Mithrandir

Steak and Shake for ne.

Just found this thread and i thought i'd chime in. The league i play in is a "friendly" league. That is, putts are routinely given, balls are fluffed, balls hit OB from the tee are dropped near where your ball went OB and you are hitting 3, etc.. So it's impossible to play "strictly" by the rules. I agree that the rules are there to ensure proper play and proper scoring when that is necessary. Within a league where all the members "break" the same rules, who cares, it's for fun!!

Putting by far. i bet two years ago i averaged 20-22 putts for 9 holes. this year around 16-18 putts for 9 holes

i used to lose my cool quite often. But a few years ago i realized that if you hit one bad shot, that's all it is, ONE BAD SHOT. move on to the next one. it's not really as hard as you might think to just move on. Example: i was playing pretty good last Friday. On hole number 16 i hit a drive that faded right under a tree..low hanging limbs force me to hit a 4 -iron like a worm-burner. did ok with that shot. was left with a pitch over a bunker to a flag on the extreme short side (about 8 feet past the bunker and about 3 feet on the green) so what do i do? of course i hit it too easy and right into the bunker. i could have gotten steamed, but went into the bunker hit a really good shot to about 18 inches from the hole, made the putt for my bogey. i hit two really poor shots but "salvaged" a bogey and saved my round.

but we all know that more important then the long game or the short game is the "mental" game Given that, if you hit poor tee shots and keep your head about you, you can still have a decent round. But if you miss too many putts and keep your head about you, you probably will not have a decent round. So my vote goes to the short game being more important for most golfers on most courses on most days.

My round in my league Friday night was proof (at least this round) that the short game and putting were far more important than driving the ball. I hit 1 fairway out of 7. I hit two drives underneath trees. I popped up one drive and it went about 100 yards. and i hit 1 drive out of bounds. My score: 38 i had a total of 10 putts for 9 holes.

Last Friday in my league on the easiest of the four 9-hole courses for the league. My opponent shot a 45 and with his 15 handicap had a net 30. I have a 6-handicap so i had to shoot par to win (par 35). I played a great round for 8 1/2 holes :) After 8 holes i had 32, so if i birdied number 9 i would win and a par would get me a tie. I hit a good drive, my 7 iron to the green was on, but about 35 feet away. So i was just really trying to lag up for at least the tie. Well i proceeded to hit the worst putt of the year (not just the round) and ended up about 12 feet below the hole. i needed to make this putt to still tie and was determined not to leave it short. I pushed it and it went about 3 feet past the hole. Missed that putt coming back (no surprise there as i was deflated) so i 4-putted number 9 for a 38. one of my best rounds ever.

what i mean is this: in my league my handicap is 6 for all of the four nine hole courses we play. So when someone asks my handicap do i reply 6 or 12?

When posters mention their handicaps is it for 9 holes or 18 holes? thanks.

Man i hope Mother Nature is kind this weekend. Friday - league 9 holes Saturday - league mid-season tourney - 18 holes (i have won this the last 2 years Sunday - 18 holes with 3 friends 45 holes of golf!! please don't rain :)

by "it" i mean your golf swing/game. Newbie here. I have been golfing since roughly 1981. By golfing i mean i had a mediocre swing that lead to fades/slices and not much distance. I was never real serious about the game, just played when i had the time. In 2006 I decided to join a golf league. Well after using the same old mediocre swing the first year i made the decision that i wanted to get better. Long story short, in the last few weeks my swing changes have began to make a real difference in my game. Longer shots, straighter shots, less duffed shots, and better putting. One example is the 9th hole of my round last Friday in my league. I usually am hitting a 5 or 6 iron into the green after a weak drive. Well i was hitting a 9 iron into that green last Friday after a great drive. Of course I still have a ways to go but i finally have a pretty good swing on which to base my game. My handicap has gone from an 11 to a 6 (nine holes) since i started in the league. Great site!!

go to your local library and check out the golf section. it's free. and many libraries will get you books from other libraries if they don't have what you want. again, for free. i am a librarian so i know this :) and it's free!!

http://www.cedarbrookgolfcourse.com/

things that make me happy with my round: 1. minimum number of wasted shots (chunks, OB, etc) 2. improving my game by hitting the ball better and putting better i don't really look at my score as a barometer of my enjoyment with a round, because i can always find a stroke or two or three that should have been better.