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I'm sure his wife would love her half of the present. ;) I'm waiting for mine to be delivered this morning. The tracking says it's on the truck so hopefully my wife's home when they arrive and I can stick it in the bag for tomorrow. I had a Newport 2 Pro Platinum completely refinished, new shaft, new grip, shaftband, headcover. It cost about $175 I think, plus about $75 for postage across the otherside of the Pacific. Not a bad option for what was a really banged up club when I bought it for $100 Aussie Dollars.

I have a very similar problem so I'll be interested in the responses. You may try what I'm trying which is only using the 3 Wood in my weekly rounds and using my range time to work on the Driver, only when I get it sorted will I stick it back in the bag. I don't know what's going on, when I get set up with my 3 Wood everything feels perfect, stick a driver in my hand and I'm baffled. I figure there's no way I'll get it sorted during the round and there's no reason to stuff your scores in the meantime. Shot better than my handicap last Sunday and only hit 3 Wood and hybrid off the tee. Hope you get some more useful, longtime suggestions.

Two thoughts come to mind. (1) Have you thought about giving it a rest while you recover? (2) OK, assuming you're like me and would play golf even if you were hooked up to a life support machine :) just make sure that you stand up and take a couple of steps between each shot. Don't just bash balls one after the other. I have to do this when I practice my putting. If I just stand there hitting one after the other I get really tight in the back. There are plenty of good sciatica stretches on the net, but it seems the simplest is to sit down and rest the outside ankle of one leg on the thigh of your other leg and then bend forward. That worked for me a while back.

If you're a PING fan, Golfsmith have them for $159! I'm pretty sure Titleist do them for about $130 odd. Check their website under Accessories,: Essential accessories.

He probably went for it because of his great short game. Say it goes in the creek, he drops down in front of the green and only has to get up and down for a Par. With his shortgame he probably figured he could do this anyway. Awesome shot. Definitely in my top shots.

Best advice I can give you is to find a Mizuno Fitting Centre and have a go with their Shaft Optimiser. I think it takes just 6 swings and it provides 3 recommendations, you can then try the shafts in a MX-25 6 iron. Not familiar with Colorado so here are all the places in that State that offer the service (I found them on the Mizuno USA) site: Aurora Lenny's Supreme Ski And Golf 2601 South Parker Road 80014 303-369-5900 Map it Colorado Springs World Golf & Sand Creek Gc 6865 Galley Road 80915 719-597-5489 Map it Denver Golf Club At Green Valley Ranch 4900 Himalaya Road 80249 303-371-8700 Map it Denver Golf Tec - Denver Tech Center 8101 E Bellview Ave 80237 303-770-5951 Map it Denver Golf Tec, Cherry Creek 201 University Blvd #121 80206 303-388-4832 Map it Denver Scott Walters Golf Shop, Bear Creek Golf Club 12201 Morrison Rd 80228 303-980-8700 Map it Denver Specialty Sports Venter, Colorado Golf & Ski 299 Milwaukee Street, Suite 502 80206 303-270-0345 Map it Durango Hillcrest Golf Club 2300 Rim Drive 81301 970-247-1499 Map it Fort Collins Collindale Golf Club 1441 E. Horsetooth Rd. 80525 970-221-6651 Map it Golden Golfsmith International 17120 West Colfax Ave,Suite 108 80401 512-821-4089 Map it Grand Junction Golf Tec - Grand Junction 625 24.5 Road Suite C 81505 970-208-1030 Map it Grand Junction Randy Hammond Disc Golf 601 Main Str. 81501 970-245-1299 Map it Westminister Golfsmith International 9440 Sheridan Blvd 80030 303-426-7775 Map it Good luck.

Shot 81 and was a little disappointed in the end but overall the signs are good. You see I was absolutely on fire after opening with 5 pars. Then had a sloppy double and then a birdie. Finished with 2 great scrambling Pars to finish the front nine at just +1 for a 37 and 24 Stableford points. One of my best opening nines ever. Back 9 opened with another sloppy bogey, then very solid Par, bogey and then 3 great pars. Finished Double, Double, bogey for an 81. Oh what could've been. Interesting side note: Only hit driver once. Don't know why I carry it, I hit my 3 Wood better and more consistently than any other club. Only missed one fairway with it. Bring on next week.

I've never understood the idea of making the game any harder than it already is. There's no reason you couldn't use a more forgiving club like the Mizuno MX 300 or TaylorMade R9 or any other game improvement club with a scratch handicap. The thought that you can only become a better ball striker by hitting players clubs also seems a bit odd, surely if you continue to improve with the GI clubs, it just means you hit the GI clubs even better. If you don't need or want to move the ball a lot, make your life easy and stick with GI clubs. There's a guy on the European Tour who uses the MX 200, a club designed for 20 handicappers. The 300s are forged but much more forgiving than the MP 52s (I'm actually switching to these in the next couple of weeks), so if you're set on getting the mighty "Grain Flow Forged" feel of Mizuno you might want to try these. Otherwise just look for a forgiving GI club that you like the look of, they've come a long way in recent years and don't look so fugly anymore. Golf is a bugger of a game without making it harder.

The 52s are super sweet when you middle them, but the middle can be a tad tricky to find. Unless you're a 30 handicapper because you have 50 putts a round I'd recommend the MX 200, still forged but much more forgiving. I'm seriously considering moving out to them myself. We're coming into winter here and with early tee times, my timing isn't always the best. The Mizuno guide suggests MP 58 for 0 - 8 handicaps, MP 52 (0-10hcp), MX 300 (0- 12 hcp) and the MX 200 (0-20 hcp). There's also the new MX 1000 (8-24 hcp) and the older MX 100 (12-24 hcp) but I don't think they're forged. Handicap isn't always the best way to gauge whether a club is right for a player (Some 20 handicappers are great iron strikers but have no short game or putting skill) but it's better than no gauge at all. Hope this helps.

There's a good exercise Harmon does with Phil in Golf Digest's Tips Plus Video Library (April). I've been doing it for two weeks and I'm already starting to find the middle of my irons.

24 is my best (13 and 11). Can't remember exactly what I shot but it was probably mid-high 70s. I do remember a lot of up and downs that day.

Well you've got good taste in drivers and your Lob Wedge is gold as well, apart from that you have much to learn. ;) Welcome aboard.

I reckon I could get a 3 Wood to stop on those greens.

I go for it because of all the clubs in my bag, I hit my 3 Wood the most consistently. Strange but true.

When you get a hole in one at my club they give you a bottle of scotch, you can then choose to leave it on the bar so that everyone who comes in after their round can have a drink from it. I'd be more than happy to do that but I'm not big on the idea of using my own money though.

Comedy Gold.

I used to use three dots in a triangle around the number. Two on top and one underneath. Then I ordered personalised balls from Golfsmith with my initials on them. Too easy.

I think it's important to note that it's not always about the number on the club it's more about the distances you hit them. Ideally you want consistent yardage gaps between your wedges, or at least a good knowledge of how far you hit them. Having a consistent gap between the number on the top of the club doesn't mean the distance gaps are even. I have a Mizuno PW which is 47, then a Vokey 50 and then 54. Although the gaps are 3˚ and 4˚ the yardage gap is the same at about 10 metres. Knowing this makes club selection much easier. Bending clubs will also affect the bounce which will affect the way it plays and could throw the distances out as well.

Weird day. Was all over the shop but managed to hole 4 X 25 foot putts on the front nine which I never do. I had my putter shortened to 34" last week and it seems to have done the trick. Also smashed a 317 yard drive (GPS Confirmed) on the last, had been a frustrating day and really opened the shoulders. It went about 60 yards further than we normally hit on that hole. Hit a solid 9 into the green and two putted for Par, nice way to finish on the hardest hole on the course.

I've been struggling with a slice in recent weeks, I think I sorted it out at the range yesterday. I'd gone to a stronger grip (Top hand turned in more). Yesterday I went back to a more neutral grip but I separated the index finger on my bottom hand (My right hand, your left) so that it became like a hook around the grip which seemed to help a lot. I went back to the nice draw I prefer to hit. I also went back to basics and hit punch, and small pitch shots before eventually moving back up to full shots. Most importantly though, I spent a while just checking my alignment (Feet, hips and shoulders) to see that I was square. Turned out my hips were about 20-30˚ open. When in doubt go back to the basics of grip, alignment, then pitch, punch and full. Good luck.

OK my reading of the rule is this: Because he hadn't taken a shot nearer to the hole with his dropped ball than where his original ball was found (I'm assuming that he dropped his ball near the hazard which was further away from the hole than the long grass where his ball was found) and because his ball was found within the five minutes, his original ball is the one in play. I'm not as sure with the second one but I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter who finds it.

There are a thousand things you could do. My 3 favourites when this happens are: 1: Take a week off, don't think about golf at all. 2: Grab a lesson. 3: Go back to basics. - Grip. - Alignment. - Setup. Then I start small with chips, pitches, and slowly build up to the longer stuff.

PING Redwood Anser Odyssey 2-Ball Blade. SC Pro Platinum Newport 2. The PING is the only one I play during rounds (Truly a great putter), the Odyssey is the one I use to practice on the carpet (Good for working on alignment), the SC I just bought 2nd hand. I've wanted a Scotty for a while and wanted something a bit different from the latest models. It'll stay in the cupboard until I get around to sending it to the Custom Shop for a freshen-up.

Seems like I'm not alone in putting my watch, wedding ring, keys, wallet, phone and change into my bag before play. The other guys I play with don't bother but I like not having to fumble in my pocket for a tee. I put my hand into my right pocket and there it is. Left pocket has pitch repairer. Back right - score card. Back left - Glove. I couldn't handle having my keys and wallet fighting for space in my pockets.

Driver - D (Maybe even worse, no consistency whatsoever. Fortunately my 3 Wood play is pretty good. I can hit 13 out of 14 fairways with it so 3W gets an A-) Iron - C (Not as good as it needs to be, not as bad as it has been) Short game - C (Chipping, wedges, pitching all good, bunker play not as good as it should be) Putter - B Overall - C (Probably a fair grade for my handicap. Had a frustrating golf year. Didn't improve as I would have liked. I had stretches of 10 holes during rounds where I was even or +1 but would then double and bogey the other 8 holes to finish at +10. Didn't have a lot of time to practice this year with the arrival of baby number 2 but I'm back every week now and looking forward to 2010. Single figures here I come).