Nyper

If your knee is hurting, that's your body telling you something is wrong. So when you start to feel pain, quit hitting balls. Perhaps chip or putt or something less stressful. Maybe your knee is just a little work and can get stronger. Also, take your time when hitting balls. Go through your pre-shot routine of lining up your shot, etc. Don't wear yourself out just machine gunning balls out there (like I used to do at your age). Most likely you're just at that age where your body is growing a lot and the pain is probably something minor. I don't think it's worth changing your whole swing over. Just don't take it easy and it'll probably go away with time. If this is a REAL pain to the point where it hurts to walk, you need to see a doctor.

I just found the Egolf Amateur Tour for the first time last year (I live in Raleigh). I think I played 3-4 events, I just didn't have time to squeeze in any others. I want to play several of them this year.

36 might be a slight exaggeration.. but looking back at my stats for the year, 75% of my rounds probably had 35-37 putts. I've had several rounds where I shot low and kept my handicap down. Those were largely due to hitting fairways and greens. Last round I played I only missed 1 fairway - and I was only 5ft off the fairway in the light rough. I hit the green on every par 3. The past two rounds I've played I've been under par on one side, then flubbed up the other side with 3 putts.

Putting has been my biggest weakness all year long. I averaged about 36 putts per round. I found a new putter than I thought fit me really well. The length, lie.. everything. I slapped some lead tape on the bottom of it to add a little bit of weight. I putted around the house with it for a week before I had a chance to get to the course. When I played Thursday, I had a new driver, new 3 wood, and new putter in the bag. A pretty big change. I shot my 3rd best score of the year and had only 30 putts. On the front nine, I actually had only 11 putts and shot 1 under. I made 3 putts from over 15 ft. I couldn't believe it. On the back 9, I still had two 3 putts. Both were due to really bad approach shots that put me on the wrong part of multi-tiered greens. I wasn't too upset about my putting on those. I also had two putts that were over 30ft and just lipped out. Not only was I making putts, but the ones that I missed were stopping just inches from the hole for kick ins. It felt so good to have that confidence back that you can make anything you look at.

1. Read the break from behind the ball 2. Two or three practice swings beside the ball 3. Step forward, hit the ball. 4. Repeat (2-3 times!)

Just my two cents... I don't know much about any particular courses in Florida, but have you considered Arizona? I know a group of guys (about 16) that go on a yearly trip to Florida in late January/early February. They've done this for the past ~10 years. This year they are changing to Arizona because they're tired of their trips being ruined by unpredictable rain in Florida.

My first (and only) Scott was a Newport 2 Mid-Slant. I used it for about 8 months and never felt comfortable with it. It's probably my least favorites putter out of the last 3-4 I've owned.

I see a lot of people ripping at Tony for pulling driver on that hole instead of hitting a shorter iron down the middle. The impression I got from the show is that Tony and Gipper both just need to mature in to their ability a little bit. I think they're both young (Tony is now 20 and Gipper is now 19 - they may have been younger when it was filmed) and just get carried away thinking their best play is to just smash the ball as far as they can with the smallest club possible. Granted, most of the time they CAN smash the heck out of the ball.. but that's not always the right play. As they get older, more experienced, and more mature, they may become a couple of seriously tough golfers. As far as Mike.. I think being hot headed is just his nature (and his brother's). I don't like to see him throw clubs or smash them in to the fairway, but he seems like a pretty good guy and I found myself pulling for him.

I think it depends on how different the new clubs are from your old ones. I switched from Mizuno MP-32 to MP-52 last year. There wasn't a huge difference and I was used to the 52's in about a week or two. I think the time to adjust would be longer if you were switching from something like an oversized game improvement iron to a thinner muscle back.

I think this has already been cleared up... but for what it's worth, here is Rule 14-2. 14-2. Assistance In making a stroke, a player must not: a. Accept physical assistance or protection from the elements; or b. Allow his caddie, his partner or his partner's caddie to position himself on or close to an extension of the line of play or the line of putt behind the ball . "Partner" isn't the same as someone you're playing against . In a normal stroke play singles tournament, there is no penalty for standing down the line of a competitor's put and watching - it's just rude. :)

Mizuno then Titleist then Taylormade.

hahaha... typo.

My official handicap is 5.2. My last 5 scores (slope/rating) are: 75 (124/70.0) 90 (199/71.2) 84 (126/70.0) 77 (126/70.0) 78 (126/70.0)

I played Whispering Pines last summer and was pretty disappointed. I think there are lot of other courses in the area that are better. I wouldn't pay to play it again. Just my two cents..

Have you tried mittens? The ones you can slide off of your fingers and just push them up your wrists? That'll keep the wind and such off your hands except when you're actually hitting a shot.

Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Raleigh, NC http://www.playateagleridge.com Also.. I meant to say the course only had five Par 5's - not six.

The course I play on the most around here has six Par 5's, six Par 3's (and the rest Par 4's obviously). What are your thoughts on a course like this? It's 73.0/131 and 6904 yards from the black tees. It's 70.0/126 and 6331 from the white tees. The holes are (black/white yardages, course handicap): #2 (Par 3 -172/165, 11) severely down hill. small green with bunkers on each side. not easy par. #4 (Par 3 - 217/180, 15) big green. no bunkers. should make par. #7 (Par 5 - 540/501, 3) uphill tee shot. drives dont go far. blind 2nd shot to green. takes a really big knock to reach green in 2. I've never done it. #8 (Par 3 - 166/155, 17) uphill, guarded by front bunker. not too hard #9 (Par 5 - 591/550, 1) not reachable in two except for the very long hitters. very narrow green has two tiers which makes approach shots really important. huge hazard to carry with 2nd shot. #10 (Par 5 - 579/528, 4) not reachable in two for anyone. Cannot hit driver off the tee, which leaves you about 350+ to the green over two hazards. Not an easy birdie, but should be easy par. #11 (Par 3 - 181/159, 18) slightly uphill with front bunker. average par 3. #13 (Par 3 - 150/139, 16) average par 3. should be easy par. #14 (Par 5 - 552/527, 8) never seen anyone reach it in two. If you hit your drive over 280 you're in the hazard. 4 large bunkers in front of the green. No chance to roll the ball up there on your 2nd shot. #15 (Par 3 - 233/201, 14) tough hole. severe valley you have to carry. no chance to roll the ball up to the green. Huge bunker on right side. downhill and OOB on the left side. #17 (Par 5 - 526/483, 10) reachable in two with a good drive. huge gully/hazard in front of green. very much a risk/reward hole.

hahaha.. i don't see a way to edit my post... I'm not dumb enough to think it's "Scott" - just a typo.

I would like my putter to be 1-2 degrees flatter, and possibly with a hair more loft. I like a "forward press" putting stroke, but it feels like my current putter has too little loft when I try that. Is this something a place like GolfSmith or Golf Galaxy could easily (and reliably) do? Or should I just send it back to the manufacturer (Scott Cameron)? My main reason for wanting to use a local place is so I can easily get it changed again if isn't to my liking. Sending it off to Scott takes 20 days.. and if I have to do it more than once I'm going to be aggravated. I've had the lie of my irons adjusted at local places without any problems... I'm just not sure how they'd do on adjusting the loft of a putter.

I can't stand hitting off mats - but I think it's sort of a mental thing. On the other hand, I've seen driving ranges where I cant stand hitting off the grass either. Was at one recently where the grass was thick and stiff, and about 2 inches high. The ball just sat on top of it and pretty much every shot was just a sweeping flyer.

I played River Islands once and really liked it... but that was 10 1/2 years ago. It could definitely have changed since then.

Around here (Raleigh, NC) I would say $50-$70/hour is the average for a decent instructor. You can probably go out to driving ranges and find less than reputable instructors for $45/hour. If you want a good instructor from a good golf school, it's more like $100-$125/hour.

Completely depends on what's around the green if I miss left/right. I'm completely confident in my ability to flush a fairway wood (assuming I have a good lie). I'm likely to push/pull it a little though. If it's just some shallow bunkers or no sand at all, then I'd definitely go for it. If it's surrounded by other hazards and I'd actually need to land the ball on the green, I'd lay up.

I'm no expert... just my two cents... As has already been stated, you're taking the club back well past parallel. I'd shorten the back swing. Also, your head has a tendency to dip down (towards the ground) on the back swing. It isn't a lot.. but it's noticeable. I think this partially prevents you from having a nice high follow through and causes some of your the balance issues that can be seen in shot #2. Overall, not a bad swing - especially for a 18-20 handicapper!

I don't really practice before a normal round... usually because I don't have time. Playing with 2-3 other people, it's rare to complete a round in under 4 1/2 hours around here. I don't have time to put in another hour before that! I usually go to the range and hit about 15 balls just to get a little loose. I start with a 7 iron, then hit a few wedges, then a few drives. Then I go to the putting green and putt for about 5 minutes. I start off trying to lag some 20-30ft putts just to get a feel for the speed. Then I just putt randomly from various distances.. uphill, downhill, sidehill, etc. No set routine.