RH31

Yes. Some people never get it. There was a very nice guy at our old CC who tried and tried. Took lesson after lesson from our very competent and compassionate pro. The guy really wanted to be a golfer, heck he lived adjacent to the clubhouse! Finally one day the pro said "xxxxx, the best advice I can give you is take 2 weeks off and quit. You will never be a golfer." So, the guy would just come over and have drinks with us after we played. He never picked up a club again. I'd suspect many many many people try to take up golf and get frustrated with the difficulty and give up. Nothing to be ashamed of, it's the hardest game by far!

'50's with a light wind, mid 40's if there's no wind. Under armor, fleece and wind shirt is my max clothing wise. I won't play once it gets too wet this time of year either. Pulling balls out of muddy plugs gets old. If I'm battling the elements too much, I'm not really playing golf anyway, just kind of bunting it around.

I've battled the "can't get to my left side" thing forever. It can be kind of tough to get your weight there when the stabbing pain(ankle) is a result. That said, you can find ways to get your weight forward and ease some pain. I'll flare my left foot out and open my stance, but keep my shoulders square to the line. Basically starting with the left hip already out of the way pointing left of the target and swinging down the line. The ball will fade a little. Good luck!

I thought his swing looked good, smooth and relaxed, compared to when he really went after it. -4 through 8 holes then +5 the last 10 holes....chalk that up to tournament rust It will be interesting to see how much patience Tiger has with himself. He may have to play a lot of mediocre golf before his best game shows up. I'd like to see him play well and push the younger players, see how they hold up against some Tiger pressure.

I have enough clearance to swing a 5 iron in my basement. Over the years I've had a few different nets or tarps set up. I've always wanted to be able to break down the net and set it up outside so I could hit drivers. The store bought net assemblies that I bought were a PITA to set up once much less break down and redo. I'm thinking of just making my own frame from 1" pvc and buying some cheap net online. As long as I don't glue the fittings, I can adjust as necessary.

Taking the time to setup and record my swing would be #1. Doubting that I'd be able to make enough improvement to make it all worthwhile would be #2.

Fairway wood layup would be the most likely chance of success for me. If the putt was breaking right to left I would've chosen that.

If I was just starting, I would ask potential teachers to lay out their lesson packages plans for me in advance. I would ask for them to layout a corresponding practice schedule that works with their lesson plan. I would ask, based on these plans, how good could I potentially get? You might find that reaching or coming to close to your potential requires a lot more practice time than you can commit to. Waaay back when I started getting serious about getting better at golf, an instructor told me that to reach my potential, I needed to swing a club every day. I mean make good meaningful swings every single day. I had a net in my garage and lived walking distance from the course and I still didn't do it every day, it's harder than you might think.

The "give up" round might not be one of the ten best, but it might kick out one of the ten best, or even the best score. So score #11 is obviously higher and the handicap goes up. When guys get on good runs and post multiple low scores in a row, handicaps dip, then if they um....falter... and post multiple bad rounds later up go the handicaps. We have a guy at our club whose handicap fluctuates wildly from 3 to 8 throughout the season.

When I first started playing(the '80's), that's exactly how it was. We turned in our card to the pro shop and they entered our scores. The only way players could adjust back then was to dump shots on the course or "forget" to turn in their card. Now anybody can enter a score from practically anywhere. The pro shop at my course entertains the gripes back and forth a little bit, but really has no control over handicaps in the long run. Handicap cheating and the associated griping are some of the most distasteful things to me about the game of golf at the club level.

70-80 rounds. I played a lot in March and April this year before the handicap season. Only a few sporadic rounds left for me this year. I'm probably down 25% or so from last year.

Ha! We never have anybody volunteer to play at a lower handicap. Sometimes, players do get cut a shot or two by the handicap chairman. Sometimes, we play off of the trending handicaps as well. The constant bickering, bitching, cheating on handicaps that my group goes through is a real pain in the ass!

Putting is the best part of my game. 9 out of 10 rounds it will be what I'm the best at that day. That said, I enjoy ball striking much much more. There's is nothing like hitting that big drive that is shaped peferctly for the hole or knocking down a little 8 iron to gimme range or hitting a par 5 in two with a chance for eagle.... Ball striking is far and away my favorite part of golf!!! I've had days like that too. I feel great making the putts but then I feel sick when I analyze how crappy my ball striking was!!!

My home course does this all the time. They cut pins just past false fronts. You have to play your approach or pitch/chip past the flag, then if you putt it 1.5 - 2 feet past your ball ends up back in the fairway....not fun. The justify this saying since its a shorter course, pin placement protects par.

I guess it's fairly important to me. I think I can break 80 just about every time I tee it up so in that sense it's important.

Nice job. Congrats!

The best short game advice I could give would be to learn how to use the bounce on your sand wedge. Really focus on being the best you can be with this club around the greens before you move on to using various clubs. Learn how to hit it high, low and in between. Practice from every lie imaginable, from almost too good to impossibly buried. Master this club as best you can then move on to the less lofted options. As far as lessons go, all the short game lessons I've ever gotten were simply the pro teaching his or her method and they were all different. Not a single pro addressed the proper way to use/engage the bounce of my sand wedge. Heck one pro's lesson was to simply focus on where I wanted to land the ball, that's it. If you do take lesson's I hope you have more luck with it than I did. If I had it to do over, I would ask specifically for the pro to teach me how to pitch the ball effectively onto the green from different lies.

You putted very well from long range. Depending on how much break there was, I would've been disappointed to not hole 2 or 3 of those putts inside 15 feet. Some days is just hard to match up the line and the speed, other days it seems almost everything goes in. Now if you're misreading or consistently short or off your line, then you need to work on it. For me, I probably hit good putts on 14-15 holes on a good putting day. I consider it a good putt if I match my intended speed and line. Obviously, all good putts don't go in.

Just because he's been physically able to chip/pitch doesn't mean he's been doing it well. My guess is he had a bad day or two around the greens and doesn't want to relive that nightmare again at a tournament.

Put 2 balls on the green or carpet 3 feet apart. Putt one ball into the other. When you make dead center contact ball to ball, that is your perfect stroke. If you contact the other ball off center either way its still a good putt. Miss the ball on either side and its a pull or push. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that. Now fiddle with your ball position and setup until you can hit ball to ball putts at a high percentage. Over the years I've figured out what my own keys and tendencies are by using this putting drill. For me..... sole the putter lightly. If I lay it on the ground, I tend to snatch it away when I start my stroke. Keep my hands even or slightly ahead of the ball at address. I tend to let my hands creep back which adds loft to my putter, a real no-no that leads to slight mis hits Good luck

I disagree. It's golf, its supposed to be a gentleman's game. There is no physical contact between players like hockey. Hockey is a tough, loud, physical sport and the normal atmosphere is chaotic. Golf is a game, that is typically played under quiet conditions. There is no reason a pro golfer should have to be more thick skinned just because some so called fans can't control themselves.

I think that's the most golf I've ever watched in a three day stretch. Just some fantastic play from both teams. I never seen so many birdies get topped for a half, Wow! I like hearing that the PGA was tossing (so called) fans out. I think as the event gets bigger and bigger, fan interference is only going to get worse. Nice to see some good sportsmanship from all the players on both sides in such a tense setting.

Reed is out first because he told Love that's what he wants, no doubt in my mind. Love is not going to go against the wishes of the USA's best Ryder cup player. I think the key for the USA is going to be matches 6-10. Get 3,3.5 points there and I like their chances.

Get your putter and your wedge play in shape first, you'll lean on them for awhile. Grip aim stance posture...focus on the setup fundamentals. Proper grip pressure and solid contact are keys to getting your full swing in order. Tempo tempo tempo....should help your balance. Finally, but most importantly, recall proper etiquette. Repair ball marks, replace divots, rake traps properly, be still and quiet and out of peripheral vision of others when they are playing a shot. Be ready to play when it's your turn. Have fun and welcome back to the madness!

I visualize a line to make the putt every time. It doesn't matter if it's a 40 footer or a 3 footer. On a severe downhill putt, I may visualize the cup being 3 feet short of it's actual location and putt to that. Just the opposite for a severe uphill putt, sometimes I'll look 2-3 past the cup and try to hit it to that point. There are times when I'll take some break out of a putt and hit it a little firmer. 90+% of the time though I'm trying to hit putts so they would finish 1 foot or less past the hole if I miss.