Feanor

I used the Nicotrol inhaler. Its a little pricey (200 for 168 cartridges) and I only used about half the cartridges it comes with. But they work real well once you get used to how it feels. You dont have a constant buzz, and you only use it whenever you would normally smoke a cig (or like me for the first two weeks, almost at every minute during the day). I still carry it around in case I get an urge but, it works like a charm. I even started playing hockey again thanks to the extra wind I have!

The best ball I ever played, they no longer make. They were the Hogan Hawks. The longest ball I've hit, felt GREAT off the clubs. Stopped dead on the greens. Sadly I have one dozen left and i dont even want to play with them for fear of losing any =/

I can tell you the route I took over the last 3 years. First off I picked up the hogan book and read through it twice with a club in hand. I used my fathers hand me downs for 3 months. Bought a $300 complete set of Makser's from my old golf coach to learn on. Played the rest of the season with those (about 4-5 more months). I then started the next season with about 5 hours of lessons with those sticks, before the stimulus check came, and i said "Wow, 1200! Taylormades here I come!" And I demo'd the irons I have today, and loved them. I had them custom fit for me (+3* lie angle, standard length, stiff steel shafts) and took about 4 more hours of lessons with them. By the end of last season I could have been hitting in the High 80's if I wasnt such a shoddy putter. This route worked for me, but like I said, the money just happened to be there, but usually people have a budget, so work with what you have, and plan ahead. NEVER impulse buy.

I've taken her to the local pitch and putt, she has a blast but gets frustrated on the longer holes because she cant swing for anything. So that's why we're doing this this summer. And we're splitting the cost, 150 me 150 her and i pay for her lessons.

well she has almost no club speed and i figured the lady flex would help her get the ball to go anywhere. I am no expert, especially not in clubs for women, hence coming here for help. But when i was learning I used any hand me downs my dad had for me, which were hand me downs when he got them (aries ram from 89 i think?). After 3 years i invested in my own set custom fit for me, I sort of thought i should do the same for her, or at least an inexpensive ladies standard set. Do you really think a custom fit set for her could fall into the 300 dollar budget?

I'm looking to buy a beginners golf set for my girlfriend, something that she can learn on and be happy taking to the course for a number of years. She will be taking lessons this summer with these clubs. I have a budget of about 250-300 for the set, graphite lady flex shafts probably. I was looking at the lynx set on golfsmith and I was just curious if anyone had a better suggestion, or had any used clubs they might be selling that fit this description.

I have not had this situation happen to me, in fact, I think you may want to seek instruction elsewhere. Tiger woods continually gets coaching from hank haney and they work on his swing constantly. Hank always has input to give the best player in the world, not to knock you but, how could an instructor not have anything to offer you? Im no 3 handicapper, but when i take my lessons there is ALWAYS something my instructor has to offer, even if I am hitting the ball perfect for that day he will always want to work on something. For example, on my 5th lesson, i was hitting the ball great, i had developed a draw, and i was hitting every club exactly how I and he wanted me to. But he chimed in and decided that day he wanted to work on my short game, and tempo, and for an hour we did, him giving me input and changing little things all throughout my swing. Again like i said, i'm sure im no where near as good as you but, unless your on the tour winning 50% of the time, there should always be something an instructor can help you work on.

When i spoke of feel, what i meant was i had inconsistencies using the hogan system in how I was setting up and how i was striking the ball. The advice I recieved from the local pro I take my lessons was another system which he uses and teaches. It was awkward at first but I found in the long run it made me more consistant in my ball striking and ball positioning, not that I ignored any advice or went back to an old system because anything I have been taught didnt feel right. Sorry if there was any confusion. Bottom line how I take advice from my pro. He's a scratch golfer, if hes telling me I'm doing something wrong, I am, I do it his way until it comes natural and I see big change. Any advice from someone who teaches golf for a living and has decades of experience is better than anything that might feel better to me.

For some reason, maybe it was in my head, I just had trouble with getting a consistant FEEL. It may have been in my head, either way it just didnt feel right for me, whereas the system me and my instructor came up with, simply works for me, and feels right. With the hogan system, looking down at the ball i just felt as if each time were different, while with the system i explained, i feel like the balls in the same place, my feet are set in the same place and everythings good. Like i said could just be that i am a headcase .

I had trouble with this even after reading the hogan book and using his method. I just found it never gave me a constant for ball position. I took some lessons last year and me and my instructor came up with a way that works for me. The clubs themselves tell you where to position the ball. This is how we do it. When i grip the club, and place the clubhead properly down on the ground (meaning its resting on the angle it should be at impact) the shaft will be forward of the clubhead (less so for driver, much moreso for wedges). I then place my hands by my left leg (I'm a righty). And so the club is now actually dictating to me where the ball should be set. And every club i hold, the grip is right in front of my left leg, but the ball position goes back and back as the loft of the club goes up and up. This gave me a constant that works for me. Hope this helps

Ive played those already and we're looking to travel to some. Westchester is only about an hour away at most and would love to check out courses near there. Whats worth playing up there? Long island? i'm trying to compile a nice list of courses to check out

I'm just wondering what courses in the NYC area are worth playing. I'm talking anything within a 1 - 1 1/2 hour drive from Brooklyn. Basically looking for stuff that falls within the price range of $14-$40 without cart, decently maintained, challenging as heavenly possible within these ranges, public, and a good place for me to play with my father (usually shoots around 115 or higher) where we wont be heckled by people who think they are the next tiger woods. More expensive is worth listing, but basically we're looking for inexpensive courses to play outside the NYC courses (dyker, silver lakes, south shore, la tourette, etc). But we don't want to sacrifice for a course thats very poorly kept. (i hate losing balls in the rough because of weeds and white flowers). I'm relatively new to the game and looking for any courses worth mentioning in the area if anyone knows of any, trying to compile a list of courses to play with my old man =D

I went upstate to meet a friend for a round of 18 today and he took me too a course he hadn't even played yet. Dinsmore golf course in hyde park, NY (dutchess county i believe). I really enjoyed this course. Difficulty wise the front nine are short and easy. The back nine its like the course played a trick on you and suddenly you're missing pars and bogeys and hitting doubles and triples. It was fun, gorgeous scenery, decent condition (could use a mow all around and better kept rough. I found myself losing tee-shots where i saw where they went, just into the rough but there were weeds and stuff in certain places) but overall good time, worth a trip if your nearby, but not something to make a long trek too.

I bought my new set of irons and wedges 4-pw (TM tour burner irons and z groove 52, bent to 51, and 56) from my local range and instructor, custom fit, about 780 total. And i owe it all to the government stimulus check =D. IMO the right irons for you are ones you like to hit, feel good, and fit inside your budget. Don't listen to brand names or hype, just go out and hit them and see which in your budget range feel good, and it sounds like thats what you did, congrats on the new set!

Know what i hate? when i first started hitting greens on approach shots, tee shots on par threes, i would get to the green all happy and looking for my ball mark with my divot tool in my hand, and much to my chagrin, i couldn't figure out which one was mine amongst the 6 others in the area. So i just start fixing them all lol. I think a lot of new players when they start hitting greens actually enjoy fixing their ball marks. I can relate to this because I've only been playing a year. I live in NYC and play crowded public courses where the faster the better, so a lot of the etiquette on when to shoot or get ready for your approach goes out the window with playing "ready golf." So a lot of you guys facing this situation might be playing with some city boys who are used to being hustled along by the marshal. I have had people politely tell me when i do something wrong and i didn't take it to heart and anyone who is seriously trying to learn the game, wont be offended as long as your not a douche about it. I remember my second time on the course i stepped too close to the cup and this guy freaked on me like he was my father and so it turned into a big screaming match between us which is bad for everyone.