ball? And will I learn and adjust to the increased feedback from a change in my irons? And will the change allow me to improve my scoring? All good questions. DD

Congratulations. May your next birdie come quicker than the last one. Save the Scorecard. DD

No - It is a different thing all together to break 80 playing 18 holes straight and playing by the rules. It is all about keeping your game and emotions together for 18 continuous holes. That's why it is a goal for so many amateur golfers, it is a difficult challenge. Breaking 40 isn't such a bad accomplishment either, by the way. I play a lot of 9 hole rounds due to limited time. This year I've worked hard to get in more 18 hole rounds for this very reason, breaking 80 was a goal I'd not yet reached. I've had a lot of 9 hole rounds pieced together by the GHIN system that broke 80, but we all know inside that this isn't "BREAKING 80". Come on guys. I finally broke thru earlier this year and shot a 77 on a difficult course. Once I figured out how to do it, it has become easier, something I've been able to repeat. Best of luck in your quest to break 80. Fairways and Greens. DD

I was hoping nobody would ask as it is embarrassing to be so insecure with clubs that i can't settle on a set of irons for more than a year or so, but I get the feeling that others have probably been in the same predicament, so, here we go. I started on what I call the golf club merry-go-round about 10 years ago after my game improved to the point that I felt I was ready for the next step, new clubs, blades. ( http://thesandtrap.com/t/49746/post-mortem-130-to-88-in-6-months-what-worked-what-did-not/54 ) I had been playing some PIng I-3 O-size irons, my first fitted set or irons. After using them for a few years and feeling over confident because I had lowered my scores from the 110's down into the mid- to high 80's. I decided it was time to take the next logical step and get some clubs with more workability, I decided on a set of Mizuno Mp-32's. I had them for about a year and hit them pretty good for the most part, and loved the feel when I hit the ball well. Problem was my distance control was way off. Depending on how well I hit the 'sweet spot' I could easily be a club long or short of my average shot. I was flying greens and coming up short all too frequently. My scores took a big hit. Well, after not quite a year, I had enough pain from bad scores and decided my swing wasn't good enough to hold up to the MP-32's and it was time to tuck my tail and go back to a game improvement club. A friend suggested I try the latest Callaway offering. So, I got rid of the MP-32's and picked up a set of X-18's (it has been a few years, but I believe that is right) with the uniflex shafts. The store insisted the One-shaft-fits-all, were great. Not so great for me. Shaft way too soft, ball way too high. I didn't have those more than several months and I decided to go back to some Ping's, the I-5. I was fitted and they really wanted to put me in some S300 shafts stepped stiff to match my swing and to stop the ballooning ball problem with the Callaways. The I-5's were ok, but I never really felt like they were quite right and I missed the feel of the forged Mizuno's. Less than a year later, I decided to try a set of Mx-200's. These were so, so, for me. Good, but not great. I still hadn't found anything that played as well as my original Ping I-3's and my scores were hanging around bogey. I finally thought enough is enough and sold the Mx-200's and decided to try some used clubs, including some older Ping I-3's. I picked up 3 different sets, Ping Zings', Ping I-3's and Ping Eye-2's and played them for a little over a year. The I-3's were ok, not as good as I remember them. The eye-2's were a better head, really easy to hit from all types of lies, more of a players clubs, but the shafts weren't as good and the lofts were weak compared to the newer clubs and I was a full club shorter. I still felt like I could do better. (isn't that always the case?) That's the long way around to the equipment changes that brings me to where I am today. I sat down and evaluated my strengths and weeknesses on the golf course and decided what I needed to do to make a change. At the time, three of my changes involved equipment; Irons, 3-wood and putter. Over the short span of about 1 month I sold my irons sets, a nice SC putter I wasn't using and a bunch of extras that had been sitting in the closet unused for a long time. I first replaced the putter with a very generic TM770 that I putt really well with. Next was the irons. After a lot of thought I felt like I needed to get some confidence back and bought a set of Ping G-15's, 4-UW. And last, I got rid of an old Taylormade System 2 3-wood and bought a new Taylormade Burner Superfast 2.0 3-wood. All stiff shafts. What a change. I began putting better, hitting my irons with some confidence, and attacking short par-4's and long par-5's with the new 3-wood. In conjunction with this, I relocated to a more difficult course than what I had been playing and forced myself to learn to hit better and more difficult shots and learn some real course management skills. So far, it has all worked out very well. My handicap has dropped 6 strokes, I am currently sitting on a 10.0. But better than that, I am playing with a lot more confidence and really having a good time when I go out. I look forward to hitting good shots. What troubles do I still have? Well, the G15's hit the ball pretty high and the course I play on is a links style course open to the wind with firm greens and fairways. You can see the problem here, needing to keep the ball lower with clubs made to hit the ball high. I have to be very careful in club selection and how I play my shots. Second, the G15's have a very wide base that makes easy work of hitting the ball nicely off the fairway, it is hard not to hit solid shots. But the irons can be a real drag when the rough gets wet or if I find my ball in an difficult lie or if the wind is up. But we have to be honest with ourselves in all of this. I find it hard to argue with my new success. It is nice to go out for a quick 9 holes and shoot a few shots over par on a difficult course and to finally break into the 70's (on occasion). I often walk off the course with a real sense of accomplishment for having played a good round of golf. But nagging in the back of my mind is that feeling that if I am going to take the next step I am going to need to lower my ball flight and be able to do more with shots from challanging lies and that means a change in irons. I look forward to a change in a way, but also dread because of what happened last time I tried going from a game improvement club to a players iron. Well, there you go. An painful journey to say the least, but it is the route that I've traveled to get where I am. And I feel that I am much better off than I was even two years ago. I am very interested to hear your perspective on irons, having managed your game to the point you have. How much does shot workability (with your irons) factor itself into your scores? DD

Jason, I think you nailed it - "I feel like I need to almost forget about handicap and just play." I think a lot of golfers have faced that moment when frustration fills you up. Most aren't at your same handicap, but expectations for all golfers can be very high and when we aren't improving or the handicap takes a hit, it feels like the golf world is upside down. I was talking to a friend about golf woes and such and he asked me, "Isn't golf supposed to be fun?" I was upset because my handicap was headed north and didn't look like it was going to stop, I was hitting the ball all over the place. And my scores were awful. My problem? I wanted to use clubs that were above my skill level to use consistently and I was so focused on SCORE, SCORE, SCORE, that I wasn't focused on the shot that was right in front of me. I took care of my equipment issues, that was the easy part. The hard part for me? Stop keeping score out on the course. Quit looking at the scorecard and don't worry about my handicap. I wanted to play good golf and a handicap is a reflection of that, it isn't the ultimate goal. In the last year and change, my handicap has dropped over 6 stokes. I have been sitting at or just below 10 for the last couple months, I am playing better than ever and I am having more fun out on the course. I still will throw up an embarassing score once in a while, but that happens. I try to focus on making my next shot a great one. Whatever happens, happens, walk up to the ball and make the next shot a great one. Best of luck and make your next shot a great one. DD

You are right, it is inconsistent to be ok with a 'Mulligan', yet cry foul for picking up after three putts on an aerated green. The group I play with most frequently has a standing rule of a three putt max on aerated greens. It is rarely applied because we avoid playing courses that have recently aerated their greens. When I take my dad out golfing, we don't keep score per se. His golfing isn't the best, we simply try and enjoy the time out together and hit a few good shots. Hope the next time out is enjoyable. DD

JC1982 I found this thread really interesting and I thank you for taking the time to share your experience. It has been a number of months since this first went up and I read through your comments and updates as you went along and found many common factors that I found along my own trek to improve at golf. One of the major differences though, is that my journey took much longer as I started off at a much slower pace. I had golfed off and on since high school, mostly with friends, generally not more than four or five times a year. Enough to know that I liked it, but never with enough frequency to improve. Then by accident, literally, I ended up in a golf class at the University I was attending when I severely spained an ankle in a basketball class and was forced to transfer out to a PE class I could participate in; GOLF. So I golfed with a cast on my lower right leg for a semester. It was great fun and made me a lifetime golfer. I would say that you have listed several basic premises that a golfer needs to incorporate in order to maximize one's ability to score well in golf. 1. Stop cheating 2. Learn how far you hit a ball with each club. 3. Make sure your equipment fits you. 4. Learn how to play the game, to score well. This is different than learning how to hit the ball. 5. Track your progress. 6. Learn how to improve in the areas that cause you trouble. Practice. 7. Set Goals. 8. Obtain a Pro to instruct. 9. Watch and learn from professionals on TV, instructional videos, etc. Our University instructor helped us learn the basic swing and also emphasized that we needed to play by the rules and score by the rules, otherwise we would never really know if we were getting better. (Stop Cheating) My journey to improve my scores took off about 10 years ago when my newly appointed boss at the corporation I work for took me aside and said he wanted to start golfing each Wednesday morning and wanted me to join him before work right at sunrise. We would be playing at a 9 hole municiple course. And off we went. It was rough for both of us, but other managers soon joined in and we had a nice group going out once a week. My scores for 9 holes were typically in the mid to high 50's and a par was a great treat. Getting out on a consistent basis soon had me playing a little better and before long I finally started breaking 50. I was using some off the shelf irons at the time which I had purchased several years earlier and had trouble hitting them well consistently, it always felt like they were too short. And they were. I stumbled on this while wandering around one of the local golf stores and started chatting with one of the staff. He thought I should get fitted for clubs if I really wanted to take the next step to improve. What a difference correctly fitting clubs made. I am a little taller than most at 6' 3" and need a little longer club shaft, 1/2" and a little more upright lie angle, about 2.5* and my swing speed fell into the stiff shaft category. Almost immediately, I was hitting the ball more accurately and further and my scores came down consistently between 45 and 50. (key - Make sure your clubs fit) But I still couldn't break 90 when I had time to play 18 holes until I found a few videotapes that my dad had purchased years ago and left sitting around. (key - You can learn by watching good instructional videos and by watching others play) 1. Golf My Way - Jack Nicklaus 2. Sybervision Golf - Al Geiberger These two videotapes helped immensely. Finally I started making some golf shots and getting my own swing. But I still didn't have a clue about course management and playing to score. And then a year or so later I found a book by Raymond Floyd called "The Elements of Scoring, A Masters Guide to the Art of Scoring Your Best When You're Not Playing Your Best". For me, this book opened up the world of Golf, how to play golf, not just how to swing a golf club and hit a ball. Mr Floyd talks about a number of the items that you detailed and really walks along with you as you play your round of golf, along the lines of what you gained from the DVD by Robert Karlsson. This book started me really thinking on the golf course, understanding what type of shots I was confident in, those I was not. When to go for it, when to play safe. (Key - Learn how to play the game) I stopped taking a lot of silly shots that were wasting strokes and making my scores go up and tried to become a tactician working my way around the course, hitting smart shots, playing my odds, and my scores came down. I knew just how far I hit each of my clubs. (Key item) Soon, I was golfing in the mid to high-80's consistently and would occasionally flirt with 80. When I was playing 9 holes, I was breaking 40 every once in a while and birdies were becoming more common. But I couldn't seem to break that 80 barrier. I always seemed to stumble when I was getting close. So I set some goals to improve. (Another one of the keys you listed) And I started tracking my game as I went along, (another key) not as detailed as you did, but the basics like Fairways Hit, Greens In Regulation, Putts, Up and Downs, bunker saves. I needed to find out where I was wasting shots. I kind of had an idea already, but the tracking verified it. For me, THE BIG PROBLEM was a poor start off the tee, missing the fairway and ending up in the rough, trees, sage brush, etc. I always seemed to be scrambling from the start. My iron play was ok, but it was really hard to know if my iron play was any good because I was hitting so many second shots from out of the garbage. About that same time, I had the opportunity to join the corporate golf association at work, and I did. And my scores went up which concerned me greatly. When I golfed in a tournament, I found that I would typically shoot several strokes worse than what I was used to. Things were somehow different playing in the TOURNAMENT than when I was just out with the guys. This went on for several years, I rarely played well in the tournaments. And my regular scores settled in the mid-80's, with my tournament scores in the low-90's. During this time, I started swapping out my golf equipment. I figured I had improved to the point of a 16 handicap and that I should have better irons. After all, the faces on my short irons were well worn and I justified the change. So I was fitted for some higher end blade style clubs. Wow, they were gorgeous in my golf bag. You should have seen them there, all beautiful and everything. But almost immediately, I noticed that my distance control wasn't very good. I wasn't hitting the irons well enough to get a consistent distance like I experienced in my 'game improvement' clubs. My game improvement clubs were pretty rock steady on distance, I only needed to worry about line of flight. With these blade style clubs, my scores started creeping up and up and before I knew it, I was struggling to play bogey golf. That was the beginning of an equipment merry-go-round for me that didn't end until a little over a year ago when I decided I needed to make a change, a big change. I was getting upset when I wasn't scoring well and I was a bad shot away from buying another club. About that time, while discussing golf woes with a friend, I had a little epipheny, I was trying too hard and my skill level wasn't as good as I thought or wanted it to be. And I had become so careful out on the course, that I wasn't stepping up and being brave (not foolish) when I needed to. I was always laying up rather than risking a bad shot. I sat down and evaluated again where I was having my troubles and came up with 4 changes I needed to make; 3 equipment and 1 mental. I was having trouble on the par-5's, so I replaced my very old Taylormade System 2 3-wood with a new 3-wood. (I know they are metals now, but I still call them woods). Second, I sold the two sets of used irons I had picked up and was using and bought a new set of game improvement irons, 4-GW, similar to my first fitted set that I liked so well. Lastly, I changed my putter and putting grip (way I hold the club). And my mental change was the biggest change of all for me, I quit keeping score during the round, fretting over what my final score might be, and started playing shot by shot without a real regard for the final tally. I felt like I needed to just hit a great shot, and whatever the outcome, I was going to walk up to the ball and then hit another great shot and so forth. Seems simple, but it is more difficult when you walk up to a ball you just hit to 6' from the flag and you feel that pressure to make the birdie putt because you are so close. I just have to think to myself, let's make a great putt. I don't think about missing, but it is a possibility. If I do, I make the next putt a great one. You get the idea here. Within a month, I was playing better, much better. The new 3-wood gave me great confidence on par-5's that could be reached in 2 and on short par-4's that needed an accurate shot. The new irons are easy to hit, accurate and the distance control is spot on. (They aren't as pretty as the blades though and I had to get over that) And my putting improved when inside 12', which gave me more confidence. In the final corporate tournament of last year, a two day event, I took first place in my flight. I was hitting better shots, I was keeping my emotions in better check and wouldn't you know it, the number of birdies I've made has dramatically increased. I am having more fun. And earlier this year, a friend and a brother took me golfing for my 50th birthday at one of the more challenging courses in our area and before I knew it I had par'd the front 9 holes. And I was playing relaxed and hitting the ball pretty well. The back 9 started with some very challenging holes and I made a few bogeys and started worrying about being able to break 80. But I was able to re-anchor my emotions and get back to playing shot by shot and finished with a 5 over 77. Course is sloped 126 from our tees. I felt really great about that. Once I broke that 80's barrier, it seemed that a lot of confidence settled in and I've broke 80 three more times with a pair of 76's and a 79 and since I usually play 9 holes at a time, due to time constraints, I am seeing a lot more scores between par (36) and 40. About the tournaments, I decided that slowly, I was learning how to manage my emotions and stress during play. I found that if I focus on TARGET with each shot, I hit better shots, rather than just hitting the ball down the fairway. Also, if there is a big scary out in front of me on a shot, like a lake, ravine to carry, a tree to go over or a chute to play through, I do better by standing behind the ball, envisioning my shot and picking a spot several feet out in front of my ball to use for alignment. Once I have selected that spot, I trust it and don't look back up at whatever scary thing is out there to distract me from my envisioned target. This has helped me a lot. Like my friend told me when I decided I needed to make some changes, Golf is supposed to be fun. Again, JC1982, thanks for posting. Great thread and excellent evaluation to share with us. I think you've got it right. DD

For years I played with just a 3-wood, 3-PW irons, a SW and my putter. At the time, I couldn't keep any shots with a driver on the course, but the 3-wood was reliable.

I almost always prefer walking with my bag on a pull cart. It helps my rhythm, gives me time to look at the course as I approach my ball from behind and think about my next shot. And it is one of the pleasant parts of golf that can be missed when you rush around from shot to shot in a cart. In addition, the exercise is good for me. That said, there are some courses in my area that make walking most unpleasant due to layout, steep paths or excessively long distances between holes. As for speed of play, I've seen cart riders both fast and slow. It seems that the more skillled the golfers, the faster they are in a cart. I rarely get played thru by a golfer(s) in a cart. DD