ppine

Riviera looks very appealing this time of year. After not watching much golf until recently, the field seems to be much more competitive with plenty of people in contention. I enjoy watching B Watson play. His style seems very intuitive. He has great feel and instinct but not classic style. Jordan will be back. The guy has a ton of talent and he is really young. Matsuyama is a phenom. Another great young talent. I started golf with wooden shafts. For years I hit persimmon Walter Hagen woods. They were black and sinister looking with a red and white face. I used to touch up the lacquer once in while to keep them looking new. They could launch the ball, but we got penalized for miss hits more than with the new bigger clubs that are perimeter weighted.

I am finding out about dated ideas in golf. The unwinding coil was a popular concept a long time ago. Now it obviously isn't.

A 56 degree wedge is usually a "sand wedge" with a lot of bounce. It is designed for the sand and deep rough. It is harder to hit from a flat lie. Most people can hit a 56 or 60 degree wedge with the right amount of bounce for the conditions. Try the 56 in the rough and you may like it all of a sudden.

Giving people advice is a slippery slope.

Lose forward roll, lose trajectory, and lose some of the power of the weight shift to the left side.

Or for the lay man, try a stronger grip or a slight left center swing, a little more outside in.

Blaming it on your equipment is convenient, but probably not the problem. what wedges are you hitting?

I like Florida and Arizona. California is hard to beat.

All I know is hitting the ball a ton is not the answer to being a good golfer. Otherwise I would not still be struggling to break 90 most of the time. Golf has always been a technical sport. Now it is overwhelming to me just reading this thread. I like to just step up to the ball, relax and hit it.

It can be a complicated process. It is better to just say "let's go play at Squaw's Heel." I like to play with my brother. He lives in Oregon. Sometimes we meet half way and camp and play golf. Fall River Mills in northern California is one of the best muni courses in American. It is in the middle of nowhere. A par 5 on the back is a double dog leg and over 600 yards long. We play it as a par 6.

I have been a long hitter since the age of about 13. Lifting weights for a couple of months over the winter, will cause an increase in distance. So will increased flexibility. Uncoiling the built up energy in the body is the biggest contributor to distance. Being tall helps. I am about 6'2" and 225 now. My swing is more compact but still launches it out there. In old days I used persimmon woods and could hit the ball to the fence at most driving ranges. Now I have much better equipment.

I am happy that we have golf in common.

This whole discussion kind of gives me the creeps. It seems kind of strange for a bunch of golfers, many of whom may be middle aged and not in the greatest shape to be making comments about the attractiveness of female models. I like em all.

I am a retired environmental consultant. It was an outdoor career. We had a job in SE Alaska in the bush where it rained 150 inches a year. We were supported by helicopters and saw bears every day. I made a half dozen trips up there of about 3 weeks each. I never saw it get dark and I will never forget it.

Ben Hogan was like a God when I was growing up. We used to go to Hogan's Driving Range in Maryland which was owned by his brother Larry. He liked we kids, and used to give us pointers for free on our swings. Those were the days when anything seemed possible. My golf career may have peaked in the 1960s when shooting in the low 80s seemed normal.

I have had some serious injuries, and it takes a certain kind of person to come all the way back from them. Woods is competitive, driven, and a high achiever. There is no reason he can't come back, but he may have to adjust his swing and aggressiveness somewhat.

All I know is attractiveness is a moving target as we age. My Dad is 91 and he thinks Paula Deen is hot.

Compared to many hobbies like collecting cars or antique guns,you did not spend much at all. What you did spend is consumptive spending that depreciates rapidly. There is a lot of great used golf equipment out there now. Last year's model or even stuff from a few years ago is far superior to the old latest and greatest.

All missed putts can be disheartening depending on the timing. What really gets me is to leave a putt short, especially one that is well read in the 5-12 foot range.

Tiger is a driven man. He has always been a well-conditioned athlete, but his swing style has always been very aggressive and hard on his body. He rushes to get back on the course and hits more shots than most people. He needs some Moe Norman in his swing if he is going to continue to compete at a high level, and less high C in his swing. Not enough people realize that he has plenty of mental problems to contend with. After being a brilliant amateur and collegiate champion, he stepped right into the spot light and was a great pro, with a wonderful family. Then the life on the road took over and he gave in to his demons. I don't think his addiction to prostitutes, etc is something he will ever really be able to live down. His private life is very public and he really messes up his ability to play golf. There is some doubt where before there was nothing but confidence.

Golf is not a game of how, but how many. If I get rattled, I go back to the fundamental trusted shots. I have used a putter out of plenty of sand traps with a low lip and use one from far off the green as an example.

This is am important topic for higher handicappers. People that shoot low numbers have already figured out course and shot management enough to avoid most all of their blow up holes. I agree that a bad drive is probably the most common start to a really bad hole. The other ones are hitting the ball out of play, water, OOB, unplayable lie, etc. Then there is a tendency for some people to try to make up for the bad start by trying something heroic. Keeping the ball in play, avoiding hazards, and going for the makable shot gives people confidence when they need it. Golf is the most mental of all the sports. There are no team mates to blame it on or discuss with. It is all on you, so play smart and give yourself a chance.

Greg, Thanks for the sentiment. I am a third generation Husky, Nice golf ball.

Maybe some people have more ability and confidence as kids. They need to get motivated by playing against others. Dropping your handicap by 20 strokes in two years is phenomenal. Most people can't do that no matter how hard they work at it. I found that playing in schoolboy tournaments and one year on the high school team were not helpful at all. They both torpedoed my confidence.

The moderator combined two posts. The new post is "If we played a round it would be obvious." I have been reading Dave Pelz, and I agree with him.