Buke

All distances are average carry distance, yards, not meters: Driver (10.5*): 250 3 Wood (15*): 225 3 Hybrid (19*): 205 4 Hybrid (21*): 195 5 Hybrid (24*): 185 6 Hybrid (27*): 175 7-iron: 165 8-iron: 155 9-iron: 145 PW (46*): 115 GW: (52*) 105 SW (58*): 95

Welcome, from another 16 trying to improve!

Snedeker, it all looks so natural, easy and intuitive.

Average 95, somewhat more on the driver, somewhat less on the wedges.

Volvo XC70 D5 with Polestar

Wind looked horrible; Noh did well to hang in there and thoroughly deserved the win. The 4th round only ended at 1:00 am South African time. I will be trainwrecked the rest of this Monday.

Coldplay's first album 'Parachutes' - the melodic simplicity and lyrical ability touch deep down. Compare the opening verse of 'Lost': 'Just because I'm losing Doesn't mean I'm lost Doesn't mean I'll stop Doesn't mean I'm across Just because I'm hurting Doesn't mean I'm hurt Doesn't mean I didn't get what I deserved No better and no worse I just got lost Every river that I tried to cross Every door I ever tried was locked Oh and I'm just waiting 'til the shine wears off' I think every golfer could relate to that in someway or another.

Nope - would hate that particular experience though. Whether you fade or draw, it is all bad.

Welcome Bristol - all good here!

Indeed.

Welcome Dude!

Welcome Olivier!

Welcome Patrick!

The fact that children (and they have a legitimate right to be on the course and learn the game) are involved, makes this a serious breach of safety rules, not to speak of basic etiquette. If this happened at my club, I would have lodged a formal complaint with the course director; if it was another member involved, there would have been a formal disciplinary hearing and possibly a formal warning (you are expelled from my club with the 3rd); if it was a visitor, formal notification to his club and ban from playing on this course.

What a fantastic thread with very informed contributions, however intense the disagreement about the case at stake - you can't read this in a magazine. My own take is that the professionalization of sport in general actually brought about an entirely different phenomenon than 'sport' - yes, it is the same game, yet no, it is not. Whether it is rugby, tennis, hockey, golf, NFL, NBA, NHL - heck, even ice skating - the game has changed. The rules are the same, but the vast difference in opportunities, training, corporate involvement, facilities, material support, exposure, logistics and renumeration, to name just a few aspects, changed 'sport' irrevocably. It has become a mixture of business, politics and what used to be the 'old sport', to the point that the 'old sport' has become unrecognizable to a very large extent. The disparity between the 'old' and the contemporary is huge. I think therefore any attempt to compare fields in the 1960's and 2000's is comparing x and y, not 1x and 2x. That is why I am uncertain that there would be an outcome in this debate that eventually would be acceptable to everyone. I would hold the same position for every sport that has been so intensely professionalized over the past three decades in particular.

My workout consists of 50 minutes of circuit training 5 times a week, focusing on muscle suppleness and cardiovascular fitness - circuit training involves 60% resistance training, 20 repetitions and running 20 steps, which has to be completed in 90 seconds, with 30 seconds to move on to the next equipment. Afterwards I will stretch for 10 minutes. I have been on this program for the past three years: I did lose a lot of bulk musclewise, but my general fitness and golfing preparation have stepped up remarkably. Outside the gym I go to the range 3 times a week for an hour, hitting two buckets with all the clubs in the bag, around 10 balls per club. I play golf three times a week, one a practice round on my own, where I spend as much time as possible around the greens and putting from several locations on the green. The other two rounds are the normal weekly competition rounds at my club or at another course if I was invited to play there.

Hearty welcome to you - this is a fantastic forum and you will be learning a lot about the game here.

Please see my evaluation of the Ecco Biom Hybrid, posted at http://thesandtrap.com/t/58401/ecco-biom-hybrid-golf-shoe#post_981663 - I think that thread is in the wrong subforum and should be in this Apparel, Gear, Etc Forum. But just for clarity' sake, I refer anyone that is interested in this particular spikeless shoe back to that post.

A Footjoy loyalist in every other aspect (Shirts, Shorts, Trousers, Windjackets, Raingear, Gloves and Socks), I tried on a pair of Ecco Biom Hybrids a year ago and was instantly hooked. I since acquired 5 pairs and would hate going back to another spikeless shoe. Footjoy has in my experience simply not come up with a spikeless shoe that can match the Ecco's quality and performance. The craftmanship on these shoes is of the highest standard. The shoe fits perfectly (I wear a EU 46 or US 12) and provides great traction, grip and stability. The Yak leather is completely waterproof and very soft. They need not be 'walked in' - they are good to go for the round when you put them on the first time. The Biom Hybrid relieves one of the dreaded spike pressure (especially on days with 36 holes) and is extremely green-friendly: no spike marks whatsoever, even on fragile greens. They are easy to clean and maintain their form well. They don't look too shabby on a pair of khakis either. Each pair comes with a second pair of laces, in a different colour than the standard lace. Two points of consideration however: Although grip is maintained in the wet, the Biom Hybrid is a low cut shoe and not performing well in soggy, muddy and very wet conditions. When one sinks away into soggy fairways and rough, the mud comes just too close to the sock for comfort. There are other Ecco models that could deal with these conditions effectively. I have kept my Footjoy XSP's for muddy days and they have always done their job well in the mud. Secondly: The Biom Hybrid is a pricey shoe; understandably so, given the quality of materials and craftmanship involved. But be prepared to fork out around 250 USD (2500 ZAR) for a pair. All in all, the Biom Hybrid has come to stay. Its been awhile since Mr Couples strutted around Augusta's fairways in that first model of the Hybrid. Ecco has done extremely well.

Srixon Z Star XV (Yellow), the past three years. For some unknown (to me) optical reason, I just see this ball better in flight - and when I try to find the ball somewhere off the fairway or under leaves in the fairway (we now have late autumn in South Africa; huge ball-losing season right here). The yellow just catches my eye quicker. The XV is soft, durable, not too spinny - and not too cheap either unfortunately. But I will struggle to go back to a white ball or any other ball, for that matter.

Watching re-runs of Seinfeld (I have the full set of DVD' s of every single season as well) - nothing is as good as a story with no storyline, as Jerry himself often said.

When I am jittery and really off, I play a chuck down 3W from the tee, 3/4 swing, ball back in stance and taking the club straight back on the takeway, almost out-in. It is basically a punch shot - no distance obviously, seldom more than 180 meters (200 yards), but at least the ball is in play. For the second shot, depending on the distance, I play exactly the same go-for-broke shot with a 5W or hybrid towards the entrance of the green. If the green has no entrance, I am screwed. When I'm that off, I don't even try to hit iron or wedge. That's how bad it gets for me.

1) Spitting on or near the green in particular; 2) Chewing gum with half-open mouths, where you can actually hear the gum crackle and snap - and the more nervous the chewguy gets, the worse the chewing action and sounds become; 3) Guys taking a leak in the half-open: I have no qualms about nature's call in nature itself and thoroughly enjoy it myself, but step away man, I mean, properly away, IN the bushes not near the bushes - don't want to see it, don't want to hear it; 4) People playing from obviously wrong handicaps, whether too high or too low, and then making all kinds of excuses for it on the course. You are a f cheat, whichever way.

100 yards = 91 meters > That is perfect GW (52) for me. On full shots I draw my wedges quite a lot - so I'll play it as far right to left as possible. If the pin is on the far right of the green or if the lie on the fairway is uneven, especially with ball below feet, I'd rather run a 3/4 8 iron, landing it short and let it release on the line of the slope of the green. I had too many bad misses on the right when I hit full wedge and it suddenly is not drawing. Great thread - this is a crucial distance for medium distance hitters, especially on par 5's! That is often what I have for the third shot on par 5's. If I screw it up, it will be a 6. Or worse, of course, as it goes in golf.

Voted 'Fan' - Interesting golfer creating awesome golf shots - that's all I need to become a fan. As for the outbursts on the course and all the negative things pointed out in the thread - Hey, don't golf bring out the Jekyll & Hyde in all of us; the best and worst we can be? (I, for instance, never curse or use foul language, but I do so occasionally on the golf course, even in front of strangers - and I feel horrible afterwards. I never smoke, but do so now and again on the golf course [like when being 10 over after three holes in medal]. I never get drunk, but it has happened that I lingered too long at the 19th after a particularly hard day and I had to take a drive home with a teetotaller friend - and so on, and so on. What we see from others on the golf course, is often a dark shadow of who they actually are. I have long ago stopped judging people solely on what I experience from them on the course).