PJCdude

Was caught in the middle of a daisy patch on the edge of a bunker on 18 about 40 yds out from an elevated green. Hit that sucker to about 6 feet and made the putt for a 97....first round under 100 since early July. Could have easily seen myself taking 3 more strokes when I first saw that lie.

When I first started seriously playing 2 years ago it was probably a 5i but now it's a comfortable 7i. It's funny how I probably swing sooooo much easier now than I did then and am getting 20 more yards give or take throughout the bag.

I do SW for everything 55 and in unless I need to get over something and stop quick (LW) or if I'm in a bump and run situation (usually PW but I'll chip with irons if the situation calls for it.) I don't like using more than half swings with my SW but my GW I'll hit 55-100. I used to subscribe to the Pelz clock method but it was too mechanical with me. I like knowing those "tweener" yardages but then backswing to about a middle ground and use feel when I'm in between my tweeners if that makes sense.

A topped or fat strike: "Nice layup" A shot clearly into the woods: "I think it opens up over there"

I usually don't drink on the front, but do on the back. Here's my recent findings: If I'm playing decent on the front (48-52) usually 1 or 2 beers loosens me up and I play great on the back. If I'm playing bad on the front I usually drink more, go on tilt and my score suffers. I think my avg score on the front is better but I've found myself playing GREAT more often on the back than the front

I think it is what you want it to be. When I want to get in 9 holes after work and no one is available, of course I'll play by myself. Of course, it's no fun to make a birdie that no one else sees. Playing with someone else gives you an opportunity to watch someone else and view your game from a different perspective. As far as people being afraid of the social aspect taking away their concentration on the game, I don't really agree. I can't remember where I read this and I feel like I've seen it in multiple places, but staying totally mentally engaged for 4 hours is nearly impossible. You want to save that mental energy for your pre-shot routine and your swing. In between shots, having someone to BS with will probably HELP your game.

This weekend my fantasy football league (which has been around for over a decade) is having our draft in Atlantic City, NJ. 8 of us are going to be playing tomorrow before the draft. Most of us are hackers but a few guys played on the team in high school but play less nowadays. Even though this round is for shits and giggles, it's all friends of mine from back in the day, most of whom the last time I played with was when I was HORRIBLE. I'm really motivated to shoot a good score and show off how much I improved. Tomorrow is definitely my major even though no one else will probably take it as seriously as me lol. BTW in case anyone knows the area, we're playing at McCullough's Emerald Links. I've never played in AC but they had a decent deal and the course looks real nice.

PW-110 9i-125 8i-140 7i-150 6i-160 5h-170 4h-185 3h-200

I haven't played in 2 weeks and it will probably be another before I'm back on the course. My 1 year old accidently stepped on my balls. Ultrasound showed no significant damage but I've been advised to take it easy for a bit and I'm still in pain.

Good luck dude. If you don't mind me asking, what club in LI do you play at? I live in NYC now but grew up in St. James.

I'm Jekyll and Hyde with most areas of my game, but this season my most reliable has been my full wedges and irons on approach shots (90-160ish) I atribute a lot of this to REALLY knowing how far I hit the ball and making slight adjustments. Even when I over draw the ball or push it, it's usually pin high in the bunker, rough, woods etc

Thanks for the advice guys. And I used to use a 5s but now use an iPhone 6. Grip is one thing that has become a bad habit that's hard to break. Everything else I'm always trying to improve. Not sure why the grip is so tough to change. Good idea on narrowing the stance too.

It's been awhile. I've been trying to spend more time playing and less doing swing surgery. I felt like I made some big improvements on keys 1 and 2 thanks mainly to this site and just wanted to enjoy my better swing and save any more changes for the off-season. I dropped my HCP from 29 to 26 and was hoping to keep trending down, however the past two times out I swung the club like crap, with quite a few shanks. My playing partner suggested that I was getting too quick at the top, so I wanted to focus on my tempo. I never really think about it too much (which is funny because I'm a music teacher) but I messed around a little and started using my shift forward as a trigger. My only swing thought is to count 1...2...3 with a brief pause between numbers. 1 was for the shift forward, 2 for backswing, 3 for hit. I didn't think about previous advice in this thread so some things may have regressed a little. This swing thought helped my consistency TREMENDOUSLY though. Also, a sidenote, at the top of this thread I say I hit most of my well hit shots straight....that's a lie. At this point I can somewhat reliably hit a high slight draw. It might turn into a hook sometimes but for the MOST part that's my shot shape.

I teach in a middle school in the Bronx and this is totally true.

Have been doing good lately, only losing 1 or 2 each round (still haven't gotten the elusive ZERO) but got a BAD case of the shanks last Thursday and lost 6!!! My playing partner told me my tempo had gotten really quick and I need to get to the range and fix this pronto.

I hit 6 shanks and was mentally rattled.

Subscribing to GQ is douchier than all of those sports combined

Add a 107 to that list from today...... Back at it again on Thursday

Better. Handicap has dropped from 29 to 26 and I feel like I'll be able to knock a few more strokes off before summer is done. I didn't get out this year until April, but here are my rounds starting from April and going to now. Once Summer started and school let out I was able to focus much more on my game, more range time and able to relax and play a full 18 without trying to rush home. I think the data below will show that Summer starting was a big reason for improvement. 108 56 105 106 100 52 49 59 SCHOOL GETS OUT 101 91 102 91 46

OK THAT makes sense. I agree that precision with iron distance is more important but still it is tough to determine your "expected" iron shot if your average includes mishits.

So you're average roll is only 5 yards? You must hit it high. I've always heard that (pending conditions obviously) your average roll amount on driver is about 10 percent of carry if it lands in the fairway.

The first time I birdied a par 4 it was alone. Craziest part was that I made a putt that was literally 40-50 feet. Played the same hole with a friend two weeks ago (its a 290 par 4, wide fairway, slightly downhill so obvious birdie hole) and birdied it again, this time by sticking a partial gap wedge to about 5 feet

I'm sure this has happened to some of you guys but thought I'd share a funny little thing that happened yesterday. I was getting ready to hit my approach on a hole that I always seem to over-draw/hook into the right bunker. Now this is a pretty deep bunker, but more important than that, is that I've had some ugly past experiences with it and am mentally owned by it. So anyways, the flag is way right, just next to this bunker. Of course the smart play is to hit to the middle of the green and all, but subconsciously I KNOW the flag is right and I KNOW that I ALWAYS hit into it. I think "man I wish the flag was more left..." Just then, a maintenance guy tells me to hold up a sec, drives up, puts a new hole into the middle/left area of the green, moves the flag and waves me up. I must have done something good this week! Long-story short, I end up a few feet over the green but get up and down for a par. Thanks Golf Gods/Maintenance Dude.

In fact, it's cold as hell

So I only ended up playing Assateague Greens by myself this morning. None of the other guys wanted to play and wifey wouldn't be happy at me playing 18 by myself while she watched the little guy. Greens could have been in a little better condition, but I liked the course overall. I carded a 40 which is actually exactly playing to my handicap (+13) but I felt like I played terrible. 4 pars, 1 bogey and 4 TRIPLES!!! 3 of those holes include penalty strokes. On the flip side, I didn't warm up AT ALL and was just glad to get out. I hit a lot of good shots and just enough bad shots to keep me on my toes next time I go out (which hopefully will be Thursday)