Finn725

To be clear, this event is not at Prairie Dunes or promoted by Prairie Dunes

The easy solution would be to quit lifting your head. I'm only assuming, but if you are topping the ball, I don't think you are swinging around your body on a flat enough plane, or keeping your spine angle consistent. You might want to try taking full swings, at 50% speed... work specifically on rotating shoulders to swing around your spine while keeping your spine angle the same on back swing - down swing, and follow thru. Try to focus on not picking up your shoulders (shrugging), or thrusting your hips forward (standing up) while doing this drill. Drive thru leading with hips to your left side (if you are a righty). It should feel awkward at first.

on the practice range, try to get the club head to follow thru around your body... really work on rotating after impact. see if you start seeing results.

You should get on the practice range, try setting your hands at about 80% in your backswing, and start your downswing by firing hips first, followed by hands. By firing hips, I mean start rotating your hips square to the target... not sliding them toward the target. Setting your hands shorter (or at least feeling like you do) will help prevent an "over the top" swing... but the key is to get the timing right with your hips. If your hips are square to the ball at impact, you will have to be over the top to get to the ball... so get those hips started first, and follow with your hands.

This ^^^^^^ Two things that you mentioned, high and right fade means you are attacking steep and standing up thru contact, rather than swinging around your body... steep means you have too much arm swinging, not enough shoulder turn. Shoulder turn on chips vs. swinging with arms will eliminate the thin chip. And keep your weight distributed to your left side.

100% cash! the club knows it against the rules... Pro says "everyone does it". It's being promoted with mass emails titled "Big Cash Payout".

I own an independent insurance agency. 4 locations, 10 ft staff, 3 non ft.

This looks like a great site with a lot of great discussions. Looking forward to contributing.

Well, when I recognize I am giving strokes away off the tee, at a course I am familiar with... I start looking at what a hole looks like if I land a tee shot 220 of the tee, instead of 280-300. Most of the time I take a lot of trouble out of play. Shooting a 71 consistently means eliminating the big number as much as possible. But my guess is that the pressure you put on yourself is the biggest obstacle. If you have shot a 69 once, you can do it every time. Convince yourself that the expectation is to shoot 69 or better. If shooting 72 becomes a real disappointment for you, rather than a round you are satisfied with, and you start looking for 3-4 strokes you gave away each round. You will become a + handicap by the end of July, 2014.

You'll never get better at playing golf if you always seek to make the game as easy as possible. But as long as that is your goal... Whatever you wanna do...

If you are a 1.2, its safe to say that your swing isn't what is holding you back. Chances are you are playing a course that is rated too low, you have some skills that you need to refine slightly, or the space between your ears is getting the best of you. What is your course rating? Do you play the back tees? I presume you shoot between 72-76 most of the time... when you "giveaway" strokes; is it off the tee, on the green, or in between?

If you know of a club that is promoting a cash prize tournament for amateur golfers (ie: 4 man scramble that will pay the winning team $1000/player) - do you feel obligated under USGA rules to say anything? What if you know some of the players, and compete against them in State Association amateur events? Do you talk to the host club about making the event compliant for amateurs?

or you can play the rules game http://www.usga.org/rulesquiz/rules_quizzes.html

I remember watching the Memorial a few years back - and it was discussed that Jack removed every other tyne from the rakes, so that the bunkers couldn't be raked perfectly smooth. As the bunkers should be a penalty... and the way bunkers are manicured on most courses, players almost always prefer a bunker opposed to being in the rough.