dayll

Mr. Wahoo - you're joking - right? Ha - that's funny stuff. Are you a a three course meal guy too between the front and the back nines? Slow play isn't the end of the world but it isn't something to celebrate either. I'm 65 years old - I've seen all the freaking scenery I need to see in my life - I wanna play golf!!! Move it!!! dayll

iacas: Something like this can be effective - "You probably are a good guy but for some reason today you're acting rude and confrontational." Statements given like the above give you the high ground if given in a low and composed non-confrontational tone, especially in front of his peers. While he may still be acting out, believe me, the next day, even through his hangover, he'll remember your reprimand and think twice about being an A-*&%$ next time. I've clashed hard with some folks on the course in the past and it always ruined my round but since employing this non-confrontational method I've not gotten flustered, flummoxed, or flattened. dayll

iacas: Don't waste your breath or time. Too many ignorant idiots will respond to your suggestions with who knows what. They're the same fools that engage in road rage and the like. dayll.

CG031: Listen - us old guys can be unreasonably bitter at times; we detest you young guys because you haven't been broken on Life's rack yet. Give us a break - most of us are whipped dogs at home. (the older you get the more She runs things.) Our last refuge is the golf course. If we seem a bit overbearing try and understand this, difficult as it may be, down the road a few decades - you is us!!! (And believe you me kid those decades go by like bullets!) so lighten up and try and apply a little understanding. Being older doesn't automatically make us smarter - it just makes us older. d

I'm with Pennsacola Wahoo here - while the old guy was out of line I'm never comfortable with young guys getting in the face of older guys. I was raised to ALWAYS give way and respect to age - maybe I was raised wrong but I think you failed to handle the situation with grace. d.

Cell phone fanatic man shot 82, Rapture driver, older Ping irons, huge ostentatious Ping bag, and the biggest three-ball putter I ever saw. He was a short hitter but almost always on the short grass and he hit some very impressive chips, even holing one out. (Phone open on the grass beside him.) Actually, after a few holes, it was more funny then aggravating. d

Played a round today with a guy who literally never put his cell phone down except to hit. - He had two phones - one would ring while he sat in his cart talking on the other. Four and a half hours and never a let up! He played good and we only had to tell him he was up one time but it was weird - he said he was doing, "Wall Street stuff". Several times while he was up hitting one of his phones would start chiming. Later, while I was loading my clubs in my trunk he went by in a new Lexus talking on the phone a word a second! He saw me looking at him as he drove by and pointed at his phone and shook his head and laughed. One of the strangest games of golf I've ever played. d.

Today - Tuesday at a local muni, tee off at 10:30 AM and finished at 4 PM! Long waits on every tee except 17 & 18. Lots of husbands and wives - watched several of the fairer sex negotiate the fairways with three practice swings, hit the ball a hundred feet, move up, three more practice swings, another 100 feet etc. etc etc. And the women always waiting for the men before they hit - out of deference for some far east custom I'm told. 210 yard par three, long wait finally group in front hits - men first. Then the ladies - none of which hit the ball more than a quarter of the way to the green. Then the practice swing regimen begins, advice is offered as the foursome slowly negotiates its way to the green almost as a single unit. WTF? Do you think they want to play 5.5 hr rounds? Frankly, I wouldn't dream of subjecting my fellow golfers to my super-high handicap wife. She plays once a month or less at a par 3. These long rounds and the incessant waiting - so unnecessary. ahhhhhh!!!!! dayll

I won't even play in a tournament - golf is tough enough without adding the aggravation of cheaters. We play small eight and twelve man mini-tournaments where we all know one another - get caught cheating with us and there would be nothing funny about it. A few years ago my buddy and I played with two guys at Singing Hills and they convinced us to play "their" game. You had a choice of hitting the golf ball or THROWING it. It was different, ridiculous, and fun! We lost and had to buy breakfast. One guy was uncanny how freakin' close to the hole he could fire the ball! You had to hit out of bunkers though. dayll

Thanks for the advice people. After some practice and a round I am now feeling fairly confident with these clubs out of the rough. Extra club, Ball back, slightly open clubface, grip very tightly with both hands and employ a V-shaped swing down steeply into ball. Yesterday I managed a high 140 yard shot out of deep rough that was just past and left of green! That is a vast improvement over last week's pathetic attempts. I was too shallow and not aggressive enough last week. I'm actually looking forward to more rough - well - kinda. thanks - dayll

I recently converted to a full set of "iron-woods" and like them mucho but I cannot get the handle on hitting the things out of medium rough. The clubs (Thomas') have long & wide soles and if I hit down at the ball I merely hit short weak pop-ups. If I attempt to come horizontally at the ball the results are also less than stellar. Any ideas? dayll

I'm an inveterate puller and I have found something to control it. Address the ball with the clubhead several inches behind ball. It has worked for several rounds now. I think it delays my hands at the top and lets my hips lead the downswing. (caution: I also thought Bush was going to be a great president.)

I pushed a drive into the rough between fairways and heading to the ball and saw a guy bend over and pick up a ball and keep right on walking.Never found my ball and a few minutes later I walked out onto his green where he and 3 others were putting and suggested he had picked up my ball. He denied it and since I knew what pocket he put it in I asked him politely to empty a particular pocket. He refused then complied. Got my ball back, shamed the idiot! dayll

Preaching to the choir here. There are many out there that desire five plus hour rounds. For them it's a day-long picnic/social event to be celebrated with incessant ball markings and other time consuming nonsense. Double bogie max on busy courses should be a rule printed on the muni scorecards in red! and right under that - "If you cannot play this course in four or less hours please do not play here." keep dreaming! dayll

I cannot hit a ball without my hips spinning around. I've been battling it for two decades. I hit the ball with very good power but my consistency, especially with mid and long irons, hybrids, is pathetic! My misses are dead pulls or low, shank-like pushes. For whatever reason this spinning out seems not to affect my driving the ball at all. I've tried lots of things but it seems my natural move is that hard left hip spin that drags my left foot around too. anyone else got this spinning disease and found some sort of cure or even bandage? thanks - dayll

What a coincidence - I just picked up Fearless Golf by Valenti the day before yesterday. You guys are right no doubt about playing strictly by the rules but I'm kinda fragile regarding reality - I'm trying to work my way towards real golf by disallowing really bad holes scorewise. My goal in golf is to get better of course but my immediate goal is to within a year or so to begin to play real golf. I never proclaimed myself as a 14 handicap - I'm unrealistic yes - but not stupid. Also I have no plans to play in any tournaments and I usually play with guys much better than myself and we never play for money. I'm just trying to get better as quick as I can and have fun doing it. Thanks for the constructive imput. -dayll

I'm going to get sorched for this but what the hell - I play as a single two, sometimes three times a week. I'm relatively new to the game and know how important it is to a lot of you to play "real" golf - "Play it as it lies" and etc. but I find that I enjoy playing much more if I take some liberties with the sacred rules. Here's what I've been doing (God help me!) - I give myself one "blow-up" hole on the front and one on the back! It takes the pressure off me. If I take a triple or worse on a hole I can erase it and give myself a bogie on that hole. If I get through nine without needing my crutch I got two coming if I need them on the back! Pretty weak - huh? But since I started doing this I'm playing much better. I'm way more relaxed. In fact today I was only three over going to number eight. I butchered it! Even missed a three foot putt for a seven! But you know what - it didn't bother me a whit! I carded a bogie and went to the ninth tee with no frustration, anger, or shame. I finished the round without having to claim my back nine safety valve. I enjoyed today - sure it wasn't "pure" golf - but I didn't utter a single negative word the entire round - not even on number eight. - dayll

Thanks people for the imput - I took TP golf's advice and used a almost bounceless old 845 60 degree wedge yesterday and presto - got out high and soft! Out of a dirt-like bunker no less! duh? hey I never said I was smart. Here's what worked - the above wedge, weight biased to left, quiet lower body, slow takeaway with slightly open face, firm left arm, hit sand/dirt well behind ball and finished high. Today I can't wait to get bunkerized! thanks. -dayll

iacas: Sorry about the contradiction. It seems or feels that I hit the sand/dirt first and then bounce into the ball. If I bias my weight to the left side and hit down I get under the ball but hit low shots that run across the green. Probably I have screwed up things by now being way too wristy on all shots. I'm going to spend all the time I need today practicing in a bunker. It's no fun playing a round and fearing the sand. I shot 84 yesterday and was lucky enough to avoid any bunker although I was very nervous hitting two shots over huge bunkers to tight pins - I hit both shots clear to the other side of the green to be safe. Is it okay to designate a playing partner to extricate your ball from the sand for you?(I've done that recently and had the nerve to record a sand save on my card! That was good for a few laughs.) thanks again for the advice. -dayll

Mr. Can and Iacas: I keep contacting the ball first. Where I play the sand is - half dirt and half sand. I seem to keep bouncing my SW into the ball. Frankly - I have lost confidence in the sand and cannot recall somethings. Should one open the clubface and then regrip or do you take your grip and just lay open the clubface? Also - is it advisable to maintain the open clubface past impact? I wrote down you guys' advice on a 3x5 card and will practice from it. thanks - dayll

A couple of years ago a severe back injury stopped me from playing but after I semi-healed I rushed back into playing way too soon. I "invented" a swing that keeps my lower back and legs out of it. I use a violent release of the wrists down with irons and through with driver/FW woods. I am doing okay - lots of power but a bit inconsistent but I'm back playing and enjoying it. BUT - I cannot get out of a bunker now! My old "real" golf swing is gone and this back saving pseudo swing is so ingrained in my pea brain now that I cannot swing without firing my wrists. You can imagine the horror in the sand! I'm gonna spend an hour in the practice bunker before I play today - I hope I don't hurt anyone. Any ideas? -Dayll

My foursome never plays for money. We have for years gotten by just by our love of the game and friendship but - and this is hard to admit - I have on more than a couple of occasions cheated just to improve my score. We make a big deal about shooting in the 70's and a lie improved here and there can make the difference between a 79 and an 80. No one ever questions anyone and if one guy shoots 76 and another 77 we are so polite to one another it will not be brought up that we all saw the guy that shot 76 fluff-up a lie on eightteen. Instead we pat him on the back and tell him, "nice game." probably we are pretty pathetic - but it somehow seems to work for the four of us. (e.g. yesterday, on a reachable par 5 I pulled my long iron second shot way left of the green and it ran over a hill and when I came up to the ball I saw it was sitting on a severe side hill lie. The hill hid me from the other guys and I bumped the ball down into the flat and proceed to make a par after blowing a "birdie" putt. Funny part was the guys "gave" me the three foot come-backer for par. Of course I took it and ended with a 81. I'm pathetic and admit it. -d

I was dumb enough to fork out some dough for a custom driver - ultra thin face 460 "illegal" titanium driver. I hit my old TM 540 XD 20-30 yds farther than the Illegal club. The noise it makes is so shrill that it hurts! I have let others on the driving range hit it - no one likes its performance and everyone detests the impact noise. I have tried several shafts to zero improvement although the noise is always there. When the range is empty I pull it out and try and cave the face in by swinging as hard as I can and force myself to listen to the painful noise to punish myself for being dumb enough to buy this POS. -d