Nyper

I guess you saw the Big Break this week? That Blake dude needs to go. He might be much better than he appears, but his attitude is pathetic.

You have a point... to some extent. (I HATE slow play) I have no problem with someone using an Iphone or Blackberry App if they're only using it to measure distance and they aren't taking longer than normal. My GPS keeps me from having to walk off yardages and makes me play quicker. The Iphone/Blackberry apps could potentially do the same thing. I have only seen one Blackberry app... one of my playing partners used it and it didn't slow him down any. (we had the first tee time of the day a couple weekends ago and finished 18 holes in 2 hours 35 min)

I hit it about 170 on just a normal, smooth solid swing. Can stretch it to about 178 if necessary, but normally wouldn't. Would probably choke down a 5 iron instead. Dynamic Gold S300 shafts.

Haha... I think you made a typo. 39 putts on 8 holes?

Anyone have any suggestions for finding a good instructor for putting? It seems like almost everyone I find around here is interested in giving lessons to new comers and making a quick buck. Putting has always been one of the weak parts of my game... but I just can't take it anymore. Today I shot 7 over. I made a triple bogey on a par 4. I just hit a really bad approach and dug myself a big hole. Let's toss that hole out. I was 4 over on the other 17. I had two 3-putts, and missed 4 birdie putts inside 12-15 feet. I don't expect to make all 4 of those.. but ... I'm not even coming close! And we're not talking about really tough greens with a lot of break. This are putts that are pretty flat - maybe 2-3 inches break. I had about a 25ft eagle putt on one hole. After I missed that I STILL had a 5 footer for birdie. I can count on one hand how many putts outside of 10ft I've made this year.

I'd much rather play 4 times than 2, even if the course isn't as nice.

I don't expect to make the 25-30 footers. My problem is getting it even close. I'm likely to leave it 8ft short or blow it 8ft past the hole. If the hole was about 12" instead of 4", I'd be alot more likely to make that 8 footer coming back. :D

Because I can't putt. I'm absolutely sick at my putting. I've been working really hard on it the last two weeks, and thought I'd finally got to a place I was happy with it. Wrong. Had a tournament this weekend. Shot 74, with three 3-putts. The longest distance of those putts was about 25-30ft. It's not like I'm hitting greens but leaving myself 60 footers.... I just have NO DISTANCE CONTROL.

I should have clarified.. I don't play with the two guys together. It's usually just a twosome.

Anyone have any suggestions for games to play between two players of different calibers? I generally shoot mid 70's to low 80's, and the guys I play with are much newer to the game. One guy shoots in the 90-105, and the other guy is new to the game and doesn't break 110. Even if I give them strokes, 2 per hole wouldn't even be fair to the 2nd guy... and they're the kind of people that have a little too much ego to "accept strokes". Stroke play wouldn't really be fair with either of them anyway. They're both very likely to blow up on a hole or two and have a 10 or 12 or something. What kind of game can I propose that would make it competitive for a couple bucks without sounding demeaning & such. I just know if I said "Lets play $2 nassaus and I'll give you 2 strokes per hole" they'd feel insulted and wouldn't want to do it. bingo bango bongo is the only thing that comes to mind... 1 point for first player on the green 1 point for player closest to hole once both are on the green 1 point for first player in the hole

Actually you'd be better off taking 10% of the price and betting it outright on the player to win. The payout would be enough to buy the club and have some left over.

I hate mats with a passion... but it's better than nothing (if the other ranges wont be open soon)! They won't hurt your clubs. Yes, it'll leave green stuff, but it comes off with a little elbow grease.

I made a hole-in-one when I was 15, and another when I was 20 (I'm 28 now). My dad & I are pretty competitive when it comes to golf. We're about the same handicap, but he's never made a hole-in-one, and I've always teased him about that. Last year he made his first one. I told him he still had one to go. Then, about a month later, he made an eagle and a double eagle in the same round!! I think that evened it out! Talk about luck!!

Went to Ole Miss from 99-05. I don't think I can post my comments about State on this forum. :) I admittedly haven't kept up with baseball much.. but I'd love to see them make it to Omaha. When I was last there in 05 we lost to Texas in 3 games in the SuperRegional. I did get to go to the Egg Bowl this year. That was the absolute most dominating game I've ever seen for a defense. What'd State have? 35 total yards? :D (sorry.. gotta rub it in)

Sorry... have to brag a little.... double eagle.. albatross.. whatever Par 5 today. Hit a drive right down the middle... had 205 to the pin, with the wind slightly carrying it. I hit a 4 iron. It hit about 10 ft in front of the pin, bounced a few ft.. and rolled right in. Could see it disappear, but wasn't really sure if it went in or just behind the pin until I got a little closer. Only had time to play 9. Finished with 1 bogey, 1 birdie, and 6 pars. 3 under. My best for 9.

I've used lastminutegolfer several times. There's quite a few courses in this area, and I'm usually really flexible with my tee times. I've never had any problem using it. I generally try to avoid using it when there's a chance it may be raining. If you have a tee time for 9:00.... even if it is pouring down rain, thundering/lightning, you still have to be at the course at 9:00 to get a rain check. Lately I've found only a couple of the courses around here actually give you a good discount with it though. Often the courses rates will be something like $50 before 1pm, and $40 after 1pm. With LastMinuteGolfer, I might be able to get 12:45 for $40. It's not worth the "hassle" to me just so I can tee off 15 minutes earlier.

well.. i just cant putt on greens I'm not familiar with... I posted a message a few months ago about how poorly I was putting. I've since got a pretty good handle on it (been playing the same couple courses and have a good feel for speeds of the greens). This weekend I played a different course that I haven't played in over a year, and I shot an 85 with 6 three-putts . I played badly aside from the putting, but as bad as I played I could have still shot 79 easily. The next day I played a course I'm familiar with and shot 75 with one three-putt. I wasn't leaving myself 40ft putts or anything either. I was 3 putting from 15-20ft! I simply couldn't make a decent lag. I knocked it 4ft past or leave it 4ft short. Aside from just putting, I had no feel for how my chips would check/release. I had about 5 minutes on the putting green before the round, but just couldn't get a feel for the speeds. Many courses today have a "no chipping" policy on the putting greens, which I understand but is aggravating. I have a tournament this weekend on a course I've never played. I plan to arrive plenty early before my tee time to practice putting and try to get the feel. What tips do the rest of you have for getting the feel of greens you've never played? Unfortunately the course is far enough away that driving out there before the tournament isn't an option.

I try and play by the rules, and do 99% of the time. The 1% exception - Sometimes if it's just a casual round with absolutely nothing on the line and there's a group behind us that has been having to wait.... if I hit a ball off the tee and don't play a provisional, then find out it's a lost ball, I'll just drop a ball where I think it should have been and be hitting my 4th shot. I just do it to keep from wasting the time of going back to the tee and slowing down the group in front of me. I do at least count a stroke & distance penalty.

I've been to the local stores, and I can't hit all of the flexes/lofts on the launch monitor. The stores with launch monitors simply don't have them all available. So I know.. getting fit is the proper way.. but I just can't try everything. I currently have a Cobra L4V M speed (regular flex, 10.5*). My driver swing speed is 103. I hit this driver very high, and seem to spray it more than I did my previous drivers (10 & 10.5*, both Stiff shafts). I know the shafts vary from club to club.. but I'm torn between which TaylorMade Burner to get. I'm either going with 10.5 & Stiff flex, or 9.5 and Regular flex. Anyone have any feedback on the Regular vs Stiff shafts in this club?

I'm just posting to say Hotty Toddy. Was at Ole Miss from '99-'05.

I haven't seen Pulp Fiction in a long time and honestly didn't remember the line being from the movie. When I first saw this ad on TV I immediately thought of the "Uneven Fairways" commercial that Jackson does.. talking about when black men were not allowed. Then seeing this ad soon after, it made me think they were saying "the black man is back for vengeance and to kick some ___". I know that's dumb.. but it's exactly what I thought and I know I'm not the only one. It didn't offend me or anything.. I know it's just an attempt to get people excited about the return of Tiger and get people to watch. I just thought it was a really dumb ad. But I'm also just not a fan of Samuel Jackson at all and am ready to get him off the freaking Golf Channel.

Unfortunately there isn't a ShaftLab nearby. I've been to GolfSmith a couple of times, but have found them to be absolutely no help. I picked up a Cobra L4V 10.5* with the stock regular flex shaft. When I hit it perfect, it's pretty long. Unfortunately, I hit it really high a lot of the times and I'm kind of spraying it left and right inconsistently. Not really a hook/slice or draw/fade.. but more of a slight push/pull. I'm wondering if this could be caused by the shaft being too flexible. I would like to put another shaft in it, but genuinely don't know what to try. My swing speed is right at 103. I'm thinking of dropping a stiffer shaft of some sort in it and seeing what happens. Any recommendations? (prefer to keep it under $100) Right now I'm sort of leaning toward the Aldila NV 65... I'm really curious about the Grafalloy Red (low launch)... does it seem stupid to have a 10.5 degree driver with a low launch shaft?

I would say time, money, and playing partners. This time of year there's not enough daylight to play after work Mon-Fri.. so that leaves only Sat & Sun and I usually only get to play one of those days. Around here, almost every course is $50... which to me just seems expensive. I don't think any of the courses are worth more than $40. And the one course that DOES cost $40, is the worst one around and isn't worth paying $30 for. Annnd.. most of the courses around here do not let singles on easily. I can understand it.. but it's aggravating. I just moved to the area in the last year or so and simply don't know that many people that play golf regularly. It's aggravating. When I go play by myself I get paired with somebody completely random. I'm willing to play with absolutely anyone.. but I have to admit it gets annoying to get constantly paired with people who can't break 120. I know everyone has to start somewhere.. but when you're spending your whole day helping some complete stranger look for their ball it's aggravating. I even got paired with one guy last year who couldn't speak English. Not a word!

I've spent a good bit of time the past couple weeks trying to work on my putting. I've really gained a lot of confidence back. I played yesterday and had 32 putts. Unfortunately, I still had 3 three-putts.. but that's because all 3 of those were a case of my ball being on one tier and the hole being on another and having a 40 footer where it was just really tough to get it close. Obviously I didn't hit the ideal approach shots in to those greens.. but oh well. I made several putts that I haven't normally been making, and just had the confidence that I could sink almost anything inside 15ft. Even with 3 three-putts I still shot 3 over... In my practices, I've been working on setting the putter down straight.. lined up properly.. and making a simple, repeatable stroke. I'm hitting my lines much better and my distance control is coming along nicely. The single biggest thing in putting is confidence, and it feels great to be getting some of that back.

If it was me that broke the window, I'd certainly go talk to the homeowner. Whether or not I volunteered to pay anything just sort of depends... I've played some courses where one or two homes just happen to be near the course. If the home was on the complete opposite side of the road and just happened to be near the course, I'd probably feel that I should pay for the window. But.. if it's one of those courses where the houses are built throughout the course as one of the features that make the homes attractive to buyers, I probably wouldn't feel like it was my right to pay. If the course & homes are built together as a golf community, they're simply going to get hit from time to time and the golfer shouldn't be punished for that.