Pushy

The last couple of times I've gone out I've played nine holes as a single at a course near my house, Both time I played two balls. The first time, I played best ball and shot -1 for nine. Yea me! The next time I played worst ball and shot +18. I suck! Now, I *am* mediocre. My handicap index is a hair under 20 most of the time. But I do wonder about a 19 shot spread between best and worst. Does that seem like a lot? I guess if you average it out it does come out to about what I would normally shoot there.

Thanks for the feedback. I will mull it over. I do try to practice and work on what he's taught, maybe hitting the range 3 or 4 times a week when the weather's good. That is a fair point. I did see him more often when I first started going to him -- once a month for a while, and I always hit the range 3 or 4 times a week after a lesson to work on what I'd been taught. And there was some improvement but not that much. But I understand what you're saying. You may be right.

I am a 62-yo high-handicapper with some physical issues with my hips that have negatively impacted my swing. I have been taking lessons off and on for about three years with a pretty well-respected teacher in my area. (Coaches a college golf team, once made a Golf Digest list of instructors, etc.) In full disclosure, I have not had more than a couple of lessons in the past year. When I have had lessons, he has focused almost exclusively on my weight shift (or lack thereof) -- starting the downswing with the lower body and finishing facing the target. He hasn't had anything to say about setup, grip, tempo and not much to say about takeaway or back swing. My swing has gotten pretty sour over the last month or so and I need a lesson. But I feel like I already know what he is going to say. I kind of feel like his teaching hasn't really sunk in and led to real changes in muscle memory. And maybe that's me, and I just need to put in more time at the practice tee and work harder at it. When should one consider changing teachers, vs. just working harder to be a better student?

Whoa. Taking me back to the days when the Wilson TC2 was my go-to cheap ball.

I got a Sun Mountain micro cart for Christmas and have enjoyed it very much thus far. I have planned on keeping it in the trunk most of the time (never know when you might get a chance to play) but the cart came with a disclaimer that storing it in high heat might warp the tires. Anyone have experience with this happening? It sound like the mfg. covering a very unlikely possibility.

I frequently like to walk when I golf, and I have been carrying my bag a long time. It's a five-pound bag, it doesn't seem particularly heavy when it's loaded, but I must confess this 61-yo can be pretty tired by the last few holes. I also have some arthritis in my hip and I can pay a price afterwards. For people with carts, do you notice a lot of difference from carrying the bag?

I would say the answer is whatever works for you. If I'm not mistaken, there are plenty of pros whose natural shot is a fade.

As a general question -- is distance that important -- the answer has to be yes. Such a huge difference trying to hit a green with an 8-iron vs a 5-iron or hybrid. Over the course of a round, there might be a few instances where you would prefer a longer shot (say, getting a nice flat lie vs. hitting off a steep hill or something) but that will be very rare.

Had my first round that really felt wintery yesterday. Temps were around 50 and it was very windy. Lots and lots of leaves everywhere, making it difficult to find the ball even in the fairway. As fate would have it, I had a horrible ball-striking round. Adjusting to the weather may have had something to do with it. The old bones get stiffer in the cold.

Actually, upon followup it turns out the fractures are not displaced. So that is good news. I suffered a sprained ankle at the same time as the toe, so I am out until I can start putting weight on it better. I should be able to tackle an exercise bike in a few days and start seeing how things hold up. When the ankle holds up I am sure I can do chipping and putting. I'm not sure how painful the toe will be. I don't think it will hurt to walk on it but I'm a rightie and it is my right big toe that is broken. A *good* swing would have me making a full turn facing the target and coming up on my toes on my right foot. That might not work so well, and might slow down the healing process considerably. Alas, my crapola swing bears little resemblance to the way it's supposed to be so that might not be much of a consideration, unfortunately.

I was diagnosed today with "mildly" displaced fractures in the bones of my big toe. I will go see an ortho doc tomorrow. I can't see swinging a club for a while. Any guesses on how long a layoff this is likely to be?

There is a course I play that has a par 4 that completely plays to a weakness of mine. The hole is built around an old quarry which is now filled with water. The tee box faces a quarry wall across the water which is significantly higher than the tee box. Off the whites, you end up with maybe a 150-yard carry to clear the water. Problem is, I am both a short hitter and the launch angle of my driver is low (the two are somewhat related, I know). If the landing area was about the same height as the tee box, no problem. But since it's higher, my drives have a tendency to just slam into the wall. And there's no drop area. Awfully bad feeling to be laying 13 on a hole.

Shot a 91 with four three-putts and two stroke-and-distance penalties. My course handicap is 22 so I guess I can't complain too much. But damn, that's a lot of fat that could be cut out.

I think course management is applicable to players of all levels, because every player is making decisions all the time in a round -- what club to use, what target to aim for, and bad decisions can be costlier for weaker players because they can't scramble out of trouble as well. It's more complex for better players because they have more options of things they can do and more decisions to make. A really good player should give some thought to what side of the green he wants to be on to set up his putt because there is a good chance he'll hit that target. Me? I'm just trying to get anywhere on the green. For me, course management comes down to issues like: Should I bit the bullet and take a penalty for an unplayable lie, or try to get the clubhead on the ball enough to punch the ball 30 or 40 feet back into play? Should I try a shot through that (fairly wide) gap between two trees when I'm in the woods or take the shortest, safest path back to the short grass even if it means going backwards a little? Do I need the extra 20 yards I'd get if I hit a fairway wood properly as opposed to a hybrid, knowing that I don't hit the fairway wood as well? Just being a high handicapper doesn't mean you don't make risk/reward assessments all the time. It's baked into the game, and the weaker your game the more risks there are and fewer rewards.

49+41=90 on the yellow tees at my home course (67.1,115). Putter let me down on the front nine with 3 3-putts, but the back nine felt good. Nice to be moving from the inner circles of triple-digit golf to the limbo of bogie. *knocks on wood*

I am sometimes guilty of giving up on a hole when it goes bad. I'll do a wretched job of chipping and putting that adds an unnecessary stroke or two to the score for that hole. It takes discipline to settle down and work hard to just minimize the damage.

I would think working on developing the core would be good. Just bulking up in the shoulders or arms doesn't seem like it would help much. Strengthening the legs might be good as well.

Broke 90 for the first time in years yesterday at my home course (70.6,125) with an 88. Strange round in some ways. I didn't hit the ball that well (only 1 GIR, 6 fairways) but no really terrible shots and was within chipping distance of just about every hole in regulation. Just a slew of chip and 2-putt holes. Ended up with 3 pars, 1 double and 14 bogies. Weather is warming up in NC and the fairways are getting harder. The ball was rolling a lot yesterday compared to cooler, wetter conditions. That really shortens the course a good bit, Nice to be going for the green with some shorter irons instead of hybrids or fairway woods.

Got a courtesy voucher to a nice private course from a co-worker that I used yesterday. Bogey is my target right now and I was only a few strokes over after 15 holes, but collapsed on two of the last three and end up shooting 100 (98 ESC). I walked 18 and carried the bag and was getting pretty tired, so fatigue may have been an issue, but that was pretty disappointing. I didn't hit the ball well off the tee all day but prior to those holes I had been able to keep it between the ditches. Definitely time to get back on the lesson trail.

There is such an enormous range in the amount of money you need to spend to play golf regularly (regular = once a week, at least in the summer). There's a course in my area that allows walking on the weekend and charges $14 to walk 18. You get what you pay for -- it *is* a goat track, but it's 6300 yards from the whites with tight fairways. It's a decent test of golf and it's affordable for most people, though $60 a month would stress lower income budgets. But if you ride, if you want to hit a bucket a couple of times a week, if you want to take a lesson now and then, it can start to add up quickly even playing cheap courses. And of course gloves and balls, etc. are a small ongoing expense. If you want to look at the high end -- nice private club with a big initiation fee and monthly dues, regular lessons, high-end equipment, golf attire, etc., then it certainly is a sport for the affluent, and that is the very visible public face of competitive golf.

Golf is a challenging game with abundant opportunities to screw up. This creates some mental pressure when you play (at least it does for me). Playing a lot definitely helps me feel more relaxed and natural on the course and that helps my game a good deal. Others' mileage will vary I guess based on their personality.

Too cold for me I think. I would have to have so many layers it would be cumbersome to swing, but the biggest problem would be keeping the hands warm enough. They just get too stiff and claw-like. Takes the fun out of it.

Just going from memory, I think it is a lateral hazard. There is definitely a painted line along the stream and I believe it's red, though that does seem unusual when you have to actually cross the water. I believe my ball did cross the line and rolled back in.

I played a hole recently that had me uncertain of the rules. The hole is a par 5 set up to play as kind of a U shape. You hit a tee shot over a stream, advance it lateral to the stream to the right, and then go back over the stream to the hole. In other words, both the tee box and hole are on the same side of the stream, separated by trees. My question. I popped a tee shot up that cleared the stream but just by a little. It hit the ground but rolled back into the hazard. Do the rules allow me to drop on the playable side of the stream or do I need to take another tee shot? It seems like touching ground and entering the hazard in the direction of the hole might impact the decision, but then it is only one swing so maybe touching the ground doesn't matter since it didn't come to rest there.

I've been looking at a new set of irons and had a fitting with the PGA pro at a local golf superstore. He noticed I have a swing flaw that is causing me to come over the top. *If* I can break that bad swing habit, the lie angle would be different than what it would be for my current swing. I'm certainly willing to work on it, but bad habits can be hard to break. Which way should I go? On a more abstract level, should the fitting be dependent on the way I swing the club the day I'm fitted? I am a high handicap and inconsistent. I'm afraid I could get fitted three times and get 3 different results. Intuitively, it seems like the lie angle should be based on posture and the way the ball is addressed, not the motion of the swing.