BostonBrew

This. Years ago, when I got serious about my golf game, I used to think if I just practiced hard enough that I could turn myself into a machine. Always hit it straight and far. Fairways and greens. Impossible to play bad golf if you just hit fairways and greens right? Reality is that there will always be bad shots, mishits, bad bounces, windy conditions, and putts simply not rolling into the hole. You have to be able to get up and down. In my opinion, that's the most important part of playing scratch. The biggest difference between a scratch golfer and myself is that he saves par more often than I do when we miss the green.

I suppose you're right. I didn't consider the amateur side of that. It just doesn't seem fair watching him hit it that far hahaha

Keegan Bradley's distances off the tee is ridiculous. I've watched him hit 3-4 drives 350+. They have got to do something about these golf balls.

Instead of coiling into your right leg, you're sliding it out. Look at how much your right knee shifts away from the target on your backswing. Try putting a ball under the outside-middle of your right foot and make swings. That will force you to coil instead of slide.

Probably the worst part about it, we started at 3 pm so we could take advantage of the twilight rate. Our goal was 27 holes and dinner at 7:30. We walked off the course almost 6 hours later and only got in 21. I know it was a holiday but wow...

Monday afternoon, Memorial Day, our front nine took 3.5 hours. There was a 5-10 minute wait on every shot. I didn't get frustrated because of it but just couldn't believe how slow the pace of play was. And one of the guys I was grouped with kept telling me shot in the low 80s. His swing and game said otherwise. He blamed it on his inebriation. But he would try and go for every par 5 in two, hit terrible shots every time, and then march around like the world was against him. Because of how backed up the course was, it didn't slow us down, but had it been clear in front of us, it would have bothered me. He quit after 12 holes and the rest of my day was much more enjoyable because of it.

Can't get this one out of my head.

Went with Schwartzel in my fantasy picks. He's been playing great golf every week for about the last month or two now. Other picks were Tiger (of course), Lee Westwood, and Snedeker.

Missed cut last week and looks like he might miss this one too. WGR might have him at #2 but he's much further down in my rankings.

50 yards and in pitch shots. I'm already frustrated because if I find myself with that kind of shot, it usually means I've hit a poor iron. And then to screw up the pitch as well is usually enough to make my blood boil.

I've only come across a few wedges left near the greens and it always belonged to the group ahead of me. Always caught up with them and returned it. On a sidenote, I used to work as a cartboy and the things we'd find in the carts were surprising. Unopened beers, cigarettes, bags of weed, rangefinders, headcovers, car keys, wallets, sunglasses. We kept a special spot in the cart barn for those things. The more important items, such as keys and wallets, were always claimed. But there were a handful of Maui Jim, Ray-Ban, and Oakley sunglasses that went unclaimed. Clubs were held in a closet in the pro shop. Often grabbed one or two of them and cut the shafts off to use for instructional purposes. The general rule was, we wrote down the day it was found, if 30 days went by without it being claimed, one of us could take it. I never took anything, but a friend scored an awesome pair of Maui Jim sunglasses. (he also took the bag of weed but he didn't wait 30 days on that one)

Depends on how you hurt it. I'm no doctor or physical therapist, but I'd say that there are definitely ways a bad golf swing could hurt your wrist. I've done it before by hitting too much ground and "jamming" or spraining my right wrist.

I have a PW at 48* and three more wedges, two Mizunos and a Vokey, at 52*, 56*, and 60*. I use my 60* Vokey for flop shots or short-sided pitches. My 56* is my sand wedge because it has more bounce than the other two.

I can't not pick Tiger. He's clearly the best golfer in the world again.

Had one of those days where things simply clicked. Shot 76 at Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach. Holed out on 14 from about 60 yards for eagle which absolutely made my day. Still need to dial in the driver though (as usual).

I doubt your game is hurting. But there are numerous reasons why players work the ball. They can hold it up into the wind. Work it away from trouble. Or fade or draw the ball to better get at different pin locations. A straight ball flight would be subject to the wind direction, so for example, if there is a left pin location, the wind is left to right, you would have to start the ball way left of the green and hope the wind brings it back on target. Or you could draw the ball (right handed) into the wind and have your miss (if the wind overpowers the draw) be in the middle of the green. It also can improve the angle of attack depending on pin location and shape of the green. Also think about fairways that bend left or right. Shaping the ball allows them to utilize the most out of the course's shape.

Very easy. Just need grip tape and some form of sticky lubricant. I've heard of people using hair spray (I used to use that on my dirtbike grips) and I've also heard of people using just soapy water. We would use a box cutter to cut off the old grips. Then measure off the length of tape leaving about an inch past the top of the shaft. Would fold in the excess into the top of the shaft opening. Then put some of the spray in the grip, making sure to plug the hole at the end (with a tee or your thumb) and then I would pour that spray onto the tape. I would then keep the clubhead in between my feet to ensure I put the grip on square. It's slightly difficult to describe, but once you see it done or have done it yourself, it's really easy.

Haha, yeah, I'd say that's a good starting point. I was watching it frame-by-frame and kept waiting for the downswing, but the club just kept going further and further back. John Daly-esque. Try to get the feeling that when your shoulders stop turning, your arms stop moving.

Fantastic ball striking from him today. Missed a few short putts that would have really put him out of reach. Glad I went with him in my fantasy picks this week.

Golf Pride Multicompound. Have had them for years and still consider them the best. Picked them when I got my Mizunos with the matching Mizuno logo and black and blue colors.

Definitely a swing worth emulating. Thoroughly enjoyed watching the final holes and playoff.

I selected the 1-10 seconds, so to respond to your question, no. I think we're getting into trouble with too much information. I'm an advocate of going with your instinct. Now I'm not saying be stubborn and go for it every time. But if I get an in-between-clubs yardage, I just take a quick note of the conditions, and pick one. For me, it's no different than answering a multiple choice question in which you are unsure of the correct answer. Instead of sitting there re-reading the question and choices for 5 minutes, I make my selection and move on. I believe I benefit from this mindset hugely over others. I almost never have regrets or beat myself up over bad shots. I made my decision and either it worked out or it didn't. Now on to the next shot... As for one more look, one more moment, or extra practice swing. No to that as well. I've got my routine, I feel comfortable doing it. If I take too long over the ball or waggle one less or one more than usual, I quickly don't feel comfortable any more.

I forget the exact numbers, but a few years ago, I believe it was Golf Digest did a quick look at the WGR Top 25 players. Only about 5 of them played with true blades. I think a lot of players get that faulty reverse logic in their head. Great players use blades. So if I use blades, I'm a really good player too. And obviously that's not the case most of the time. If you like the look of a blade and can strike the ball well more often than not, go for it. And the other idea that blades allow a player to "work" a ball is also a bit false. Yes, blades have the ability to spin the ball more and thus can be more workable than cavity backs. Cavity backs, however, also have the capability of working the ball. Plenty of Tour Pros out there playing muscle backs and or players' cavities and I guarantee you they can work the ball just as much as they'd like to.

Blair O'Neal. Here are some photos from her recent calendar shoot.

Those are known as "idiot marks" and both my driver and 3-wood wear these badges of honor (or shame). I've thought about trying to touch them up with black finger nail polish or a paint marker, but then I just stopped caring about it because they still perform the same.