Nyper

I don't blame the Yankees for their 'grooming' rules. I personally wouldn't want my employees looking like uncivilized cavemen. I think guys with long hair look pretty silly, but I could care less if they do it. I can understand the PGA Tour wanting to keep a 'clean' image as well.. but most guys with long hair don't look that bad. Feminish and sissy perhaps.. but not normally scruffy and unshaven/dirty/dingy looking like Giambi & Damon have done in the past.

I've always had someone give me my club when I've forgotten it. Actually had a hole last weekend where I was chipping.. and chipped to within a couple inches. I hurried to the green to get my ball out of the way of the other 3 players in my group, and left my putter laying well off the fringe where I didn't see it when walking back to the cart. About 5 minutes later as I was hitting my approach shot on the next hole, the guys behind us pull up and hand me my putter. Very much appreciated and I felt like a moron. Leaving a club behind is one of my pet peeves. I don't do it often and hate when someone in my group does it. I'm usually pretty conscious about it and always check the green for my entire group when walking off. I guess the nicest thing anyone ever did for me .... (this is dumb) I was playing a hole with several houses down the left hand side, and a man was out in the yard with his dog. This dog was staring me down and I told my partner "It'd be funny if he grabbed my ball". I hit my approach shot on the green.. and sure enough that dog takes off, grabs my ball, and runs off. The owner starts trying to chase him to get it back but I thought it was so funny that I really didn't care and told him not to worry about it. Three holes later, the owner catches up with me and hands me my ball and tries to give me a $20 for causing trouble. Of course I wouldn't take it... the way it happened it was one of the funnier things I had seen. My dog is the exact same way. When I'm practicing, she'll sit beside me... and when you say Go she'll go fetch the ball and bring it back. She'll run a good 150 yards to get the ball. I can't even practice putting in the house because she grabs everything! :)

Sadly, all of my 3 putts were from 20ft and less today. I would just roll each one of them 4 ft by, and miss it coming back. As for my practice... yesterday I spent a lot of time trying to work on distance control. I would place 5 balls and random spots.. all about 20ft from a hole. Take my time, read each putt.. (trying to work on a routine).. set up. Take two practice strokes. Step to the ball. One last look at the hole. Putt the same stroke on the ball as my practice strokes. I also putted each of these out. On the 3 and 4 footers, trying to again do my routine of reading the putt etc etc. I feel like I don't read greens well. On putts that are 8 ft and under, sometimes it just needs to be played on the right or left edge of the cup, and sometimes it's so little that I can't tell which side. Today there were several putts from that range where I actually hit the exact spot I was aiming but just mis-read the putt and played too much or too little break.

Last weekend I had 40 putts in my round. Yesterday I spent a solid hour at the course on the putting green really trying to work on it. I felt like I got down to a good repeatable stroke and a good routine. I was putting pretty decent when I left. Today I went played a new course... and.. had 40 putts. Again! The course does have some pretty fast greens that I wasn't used to, but it's no excuse. I had seven 3-putts. Absolutely pathetic...

I can't comment on comfort.. which I'm sure is what you're wanting to know... but I think Adidas makes the ugliest golf shoes out there...

agreed... but make sure you're both willing to uphold your end of the deal.

I've never considered myself a good putter.. but I've come to the conclusion it's the absolute weakest part of my game. I've been trying very hard to take my time putting.. pick a spot.. hit that spot.. try to control the distance. I'm putting forward the best effort I can. Today I had 40 putts. Five 3 putts. None from a distance more than about 35 ft. I didn't 1-putt a single green! I had several birdie putts in the 15ft range and couldn't even come close to making one. I only had 3 holes where I had a pitch/chip shot, so it's not like my chipping is bad and I'm leaving myself with long putts. I'm hitting several greens in regulation.. having 20ft putts, and can't even get them close. I mean.. I can't even make a good lag! On another note for today's round.. I absolutely fell apart for three holes on the back 9. Combination of missing fairways with my drives, donking one off in the water, and a couple 3 putts. GRRRR #1 Bogey #2 Bogey #3 Bogey #4 Bogey #5 Par #6 Par #7 Par #8 Par #9 Par #10 Par #11 Par #12 Par #13 Double Bogey #14 Double Bogey #15 Triple Bogey #16 Par #17 Par #18 Par 11 over, with 40 stinking putts.

Back around 2003 when I was in college I went to play a round at the University golf course. I went in to pay.. and there was a line (the course was ALWAYS packed). So after at least 5 minutes.. I come outside and grab my bad.. and.... my driver was missing! A Titleist 975J-VS that I never saw again. I looked everywhere.. asked everyone who was outside in the area, and everyone said they didn't see anything. Wound up going home without even playing.

Honestly, I didn't even hit it on the launch monitor. I bought it based on the way it looked at address... which I suppose was pretty stupid.

I bought a 909F3 15* a couple weeks ago. I think I hated this club more than any club I've ever hit. I guess it's just not for me. I don't know what it is about the club, but I'll snap hook one.. shank the second.. worm burn the third.. it's almost like the clubhead is the size of a dime and I just can't hit it solid. The clubhead size isn't an issue though.. before buying this I was playing with ollld Titleist Pro Trajectory fairway metals that were over 10 years old and even smaller. I have no problem hitting them solid. I really gave the 909F3 a chance.. I kept it in my bag for a couple rounds.. tried it off the tee, off the fairway.. spent time with it on the range... I just couldn't stand it. Today I hit all the fairway woods in the store off a launch monitor and wound up going with a Ping G10 5 wood. It felt the best and I hit it most consistent.

This is slightly off subject.. but I just gotta share... Last year we were playing in a small tournament. It was quite the range of golfers.. several who couldn't break 100. No big deal... just illustrating that some people didn't take it too seriously. The tournament rule was that you can't make worse than double par on any hole. Well, one guy took the lack of seriousness to an extreme.. and of course he happened to be in my foursome. On the second hole, he hits his second shot in the sand... whacks at it.. and can't get it out. Picks it up and throws it out. Makes the putt for a 5! Wrong.. we give him a double par. On the third hole he hits his ball in the sand and says "im not even going to fool with this" and throws it out of the sand without even trying to hit it out. We politely tell the guy if he doesn't want to play by the rules he's welcome to tag along but can't really turn in a legitimate scorecard. He doesn't seem to care and is fine just tagging along. Long story short, this guy breaks every rule known to man in the following holes.. and continues to get extremely ticked off. He finally hits a really sorry shot with his hybrid.. turns around.. and throws it back down the fairway towards the tee box. He says "leave it there. im going home" and starts to unstrap his bag and walk off. The group behind us pulls up to the tee box.. and spots the club laying in front of the tee. The guy walks out there, picks it up, and yells "hey.. one of you forget a club?" The guy in our group yells "YEAH! it sucks! it's a piece of @#$! but it's mine! leave it alone!!" Then he walks off the course.. actually gets in his car and drives off.. was pretty freaking funny... After we finished our round the club was sitting in the clubhouse where somebody turned it in.. it was still there several days later..

anyone here use an online service that gives you an official USGA handicap? If so, do you have to report your scores for a single course? My problem is I'm not a member at any particular course. There are lots of courses in my area and I play different ones all the time. It's not uncommon for me to play five different courses in a row... so I can't establish a handicap at one single course. I've been using Yahoo's free tracker for kicks & giggles..

I meant to record it but forgot. I'm sure some re-runs will be on... In one of the commercials that was advertising the show, they said something about it being quick or fast or not wasting your time.. something along those lines. Oh well...

This is just my two cents... When you're playing, pick a spot on the green where you want to hit the putt and then see whether or not you hit it. If you consistently hit your spot but still missed the putt, you need to work on your ability to read the greens. If you're missing your spot and missing the putt, you're probably reading it just fine and need to work on the consistency of your stroke and hitting your spots with the correct speed. Of course the latter is the most likely scenario..

If I'm walking, I'm carrying. The course I walk most often has HORRIBLE pull carts, and I don't own one myself. The little extra exercise doesn't bother me. I too have the image that pull carts are for old farts... but I'm about to be 28 and certainly can't carry them as easily as I could when I was 18 (wayyy too much taco bell since then!)

Many of the courses in my area are running really good membership specials. There are a handful that aren't running any specials at all.. so I guess they just aren't hurting too much. I was considering a membership about a month ago, and found that many of the membership directors were willing to work with me and cut a little deal that was better than advertised. It never hurts to ask.. the worst they can say is no. Just do it in a professional, respectful manner.

Check around at your local courses & shops. Most courses will be able to tell you pretty far ahead of time what tournaments are scheduled for the following month, etc... if you don't see any flyers, it doesn't hurt to ask.

Nothing to brag about here... but here's the clubs I hit for the given yardages. If I'm between clubs I try to take the longer one and take a little off of it. Driver: 260-265 3 Wood (15 degree): Unsure.. just bought it Fairway wood (20 degree): 220-230 21 Degree Hybrid: 200-210 4 Iron: 190 5 Iron: 180 6 Iron: 170 7 Iron: 155-160 8 Iron: 145-150 9 Iron: 130-140 PW: 100-125 51 Degree: 70-110 56 Degree: < 90

in case anyone else is thinking of getting them... Today was the first day I had a chance to hit them a lot and the first round I played with them. For what it's worth, I switched from MP-32's. Feel: Exactly what I expected. I couldn't discern any real difference between the 32's and 52's when I hit the ball flush. Buttery smooth.. I love the feel. Distance: I think I need a little more time to properly judge how they compare to my the 32's. Today they seemed short, but I believe it was probably more due to the weather. It snowed earlier this week.. it's been really cold... today was only in the upper 40's and sprinkling. With that being said, while playing the round they seemed 5-8 yards shorter than the 32's. Hitting the 52's and 32's side by side on the range I couldn't tell that one was particularly longer. Forgiveness: This is where there seemed to be a big difference to me. On a slight mishit, the 52's held their lie better and got more distance. There were 2 or 3 times during my round when I didn't flush the ball and my immediate thought was "not going to get there". Every time the ball still carried enough to catch the green. I know my 32's would NOT have been on the green any of these times. Workability: I don't really work the ball much. If I'm in the fairway I'm more apt to pick a spot on the green and hit it straight. I simply don't try to draw/fade the ball. I hit some on the range trying to purposely hit some fades/draws and didn't see any loss of workability from the 32's. If anything, I felt more comfortable trying to work the ball knowing they were more forgiving. Wedge game: I really had a lot of confidence hitting the pitching wedge in to the green today, and actually did that better today than I did any single round last year. I think a lot of it was a slight swing change I've been working on, but I definitely had a lot of confidence with the 52's. The ball was holding its line so well, and I could really control the distance with the short irons.

I picked up a double dozen box of the Precept Laddie X last night. To fill you in quickly.. my driver swing speed is about 103mph. When playing a ProV1 or Callaway HX Tour my average drive is about 260. I played my first round with the Precepts this morning, but only used them on the front 9. I hit 5 drives in the fairway on the front. My longest was 254. The shortest was 242 (all measured with my GPS). The 242 was an outlyer.. all the others were between 250 & 254 (flat course, not much variance). On the back side I switched to Callaway HX Tour 56. I hit 6 drives in the fairway, and the shortest was 256. All the others were above 260, with the longest being 267. The Laddie X doesn't spin worth a crap. I was hitting some nice wedges in to the greens from about 100 and the ball would still bounce 10ft or more. On the back, hitting those same shots with the HX Tour 56, the ball would stick. On my mid irons, the Precept was roughly the same distance as the HX Tour 56, but didn't have much feel to it. The HX Tour 56 is noticeably softer. As far as straightness, I couldn't tell any difference in the Laddie X, a ProV1, or a HX Tour 56. If you hit the ball with a hook or slice swing, it's going to hook or slice. No ball is going to cure that. Bottom line.. I think you get what you pay for. I think ProV1's and other $45 balls are overpriced, but didn't expect much from the Laddie X's for their price. I don't feel like they're really good for people with higher swing speeds (specifically I mean faster than mine.. I don't consider myself to have a high swing speed) or people who have good short games and can control the spin on their shots etc. I don't think many low handicappers (lower than mine) would like this ball. Hope this helps someone out...

I picked up a 15* 909F3 last night w/ the stock Voodoo shaft. It's finally replacing my olllld 20* Titleist Pro Trajectory fairway medal I got back around 1995. I was really torn between a 15* or 18*.. but I'm tons more likely to use it off the tee than from the fairway, so figured I would appreciate the extra yardage the majority of the time. I'm really wanting a 909D2.. but just can't make myself drop the cash on it.

Hrmm... I'll be in Chicago visiting a couple friends that weekend. I'd like to go.. but the location is a little out of the way since they live downtown and don't have cars. I don't like having to take the trains everywhere...

Something I can't stand are short Par 4's that are 90 degree dogleg... in which you can't go for the green off the tee. One hole on the course I usually play is about 240 yards. You hit your tee shot straight towards a pretty wide fairway.. you want to hit it anywhere from 180-220. From there, it's a dogleg 90 left.. with about a 20-50 yard shot to the green. Because of the REALLY tall pines on the left that surround the green, you simply cannot go for the green off the tee. It doesn't matter how high you can hit or how much you can draw it. The hole is simply boring. An iron/hybrid/fairway wood off the tee and lob wedge to the green is just pathetic. Holes are usually like this because they need to cram a Par 4 in as small a space as possible because they don't have room to stretch it out. Blind shots (tee, approach, anything) are my other pet peeve. Nothing ticks me off worse than playing a course for the first time.. hitting a great shot.. then finding that it went too far and is in the hazard because there was no yardage book or anything and you had no way of knowing...

There are lots of people who simply don't know the rules. I don't think it's a matter of misunderstanding or being confused.. they just don't read the rules. Lots of people just play golf for the enjoyment of getting away from work and enjoying the weather or something.. and that's fine. I could care less if somebody plays by the rules as long as they keep up the pace of play and exercise proper etiquette (assuming it's not a tournament, etc). I played several tournaments last year.. and in each tournament I was with at least one person who didn't know the proper ruling for a lost ball, out of bounds, hazards. I admit I don't know the proper ruling for every single scenario, but I do make an effort to know & learn as much as possible.