CarlOwen

thanks guys for all the comments and post mortem. I especially agree with IACAS about taking yourself out of your own game. The more I've thought about it. this is my problem, not his, and how I react to it, is up to me case closed. wait until next year!

Is there a rule of thumb on how often you should clean the grooves on wedges during a round? I sometimes use a pocket knife, does this ruin the grooves? Does excessive use of a knife or sharp object ruin wedges? Should I just stick with a steel brush? Lastly, I heard some players like to leave their wedges out to rust to improve grip and spin, does this work?

On further reflection, I am changing my statement about my opponent being "unsportmanlike". This is a game afterall, and I guess I wanted to badly win and it got under my skin and now I'm looking for excuses. In the end, I was responsible for the outcome and lost. I want to learn how to better equip myself for these situations, again any replies are greatly appreciated.

You are right Dave. I'm sure many a match play have been much worse. and yes, he didn't do anything wrong as it relates to rules and as I said, is indeed a friendly person. I suppose since I've never experienced this before, I wasn't equipped mentally to deal with it. It's interesting because, a frieindly round with the guys has A LOT of banter and trash talk which is what makes golf fun, but in a competitive match situation, it is anything but welcome. From what I've seen on TV, Is appears that no one talks at all during a match. The next time, I play with someone like this, I'm going to be quiet as a churchmouse and say nothing at all the entire round. This to me seems unfriendly, sure, but lhe only solution, without actually having an akward conversation about it.

Hello everyone. Last week, my match play opponent was quite a bit older and has a lower handicap of 3 strokes, consequently, he gave me strokes on a few holes. There was a lot riding on this match. The winner makes it to the semi-finals. From there your name makes it on a plaque for everyone to see. Before my match, one of our pros said to me "Oh, you're playing Warren, good luck, he's very crafty and a tough opponnentt" Well, now I know. This guy actually said, as I was taking practice swings on the tee box "god, I wish I had a swing like you" Or if it hit close on the green, he'll say "go get your birdie" when we're both laying two.. Following a very mediocre wedge shot, he'd say "that was a great shot" the worst was when I was I was one up and had a difficult chip then one put to win the hole, he say's, I'm not making this up... "so, how old are your kids?" of course, I take the bait, answer the question, and he says "that sounds pretty stressfull, "ive been through that..." These types of comments and questions went on and on throughout our match. He's a friendly person, but I'd be damned if he didn't know what he was doing. Because I was playing some really good golf up until this match, I could have easily beaten this guy, but I didn't, and now I feel like I've been cheated and can't get this out of my head and move on. Any advice is greatly appreciated, I do happen to see this guy around and I do not want this to be an "incident" but at the same time, I feel like exposing him for what he is,-which I would characterize as unsportsmanlike. I've played a number of match games and never had to deal with this. Most opponents know when not to talk- or leave you mostly alone if you are not initiating convesation. My comments are usually limited to "nice shot" or "what a bad break" if my opponent has an unfair situation, but that's about it. I know there is a little bit of head games with when to conceding puts and the like, but at the same time this is not a pool hall on the south side of town.

hatchman, I can't say I really have a thought, save for just trying to remind myself to slow down. BTW, I mischaracterized the missed shot as a pull fade, I meant to say a pull draw. the majority of miss hits are pulled left of the green or as i mentioned are thin and straight. Perhaps I am lucky but fades and slices are not part of my repertoire. rainmaker, are you suggesting that perhaps my right arm (which is obviously stronger) is sort of leading the way and overpowering the need for the left to lead the way?

Hi All, Does anyone have any good practice tips on how to slow down the quickness I've developed at the top of my backswing? My PGA instructor has told me so often "stop going after it" but I just cannot consistently stop it. As a result, I don't get weight transfer to the left side properly and/or often pull irons as i am coming across the swing plan due to the very excessive club speed at the top. A typical miss-hit is a pull fade that goes off target about ten yards past the green. Other times, its thin (due to the improper weight transfer) When (less than 25%) of the time, I have a smooth transition at the top, my ball compression and trajectory are extremely good and find myself close to the pin. There are times when I can do this for sometimes a good while, but its fleeting. So, a typical round will be 80-90% non-par 3's in the fairway (Strangely, it doesn't affect my driver or 3 wood, where I am about 90% straight down the middle with very good length.) THEN two more shots to the green because of the pull or the thin shot, so ironically wedge play has gotten very good for me! I miss most of the par 3 greens unless its thin and I am come in fast and somehow hold on. During an entire round I will be lucky to hit 3 or 4 greens from the middle of the fairway ranging from 125-175 yards out. So my typical round is about 4-5 pars and mostly bogeys, and an occasional birdie. My handicap is currently 13

Aside from Phile Mcgleno churlish comments, thanks for your responses. The criticism of the driving range in and of itself is not really an issue. The issue is, it seemed the segregated area for non members signaled an attitude they have toward their guests. It's as if they are saying, "we really don't want non member guests here, but we like the money, so we'll deal with it." Driving up to the starter and waiting 10 minutes past your tee time while simultaneously watching the group ahead of the group you're waiting for take approach shots onto the 1st green is not accidental, I say- It's purposely stacked and I say it reflects a poor attitude toward your non members. I don't think my observations and complaints are unreasonable. I also think they could have been more gracious about it, nevermind having spent thousands of dollars over the course of the week at their hotel as well as $400 on dinner the night before at 18 oaks.

wow, I'm surprised by the responses, as if I should expect to be treated poorly just because it was a TPC course. If you are guest at my club, you are treated with the same courtesy and respect as any full dues paying member. We would never stack up a bunch of guests just because we could. It would reflect poorly on the club. It's not even in the realm of possibility. If they are creating a dual class at the TPC, they shouldn't even bother letting non members play. We asked for a refund, because 1) they wasted our time, and 2) I wasn't going to let them get away with it. I wrote the post because I was curious if this was de rigeur at the TPC, but since obviously, none of you have played at one, have nothing substantive to say, save for petty comments about being satisfied I got my money back. As for the "free balls on the range" comment. Please. Why I bothered on even posting this was for naught. .

Hi all, I was at the San Antonio TPC last week and had a very poor experience. Let me explain. We arrived one hour early for a late morning tee time. At the pro shop we paid $640 for two greens fees which included a cart and range balls. The first thing to rub me the wrong way was that they segregated the driving range. Non members were asked to hit from an area wholly separate and honestly, so far away from the member's range, it felt insulting. Two, we get to the starter 3 minutes before our tee time which happened to be the same time as another foursome. It turns out, the other foursome was running late and teed off fairly promptly. That said, another foursome was just only beginning to putt on the first green. After nearly 1 hour of what was obviously stacked up slow play, we left following the putting green of the third hole and headed back to the pro shop. We explained that we hadn't 6 or 7 hours to play a round-nor thought it was reasonable to wait 10 minutes before every shot. He was ungracious and refunded our money without apology. Correct me If I am wrong, but when you spend this kind of money, you should be treated no different from club members and they should have at a minimum, 12 minute spacing on the tee sheet. This is not a $50 muni course where you grin and bear it, but supposed to be a world class elite facility. Needless to say, this experience has really soured me. And will probably keep me from ever trying another TPC. Has anyone had similar TPC experiences, or is this just an a poorly run club?

you bring up a good point. yes, when I grip too tightly, I hook drives like everyone else. So other than that, I'm not so sure changing to an interlock will help my game. I am under the impression though that it might be the best grip for having small hands. Having an erratic game, yet a near flawless swing. (according to our club pro and teaching pro) has convinced me something must change. On the course or on the range, my outcomes are very consistent, it is mostly good shots interspersed with really bad ones. it makes no sense. I can go to the range and hit ball after ball all day long, and will still hit on average about 7 out of ten shots very well. The three will be erratic. When I saw the teaching pro several times last year, all he did was fine tune my swing and said, everything else looks great. The only substantive change was placing a little more weight on the left foot with short irons to get better ball contact. It must mean that at some point,my hands are sometimes moving on the shaft either at the top of swing, or through impact, and or, I am constantly applying various degrees of pressure depending on the situation-which if is the case, would be solved through an interlocking grip. At any rate, looking for any suggestions from those that changed from a Vardon grip late in their game.

we were kids at the time, this what 30 years ago!

The two most dominant players in either the PGA and LPGA (Rory McIlroy Michelle Wei) use the Interlocking grip. The two most dominant golfers of the past 50 years (Nicklaus and Woods) also use the interlocking grip. As a junior golfer, I used to use it, but if I recall, the other golfers at the time dismissed it as a beginner grip. So as a victim of peer pressure, I dropped it and have used a Vardon grip ever since. Being of shortish stature and not very big (5'9" 165) I probably could benefit from a grip that provided more control without having to add pressure. The question is, have any of you changed your grip to interlocking late in your golf playing life and if so, how did it turn out? How long did it take to know whether it was a good move or not, and how would you approach trying it out in a practical manner. Lastly, does the type and fit of glove come into play when incorporating this grip. I look forward to the responses.

OK, I was a bit unnerved and rude and I apologise- but I find it completely absurd that a 13 handicapper averages 31 putts a round. I've been around awhile and I have never seen anyone but the best golfers average considerably less than 2 putts per hole. I will stand by this. As for the original premise of the thread, the poster wishes to get to single digits and wants to know how to get there with a reasonable amount of effort. I submit that decent golfers (low bogey players like myself) can be more effective shaving strokes practicing putting versus practicing on the range. If you've ever been to a tournament, watch the guys around the green and the incredible dilligence and amount of time they spend there. (remember the story of Rory practicing 55 straight putts from 10 feet?) It is much easier learning to get rid of those pesky three putts and converting 95% of your 3-4 foot putts and lower your score by 5 or 6 strokes than anything else I know.