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I suppose I understand the purpose of ESC in the notion of preventing sandbaggers - it seems incredibly useful there. My problem now is switching my thinking of HI's to "potential" indicator and not "average".

I DO understand it is posted towards score but not handicap I still find it ridiculous someone who has a 9 handicap does not post a triple bogey towards their handicap. Downright stupid. I understand if it was an 11 or something, but a triple bogey under any circumstances should count towards your handicap no matter how good you think you are . This just seems like such a cop out and puts a different perspective on handicaps. Call me wrong but this is retarded.

It really depends on the temperature for me; if it's a hot day and I'm walking I'm just worn out by the time I get to my ball but if it's a cool day, I generally shoot a little better as I take more time and think things through.

I'm not saying this breakdown is wrong according to the ESC but it is downright flawed. The max a person with a 9 or less handicap can post is a double bogey? What is the reasoning behind this? If a player with a 9 handicap scores a 6 on a par 3 they post a 5? Or if they score an 8 on a par 5 they post a 7? I hope I am getting something wrong about this because it is downright stupid. You are not exempt from a higher score because you are a better player by any means. If I'm not wrong and people, like you, actually do this then your handicap is wrong.

I use a Sonocaddie XV2 and love it. Granted I have only used it a few times since I recently got it but so far it is great. It seems I was in the same situation as you. I wanted a skycaddie but didnt need all the bells and whistles; the yearly subscription didnt seem too great to me either. So I did some research and settles on this. You can get it for about $225 new which isn't too bad for a gps. There is no yearly subscription I just download the courses (for free) and theyre mine. It seems me how far the front/back of the water, trap, green whatever if it's on the course it's on the gps. I just needed numbers and thats what you get. check it out if this helped

Same happened to me Chief Broom. I spent about an hour at work one day typing in codes and never got a single one to work. Then a few days ago the lovely little package arrived on my doorstep. Go figure.

I have the Taylormade Monoco bag and I love it. 14 way dividers and the clubs just slide right in and out. I highly recommend checking it out.

Well guys I finally realized I am beginning to get the hang of this game called golf. I have dropped about 35 strokes in the past 3 months. I began playing golf last summer with a man I knew fairly well. He was about a 20 handicap and I was probably close to 40 so you can imagine his frustration sometimes. Anyways he got me hooked a bit and I played a fair amount with him last summer but never really applied myself to what I was doing. I probably averaged about a 115 by the end of the summer. I should probably say i was also getting into some bad things at that point in my life. I was dating a girl also who I was completely in love with. Then I went away to school and tried to stay together. So I came back in may and this summer I decided I wanted to play, not like I used to, I wanted to PLAY this time. I put a nice bag together at the beginning of the summer (see sig) because I figured if I can't play with the best I sure as hell can't play with what I have now. I began the summer again with about a 115 average. I should also say here I was getting back into drugs way worse than before and making way more bad decisions. Me and the girl had broken up recently and it was rough. I turned to pills as my way out. I was probably eating anywhere from 5000 - 10000 mg of vicodin a week and about 10 mg of xanax a week. And if it wasn't that it was percs or something worse. I was depressed and completely unhappy with myself. I had to numb the way I felt and I did that with drugs. I wanted counseling but couldn't bring myself to to talk to my parents about it. On the outside I was normal I put on a front, no one knew how I really felt. I acted happy and normal around my friends but to be honest i felt dead inside. I even began to think about suicide but I could never do it. Not because I didn't want to end my life because I was fine with doing that but I couldn't do it to my family they didn't deserve that. So I took a month break before I found a job after I got home from school and pretty much just massacred my bank account playing a minimum of 4 days a week. I slowly improved but then I really applied and focused myself when I realized I wasn't seeing the results I wanted. I found a job to keep up with this expensive sport. I found new playing partners who were better than me to help drive myself (I am a very competitive person and push myself when around others who are better and yes I still play with the man who got me hooked). Well anyways after hundreds of hours and thousands of $$$ later I did it. I actually surpassed my goal of averaging high 80's and currently average low 80's. I shot an 81 yesterday and if it wasn't for a strong uphill lie that I knocked in the water I would have broken 80. I'm consistently shooting under 85. I made this realization when one of the club pros I had played with once (got paired up) passed me the other day when I was about to punch out of the trees. He stopped and called to me "Hey buddy how ya doing today? And what are you doing over in the trees I never see you there". And I realized he's right, I normally don't ever go in the trees anymore and I used to every other shot. But now I realized it isn't enough, I want MORE. I can be better, I have the potential. I can be scratch and I know it. My work has paid off and I'm not going to quit anytime soon I thought I would be happy with high 80's or even low 90's but I wasn't, I saw room for improvement I knew I could do better and i did. And now I can do better than low 80's I can do better than high 70's too. I want mid 70's and I can do it, I won't stop till I'm there either. I dropped 35-40 strokes in 3 months and what I'm saying to myself now is, imagine what I can do with a year. I'm only 19. I started with people who were all far better than me and I've surpassed them all. This thread is basically for anyone who doesn't think they can do it, who has any doubts. The anger, frustration, and pain is worth it. Keep it up, it pays off. Over the summer I also realized I didn't need things I thought I did before. I didn't need to kill myself with pills constantly to make it through the day. I didn't need those friends who I only drank and did drugs with, they weren't helping me. And most of all I realized that my happiness shouldn't depend on another person. I said it before, I was depressed for about 2 months this summer because of this girl but I got over it with the help of golf. It kept my mind off her, gave me goals to strive for, and it was fun. I was CONTENT, something I hadn't been in months. I was finallly content with myself. I didn't need drugs, I didn't need alcohol, and I didn't need this girl to make me happy. So pretty much all I have to say is thanks golf. You have given me so much more than a sport to play. You have given me happiness, taught me respect, and improved my life in the best possible way and for all this I thank you. And anyone out there struggling with golf, don't give up. I wanted to quit so many times I can't even count them all but I didn't. I stayed focused and it worked. Hard work and dedication DOES pay off, I'm proof.

I have a friend who shot an 87 using only his pitching wedge... Pretty amazing I think but then again he did shoot a 63 trying out for our HS golf team in 9th grade some 5 years or so ago.

Heath Ledger put on the best performance by any actor that I have ever seen, EVER. Talk about getting into a role. But I also agree, two different types of Joker's, but Heath's was simply incredible. I'm also not saying this because he died, I honestly was never much of a fan of him in the first place. But after this...wow...

[QUOTE=iacas;48367]Ditto. No aces, but many to inches. I honestly think that if I ever got a hole in one hitting a bad shot, I'd deny it or simply keep my count at zero. Who would want to re-tell the story of their shank that hit a cart and a tree before finding the cup, or that rolled through a bunker, hit a rake, and found the hole ?QUOTE] I know this post is ancient Iacas but it really made me think and come up with a new, and imo, better question. Who wouldn't? I mean that's one hell of a story. I've never actually had a hole in one before but I do have a buddy who got one and it's a pretty good story. It was about a 135 yd par 3 and by mistake he grabbed his 6 iron thinking it was his 9. Well he really thinned this ball, just mishit it bad. And it ended up going in! Guys gets a hol-in-one off a mishit. Awesome. Now why would you be ashamed of this Iacas?

You won't even play with someone who has a beer? Really? Is there any reason for this? If you go with some guys and one decides to crack a beer on the turn (of age of course) you wouldn't play with him? I'm just curious btw.

Aha! Good point Goofy golf is hard enough as it is. Seems like I am like most of you all. I'll occasionally have a few but I prefer to stick to working on my game as best as possible. Also if anyone thought I meant in the title that the only way I have a good time is if I drink, I wasn't implying that at all. I just wasn't sure of how to state it, as in I didn't want to make a thread titled "Do you and your bros get HAMMERED on the course?!?" or something ridiculous along those lines. No one thought anything about my MMJ patient friend either? I mean this guy really cannot play golf to save his life with out it. But once he has it he consistently an 80's guy. Weird.

What I mean is when you and your friends go out golfing do you like to drink and let loose a little bit or is it strictly golf? I've played with a few different sets of friends and I've notcied with some I will go out and drink some beers and have a good time while with others it is strictly about golf. It's quite funny actually some guys I know are simply horrible until they get a few brews in them. Some guys are just there to get drunk and hit a ball around. And then there's me who wants to have a couple but not too many and still hit a decent round. I have a friend who lives in California and comes to my area a few times a month. Lived here his whole life and still owns his house here. Well he is a Medical Marijuana Patient so he must have his 'medecine' before he plays. Well here's the thing, this guy is pretty bad sober I mean he will shoot 110+. But once he gets his 'medecine' he averages in the 80's !! But my point here is not to make a party thread or anything. I just want to see if anyone else here ever has a round like this when you're out with just the guys. I'll probably have one of these 1-2 times a month (considering I play about 3 times a week minimum). Anyone else?

As far as the trailor for a clubhouse goes I could care less, that is not even a concern I just threw it in there. I have also considered the fact that it is a new and developing course and would not be bothered except for the fact that they are charging more than a TPC course and think it is fair. I was also speaking with an employee who was good friends with the owner for whoever asked (sorry too lazy to press the back button). Anyways I understand the conditions and am willing to give it time but I just can't understand how they think it is okay to charge more than the nicest course in the area! There is also a reason it took 8 years to be built. It went through a few owners at first and now the current is sort of screwed because of the previous ones. They used some byproduct of burning coal to shape the course. And now there is a HUGE controversy going on about this. Apparantly whatever they used has contaminated the well water used by the course with some toxins. And now the people living directly beside the course (I am more of a 1-2 min drive) are worried their well water will be contaminated and thus make their properties worthless! It seems the course has caused more bad than good...and I hate to say it but I sort of wish it was never built in the first place..