SpacklersEdge

I can't answer that, but I would like to know about offsets as well. If you are playing GI irons with a lot of offset (Taylormade RAC OS) and you improve your swing, stop coming over the top etc. Will it cause you to hit shots left? And would it then be advantageous to move to clubs with less offset? Not trying to jack your thread, just consolidating instead of starting a new one.

Not sure how close to Chicago you need them to be...but Chalet Hills in Cary is excellent, as well as Blackstone in Marengo. Foxford Hills in Cary is also very nice. Last I like Whisper Creek in Huntley, it's in Sun City and about a 1/4 mile off of 90.

Well, don't get me wrong, if I were getting boxes and boxes of ProV's for free, I would be changing every single hole. I play ProV's but I would never take it out of play if it still looked good, just because I had hit it a bunch of times. I have never noticed a loss of feel for as long as I have played a ball.

Are you sure about that? You are telling me a ball's performance is degraded after roughly 3 rounds of golf? That would be less than 100 hard shots, taking out chips and putts. I think I read someplace that the modern ball can be hit 100's of times over and not lose the shape or bounce of it.

I saw those as well, which is why I am trying to understand what is going on. We all know Lorena and Bubba have the "correct" shafts.

No offense sam004, but whoever made this list is not very smart, or has not played a lot of courses. They don't list half the nice courses I have played, but they do list others I have played which are terrible. Case in point, Fox Lake CC. Nice place to start, but the list seems pretty incomplete to me.

It seems the discussion in the swing check comments was about the shaft flex in the pictures included. I had never seen anything like that before really. What I am wondering is this, is his shaft really bending forward like that? Or is it some illusion from the photo taking process. It seems impossible that the shaft is actually flexing towards the ball unless he has the strongest forearms in the world, while at the same time decelerating his hands. What I could not understand from the article was if the author was saying he had too much flex in general, and if the pictures should show that OR if he was saying the flex was so bad that he was making it bend the way it actually appears to, TOWARD the ball.

Not sure how far you want to go? White Deer Run and Pine Meadow are top notch, but pricey. Stonewall Orchard in Gurnee is awesome, holds the US Open qualifier.

Anyone else read this? He shoots a 77 with a 4-wood for fun? I really wish this guy could win a tourney or two, sounds like he is being held back a bit by ADD. Regardless, interesting read, I feel his pain about a long round. I usually play alone and zing around, when I get in a weekend foursome I sometimes want to stab myself in the eye with a fork instead of wait any longer.

There are plenty of courses in the Rolling Knolls area I would rather play, and I CAN play for 25 or less, some with a cart and some without. If either of the guys who got stuck playing that cow pasture are interested, send me a PM and I can give you my list.

Agreed. I used to use more clubs, but now I use only a 52 and a 60. Using only these two, I think I could hit it the same as someone who uses more, simply by changing stance position, and opening the club up. I can make the 52 roll like a PW, or I can spin it and stop it quicker. I think it has really helped me more to use less clubs and actually learn how to USE each one.

To elaborate on this, I think it is very important to first think about the trajectory. When you are chipping for practice, typically most people pick a flag and hit a bunch of balls in a row to that flag. By the time you get to the tenth, I bet your hugging the stick. But in real golf on the course, each chip is "new". So what I like to do is to simultaneously think about where I want to land it, and ALSO how high or low I want it to be before it hits my spot. By using two clubs, with varying tweaks to opening the face, I can produce a large variety of shots with different angles, different amounts or spin etc.

Say what you will, but I think this whole thread is a bit silly. I mean talk about nitpicking. I could care less if he drops the F-bomb. Obviously he is frustrated since he knows he can do much better. I can think of 100 examples in most majors sports worse than club slam after a swing...

Kind of a sidenote here, but does anyone else think the coverage of this Open sucks? I think part of it is the course, it seems none of the holes have any identifiable character. It's like watching someone play the same hole over and over and over. On top of that, it's 2009 and we can't get an HD feed for the Open?!? And the cameramen on a course like this are in the worst places. Almost half the shots these guys hit, the change to another camerman for the landing and he never even finds the ball? So a guy swings and I end up looking at the green and have no clue where the ball went. As a disclaimer, I don't dislike links golf at all. But you watch something like the Masters, it seems to me the course has a ton more character, and I can envision where the player is and what they are facing. I miss the ProTracer. Or maybe they need a blimp. Where is the super slo-mo cam? (ranting now)

I used to play with my TM RAC OS 3-SW, and a cheap 60*. I bought a set of Cleveland CG 2dot wedges (52, 56, 60). They are all two dot wedges. However, the sand wedge has a lot more bounce, and in general a lot more "beef" on the undersole. I guess they make it that way for bunker shots? However, I hate it, it's hard to hit that club from a tight lie, or anything resembling a full swing for me since it's so different from the other clubs. It has 14* of bounce compared to 10* on the 52 and 60. I have grinder etc, how could I go about getting the 56* down to 10* as well. Are there tutorials on this?

What about shot height? I find that sometimes when I try to hit a draw, the ball comes out low, what I would consider to be too low.

To me, this is like saying, just use a really strong grip and you won't slice. Closing the club face delofts the club itself. So while you may end up hitting a draw, it won't be as high as it would be if the draw were caused by the swing path, and not the fact that the club is closed at impact. As was stated above, the fade will continue to be your bread and butter, but keep learning to hit a draw. It will cause you to have much more overall control.

I was going to post something similar to this the other day. Golflink sucks, there are hardly any reviews and they are all outdated. Could we start something here? Or is there a better site?

This sounds like you wrote my life story. I played golf on natural talent and ability until recently, and I always hit a fade. I got my HDCP down to a 12 and it hit a plateau. I started getting frustrated that I could never hit a draw. It's one thing to fade the ball as your normal shot, but there are always times when a draw would be more beneficial. I finally got some lessons, and after some time I can hit both shots when I need to. I used to be able to hit a draw when I wanted also, but not a high draw that starts out right like a push and comes back to center, more like a low draw in which I had to aim right to start a lot. It's not easy to correct this. I bet your swing would look a lot my old one. What is the position of your right (back) foot at impact? Did you used to play baseball? I will say this, when you get your swing "correct", or not over the top, you will surprised how far the ball goes when it feels like you are not swinging at all. I know exactly how you feel, but think about the physics. If you are coming over the top, lets saw your swing is 5-10 degrees off from the target line created by your feet at setup, that means you are losing some of the potential energy. When your swing plane brings the club in EXACTLY on the intended start line, you get 100%, so you can swing 10% less and still hit just as far, not to mention the extra roll-out you will get.

They did a segment with him about this on "Golf in America" on the Golf Channel, I am assuming you saw that one?

How are course ratings and slopes determined. I have been paying attention of course as I use them for determining my handicap. There is one course near me that is very easy, it's a brand new course with no trees, no water, no OB anywhere etc. This course plays to a 69.8/120 from the tips (6308 yards. So a score of 72 gets you about a 2.1 index for the round. Another course is a links style. I don't play tips here, but rather I play the second longest tees. This course has fescue all around on every hole. Much trickier greens, oddly shaped fairways, some are split forcing you to decide whether to lay up or not. Plenty of white staked OB on 7-8 of the holes, etc, etc. This course plays to a 71.8/128 from the tees I play (Par 71, 6589 yards). So a score of par gets you an index of -0.7. How are these ratings determined, and does anyone else see inconsistencies in the process? I can shoot a low 80's score on the first course time and time again, but on the second, I have trouble breaking 95. This seems mis-leading, if I were to play the easier course everyday, my handicap would be much lower. It seems the ratings are based solely on distance to me, or a much higher percentage weighted to that. If everyone could hit every shot straight, and distance was the only difference, the ratings would make more sense.

According to the Callaway site, you're playing a 44" shaft. My V-Steel has a 43". I think for sure you would lose some distance going to a shorter shaft, the question I can't answer for you is how much?

I have always been over the top, and played fades. This year I have worked very hard to flatten it out, and work on my weight transfer etc. I have gotten to the point where my swing it now hitting it straight most of the time, and I now have to "hold it off" to fade the ball, and if I think about turning it over a little more I can hit a draw with my medium to shorter clubs. What I am finding is that when I hit the draw, my distances are off. For instance tonight I hit a 9 from 135, normally my 135 club, and I tried to draw it, and the ball just seemed to jump off the club. It was still high, very high in fact and started at or a little right of my target line and drew a little left. It landed probably 140-145 and ended up off the back of the green. So for those of you who work the ball, do you factor in a distance difference with each club when playing a draw vs. a fade? Also are you able to stop the ball on the green as easily with a draw or do you expect it to land a little harder and run out more vs. when playing a fade? Last, I find it much more difficult to hit a draw with my driver, I almost can't do it still. Is this usually the case, if I do happen to hit a draw, I would call it more of a hook as it starts at or left of the target line and draw from there. Should I be able to start the ball right of the target line and draw it back to the target line?

They were talking about the groove change during the final few holes yesterday, and one of the commentators made a comment to the affect that "Tiger is one of the few guys not playing the deep U-grooves." HUH? Am I to believe that Tiger is playing with smaller grooves than most of the guys out there?

Right now I have some of the plastic zero friction tees. So, this is not related to breaking them, but I find that when I use them, they come out of the ground and end up about 8-10 feet behind me on the tee box. What does that tell you?