billm408

If I'm working on my game, I'll play "up & down" but always on the putting green and usually when it's not crowded. Typically, the putting green at the pitching/bunker area sucks anyway so putting out there doesn't serve any purpose. YMMV.

I used to play PG all the time... the poor man's PB. A good friend of mine used to be a caddy at Cypress and lived right near PG so we'd play there often. Then kinda moved over to Salinas Fairways after a while. Great bargain for only $30 on a weekend! Let me know if anyone wants a Sandtrap outing.... I'm in!

Statisically, you'll take about 80% of your shots within 120 yards of the hole. You'll hit your driver 14 times max. The person with the best short game wins every time IME.

Tim- IMHO, I'm not convinced that you need fitted clubs at 6'1", but would recommend finding a local teaching pro to help with your set up. 1. Your grip seems too strong and you're laying the club off at the top. 2. Your address position is too hunched over. Push you butt out and bend forward at the hips. Use your video and compare it to a pic from any golf mag, but I'd start with your set-up. Good luck.

I agree in some circumstances, but not 10 feet or more as the OP indicated. You're more likely to back it up off the green in that situation. Particularly with 1/2, 3/4 and full wedges. The point I was trying to make is to control your distance before trying to control how much jizz you can put on a ball.

Good looking golf swing overall- nice extension, balance and rhythm. Critiques: 1. You seem to be reaching out at address instead of letting your arms hang more naturally- this can create tension in your arms and inconsistencies in your swing plane. 2. You do sway off the ball. Try turning around the right hip more. 3. You're casting the club from the top. Try to maintain a 90 angle between left arm and shaft until your hands are almost at your right hip.

A little quick, but looks pretty good. The first thing I noticed was that you're not maintaining the bend in your right knee- it tends to pull back and straighten. This forces you to adjust coming down and creates balance issues. Sometimes you're on your toes, others on your heals. Try to turn around the knee on your backswing. It will help maintain spine angle but also creates a huge amount of resistence which will generate more clubhead speed with less effort. Just my .02 anyway

An touring pro told me once that pros glance at the ball and stare at their target, amateurs glance at the target and stare at the ball. I always liked that. For me, pre-shot routine starts once I grab a stick, so I've already gauged distance, terrain, lie (if I'm not on the tee), wind, type of shot I need to hit, etc... 1. Stand behind the ball and make one loose practice swing while looking at my target. 2. Approach the ball and square the club to target line. 3. Square up my stance to the club. 4. Last look at target, see the shot I want to hit. 5. Visualize the best shot I've ever hit with this club. 6. Think target, pull the trigger. Takes me 20 seconds start to finish. Pretty much the same for putting. I fight against any swing thoughts and try to think only about my target.

Ever play Sawgrass or stand on the 17th tee? It's a fairly intimidating view. All you see from the tee box is the railroad ties and a sliver of the green. And especially where it comes in the round, it's a sphincter check with zero margin for error. I love that hole!

A lot of factors to consider; square vs. V grooves, lie, slope/angle of the green you're hitting to, etc...but from a purely swing aspect, backspin is affected by the angle of attack and acceleration through impact. The steeper the angle and more you're accelerating, the more spin you'll get. Other than the "coolness" factor (which I get), I never understood why you'd want to spin a ball back more than a foot or two. You're just making the ball move away from the hole.

There's no rule that says you have to play by the rules. In a casual round, I'd never call somebody on a rule violation... especially a stranger. In my regular group, our motto is "do whatever your conscience allows". Golf is a self policing game. In 20+ years, only once has someone cheated during a match and we made it clear that, he's welcome to play but he can't be in the bets anymore because we don't trust him.

Thanks Fat Slice- I'm in the South Bay and work down the street from Shoreline, so that's the usual afternoon or early am 9 option. I'm all over the place too- Cinnebar, the Ranch, Eagle Ridge, Salinas Fairways, Fort Ord, etc... I have no loyalties!

Use your hip rotation to square the clubface. Much bigger muscles and more reliable than trying to get your hands to square the club.

Hi all- new to the forum and looking forward to wasting valuable work hours with you! I used to play a lot of competetive golf and taught for almost 8 years, but now I'm just a weekend hack trying to get out more than once a month. I have an unconditional love for the game and it's traditions and am really glad to have found this place. Bill

Awesome! Wish I had the space... your wedge game is going to get real good!

+1. Let the club release your hands not the other way around. Trying to manufacture top hand roll can get away from you pretty quickly. If you swing the club using just your thumbs and index fingers for grip, you'll get a good feel for how the club works your hands. At the top, the club will set itself and it will square itself and release at the bottom too. It's a great drill.

Congrats on your breakthrough saltman! The one thing I know to be true about golf is that no matter where your game is today... this too shall pass. Have fun on the course tomorrow.

I'm a Corporate Recruiter for a software company in Silicon Valley (at least I am this week).