mruseless

When I hit a shot close to the pin, I'm fond of saying, "Oh, I can 3 putt easy from there!"

I have a friend that is fond of saying, when asked "honor or ready golf?", he will reply, "I like the honor system -- git on her and stay on her!" When someone says, "I'd rather be lucky than good", I always reply, "I rather be lucky and good." And one more: when I'm reading a putt that is about 1" left or right, I say, "it looks like a Lance Armstrong. One ball out." (of course I don't say this if the round is for money, since advice is illegal.)

For some courses yes, for others no. It depends on the sources they use for the satellite views. I've noticed a couple courses around Denver where the satellite images are of lower resolution. Still good enough to use, but not as good as the more metropolitan courses. The lower res images make it more difficult to see things like trees and other terrain features, but of course as long as the yardages to the green are accurate then the rest is gravy. On the higher res satellite images you can actually see golf carts on some of holes from when the photos were taken!

Hey, that sounds cool... will those notes be attached to the round, or to the course? I think it would be cool to be able to put in notes about each hole on a course, and print it for reference (keep in mind that I play about 25 different courses on a regular basis, so I don't always remember how I played a particular hole last time).

I played in a glow-ball tournament this year. Really good time. As for losing balls, it depends on the type of balls. Our club included the glo-balls with the entry fee. Each team got a 6-pack of balls, and we only lost one that stopped lighting up as it was hit. The balls we used were really awesome. They came in white, red and blue, and they must have had a battery in them. They lit up when you tapped them, and stayed lit for 10 minutes. The balls were called "Night Flyers". I was impressed, they flew about 90% of the distance of a regular ball. Our tournament lit the 150 yd markers, the green, the flagstick, and the cup with glowsticks. Everyone played from the red tees (marked with red glowsticks), and everyone had to wear a glowing necklace or bracelet.

What he said. Hybrids these days are way easier to hit and can be used off a bigger variety of lies than long irons.

In my opinion, if he agreed to the rule, then he doesn't even have the right to be pissed, unless he is pissed at himself for agreeing to the rule.

That sounds like a great drill, I'm going to try it on my next practice session!

I agree with Jay-Bird. Everyone agreed to a 2-putt max, then the outcome was just. I doubt that 50 foot eagle putt would have gone 15 feet past the hole if that rule wasn't in effect. He probably put some extra juice on the putt just to make sure it got there, and to take out some of the break, knowing the worst he could get was a birdie.

A golf ball weighs 1.62 oz. That means with 88 balls you are carrying an extra 9 pounds of balls! Even with 50 you are carrying 5 lb. of balls. For perspective, my entire bag, loaded with everything including steel shafted irons, snacks, and 24 oz of water, is about 22 lb. (plus a couple pounds if I'm carrying rain gear)

I also think it depends on whether you ride, push, or carry. I either push or carry, and when I carry I want the lightest load possible (while still bringing all 14 clubs!). So I only carry 6 balls in that case. When I push, I can bring as many as I want.

I'm a recent Utley convert. I'm a feel putter now. One thing that really helps my feel is to hold the club loosely . So loose, in fact, that it feels like my stroke is a little wristy. But in reality it's just the soft fingers letting the putterhead release through impact. Sometimes I will also imagine rolling a ball to the hole with my hand, and that is roughly the amount of movement I want with the putterhead.

I usually carry at least 6, but about a dozen if the course is really tough. The most I've ever lost was 8, but that was when my handicap was in the upper 20's. I typically don't toss away a ball just because its scuffed up, but if it gets really bad it goes into a bucket of balls that I hit on the range.

I think it would be very helpful to know the percentage of the time that I three putt from a given distance. I know (roughly) that when I three putt, it is from more than 20 feet, but these percentages would give me goals to work on. I guess this is the same thing as in the above quoted post, just wanted to chime in that I think this would be valuable info for us 3-putters.

Well, I look at the ball, but only the general area. I don't focus in on a particular part of the ball.

I like them a lot, but this year I switched to the Nike OneBlack. A little straighter and longer off the tee. And since I can't spin the ball consistently, I didn't notice a huge difference between the OneBlack and the OnePlatinum. I can definitely spin the Pro v1 more than either, however. But I don't like the feel of the Pro v1 nor the length off my driver and woods (shorter than the OneBlack). I buy them from a guy who sells used balls for charity. He only sells spotless balls and even packages them in original boxes! $15 a dozen and you can't tell they are not new, other than some of them have corporate logos.

I try not to focus on the ball at all. I focus on routine, rhythm, and smoothness. My worst shots happen when I get too "ball focused". But that's just me.

I'm 40 and in fairly good shape, but there were 3 things I did that really helped my game. 1. core stability exercises. 2. rotator cuff exercises (I did these because I have some shoulder pain) 3. lots and lots of stretching, especially torso stretches. I have greatly increased the range of motion in my swing, and its helped me gain distance and consistency.

Well good point, you can hit it really fat if you try. I'm talking about the divot from a reasonably good swing.

I think the low point of your swing depends on your mechanics. Try swinging without a ball and taking a few divots, and check your divots after hitting the ball. The ball should be placed at the back end of the divot (assuming you are making consistent divots).

I used to use an Odessey 2-ball putter, cut down a couple inches, with a Pelz stroke. Now I'm using my old Ping Answer 2i, and stroking Utley style. My feel has gotten WAY better, and I'm putting better than ever before. I've never tried a belly putter, but it seems it would work better with a Pelz stroke than an arc/Utley stroke.

I would think any reputable fitter could bend those for you. Lots of pros use wedges bent a degree or two to suit their liking so I don't think there would be any performance issues.

I'm currently doing the same thing you are: trying out Utley's putting stroke. So far I'm having great luck with it, and I can feel my putt better than before. I haven't concerned myself with the height of the stroke very much. I've been focusing on feeling my elbows sort of fold and unfold. Its a little different since I'm used to trying to rock my shoulders, and now it feels more like I'm rocking my arms instead. But it also feels very natural and relaxed. We'll see how it translates to the course.

I really like Dave Pelz's approach to the game, but probably because I am a former scientist myself. Very analytical types will love his approach, others will hate it. I enjoyed reading the book because of all the research he put into it, but a year or so after reading it, the only thing I really took away was the 4x3 system. And maybe a little of the sand and chipping stuff. I've also read Utley's book. I tried it and just couldn't get it to work for me. But I intend to read it again (its a quick read) and perhaps try it again. My impression of Utley's stuff is that it take a lot more practice to master distance his way than it does Pelz's way. But of course I am an analytical thinker.

I agree with these two statements... I have struggled with both methods of putting, and finally came to realize that, at least for me, the actual path of the putter and angle of the face doesn't matter as much as what I think I'm doing. Or better stated, what I imagine myself to be doing. For me, if I try too hard to keep the putter going pils, or going arc, it ends up in manipulation of the putterhead. Now I focus on making a smooth stroke, while keeping my arms and hands out of it, and just let the putter go where it wants. Seems to be working, since my putting has gotten more consistent.