SouthernBuckeye

Only advice I would give you is to get some demo clubs and see if you can play them first. I would also advise to be fitted with new clubs. I done neither and ended up twice with the next best thing in clubs only to find out I played my originals better. I know how you feel about the appearance of the super game improvement clubs, I have struggled with it also, but until I find something I play better with, I am using them.

Personally I do not think the group behind should be hitting a shot even if there is a remote possibility of coming close to the group in front. People make mistakes, but the ones that are sincerely sorry are the ones who will come without delay and apologize, the others are usually, well lets not say that. Anyhow I agree with your friend, you have to address it or they will keep doing it, most of the time all it takes is just letting them know you do not appreciate it and they stop.

My problem is I always ask myself, What would Phil do?

I would have to agree with Fourputt, I know that it is unfortunate that you are at the mercy of boneheads in front of you but sometimes that is just life and you have to deal with it. Also there are boneheads on private courses also.

I will say that the only thing in life that can limit you would be yourself. Good luck on your journey.

I have noticed a lot of complaining in the forums about slow play. I was wondering how you feel about people who want to play on a crowded course and play on a dead run or as I would say, playing like they are late for a hot date. I do not advocate slow play and I know my capabilities and I can usually walk to my ball and hit without much decision making. However sometimes the course will bog down, not so much with slow play but just crowded. I will adjust my pace according to the group in front of me, especially when I can see they are adjusting for the several groups in front of them. There are times I will have issues with playing partners because I will not hit while I think that it may interfere or bother a person playing in front of me. It just aggravates me when I am getting ready to hit and I hear a ball land close behind me, I don't like it and I will not do someone else that way. It actually does slow down play because I then am compelled to go back to the group behind me and explain it to them, and sometimes that can be time consuming. It just seems that the world is a race track anymore and courtesy is a thing of the past. Just my thoughts.

I think this post pretty well sums it up, most golf courses are struggling and just turn their head when drunks get out of hand on the golf course for fear of running business off. I don't mind people drinking and having a good time but they usually get too drunk and then it affects people around them. The golf courses do need to address these issues.

Taking something that does not belong to you would in my opinion not be right. This cannot be justified.

Smooth full swing with 54.

I believe bigwave916 gave the best answer, "Talent, time, and money". I believe natural talent would be #1 which I do not seem to have.

It is still supposed to be a game where integrity means something. That is why pro's on television will call a rules official over and call a penalty stroke on themselves when they know that they have done something wrong. They may have just cost themselves thousands of dollars but they still do it, some of you will say that they have to with so many cameras on them, but I believe if they were dishonest it would not matter what others think and they would try to get by with it anyhow. Don't kid yourself and say that you only play for fun not competition, if that were true there would be no need for score cards. I do not care if people fluff, they are the ones who have to deal with it in their minds, the only problem I have with it is the person you play with tells you he beat you by two strokes after you have watched him not take four penalty strokes. My friends and I are highly competitive and I guess that is why I take exception to it. I do play with some people who play strickly by the rules and some of them beat the pants off of me, I do not try to get around it, I will keep trying and practicing untill hopefully one day I can catch up to them. I may be bringing the forum wrath down on my head but I can tell by a couple of responses that they know it is wrong and they are trying to justify it.

In the last three years, I have seen two people use anchored putters.

Conventional

I have only been playing this great game for three years now, I did not start until I was fifty years old. Only regret I have is that I did not start when I was young. However there is one thing that bothers me about the players in my area, they will not play the ball as it lies. I would say that 90 percent of the players that I have played with will improve their lie before hitting the ball, some will move it from under trees and bushes. Some play so called winter rules year round. Every time I question them about it I hear the same old excuse, "we are not pros" or "we don't play for money". I don't care, cheating is cheating even if you are only cheating yourself. What I think has drawn me to this game is the fact that golf is the hardest sport I have experienced in my life, I do not believe I will live long enough to master it. It is supposed to be hard, it is supposed to be challenging, if you don't hit the ball out of deep rough, then you will never learn how to, same for trees, bushes, etc, etc. I was just wondering if this is something unique to the area that I live in or is it commonplace everywhere, and if it is, why???