Palouse

The new course is almost done, and it looks great. I now see sand piled up in the bunkers, and the practice area has been open for awhile. They've built a new club house, which will be nice. The course is slated to open on 8/29. I was hoping they'd open it before 20k students came back to town, but most don't golf. It'll be flooded with people, though, so I may not play it until spring of '09. Since I'm new to golf, the Colfax course will do. The state has spent quite a bit over the last two years of the course expansion, and it's caused some controversy on campus; however, I think a good chunk came from private donations. Of particular concern to some is the 55 million gallons of water per year it will take to keep it looking good. There's a local activist group that is sueing WSU over it, and there was an article in the Spokesman a week ago about that if you're interested. I didn't play golf as a student, either, but I remember cross country skiing on the course in the winter. I doubt they'll let people do that on the new course. How do you like your 60* F2?

I used to collect vintage SxS shotguns, but when the wife and subsequent kids came on board, priorities changed, and I sold my higher end doubles. Still have a few old field grade doubles. A friend of mine runs this site , and I'd love to have one of these .

I'm a WSU alum, but that was a loooong time ago. I live on the Palouse, though, and I work at WSU.

I'm in the same boat. Both I and my wife's OBGYN are trying to talk her into this . However, she's had three c-sections (the first was an emergency c-section), though, and I think I need to step up to the plate.

Yeah, I Couged it. Those irons only had a season's use on them, and my brother is not pleased. I sent them USPS, so I'm completely out of luck if they don't show up. I'm embarrassed to say this is the first I've heard of Welch. I don't get out much.

Thanks, everyone, for the responses. I am brand spanking new. It started with my brother giving me a hand-me-down set of Nickent 3DX irons. And as new as I am, I think I'm going to go the group route just so I can get some instruction, and then practice. It's at that point that I'll consider more private instruction. I don't know how I could get much worse than I already am, but I'm sure it could happen. I'm in Pullman, which is about 1.75 hrs south of Spokane. I've got three small kids, and my wife and I share one vehicle, so I'm pretty much limited to lessons at the new course on Washington State University's campus ( www.palouseridge.com ) at this point. My brother gave me the irons and other clubs he no longer uses when we were back visiting family in Tennessee in June, and I played three rounds of nine-hole golf with him and had a blast. That's all I've got under my belt. I don't have a travel bag, so I mailed the clubs to myself back here in Pullman. Everything but the irons showed up, and I mailed them on the 3rd, so I may be in the market for a new set of irons because I didn't insure them...I had no idea how much a set of irons cost. As such, I appreciate the tip on the Callaway clubs.

I'm new to golf and wish to take lessons as I'm totally erratic off the tee, my short game stinks, and I can't putt to save my life. I just received a lesson price list from my local course, and they're categorized as private at $75 for and hour, semi-private (rate for two people...no splitting it up) at $95/hr and group (3-5 students) at $40/hr per person. There are also breakdowns for multiple lessons. This may be a lame question because I suppose it depends on the individual, but is it worth it to get one-on-one instruction, and is getting only one lesson somewhat of a waste of time? Looking and thankful for input. Kind regards, Trent

Not quite open yet, but... www.palouseridge.com

That, except I have three sons.

Wow, that interior is gorgeous. At the risk of displaying my ignorance, what are those things on the seats?

Yikes! They weren't that expensive when I was in high school. I did do a search on the technical suit, though, and they're pretty high tech. With my physique, I won't be donning one anytime soon...well, probably never. My wife would die with laughter. You have to be in top shape to get away with wearing one of those. I'm certainly not one to talk...I've spent some hefty sums of money on fun pursuits. Golf is the latest one.

Academics are tough, particularly in the liberal arts, but the good ones succeed and make tenure. It's competitive. I work in administration at a state university, and unless you really love a particular field, it's really difficult to fake. I'm not saying that's you, but I see it quite a bit here. Students get into the PhD program and leave only with an MS in an effort to scoot them out the door to be able to provide the funding for more worthy students. My wife specializes in second language acquisition as it relates to the grammar and writing classrooms, so her specialty isn't the kind of linguistics in the Noam Chomsky sense, which is what I think you're interested in. She likes pedagogy a lot, and that's her focus. Her first master's degree is in Germanics, and she got accepted into the German pedagogy PhD program at UT Austin, but when she realized her job prospects were so limited, she changed routes. Her current job field is still pretty limited. Looking at the salaries here on campus, my suggestion is to become an accounting or finance professor. You don't have the grants pressure (although there's still the pressure to publish) like those in the sciences and engineering have, and you make six figures right out of graduate school. In the end, though, you still have to love it or the pain and suffering isn't worth it in my opinion. Teach, mostly. If you end up with a PhD in the liberal arts, chances are you went into it expecting to become a professor. You know, I don't know. Sad to say I never made that connection. I'll check the OED on that when I get home tonight and see if I come up with anything.

That's me. I don't know how you found that, but I'm glad you did. Thanks!

At my stage in life, I'd be happy with a Toyota Sienna minivan. But if I had to pick one, I'd love to have a stock 1967 Chevy C-10 pickup. I learned to dive in one of those. Straight six and three on the tree. We used to clean out the cab with a garden hose.

The use of the word "less" when "fewer" should be used. If you can count whatever it is you're talking about, the word is "fewer", not "less". I cringe when I hear faculty say something like, "We have less students in 106 than we did last year." I have to bite my tongue with that one.

What's a technical suit and where can I buy one? Clothing that expensive with such a limited life I gotta see.

Bird hunting. I got into golf because I wanted an enjoyable family activity. My wife doesn't like bird hunting, and she's scared to death of our three boys toting a shotgun around despite the fact I'm the most safety conscious hunter there is.

I recall stuff like that, too. I work on a university campus, and registering for classes is so much easier for the students than we had it. They can do it all online now. I recall standing in line for hours only to find out I didn't have my advisor's signature on the right signature line...which required standing in another line. Those were the days.

I enjoy it a lot myself. English is one of my undergrad degrees (my other degree pays the bills), and my wife has her PhD in linguistics. Chaucer is considered modern English, too, but people still have a hard time with both Chaucer and Shakespeare because the language has evolved so much. I had a helluva time in my Chaucer class for the first half of the semester...if I remember correctly. That was a long time ago. I have a hard enough time remembering what I ate for breakfast, but I can still rattle off the prologue to the Canterbury Tales.

Interesting read, but I don't expect to be speaking Chinglish in my lifetime. However, language always evolves. Read a bit of Beowulf or Shakespeare. Anyone know where the famous bits of English poetry below are from? Whan that April with his showres soote The droughte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veine in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flowr;

Check the clubs in his signature. Betcha those are them.

For the record, my set is the 3DX, not the current 3DX RC, so I suppose they could be different.

Thanks, gents. I feel a bit sheepish for not being able to find the specs, but I'm myopic at times. I live in a small town, and the only local pro shop opens in early August. I suspect it's best to wait until they open before I make any more purchases.

I'm new to the game, and after doing a fair amount of reading here, I'd like to pick up a gap wedge. Working around the green has been tough for me, and I'd like to focus in that area for now. Unfortunately, I don't know the degree of my PW or SW. I have a set of Nickent 3DX irons that my brother gave me because they're too long for him, and Nickent has nothing on their site that I could find. Any help in putting me in the ballpark of what angle they are is much appreciated.

I'm new to the game, so I'm not sure why, but I do better with the Louisville Golf Niblick 4 that I have than with others I've tried. I like persimmon and hope to get more as I improve.