Bjans1

I would probably qualify for this. I was an excellent high school player who improved rapidly from one year to the next. I went from a high 70's shooter to playing to a scratch by the start of my senior year. I was obsessed with golf and my summers were spent working at a course and then when I wasn't working I was playing or practicing. I was determined to play Division 1 golf. I had a bunch of offers from smaller schools and D2 schools but I didn't give them a whole lot of thought. I picked a D1 school I wanted to attend and play for, and thats the only place I applied. The coach gave me a long look and said "hey kid this is Big Ten golf, nothing is promised. Let's see how you play in walk-on tryouts." The front nine I shot a 4-under 32. The back nine I shot 45 and didn't make the team. That was the last round of golf I played for nearly 7 years. I was a huge Mickelson fan in high school and went crazy when he won the '04 Masters, when he won the '06 Masters I left my dorm room while my roommates watched. Golf went from something I was crazy about to a constant reminder of something I had failed at. I took up the game again last year at a pretty crappy point in my life. My first round out I shot 96. I laughed at the bad shots and enjoyed the good ones. I enjoyed the weather, being outside, and spent many nights walking twilight rounds by myself and just thinking about my life and the direction I wanted it to go from there. I am more hooked now than I've ever been. I'm playing better, too. Playing my first competitive round since I was 18 years old in about a week and a half in my State Amateur qualifier. What a beautiful game:)

I feel like this will be a huge hit for certain PGA tour stops but will bomb in the retail sales department. In the last 15 years a big reason why driver sizes have grown is the forgiveness offered by the larger heads on mishits, no? So now people who "can't hit a driver" are somehow going to be more accurate hitting an even smaller driver? What am I missing?

Still laughing. Thanks guys. The over/under for this thread to die is Sunday of the US Open.

As someone else mentioned, think about all the hacks that these skilled golfers have played with throughout their golf careers... you are likely not even in the bottom 50%. Keep pace and the wont even notice. I'd also recommend teeing it forward. Nobody will respect you any less dude, it's golf.

I'm no swing coach but it looks like she takes the club pretty far behind her body and creates a tremendous amount of torque just to be able to hit the ball even 200 yards. She keeps this swing up and her body matures she'll have the distance to play with the boys on a regular basis. And think of the short game that you gotta have to be scoring like that with such a short tee ball. It's straight up scary. I don't watch women's golf but I'll definitely be tuning in to watch her play.

Best place to start IMO is your state's golf association. For example, I'm a wisconsin resident and if you check their website WSGA.org you'll see a tournament schedule that has a bunch of events for both gross and net types. There's also the USGA events that you can play (assuming you have the proper handicap credentials). Finally, check the local courses in your area, there's a lot of tournaments to be found on the bulletin boards near the pro shop/locker rooms of most places.

Agreed with the above that you should play the junior tournaments that your schedule will allow to build up some competitive golf experience. Do you play on a high school team? I took up golf seriously at 14 and couldn't break 100. By 18 I was headed to play college golf with a plus handicap. It takes a ton of dedication and, even if you don't make the "tour", you're going to acquire some seriously valuable skills along the way. The best piece of advice I can give you: Get a job at a quality golf course. Some place where you can get to know the pro and the skilled players that are members there. Find a place that will let you hit balls until you fall over dead and play/practice before and after work. If you have financial means, I guess you could just join such a course, but believe me, waiting and working that 8 hour shift in the morning will build up a good amount of hunger and dedication for your practice session and round in the afternoon. Others: -make sure you're playing the proper equipment. Get fitted for your clubs. Learn all you can about clubs and how they work. A quality pro shop job could help you learn how to regrip and take care of your owns sticks. -Find a fitness routine. If you really want to make it "big", you need to be in shape. Few guys out on the tour arent in tip top physical conditioning. - Balance: Golf is not your life, even though at times it will seem like it. Play an additional sport such as basketball that requires different physical movements than golf does. It will help your body develop and can break up the monotony of playing the same sport year-round. --Given your current skill level, you are likely too old to play college golf for a major D1 program. Top programs recruit kids that are top junior players from a young age on up until they are ready for college. There is NOTHING wrong with this fact at all, plenty of golfers have either played for a smaller school or not played at all. By the time you are 18 you might be a great, great player and the fact that you will feel slighted/overlooked will only fuel you to hit those extra shots on the range or make an extra 20 5-footers before you call it a day. -On that last point, learn HOW to practice. My coach always said to "practice with a purpose"... aim at the flags on the range. Practice all kinds of shots. Make X number of putts from a certain distance before moving on. Practice putting pressure on yourself. Drop 10 balls around a practice green in all types of distances and lies. How many of the 10 can you get up and down? Lastly, enjoy yourself. Golf is a game but it also a life skill. Be proud of the progress you make. You are young and you have the opportunity do something that money cannot buy: to make a future for yourself in this wonderful game. Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.

I played two rounds with Bronson La'Cassie when I was trying to make the University of Minnesota golf team. Bronson won a Web.com tour event this year and has his 2014 PGA tour card locked up. http://www.pgatour.com/players/player.26956.bronson-la-cassie.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronson_La'Cassie If you see him on the leaderboard next year, root for him, awesome guy.

If you're a 15 handicapper you might be better suited for something else IMO. If you're set on a 913, definitely get the larger, more forgiving D2. I'm a 4 handicapper who went to a D2 earlier this year. I'm a high ball hitter so I have a 8.5 degree driver that is surefit down to 7.75 and the heavy mitsubishi shaft (black w/ the flowers in photos). What are you trying to achieve by making the switch? What is your current ballflight shape? Do you want to launch it higher or lower? Work it left or right? There's a reason why other brands are much more popular than Titleist for higher handicappers like yourself, but hit a simulator or a launch monitor and get tinkering. Good luck!

I played 4 years of high school golf and then a year of golf in college. My first swing in a golf meet in high school the ball moved exactly zero inches. Completely whiffed. I shot like 54 that day on a real easy course. By the time my senior year rolled around I had become one of the top players in the area. The progress I made and the life skills I learned along the way are two things that I am proud of. Go try out, kid, you're in for a long and rewarding journey in the game of golf!

Hey all, first post. I feel pretty qualified to answer this question. I quit golf in 2005 after playing competitively thru my freshman year of college. I took it up again this year and have been completely re-hooked on the game. Anyway, all of my clubs were roughly 8 years old including playing a Taylor Made R5 Dual 9.5* with a 65 gram aldila NVS shaft. I switched to a Titleist 913 D2 *8.5 with mitsubishi rayon 75 gram shaft. I am a legitimate 30 yards longer with the new technology and my ballfight has improved significantly (far more boring, I hit most shots very high). Just my two cents, but hit a simulator and see what is out there. Pay attention to ball speed and launch angles and then compare them to your current R5, you might be surprised.