QWKDTSN

One of my good friends was hit last year by a wayward 3 wood shot from an opposite. It hit him right next to his left eye and crushed his eye socket. He had to have reconstructive surgery and almost lost the vision in his eye (which would have cost him his career in Coast Guard aviation.... gotta have vision correctable to 20-20). His face still looks a little funky almost a year later. Being hit by a ball is no joke!

Playing with a strong grip can work well (look at Zach Johnson, Boo Weekley, David Duval) I experiment with it sometimes on the range but haven't taken it out to the course. I am usually impressed with the ball-striking I get.

I got spanked, I shot a 110 a couple of months ago with about 46 putts. Could not roll the rock on those slooooooow greens! I want to go back now that my hcp has dropped dramatically and show that course what I can really do... I will go back next year. By the way I played the uphill short par 4 twice and almost drove the green both times, the 2nd time my ball was about 3 feet off the green to the right. Still only made par, ouch.

Yes, I have them and love them. The BOA system is the bomb. $99 for the original style on TGW while they last, you can't beat that. One of them pinched my left big toe a little bit while they were breaking in, but they broke in and my toe developed a callus - no big deal. Any classic styled leather shoe could do that. I have verified that they are indeed totally waterproof and for me the BOA system is the best. I wear all my casual shoes really loose (loose enough that I leave them tied and just slip them on and off) but for walking 18 I need my golf shoes tight. I HATE tying and untying shoes, it's such a waste of time. The BOA lacing system gets it right in about 2 seconds per shoe, and if you ever need to dial in another couple of clicks, you can do it in an eyeblink.

I usually roll 3 balls across the green to the fringe to get a feel for speed before putting. Often I will find an empty corner of the green and stick a tee in the ground and do 3-footers to the tee until I can hit it 10 times in a row. Gets your focus down to that certain spot. Then I just mix it up. Long putts, short putts, medium putts. My goal is to never 3-putt from any distance or break.

You need The Spin Doctor wedge! http://www.thespindoctor.com spin range balls back 50 feet!

I collect beer bottles, I have a whole room filled with nothing but beer bottles, tap handles, and other beer junk.

Use the [video] tags:

The Odyssey chipper has a 37° loft which is the same as a 7 or 8 iron. If you can move your 7 or 8 iron with a putting stroke, why waste one of your 14 clubs on a chipper when that iron can serve the purpose? The only advantage I can see with a chipper is that it doesn't have any backspin-inducing grooves. I really think you'd be better off using one or more of your existing clubs to chip with. I very rarely am on the fringe - when I miss the green, I'm usually several yards away and rely on a pitch shot to get me close. Maybe when I get my handicap down I'll find myself on the fringe more often and need to chip, but right now I very rarely perform chip shots. I think as a 12 handicap you must already have a lot of experience chipping with a wedge or iron and would be better served continuing to practice with them rather than have to re-learn a whole new club. The biggest thing for me is that I can't see needing to use a chipper often enough to make it worth having as one of my 14 clubs.

First off, congrats on a fun round! Glad to hear someone having an exciting round and taking the time to share all about it with the board. I know when I am in the mood to share I must have had a great round so I am sure you did too. But now that I've said that, seriously, losing 7 Pro-V1s? There must be some ego involved in putting them in play with your handicap... I am a high handicap too... And I have never bought a dozen balls that cost more than $20. I would feel physically ill buying a box of Pro-V1s and then putting 3/4 in the drink or OB during one single round. You might as well just open your wallet and shake it over the water hazard. Put the ego in check and buy some Noodles or Top-Flite D2 Feels. That way when you put one in the water it's $1 at most instead of $4-5!

I think there's an echo in here, or Mizuno is really onto something. The MP-67s are the best looking irons, period.

I saw that course on Tips From The Pros. Looked challenging with all those bunkers!

Hilarious! i thought i heard that too, but I was only half-listening. After the fact I thought I misheard him and he was saying something different. The 's-word' is allowed on TV as the FCC considers a random use of it a 'fleeting expletive'.

Sounds like your dad is supportive of your hobby and he has good intentions, but they may be misplaced. I know it can be hard to bring something like this up but the simplest thing to do is explain to your dad that you are trying to work on your mental game and you don't want any distractions. Tell him that you want to talk about how the round went after it is over. That way he will be quiet and let you play, and when the round is over, and you are in good spirits after a round with no annoying talk from your pops, he can tell you what he thought. I bet you will start to play better and he will have much less bad to say about your round because of it so the issue will fix itself!

Today I whacked a ton of balls at the range. I got frustrated and came home. Reading some threads here on the board I was reminded of Ron Del Barrio's 'passive swing' technique and went back to the range after lunch to try it out. I liked it with the irons - including the head turn down the line on the downswing to help turn the body through the ball - and went to give it a try with the driver. On the second strike, the shaft snapped right at the hosel and the head spun down the range like a frisbee. I have no idea where I hit the ball or where the ball went, but it felt like a good strike. I guess I'll to on Saturday to get fitted for a driver, and hopefully take advantage of a 4th of July weekend sale. I had been planning on waiting until next year to get fitted for any clubs, but I guess now I have an excuse to do it now! Now the big question is whether to go whole hot and get fitted for a 3-wood and a new hybrid while I'm at it, too. It's a 100 mile drive to the nearest store with a launch monitor, so I might end up taking advantage of the time to buy more than just a driver.

I don't think you are going to find any sales, my Tiffany was $150 before my military discount at a store. You could order your chosen model from the ubiquitous TGW.

Reminds me of the range scene in Tin Cup. "Look at this! Brand new Titleists! Never been hit! Sneak some into the bag!" Not only do the ubiquitous Top Flite range balls not go as far as a premium ball, they also spin a lot less off the driver, which makes it really hard to work on my persistent slice.

If you aim properly for the break, looking at the hole will help judge the speed for the break. There are a lot of putts that require a perfect combination of speed & break to get it into the hole. Those are the ones I find much easier using this method.

I use a magnetic cap clip that holds a quarter-sized US Coast Guard emblem ball marker.

I just hit through three buckets of balls and had to give up. I am mentally and physically drained and I feel really frustrated. I had three different people at the driving range interrupt me to try and give me advice. I think they could see that I was not having an easy time and I know they were just trying to help but it really made me angry because there were certain things I wanted to work on and I don't think it is ever a good idea to try and give a total stranger advice on the driving range. It really screwed up my mental approach to know that these people were all watching me while I was struggling instead of just focusing on their own warmups.

OK, here is my video from today, along the same format as the last video. Please analyze!

I'm up on the Olympic peninsula. Welcome Michael!

I play really well when the turf is wet. I think it is mental due to how easily the club slices through the wet grass and soil. I am totally unafraid to take a divot and the club is not slowed down by hitting the turf so even if I catch shots a little fat I get almost full power to the ball. I shot my breakthrough 90 when it was pouring rain.

Post my scores on the computer in the pro shop. $25/year fee at the club. Thinking about spending more money on buying a Scorecard license to keep track of all the statistics that really matter to my game, though.

Okay, that drill is awesome. That drill is going into play next time I get some alone time on the putting green for sure. Love it.