Bill926

I'd like to see Sergio get a major win someday. He doesn't seem to handle the finishes well in the big ones though.

Maybe it's a simple as you get what you pay for. The muni course I play here is the cheapest in town, its always packed with all ages and skill levels, and the course really isn't that nice at all, so price has to be the reason. There's no marshals, the starters are volunteers who only checks your receipt and tells you your're next, but expect to play a 5 hr round. Another course which is a little nicer, charges about $15 more, and you can get around there in a little over 4 hours on a Saturday morning, EXCEPT when they run a really cheap special, and book 7-8 min tee times, by 9 AM there is a 4 group backup on the first tee, and it is going to take 6 hours to play if you didn't get out early. Then there's a course that charges at least double what the other ones do, nice course always in good shape, always a starter and marshals checking cart numbers, its crowded but not overly, and you can get around in 4 hours or less. The only special they do is an afternoon shotgun, play as much as you can before dark. So what is it, less people = better pace, or maybe the people that are willing to pay more are better at keeping up the pace?

cool. I was thinking the US Open and the PGA were 5 years.

i may be explaining it wrong, but what i'm understanding is that if aim straight and try to hit it straight, it will never happen because of my path, and will result in inconsistency. I can aim a little right and trust that my natural path will hit it back left. My ball was consistently starting left of where I was aiming.

I read a recent interview with Tiger's caddie, who says he had offers from other players. You would think if Tiger has no timetable to return, he would let him work with someone else. Maybe that's a good sign. If he returns this year or next or ever, I was thinking the only majors he'll be eligible for is the Masters and Open Championship because of the lifetime exemption. Would be interesting to see if would go thru he US Open qualifying if he had to.

I went for a 1/2 hour lesson last night with a well known instructor around here. Been doing it for 25 years. I told him what was going on and he chalked up the face of my driver and I hit a few. No shanks thankfully, but they were all hitting out on the toe, some left and some right, nothing consistent. He said that I should try to find a new position for the club to start at address, until I can get my hits closer to the center of the face. So I tried a few starting closer to the heel, and yes I started hitting them closer to the center. Then he asked what shape of shot do I try to hit off the tee, I said I aim straight and hope it goes straight, and it gives room for left or right misses. He said my swing path is slightly out to in, and I'll never hit it straight, aiming straight. So then he says, aim 10 yards right and swing left to the center target. I hit about 5 of those and they all either went straight to the target or started right and curved back to the target. So, he said my swing path is good and powerful enough not to change, just play it. What surprised me the most was the ball drawing. I always thought a out to in path would not draw, because I cant start the ball to the right. Oh well, I'll see how it goes.

yes it is coming off the toe, not sure if that's considered a shank or not, and yes when that happens it does feel like i'm ahead of the ball and there's no room to swing through it.

so the last 3 or 4 rounds I've played I get into the mess where I can't get off the tee with a driver, 3 wood or 3 hybrid. They're not slices or pulls they are low shanks, usually 45 deg. to the right, that barely go 75 yards, and I can repeat it 3 or 4 holes in a row with any of my woods. I'm a 15 handicap so my swing isn't perfect and I'm not expecting great tee shots, but this just started. All other parts of my game are normal (for me). I can hit a 5 or 6 iron off the tee and be on the green in 3 most of the time, but I don't want to resort to that for too long. Hitting them on the range is ok as well. Any ideas for a routine fix or something to get out of this? thanks, Bill

Bad cart etiquette is definitely a factor, i.e. one person hitting their approach, then driving 5 yards to the left for the next one to hit, and so on. Also, if your're waiting for the group in front of you to clear the green, everyone needs to spend that time getting yardages, looking for lost balls, selecting clubs etc. So many times people are just sitting there waiting, then when the green clears is when they start doing the things they could have been doing while waiting. If your second or third shot is inside 75 yards, take your putter and wedges and walk to the green if your cart partner still needs to go to his shot. If you get within 5 feet on your first putt, unless you're standing in someones line, putt out. These things can't be enforced, but they do contribute to slow play.

I played in a tournament this weekend where there were split tee times off 1 and 10. Just so happens on the second day I was in the first group off #1. We played the front 9 in 1.5 hours and it wasn't an easy course. When we got to #10 there were 3 groups still to get started in front of us. We still finished in 4.5 hours, on a full course, with flights ranging from scratch to 20+ handicaps, playing every shot. We were mostly 3-somes which helps, but we all know what is expected in our pace of play.

why cant the guy/girl checking you in at the pro shop and/or the starter make you aware of a pace of play policy and certain rules they have so its the first thing you hear before going out? I cant remember ever hearing that mentioned. One their rules could be you have to pick up after 7. Or coming up with some kind of system for assigning tee boxes at the beginning of the round based on handicap or driver distance. Just about all foursomes play from the same tees and a lot of times they are all different skill levels. I think most people know about these things, nut they're not enforced as actual rules of the course.

I've never gotten either one of those comments. I can understand the first one maybe, depending on what shape the range was in when you got there. But no way can I understand the second comment unless you were lined up and purposely hitting to an area outside of the range, which it doesn't sound like you were. A lot of things annoy me at the range, including the guy picking up the buckets. Our guy seems to want to stop and chat with everyone down the line. There also always seems to be the guys sharing a bucket and sharing clubs, talking loud, being there for no other reason but to see if they can out drive each other. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, just annoying.

I messed this one up. Went out as a single mid-morning on Saturday. I got right off without waiting but the stater warned me i'd probably catch some other groups. 1 and 2 were open and when I pulled up to 3 the twosome in front of me were just leaving the tee box, and I can see the foursome on the green. So I just paced myself, working on a few things and maybe hitting an extra approach shot, trying not to rush. Ended up finishing 9 in right around 2 hours. Got to 10 and the twosome was waiting, and the foursome was just pulling away and now. They must have stopped at the turn. From 10 green you can see the 12th hole, one of the only places on the course where you can see the holes in front of you. The foursome isn't even finished with 11 and 12 is open, so I figure no one is ahead of them. So since it took 30 minutes to play 10,and it looked open in front of them I decided to jump to 13, which is an extra long drive from the 12 green. When I get there, a foursome is just leaving the tee box, and they didn't look real happy that a single just pulled up behind them. I think they then started playing extra slow on purpose. By the time I got to tee off on 13, the group now behind me was already there, and they weren't real happy that now I was ahead of them, which I can understand. So I played 13 and 14 and then drove in, which I thought was the right thing to do. I'll probably wait until the afternoon before going out as a single again.

I played a few rounds in a row where I was hitting fat, thin, pushes, hooks etc., felt like i was forcing every shot, and afterwards my neck, back and arms were very sore. Went out the next time where my only thought was very lite grip pressure, where I was barely holding the club. What a huge difference in ball striking it made. I went from clubbing up on my irons and still coming up short on the previous rounds, to where I was actually hitting the regular club a bit longer than expected. Same course, 5 days apart went from shooting 93 to 80 (with 2 3-putts), and no soreness!

I voted 25% more. Overbooking seems like a big problem around here. From about April to October the courses offer really cheap prices and have tee times 6 minutes apart. Doesn't take long to get backed up.

Exactly on #7. Anywhere from 180+ I always come up just short. Either they just barely make it over and I'm right on the edge in some mess, or they hit to rocks or wall and fly back in. Over 200 and I wont even try unless there's a 50 yd buffer between the water and the green.

Being a 15 as well, I agree with all except #2. Even with a warm up bucket I have no idea where the first tee shot is going. I have hit some terrible 1st tee shots recently and have started using an iron or hybrid, pretty much conceding to bogey unless its a par 5. After the first hole i'm fine. My #11 would be Confidence in recovering after a bad first or second shot and still making par. Half of my pars in a round are getting up and down from somewhere.

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to look at some of those videos and come up with some drills. Hopefully I can get it to happen naturally instead of forcing or thinking about it.

I've been told many times that I need more shoulder turn for more distance and more consistency overall. I'm have a hard time trying to find a good way to practice this. If I force a bigger turn, and hit a good one, I can see a big difference with higher and more solid iron shots and also gives me a little draw on driver shots with better distance. The problem I'm having on is timing I think. A lot of shots it feels like i'm getting stuck behind and pushing right, or the opposite with a big hook. So i'm not sure forcing a turn is the best way to practice, as I don't want to introduce new issues. Should good shoulder turn be a result of other parts of the swing or should I continue to force it until I'm not thinking about it anymore? Thanks for any suggestions!

maybe could have been handled differently

This is a good rule to know. I play a lot of tournament golf and this one has probably been overlooked once or twice, mainly because we are told to take a provisional if there may be any question (for pace of play reasons), and because nobody understood the rule. I was just reading about this on a tournament page where someone got dq'd for playing his provisional in this case. Although, his playing partner didn't say anything until they got to the scoring table, which is another story.

I know the rule but didn't agree with it. The answers given in both of the replies above helps it make more sense though. Thanks

So you hit a tee shot into the desert that may be lost, and take a provisional. You get up there and find the ball in a shrub or something, but it is unplayable and your only option is to re-tee. Why can't you just use the provisional you already hit? Does it really make sense that you would have to go back and hit again?

If you don't have head covers for your woods.

If the rough is high and wet, try harder to stay out of it. Twice I couldn't even punch it back to the fairway, and one of those I lost the ball 20 yards in front of me.