jr05

As I am a beginner (second year playing....first REAL year) I will put in my experience with this matter. Last year I played maybe 4 times all year and really liked playing but was terrible. I would keep score every round, and would get the occasional 1, 2, or 3 over on a hole and would be psyched. This year, I have played at least once a week and have kept scores every time. I signed up for oobgolf and have been putting my scores in there now. It is really cool to see the progression over the last couple months. Looking back on it, I wish I had done this from the beginning, or at least all this year! So long story short, for me, keeping score has been good and I wish I had actually been better at it. I recommend signing up for a place like oobgolf so once you really get addicted you can look at it and hopefully see that you improved.

Getting out more is definitely going to be a good thing....but if you are not stretching, that is the first thing you need to do. I stretch for at least 5-10 minutes before every round. Do a google search on golf stretches and you will get a ton of good information and tips. Sounds like you should focus on the calf stretches, but don't skimp on the others either. Another cause of the cramps may be not enough nutrients or water. Do you drink enough water during the average day? Especially out on a hot course if you are walking, lots of water is a good thing. If you drink a lot of water....try eating a banana (for the potassium), that my be a factor as well. Good luck! -JR

Tag I have been looking at these as well as they seem like a steal at that price. And they get pretty good reviews....just not a ton of them. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, as I am debating saving up the money and replacing my old crappy vokeys with a new set. -JR

I was in a similar boat as you at the beginning of this season. I went around to the local shops, and the pro shops at the courses nearby and checked out the clubs they had. I ended up finding a set of new Ping i5 irons left over from the previous season and the i5s were discontinued this year. I got them for $275 (maybe above your budget...) I definitely recommend going around and checking clubs out personally since some of the used ones were pretty crappy. Maybe try Play it Again Sports stores or something similar. This should be a pretty good time of year to buy used clubs (I imagine?) Good luck, JR

How about taking that money and putting it toward a couple outings of real golf a week? Maybe you do, but I can't imagine I would have any time to golf if I was going to the driving range 10 times a week. Also, what saves me a lot of money and has improved my game (from completely terrible to just terrible) is the chipping and putting greens. You can get a medium or large bucket of balls and hit a few at the range, and then finish up at the chipping green (or better yet, find a place with a chipping green you can get your balls back from). Then go on to the putting green. Much more time at the range for the same price (or cheaper), and it has helped my game much more than just whacking balls at the flags.

The people I play with do not act like that. I have been set up with a couple people like that when I have gone to a course alone and they were not letting singles out alone. But I just ignore them for the most part and play my own game. I do however have one friend that gets very frustrated when he makes bad shots (often) and will bang clubs, throw balls, and such. I find it works best, once he gets aggravated, to sort of say...."wow that was a crappy shot" and see if I can get him to throw something in the water. It makes it more enjoyable than just dealing with it, and something funny might happen (funny for me). Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn't call him a friend since I would feel guilty doing this to friends....

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Assistant (to the) regional manager... Actually, I am an R+D Engineer (Medical Device)