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My club is not in the digital age yet, so no official website. But it's Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles, WA. I just joined after they opened the course to public play during certain times. After playing 3 public pay rounds out there I realized that membership was a great deal! It's a great course! http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses...course=1167656

I think you hit one disadvantage on the head, the fixed length. However as you say this can be an advantage because you get to practice with the ball always at the same height from the ground. They come in quite a few different lengths. Thanks for the suggestion on Zero-Friction. I'll look at my options when and if these brush-t's wear out.

Anybody use Brush-T tees? They are made of plastic with long plastic bristles forming a circle that you set the ball on top of. They are supposed to make for a driving off of grass feeling with less resistance. I bought some because they came with a free 6-month subscription to Golf Digest, and the idea seems solid; But I'm the only person I've ever seen using one at the course, and I've certainly never seen any pros using them on TV. Are these bogus? Would I be better off just using cheap wooden tees? I figure at $4 for 3 Brush-T's, they should last through enough drives to be worth the price. So far the one I've been using shows zero wear.

What's up with the TaylorMade balls with odd-sized dimples? Does this really make a difference in ball flight or is it a gimmick? (I'm still hitting TF D2 Straights, and figure the dimple-in-dimple is probably a gimmick too, but who knows)

What is the deal with a thick topline? I was reading the reviews on the Sandtrap main page and this kept being brought up, but never explained well enough for a newbie like me to understand. Does a thick top edge of an iron indicate that the irons will help in correcting bad shots? What advantage does a thin top edge have? Why does it matter? Thanks!

I definitely have no advice to give to a handicap-6'r at my skill level, but after experimenting over quite a few hours of putting this week I've decided that trying to putt square-to-square requires way too many tiny muscle movements to correct the path of the putter for it to be as accurate (for me) as a simple in-square-in curved path. A curved path lets me really focus on the speed of the putt rather than on trying to keep the putter square back and forward. As long as the face is square at impact, the simplest movement you can take is probably the best. Again, I don't know squat, so I'll let someone who does chime in.

I was practicing some putting today and a guy showed up with his young son, let me put it this way, the kid was a toddler, barely old enough to walk. He had the tiniest clubs I've ever seen and they were up to his chest. I thought the dad was being hard on him, "c'mon, you've gotta get serious, you've gotta hit harder than that, try harder, that's no good," and on and on... I really couldn't help but think that this kid is just the right age to really have some fun if you let him loose with a putter and some balls, but you can't push him - he doesn't even understand the concept of being serious about attaining a goal like making a putt in one shot, and trying to force that concept on him is definitely not going to have the right results.

That guy is an amazing ukulele player. He's sitting in Central Park, he should move to a more crowded area and busk a little, even though it doesn't look like he needs it at all! I'd toss in a couple of bucks :)

I just got a SW to compliment my starter kit, since I wanted to get the ball up and have it stop rather than the hop and roll I've been practicing with my PW. I found that if I have a reasonable distance to chip - I guess 20-40 yards - and I'm putting a pretty good swing on the wedge, I usually get good results (though I still need to practice distance control). However, when the chips are short - I've been having a problem where I occasionally 'slice' the ball 30-40 degrees off to the right! It happens maybe only 1 of 15 chips on the practice greens, but out on the course I was killing my short game with these mistakes. When I'm trying to cover some distance and making something approaching a full swing (say 50-80%, where the clubface goes back out of my peripheral vision), I usually strengthen my grip up, because that is how I play all my irons. The ball goes nice and straight. When I'm making short chips, using the SW almost like a putter, swinging it 'straight back' a foot or two, then chipping through the ball, I use a neutral grip. This usually works fine, but it's those few times that the ball goes completely off to the right... I just don't understand! I'm watching the clubface the whole way through the short chip and it seems to be angled properly, but I must be doing something wrong. I usually put the ball just a ball's width behind centerline and put my weight on my front foot when making most chip shots. Any tips for me?

Well, weather was great for golf today, the Weather Channel's golf index was way off. The course was dry and the sun came out. It's raining now, but I was at the course all day and it was just fine.

I felt like garbage today but only shot 4 strokes more than yesterday for a 104. I couldn't drive off the tee to save my life. usually I have a few very good drives but I was flubbing them terribly. Thank goodness my 3 wood came through to get me down the fairway a few times when I had only hit the driver about 50 yards. I spent another two hours after the round at the driving range and on the putting green. I also got a new sand wedge, which I was experimenting with for my pitching, and inexperience led to several mishits. I'm hoping to start getting a few more GIRs and par'd holes.

Par for the pacific northwest! I played 18 yesterday and it was warm and sunny with a high haze, but when I woke up this morning, excited to go out and play again, I found it had been raining overnight and it's cloudy. Weather channel says golf index 2 (poor). :P

My goals are many, but here are a few off the top of my head. - Improve my ball-striking. Eliminate topping the ball, especially when playing with the ball downslope of my feet. - Get rid of 3-putts and really try hard for 1-putts. learn to read the speed and slope of greens. - Take my chipping game out onto the course. I do very well at chipping when I have a dozen balls to hit from one location on the practice green. When I'm playing a round and I only have the one chance to get my spin and distance right, I often choke. - Consistently drive straight. I have really kickass drives on about 5 of 18 holes. The rest are okay and sometimes I have to take a mulligan because of poor ball striking (goal #1 again). I'd like to be playing under 80, but we'll see how realistic that is!

I voted for the Top-Flite D2 because I picked up a case of them and they're all I've really played with so far; But I got a Nike One Black from a friend, and that ball seems to really do what I want it to - when I lose all my D2s in the woods I'll definitely pick up some more Nike One Blacks.

Played an even 100 (par 72) at my local club (Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles WA). 50/36 on the front 9 and 50/36 on the back 9. I was by myself and I think I hurried myself along quite a bit because it was getting dark. My whole game needs work, but my putting really let me down today. I 2-putted every single hole and 3-putted at least 7 or 8 of them. I was reading the greens very poorly, hitting short and missing easy 3-foot putts. I did have several really killer drives, and I made a beautiful shot onto the fringe with my 4-hybrid. I love my hybrids for distance and ease of use, but they aren't my most accurate clubs, so that shot really made my day.

Hi guys! I had a friend who was briefly interested in golf when we were both about 14 years old. He was spoiled so he had all the good clubs, including a Big Bertha, which had just come out and was the hottest thing ever. I went to the driving range with him a few times, and played a few rounds, but never got hooked, and lost interest before he did (which didn't take very long). I didn't touch a set of clubs until just recently, almost 10 years later; A bunch of friends were going out and I decided to tag along. I surprised myself by having great ball contact; I had a serious slice, but I wasn't flubbing the ball 10 feet down the course. Suddenly I had this strong upwelling of confidence and thought, wow, this game could really be fun again! I bought a cheap but quality set of starter clubs and I've been hitting up the driving range every day after work (we have usable sunlight until 8:30 PM and later here in the pacific northwest!) and playing the occasional round of 9 holes. All I can think about every day is getting out on the course! I'm debating joining my local golf club (a beautiful 18-hole course one mile from my house) and think I might as well, considering how much fun I've been having. My goals are to work on my grip and swing and not even THINK about upgrading my equipment until I feel comfortable and solid. I have a history of materialism where I think that buying the latest piece of kit will help me when I really just need to work on my skills. In any case, this looks like a great forum and I'm sure I'll enjoy hanging around! Steve

I bought a set of cheap John Daly branded clubs as a starter set - it had everything I needed with a great bag, which is important to me. Some hybrids, which I love to play, a great putter - really an awesome deal. I had no idea who he was until I looked him up on the 'net a bit later, and couldn't help but grin while reading his history - I like black sheep. I was glad to see he's doing a bit better in his game.

I grew up in Pacific Beach. I used to go to the Mission Beach course when I was about 14 (almost 10 years ago) - that's how I got into golf. A friend of mine started going to the range and playing a little bit and I went along with him. I played 9 holes 3-4 times there, and went to the range with him a dozen times, and I never touched a club again until about a month ago. I remember MB being a budget course for sure, but just fine for a new player.

I'm in the US Coast Guard, I'm an Avionics Electrical Tech 2nd Class and HH/MH65-C helicopter flight mechanic.