AzGolfGeek

One never truely knows unless they try. An engineer at Ping just qualified for the tournament in Vegas. He was just another "scratch" golfer in the area, never even winning a club championship or anything. He also is the guy that designed the new Ping Anser Irons.

I read through the other posts and did not see the answer, just a bunch of chat about odds and number of players. The answer to your question is, YES, you can qualify for the Nationwide tour, the same as qualifing for the PGA Tour. There are 2 methods for ordinary people (non-celeb), 1st is going through the Q-school process, this is a very long and expensive process. But the results from the Q-school dictate who has exempt status on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tours. The "status" is what is used to determine what tournaments you can get into. The "Status", also dictates where you start within the Q-school process, the process is just a series of tournaments, where the top so many advance to the next tournament within the pocess. Someone with "NO-STATUS", would have to start with the Pre-Qualifing tournament, I believe the top 40 then advanced to Stage I. The 2nd method is a little less expensive, this would be going the monday qualifier, again if or have "NO STATUS", you might have to play in a pre-qualifier to get into the Monday qualifier. From what I have seen here in AZ, for both the Waste Management tournament, and Justin Timberlake's tournament, the Pre-qualifier is on the Thursday before, about 40-50 then advance to the Monday qualifier, where the top 4 advance. The entry fees are $200 to enter the Pre-qualifier, and an additional $200 if you advance. This process was the same a few years back when a Nationwide event was held in Scottsdale. On the entry forms, the only time a hdcp is needed is if your declaring Amateur, If you declare Pro, there is no hdcp question. However I think they do monitor the results so you wouldn't be able to get into too many pre-qualifiers when firing 90's. I've seen plenty of 80's shot. The top 40-50 in the pre-qualifiers are usually EVEN to -1, out of 99 players, the Monday qualifiers usually takes a 66, 67, or 68 to get the top 4.

After listening to the interviews this morning, and listening to the guys on PGA Tour radio, I think Jim Gray needs to go away. It seems he trys to make every story into something about him, its him against someone else; ie: Pete Rose....Corey Pavin...... Gray sticking his hand in the face of Pavin's wife is completely inexcusable. It should have all been handled in private, but instead Gray brought a hand full of reporters into the room with him.

Those 4 putts will kill ya................

#1 and #2 are complete, 3 holes in one, and many rounds in the 60's. #3, I've played all over Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota in the midwest, and all over the west coast. But have no interest playing outside the U.S. My #4 is a quest to play in the US Open. That quest starts next Monday at local qualifing in Tucson.

It all depends on the course management. Some courses extend the invite to any pro to come play their course and to practice, some don't. There's no rule or anything, its just a courtasy.

I don't know if training would help. Responsible players will alway fix their own plus a few others. There's some people that just don't give a rats a$$ about the course or how their actions effect someone else. You got to just take it all with a grain of salt and not let it upset a beautiful day on the golf course.

I put a 54 and a 60 in the bag about weeks ago. Not much change in spin from the fairway, maybe a bit more because my old ones were about worn out. I've only been in the rough twice using the 54, and got a flyer both times.

I have found that various tours and organizations are implementing the rule at their discretion. Example, Golden State Tour is not enforcing the groove rule til next year, Pepsi Tour is this year. U.S Open Qualifying is not enforcing during local qualifying, but is for sectional qualifying. When in doubt, find out from the tournament coordinator or operator. For myself, I was in need of a new set of clubs, the Ping Eye2's that I was playing were vintage 1994, and Vokey wedges that were worn out. (face wasn't flat anymore).......I switched to a set of i15's and new Vokey C-C wedges (54 & 60). I have no spin difference from the fairway (maybe a bit more), but from the rough, you definitely have to adjust for the occasional flyer, and the extra roll.

I just switched from a set of Eye2's, to a set if i15's. No difference in feel, big difference in weight and club size. I believe the G series will all be the same size, weight may very with the newer clubs getting lighter.

It all depends who is around me. If there are a couple of loud mouths that I can't block out, I will go to the music. Doesn't happen too much but does seem to allow me to focus better.

I would agree with goblue, a vise really isn't necessary and if mis-used, could potentially damage the club. I would also recommend to leave a half inch of tape on the end, then fold it into the end of the shaft. This helps prevent the grip from splitting of the edge of the shaft is a little sharp.

I use a score sheet from GStat Pro for myself. I keep track of fairways, greens, putts and make notes on most shots. I breakdown drives to 5 directions and how the ball got there. (left rough, left fairway, center fairway, right fairway, & right rough) (Hook, draw, straight, push, fade, & slice). I do the same for the approach shot, dividing the green into either 4 or 6 quadrants, and recording how far from the pin the approach shot was. I then can go over the data and find trends and use history to help determine practice. I have also started using the data to help determine how I play certain holes, and include some of the notes in my yardage books for certain courses. It seems that I probably go overboard on keeping data, but I have found it has helped me a lot. When in tournaments or league play, I also keep the regular score card. But if its just a practice round by myself or people I don't know, I only keep my stats. I'm usually pretty aware of how many under/over I'm at though.

Lots and lots of water on the front, 1 gatorade with a hot dog on the turn, then lots and lots of water on the back. But then again, I'm in Phoenix and play when the temp hits 110, and I rarely ever use a cart.

While were at it, maybe a 2 stroke penalty for not repairing balls marks should be considered.....................oh yeah, and 2 more stokes for not replacing divots.

I tried signing up to demo the free Iphone version with the plan of purchasing. However their website has a clitch in accepting various email address. I reported the issue to their tech support and got a response back that I was SOL and would need a different email. If they can't fix a simple email issue with their website, how can I expect them to fix problems with their software.

The Hooters Tour is a great place to gauge your game. In order to truely understand their averages, you would need to put yourself into the situation of really playing. Looking at their website, there might be a semi-inexpensive way to determine this. The tour does have monday qualifiers, depending on the number of spots allocated, you might have to shoot in the 60's to just get into the tournament. The Frys.com pga event had a pre-qualifier, top 50 played into the monday qualifier. 75's or better. On Monday, only the top 4 would make it to the tour event, top score was a 66, and there was playoff with 68's. I'd say got for it, you'll never know unless you try.

Grayhawk will probably be in the best condition of any valley courses being that it will host the Frys.com Open 10/22-10/25. As others have stated, most courses are overseeding for winter. AZGOLF.org has a good listing of the overseeding schedules. Brian

I voted 4. Ping eye 2+ PW-48, Vokey GW-52, Vokey SW-56, Vokey LW-60. Sometime I will carry only 3, replacing the 52 & 56 with a 55. This depends on the couse and the club history I have had playing that course. This also means that either the 3 iron or 5 wood comes out, and sometimes a 4 wood goes in. It all depends on the course I'm playing. BrianB

I voted for Otter Creek. Countryside sounds like...well boring, no trees......Blank, can't get much more boring. Grandview, I know of 3 Grandview's, all short track (6200yds) courses built on flat pieces of land. Waveland, sounds too high tech. Otter Creek sounds like a golf course. Well, who am I to judge, I didn't go to the links to check them out. Hittem long and straight, and have fun wherever you decide to play. BrianB (plays at a course called...the 500 Club)

This is what I've in yardage books that I either modified or created. I have an outline of the green, possible indicating where bunkers are, and divide it into 4 sections. my fairway yardage is to the center, green distances are from center to edges in feet. I will also indiacte any large slopes or run-off areas. I will also make some note where not to hit the ball, or where I can use a slope for position. Most of the books I have, I have also walked off alot of the distances, so I know the fairway distance to the front and back, as well as the center. I have a shoe box full of yardage books, its labled as my box of manual GPS crap. I really need to get a sky caddie. Brian Brown

My set of Ping Eye2's from 1996 have each iron marked. I believe they have marked them since their inception. I've played with a former engineer from ping, I'll ask him the question next time I see him at the course.

I use the range 3 different ways. 1st is to work on problem issues, like drives going right, or swing issues. This would also include swing changes. 2nd way is to build confidance. In doing this, I may not hit more than 6 balls with the same club, and move from a wedge to an 8 iron, to a 5 iron to a driver. Basically really concentrating on my swing and hitting the shots like I have visioned. The 3rd way, is a combination of the 1st two, however this would only occur 1st a week if I go to the range 3 time. (usually every other day). Each time I go to the range I have a specific routine, for the type of practice I am doing. Weekends I either play competitive or practice, could be 9 holes or 18 depending on schedules. Practice might involve working on something specific or something specific to the course. In either types of play, I keep stats (Gstat Pro) and then come with what I need to work on.

The golf gods are always more receptive to those in need when they spend extra time on the range and practice green. Go to the range, hit 30-40 balls with your favorite club, don't so much worrie about where the ball is going, visulize your swing, work on your feel. Gain your confidance back, then go to regions a rip off a great round. BrianB AzGolfGeek

I would have to ask, based on what criteria. Best courses, most players, most rounds played........ I've lived in Nocal and Socal, I would say California could be considered as two different planets for golf. Socal is so much better, Nocal may not get into the top 25. In fact, Minnesoootaaa (I'm from da Iron Range) should definitely be in the top 10. Great Courses, and more importantly, great people at those courses. 1. Florida 2. Arizona 3. Socal 4. Texas 5. Michigan 6. Minnesota