sjduffers

Unless my math is wrong, that's a 5.4 differential. Great round! An 8.0 index means the average of the 10 best rounds (out of 20) is an 8.3 differential (counting for the 0.96 multiplier), meaning the golfer achieves that 8.3 differential 5 times out of 20 on average. As you see, 8.3 is 3 strokes higher than 5.4, so no, as much as he would like to, @lastings doesn't do that all the time!

It's around 100 right now in Northern CA, but it's dry heat, right? I normally walk my rounds and drink 2 or 3 qt-sized bottles of ice water (thermos with refill on the course as necessary) but in that heat, if I still walk, and it must be on a flat course, it's more like 5 or 6 bottles and another 1 or 2 after I get home, so well over 1.5 gal overall. Yesterday, I played a somewhat hilly course, and I rode in a cart: that helps a lot! LOL. I nearly suffered a heat stroke almost 2 years ago, when I was unable to walk the slight rise to the green on the elevated #18 and nearly collapsed. Thankfully, my partners were riding in a cart, put a cool towel around my neck, drove me back to the air-conditioned club house and essentially revived me so the worse was averted. I am bit more careful now with the walking, hence my reply above. Be careful out there!!

Personally, I grind through it and finish the round to the best of my (in)ability for the day. I won't dwell on it after the round is over and it will probably turn out that one of the fundamentals was really off that day, like standing too close to the ball (or too far), or not getting my weight forward properly, etc... It happens, forget about it and your good habits might just return on their own. It also helps if you are able to self-diagnose an error in your swing based on post-shot review, perhaps making a practice swing or two after the shot, understanding the ball flights law and what drives them, etc...

When I started playing, it took me probably 3 or 4 years to get my first par! And probably another year or 2 to get my first birdie. Sure, my ball striking was terrible and I rarely got on the green in regulation, say around once per round and I always 3-putted that one chance! It turns out I was likely the worse putter on the planet (besides a really bad golfer with the full swing): no feel for speed at all, and the direction was questionable too. Green reading was a glaring weakness as well: nothing like thinking the putt breaks one way, set up to the ball, strike it and see it break the other way! All these are fixable, with a bit of putting practice. I did that, deliberately, and now (another 10-12 years later), putting is my strength. Of course, ball striking has improved a lot too, but I average about 6 greens in regulation per round and manage to convert almost 1of those 6 chances for birdie on average, per round (not counting the chip-ins which also happen once in a while!). If you think that green reading is a bad weakness for you, you should spend some time working on it and/or take an AimPoint class, until it is no longer a weakness. You might even convert that weakness into a strength. Of course, something else (e.g. the full swing) will become a (relative) weakness then: rinse and repeat!

I made a 13 on a par 5, once (at Poppy Hills, it was #10 then, is now #1 after the recent remodel). After a drive in the center of the fairway, but with the ball slightly above my feet, which should have promoted a draw going left, I kept hitting balls way right, into the forest, out of bounds. Eventually, the golf gods had pity on me and spit one back out, in play! Troubles were not over as I chipped one down the green and into the lake, and then proceeded to 3-putt. A smooth 13 it was, indeed!

At Santa Teresa in San Jose, CA, hole #6 has 3 power lines right across the fairway, just a few yards beyond the tee boxes area. Regardless of the position of the tee markers (or even of the selection of tees), I routinely hit that power line: there are 6 wires to choose from and the angle up to those lines fit my drive trajectory pretty well. So, it’s darn near a 50/50 proposition. I have had to hit more than 2 balls off the tee in many occasions. At the same course on #9, the same power lines have a tower on the right side of the fairway and then follow the right side of the fairway. A slice has a decent chance of hitting one of those towers and even though they are definitely made of more than 90% air (probably closer to 99% air), one can hear a loud clang of a ball hitting a tower a lot more often than you would think. It leaves a pretty good mark on the ball too, I am told... 😜

Available on iPhone too. Published by the USGA.

Absolutely! New money think they can buy "class". Truth is class is not for sale: usually, old money has it and new money typically has no idea what it is...

Touché! I missed that. That bag looks pretty light though, at least compared to mine (a cart bag which I never carry, but use either on a push cart or a riding cart)! No argument that not having to do all these things, especially for 72 holes, is a big help. That said, I don't know how I would fare with just the 25 miles walk, not to mention the gazillion swings... ETA: I would definitely need to read and peruse this thread several times:

Perhaps I was mistaken, but it looked to me like the caddie was a forecaddie, caddying for the whole group, but not carrying bags. Pointing out lines, looking for lost balls, maybe reading putts, etc... Regardless of whether carrying or pushing one's own bag, or having it deal with by someone else, walking 4 rounds in a day on these hilly courses is quite a feat. I know I feel beat after walking and pushing my cart for 27 or 36 holes!

What they said both times is that the player could have dropped on the opposite side of the penalty area, but never mentioned the local rule applying to that penalty area, and effectively left it to imply that it was per the general rule, which i kind of knew (and you confirmed) was not the case this year and beyond, thus spreading more confusion to the golfing public not on top of the rules...

Thanks @iacasfor confirming what I thought. But the question remains: is there a local rule that applies to this particular hole and penalty area, or are the tv announcers still thinking of the old rule? It could be either one at first brush, but would like to know for sure. Thanks!

Twice in the last couple of days, the announcers are pointing to the option to drop on the other side of the red penalty area of the creek in front of the green. Is there a local rule for this particular hole that allows it? I thought the 2019 Rules of Golf had done away with this option for relief on a red penalty area. It was of course an option before that. So, are they full of it, or not?

Why such a big fuss about changing shoes in your car? Personally, that is really not an issue, and I would also change my shirt and/or my long pants into shorts if that made sense without hesitation. I don't need to anymore because I don't go from work to the golf course any longer: retirement has its benefits! From what I gather from your post, you like the accoutrements of a private club, but you are not the private club type. I would stick to playing multiple higher-end courses like you are doing now: if you go often enough, they'll know you and treat you (almost) like at a private club... but you'll have to get over changing your shoes in the car, or simply drive to the course in spikeless shoes!

Awesome! Now do it again and again, and then routinely and you are on your way to break 80!