Buck Nutz

I will kind of piggy back on what Mike said. You hit the ball a country mile, but in which direction? Is an 8i 185 with a controllable and consistent draw/ fade or is it rip it and hope it goes somewhere close to the green? It is always nice to have an extra gear so if you need to step on it you know you can reach something but if you swing within yourself you can see your accuracy skyrocket. For someone with your distance you can really afford to play the hole backwards. For example, a 420 yard par 4. A lot of the weekend duffers swing from the heels with a driver and hope they end up somewhere they can find it. Then they are left with 170-180 yard 5i or hybrid which are low percentage shots for a GIR. If you can pick a comfortable distance for an 85% repeatable swing (say 175 yard 7i for you) you play backwards and tell yourself "i want to hit it to leave myself this distance. Then you can hit 3 or 5 wood to that comfortable distance. Just something to think about.

" 4. How are you calculating the handicaps to begin with? (and how are you adjusting them?) That could introduce some bias to the numbers too. [/quote] One of the guys tracks the round and plugs them into a program he has (not sure which one). It seems accurate as it matches what my official handicap is and I only keep my own. We turn in true scores due to playing with each other pretty regularly and we won't let things slide with .25, .50 cents on the line. To answer the match play format, we "roll the tee" on the morning of day 2 to get the matchup. We play a different game in the afternoon (usually wolf or East vs West). On the morning of day 3 the two winners from the previous day play and the two losers play. The terms of the bet are worked out between the two players. Afternoon round day 3 (final round) it's a stroke play with money in the hat and winner take all. It's a great time but a lot to keep up with.

I am prepping for a golf trip in two weeks and the group is having a hard time pulling their stuff together as far as handicapping rounds. We just have a foursome but we are rather scattered in skill. Our top player is an 8, followed by a 12, 14 and a 24. We try to keep things simple, even and fun. Before we go out the card gets marked up to show how many strokes player A gives to B,C,D. The way it has worked in the past is player D is 16 shots diff from player A so he gets a stroke on the hardest 16. Player C get strokes on the top 6 holes and player B gets a stroke on the top 4. This seems simple enough and we have done it like this for years but now player A says he is getting jobbed for strokes. Full disclosure, the handicaps will move a bit on our trips as people are playing good or bad. We play some low dollar games the first day (36) and set finals hancicaps for the last two days were we do a match play with some other side games. Player A has never won the match play and I see his point about having the deck stacked against him giving up a stroke on 16 holes. Player D is the kinda guy that will run off a string of pars and have an absolute blowup to sink the scorecard. I guess what I am asking, is ther a more equitable solution or,does it sound like we are doing it right? Thanks

Par 70 68.1/119. Not a tough course, just one I have never played before. Went 81. Who puts a pond across a fairway on a blind tee shot at 260 yards?!?! I will know for next time I guess. Encouraged and want to go play some more but it's midnight

I'm not clear on what you are asking with #2. Are you asking if you should get the swing the same for every club in the bag or are you saying that your swing is the same with every club but you are seeing a difference in performance? Just a mid HI guy here but I don't think you can swing your driver as say your 9i. First your setup is different. Feet are wider, standing a little taller due to club length, 9i swing you are at a much steeper angle of attack and take a divot while you have more of a "sweep" with a driver and hit it on the uptake. This may not be a good swing thought for everyone but it seems to work with me. My highest lofted club is a 58* Vokey. That is my steepest, sharpest contact. My angle of attack changes ever so slightly with my PW, and again with my 9i, 8i and so on until I get to my driver which as I said before is more of a sweep. I will also take it a step further than Scottc did. Skip a Sunday four ball and schedule a lesson. Ask your specific questions of swing thought and practice and then put it to use. Good luck!

Ok, this may have been covered somewhere along the 3 years this thread has been going but I will throw in my "magical" slice cure. In HS I played with a moderate to severe slice. I played baseball through college so I think that had a lot to do with my swing. Well about '99 or so I read an article in Golf Digest (GASP!!) that gave me a swing thought. With just that a mental picture and swing thought I turned my big slice into a straight ball or slight draw. The article was more visual than anything. Laura Davies was standing at home plate of Yankees stadium with a ball tee'd up. The message was to picture hitting the ball over the RIGHT field wall to straighten your ball flight. At first it didn't make sense but I gave it a shot anyways. I mean, if my ball goes right when I don't want it to why would I want to push it farther that way. It worked wonders but at the time I didn't know why. Wasn't a serious golfer and knew nothing about swing mechanics. I still can't say I'm a serious golfer, just an addicted golfer who studies a lot and now it all makes sense. It gets you swinging from inside the ball and eliminates cutting it. Give it a shot, hope it can help someone.

Do you ever get out to Beavercreek GC? I find it can get a little tight with the houses and condos but the downhill par 3 shooting towards 675 is kind of a neat view.

Just wanted to introduce myself. I can't believe it has taken me this long to find TST! Originally from Tipp and now I am about 45 minutes south in Monroe. Anyone have some insight on an open league for this spring/summer? Mondays or Tuesdays are best but not picky. Usually journey up to Pipestone, Heatherwoode, or Community a few times a month to meet my dad but usually stay down in the Shaker Run, Walden Ponds, kings Island area (really best deal possible on last minute golf). Anyways, hit em well ~ Josh

The thing I am missing is consistency. 2 full rounds and a 9 this year....78, 87, 40. The first two were back to back days, same course

My iron covers go in the basket as I use them but woods and hybrids get put back on. Can't stand the clanging sound and imagining the dings or paint chips on the white heads. It also lets me evaluate what clubs I don't hit during the round at a quick glance.

rkim, first, nicely done the past few months. It shows what the right mindset can do! My question is how has your overall approach to the game changed? What I mean is, since December you have documented workouts, lessons, range time, and the most fun PLAYING a lot on the course. Is this different from years past or have you always put in this much time and added new clubs? I hate winters in Ohio. I have spent countless hours in the basement in front of mirrors, countless putts on my mat and chipping foam balls. I have gotten out twice and even though I can probably attribute some to rust I see no real changes. I think the solution is to move to a better climate!

I am lucky that my job allows me to play during "off peak" days and hours. My three playing partners and I are all on the same shift rotation so we play every Tuesday and Wednesday morning and usually have a course pretty much to ourselves. No "great" players but all are competent and efficient. We can get around in about 3 hours by being ready and having an idea of what we will be doing as we drive from ball to ball.

Please tell me you aren't trying to take divots on practice swings. I used to work at a muni in high school (unpaid btw, just free golf) and almost got fired on my day off because a ranger saw me taking divots on my practice swings. He taught me about how much damage it did to the course and how long it took to heal. It's the equivalent of dragging your spikes across the green. Sure, it happens from time to time on accident for most weekend golfers but please, be kind to the course.

I love my Mission Belt. My wife bought me one after she saw them on Shark Tank. I've had it for a while and have had no issue. I like the TST buckle. Let me know when I can order one.

Hello all, first time poster. Been watching the site for a while...love it. 1: letting my hips fly open which leads to 2: making my hands over rotate causing a big sweeping hook