luchnia

I tend to follow my surroundings and flow with the course (if I have played it before) and don't bother with how long I take to setup. If nothing is rushed, then I am not rushed. I don't sit in the car too long or take a large amount of time getting my gear ready. I judge accordingly, but I really don't like to be rushed. I pay my hard earned money to play just like the next person does. It doesn't take long to setup my equipment and put my shoes on. I am always reasonably well prepared before I even get to the course so if need be, I can be quick on the go. I believe it is all about respect to people and fellow golfers in general. Of course there are those that carry great disrespect for others and could give a rip about anything which usually bring challenges to what may be a good golf game. Some weeks ago, me and a buddy played a course and there was a foursome that were in front of us at the first Tee that actually warmed up and stretched on the Tee box delaying those behind them! There were no less than two groups waiting behind us. After quite a wait and seeing this was not going to change, we decided to start on the 10 hole and while we drove the cart over to 10 (we could see #1 tee box from 10) and got set up on the tenth hole we could see they still had not finished. What is really bad is we tee'd up and drove our balls and two of them were still not finished!

I think most people "think" they hit it farther than they do until some actual measurements are done. They really aren't fooling anyone but themselves. Where the ball lands won't lie to anyone. I am realistic about my distances because that is important to me in order to play a quality game. I find on average that most hit it around 25 to even on occasion 50 yds less than they realize. I would state that most are around 15-25 less.

This would make for a most interesting game. I never saw anyone try that. I can see where it would add a variety of enjoyable challenges.

A buddy and I went out and had a strange day yesterday. It was chilly with a light north wind, but not too bad during the day. Played a course I haven't played before. I was somewhat doing my usual which should of equated to around 100 strokes or slightly less. My swing felt fantastic and simply a no stress swing. First 9 holes at 47 strokes, almost had a birdie on 9, but missed my put but got par, then got 5 bogies and another par. This was shaping up to be a decent round for me especially on a new and challenging course. Greens rolled like putting on concrete and some fairways had to be on the money! Here is where it gets weird. We stopped at hole 10 cause no one was behind us and we decided to grab a few snacks. We said if anyone was behind us we would just let them play through. A guy pulls up behind us and we said go ahead and play through. He asked if he could play with us and we said sure, be weren't very good golfers. He said it was fine he was having a very bad day. So I fire off the tee to hit one left slightly in the woods, which was not too bad because I pulled off a sweet second shot. This other guy plays from the blue tees and we are playing white tees. He does have a fairly decent drive, but in my opinion should have played white with us because his second shots were horrible. He had a not so bad short game, but since he could not get his second shots there, it did not make much difference. So I managed to bogie that hole and saved myself from the bad drive with a nice second shot and chip up onto the green. Next I double bogie, then par and then I have no clue what happened to me. It was as if I just started playing my first ever game LOL The next hole was a 9 and then the next hole I drove it off into the woods and couldn't find it, then a drop and a total blow-out at 11 strokes. I won the round, but I simply could not regain any composure no matter relaxed or tense I chose to be. It was embarrassing. I was hacking the ball on those bad holes like chopping wood. However I did save face to some degree with a bogey, then double bogey, then to trip bogies on the last two holes. On hole 18 though I did a sweet drive center fairway and a second shot just off the green front center. My chip was too long though and I finished the hole with four puts - ugghh. Of course, I was froze then because it was around 39 degrees and my hands were cold. What in the world makes us fall apart like at certain times? Is it because I am 65 and tired, or just some dark cloud on certain holes that loom on the golf course awaiting the victims?

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated and I enjoy getting different angles to this question. The thing is I enjoy the game pretty much anywhere I play from, yet I really have spend most of my time on the whites and some courses here have a set of tees between white and the tips they are kind of nice. I have played those too. I think as I improve I will eventually get a better "hang" of it. I know early in the year I struggled really bad 3 putting, but I worked really hard on my putting and short game. The last few times out most of my puts were 2 puts so that felt really nice and I chipped a few within two foot of the hole. Also another thing the last time out I did not have my usually blow up hole(s). I did get two 8s or 9s (don't remember right now) on par 5s, but I was experimenting with my fairway woods on a second shot and then third shot bombing for the green and should of used my irons. Ah the choices we make in golf 🙂 I remember telling my buddy when I pulled the woods out of the bag to mess around I should have shot my irons. I like risky shots sometimes though, but gut instinct really knows best and I did not follow it. My buddy just laughed caused it cost me several strokes before all was said and done and then I wound up 3 putting those two holes.

I am sure this topic has been beaten to death, yet I still am curious as to how others handle this. I am an older golfer who is only so-so. Average round at 100 with a best of 87, then 92 and 97, or the not so good 105-110 game. I seem to hover right at 100 more consistently. I am not into cheating my score and do my very best to score my strokes properly. I am a bit anal about it actually 🙂 I have played from various Tees but in my area in Central VA we have some rolling hills on a lot of courses and I seem to feel most comfortable at the white tees which are usually between 5600 to maybe 6000 yds. I did play short Tees once, but wasn't as comfortable for some reason. My driver can vary from around 175 to 225 with a once in a while longer shot. Should I play the short Tees more and see how it works out? I read all sorts of stuff about what Tees to play and I did the 5 iron math too. Just curious as to what most of you do concerning which Tees to play from and especially on a course you have not played before. I appreciate any insights you have.

I ride or walk depending. I do walk 9 for my exercise. When I play 9 at my home course, I walk and I find it is so much more relaxing and as the observance of the surroundings really makes a nice enjoyable outing. I am amazed at the difference in walking and riding.

When you pull in and the parking lot looks like a Walmart parking lot on Black Friday. Me and my buddy went to a course we never played, had a tee time booked in advance, and the next thing you know they check in guy says, Oh, we have some stuff going on today, but we can team you up and let you start on a different hole. I think the practice putting green had about 20 people on it when we arrived. All in all, it went pretty good because the people they teamed us up with were really nice and knew the course well, but wow was it crowded. For most of the time there were two carts in front and two behind most of the day. We wanted to play so we made the best of it.

I play alone some which I don't mind. It really allows me to focus on my game and enjoy the day. I also play with one other person that I met early this year at the driving range, but it is hard to find folks that are around my age, skill level, and share some similar interest. Me and another guy got teamed up a couple times on a busy course and one group of guys we were teamed up with got crap faced drunk - tossers. I wonder what a good organization is to join that one might meet other golfers in their local area. My next years step is to see what I can find out there and hopefully find someone to play with.

Much better than a year ago. Got much more work to do, but well pleased with the progress so far. I started golf late in life - just turned 65. Really this has been the first year that I have played much at all -around 15-20 rounds.

It is interesting but practice has much to do with it for sure. This quote from an earlier post hits home: " I'm hitting all my clubs farther so it's taking me less strokes to get to the point where I can start to use my short game" makes good sense to me. I have only been out to the course three times and I can definitely see just how important distance is, yet with a degree of accuracy being very important. Distance is of course bad if you are out in the woods somewhere. I am very much an amateur at golf but I remember when I was young and into sports (baseball and basketball mostly) just how much difference actual practice made and not so much mechanics especially with baseball. I have seen some rather odd types of baseball swings that could hit consistently. How is golf so much different? Is it as much mechanics as everyone makes out? When I look at Hogan I just don't see the locked in "mechanics" as so many teach. To me his swing even looks sort of odd. I am sure it is me because I lack in depth knowledge of golf swing mechanics. Please don't get me wrong as I know there are certain fundamentals that must be existent. If I can attain decent fundamentals and get good practice then that should equate to a fairly decent game. I think that is a reasonable assessment.

Interesting points. You state you are hitting all of your clubs farther because you are hitting them better. What do you mean by hitting them better? Can you share more clarity?

Quote: People don't play golf for three reasons, primarily, IMO: Cost Time Difficulty For me it is mostly cost and time - the difficulty doesn't really bother me as I truly enjoy something challenging for me. I also weigh in the cost to do other hobbies that I like and most that I am involved in are much cheaper per daily costs for me. It cost me around 40-60 dollars for a game of golf that might take around 2.5-4 hours. If I average that out to 3 hours that is a fairly expensive hourly rate and if I look at it from a day's expense that is an expensive hobby day - around 120-140 dollars (8 hour day). I am still looking for those "cheap" places to play. I would bet that most of the average income class don't play due to costs - just my observation and not based on any factual information. I know people that would get into golf but find it out of their cost range.

I keep seeing "ready golf" mentioned. Outside of getting quickly off the green, prepping for shot with club and practice swings, and not moving in a snail's pace, what are the basics of "ready golf" that we should adhere to?

Thanks and I totally agree. One thing is for sure, there is a lot more for me to learn. It was interesting my first few rounds out on the course, some things I learned by just being respectful and courteous to my fellow golfers and being aware if someone is behind us and leaving the green quickly was just one of those things that just made good sense. It is good to be mindful of the "better" and "faster" golfers and not hold them up. Another thing I thought more about after playing again was not to push against those in front of me as I am sure they don't want to feel rushed when they play keeping in mind of how I feel when someone is hot on my heels. It gives an opportunity for me to look at my score, compare notes, and shoot the bull with my boys and laugh a little about our horrible shots!

After reading the first sentence the term "incentive" comes to mind. Maybe a thought would be, why do men like golf more than women do? Many have learned the hard way that loving something with a passion does not always pay the bills - financial reward.

I am not sure on this, but I would question who determines and what defines what is slow? I am guessing there is some sort of baseline time frame out of respect for fellow players? Is there a rule of just how long a game should take? Maybe the time it takes to play the game as it should be is by just how much one enjoys and takes time in what he or she is doing? There are craftsmen that take longer and do a better job and there are craftsmen that are fast and do a poor job. When I rush it shows Not long ago me and my two sons were playing and most folks were coming up on us quickly and we had to let some play through although not bad at all considering there were three of us. The thing is those other fast players were two men groups and there were three of us in our group so naturally we would be slower even if we were decent players. We played moderately but were a bit slow mainly because I am a beginner and they had not played in a while and rusty. We got rushed around a few times because of those facts. I simply do not like to rush something that is so much enjoyment to me and I pay my money like everyone else. To me rushing at golf totally ruins it for me. I am reminded of the fast food society we live in these days - grab it and go verses society from years ago that does not enjoy the rush and cherished better memories.

Being a newby (I only started last year - had three lessons), I am working on getting consistent swing contact and still getting the "feel" of everything. The one thing that seems the most odd to me is uncoiling my hips first before my swing. It just seems to be the weirdest feeling to me. I seem to want my arms to initiate the swing instead of hips. I guess my mind just reverts back to youth baseball days and golf is such a different animal than baseball. Though with baseball most hitters seem to initiate the swing with their left leg and hip even though they don't realize it. I love the feel of the rythm you have when getting ready to nail the baseball. I wish that feel would port over to golf somehow as that was most comfortable to me. Several have said I have a very good golf swing for a beginner (whatever that means). I built me an indoor practice net and my winter plan is some solid practice getting dialed in and learning all my clubs much better.

I am new to the site. I am in Information Technology - senior IT engineer by title (whatever the heck that is supposed to mean!) I do about everything you can think of in Information Technology from IT Management on down to setting up PCs. I have about done it all and over the course of my life I have worn quite a few hats in other areas as well

Thanks. I am looking forward to the threads. Great info!

Hello, I am new to the site and a beginner golfer just turned 60 years old. Only play three games so far and really enjoy it a lot. The forums look great for learning about all my mistakes.