mruseless

I agree with that 100%. The whole point of a handicap is to allow players of different ability levels compete. Offer the strokes, and if they don't take them, too bad. Beat the pants off them.

I wouldn't call that "terrible" for someone in our handicap range.. Last season I averaged about 12 feet, this season I'm averaging about 9 feet so far. I didn't realize that 3 feet made such a big difference, but I think what's happening is that I'm either chipping it really close, or I'm more than 15 feet away when I blow it, so it averages to about 9. My goal is 8 feet.

For me, the difference between a 93 and an 87 is all about getting up and down. My GIR is similar to yours, but on my good days my U&D; is closer to 50%. This also means you need more 1-putts, and working on those 5-footers is a great way to drop more putts. What is your average U&D; First Putt distance?

Unless there is serious trouble long, I take the longer club and use a normal swing. That way, if I mis-hit it, the ball will still get there. Keep in mind that I'm a 17 handicap (index). I do have some other shots in the bag for special occasions, but in most situations I can use a normal swing.

Thanks everyone! In thinking about everyone's answers, and the hole I played, I probably would have had a sliver of area no closer to the hole, but within 2 clublengths from the point of entry into the hazard. The hole, IIRC, was cut on the front left, so the arc defining "no closer to the hole" would have come out of the hazard as some have speculated. This has been a great thought exercise, and will really help me in the future!

That is AWESOME! He definitely got what he deserves, too bad it too so long! I absolutely love how he got himself into trouble by claiming he was turning in a fraudulent scorecard, and the president called him on it! Priceless! The only thing that would have been better is for the committee to ask for all the prizes back due to his admission of cheating.

It's satisfying for me in the larger sense as well. The other day I got into some serious trouble and made bad decisions on top of it, and carded a 10 on a par-4. However, I still shot an 89, which had me jumping up and down since I didn't think I had a chance of shooting in the 80's after that. But I kept calm and put a few more pars on the card that day. It would have been all too easy to stop at 7 or 8, or take a mulligan, or some other breach. But I didn't, and I can say that the 89 was a real 89.

Good link, thanks. This is why I carry a summary rule book with me, but this particular situation had left me a little confused. BTW, I highly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Golf-Rules-Qui...d_bxgy_b_img_c

A Nassau is a common bet, I assume we play it the way most people do. We bet on match play, $2 for the front nine, $2 for the back nine, and $2 for the overall. Sometimes we play first 6 holes, second 6 holes, third six holes instead.

Very interesting. The rough around the green was sloping down out of sight, and I had no idea how far it went before it reached the hazard stakes. So when I saw my ball drop out of site over the green, I was hoping it was in play, but that strip of rough was narrower than I anticipated. However, once I walked up to the green, I was "virtually certain" my ball had gone into the hazard, since there was nowhere else it could have gone. So, does the "virtually certain" come into play when I'm still in the fairway, or after I've walked up to the green and looked at the situation?

How exactly did you build the extra lag?

Could you elaborate on this a little? My understanding is that line of flight is only used to determine the point where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard. Am I correct?

Interesting article! I see what you mean, I'll keep that in mind for next time too.

Yes, they were red stakes behind and around the green. Is there anything else that could have been done without sacrificing pace of play? We had a group right behind us, and I'm sure they would have been irritated if I would have looked for my first ball, then walked back up the fairway 140 yards or so.

I was recently playing a hole where there was a water hazard that ran around the back of the green. I hit my approach shot long, and thought there was a chance it went into the hazard. Since I can't take a drop closer to the hole, and it was not possible to go to the far side of the hazard, I hit a second shot before going up to the green. Now, according to the rules of golf, I think my second shot is automatically in play. I know that you are not entitled to a provisional ball if you think you've hit one into a water hazard. But to keep pace of play, would you rules guys out there have done what I did, or go look for the ball, then go back 140 yards if it was in the hazard? Or am I missing an option?

Awesome, I need one. Just the other day I was up against a tree where I had to use a left handed swing. If I would have had one of these, I could have taken a full swing and pitched the ball backwards over my head. Cool.

I agree with you. I try to make every putt, even the 50 footers. I think it sharpens your focus to try and make the putt, rather than a hoola hoop or whatever some people use in their mind. After all, if you are trying to putt into a hoola hoop, and you miss by 3 feet, now you are 6 feet away. Getting really good at short putts does take some of the pressure off, though. Its nice to know if you have a poor putt that leaves you 5 feet away that you still have a good chance of making it.

When hitting an iron off the tee, I set the tee height at the top of the grass (which isn't very high) or maybe a couple millimeters higher. I get about 5 extra yards when hitting off a tee.

One suggestion would be to spend more time on your short putts. Once 3-footers are automatic, then work on 4-footers, then 5-footers. If you can make 90% of your 4-footers, it becomes less important to lag it close!

My thoughts exactly. Just yesterday, I topped a ball into knee deep weeds, something I haven't done for about a year. Then compounded the mistake by trying to hit the ball forward with a pitching wedge instead of wedging out sideways and taking my medicine. It took me three pathetic swipes at the ball to get it out. Carded a 10 on the hole. The urge to "mulligan" was almost irresistable, but honesty won the battle!

I play by the rules of golf, with one exception. For the sake of pace of play, I don't go back to the previous spot if I lose a ball (I will hit a provisional if there is a question, but sometimes you just lose a ball that you swear you know where it was). Anyway, in that case I will take a drop and give myself two penalty strokes for violation of rule 27-1. Maybe that is playing by the rules of golf? Probably not.

I prefer a "mid" bounce in my wedges. My 56 has 11 degrees, and my 60 has 6 degrees. When the 60 wears out, I'll replace it with a wedge with more bounce (8 to 10 degrees).

Yup, I had that problem, and it still creeps up on me every now and then. I took a few lessons, and what fixed it for me was a combination of things, but most notably a focus on swinging smoothly. Some people describe it as "tick-tock", although for me personally I have a short and slow backswing, and a quick downswing. When I first began working on smoothing out my swing, I lost a lot of distance. But eventually I built up more lag and now I'm hitting the ball farther than before. Another thing that helped me is to think about keeping the swing flat (maximizing the width of the arc at ground level). I don't know if that makes any sense, its hard for me to describe.

I looked on Hulu.com, but all they had were teasers.

That definitely sounds interesting. Especially the shot/club tracking stuff. I will probably keep using a paper scorecard, since I keep 5 stats and use Scorecard 2 to do the number crunching.