bprater13

My course has Jade(Women), Gold(Seniors), White (Men 18 and above handicap), Rust (Men 7-17 handicap), and Onyx (Men 0-6 handicap). Of course these are just estimates to help you figure out what to play, but the Onyx are over 7000 yards. I always play the farthest back on every tee box regardless of where the onyx tees are (the tips if you will) because in our home tournaments every year we play the course tipped out. Also, usually a way to tell if a tee is rated for women if it doesn't tell is if the number goes up even though they are easier tees. For example at my course the golds are around a 68 handicap rating while the Jade tees are around a 71 handicap rating even though they are 500-600 yards shorter, this is because this is a rating for women playing those tees. So it may be helpful to check that.

That variation is a little more than was implicated I think tho. In the article the distance difference was 8 or 9 feet short or long, so if you hit an 8 iron 150 yards then it may come up at most 9 feet short, so you hit it 147 yards.

No problem, I just got my first set from them and they were stellar so I figured I'd start pointing them out to people on the forums. Hope they are as good for you as they were for me.

If you like the pro-v's besides the price I would say get used balls too. I just bought some used pro-v's a couple weeks ago from The Golf Warehouse ( www.tgw.com ) and they were in pretty good shape. Out of my dozen, 8 or 9 had small wedge marks or a tiny nick (not enough to affect play of 99% of golfers) and the other 3 or 4 were flawless, like they had just come out of a new sleeve, and they are only $14.99 a dozen. You can also get other brands, such as nike one's for $11.99 a dozen and assorted nike balls for $12.99 a 30-pack!, among other brands. Just go to www.tgw.com and click on equipment at the top, then under the balls section choose recycled balls. There are two choices there, one choice is "tour caliber balls" which is like 6 different kinds, and the other is NXT's. Best deal I have found.

Right between clubs for me. If I had a pin right at the number would probably hit a 6-iron as most greens slope back to front, but even the smallest amount of wind in my face or uphill and I would hit a 5-iron.

Except there has been limitations the USGA has put on clubs and other equipment (i.e. balls) that limit how extreme the technology can be. This limits a 900 club that hits the ball 60 yards farther just due to thinner or harder faces. The gap between "cheap" clubs and expensive clubs is not as large as it used to be. I just think that figuring yardages is part of the game and Steve Williams still has to figure yardages, bought book or his own, and Tiger pays him to do that every shot. I think having to figure your yardage is a part of the game that adds to the challenge and "romance" of the game (I liked that line in an earlier post). It is another skill that has to be mastered to be a good golfer.

"Hands up everybody that plays with bamboo shafts, wound balls and wood drivers. That's real golf tradition." There is an extent to which golf should go however. If there wasn't then there wouldn't be limitations on things like trampoline faces and everybody would be able to hit the ball 400 yards. I am a college golfer and played this past season barely making enough money to pay my rent and bills and couldn't afford to buy one for myself, however at every tournament they were allowed (which is most of them) somebody in my group would always have one and gained a huge advantage over me because I couldn't afford one sad as it is. I have zero problem using them in practice rounds or casual play but don't think they should be allowed in tournament play. Figuring yardages is part of the game, or else golf is just becoming who can hit it closer to the 150 yard flag on the driving range. And there is a reason Steve Williams gets a percentage of Tiger's winnings, because he collects this information for Tiger that actually took work to get. Tiger could do it himself and keep a precise yardage book of a course but he pays Stevie to do it for him, the right way. And though it probably doesn't happen too often Stevie is not 100% accurate all the time, he is human and isn't infallible. I'm done with my rant now.