bones75

I voted its easier to push although personally I carry. I carry simply to burn more calories and help get my heart rate up for general cardio vascular health. I guess a lot of reason why I golf these days is just for the exercise. I understand it can be an unhealthy practice (like how it can impact your back/shoulders). But my doctor and physical therapists have said that if I always use two straps and watch my posture (which I admit, gets annoyingly tiring), its a good way to get in more strenous exercise during a round of golf. 100% sure i play worse golf though. When i do ride, i can hit the ball further and straighter. So if i really want to score well, i push or ride.

@Vinsk no need for further details. I was suprised to find this video, but I guess videos like this exist for everything nowadays.

Sweet, tx. Anything particular that you like better than the cheapo's? Price was higher than i expected for it, and it's kind of an impulse buy at the moment.

Anyone have any recommendations for indoor putting mats? I've played on a bunch here and there, and they all felt about the same to me. Cheap ones are $20 and go up to $100. Wondering if anyone has had any good experiences with a particular model/type (painted on lines/targets, etc..) or material (more closely resembles greens in your opinion).

I read that the USGA considers scores under the covid-19 rules of play valid, including putting with raised cups. So even if the ball was screaming across the green, does that count as holed?

Oh, and I forgot like the coolest story about his athleticism. His buddy said in January, he taught my friend the little thing of bouncing the ball on your wedge. He said by his 3rd try, he could do it indefinitely, and by the next hole, he was already doing tricks like between the legs, behind the back, etc.. Dude's just really good at using a stick to hit a ball.

I just reread mine and found another mistake. He never broke 70. Meant to say "He broke 80 around xmas."

He's quite good. Shot an 81 w 4 birdies and two triples. His buddy said he's fired an 88, 78 and 77 in the times they've played. He still says mostly 80 or under, his low is 74. his story as best as I can recall. Retired from the ATP nov '18. Started to golf "a few times a month". He played the tips because he's long, but because he was long and not accurate he would lose a dozen+ balls in a round (at least at Stanford he would). So if he counted penalties,120+ sounds right. However, it's true he wasn't truly "trying" to score low. He was swinging at full throttle and that's just what was fun for him (and not that diff than many beginners). Even still, he broke 100 last October. So he did not go from 120 to high 70's in 5 months. He went from 'breaking 100 for the first time' to 'regularly breaking 80' in 5 months. I may have misinterpreted him earlier, his English is good, but not perfect. After breaking 100, he got interested, started lessons, and practiced "a lot" daily (I didn't ask for details). He says he absolutely loves being in a sports routine that's not tennis, so it's feasible he practices a ton. He was shooting mid/high 80s after 2 weeks of lessons. He broke 70 for the first time around xmas. After lessons, he started swinging slower. Where he used to carry 300+, he "only carries about 265" now. However, I believe this is the low end, as I'm sure he carried a few 280-290 today. I also saw him hit a 6 iron fearlessly off of hard dirt 218 yards, pin high to 6', all carry (I laser'd it myself); and a ~300 yard (w/ roll) 2-iron. He's pretty straight, but even when he was wayward, he always seemed to have a high iron in at most. (Stanford is 6.7k from the tips). He said driving and putting are the most natural part of the game for him. His putter was great, both lag and line. Overall decent short game, although he hit 3-4 really poor chips. He plays ROG, putts out 1 footers, no foot wedges. He can also work a fade well, but he can't control a draw (related to tennis?). One thing that is misleading about his scores is that he only plays Stanford, so he's not sure how he'd score at other courses. He gets to play it for near free, and I think he's on a pretty small budget. He doesn't have an index. He was impressive. He hit a few bad shots, but not very many. And his great shots looked as good as I can imagine anyone hitting them.

I was kind of curious what @iacas thinks on this subject in general? What's the fastest improving student he's every seen (by any measure or any level)? (Mods: if this post is not TOS, feel free to delete, I would PM him, but I think others would want to see his answer too)

I know a guy who was starting D1 football QB (idk what it was back then, but it's not a top 25 program today). He was also all-state in HS baseball, and the best player on his team in HS basketball. He took up golf in his 40's and was decent at it (bogey golfer), nothing amazing. But what was incredible was that he could golf equally well lefty OR righty. I witnessed it firsthand many times. He didn't take golf that seriously, but did want to casually improve, and kept switching a week or a month later thinking he was better the other way. It's not the definition of athleticism, but it's definitely impressive athletic ability.

We just set a date for this Saturday at Stanford to play. I hope he's as good as he says, cuz that's just a wonder to behold I feel. I hope he's not as good as he says, cuz I'd be just super jealous.

I'm kind of thinking along those lines. I don't know exactly when he stopped trying all-out on the ATP, but know he was super dedicated to it 2-3 years ago. Prior to that, I'm confident he didn't give a rats ass about his golf game, and believed him when he told me he shot 120+ (he told me this 2-3 years ago). I think he's Serbian and only came to the US about 6 years ago, which makes me think he didn't even try golf til he came here (I have no grounds for this btw, just guessing there's not a lot of golf in Serbia) So I'd figure at most it has been like ~18 mos of golf bug for him. But that's still exceptional improvement. Curious if anyone has ever seen anyone improve that quickly in half a year. Believe he was top 500 in the ATP worldwide at some point and he's still young (late 20s or mbe 30), so for general athleticism he's got a lot going for him.

I go to a Stanford sports medicine clinic for some old injuries, and I run into NCAA athletes as well as some professionals. I ran into an old friend who was an old tennis player that tried to make it on the ATP. He's always played golf for fun (maybe 10x per year), had a 300+ long carry on his drives (if they happened to go straight), but shot like 120-140. He said he turned in his ATP card last year, only teaches and coaches now, and has taken up golf more seriously. In 5 months he said he went from shooting 120+ to high 70's, with a low of 74. No idea how much he's practiced in that time. Home course is no joke either, Stanford university. If this is true, that's the quickest improvement I've ever seen in real life (including young people). I'm going to play w/ him soon, and we shall see if it's true. Is it believable? Or would one think he's been practicing longer than 5 months.

This is just a nice story about what's happened to me after more strength training the last 2.5 months. I'm in my mid 40's, in good shape, but not at all a fitness junkie or gymrat. I typically walk, but the last 2.5 mos I've been playing all my rounds w/ my dad, who is currently in chemo, and we've been riding together. During this time, I also started a much more rigorous strength training regimen (again inspired by my dad's challenges), and have made decent progress. My cardio regimen didn't change. I've never felt tired walking 18, or so I thought. Yesterday, I walked 18 for the first time in the last few months, and I was surprised at how light the bag felt (I carry). Although there's a good chance i'm biased in my memory, it felt like my shoulders were lighter, I had a lighter step, and that energy made it easier to be a little more stable in my golf swing. Previously, walking was never a big effort, but there was an effort. But yesterday's round felt effortless. I felt I could have played another sport like tennis or basketball w/ no problem, right off the 18th green. So yea, feeling fantastic and I recommend it! (I did consider putting this in the fitness thread, but thought it kinda fit more here. mods feel free to move it)

I get it! and this isn't even my first time asking a stupid question in TST. I write things and hit the "post" button a little too quickly. Another reminder I need to stop doing this isn't a bad thing. So after reading rule 12, I understand there is no penalty. If there's anything elsewhere, or if I ever need complete certainty, I will assuredly give it a thorough read myself. Related and genesis of my question: I just played in a big church tourney. It was at a private country club, and they made it part of the "tournament rules" to rake bunkers, fill seed mixture into divots, and fix all ball marks. I didn't ask the organizers if these "rules" were officially deemed as the tournament's "Code of Conduct" (which I just read/learned about now) but if so, I now understand that the "committee" could penalize or DQ people. At the time, i didn't know if this was standard or unusual practice, or something the church organizer did for whatever reason. Either way I felt like it wasn't it in the official rulebook, and was seeking confirmation cuz I was too lazy to find it myself. I'll def read the latest rulebook before I post the likes again!

@iacas I've searched for "rake" and "raking" and didn't see any relevant hits. So it looks like there isn't a rule, but is there another term I should be searching for? If you're suggesting I just read the whole thing top to bottom, I kinda didn't want to, that's why I posted the question 🙂

@iacas I confess I didn't do a great deal of sleuthing, but I didn't find anything after a few google searches that covered it. I must be missing something...

or is it only bad etiquette? If you can point me to an older post that'd be great too, as I tried looking.

I'm terrible at this game. As in i shot "terror" today.

Same! I consider myself in decent shape amongst my 40's-friends, but I'm surprised how much harder the same tracks are to walk compared to my early 30's. And I used to walk 36 easily whenever I had time. AND I was a social & golf smoker back then! Father time can suck it.

- self deleted after reading the whole thread -

I texted my buddy something similar last weekend. And this thread is a byproduct of that chat thread.

@FlyingAce I can't say what's best for you physical well being. However, know that as a lady who is passionate about golf, you are an inspiration to many of us and a beacon of hope for many men who want to golf with their wives. Keep at it!!

We've all gone through good and bad fitness times, but overall when did you get too old to ______ I think I admitted to myself this year that I can't walk 36 w/o the 2nd round being noticeably worse from fatigue. Even if I did it every weekend, I think it would take awhile before it felt comfortable.

Never seen LPGA irl, but I've played with many NCAA women's golfers and elite high school players. I personally found it very exciting to see them hit, regardless if it was 200 yards or 250. Thats probably because I'm just excited to see their swing form. But I understand how some golfers who are far better than me are only impressed with drivers who crush it and find their drivers dull. I saw a video of Annika Sorenstam at some fitness event. She squatted 5 reps of 250lbs like it was nothing. I wouldn't be suprised if her 1rm is well over 300lbs. I weigh more than her and squat FAR less than her. At my level I honestly feel her (and other LPGA) swing is better for me to watch (if I'm only talking about driving distance) for me than DJ or Rory, even though I can hit it as long as her (on rare occasion??!!).