pittpanther

What you're saying is legal according to the rules of golf, and as well, lots of people do it. You should feel free to continue with this method, if you feel it helps your game.

At several different courses (including TPC Las Vegas) I had played many 6000-6500 yard rounds under 100, and many rounds where I lost only 1 or 2 balls. This Orlando course was a huge setback. Of course one of my goals is to improve, but playing this course didn't make me a better golfer. It frustrated and angered me, but the worst part is that it has shaken my confidence, and I haven't touched my clubs in a week. I will get back into it, but I can see how an experience like this could completely sour a beginner (or even an intermediate) to the game.

I have no problem with your experience, but you realize it goes against what everyone says we should be doing? - Go to the range and learn your club distances. - Practice your shots. So if your 180-yard club is the 6I, are you suggesting to NOT use 6I, and instead try to hit a longer club (3H), but with less effort? How do you know exactly how much to "choke down" on that 3H, to go 185 yards (instead of 170, or 205)? Have you practiced that shot, or did you just get lucky that day? Is your experience repeateable? What's wrong with just hitting your 6I 185 yards?

Do you not realize that something is wrong with your calculations/estimates? If the #148 guy is sporting Hugo Boss and Ferrari, I guarantee you he is taking home MUCH more than 100K. Your numbers, and the reality of how these PGA guys live (not just the top 20), just don't jibe. Where are you getting 42% in taxes? The USA top tax bracket is 35%, plus most of these guys live in Florida, so no state income tax. Plus they're married filing jointly, plus kids, plus mortgage, blah , blah... in an earlier posting I lowballed at 20%, but reality is more like 30%, but definitely not 42%. I also doubt that a guy who knows he's going to make less than half a million, would spend $150K on travel. That kind of money means Netjets, the Four Seasons, and a driver at every stop. I don't think #150 on the tour would choose to spend that kind of dough. And that caddy is not going to earn 100K from a guy who grosses 600K. Make it 10% (60K). And I think you're way low on endorsements. You're basically saying that only the top 50 guys on tour really earn any money. I don't think that's true.

They have the right to build whatever course they want. If they want a course that is difficult, that only 10HCs or better will enjoy, they can do that. And in their defense, they said in their materials that the course required "target golf" skills. So I was warned... But I will let anyone who cares know that this course is not for the intermediate skilled golfer.

I think you make a pretty good point here. The responsibility of the club pro has nothing to do with "insurance" and "responsibility," but everything to do with restricting access to a private club. The man should have been asked to show ID, and then told to sit down and wait while someone at the club (maybe not the club pro, maybe a manager) retrieved the players and brought them back to the clubhouse.

Played a course outside Orlando last week (Magnolia Plantation). I noticed their website (or maybe it was a review of the course) mentioned that the course was a fine example of "target golf." Not knowing what that meant, I went ahead and played - BIG mistake. Probably the most punitive course I have played in my short golf career. Anything that didn't land dead center, with no side roll, managed to find either water or the woods. No wide open fairways - if you missed, kiss your ball goodbye. Probably the worst hole - a par-3, 183 yards. All carry over water. The water ended with a short up-slope and then the green. No place to bail out, OB on the left, only a small strip of grass and the cart path on the right, then trees. I don't know too many 20-HC's who have a show that can carry that far, but also stop on a dime. I tried to finesse a 5W, and dropped it into the water, 1 foot short of the up-slope. I believe I was playing the tees that were appropriate for my skill level - 6200 yards. In the clubhouse after wards, there were several guys (including me) who called the course a "ball eater." I would rather play a PGA-level course, than a super-narrow, tight track with woods everywhere. Sigh - just whining!

The prosecution doesn't have to be successful, for you to still have a very bad day as a result. If the a**hole DA decides to press charges for assault, even thought the case is flimsy you will still be arraigned (fingerprinted, processed into the justice system, stand in front of a judge and plead guilty or not-guilty, etc). You will have to hire an attorney, at your own cost, and prepare a defense. If all you did was hit someone, and the police interview all witnesses who agree that it was completely accidental, the case will most likely eventually get dropped due to lack of evidence. I don't see how a DA could make criminal charges stick. Civil penalties are a whole 'nother ball of wax, however...

I bet that wouldn't happen if the DA himself hit someone...

I'm actually surprised that there's not a lot of precedent for us to fall back on. This question comes up periodically, but we can never find actual court cases to determine how things were dealt with. Because we don't have much precedence, it makes me think that perhaps people can't get seriously hurt by a long-distance golf shot. Of course if you're standing 10 yards in front of someone using their driver, you can be killed. But perhaps if someone gets hit 200 yards downfield, the ball doesn't have enough energy to cause serious mental injury or death... Anyway, back to the discussion of liability, I can imagine a scenario where your OB shot kills the main breadwinner of the family. You WILL get sued for wrongful death, and you WILL spend tens of thousands of dollars defending yourself. Imagine the widow on trial, who now has to support their 5 children by herself, because YOU killed her husband. I can see a sympathetic jury finding the golfer to have some percentage of the responsibility. Or imagine you kill a kid - would you want that case to go to trial, with the parents crying on the stand, and everyone looking at you as the kid-killer? You may ultimately be successful in your defense, but those thousands of dollars, plus the years of stress, you will never get back.

You do know how Marginal tax rates work (in the US)?

Some bullies have an innate ability to select as targets people that will allow their bullying. Someone you just met, picking at you and talking during your backswing? And you allow it to go on hole after hole? After the second time you should have been in his face, handling your business.

I don't know if there's any one guy you can point to that fits your description (never wins, but manages to stay on the tour every year by being top-150 on money list). But let's imagine a golfer who manages to do that. Looking at last year, that golfer would have earned about $600,000 in tour winnings. Because he manages to stay on the tour every year, he WILL have several sponsors. All his golf equipment will be free. He will get paid by his sponsors to do TV commercials, print/magazine ads, etc. If he's really scrambling for money, he could do appearances at corporate events. His management company (IMG?) would be responsible for finding his sponsors, setting up appearances, coordinating his commercials and magazine shoots, etc. For that they probably take at least 10% of his outside earnings. I'm sure that he could negotiate that the management company take on additional responsibilities (hotel arrangements, personal car and driver to/from the course, travel arrangements) but out course they will take a higher percentage. This golfer could even have the management company deal with his tax witholdings - companies like IMG have accountants on staff. They would also be able to offer advice on insurance. So even the lowest man on the top-150 money list will earn over a million dollars per year, in winnings and endorsements. Subtract 20% for taxes, subtract another 10-20% for management fees and all expenses. Take home at least half a mil free and clear?

On hole #5, I hope you learned your lesson about trying that 4W in the fairway. Unless you have been practicing your long irons/woods off the deck and are supremely comfortable with them, do not use your fairway woods from the fairway. I drive with my 3/5 woods, but almost never from the fairway because the margin for error is just too great.

By the way, I'm very impressed at one aspect of your game - no lost balls, no out-of-bounds shots. No penalty strokes. Keep it up!

Continuing... On 2, 5, 6, and 8, your chip shots rolled off the green. Have you been using the "putting stroke" chip technique?

You have my sympathy - your blog describes me last year... One thing sticks out to me... On holes 2, 4, 5, 8, and 9, you lost a stroke with a wedge that missed the green. That's five wasted strokes because your either misjudging your distance, or you're afraid to hit the ball hard enough and let the loft of the wedge do its thing. If you are 50-90 yards out, you MUST get on the green in 1 shot. No fancy flops, no open faced-wedge shots. You need to be able to get on in one from this distance.

I can't imagine why you would counsel a 32-HC to practice these finesse shots. A 32-HC does not have the club control to pull off these shots with any kind of consistency. When he gets on the course he's going to duff the first attempt, or skull it across the green, when a simple 7I putting-stroke chip is all he needs. Spend your time learning to keep your drives and approaches in-bounds, and not lost.

One thing we are forgetting 1. Innate ability 2. LOTS of practice >>> 3. Experience in Competition

Nice discussion. This gets to the heart of what people mean when they say someone is "a natural athlete." If you watch a lot of college football, you will often hear of skill-position players that also run track and play basketball - sports that complement their strengths. It's also not rare to hear about the "three-sport star" in high school, usually football, baseball, and basketball (in the USA). If golfers are naturally athletic, we would expect the majority of them to have participated in multiple sports in high school, and even college. Do we find this to be true? Or is their something about the sport of golf, that leaves no possibility of participating in other sports? For example, a tennis or gymnastics phenom would never be allowed to play other sports - all time would be devoted to their single sport. Is golf the same way?

I agree that given the large number of golfers out there, any advice that says "most golfer should..." will miss some golfers. As a 24 HC, most golfers would say you should not spend your practice time learning to hit a 60*. Instead of learning flop shots, you should use a bump-n-run or chip, and spend your time learning a consistent swing so your Driver stays on the fairway, and your approach shots end up on or near the green. That's pretty standard advice, but it doesn't work for everyone.

OK, here's the mental process I used to get consistently under 100. To be a bogey golfer (to shoot 90), I have my own GIR - for par-3 I need to be on in 2, for par-4 I need to be on in 3, for par-5 I need to be on in 4. Couple with a two-putt, I would be shooting 90, so some three-putts and I can still break 100. So the goal is to become a "bogey-and-a-half" golfer - 9 bogeys, 9 double-bogeys per round. This will give you a 99. So to wrap up, your goal is GIR+1, followed by 2-putt or occasional 3-putt. If you cannot get GIR+1 on most/all holes, you won't break 100. If you cannot limit your 3-putts to 6 or fewer per round, you will not break 100. There's your recipe. Tell me what you think about this strategy?

OK, now I'm not sure if you're pulling our leg... Your HC is 32, yet you talk about using a 60-degree wedge, and suggest a better option is to open the face on your 56. What 32-HC can pull off either of these shots consistently? Then you blame your iron chunks and toe shots on your equipment, when again it's likely that a 32-HC will hit chunks and toe shots - regardless of the fitting. And finally you hit 24 putts in 9 holes, meaning you (almost) 3-putted every hole! Yet you ask us if your putting is good enough to break 100? Have you read the tips in this thread? More than one of us have said "no three putts." You won't break 100 with 3-putts (unless you're hitting GIR!). I also said "put the wedges away and use a bump-n-run technique." Tell us about your drives and your second shots. Are you losing any strokes there?

Kilby, here's some advice from someho has recently crashed through the 100-stroke barrier, and now consistently shoots in the 90s: 1. You won't break 100 if you can't drive . I don't mean you have to drive 280, but you need something off the tee that can go 200 yards. Without that skill, you will leave too much remaining yardage on those par 4's and 5's. You'll see a lot of 7's on your par 5's and 6's on your par 4's, which will not get you to 100. 2. Leave the duffs at home . With your HC, I assume you duff a lot of your shots. If your attempt at an approach with a hybrid often results in a 50yard duff, then don't pull the hybrid until you have improved enough to not duff with it. 3. Forget chipping, use a bump-n-run approach . When around the green, instead of automatically pulling the 56-degree wedge, pull your 7-iron, use a putting stroke and roll up onto the green. Again, this replaces a higher-risk shot, with a shot that you almost can't duff (the putting-stroke 7-iron). 4. No three-putts . Need I say more? 5. When in the woods, get back on the fairway . FORGET THE HERO SHOT THRU THE TREES!!! 6. There's nothing wrong with laying up . You're 200 yards out, with water at 160. You're typical 7-iron goes 150. I guarantee you will hit the best 7-iron of your life, right into the creek. 7. Stay off of tight, narrow courses until you're better . Lost balls and penalty strokes do not help you improve. Learn to break 100 at wide-open tracks with fewer leaf-covered woods waiting to hide your ball. It's all about smart golf.

A couple of ideas off the top of my head, as to wy you might get different results at different simulators, or on a real course... 1. Are these simulators properly calibrated on a regular basis? Any electronic measuring tool will drift over time, and needs regular calibration to stay in spec. 2. I imagine these can simulate wind conditions as well? Perhaps one site had a tail wind, while another site had a slight headwind. And in both cases the operator failed to notice? 3. Perhaps the golfer actually does swing differently in the simulator than on the course? Subconciously you know that the simulator is not "real" so you are more relaxed and swing more confidently? Sinilar to the way a newbie might swing beautifully without a ball, but put a ball in front of them and the swing deteriorates...