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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..

Well over the past 8 years or so they have been building a new course right down the street from me, I could walk to it if I wanted to. I have been very excited over the past few years and really looking forward to playing there. This summer it opened, finally ! But now I am highly dissapointed...It is the biggest let down ever... First of all let me state the course conditions. It has no clubhouse. It is a trailer. The range is terrible and only goes to about 250-260 yds. Tee boxes are hard as marble, I am not kidding. Every single time I try to put a tee down it just snaps it is seriously rock hard. The grass is absolutely horrible, I have much better grass in my own yard. It is scattered and mostly crab grass with enormous areas of straight dirt. The fairways are hard as rock also, there is one fairway with water on the right and it has a very SLIGHT slope towards the water. I have hit countless center-of-the-fairway drives only to watch them boune and bounce (not roll, BOUNCE) into the water. Greens are also horrible. Yes you guessed it! rock hard with bad grass ! Any area not considered fairway or teebox is conmpletely over run with weeds. Your ball is lost into the endless weeds if it is not a good shot. Now for the month of June they had a special and only charged $14 for 18 holes so I played there quite a bit. Vowing to never return after June. And I haven't...well to play... But this is what really gets me going. My dad has bought a range coupon there so I will go and hit balls into the crappy range and break my tees over and over again trying to put them inot the ground. So I decided to ask them what they charge for 9 holes on a weekday afternoon, the man working replied $17. I replied with "Wow" and he asked what I said "Wow" for. I told I thought that was a bit pricey for a weekday afternoon for only 9 holes. He seemed offended and asked where I was getting expensive from so I gave him a piece of my mind, politely as I could. I was not rude and simply presented information that was correct. I said I'm thinking that's expensive because Chesapeake Golf Club only charges $15 for 11 holes at that time and that Virginia Beach National (TPC) only charges $16 for 9 at that time. Now CGC is a pretty nice course, 100x better than this new crap place. And VBN is a TPC and is extremelyyy nice. Probably the nicest course around, the LPGA stops there. I just stated that I did not understand how they were going to charge MORE money to play here than at VB National and MORE to play LESS than CGC. The man simply replied with "Well, all I can say is that we are not charging any less than $17 for 9 holes." So I told him that I am sorry to hear that and he will probably never see me again after my range ticket is up until they get some fair prices or improve their conditions. I guess this si more of a rant than anything else but I just could not believe it. It was ridiculous! And the worst part was that it seemed like he honestly believed the price was fair !?!?! What were your experiences with new courses in your area ?

Shot an 89 on my local course not too good but not bad either.

This is the way I look at it. Have the past few days looked like good days to play golf? Would you like to be out there playing in 20-30 mph winds and rain? Today isn't any better either. I sure as hell would choose to stay home if I was planning on going to play golf and the conditions were like that. Now with considering it that way, add this onto it. Would like to be playing in a an Open for a ton of $$$ in those conditions? NO WAY ! If you're playing for so much money the conditions should be very good to give every golfer his best chance at winning. BUT I do disagree with Kelly. Let me explain I'm not contradicting myself... I believe in the above when considering to hold the tournament or not. I don't think they should be playing in those conditions but since they are...there does not need to be complaining. The tournament will be held wether Kelly and other complain or not, the decision was made so deal with the conditions. Final statement: Match should not be played in those conditions but since it was decided to be held, do not complain get out there and try to win it's too late to change it now.

I have never hit the r7 irons but I have the X-20's and I wouldn't trade them for anything ! Amazing forgiveness with the X-20's is all I can say. I haven't really hit any other high end irons to be honest though, although I don't really care to either

Well I didn't get to go and play yesterday or even stop by the range but I did have the chance to go out today and I played ended up playing 36 holes since a few other buddies of mine showed up right as I finished. In the end I ended up shooting an 87 on the first round and an 83 on the second. I guess all I needed was a little break

First off thanks for all the advice I appreciate it. My buddy kept telling me everyone has bad rounds, which I know because I have had my fair share in the past. I think I figured out my problem though. Lately I have been playing very well for me, like I said averaging low 40's or mid 40's (which is very good for me). This is due to alot of swing adjustments. But when I have been playing lately I was always very focused on very shot to make sure it is perfect (or as close as possible). And I think yesterday, since I have been playing good, I let it go to my head in a way. I assumed that since I had been playing good I would continue to play good and forgot about my focus. Today I am going to go to the range and hit some shots. I will hit each one like I am on the course and it is a key shot. After I feel confortable I will go and play 9 holes, keep focused, and hopefully shoot well. I'll update this tonight. Thanks again everyone. Edit: I played at Chesapeake Golf Club Cougar

First off thanks for all the advice I appreciate it. My buddy kept telling me everyone has bad rounds, which I know because I have had my fair share in the past. I think I figured out my problem though. Lately I have been playing very well for me, like I said averaging low 40's or mid 40's (which is very good for me). This is due to alot of swing adjustments. But when I have been playing lately I was always very focused on very shot to make sure it is perfect (or as close as possible). And I think yesterday, since I have been playing good, I let it go to my head in a way. I assumed that since I had been playing good I would continue to play good and forgot about my focus. Today I am going to go to the range and hit some shots. I will hit each one like I am on the course and it is a key shot. After I feel confortable I will go and play 9 holes, keep focused, and hopefully shoot well. I'll update this tonight. Thanks again everyone.

So yesterday I went and played 11 holes at my local course. Before teeing off I was feeling alright but could tell I wasn't in that focused golf mood I usually get in. I hit my first tee shot about 270 on a par 4 and near center of the fairway and was pleased but after that it all looked down. Everysingle one of my iron shots fell right of where I wanted them to go. My chipping was garbage from hole 1 to 11 also. Putting was decent but after having a bad hole I really didn't even care to put much thought into it. I ended up with a 56 on nine Granted I did take double par on three holes out of frustration and by hole 7 I wanted nothing to do with golf for the rest of the day. I went from averaging low - mid 40's to shooting a 56... So anyways enough of reminding myself of how horribly I played. My question now is where do I go next? Should I just go right for it and play the same 11 holes again today after work? I have been thinking of just going to the range today though and working on my iron shots (drives were still good yesterday) and some chipping. Then after I get everything down solid again I'll head home and get a good night sleep, wake up early tomorrow (dont work fridays) and play a full round. What should I expect on my next round? To return to my usual average or to shoot high 40's or worse What do you all do after you have a horrible round?

Ahh the good old waiting game, boy did I have to deal with this yesterday. There were 14, count um again 14 carts waiting to tee off on hole one for my second round of the day. I thought we were going to have alot of problems throughout the day from slower and faster players all playing closely together. However, we didn't. Everyone gave eachother the room they needed and spoke to eachother at tee boxes because we all knew there was nothing we could do. Everyone was going to have to wait whether you were a fast player or not. So that all went smoothly, surprisingly. Now as far as driving up on someone goes all different rules apply here. If it's packed like yesterday was then I wait till the next group is clearly out of range on every shot. Although on accident I did lauch a drive on a par 4 about 10 feet from the green when the next group was putting . But there was water you had to clear and I never dreamed I put it that close, everyone tees off once the next group is on the green there. But anyways if I'm in a twosome and there's a 3 or 4 ahead of us that are playing slow and don't let us play through or give us a chance to ask. As in hurrying up and rushing to tee off and sneak away right as we pull up to the tee box, then I will drive on your ass. Granted I will wait atleast 3 holes to do this, but if youre being ignorant to the fact that a faster group is behind you, I'll send you a message that I'm there. I'll yell fore also, that's a touchy subject for me. If you hit up on me and don't yell fore then I'm going to be mad. Not only could you injure someone but it is extremly rude. If they come apologizing I will accept it and not be a prick. But you are a prick I'll either take your ball and put it in my pocket or if youre a real prick just launch it into the nearest lake. But you REALLY have to be making me mad ALL day long for me to do that. For example yesterday with the packed conditions and waiting at everyhole, if the group behind me was driving on me while I was in the fairway multiple times, I sure as hell would hit your ball into the lake on about the third time. now if you drive up on accident to me I will not get the slightest bit bothered as long as you yell fore, but if you don't, well thats just rude and I will get mad but really give you nothing more than a bit of a 'tude if you do me. Everyone goes by different guidelines though since we all play in different cities at different courses. Some are always packed with a-holes and some are never so it all really just depends.

So lately I have been trying to slide by without a fairway wood and after playing 36 holes yesterday and finding myself in multiple situations where A FW would be ideal, I have decided to buy one. I just went into my local Play It Again Sports and found a TM r7 steel 3-wood for $80 in decent condition. I didn't think this was a bad price but I'm not sure so if it is then let me know! The only thing I am worried about with this is that it seemed to be a pretty flexible shaft (R) and I'm fairly tall at 6'2 with a pretty fast swing speed being only 19 years old (not sure the exact mph though). Other than that I have been looking at the Burner fairway wood that just got dropped to 159$ but I think a used club would be better at this time since I've been spending alottt of money on golf equipment this summer. Can't help myself though I really have not looked at many companies besides Taylormade. My golf 'mentor' over the past 2 years has always used TM woods and drivers so I think that's my reasoning for being drawn to them. I know there's pleny of other good companies, I like the G10 by Ping for instance. I think I might just go to Golf Galaxy tonight and check out their used fairway woods so give me some ideas to look for as I don't want to limit myself to just TM. Also, for a guy only carrying one fairway wood which do you recommend? I have only been thinking of a 3-wood. One more thing, what about hybrids? I do actually have a Nike CPR hybrid but I have given up on trying to hit it accurately. Should I look at some of the Rescues? Do hybrids tend to be easier or harder to hit than woods? Give me the pros and cons. Sorry for a long post but I'm at work and am extremely bored right now