Carolinahooker

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4185540 Sad new indeed...

His swing is just way off. If his short game wasn't so good he would have shot a 78 out there. I can't remember the last time I watched him hit so many bad shots. His recovery game is so good he didn't pay for it all the time. It is kinda' reassuring to watch the best player in the world go through something we amateurs have done many times. I have hit some of those same shots off the tee. I, of course, am at least 40 yards shorter :)

I agree, if there is a putting green with the chipping green you really shouldn't putt.

No, I think it makes the game more fun. Nothing feels better than when you hit that ball on the green from a difficult lie. It has made me so much better playing out of some bad areas. I really don't mind when the ball is in a bad lie at all now. I do play with some guys that do it on virtually every hole. I could care less, if it makes the game fun for them, fine by me.

I think in golf there is a lot of holier than thou behavior. I play by every rule but don't really care what rules anyone else plays by. This is a tough game, if someone is not of the skill level to hit those golf shots without moving the ball what do I care? When I play with strangers I always feel weird asking what they shot on a hole to see if I should hit. I mean when they are hacking around the last thing they want to do is say they got an eight on the last hole.

Enough of the Brian show, let's hear from some other contestants on the next few shows. I am waiting for the level of play to improve. I don't spray my driver as much as they do. Those drives on the first challenge were ridicules. That continued on the last challenge. Way too many people in the woods. Kim was the other obvious person to go after "tee it high and let it fly". They were the two that looked like their game just wasn't on the level of everyone else. Everyone left now can play. They just need to show it from here out.

Toe up is correct.

This all comes back the the stogy world of golf. You have A LOT of people out there that think you HAVE to go in order of furthest from the hole no matter what. Almost every course has the local rule of "play ready golf". That means that by rule you are SUPPOSE to go "out of turn" if it speeds up play. One rule that I think just flat out needs changing is order of play around the greens. It makes no since to take a flag out so I can put from 30 feet away and then put it back in so another guy can chip from 20 feet. I recently watched a round table discussion with a group of executives of golf courses. They said, far and away, the worst problem in golf is slow play. They stated the top reason that people quit membership or don't come back to their course is pace of play. With all that said, you would think they would get serious about enforcing it.

I had to stop watching that one guy's swing for fear of it creeping into mine

I'm not sure how low I can get my handicap but my goal is to play smart golf. I'm under 15 right now but I have just been bad around the greens. Bunker play and chipping around the green need to really improve. The only mental part I really try to stay with is just concentrate on the next shot and don't try to do too much. I almost always go for greens and not pins. I stay away from trouble on every shot, well I try to anyway. I make sure I don't try to be a hero on those bad lies. For me, it all boils down to staying away from big numbers. I shot an 87 last time out and had eight pars. Had a 47 on the front and a 40 on the back. I was proud of myself for hanging in there and shooting well on the back. Still need to keep those big numbers off my card.

That slope rating is very shaky. I have played a different course for every round of golf so far this year. I played two that were both 128 slope and they were light years apart. If either of those were my home course my handicap would be drastically different. One was narrow with lots of trouble in the fairways and the greens. The other was wide open and had very accessible greens. Just another reason that not all handicaps are not created equally.

I was torn because I thought Football was a cool guy but my heart went with the Irish lass. His putting was god awful though. When you play like he did on those par 3s you can't really complain about going home. The one guy is just trying to hard to say shocking things. "I wanted to send a message to everyone who ever watches this show that I was here to play." "When my stroke is on, I am the best putter in the world" Is he 12?

I am just coming back to the game after about a five year absence. Kids will do that. Everyone pointing to the short game is dead on. I have really worked to improve my game. I am a 16 right now after a lot of improvement. My driver use to be my weakness but now I am great off the tee. The thing stopping me from scoring low is my short game. Those chips around the green and 50 yrd shots are killing me as is my putter. A lot of those shots are tough to practice. You really only get better at them by playing a round. Going out tomorrow afternoon with good thoughts :)

Phil was just busting Nick's B*lls. Sounds like a funny exchange to me. That all sounds pretty normal for a bunch of guys sitting around having some drinks.

From my vacations in Canada I noticed a ton of lefty golfers. I asked one of the guys I was playing with up there and he says it's from hockey. They grow up hitting those lefty slap shots. He said a lot of guys up there have a tough time deciding which side to hit from when they take the game up. Shawn is a great resource. You could spend a week just sitting there watching all his youtube videos.

I concur with the speed of play issue. Even when I was shooting 115 I played fast. I didn't rush but I played ready golf and kept up with my friends who were shooting in the upper 70's. I think lower handicappers are more likely to take a long time looking for balls and such. They really don't want to give up the strokes for a lost ball penalty. At the end of the day, I guess everyone is entitled to play with whomever they want. I wouldn't take it too personally although I'm sure that's hard to do when you are told you aren't wanted.

Are we talking "can hit a 300 yrd drive" or "avg a 300 yrd drive"? As a former 20+ hcp player, I have hit a couple of those or at least close. In four man scrambles I would hit close to last. If there was a drive out there already I could turn my shoulders and let it rip. Now that shot had about a 10% chance of being in the fairway and a 90% chance to be 20 yrds in front me. I do laugh at all the people on the internet that say "I hit it about 290 or so". I hit mine about 260 and consider myself a decent driver off the tee. The more you play golf the more you don't care about being long off the tee. You care about being safe off the tee and consistent. Still working on that part

Are they nine hole? Even getting off at 4:00 would be pushing it for 18. Thanks for your help

I have never joined a golf league but the idea sounds appealing. I have a few questions though: Do they run at times where you can make it after work or on the weekends? Do most courses have leagues? Do they advertise or do you have to contact the course to get information? Thanks

To answer this you have to go with what Tiger has done right now. If he never hit another golf ball. Using that criteria you almost have to go with Jack. People who question whether Jack had tougher competition just don't know their golf history. He absolutely had tougher competition. In ten years I will probably change my answer to Tiger...but not yet.

Phil is always going to play like that. It's why he is so much fun to watch. No one, including Tiger, can get out of trouble like Phil. Now that might have something to do with the fact that he is IN trouble so much

That's funny Flop, I almost had the same lie this weekend. Mine was in the top of the tall grass right at the water. If I went with my regular stance I would have had to take my right shoe off. Because of the curve on the water, I could stand close to normal lefty. So I flipped my flop wedge around and hit it lefty. It actually went up just off the green. I think it would have been much tougher to get it up that high if it wouldn't have been so high in the grass.

As a recently converted hooker, I feel your pain. I had a hook shot my whole life until I totally changed my swing a few months back. I could list the 40 different things that contribute to it but I'm sure that's not what you are looking for. I use to hit the ball very far with that draw/hook. At the end of the day the loss of accuracy just isn't worth it. It's basically your arms/hands in front of your body. Go back to your little fade, it will serve you much better. My Grandfather use to say "you can talk to a slice but a hook won't listen."

Pretty enlightening thread...

I have just started to track GIR, FIR and putts. It really is pretty eye-opening to see how these impact your score. I need to get those putts down for sure. I have been working so hard on getting my swing square but you still won't score if you can't putt.