JessN16

I didn't understand it, either. I suspect they were trying to keep everyone as happy as possible (can't afford to lose business in this economy). When the marshal came back to tell us he couldn't force them to let us go through, he engaged us in conversation for about 5 minutes and you could tell he was trying to be Mr. PR about the whole thing. I wouldn't have cared were it not for the rain that was chasing us. Fortunately we got off the course literally 1 minute before the deluge opened up. Jess

Played one of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses today in Alabama (Prattville -- Capitol Hill complex, Legislator course) and ran into what I think may be the worst example of not knowing the etiquette I've seen in a while. From about hole No. 3 on, we followed a foursome made up of two younger guys who looked to be 20-25 handicappers like me, and then two beginners, one young and one older. RTJ courses are not my first choice for beginner golf, but it's their money, not mine. These guys were slow enough, however, that a foursome walking had gone through them earlier in the day. I watched these guys hit approach shots into 14 or 15 greens today and never repair a ball mark (I think I repaired two dozen besides the ones I was leaving). But as you might guess, play was slow. We finally pulled right up to their bumper on the backside after hanging back, because rain was coming and we had to get the round in. Probably a half-dozen times, they'd be in the fairway hitting three or four shots each, would look back at us, with basically a "Yep, they're still back there" look on their face. Never offered to let us go through and they had at least one clear hole in front of them. So it came to a head on the around No. 14, when we got to the tee just as they were leaving. Here's how the conversation went: Them: "Hey, how are you doing?" Me: "Fine. By the way, do you mind if we pla........" Them: "See ya!" And they took off. So we got the phone number of the pro shop off the scorecard and called it, and asked for a marshal. One thing you can say about RTJ courses, they're very responsive -- we had a marshal on our hole in less than 2 minutes, and this particular place has 72 holes of golf to oversee. The marshal watched them hack up the fairway, then came to us and we told him what had happened. He said he would put them on the clock. RTJ courses have GPS on the carts along with a computer program that tracks where you are (I've gotten buzzed by a marshal for going off the cart path on a cart-path-only hole before, when I didn't know we were path-restricted. Apparently they saw it back at the clubhouse.) and how much time you've spent on the course. Well, the next hole, the marshal comes back to us and says, "Guys, I know you'd like to go through them but according to the computer, they're ahead of their pace, so we can't force them to let you through." I'm not sure how I feel about that, but why not let us through voluntarily? &$*#@ slow play! Jess

I also have the Viper Tour Black. I build drivers frequently just to test and it's the longest and most solid-feeling I've built in awhile. The adjustable weight ports really make it fun to use. I have the ProForce XT shaft in X-flex. I like it very much. I like it better than the Aldila Vse 60 on my Snake Eyes Mamba 2. But clubs are a very unique-to-you thing, so you may not like what I do. I can only tell you that I am very happy with it. Jess

That almost sounds like a marketing ploy on the part of the company to get golfers to pester courses to buy their reflectors and install them, rather than a commentary on necessary equipment. Jess

You certainly got a good deal on your stuff. The advantage to clubmaking is typically that you get high-quality components at lower prices (my Viper Tour Black driver cost me $145, components plus materials) yet it's every bit as good as any of the elite brands. Other perks include the ability to specify or modify more about the clubs you'll play, and the hobbyist angle of it (i.e., playing what you build with your own hands). I went from King Cobras to my Golfsmith irons and picked up performance. I've never built anything from Golfsmith that caused me to question the quality. Jess

"OEM" stands for "Original Equipment Manufacturer," typically applied to automotive uses where people buy, say, parts for a Ford made by a Ford instead of parts for a Ford made by Purolator. In golf equipment, it seems to mean the big name-brand outfits (Taylor Made, Titleist, etc.). Club building: You'll need specific tools (ferrule installer, shaft prep strips if working with graphite, bench vise shaft holders, etc.) and I would advise looking on Golfsmith's online site for help there, even if you don't buy from them. A good bench vise is a must. I would also recommend a hand drill and Dremel. You can get away with buying very few tools, or you can spend a lot. It all depends on what you want to do. The basic stuff is cheap. If you want to be able to bend your clubs for custom lie angles, etc., that's when you start to get up in cost. I'd say you're looking at an investment of around $100 if you already have the drill (for coning and deburring hosels) and a bench vise. If you don't, or if you want to start doing real custom stuff, budget $500 and even that might not be enough. Jess

Just bought one off eBay, a Bushnell model, for $140 delivered, brand new. That was about the best I could find after two or three weeks of searching. Jess

Do it like Volvik does their golf balls. Ever seen those? The "white" ball is suspended inside a clear outer poly coat, and then the poly coat gets the dimples. I play Volvik balls and like them very much. Nothing looks like them on a golf course, either. Not only can I easily tell my ball from those of my partners, it seems to stand out a little better from its surroundings. The upshot here is there is no paint on the outer coat of a Volvik (other than the label markings). Jess

Were you the one I was talking with about comparing the Mamba 2 and the Viper Tour Black drivers? I just built a VTB 10-degree this past week. It cleans the Mamba 2's clock. Best driver I've ever hit. Jess

I have not but since starting this thread I've built several Snake Eyes clubs, including the driver and hybrids from the Viper Tour line, and you couldn't pry them out of my hands with a crowbar. I'm betting the putter will be of similar quality. Jess

I have two King Snake drivers, the Mamba 2 and the Viper Tour Black. I hit the VTB a lot better and farther, and it has a nice metal sound but not obnoxious. The Mamba 2 is another story. VERY loud, clanky sound. I wouldn't mind it but since I don't hit that club as well as my VTB, I don't have to hear it anymore. Jess

I took a cue from the Scorecard program and consider it like this: If I'm within 100 yards of the green after whatever shot it should have taken me to get a GIR, and I one-putt, it's an U&D.; In other words, if I'm on a 400-yard par four, and after my drive and second shot, I'm sitting within 100 yards of the green, and I score a five (chip to the fringe, another chip onto the green, one-putt), I give myself a U&D.; If I two-putt, I get a failed U&D.; If, on the same hole, I hit my tee shot into the woods, punch out, then hit an approach to 80 yards out, hit onto the green and then one-putt for a five, I do not take a U&D;, since after my second shot (my "GIR shot" for lack of a better term) I was beyond 100 yards from the green. I will leave it blank in that case regardless of how many putts I take. Jess

Where I live, the number of private clubs has shrunk to three from about three times as many about 20 years ago. My old home club has gone semi-private. The problems with a lot of country clubs are myriad: Many are older golf courses, designed prior to the advent of modern course design techniques, and quite frankly just aren't that good. So if you amortize $400/month across the number of times you're likely to play in a month, you're talking about $100/round and that's if you get good weather; otherwise, it jumps to $133, then $200, etc. And at many places, that doesn't include a rental cart. The ones that do offer modern golf are typically so expensive that only the elite can join. The "social status" part of it is now being looked down upon in many circles. Now, you run the risk of being viewed as a snob as much as reaping any benefit from it. Unless you really need it for your business, or the golf is just so great you can't get it anywhere else, I can understand people not joining. Don't get me wrong, I hate to see country clubs hurting, because it's certainly a romantic part of the game. But except for the elite-level clubs, most will be gone or semi-private very soon, IMO. Jess

Surprisingly, I'm not any better until you get up into high-lofted woods (25 degrees and above). Anything under 25 has about the same results for me. That 15-degree 3-wood actually replaced a Taylor Made 13-degree "fairway driver". I've had similar problems with 4-woods, 7-woods, etc. Jess

Thanks, that's very helpful. My swing for my driver seems (at least from feel) to be very different from what I do otherwise. I have no video of myself to post, or even to review on my own. I wouldn't be surprised at all to know it's a weight transfer problem. Either I'm swinging more slowly (probable), or I'm so concerned about accuracy that I'm taking my lower body out of my fairway wood and iron play (also probable). The good news is that I can hit my 7I and other short irons very consistently for someone of my generally poor HDCP level. My HDCP is what it is due to frequent mishits. If I take, say, a 6 on a par 4, it's typically because I went the following way: Good drive, flubbed fairway wood shot, good iron shot but mis-aimed or mis-distanced, chip shot, putt, putt. Where it kills me is that I can't take advantage of my distance off the tee; this past week, I drove 282 on a par-five 487-yard hole (confirmed 205 left to the green with a laser rangefinder), but I still had to lay up with a hybrid, chip on and two-putt for par rather than going for the green in two. Reason? I'd hit six 3-wood shots to that point in the round, and they went approximately 190, 40, 190, 10, grassburner 110, 200. Jess

Correct. My bag this past weekend looked like this: 1) Driver (10-degree Snake Eyes Tour Black) 2) 3-wood (15-degree) 3) 11-wood (34-degree) 4) 2H (18-degree) 5) 3H (21-degree) 6) 4H (24-degree) 7) 7I 8. 8I 9) 9I 10) PW 11) SW 12) LW 13) Snake Eyes Python Putting Wedge (a chipper, and I can hit this thing a full 110 if I need to) 14) putter Jess

I play most everything from just inside my left heel, adjusting the ball back in my stance only if I'm trying to work it a certain way or if the stance demands it. My topping problem is more related to fairway woods than the irons. I'm more likely to take a divot with my irons and chunk them than I am to top them. But it surely can't hurt to try something different. Jess

I've been playing now for 27 years. I'll never be as good as most of you guys. I don't have the same swing for my irons or fairway woods that I have for my driver. If I took a cut at a ball with a 3-wood or 7-iron the way I do the driver, I might hit the 7-iron 160, but I would be just as likely to hit it a mile left or right, or chunk it, or miss it entirely. I've developed a steeper, slower swing for everything besides the driver just so I get some control back. I'm guessing my swing speeds are wildly different throughout my bag. The last time I had my driver speed checked -- which was about six years ago, I guess -- I was well into the low 100s. I'm still pretty good but I doubt it's that high anymore. But I would be willing to bet it's much, much slower for my iron play. Jess

Here's what's in my bag right now and the approximate distance I can hit each club: * Driver (10-degree): Ranges from 210 to 280, with most plots coming in the 240-250 range but lately, a few more up around 265. This is about 10-20 yards shorter, on average, then when I was at my "peak" as a young twentysomething. * 3-wood (15-degree): 180-200. This is the highest it's ever been since going to a new 3-wood this summer. Previously I was doing 170-190, even at my "peak." * Hybrids (a 2-, 3- and 4-H): 185, 170, 160, as you go from 18 degrees up to 24. That means I'm hitting an 18-degree hybrid about the same as a 15-degree 3-wood. Makes no sense. * 7-iron: 125-135, maybe a bit more off the tee. Part of my issue is that I had to learn, as a young kid, to hit driver or else. My dad taught me golf hitting from the men's tees at our club when I was 8. We didn't have junior tees and Dad wouldn't let me hit from the women's, so it was men's blues or nothing. I learned to take a shallow-angle, sweeping swing. This helps me off the tee; kills me in the fairway. It's rare that I take a divot, and I top a lot of shots. My issue with the 3-wood, I guess, is that I'm not catching the ball the way I should. I really don't even know why I carry one. I posted this after reading three separate threads tonight where people were wondering how someone of a certain handicap, or a long-distance drive competitor, could hit the ball a certain distance with the driver yet stink with other clubs. Well, that's always been me, because that's how I was raised in the game. I tend to play a 400-yard hole as driver (for 270) followed by 7-iron (for 130). Something about my swing speeds must be screwed up as I move from club to club, I guess. Jess

I'm not going to say what I shot, but I had a round a couple weeks back on a country club that was apparently preparing for some kind of tournament. The greens were cut to a height and firmness somewhere between "glass sheet" and "polar ice cap." I took 45 putts on the day, I'll just say that much. Included in that were a pair of four-putts including one on a GIR on a par-4 hole that gave me a double. In case you're wondering, I typically average 32-34 putts per round. Jess

And me. Graphite actually straightened me out a good bit, particularly from the 7-iron down into the wedges. And yes, I did pick up some distance. Every club in my bag with the exception of my putter now has graphite shafts and I won't be going back. Jess

I think those are just fancied-up versions of those rangefinders that have a set of lines that you line up to the flag and it approximates your distance. I actually used to use one of those things for some time and it's decently helpful on a course with no markers whatsoever, but it's only good from 180 in and it's often off by as much as 20 yards. Save your money. BTW, I just bought a Bushnell for $140 this past week and love the thing. So did the other guys in my group. Jess

Welcome! I'm from Alabama myself. Although I live in central Alabama now, I've lived in Scottsboro, Russellville and Florence before. I've played Hampton Cove on your list but not the other two. Jess

I like my long and mid-irons to be cavity-back, and my shorter irons and wedges to be blades. For the most part, that's how my bag is arranged. I'll never be a great golfer but I'm "less bad" with this arrangement. As for what someone "should" do from a morality-of-the-game standpoint, I don't think that's my business or anyone else's business but theirs. As long as the clubs are legal, play your own game. Jess

Maxfli Softmax outlasts anything I've ever tried. Jess