mad5427

Excellent. Some NE Ohio people. I currently live in the Raleigh area of North Carolina, but was born and raised in Eastlake. I'm extremely new to golf but a couple friends back home golf pretty regularly. We're going to play whenever I go back. My first time golfing ever was at Fowler's Mill. Too good of a course for a person who at that time couldn't really even hit the ball, but it was fun. What courses do you guys play in that area?

Not sure if you were being serious or not, but here's an interesting link talking about that myth. It also has a couple theories on the origin on the name, golf. http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.asp

Unfortunately, I have no sympathy for anybody in Dallas or Detroit. Yeah, the Mavs have had a rough time, but at least the Cowboys have won something in your lifetime. And Detroit at least has had some success with the Pistons. Being a lifelong Cleveland sports fan is rough. Indians haven't won anything since the 50's. Came close in the 90's but a bottom of the 9th, game 7 blunder ended that dream. The Browns haven't won anything since the 60's, pre-Super Bowl. Their best teams since had Bernie Kosar as their quarterback. Not too good. The Cavs haven't ever won anything. This is the best that team has ever been and I'm afraid that they are a major piece away from being able to truly compete with the West. I hope they can get that piece before Lebron's contract is up in a couple years or he might bolt. Wouldn't shock me as most major players in town seem to leave once major free agency hits. I just have to keep trudging along hoping that one day I'll get to savor a championship in one of those sports. It will be sweet! Although I've wanted to jump ship to another team, I just can't. I'm fated to be a lifelong Cleveland sports fan. *sigh*

As much as I hated the Bulls for beating my team so many times, I still respected and appreciated what Jordan did on the court. I'm very nervous about having Ben Wallace on my team now. He's past his prime and is only going to get worse. As long as he can focus only on D and play alongside Zydrunas, he won't be too bad. I am glad that Drew and Larry Hughes are no longer cavs. It was a pretty fair swap in my book. Both teams got rid of people that weren't helping. All the players involved needed new atmospheres. Have fun checking Lebron out live. It's pretty nice to see in person. I went to a couple of his games when he was in High School and have been to many since he's been a Cav. Nobody will ever replace Jordan, but he's pretty exciting to watch.

Thank you guys very much for the info and advice. This is exactly the types of responses I was looking for. I played 9 holes on one of the par 3's yesterday and realize that I need to spend all my time with irons just getting consistent contact. I've scheduled a lesson for this weekend and am planning on spending the next few weeks going to the range, taking the lessons and getting more comfortable. The goal is that once I feel comfortable, I'll go back a play another 9-18 on one of the par 3's. I'll see how that goes and repeat. The 9 holes is the same price as a large bucket of balls, so I figure I'll mix it up and alternate doing range work and testing what I'm learning on the short courses. Also, each time I go, either to play the course or hit at the range, I plan on spending a little time putting and chipping off the practice areas. Anybody have any ideas of what I can do at home to practice?

Hello everybody. I'm very new to playing the game of golf and obviously to this forum. I've enjoyed watching the game my whole life, just now recently am in a place where I can afford both time and money to play it. I played 2 rounds late last fall and a round a few weeks ago. I wanted to be as accurate as possible in my stroke count and went from a 140 to a 128 and this past time I shot a 121. Not good, but not bad for a person who is learning how to swing the club still. I had previously only gone to the ranges a handful of times. I took a lesson last fall and am going to start more regular lessons in the next couple weeks. I am fortunate that my area has one course that's a 9 hole par 3 and another course that is 27 holes of par 3. I know that a driver is useless for me at this point. I still have a very slow swing speed as I'm just trying to make good contact and go straight (more important to me than distance). My newbie questions are as follows: What clubs would be most useful for me to work on at the driving range? I was thinking 3 or 5 wood, a couple irons and my pitching wedge, but your input would be appreciates. What clubs would a beginner want to use on these par 3 courses? The longest hole on any of them seems to be around 200 yards. Again, my distance is low due to slow club speed. I know that will improve in time. I plan on going to the range a couple days a week and playing 9-18 holes every couple/few weeks as I get more comfortable with my swing. Any suggestions on the best way to utilize my time at the range would be appreciated as well. My future instructor, I'm sure, will be able to answer these questions and then some, but I figured this would be a good way to get many more suggestions and input. This also could be an interesting way for you guys to reflect on what you did as a true beginner. I'm in no hurry as I feel I have the rest of my life to enjoy the game and would rather start slow and do things right. Thanks in advance and thanks for the forum. I can see there is a lot of great info in this place. Mike

Being born and raised in Cleveland, I've been a Cavaliers fan my entire life. Add the Browns, Indians and Buckeyes to that list. It would be nice to win something in my lifetime. Cavs have been doing well,of course, since Lebron entered the league but I still prefer the Mark Price/Brad Dougherty days of my youth. I curse Jordan's Bulls as being the only team that really could beat them during that time.

Part of me wants to say that Jack is because we don't truly know if Tiger will continue playing at this level for long enough to break all records. My opinion is that Tiger will break all the records and it will be within the next 5 years. That still leaves him with some years of being competitive. Hell, at his current rate, he could break records within the next two years. So, I have to go with Tiger. Anytime people freak out and are shocked when somebody LOSES you know they are truly special.

I am a residential Architect/Interior Designer working between Raleigh, NC and Washington, DC areas.