wedge head

I guess I need to take a spelling class or at least use the spell check. I'm going to partake in golf...not gold. If I do partake in gold, I'll buy everyone a beer.

I'm heading out to Arizona for 10 days to visit my daughter. I'm taking my clubs and will be partaking of many holes of gold during my stay. My first stop will be Arizona National. From there I'll be staying on the Blythe, Cal. golf course where my daughter lives. I can walk out the door and start playing, literally. Can't wait for some warm weather...85 - 90 degrees. As I haven't played since Oct. 2012, you may hear some swearing, (refer to the cussing thread)

I guess I owe this forum an apology. It wasn't my intention to come across as elitist or arrogant. I'm 61 years old and have raised 4 children. I've played competitive golf on the state level and designed, constructed and operated my own course. My purpose for sharing my feelings as I did is this. I feel there is a huge disconnect in the way people are behaving in public situations these days. There seems to be no respect for the people around you. I don't object to swearing. I have one of the dirtiest mouths you'll ever encounter. I've learned to temper my mouth in situations where I'm not known and where I may offend someone around me. I really enjoy playing with anyone regardless of ability. Long story short, I have a huge respect for the game of golf and what it can do for the people who enjoy. I guess I have to realize that the way golfers present themselves today is much different than in the past. Again, I apologize for coming across as being above anyone else in the sand trap. Let's face it, that's why they call me wedge head.

Your handicap is not a simple plus or minus to par. You have to take into account the slope and rating of the courses you play. If you play a course with a high degree of difficulty the slope and rating will lower you handicap even with scores that exceed what you normally shoot. example...I play on a course with a slope and rating of 145 and 74.3. I have a course handicap of 6.3 and shoot in the high 70's most of the time. I play in an 18 hole league with a slope and rating of 132 and 69 and I can shoot in the low to mid 70's most all of the time. My league handicap is a 2.5.

Interesting...almost all of the statements made about swearing on the golf course being normal if not expected, comes from high handicaps. Maybe if you spent more time concentrating on your game you would play better and not have so many reasons to let go. Keeping your emotions in check is a huge dimension of the game. I get pissed when I tank a shot but I don't think every one else on the golf course needs to hear about it. I also don't whoop it up when I drain a long putt or chip in. When you act like an idiot every time something happens out of the ordinary, people will realize you have no game.

There are many excellent players who aspire to be a pro. There is a huge difference in the way a PGA player hits the ball. If you want to see and hear the difference, simply go to a PGA tournament and get on the caddy wall and loop for some corp. guy and watch the pro play. I had the privilege of looping for Justin Leonard at a Tues. pro am years ago at the B.C. Open. He was a 1st year pro and needed to earn 30k to keep his card. The following year he had a fist full of top 10's and the next year he won the British. My point is this...his ball striking was incredible. He missed the cut. That doesn't speak to the life of a 1st year pro on the road. Not what it appears to be. If you're not in the low 70's to high 60's more often than not on familiar courses, you have no chance of getting through to the tour...even the minys.

Driver..TM R7 stock shaft + 1.5" 4 wood..Calaway Big Bertha with a driver shaft Hybrids..Adams A7 3 & 4 with UST Proforce shafts Irons..Mizuno 5-pw with KBS Tour shafts-1 degree up Wedges..52/7..56/13..60/8 with spinner shafts-1 degree up Putter..Oyssey Duel Force 550 Left handed with 5.5 shafts throughout I use a Sun Mnt. carry bag or a Titleist cart bag and a Clic Gear cart Titlelist Pro v 1x Ball I've swung all of the new drivers in demo days at Turning Stone dome and have found nothing that gives me anything extra in the way of distance or forgiveness that warrants a new one. Same with the 4 wood. These are the first new irons in the bag in 10 years...played MacGregor 1025c's and loved them. I literally wore the grooves out.

There is no better deal than to join a golf course you like and wear the grass out. Seriously, if you have a course you like playing and it's a challenge...preferably more difficult than you're used to, you'll be shocked as to how your game will improve. As your game improves, you enjoy it more.

Parker...are you a NY'er. If so, what part?

I like courses that make you think on every shot. Good conditions are also a given. You play better on better courses. My home course is Colgate University Seven Oaks. This is a RTJ layout. Long, huge greens and heavy rough. If you play easy courses, you might as well go to the driving range and pound balls without thought. You'll improve your game as much by playing challenging courses as much as you will by playing with better golfers. Eight years ago I designed and built a golf course from scratch. I look at the layouts and conditioning of courses very different than I used to.

A good example of the difference in forgings would be the grain flow forgings of Mizuno. The relief grinding of the soles also make a huge difference.

Another big difference would have been the shafts. The old shafts were like tree trunks. Also the old blades lacked the precise forging that the new forgings have.

Here's what I do. I've tried the club savers that have the mushroom tops. They break if they take a direct shot. The company won't warranty the unit because they say it did it's job. It's disposable. Hard cover cases are simply to big to travel with once you get to your rental car. I use an aluminum crutch. It's adjustable and just fits into the larger section of your bag. It protects from lateral damage. I put my driver, four wood and hybrids in and around the crutch and rubber band them together. I also use head covers on my MP 59's while I travel. I put the irons and wedges in up side down. This is in a Sun Mnt. carry bag and they just fit. You would have to run over the bag to hurt it. The beauty is this...if you trip coming out of the nineteenth hole, you have some help waiting for you in the trunk of your car.