Par Fore

Another vote for Snell MTB Black....love them, stands up to any premium ball IMHO.

Haven't done it in a while, but last time I played 3-club.....3 iron, 7, and 52.....I shot 84, which is actually a pretty good round for me regardless....putted with the 3 iron.....it was fun......in a typical round with a full bag of 14, usually have 2 or 3 that are spotless/unused at the end of the round.

Used to do this when I had to sneak a small carry bag in the back of my soft top jeep wrangler, I'd play at least once a week after work - with one of those tiny carry bags, I could only fit like 8 clubs, and the longest was a 3 wood.....that, a putter, and then just skipped over every other iron through the rest of the set. You get creative and I always had a good time. Also had a lot of fun playing 3 club, did that a couple of times - 3 iron, which is your driver and putter, 7 iron, and 56.....or some variation of that......play a draw for more yardage when needed or a fade to cut off some yards, choke down or take half swings, all sorts of options. Do what makes you happy. I still prefer all 14, but it's a fun change of pace, and when I had the jeep, it was a necessity to fit them in the back and hide them to play right after work....and it worked just fine.

Been struggling with limited gains the last couple of years. Between my back and work, it's been less golf than I would have hoped.....frustrating, a struggle. Went to the range for a rare practice session a week or so ago, it was brutal.....a third of my shots were really bad....a third ok.....a third were solid. I had decided it was time to put up my Ben Hogan Ft Worth 15's and get some shovels......I had read the reviews and sold myself on the Mizuno JPX 900 Hot Metals, everyone seemed to like them. Additionally, I did a little rare reading, went back and read Freddy Couples "Total Shotmaking" - to hell with my draw, it was time for a fade. I literally looked at his setup, watched some Freddy youtube, and decided that I would set up with an open stance, swing along the target line, and hit 5 yard fades. Saturday, went to the range with two objectives: try the 900's versus my Ben Hogans, and also start hitting fades. It wasn't all that warm, and we had a 20 mph wind, not the best conditions but typical for this time of year. The Hot Metals are are a great looking club, although a bit big, and put it side by side with the Hogans. To my surprise, hitting 5 balls with each club and switching back, I consistently hit the Hogans much better, better ball flight, and with more control. And, with a 5 yard fade......unreal. So, the good news......no dropping a bunch of cash on new irons. I hit the forgiving irons worse than the players irons, dispersion was much greater and ball flight too high. Great range session, headed home to enjoy date night. Next day, noon.....get to the golf course in perfect time to hit a small bucket, pick up my 28 degree and start hitting 5 yard fades to warm up......hit about 20 balls, go hit about 20 pitches, and then putting green for about 20 putts. Getting close to my tee time with the regular foursome and some Wolf. Decided to just own it, stick with the game plan, and play fades all day - the distance loss was less than expected. I also took an extra club on each shot and was on or around the green often (see Erik's book/icacas, I was essentially running with the advice of Freddy and Eric all day). Threw ego out of the equation - even into the wind, stuck with that fade and played the percentages. Winter grass meant tight lies......I even putted twice from 30 yards off the green, playing the percentages. Tried to play smart on every shot, avoided sneaking back to my draw and also trying anything high risk......punched out a few times and took my medicine. On winter grass, on a windy day where the wind continued to blow and got colder/worse on the back 9, shot an 81.....and I am a poor wind player. Long story short, recommendations: Played a draw almost all of my life - just a few days with a fade, it was more consistent. An old friend of mine who was scratch used to always say, "you can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen". He was right. Books - Freddy's Total Shotmaking has some good info, but I would especially read Erik's/Iacas book......it talks simple concepts and playing the percentages. Ego - leave it at home.....true, my drives were 20 yards shorter on average with a fade, but I didn't have the couple of duck hooks that always show up, hit more fairways, more GIR, and generally hit the ball in the general direction intended. Hope this is a good read.......I went from buying new clubs, realized the problem was me, changed my strategy, and shot a legit 81 in strong winds....and I hate wind. Looking forward to 2018. Anything is possible

Respectfully disagree. Some days watching the PGA Tour, it seems like one of the players can walk between the raindrops. One player hits what appears to be the perfect tee shot, and it rolls just 4 inches off the fairway into the deepest rough in the course. His playing partner launches it 40 yards off the fairway into Marlboro Country and has a perfect lie in a trampled area, just 5 feet short of OB. Another event, one player literally hits it so bad it goes across a 20 yard waterway, hits the bank and bounces back across the water and into the center of the fairway.....his partners ball is barely leaked out to the right center of the fairway, just releases a little far and rolls right in. I see it all the time watching tour events - best players playing the best players, 5 yards from one another in the rough - one is sitting up like it's on a tee, the other so deep it's almost a lost ball, immediate examples of good and back luck.....the same that we all have in our weekend games. All these players at the highest level, luck is in every tournament. Pros hit trees and end up in the middle of the fairway....I believe some even have hole in ones that hit a tree. Same thing for me.......this weekend, I played in some decent wind and played really, really well.....but any shot that I hit in the rough nestled up close to a tree and I was punching out, it was uncanny. Some days, I play much worse but bad shots somehow magically work out. I think luck plays a role even at the highest levels, and if you look for it, it's there a lot more often than you might think.

Ron, I'm in DFW.....even in the winter, the weather usually supports golf at least 3 days a week, if not more......we played yesterday/Sunday, at 1pm it was 60 degrees, sunny, and beautiful.....a little windy but we had a blast., although it was a little chilly coming in the last few holes when the northern starting coming in....and we played for $20 with cart. I work 50-60 hours a week and can only play on Sundays.....and I almost always get to play at least twice a month in the winter. Stay strong.....when March gets here, you can play almost every day all the way through November.

Anything over a constant 30 mph is brutal.....prefer under 30 mph whenever possible.....have played in worse, but it's not fun when you have to hover your putter and hope the ball doesn't move in your backswing.

First 460 CC driver......Mizuno MP001.....went from a driver about half it's size. Felt like I was cheating the game.....but I was easily hitting it 20 yards futher than my other driver.......and it helped me catch up to the pack. Now it's just common place, but I remember fighting every step of the way at the time. Also, the massive pricetag was by far the most I had ever spent on a club.

Is the Red a competitor to the Vice Pro Plus - always liked the V1X and have been hoping Snell would come out with something that matches up, heard a lot of good feedback here. Curious to see reviews on these.

Aeroburner TP Mini Driver - 12 degree....I used one for a while, good club......great off the tee, excellent off the deck on a perfect lie for long par 5's. I think it is around 300 or so, basically a large, strong 3 wood, fun club.

POW

Looks in mirror. Sees truth in this statement. Realizes the truth stings a bit. FYI, speaking for myself, not for anyone else above and here......this makes sense. Played as a single today, was partnered up with a twosome....one of them played to scratch, or at least his skillset did. His miss off the tee was the wrong side of the fairway, or just a little short, or barely in the rough. I hit like 3 fairways the entire day (yes, rough day off the box). A missed approach shot for him left him with a 30-40 foot putt, my miss was anywhere from just off the green to 50 yards short. His par putts were almost all within 3 feet, most being tap-ins, my par and bogey putts were 3-10 feet. I hit in the drink 3 times, and twice on the same hole. He didn't have a single penalty shot. Unfortunately, lots of truth to what Erik says. It hit me today. Hurts a bit, but if you want to get better, recommend you take a good look.

Try to hit all 3, multiple times on different days.....just posted a recent thread, hit a crazy number of different clubs over the last few months, and the S55s, I, and Apex Pro were within that sample group. See which feels best, and use a monitor to see if the numbers support how they feel to you. My experience - couldn't hit the 55's with any real consistency, the I's were better, and 16 Apex Pros were amazing (look like a players club, but very easy to hit and in my top 3). All 3 are quality clubs, can't go wrong IMHO. Good luck.

Along with getting back into golf, working on getting back in shape. Right now about 20 pounds heavy, clothes barely fit, yada yada.... Today's workout, legs followed by accidental basketball. 4 sets of leg presses, 4 sets of calves, 3 sets of quads, and 3 sets of hams....was shooting around afterwards to loosen up before heading home, ended up playing 20 minutes of 2 on 2. Good sweat, good workout. 200 pounds today, goal is 180.

Yes, and you also always drive it 30 yards past me....but then again, we can't all be 6' 5"

This is a really, really good point here......early in the process, I hit the Titleist MB716's on a great ball striking day - it was like magic, I felt like Adam Scott. Two weeks later, on a less than stellar day, it was easy to see they were too much club - I only hit 5 of 10 shots well, and some of them were really bad.

Several months ago, made the decision to buy my first set of new irons in 12 years. Being typically a bit on the cheap side, this was a big purchase and taking the advice you'll hear on this forum often, wanted to get fit for the first time. Starting the process looking at clubs online and wanting something similar to my current set, went in favoring the Ping S55, Mizuno MP4, and Titleist 716mb. Beginning the testing in October, although I had favorites, tried to keep an open mind and hit EVERYTHING....from players irons to super game improvement. Being lucky, the outdoor range up the street has 80% of the current club offerings on the market to demo, and any others could be found at the pga superstore indoor. Easily ended up hitting 20 plus different heads, with a number of different shaft combinations - hats off to the guys at the range as they were incredibly patient and open minded to the whole process (Highlands Golf Center in Carrollton Tx). In the end, the top 3 weren't the ones that started out as the top picks. Couldn't hit the S55's regardless of shafts, never felt right, although I honestly wanted these to be the ones. The MP4 and Titlest 716Mb were amazing on best ball striking days, but on an off day, they proved to be too much club and punishing. Game improvement and super-improvement clubs were fun to hit - although they didn't fit the eye and dispersion wasn't very tight, it was a blast hitting a 6 iron right around 200 yards on a few occasions. After months and months, it came down to 3 - Callaway Apex Pro, Mizuno MP5, and Hogan Ft Worth 15's. Dispersion with each was good, could work the ball with each, all had a little bit of help when the strike was less than perfect, but they also gave good feedback on off-center hits to drive learning/improvement. Long story short, went with the Ben Hogan Fort Worth 15's in the Tour V stiff - they are assembled here locally, they're rep Jamie Pipes gave me a long, detailed fitting.....hitting different shafts, lofts, all carefully measured with a Trackman......he even had me hit their new HI irons, new cavity backs, and new hybrid they have coming out in April. Ordered the clubs at my local range - they came in within a week and the guys at the Highlands Golf Center really took care of me, and they even checked lofts/lies upon arrival. Will do a review on the irons after a few months to give some real insight. The only real negative - I am the most vanilla golfer ever - months later, I was fit as standard/standard/standard....... Takeaways: 1. Get fit - you'll hear it from everyone here, but take the time and get it done. 2. Be open minded on brand and type of club - hit everything. 3. Hit every shaft - the mizuno shaft optimizer helped start us in the right direction, but different shafts have almost, if not more impact, than different club heads...it's amazing. 4. Take your time - it's a big purchase, test clubs against one another and use today's technology. 5. Get fit - yep, doubly important - get a true fitting with a monitor and look closely at the numbers. 6. Read - I read review after review, watched review after review on you tube. Get as much info as you can and make an informed decision. Finally, thanks for the help on this site - read so many posts in this forum on several different clubs. Thanks for offering feedback and opinions that others can share and learn from.... Jason

Between my back and the rain, no practice since last week.....but felt well enough to play today, a local high school was having matches on the Lakes so I stepped up to the Creeks Course......had fun, hit several bad shots, and a few good....about a 1 club wind, cloudy but no rain, the rough was still wet as we've had tons of rain the last few days....enjoying using irons only, playing up on the front men's tees Tuesday, May 12th - tee off at usual 6pm, 10th tee was open, Creeks Course, 70.6/134, 6217 yards, played 10-5th hole Par for those 14 holes - 56......Score -66 ....10 over for 14 holes Fairways - 9 Greens - 3 Putts - 26 Birdies - 0 Pars - 5 Bogeys - 8 Other - 1 3 iron - 5.8, some really good drives the last few holes 5 iron - 6.5 7 iron - 7, overall fairly solid 9 iron - 9, strong shots in this range 52 - 5, a couple of poor shots really hurt here 60 - 7.5 hit some good chip shots around the greens Better overall round, better chips around the greens, most putts were a foot weak and missed on the amateur side.

At least you guys got to watch it, our local DFW NBC affiliate completed dropped the ball and ruined the coverage......granted, we had some bad weather and up until 3pm, it was understandable as they would flash to give updates on tornado warnings, etc.....but then, it all went south.....they spent like an hour and a half, until about 4:30 pm or later, focusing in on two country boys that hydro locked their lifted Chevy when they tried to cross a low water road that turned into a river.....they spent an hour and a half focusing on these two idiots and the coast guard rescue, or whomever they sent after them.....after watching about 15 minutes at the house, I just turned it off......everyone at the office was pissed, said they kept watching surely expecting someone to be smart enough to go back to the action.....an hour plus on these grown men standing on the back of their truck.....and apparently they were tweeting about their dumbness... NBC, you need to control your affiliates, there was no excuse not to have coverage in this market. I'm a big Sergio fan, but I was glad to see Rickie win......excuse me, didn't get to see him win, but heard about it.....nice work Rickie.

Thanks for the link.....no practice today, back is acting up, hoping to at least get in some short game tomorrow.

Haven't played much in a long time, figured it's time to see what a few hours can do, mixed with a little motivation. Came up with a 5 month practice routine that has reasonable time expectations that can work within a two infant, two income household. Had played to a 13, figure I'm more like a 20 handi or so right now, so will measure May as a baseline and September will be the payoff. Will develop long term goals later, just want to try 5 months and see how the old back holds together. Play time - will play weekly on Tuesday, can race to the course and tee off at 6pm, play until I can't see. Additionally, can do short game practice for 45 minutes on Thursday, and 90 minutes on Saturday and Sunday while the kiddos nap - 30 minutes chipping, 30 minutes putting, 30 minutes full swing. Hope to work in a full round each month with all the clubs. Sticks - I have a 2 door Wrangler, so am limited to what I can fit in the back - tiny carry bag with a 3, 5, 7 and 9 irons, as well as a PW, 52, 60, and putter. Course - Indian Creek Golf Course in Carrollton Tx is within a few minutes of the office, has two courses for variety, and a decent practice area. Using only irons, the front men's tees are at 6000 and 6200 yards respectively. Yardstick - during each round, I'll track the distance, club hit, 1-10 rating of the strike, fairways, greens, putts, and score. Figured this will not only track stats, but how well I contact clubs in each class....ie, long irons, mid irons, wedges, and putts. Hopefully I can track progress. Tuesday, May 5th - tee off at 6pm, from the jeep to he first tee, 2 club wind, dark clouds, but did not actually rain on the course until 8pm. Tee off on 10th hole, Lakes Course, 5954 yards, 68.9/121 - completed 15 holes, 10 through 6 Par for those 15 holes - 60......Score - 71....11 over for 15 holes Fairways - 8 Greens - 4 Putts - 26 Birdies - 2 Pars - 3 Bogeys - 7 Other - 3 3 iron - 4.7 average, overall poor, but most of the struggles were the first few holes - used from tee on most holes. 5 iron - 5.5 average, only a couple of shots 7 iron - 6 average - every shot was a 6, nothing special, just passable 9 iron - 8 average, a few strong shots 52 - 7.2 - all over the place, mostly solid, but a couple really bad shots 60 - 7, all over the place, a couple of bad chips were 1's Summary - windy round, hit the ball all over the place, but had a couple of birdies with a lucky chip and a solid putt off the green....enjoyed the round, rain came in right at 8pm. Rough early in the round, but played the last 6 holes in 1 over. For tracking purposes, likely going to limit tracking to long irons, 3 and 5, mid irons, 7 and 9, and then just wedges and putting. Realized I didn't leave/have much room to rank the putts, but most were a foot or so short and missed on the amateur side...really weak. Anyone in the local area is welcome to join at 6pm on Tuesdays. Back shifted a bit yesterday, hopeful to be able to practice a little this weekend, in a lot of pain today. Hopefully, this might give others some ideas.....not sure how all this data will help, but it's a start.

I don't see where he's being dishonest.....unless they are honing a swing change or working out a specific issue, tour pros should only have to hit enough balls to groove their swing before they go out.....they play golf 5 days a week.....to get to the pro level, at the minimum, you need a repeatable swing that is mechanically sound at impact.....I don't see where they should need to just pound the range all the time, other than to warm up before a round and groove the swing.....and the stronger your short game, the more pressure it takes off of your long game....if you can get up and down from anywhere at 100 yards and in, who cares if you hit fairways.....if you can get up and down from anywhere around the green, where is the pressure on your long, mid and short irons? While I have never been a good golfer, there was a time when I played decent golf....before a tournament round, I'd spend 30 minutes on the putting green, 30 minutes in the short game area, and 30 minutes on the range, finishing with the club that would be my first shot off the first tee....it worked pretty well.....when my short game was grooved, it took a lot of pressure off tee and second shots - all I had to do is keep the ball in play.

Time and money in a changing world... Time: Today, you can rent a movie in 2 minutes by turning on the TV and pressing play.....so many things are on demand.... Huge opportunity cost in giving up 6 hours of your day off - 20 minute drive to and from, 20 minute warm-up, and at least a 5 hour round, and this is best case scenario on a weekend. Many courses don't enforce a realistic pace of play. I can hook up with a friend, have lunch, practice for 2 hours at the range (range games, short game challenge), have more fun than a round of golf, no waiting, and do all that in 3 hours (half the time) Most other sports I can play in half the time, including travel time, and all of them cost less money (basketball, football, tennis, beach volleyball, anything) Money: $40 green fee, $5 range balls, $10 cart, $10 worth of golf balls, $10 for soda/gatoraide/hotdog, $10 fuel......cheap round at $85, and it goes up if you like cold beer....$4 for a can beer..... Many are underemployed, and even with small increases, the cost of fuel/goods has limited disposable income....$4 gallon of gas, same for a gallon of milk.... Equipment is expensive.....bag, clubs, balls, etc....many of us started the game due to free clubs we got from our father or grandfather.....so there is a definite barrier for folks that have never played. At least 6 hours of my day and $60, all expenses included, for the cheapest round at the closest course......and what happens if I get paid with a couple of idiots, or the round takes 6 hours itself.....I know I'm going to have a great time with my family, or enjoying practice time at the range with my buds, smoking a nice cigar....... The fix: Golf courses have to enforce a 4 hour round, period.....space out the tee times another minute each and enforce a 4 hour rounds...... One rate for morning rounds, discount at 11am, another at 1pm, and another at 3pm....keep the course full and available to different pay scales... They need to offer a discounted 9 hole rate, say 60% of an 18 hole round....back 9 for early weekend rounds and the same on slower days/afternoons... Bigger and better kept practice areas.....keep players coming out, even just for practice, and offer refreshments at a both profitable and reasonable price...get that range money.... Offer free lessons once a week on Wednesday afternoons/nights......while helping people get better, also educate them on how to improve pace of play/etiquette... Throw a club tourney every two months.....encourage players to want to improve and invest in your course and their game... And a host of other good stuff that their own staff can think of that will build value at a small price...

1. Bring a truckload of money 2. Be respectful - keep mindful of other people, the players and being still at the right times....yeah, I know this is a given, but you'd be surprised that some people forget the basics..... 3. On Thursday, pick a fun group early, follow them, and camp at 17 for a while once you get there.....enjoy a couple of beers and have fun.....I loved hanging on 17.... 4. If you go to the WGHOF, go play the King and the Bear.....if you don't want to go that far sounth, I'd go play St Johns Golf and CC....I love that course... 5. There is a great Thai place a few miles north of the course the Players, I would highly recommend it.....there is a great place downtown called the Cellar I think, nicer, but great food and wine.... 6. The course is awesome and easy to walk, enjoy yourself and good luck.... 7. If you are thinking of playing a course or two and have questions, shoot me a PM.......I played most of them when I lived there, happy to help....