WildTurkey

This stems from a number of things many of which are hold overs from the early days of graphite shafts. 1. The early shafts were known to be whippy. 2. There were durability questions with early graphite. There was some thought that were the shafts rub against your bag would wear down the finish and weaken. They were known to break at or near this point. Coincidentally this is also were there is a lot of load on the club which is most likely why the broke there. The rub point from the bag was most likely simply cosmetic but be that as it may they were known for this. Therefore, you had to "baby" them. In both of these cases these issues have been remedied with advancements in technology and materials and no longer hold true. 3. Ego & stubbornness. The whippy part was seen to give Seniors and Ladies a little extra pop and therefore those groups gravitated towards these first. Typical male bravado does not want to acknowledge the affects of aging and we naturally resist change. 4. The feel was different than what people were used to. 5.Cost. So early on you had all of the above "negatives" and then you got to pay more for it. Flash forward to today and most of these concerns are relics from the past, but in golf they die slowly. Graphite is now more durable,stronger, and made with better materials and designs. However, they usually do cost more. And some golf companies market these to seniors and ladies in stock options and you need to go custom if you want them in a regular or stiff flex.

Okay so today I played 18 at Greenfield Park in Milwaukee Wisconsin. It appeared that whoever set the cups in place did so in such a manner that the cup were not vertical. In other words so that the flag stick had a forced lean by it's own weight. This was on all 18 holes, was random in direction but it seemed as if it was done on purpose. This was not the wind blowing the flag stick. They were not placed vertical. I had one putt that I made on a longish lag putt were the ball dropped below the lip but became pinched by the flag stick preventing it from resting on the bottom. The whole thing seemed rather odd. Has anyone else seen this type of set up?

Walk with a push cart. Should be mandatory for every one that is able. I gotta laugh at those 20 somethings looking all cool while loading up the cart. I used to be a caddie and learned to love walking the course. Decided early on though that I would never carry my own bag. I do remember the days of caddying 2 bags for a loop. I do not miss them.

2012's Callaway Razr-X Black driver. For some reason I hit this longer and straighter than the driver I was fitted for. Also sometimes just for kicks an old 1987 blade putter I bought new for $25.00. It has since been replaced with a Ping Anser2 blade but every now and again.

That is my bags make up. Driver, 3W, 20 & 23 degree hybrid, 5-PW, Vokey 50, 54 and 58 wedges and a putter.

I use a bucket of water. 4 irons go in the bucket and soak while I brush the face and bottom of the first club. I use a plastic bristle brush I picked up at the hardware store. I am sure a simple tooth brush would also work just fine. I then dip the club back into the water to rinse. I then use a spare golf towel to dry them off and put back in the golf bag. Once the wedges and irons are done I do the same process for the hybrids, 3 wood and driver except those are done one at a time and a dipped several times into the water. Since they are hollow I don't leave them submerged in the water. It all seems to work just fine for me. Regarding the original posters concern with his R7. I would think that the club would be made to be around the same amount of water that it would run into on a typical golf course on a rainy day. I would not submerge in water, but would pick up a spray bottle to spritz it with water and otherwise clean it as I described with a brush and rinse.

Ping Irons Titleist Wedges 50 F12, 54 S10, 58 M08 Ping Anser 2 blade putter. Love that thing.

Having been in a similar spot l would suggest that you go with the Apex, ping i210 or Titleist AP3 assuming you are dedicated to the new sport and you can afford them. Get fitted if possible. There is something to be said for going up a club and learning to hit it vs. Going with the GI or SGI learning to play with the "help" those clubs provide. But let the numbers and resulting data drive the decision. Also nothing wrong buying a used set or last year's closeout model and taking the savings and investing more lessons. Strive to be better is my mantra. Good Luck with your choice. Let us know how it works out for you.

Well I did not support this change when I first heard about. Putting is a strong part of my game. I felt this rule change might give my poorer competition a leg up as they would sink more putts (per the data you should) and I would loose my advantage. I also had concerns with player A wanting in and player B wants it out. I could just image pulling and placing it back. Well so far I have played 2 rounds with the new rules. With this rather limited sample it seems like this is how it is going to work out for us regular Joe's. Every one will leave it in for the longer lag putts but once you get somewhat close (say inside 15-20 feet) it gets pulled and remains out the rest of the hole. I have also enjoyed having the flag in longer when the group ahead is on the green and I am waiting for my approach shot. I can Laser the flag and get club selection outta the way while they finish putts and am ready to go as soon as they clear. Also full disclosure I did have the pin pulled on 1 long putt due to the wind blowing the flag stick so that it appeared to be at an angle the would have prevented the ball from dropping. So far no issues with this one.

I have seen this several times and it is always annoying. You can hear the music when you are on the tee and they pull up to their green. Why they feel the need to share their country/rap/pop/rock music with everyone is beyond me. I am okay if it part of some outing or fund raiser but other than that. It seemed to become a thing last year.

I do have one. Have not used it or carried it in years though. Better than air counting like my partner does .

I assume by "Place a ball in the hole" you mean the hole in the yard stick that is used to hang it up on your work bench. This would be to practice starting the ball on line. No pushes or pulls.

So reading through the 65/20/15 Practice Ratios: Where to Devote Your Practice Time thread in Swing Thoughts, I thought it might be a good idea to list some quality practice drills. For instance, I actually combine some short game and putting drills by taking 3-5 balls and chip or pitch to a green, and then go to green and make the putts. This is random practice and I go through my pre-shot routine for each shot. I am looking to basically get up and down. Much better than bagging away with a bucket of balls into a practice green where you get so many balls up there that it becomes a ping pong fest and you never see the true result of your shot. Another drill I do on the putting green is a dime drill. Basically here I take 3 balls and start with a 6-8 foot up hill putt and then again in the 20 foot range. I then make my read and place the dime on the line about 24 inches in front of the ball. The idea is to have the ball roll over the dime > I started it on my line. Now I am working on starting the ball on the line of read first and pace second and read third. If my read is wrong based on the result of the 3 putts I will move the dime and begin again. Once I have worked the up hill putts, I then move to a right to left break putt, then left to right and finally down hill. Does anyone have some quality full swing practice drills that they care to share? I need to plug a leak in my game regarding iron accuracy to the green as I only seem to get 4-5 GIR per round.

I open the club face, align it to the target, then set my feet open. I also focus on a spot an inch or 2 behind the ball. Weight is on forward leg and stays there. Club shaft nuetral. Pops out the ball out.

Ugh....this again. Just pony up for new wedges already

MGN, I switched over to spikeless at the beginning of last season last April here in Wisconsin. I picked up a pair of Skechers for less than $75.00 at Golf Smith. These are the first Skechers I have ever purchased so I was worried about the brand despite Mr Kuchar's endorsement. They are a great style being bright blue and grey. Sure beat the white saddle shoe look that is so common. I was worried that I would have issues with slipping on wet grass or steep inclines. I have found that these worries were much ado about nothing. They have great traction. I was also worried that they would not hold up as I walk almost every round I play. They are still comfortable and I have no plans to replace them going into this season. A clear advantage is being able to drive home in them. I did that a couple of times without even realizing it. While I never wore them to the course, you could. Great shoe!

I think Bernard would be wise to just use a conventional lenght putter to remove all doubt and question. However, the USGA is standing behind him that he is not breaking the rules.

All of mine are 3/16 larger. I replaced my irons first after being fit for larger grips than standard. The next year hybrids, the next wedges an putter. last year was a driver. The fitter recommended same size each time. It does feel better now.

Well I have adopted the technique. I would say there is a "getting to know you " period that I went through. I have made it my own as I also follow Seickman's instructions. I have blended the two to something that feels right. Putts per round are down as I am hitting it closer . Also unexpectedly keeping the face at the ball through the swing has helped full swing dispersion. Crazy I know. Utley you are the man.

I for one thoroughly enjoyed the US Open. The grounds were huge and offered lots of viewing opportunities (Watch the green at 13 and see them tee off at 14). The course was in beautiful shape. The play was outstanding. It was unfortunate that we the wind was down the first 3 days and we had over night rain that softened up the course. I have now crossed off 2 of the 4 majors off my bucket list. The Masters and The British Open are yet to come. I was lucky enough to be on the grounds every day of the event except Saturday. It was an amazing experience. Congrats to Brooks Koepka!

I met Mr Davis this week. I have no doubts that the course will be a true test of golf. There will be a lot of uneven lies and there is a lot of elevation and blind or semi blind tee shots. The thick fescue has been over blown.

I am fortunate to be working the open this year. I am eating lunch in the media center as I type this. The course is in awesome shape. The venue is huge. The golf has been impressive. these guys really work hard. 1 hour of short game practice. 1 hour long game practice. a round then another hour of short game and then long. Validates my practice routines.

Yes, your instructor should give drills to work on at home or range. He should teach you how to practice and provide games to make it useful and fun. Sounds to me that you may need to find a new teacher whose methods will mesh with the way you learn. You may also want to check out the swing thoughts section of this site. Mvmac has lots of instruction videos that are very helpful.

Alignment sticks and Orange Whip in mine. I would suggest that you put a plug of some kind so the handle is supported there by lifting the head up for easy grasping.