Par Fore

I play with the golf channel tour a number of years back when I lived in Jax Florida. It's not cheap, but at the time, I was single, had plenty of money and plenty of time. The organizers of our tour did a GREAT job, so it was worth it. Pros - different challenging courses, large fields, meet new people, competitive with like golfers, gets you used to tournament golf, really makes you focus on percentages and smart decisions, well run, ability to travel and play in other regions. Cons - TIME and MONEY - if you play most events, your travel time is an average of 45 minutes. Load your gear, arrive an hour plus before teeing off, practice, play a 5 and a half hour round, hang a little afterwards, then get back home.....it eats an entire day, and the long rounds wear you down. Also, it's not cheap.....fuel, cost of the round, food, etc....it's $200 minimum. There is a definite commitment of time and money. Set expectations with friends and family members because it eats up an entire day. If you have the time and money, do it. It's great. I also, if you get a chance to volunteer, do it. I helped a buddy with a similar tour in that same area, we helped set up tables, score sheets and so forth....he appreciate the help and you got a feel for how much work is put into these events. Most people I met and played with were great, very few were otherwise and they seemed to get weeded out after a few tournaments.

Great point here, no equipment change required, no impact on a players cost to enjoy the game. Casey Martin is a hero - anybody that has dealt with severe back, joint, or any other pain knows that what he does is tough. 95% of golfers don't play by the rules - they roll the ball, take short putts, foot wedges, etc.....and I'm glad they come out. They keep courses open and most of them are fun to play with. They aren't even trying to cheat, they just play golf the way they learned from their dad. The golf course is a welcome relaxing release from their daily grind. As far as the pros/impact on income, we all deal with policy changes at work, and some of those may effect only one department. At first they are tough and can effect your income, but you make the best of it, find a way to succeed and move on. 3 years to adapt to this is a gift - most of us have a month or less, if we are lucky. If they outlawed drivers, I'd buy a 9 degree 3 wood. If they outlawed clubs greater than 56 degrees, I'd open up my 56, just like I did in high school. Games evolve. Remember when Phil was using that ping wedge.....if I remember right, some long anchor putter guys were upset because it was against the spirit of the rule. Now it's time for them to walk the walk. Most sports live by the adage that it's ok to cheat as long as you don't get caught. Steroids in baseball, blood doping in cycling, holding in football, flopping in soccer. It's an honor to love a sport where integrity still exists.

A local track I used to play a lot had this issue.....every tee box, on both courses, seemed to slant uphill on a right hander, almost like they were set up to aid the slicer crowd.....and I play a draw....I found two remedies....on the holes with elevate tee shots or limited trees, I just started the ball over the right trees for a 20 plus yard draw.......when trees were close to the box, I just played a fade from the left side of the box...hope this helps...

This is a very good point here.....the last couple of years, while not playing a lot nor keeping a cap, I usually play with a good buddy who has a tendency to give short putts and hit the ball back to you.......casual rounds and I enjoy his company, so never cared much........played my first real round recently, trying to get back in the game and keep a cap......missed 6 putts around 5 feet, and it has really hurt my short putts.... Granted, recenly aerated or temp greens can be incredibly frustrating....

I would have 4 jacked

Tournament round in Jacksonville in 2007 on a tough course.......made a 12 footer for an 8 on the last hole, shot 80.....then lost on the 5th hole of a playoff in my flight......hit the ball so well that day, except for 18.... Tournament a week later, shot a 103, tweaked my back on the 3rd hole, suffered through the rest of the round....it was my first time at Sawgrass, so wasn't going to give up.....long, painful day.....worst hole was 17, put 3 in the water, LOL

I saw what he was doing, and I thought.....HAPPY GILMORE....... Lots of parrallels here.......both hit it a mile.......both have an unconventional swing......both like to win.......I wonder if Bubba has any big checks in the back of his car??? Or if he knows one-handed Carl Weathers??? Actually, Sergio looks a lot more like Adam Sandler, and he definitely has the temper of Happy, and he's right handed.....so maybe a hybrid of the two of them??? I thought it was great and fun for a one-off......get the crowd hyped and I think it got everyone going......

Been a about 3 years since I got the itch.....every few months, I go to my favorite range, get a couple of the newest, hottest six irons and match them against my current clubs.....large bucket, hit about 5 at a time, cycling through the clubs.....so far, always come back to my own set.....take your time.....unless you are just bored and want to spend some money....then get some clubs, keep both sets...

It depends on your game.....considering your short game comments, I'm guessing that your putts and chips are not where you think they should be.....but, that might not be it.......what are your number of putts? Are you fatting your chips? How are you off the tee? Are you hitting into trouble and losing strokes in hazards? Or, are you hitting most fairways? How is your iron play? How are your GIR? Are loose iron shots causing you penalty strokes? Could it be course management? A few poor choices at the wrong time can lead to extra strokes. Lot of unknowns here, we really need to know your stats to get a good feel for what is missing.

10 strokes more than what they put on their scorecard.

THIS For me, two words....pull hook

The King and the Bear Played there with a buddy of mine, I was so impressed with the level of customer service, the course layout, the quality of the course itself and they had 5 or 6 sets of tees for every level. My buddy was scratch, so we had to play the tips, so it was a LONG day for me. After we finished, he said something that stuck with me...."I love that course, I used every club in my bag, there was always a reasonable bailout, and you had to hit all the shots to score." He shot something like par, I shot like a 100....and was in awe of the course.

From a handicap perspective on a typical course: 20 plus capper, whites' 10-20 capper, blues sub 10 capper, blacks Granted, there are so many factors, like your distance, yardage of course, accuracy, reasonable pace of play....that can influence this decision. Another rule of thumb.....on the longest par 4, you should be hitting driver and 3-5 iron/hybrid.....if a good drive and 3 iron won't get you there, you are playing too far back.....if a good drive puts you with a 9 iron into the green, you are playing too far forward or your name is Bubba and you have a green jacket.

Couldn't have said it better myself....at least Charles really seemed to try and practice hard.... Ray just fought with him....and himself.... I watched about 10 minutes of the stupidity with Rush today.....two quick quotes I heard...."I haven't touched a club in 3 weeks since we first met", followed up by the gem, "I get better by not playing.....if I play too much, I get worse.....it's been 3 weeks so I should hit the ball great today" Immediately after, I changed the channel.... This is an incredible waste of time....you put me on TV and give me Haney, I'm gonna hit balls every single day and actually try to improve.....biggest 10 minute waste of my time this month....I'd rather watch Snookie pee in the corner at a club....

Awesome, thanks mang....

Got a dumb question....when does the season start???

IMHO, she's hawt.....good looking chica, fun personality, and she plays golf.......saw her on something the other day with blonde hair, she definitely needs to stick with the red.....

I've played with the clubs in my sig in 25 degree weather.....it was only that cold for about an hour....sun came out and the cold front moved out, was a nice 50 degrees by the afternoon.....clubs played fine....standard loss in distance and anything hit off center could be felt immediately.....buddy invited me to a nice private course, wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.... Usually, 40+ degrees is my cutoff.....not too bad if the sun is out and the wind is reasonable...

Smart post here.....diet is the key to great abs.....along with a good, balanced workout, hardcore abs 3 days a week, and rest/sleep...... Love P90X.....my back is finally starting to heal, I just started back and am on day 6 today (highly modified to avoid injury)....I would highly recommend the program....not only does it include a balanced workout, that changes to keep your muscles guessing, but it has a kickbutt ab program, as well as a book on diet.....it's worth it IMHO.... Quote:

OK, so what happened? Please report results

This is no big conspiracy.....Fowler played in 25 FedX events, Rory only 16......and Fowler had more points and finished ahead of him....I'm guessing FedX points likely played a sizeable roll in votes.......the voting would be similar in any other sport....if you only play 50% of the season, you will not be voted rookie of the year..... FYI, I am a big Rory fan and prefer him over Fowler personally.....both are incredibly talented, but my money is on Rory long term, the kid has major game...

Cost/Benefit I look at green fee, if I can walk or have to ride a cart, distance to the course, and quality.....I like variety and challenging courses for the best price, and preferably close which saves on fuel/vehicle expense and travel time.... As far as slope and difficulty, I don't really pay attention.....if I want to make the course harder, I just play the tips.....at my handicap, almost any course in our area plays fairly tough from the back tees for my skill level....

Here is what works for me....3 iron, 7 iron, 52 degree..... 3 iron - good driving iron, great for putting, you can hit it anywhere from 210 to just 180 7 iron - play a hard draw to about 175, and hit it as short as 100 with a little punch 52 - great from 100 yards on in.... If you can, find out what tees you will be playing and get yardages....I'd say the 52 is always a good choice, but your other two clubs might be better determined with a good plan....on a longer course, you may want a 3 wood and a 6 iron......on a shorter course, you might want a 4 iron and an 8 iron.....whatever you choose, practice your putting, can make a huge difference....

Depends....if someone is walking the course with me, I'll usually check their clubs out.....walking seems to breed more spare time and with a push cart/clubs right in front of you, it's hard not to notice.....typically, if everyone else is riding, then I am rarely close to their bag anyway.....if I ride with someone, I might glance at their bag.....just depends on the day, no biggie.....some guys love thier clubs and like to talk about them or their swing, so I'm happy to look and listen....others like to talk about strippers, and I'm ok with that too

LMAO, and the truth comes out....