Realist

My usual 4 some consists of myself, my roommate, and two friends. My two friends are better than myself, they usually shoot mid to high 80's and tend to follow the rules of golf pretty well, and so do I. Now my roommate, he cheats his ass off. Me and my roommate go out one early morning. I card a 112 (around what I usually score). He claims to card a 104 (his normal is about 130). So I'm like WTF, I was ahead of him on most shots, and I constantly had to wait on him skulling and chunking all over the course. There's no way he scored a 104. Of course he brags to my two other friends about how he beat me and scored a 104, claiming his irons were straight as an arrow, and his 4 iron is his go to club which he can his consistently. Mind you, when all of us practice at the range, this guy slices an 8 iron. He has a terrible swing. Very handsy, no leg action, all shoulders and arms. He refuses to get lessons because once in a while he'll hit a decent shot and claim he can hit it all day. Naturally, none of us believe him. the next time we all went out, one of my friends kept his score. A magnificent 142. Every time after that, he hasn't scored below a 127, but still brags about almost breaking 100. For months this went on, we noticed him shaving strokes, improving lies, taking 5 foot puts, not counting putts, etc. It actually became an annoyance that he cheated. If I did the things he did, I'd be shooting low 80's and my friends would be on the PGA tour! At this point, I'd rather play by myself than have the chance to play with him. I just hate how he would cheat, then brag about his scores.

I guess they mean they don't take a full shoulder and hip turn as far as they can when they would crush it. I mean, when I swing all out, you can tell. Usually one of these and a little grunt. When I swing easily "at 85%" it's smooth sailing.

Golf "analysts" tend to believe in the hottest thing at the moment. No matter who won whatever tournament or major, you'd always hear the same thing. They have a good swing, they're a great ball striker, or they've stepped up their game in the last few months/years. You never hear, "He won 8 tournaments this year, but what a horrible putter." Or, "His swing is alright, it could be better." There are millions of golfers all over the world with different swings, what makes PGA winners who they are isn't the perfection of the swing, it's their ability to repeat THEIR swing to a point where they can make the ball go where they want it to a majority of the time. Nobody's swing is "perfect." Even the top players in the world need instruction on how to repeat their winning swing.

Tiger. I've seen him on talk shows and he seems pretty much like a normal guy who loves golf and people. He jokes around a lot, and isn't a robot like I've seen some pro athletes who just answer the question and stare at the host, waiting for another question.

What happened to squats and deadlifts? Do people not do those anymore? Squats work out your entire leg, and deadlifts work your lower back, biceps, forearms, and traps. Also that many reps per set does nothing but rush your muscles with lactic acid. 8 to 10 reps with slightly heavier weight is more than enough, anything past that is worthless. So if you curl 30lbs for 14 reps, do 35 or 40lbs for 8 reps. And all that stretching twice a day isn't good for your muscles. Once a day is fine. Overstretching actually makes you weaker, and makes your muscle tire easier.

I have them as a backup set, and they're still pretty good. I don't think I'll ever get rid of them.

Par 3 over water. This hole was HELL. Short, and you're in the water. Long, and you hit the fence to the highway. Either side and you're in bunker. I got par on it. It was my first par since I started playing about 3 months ago. Would have been birdie, but I didn't know much about putting back then.

127 at a local muni. which was about 3 months ago. Second time I went back (last weekend), shot a 117, so at least I can say I'm getting better.

Alley Pond, off Northern Blvd. in Long Island just built a chipping area where their mini golf was (thank God, kids playing mini golf right behind the range was horrible). I don't know if they're opened yet, I was at the range last week and looks like it's pretty much done. http://www.alleypondgolfcenter.com/index.html

Last weekend, a chip in on the 18th hole. Felt awesome, till I realized I still lost, but my friends congratulated me on the hole.

Oh man, some of you guys are crazy. My lady would murder me if I spend half as much as some of you. I was lucky enough to get some good clubs second hand. Driver - Had to buy, TM r7 460 - $200 3/5 Woods - Friend gave them to me, free, Cobra 3 and 5 Irons - Got off of my old boss, TM Burner - $150 Wedges - None yet, gonna pick up a Vokey this weekend - $90 Putter - Free Gloves I get 2 for $25, and balls I only get a dozen every month or so. Slazenger stand bag was $40.

I have these disposable towels that mechanics use to clean grease and oil off their hands (I worked in a dealership, so I "borrowed" a few containers of the stuff). It's like a wet towel with coarse red fibers in them to scrub whatever it is your cleaning. Works great for clubs. http://www.durablesupply.com/dyscinbu.html Pretty much that stuff, but it isn't scented.

TM TP, they're pretty cheap. I'm just a beginner, so I can't really tell the difference between balls much. I started using TM balls, and they work fine, so I'll stick to it.

2007 Toyota Camry, silver. Holds 3 bags of clubs.

I warm up with wedges, then I practice like I'm playing a round. I either do: driver/wood > mid iron > wedge or long iron > mid iron > wedge I do this so I get used to switching clubs frequently, instead of going wedge to iron to driver, repeat, or something of that nature which a lot of people do.