Tod

Oh, no question at all. Especially since I rarely manage more than one or two pars and have far many too many holes that go really badly.

This was almost exactly my day yesterday, only 107. I opened with birdie on a respectable par 4 and then the wheels fell off in terms of getting off the tee, despite an excellent session with my pro Thursday and follow-up practice. But I had committed to not trying to fix things on the course and stopped at the range on the way home and worked through determining the setup errors I had made, particularly by reviewing a video of my correct setup my pro sent me. This is now four or five consecutive rounds with a birdie. Just far too few pars. There's always next time.

I have a brain tumor. I went through 32 hours of surgery in 2010 to remove 90% of it, radiation two years later when it started growing again. Left me deaf on one side and as well as completely missing a balance nerve. Turns out to be one of the reasons I stopped playing (my balance was awful) and then it took a few years for my body to learn to compensate. There are other issues, such as swallowing difficulties and frequent inability to yell, plus a persistent dry cough for six years. As bad as it might sound, it was/is a piece of cake compared to what many people, including my wife, deal with.

I have to amend my response. My son and I gave up after four holes yesterday when the rain became so heavy the greens were ponding and we couldn't putt more than a few feet at a time.

You're right, I don't have to hit a driver. But, more often than not I can screw up any tee shot. It gets in my head. I can hit a respectable 3W off the deck or a tee, but I can also generate a booming slice into the forest, same as with a 5I. It is all in my head. I'm trying to develop a consistent routine to take some of these things away. Yep, but I rarely mind when that happens. It is topping the ball or sending it short and dead OB that gets to me.

So, I guess it is about time I join into this discussion. I've managed to break 100 once by playing on a much easier course than my home course - shorter, flatter, and much less OB and no forests to lose a ball in. Yesterday's round was typical score of 103 a lonely par, an equally lonely birdie, and a number of really bad holes. The worst holes I just gave up on, no way around it. I got kind of fed up with my difficulties off the tee. It gets in my head. The funny thing, I know what I did yesterday and it was the same thing I did for a few holes last weekend. I start trying to adjust my driver set up to avoid a slice and I make things much worse. I figured this out last weekend, but still did the same blasted things. Tomorrow I will try to absolutely not to do this crap.

Honestly, until I saw this thread, I never thought there was an issue in folks' minds. As we say on the AT, HYOH - Hike Your Own Hike. When I started playing again last summer, it didn't take me long to go ahead and get a trolley again. If only because I didn't want to buy to buy a new bag (my son and I found RealTree camo cart bags at BPS a few years back on a roadtrip) and I much rather walk than ride. When I was playing in the 90s, I had committed to the USGA's program to encourage players to walk the course. When I watched the NCAA women's finals the other night, I was pleased to see they were using trolleys. I think trolleys represent a great compromise for players that want to walk, but not carry. Playing yesterday afternoon when the humid 90s finally came back to central Virginia, I was certainly glad to be pushing my clubs around instead of carrying.

My home course is 73.4/134/6,943 yds at the tips. I suspect most pros would be able to break 72 the first time around, but not much better than that generally. Apart from the aforementioned difference in the manicured greens and bunkers, pros are also used to manicured fairways. Ours are not. Plus, our bunkers are miserable experiences of generally hard-packed sand - rarely is there any fluff. Deep woods and OB every hole, usually on both sides. Now, I'm not complaining, I like my home course a lot, but it is what it is.

As long as the course is open, I'm good to go. When I was playing a lot in the 90s in western Oregon, I had knee-high boots with golf spikes. Most of last Saturday's club tournament was in the rain. No such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.

I broke 100 two weeks ago. I've got and read LSW.

The Speedblades are nice enough. Forgiving, long, nice high trajectory. I just sold mine because they weren't quite what I was looking for...with my OCD and all.

Played a shorter and easier course (65.9/111/5584) than my home course (71.4/133/6511) today. Broke 100 for the first time since starting this up again with a 94 compared to my usual 102-104. I was generally straight off the tee with reasonable distance, but a few flubs and missed putts. I felt good and confident throughout the round. Last weekend I had an 18 hole playing lesson with my instructor and that has made a huge difference in my thinking.

I reconcile my round with my scorecard so that matches scores posted for handicap. I don't move things around, unless a club was missed, or ball was actually in or out of the fairway opposite of Game Golf. It's not a terribly precise system because of GPS, but I certainly don't need precision within inches. I just need and want a consistent estimate. Sharing each round with my instructor has been helpful, including yesterday's round which was very intense playing lesson.

There is no right to try, only opportunities that you can create for yourself. Be aware that transferring in with an AA may present other challenges and you may still have more than two years of work to do. All that said, starting the process now is what you need to do. Identify a handful schools and make some contacts with the coaches...no reason to wait on that.

Use the College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ ) that was released last September as part of your search strategy. Also use tools like Payscale.com, Money Magazine's college rankings, and Washington Monthly's college rankings (friends of mine are closely involved in the last two). Also, many states have higher education agencies with websites dedicated to data on colleges and outcomes. The VA also has a site for veteran-friendly college searches. As others have said, find a college where you can get the major you want and play golf. Understand that as an older, more experienced student, some colleges might be too traditional to fit in. The again, you might find such places to be excellent opportunities for leadership. What you want most is a college with the major you want where the graduates get jobs, preferably decently paying jobs, and you can graduate on time - within four years.

Some of us high-handicappers can put the ball out quite a distance. Occasionally. Sometimes it will even be in the correct fairway. It can help being tall. At 6'4" with a high swing speed, I can get pretty good distance. At 6'8" my 25 yo 10 handicap son can blow it well past me with his 3 wood. One thing I have noticed is that my son does overestimate distance based on landmarks and the scorecard as compared to GameGolf.

I am still in the elusive hunt to break 100 after taking up this game again. 107 yesterday which was an improvement over the last two disastrous rounds. (Actually I have a lot of rounds I haven't posted here.) However, unlike other rounds, I thoroughly enjoyed this round and feel like I had good shot on every hole. Lots of work to do yet, but the lessons are helping a lot and the folks I play with comment on how much my swing and ball-striking has improved since I started lessons.

My home course is Mill Quarter Plantation in Powhatan, VA. It's almost an hour from where I live, and I pass several courses to get to it, but it is very affordable and out in the country. Only a few fairways have houses on them and it plays between 5200 and 6900 yards. It is a bit of shotmaker's course since offline drives can end deep in the woods.

My ideal goal is to go from a 21.2 (based on five rounds) to an HCI between 15 and 10. Primarily I just want to play as much as possible, enjoy it as much as possible, and keep improving through lessons and practice. It's already a dramatically different game from when I first decided to pick up the clubs again last August.

Actually, it was yesterday, but it was 104. Sucky, but part of continuing downward trend. Have been focusing hard on my long game practice and my lessons. Ball contact and distance is so much improved since I started playing last fall. The bulk of misses were good misses. I putted horribly, 10 strokes over my norm, and had some really awful pitches and bunker shots. I wasn't really caring about those. This round was focused on tee shots and approaches and so I am actually thrilled with my progress. Practiced pitches today, so if I get to play tomorrow (if it doesn't rain too heavily), so I hope to a bit better there.

Thanks for the welcome, all. Question: How many posts do I have to make before jumping into the middle of a topic without having read any of the preceding material and making a long-winded argument based only on my personal reaction to the subject line? It seems there is a lot of this. I have to say, some of you are very, very patient with your responses. I have been reading page after page of some these topics and am quite impressed.

Once I decided to return to playing full bore, I joined a course that I like in the country. It's a bit of a drive, but it is a better value IMHO than the courses I pass on the way.

Hi, coming back to this game after a long layoff. I've had a love/hate relationship with this game since I was five. My grandfather used to say, "Silliest damn game in the world, chasing a little white ball around a pasture. But I love it." Silly as it is may be, I take it a bit too seriously so when I decided to play again I asked my wife for permission to get "obsessive about golf again." She lives with the consequences of having said yes. After spending the fall making little progress, wife & son gave chipped in to buy package of lessons for me. First lesson helped a great deal...especially after many buckets of balls. Currently playing TM Speedblade HL irons, and Jetspeed driver and fairway woods. Since I am bit of a gearhead, I have a 3H and 4H that I am experimenting with. Distance is not a problem for me, just consistency and good contact. That's improving though and I find the differences in distance between the 4 and 4H to be kind of crazy. The hybrid is much longer for me. I have ordered my copy of LSW, just waiting for it to arrive.