RayG

Easy to fix. As in many sports trying to address various issues. start in the lower tiers. A shot clock that begins in the Junior Ranks. AJGA, High School, then Collegiate, etc... Get a warning when "on the clock". After that- First offense in a tournament- 1 stroke. 2nd- 2 strokes, 3rd- DQ.

Metal Spikes OR Soft Spikes, a Foot Dragger is a Foot Dragger and will chew up greens. Soft Spikes were introduced as a way to save costs on replacing Club House Floors!!! 😀

Personally- I would rank Tennis shoes below Bare Feet on the Golf Footwear scale. 1. Spikes (metal/soft) 2. Running Shoes (with nice knobbly treads) 3. Spikeless Golf Shoes (but only for a year or two, I have FJ flexes that are not great anymore, especially in damp conditions) 4. Any pair of Vans- Slip-Ons, SK8's, etc... 5. Bare Feet (Try it, you would be amazed) 6. Tennis Shoes 7. Patent Leather Oxfords (would not recommend after a certain 'Wedding Party Incident')

Other Team got screwed. 3 minutes is the rule. There is no "fudge factor"- Pro isn't the Rules guy. Did he rule it's good because he didn't want to "traumatize" the kid? Well, tough nookies bub, Rule was breached, so you take the consequences.

Depends on the course conditions at the time, and the attitude of management towards those conditions. As well as the type of Aeration- small tine can be back to normal in a few days. Even most Muni's around here can be back to perfectly playable in just over 7/10 days after a full plug aeration. "Normal" conditions in about 2-3 weeks. I'm usually not all THAT bothered by aerated greens- especially at our usual courses, as long as they let you know before you go out. But If I show up at a new course that is more of a 'premium' course and pay full price and find aerated greens, I'd be a bit peeved. I'm not out to chase numbers so we go out and do the "2 putt" thing once we get inside a certain distance. Gimme's are stretched a bit to length of the putter, not just "inside the leather". But we do at least give it a go- just in case...

Yes, that is true... NOW. Previous to the renovation for that first Open. If you were 5 yards off the fairway you weren't going to FIND your ball, much less play it. You had 1st cut of 2-3 inches, second cut was 4-6", then it was thick fescue pretty much to the tree line. And that was 2-3 FEET high by the middle of summer. They got rid of most of it or thinned it back for spectator access. You can't have 50,000 people wandering around in a tick infested nightmare for a week. The ONLY place I believe they left it was between 10 and 11 where spectators couldn't get to. Now, the further off the fairway you are, the better. The hill right of the 8th Green was essentially a forest of fescue- no using the slope to come back down to the green. they cleaned that all out for seating as well. Now- a ball can run back down to the greenside area- if you miss the tree. they also took away a LOT of trees- especially in that triangle area between 1,17, and 18 for hospitality tents. Then put some back after. And took them out again before the second one.

You could try and mount a thick comforter behind the net as well. It should absorb any ball with little to no bounce back. But yes, slack in the net is preferred to prevent a possible "Testicular Event"....

Whoa there, It isn't like he was getting 3/4 footers for pars or bogeys. I'm not talking "Inside the Leather", I'm talking 6" or less. Even HE would realize that a 4 footer left from 12 feet is NOT a good putt worthy of being counted as "in".

Exactly... it wasn't obvious 'cheating', so much as ignorance.

Maybe, just maybe... they are misunderstanding the phrase "that's good...". I think I've mentioned this before, but many years ago I would play with a buddy of mine- he wasn't great, but he enjoyed himself. Usually shot around 90-95. He moved away to Hilton Head for a job and I went to visit 2-3 years later. He was really intent on showing me how much he has improved since he was now regularly breaking 90 and sometimes get to 85. Somewhere in those 2 years he played with his "X-Ray Tech buddies", (they played for fun, no money, leagues or anything) he started hearing "that's good...". And proceeded accordingly- picked up and went on to the next tee. Okay- I arrive for a week's stay to play a couple of the courses that he's arranged- Harbor Town, Sea Pines, Dataw Island, etc... We played Sea Pines first and around the 4th or 5th Hole he has a long putt for par, strokes one up nice and close- tap in range. I tell him "that's good, take it away". I finish up with a bogey 5. Get to the next tee and I'm looking at the scorecard and I see he marked a '4' for him and a 5 for me. "What did you get on that last one?" "Huh? a four, you gave me that last putt." "Ummm, no.. I gave you the NEXT putt." What? Yeah, you made a nice attempt at a par putt, and I gave you the next one for a 5... What? What did you THINK I meant? I thought you gave me that one because it was a good putt.. No, that's not how that works. I could see the look of confusion and panic setting in after realizing that he hasn't exactly been getting any better, just not counting a few strokes when "that one is good". BUT- he didn't get all angry about it. I started to laugh and told him "I thought you said you were getting better and I was in for some payback!, You still suck AND you're a cheater!!!". We were hysterical.. "then he thought about his buddies.. "Oh, crap, what do you think they think of me?". Like I said- you suck and still can't beat them, even if you are cheating! We ran into one his friends at the bar at Harbor Town the next time out and he related his little nugget of information. Again, hysterics ensued and he told him the same thing I did. Even an honest cheater can't win...

Good Luck- My Dad had one for almost 15+ years. (Actually, 2, he got an 'upgrade' to a wireless (Xmit, Rcv & charging) model a few years before he passed) Like you, he was told 'no golf' for at least 6 weeks. And absolutely no Bowling for a couple of months. But what he did do is lots of PT during that time. Both he and the Doctor knew just sitting around not doing anything would be worse. He did his therapy and exercises and by the time he was ready to play, he had no issues. Other than the usual aches and pains of playing for the first time in awhile.

And that was only because they had an informant on THAT team. IMHO, the other top teams probably had a bit of shenanigans going on as well. Figuring if they put in for a 56 or 57, that should be enough to win. They just didn't expect that this team would cheat more than they did.

I found that the "provided" Black Rubber thing was either: too low for the driver and too high for the 3 Wood. I went out and got the multi tee set from Amazon. I still needed to trim about 1/8" off the longest one. No biggie. One was perfect for the 3 Wood. I also tried the one with the little insert that holds a normal tee. HOWEVER- The tees would then fly all over the place- usually flicked backwards toward the people walking along behind the line. Then I noticed that in several stalls they have little signs with pictures of various tees that "aren't allowed". They included those "claw" things as well as the tee holder version. As for "stealing" the provided ones to bring back, etc... After I did buy my set, I put my initials with permanent marker on them. Just in case someone was to give me a hard time for picking up the tee and putting it in my bag. This worked fine, although nobody really seemed to notice. <shrug>. Except- one day, I was doing my range work and took a little break for a smoke. (no smoking on the line- covered stalls, etc...). I went around behind the line down a few spaces where the door was open and sat on the little wall around a planting or something. I could look through and keep an eye on my stuff. Having a chat with one of the teachers I got to know, I noticed some guy waltz over to my stall, look around a bit, lean over and take the tee out of the mat. "WTF?". I finished up and walked over to where he was (2 stalls over), and just kind of stood there watching, okay- STARING. Far enough out of contact range, but close enough to be uncomfortable. "What's your problem?" "Oh, I'd like my tee back that you just took" "What?, I didn't take your f*cking tee.." "Really?- I tell you what, I will bring over my other tees that have my initials on them. Then you can take this one out and show me it doesn't have my initials on it and that I was wrong and we're all good." By the time I said "my other tees with initials on them", I could see that slight moment of panic in his eyes. "Uh... I didn't know there was anybody using it..." Of course, my bag was there, my jacket was on the chair, my street shoes were under the chair, and my driver was leaning against the little divider wall. "I'll take the tee now, thanks...". Leaned over and took my tee.

I use a similar technique as a drill at the range and can sometimes bring it out to the course. Setup as normal, then lift my heel and put as little weight on the toe as possible without losing balance. Complete the swing as usual but keeping the heel off the ground all the way through. Some people may put a ball or something similar sized under the heel and feel as if you are not pressing the ball into the ground. Theory is to get the weight moving forward instead of "reverse C'ing" and ending up trying to help the ball up with all the weight on your back foot.

More enjoyable: HDTV. Quality of the images. Unfortunately, there are lots of "less" enjoyable: Too many ridiculous 'stats'. "Percentage made of 80' putts on a Thursday by past major winners over 45: 075%...". And posting real time odds on various players to win. On Thursday... after 4 holes... Too many announcers seem to like the sound of their own voice. Endless prattling on. Too many of ""This was earlier..." ESPECIALLY- if it is some lesser known guy shooting 6 or 8 under after 10 or 12 holes and moving up the board. Because he isn't "known" or, lets face it, "American", he gets no love. Until maybe by 17 or 18 when he actually has a chance. After showing every shot live of whoever the flavor of the week is- even if they're essentially out of it.

It isn't always a question of moving from "Stiff" to "Regular". You can move to a shaft with a different Kick Point. People think there are only the 4 or 5 shaft stiffness choices. L,A,R,S,XS... but each of those can have 3 characteristics. High KP, low launch, Low KP, high launch, etc.. So you really get 12/15 choices. I was losing distance from having a "stiff" shaft, but a low KP- the tip was a bit too soft and leading to spinnier balls going left more time than not. my SS is right around 100-102, but I got fitted into a C721 with a S, but a high KP, Low launch shaft. gained 10-15 yards and dropped spin numbers right down.

Hmmm, sounds like any numbers of YouTube creators out there. Saying "is this the hardest course we've ever played?"... Well, not if you play it from tees that suit your awful game...

I'm sure they DID go 350... 250 to the tree, 50 yard ricochet to another tree, then ricochet off that tree another 50 yards... 250+50+50=350 yards. Simple...

I'm sure EVERYONE has come across "Sponsored by everyone" guy. Head to toe logos as if he covered himself in gorilla glue and crashed into a golf store display stand. Plays in his $200 cashmere sweater in Florida... in July. With matching Polyester Pants and coordinated shoes and belt. He looks good but can't find a fairway with a compass and has an excuse for any small miss- or a big miss, more likely. But he will hit that ONE good shot and hold a pose as if he expects to be on the cover of Golf Digest. It will come up short, but that's besides the point... It's the previously referenced "Pro from Dover" syndrome. Come across all kinds of "over estimators" over the years. An ex girlfriend's Dad who was a "single digit" at their club and invited me to play. I beat him by 10, I think... But he wasn't a Richard or anything, and didn't go on about how good he should be. (And no, I wasn't going to "Let him win" because he was her Dad. That's insulting to him and me). Lot's of "We're going from the tips today" guys who probably shouldn't even have considered it. then sheepishly move to the Whites on the back when they lose enough balls. And don't play any better from there.

Yes, I've done it... as well as playing rounds in bare feet. Mostly in Hawaii where it was kind of a "thing". Someone mentioned "losing grip" while playing in bare feet... If you play a full round in bare feet, you'll notice a more balanced swing since you can't "come out of your shoes". IMHO, you shouldn't be worried about grip in a normal situation- Plenty of "spikeless" shoes aren't the best on awkward sloping conditions, and mildly damp conditions, and people still play in them. Mildly damp AND sloping conditions? May as well use roller blades.

Possibly a "Long Drive Contest"?

Interesting- 30 yards away isn't NEARLY enough time to shout fore. I doubt his head has even come up yet. The issue here is- should he have waited until you were not in the line of fire, or should you have noticed and not step into the line of fire? I've SEEN a head hit from a driver 50 yards away. It isn't pretty. Lady in a greenside bunker in front of and off to the right of the tee box. Neither one was paying attention to the other. He teed off and drilled her in the temple area. She went down like a sack of rocks. Two things in her favor. First- Even though it was the furthest spot away from the clubhouse, they had JUST put in a 'Food Cart' behind that green/tee complex so there was someone with a radio (pre-cel phones) to contact the clubhouse and call an ambulance. Second- she was wearing one of those oversize visor things that the Ladies wore at the time, so there was a bit of padding on the strap right at the impact spot. Probably kept the ball from coming out the other side. There WAS a small fracture and a large bruise, but fortunately she was not severely injured.

There are always 'richard's' out there, looking for trouble. BUT- If there are other people on the course, visible or not, if your ball is heading someplace where it shouldn't, ESPECIALLY if you can't see where it might land- the FIRST thing to do is to shout 'fore'. Now- in this case he probably wouldn't have cared if you did or not.

They will charge what the public is willing to pay. to a point. They aren't going to produce a million units to charge $550+ each. they will produce the numbers that they believe will be enough or just less to create a smaller supply giving the impression that they are 'scarce' and can justify the price. then throw in the latest buzzwords and techno speak that will generate on average about 1.6 yards more and BOOM, everyone wants one. Until next year and the marketing guys say that THIS years model isn't crap like last years. What the larger names DON'T generally do or promote is produce lower level affordable models for those that want a new driver but don't want a $50 dollar garbage club. TM is 'reproducing' it's very popular M4 for a reasonable price. Older tech, but for most, it will fill in that "new" driver void for a decent price. Cobra, with it's 'sneaky' F9S model was trying to do similar, just in a bit more deceptive manner by removing some of the high tech features of the original F9. TM didn't change the M4, other than a few cosmetic changes with the logo colors. If it costs too much, then don't buy it. when they end up not being sold and waste away in some storage area, wait a couple of seasons and older NOS will be available at less than half price somewhere.