1par2win

This and the exposure McDowell, McIlroy, and Clarke has brought lately will do more for promoting golf tourism in Ireland than the Solheim Cup in my opinion. Gotta say the emerald isle is sure on one heck of a roll lately.

A flawed approach? In my opinion absolutely not. Controlling the flight to achieve predictable distances is EXACTLY the right way. You watch the pros in their approaches and more often than not they are flighting the ball lower than what a lot of mid-cappers attempt. That, my friend, is the difference between playing a golf shot and playing golf swing. Kudos to your approach! (no pun intended)

I personally don't mind if someone is looking down the line at my putt as long as they are not too close but I would never do that to someone else. Besides, I get a better look at my putt when observing the pace of a putt by standing off to the side about halfway between the player and the hole and watching for anything "goofy" around the hole. It irritates me a heck of a lot more when someone jumps in my line to watch the break and I can't see the break as my ball passes the hole. But that's pretty rare and I have other issues I should be more concerned about than that!

Was he on the putting surface when he made his putt?

This^^. I understand the time limitations and the logistical problem but I have always felt that if teaching pros could package a simple easily understood lesson plan with a 9 hole on-course eval I think people would be more inclined to take lessons. I can't tell you how many times I have heard someone say "I play pretty well but something falls apart during the round and I wish I knew what was happening.." To all instructors, I hear this or a variation of this ALL THE TIME ! For the poll I selected "not wanting to tear apart my swing". I do take a lesson every so often but it's always when I lose my feel in some aspect of the short game and and my local pro will usually have it straightened out in about 15 min (almost always a weight/shift/alingment issue). I am to the point where I am not interested in tearing apart my swing but when a S&T; instructor becomes available in the Twin Cities I will seriously consider seeing him/her. And that's primarily due to the fact that S&T; can be incorporated bit by bit and the drills seem to be understandable but there are aspects of S&T; that I really need someone qualified to explain (how the ^%$# do I bring my hands inside sooooo much and actually hit the ball?!?!)

In my experience this is a true statement. I have seen genuine 20 cappers that know the rules pretty well but I have never encountered a sub 10 that didn't. Shorty's original reply may have been a bit on the sharp side but I can't say he was wrong. That said it must have been a pretty cool shot to see. You just never know what your going to see when you step on the first tee.

This might be a stupid idea but what about a dent puller? I do not know if there is a difference between pulling a dent from a car body and one from a driver head. Never tried that before an hopefully will never have too! http://www.shopwiki.com/dent-puller

A white marker? You mean you use a marker that can be easily seen by yourself and other players so they are not constantly scanning the green looking for your mark as they walk up to the hole? You sir, are a madman. I was playing in a tournament yesterday and two of the guys I was playing with used either a brown or (not kidding about this) green marker. Nice guys and very good players but I'll bet between the 4 of us someone stepped on one of their lines at least 10 times during the round. They never got upset or anything but it one of those things that you did and felt bad about but you just couldn't see their &^%$ ball marks!

I know this post was ripped pretty good but I'll agree with the "Bring back the caddies!" comment. I wish public courses would allow it. I would pay the cart fee to the course and not take a cart in order to be able to have my son or a friend caddy. Seems like a win-win but whenever I bring this up to a club mgr or owner I get a blank stare followed by "we don't allow caddies." I just don't get it.

I'm not so sure about this statement either. Seems to me that most of the gals on the LPGA Tour swing slower than 105 mph yet many of use ProV or ProV1x. To me the 2 most important characteristics of a ball is 1) how it feels coming off the putter and 2) how it spins on short iron/wedge shots. The distance I get from the ProV's off the driver/3 wood is what it is and it's enough for me. Frankly I can't tell much of a difference in feel between balls (even at different price points) coming off woods/hybrids/mid irons. But anything inside 140....ohhh baby! Nothing feels as sweet as hitting a low spinning shot to a back left pin! And with all respect to Top Flite there is no way I'm going to hit that shot with a TF. I agree with your take on the NXT. I play them in early and late in the season when the course conditions wane a bit. To the OP, one bit of advice I would second is as a relatively new player you will more than likely going to lose quite a few balls before your hitting them a bit straighter. Because of the the cost of ProV's may be a bit much. But with that said and if you can afford it by all means play ProV's. IMO it's in the short game where the differences in golf balls really become apparent. The one thing I have always told newer players when the ask which ball is "best" is to take some time on the putting green with several and get to know the feel and determine which one you like best. Don't worry about which ball is longest off the tee. You will get your distance from solid contact and when you achieve that than all golf balls will be long. There is a world of difference but it's in the short game, not so much off the driver IMO.

I apologize to you and your daughter. It was meant as a joke and I would have not made the insensitive remark if I felt offense was taken. My 7 year old son has Asperger syndrome which is a form of autism so I am not indifferent to the needs of raising a special needs child And it may or may not be any any interest to you I participate in a Special Olympics fund raiser at the University of Minnesota each year because I believe in what the stand for. But speaking as a father if I didn't laugh at the lighter side I would go crazy. You just cant assume jokes like that are directed to you personally. Again, no offense was intended and I do apologize.

Alright, suit yourself. This reminds me of a joke. Q: What does an internet pissing match and a gold medal in the Special Olympics have in common? A: They are nice to win but in the end your still retarded. Moving on now....

I've used a ProV1 (now ProV1x) pretty much exclusively for 4 seasons. I doubt it has affected my scoring much but I got into that ball because I love the feel with the putter and that remains the primary reason I continue to play that ball. As my wedge game improved I came to appreciate the feel and the spin off the wedges but off the irons or woods I cant feel much of a difference between one ball or another. I have tried different brands at different price points and always have gone back to a ProV. I do use NXT's early and late in the season when course conditions become less groomed but for me it's really just a comfort level playing the same ball.

Pity the fool that dares "helps" a fellow player with a club laying on the ground. You still didn't answer my question when said fool picks up your club. How do you avoid the enviable awkward moment when they think they are helping and you tell them not to pick up your club? In all the years I have been playing I have never run across this situation so I'm curious how that works. And I promise to read all your words!

Really? Just out of curiousity, how do you handle the situation when your playing with someone that doesn't know your rule and they have the audacity to pick up your wedge when your putting out?

LOL! Yea, it needed to be said.

Hahahaha!!! I'm sorry that ALL THAT happened to you but you wrote it out so well! I have no idea how to get a sour milk smell out of a bag but keep rolling with the punches, my brother! It happens to all of us at sometime.

And to make one while shooting an excellent round! Well played!

Not that it matters much but it was Curt Schilling with the bloody sock, not Roger Clemens. Haven't seen any TV coverage yet. Is the course playing that tough today? Seems like some really wild scoring fluctuations. Bubba Watson shooting a 42 on the front 9?!?

Every time TM has a new product roll-out somewhere a cute little puppy cries. I hope you TM supporters know this. I know TM makes high quality equipment but their style is so far away (and getting further upon each product release) from my taste it may as well been made for Lady Ga-Ga. But that's why there are many choices in the market and thank God for that.

Make that 3 people without a facebook page. The wife does and it frankly it creeps me out a little with facial recognition technology and who-knows-what-else they are trying to pry open in your life. Anyway back to the topic. Yea, I know I would be interested in taking a look at what you had in the way of Titleist or Mizuno irons. Thinking of picking up a set of 710CB's in the offseason soo....

Same thing happened to me a couple of seasons ago. A guy hit directly into our group because he thought we were playing the wrong course. My home course has 3 9's and I have seen people that are unfamiliar with the layout tee up on the wrong hole. When I have seen that I just let them know in a courteous manner as it seems to me the best way of handing it. Never had anyone bark back and they always seemed appreciative. I guess firing solid objects at over 100 mph at people is a much better way of handling it. Funny thing I live in MN and the OP mentioned this occurred in MN. I think I will PM him to find out what course all this nonsense occurred.

I think we all have hit that wall. The obvious reply to your situation is taking time off from the game. And when I say taking time off I mean no reading, watching, playing, practicing, or anything golf related for 2 straight weeks. Just get away from it. When the itch returns, start watching some golf on TV. Then pick up a particularly interesting book about the game and then a quick session at the range before a round and voila, a new player is born. But take your time, people need time and space to decompress and put things back into perspective. IMO, burnout is at it's core is a loss of perspective, What happens to me is I start thinking in circles and over analyzing everything. Like you said, the first sign is when you stop having any fun with the game. I just took back up fishing this year. When my game is starting to get to me I take a week off and fish. When I return I feel much better and my enthusiasm returns. This has worked so well for me that next year I plan of taking pre-arranged time off from golf as part of a plan to remain fresh. Especially this time of year which in Minnesota means the start of tournament season. Got tournaments every week-end for the next 6 weeks. It's going to be a grind but I feel mentally ready even of my ball striking isn't!

Ouch! That had to hurt! It's for this reason why I always kick in for skins play. And the only time I ever play the lottery is when my coworkers go in on the pot. Infinitesimal as the chances may be the thought of watching my co-workers walk out the door after winning would be too much to bear. I consider it as a kind of insurance. Back on topic. Most disappointing moments for me is when I know at address something isn't right and I go ahead with the shot anyway. Of course it turns out to be a lousy shot and I berate myself for not backing off when I knew something was wrong. Getting worked up now just thinking about it.

I was appraoching the idea with sarcasm in mind. $150 for what?!?!