allin

To play even halfway decent golf you must be able to recover from green side bunkers. A SW makes it much easier. As you improve it is a valuable chipping and pitching club. LW can be added after you are decent with the SW. LW requires extra practice time and beginning golfers usually have so many areas needing attention that extra time is probably not justified. By the time you are skilled enough for a LW you will have a good idea what your wedge preferences are and want something different anyway.

At tour level the mental component often separates the men from the boys, especially in majors. Sergio, Westwood, and maybe Hunter Mahan are all guys with superior physical talent whose nerves, especially when putting, seem to fail them. I don't think any of these three will ever win a major.

Me too, carry extras in hot or inclement weather and change them when needed.

While I agree with the previous posters it would be fairly simple to make your own stimpmeter. It based on rolling a ball from the correct height down a ramp at the correct angle. My guess would be that a web search for that for that former USGA technical director Frank Hannigan? I think he sells a putter called the frog? He popularized the stimpmeter.

S[quote name="Uber$winG" url="/t/57533/would-you-rather#post_705093"] [SIZE=14px][FONT=calibri]When I am working on the pure mechanics of my swing, I prefer to hit off a mat. When I am working on making shots, I prefer to hit off grass.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=14px] [/SIZE] [SIZE=14px][FONT=calibri]I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t take advantage of both options. [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=14px] [/SIZE] [SIZE=14px][FONT=calibri]For the mat, you could work on both basic and acquired motion drills before going onto the full swing, and not have to worry about pissing through a bucket of balls before moving onto the full swing.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=14px] [/SIZE] [SIZE=14px][FONT=calibri]You could work on the mat for two days, and then spend a day on the grass to see how practice is paying off.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=14px] [/SIZE] [SIZE=14px][FONT=calibri]What I am trying to say is that you might be better served by practicing on the mats, and then playing off the grass.[/FONT][/SIZE] [/quote] I see it this way also. I have a range pass and vary my practice based on my emphasis for that bucket. Partly it is courtesy as the grass area gets torn up. I can vary alignment and ball position while level tee height constant, for the driver . Since less changes I can hit balls a bit more quickly when pressed for time as well.

I thought I would add that many courses place the fairway bunkers so that they are about a 240-250 yard carry from the back and 210-220 from the white tees. This means that they don't challenge better players but average players are in them all the time. Especially on long par 4s or short par 5s they should be 275 or more to carry from the back. This means that the difference in front to back tees needs to have a greater spread. My home course has two par 5s that are 540 from the back tees and 500-510 from the white. Realistically the middle tees should be that distance and the front tees about 480. The ladies tees are at about 440-450. Most of the women I have played with usually have a 5 or 6 iron for their third shot, after two full shots, I lay up and hit a wedge. No wonder more women don't play.

I play them most of the time. I suspect, except for in the fall, finding them in the rough is tougher because you have trained yourself to the contrast white makes. After all who hasn't been distracted by receipts, gum wrappers, floating out there. They are definitely easier to see in the air on cloudy days and near dusk. I think part of why I like them is because I wear prescription sunglasses and the tint dulls the white more than the yellow. So the color of tint you choose might make a difference. I bet the green tint doesn't work as well as grey or brown with yellow balls.

I think many courses in the last 15 -20 years have been built as housing developments or for resorts where the real goal was to provide as many lots for condos and houses as possible. Golf playability for average golfers and maintenance was a low priority. This results in very expensive golf courses that average golfers don't enjoy. The other reasons are ego and word of mouth advertising. When people ask for a recommendation they tend to ask better golfers who love challenging courses. This even impacts league and outing decisions, charity events etc. Ego comes in to play because everyone wants to be connected with building a course that can be described as an elite championship course. The problem is very few areas need more than one or at the most two high end courses. So the new course takes rounds or members from an existing course or both often struggle.

It is interesting to note the change in the number of really good players using a long or belly putter since this thread started. There was a period after Bruce Litzke quit playing well when there really weren't any top players outside the senior tours using a long putter. Now there are several. I attribute it in part to players going to it at a much younger age, Keegan Bradley for example. There is still not a player I would say is an elite putter using one but the gap is much smaller.

Shindig I couldn't get the quote to pick up your question. Blade size accounts for much of the feel advantage in players clubs, also a smaller club rotates marginally quicker, allows hands and feel to be a bigger part of trouble shots and of course bad lies. . Maybe not as big a deal as it once was but the best players are sensitive to even small differences.

The issue is appropriate, yes it's an appropriate risk for a low handicap or pro, but for average golfers this is excessive. If the course is only for play by low handicap or pros fine. These responses demonstrates why average golfers are fleeing the game. For average golfers an iron shot hitting the green and staying on is a good shot. They normally still face longer putts than better golfers, this is excessive.

I think rejecting feel because it is often inaccurate in technical terms is a big mistake. Feel is an excellent way to make small adjustments and I believe enhances creativity. Yes it relies on trial and error and may take longer to identify, but when a feel is found it often is ingrained much more quickly.

If you like hazards between you and the hole when putting stick to putt-putt. Almost every shot should have an appropriate risk reward element. Forcing you to chip when on the green, you can putt through fringe, doesn't pass this test, especially when the trap is in the middle of the green.

I wish which shot would you be more willing to try was part of the answer. As a mid handicap golfer I would not hesitate to try Bubba's shot but I would really have to think about Phil's. Of course that addresses decision making not shot difficulty, but I think that's an indication that the mental component is a bigger part of why Phil's shot was so difficult.

I didn't identify my friend because it tends to invite OT posts, either about their career, or those who know bigger celebrities and want to have the topper. If I posted about my deceased father or non celebrity friends would you want their names also.? I was just identifying where my perspective originated, and my potential bias because of that friendship.

Two comments, one the steps counting, breathing relaxation techniques are drawn from meditation and self hypnosis practitioners. If you like them those are the places additional information may be found. My second comment is that consciously trying to slow down the transition is tough for most who take up golf as adults. I would try to shift my attention to how your downswing is triggered. Focus on starting your legs, pulling your left side, feeling a pull in the back of your left hand, (for right handers). If you combine one of these feels with keeping an even tempo it may help.

Of course, being a celebrity can have a high cost especially with cell phones and internet. Besides golf responsibilities everyone has family or other personal issues. These guys are on duty any time they are in public. I had a friend, now deceased, who was a famous singer songwriter. When not performing he was quiet and shy. Touring was really tough because unless he stayed in his hotel if he was seen anywhere and recognized someone would call a local radio station and he would quickly have up to 50 people, most of whom meant well, wanting a small bit of his time. If you have guards and such it draws attention and in some ways makes it worse, people react negatively to them.

My inability to relax and execute up to my skill and ability level. My confidence is fragile and if I hit a couple poor shots I tense up, hit a couple more bad shots become frustrated and to often completely lose my game. As a result I often play like a high handicap player than the 12-13 handicap on my card.

My favorite is the posters who state their drives are 285-300 but only hit a pw 110 etc. I only hit my driver 235, but my pw is 105-110. If you hit a difficult club 300 and an easy to hit club 110 which one is the one you're mistaken about?

How about the drunk guy who got arrested for taking some bunker sand?

Three reasons. 1. Workability, high, low, left, right is harder with SGI, especially with modern balls. Partially this is a function of blade size not just design. CB vs. MB. 2. Pros irons are often created from scratch and only appear to resemble models sold to the public. Even those playing manufacturer models will frequently have. different offset, grind, bounce, than models sold to the public. It is a myth that your irons are identical to the ones most pros play. 3. Many pros do carry one or two SGI clubs, most commonly long irons, especially if they are low ball hitters or below tour average distance.

I voted Phil's, I just feel it was the more intimidating shot. Both players knew the tournament was probably going to be decided on the result. The spin and curve on Bobba's shot was unreal. As long as. Bubba's shot escaped the woods he had a shot for par, bogey was his worst probable result. If. Phil missed double oreven triple bogey was possible.

It seems like individual definitions of what is exciting vary a bit. Do you get excited when a difficult shot is well executed under pressure especially on the big stage, like the majors? Others value pure creativity more and the stage is less important. I would belong to the second group and picked Seve.

This is me. I have a bad back, hip, and was never long. I am normally around a 13-14 handicap, but am good with a lob wedge. Posters stating that mid handicap. Golfers should never use a lob wedge really should reflect on why golfers are mid handicap. Mids usually have some skills but also weak areas. The lob wedge is not any more difficult to hit than a sandwedge . If you over use your hands or arms or fail to turn properly the LW will bite you. If you can't hit a LW properly it is unlikely you hit a SW properly. Opening up a LW can allow you to make some incredible saves when up close and unable to swing hard enough to generate much spin, like SW devotees prefer but even more so.

Besides tradition the forces behind majors are money, where the best players come from and a large number of golfers. Asia is the area most likely to combine these elements in the future. If a large number of Asian pros are in the top 50 and 3 or 4 are top 10 for an extended period then their travel and playing preferences affect what happens. Right now tradition, USA money, number of participating golfers, number of top pros from the USA and other English speaking countries, travel and weather all favor the status quo. Eventually Asia may develop a tournament that replaces the PGA as the fourth major. My guess is that 20 years or more is a likely time frame.