JeepXJ98

I don't think I've posted here yet, but I just want to get in a thanks for this thread. It took my wildly inconsistent driver and turned it into something I can control. A small adjustment forward or backwards, and I can go from a slight push/fade, to a dead straight ball, to a slight push or straight draw.....all with the same swing, which is great because it takes me out of the equation....In the last 54 holes I've played, I only hit my normal miss (a straight snap-hook) one time....which is amazing, because prior to this I was averaging one every 4-5 drives..... I'm continuing to work on this, and am currently working on being able to swing faster to get back to my normal distance, but honestly being 260 yds down the fairway (or in the first cut) is a huge improvement over being 280 and in the trees on the right or left!

This whole thread is weird.....and seems a bit sketchy

They were showing a lot of roll from the LM? With a previous question I asked about a club I demo'd, I was advised not to pay a whole lot of attention to the roll after the shots on the LM. It could be set to downhill, rock hard, etc. I would pay more attention to carry distances. That is how I've started judging all the balls I hit on the LM now, when checking out new clubs. When you hit your current 6 iron on the course or range, do you feel like it rolls too far? Does it not land as soft as you would like? Because unless you have seen that with an actual golf ball on actual ground, then I would take the roll-out on the LM with a grain of salt, and not really rely on it.

Home Course - Prairie Lakes 71/62, 6800 yds 41 - 37 = 78 First time breaking 80 in the last 2 decades. I altered my grip last night (in line with the "How to Grip the Golf Club" thread) and practiced with it in front of the mirror. Used it today on the course and boy did it make a difference. I made back to back birdies on the front 9th and back 1st. Those were my first birdies in 3 months of solid playing every week and practicing a good bit. My drives were decent today, my irons were really good and I managed not to kill myself with the putter. Only had 1 3-putt, where I have been averaging 3-4 a round. Fairways - 6/14 (This seems low, but I had 4-5 that were just off the fairway in the first cut, or slightly off the fairway in the rough, but still had good shots into the green for my second) GIR - 8/18 (This is way better than I typically average, and it made a huge different in my score) Putts - 31 (again, well under my typical average of 36-38)

45/44 at Prairie Lakes again. Driver was still on, but my irons were terrible and I 3-putted 4 bogeys that I shoulda made par. Hit almost no GIR, but once again the short game got me close enough to 2-putt most times. My 3-putts came on the few holes I actually hit the GIR....

Welcome, from another Texas boy! My best friend's brother lives in Houston, go down for golf and fishing with him every now and then. Maybe next time we can make it a party!

I appreciate the input, and as usual it looks like I was just overthinking it. I definitely need to pick up some new FW woods.....these cheap, 1993 models are killing my par 5's. Tired of just having to hit a 6 iron and get on in 3 cause I can't hit them off the deck for squat. Then I will need to hit some hybrids and find one or two to fill in the gaps. I'm about done with my 3 and 4 iron.

Shot an 84 (41/43) at Prairie Lakes - 71.3/62, 6500 3 putts and crappy iron play killed my day. However, my driver was better today than it has ever been! Thanks to the "How to Hit Your Driver" thread. Fairways - 9/14 GIR - 7/18 Putts - 35 (including 3 3-putts) My short game saved the day. I had 10 chips within 10 feet, and 7 of those were within 5. If I had made 50% of my putts in the 5-8' range, I would have broken 80 for the first time since High School. I ended up making 0 putts outside of 5', and even missed 3 within 3'.....that's terrible. Now that I have my driver swinging good, I need to concentrate on hitting the middle irons.....they hurt my round almost as much as the putting today.

I've never holed a bunker shot. I've scored many eagles, but never a single one from putting. They've all been holed chips/short wedges on par 5's, or second shots into the green on par 4's.

I took a wedge in, and hit it on the sim to warm up, and to ensure the distances were comparable. It charted bang on with my typical wedge shot, so there's that. Still, this is good advice - I guess with higher swing speeds and longer clubs, any small difference in a shorter club would show up bigger in the longer, faster ones. Today I will take in my driver to go alongside.....although it hasn't been the most accurate club for me lately (part of the reason the 3w is next on the upgrade list, so I have a backup). I may also hit a few demo drivers. Mine was given to me by a friend and is several years old (ping g10). It also has a regular flex shaft, and with my swing speed I would guess I am right on the bubble for stiff....which could be contributing to the driver being inconsistent (though the majority of that is probably me).

Good to know about the roll numbers! Now I can go back and hit a few more and just focus on carry. I did hit my PW for a few warm up shots and the carry numbers on it were similar to my typical wedge distance. I hit the 3w off a tee and off the deck. Deck shots were carrying on average just south of 220. I had no problems hitting it solid, and out of the 50 or so balls I hit, only had 2 that were not good (both hooks, which is my typical "miss", one coming off the tee and one off the ground). I think the miss shots were due to me seeing the swing speeds and wanting to see if I could hit 110....lol..I really cranked on them and hit a 150yrd hook about 35yds offline. I have never struggled with getting the ball off the ground. Normally I'm a high ball hitter. I once had an 8 degree War Bird driver in my bag, and I could even hit it off the ground with a good fluffy lie.....although where it went once it got airborne was another matter...hah. I'm gonna go back today, hit it some more and cycle through a couple of other clubs. I'll concentrate on hitting them all off the deck and go from there. I guess for my ability level I am overthinking this and should just pick the one I hit the straightest and longest!

So in the past year I've come back to playing golf, and have slowly been replacing my clubs. A good friend gave me a ping g10 driver, and I recently picked up a set of Titleist DCI 990's, and had them adjusted for me. I'm still rocking my old (and I mean old and cheap) fairway woods (some Wilsons we got at Service Merchandise back in the early 90's). Next up to replace is my 3 wood. Now I've had a love affair with my 3w since I first started playing golf. I never hit driver until I got this g10, so I always hit my 3w from the tee. Yesterday I visited the Golfsmith, and they had a Callaway x2hot Pro 3wood in awesome shape, and for a great price. I hit it and some others, but I really loved the x2hot. Now my question: this particular club is the 13.5 degree....and my swing speed with that 3w was running from 98-104. This resulted in around 235 yards of carry, and about 260-270 yards after roll. Is that too far for a 3w?? I typically hit my driver around 270 (it's a 9.5 degree, but it actually goes higher than every shot I hit with the 3w). So it seems to me, it wouldn't make much sense to have a 3w that ends up within 5 yards of my driver, right? I mean I should be looking for some sort of gap between the two, right? Am I overthinking this? Should I just go buy it because I hit it so great and it's a killer deal and be done.....or should I look for a more standard 15 degree version that is gonna end up playing a little shorter? How far is too far to hit a 3w, or does that depend on how far you hit your driver? I guess if I was hitting my driver out to 280+, then I wouldn't question it so much.....but typically I don't.

That looks fantastic! I'm on the hunt for an older odyssey putter myself. Nice to know if it doesn't come perfect, there is a beautiful alternative out there!

I agree with the above. Check out this thread: http://thesandtrap.com/t/77244/how-to-hit-a-driver-hit-it-further-and-stop-slicing Sounds like you are getting a downward trajectory into the ball with your driver, when you should be looking to hit it more on the upswing. The thread I linked above explains it in detail along with some tips on how to position yourself and the ball to help the process along.

Yup, those appear to be a knock-off of the Ping Zing 2's. I had a friend in high school who played with a set he bought somewhere in the early 90's. I couldn't tell you the name of the manufacturer. Golfsmith had a similar clubmaker's model they put out....maybe the tour model 3?....it was very similar to the Zing 2's. I couldn't find anything on the google about that putter. The 7 wood looks like some standard no-name brand metal wood, nothing much else I could find on it either.

I dreamed about a set of these irons back in the 90's when they first came out and I was playing in high school. Neither I nor my parents could afford them at the time. Recently (the past year) I've picked up golf again pretty regular and just scored a set from the local craigslist for a good price. In the process of re-gripping them now. Can't wait to play with them more. In the one round I played them before removing the grips, I hit more good, solid shots than I have in the past year with my old king cobra oversize clubs. Definitely not for beginners, but if you can make solid contact then they are fantastic.

I am a consultant/program manager in DFW for a LARGE consulting firm. In my non-paid time, I do a couple of mission trips (usually international) a year through my local church.

Hey everyone. Been reading the site for a few days and decided to go ahead and join. I live in DFW, and been playing golf since just before high school. I was good back then (mid-upper 70's), but for the past 10 years or so, I've only averaged maybe 3 rounds a year and typically hang around the upper 80's. My swing has always been decent, but like any part-timer, definitely had it's flaws. I'm currently in the process of totally changing it, one piece at a time and have already learned a whole lot from the folks at this great place! So anyways, that's a little about me. Thanks for having me!