plugged

I don't ever dream (or rather, fantasize) about being a pro golfer. What I do dream about is playing well enough to compete in a state amateur or maybe even the US Mid-Am tournament.

It looks like you are bringing your left should down, instead of around. IOW, pivoting around your neck instead of your spine.

I've played about eight of them. My favorites are Pauite Wolf and TPC LV. Mostly they are way overpriced for what you get. The very best I've played is Cascata. Really awesome.....for $500.

Rush loves golf because it is the ultimate capitalist, conservative sport. No contracts that allow a player to get lazy or start whining, no team play that allows a player to blame his poor performance or hide behind the good performances of others. It is pure competition, week in and week out. Pay based on performance, pure and simple. It is the exact opposite of the whole "it doesn't matter who wins, just as long as everyone feels good about themselves" psychobabble that the left-wing loons are so find of.

I'll bet Rush is the most serious and dedicated student of the three. He brings the same level of intensity to most of his endeavours and typically succeeds accordingly (except his marriages), which drives the left-wing loons nuts.

Congratulations. When I get my first ace, I want it to be at a tournament with lots of witnesses, handshakes, and a kiss from the cart girl.

Well, a lot of people will tell you disco and bell-bottom jeans, but I hated both when I was growing up. Now, I did like Fleetwood Mac and the Farrah hairstyle on the girls, so that was a plus.

A few pointers: 1. Find local courses and ask them what they charge/how they organize tournaments 2. Check with an accountant about how money can be raised/prizes given (each state is different) 3. Estimate total costs to hold tourney 4. Find sponsers that will donate prizes/sponser teams 5. Offer different levels of sponsership 6. Find free publicity (radio, public TV, local golf shops, local golf courses, email lists) 7. Find volunteers to work the tourney 8. Develop rules for scramble 9. If you can, find local celebs to participate My observations on scrambles: 1. The bigger the sponsers, the better the prizes 2. The better the prizes, the more people show up 3. Share the good prizes equally among drawings (raffle) and earned (e.g., closest to the hole) 4. Profusely thank your sponsers

Not much. I may be wrong, but the image that comes across on TV is that of a privileged frat boy. And I know several players do this now, but what the heck is up with not shaving before a around? It looks so dang lazy to see a 2-day shadow of fuzz on their faces. This is OK for weekend play at the local muni course, but anything more serious than that, please...look presentable. Overton is one of the worst offenders.

Wedges? Just open the face on your 7i and away you go.

Preceding this photo: from Tiger - "Rory, if there's one thing in life I've learned, its that you've got to keep your woman happy"

Congratulations! That will be a big motivator for months to come.

I played the Prince Course in Princeville, HI two weeks ago and that was definitely target golf IMO. There were several holes where every shot had to hit a certain location or it was lost. Needless to say, course mmgt consisted of "only hit a shot that you KNOW you can make."

Yeah, good point. I was going to post the same example in response to this comment: Is there anything in the rules that prohibit the pros from hitting a second ball off the tee instead of taking a drop in the Drop Zone which takes most of the water out of play? If so, I don't see any of them doing it.

I almost left out the best part. While we practicing at the range, Natalie Gulbis (one of Butch's students) was practicing on the far end of the range. She walked over and chatted with us for a few minutes. She was very nice and very nice-looking, even moreso in person. In fact, I think if she spent half the time she did prepping herself for the day on hitting balls, she would be the world's No. 1 by now. I mean, her hair, her clothes, her makeup, were all perfectly arranged. Scary.

This is so true.

So, you want the club pro to shield you from personal responsibility? That's impressive. BTW, his first loyalty is to his employer, not to any single member.

I went to the 3-day Butch Harmon school a few years ago. Now, you're thinking "three days? that is really intense!" Of those three days, though, you actually only receive about 5-6 hours of actual golf lessons, of which a total of about 45 minutes are taught by Butch himself, the remainder by his staff. You do get a group lunch with Butch and you play two rounds of golf at really nice courses - Rio Secco and Cascata - both of which are supposed to be "instruction rounds" although I received very little instruction (it was more of a chance to pal around with Butch's staff, who are great guys, BTW). They do give some good tips on course mmgt though. You are treated very well and the staff is very knowledgeable, professional, and friendly. You get some great video analysis, which I found to be the single best thing I received. Overall, I would say Butch's school is a very nice vacation treat, sort of like a retirement/anniversary/graduation gift. You will get some quality instruction, but it is really limited. It is a neat experience and should be viewed as such. However, if you are looking for some serious golf instruction to bring your game to the next level, save your money and find someone within driving distance to give you one-on-one lessons for several weeks/months.

Wow, I can't believe these responses. Funny? What is funny about the course having to stop play while some kid (or the asst pro) has to scoop human feces out of a hole and wash a cup because of the utter vulgarity of another person? Now, what would have been funny is to see an entire can of pepper spray dumped into the face of the offender. I would have laughed at that.

I know this seems like a minor issue, but one of the biggest problems I have is initiating my backswing. I have made significant changes to my swing in the past year, which, when properly executed, result in a textbook shot. This is the first time in my golfing life that I actually know how to do this. But I still get really nervous when I set up because I have fifteen years of bad golf in the back of my mind. Consequently, I am trying to develop some simple steps that I can go through during my swing to make it more consistent and repeatable. The most important is how to start the backswing. I see some of the pros start theirs with what appears to be an almost imperceptible shift of weight to their back foot, even before they start their shoulder turn. Is this right? Have any of you noticed this too? How do you start your backswing?

The local DA is on our golf league and warned everyone in our season kickoff meeting that if they hit someone on the course, intentional or not, they could be subject to criminal prosecution. That has always been my understanding of the law, that if you cause any injury without cause, however so slight, you can potentially be charged with assault. Whether or not a jury convicts is a different story.

He ties for 12th.

Say no more, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

I thought the Pro V1 was supposed to spin more than the Pro V1X, thus why the Pro V1X is recommended for players who already can spin the ball a lot.

They have no chance. Some of the tour pros don't even qualify.