klineka

If that were the case then I would have considered hitting it off the path rather than taking the unplayable

Here is a video of a mini tour guy who loves driving irons and has gamed a 2 iron for years testing out a 5 wood. Towards the beginning, the fitter talks about some advantages of the 5 wood including spin and descent angle especially if it is a club that will be used for approaches into par 5s.

I agree with that, but my point is that if she had more skill and/or executed better and not double bogeyed the 16th (since it sounds like the double bogey on 16 was a result of execution/physical mistakes), then the mental game might not have played as large of a role as it did on 18. And the reason I am doing so is because at the moment my physical skill with the driver is not good enough to hit driver on every hole and keep the ball in play, so in order to minimize the lost balls/O.B. shots, I reread LSW and am evaluating alternatives to driver off the tee on some holes.

In 2015, his best year, his strokes gained approach was higher than his strokes gained putting by .047. I don't really understand how that makes his iron game "special" but not his putting. They were essentially equal in the best year of his career. 4 out of the 7 years his strokes gained approach has been higher than his strokes gained putting (with one of those being nearly identical, and 3 of the 7 years his strokes gained putting was better than his strokes gained approach for that year. My point is that at his peak, Spieth was a much better putter than you (and others) are giving him credit for.

That's not what was said though. What was said was that when Spieth was at his best and winning a lot, it was because of his ball striking and not because of his putting or short game. That contradicts the statistics for 2015 and 2016 as I showed. Some people didn't think he gained much with his putting. But obviously there's more potential for gaining strokes in ballstriking than there is in putting, no disagreement from me there. The fact that it is harder to separate oneself on the putting green actually makes his putting stats in 2015 and 2016 that much more impressive, IMO. But Spieth didn't, because Spieth's ball striking isn't significantly better than his putting like people seem to think it is. On average throughout his entire career he has gained as much from his approach shots (+.400) as he has from his putting (+.408) (shots gained per round). Here are his SG: Approach the green by year 2013 24th (+.409) 2014 57th (+.286) 2015 11th (+.618) 2016 87th (+.145) 2017 1st (+.963) 2018 33rd (+.409) 2019 123rd (-.029) Here are his SG: Putting by year 2013 60th (+.182) 2014 20th (+.399) 2015 9th (+.571) 2016 2nd (+.758) 2017 48th (+.278) 2018 T123 (-.034) 2019 11th (+.706)

I disagree with these statements, especially for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, which account for 7 wins and 2 majors. In 2015 he gained almost the same amount of strokes from his iron play as his putting, and in 2016 he gained significantly more strokes with his putting than his iron play. That flipped in 2017, but IMO a 1 year sample size isn't enough to claim that it was his iron play that made him special. Here are some of his stats by season. 2015 Off the tee 15th (+.494) Approach the green 11th (+.618) Around the green 7th (+.471) Putting 9th (+.571) 27% on 15-25 foot putts, while the tour average was 16% T26 in proximity to the hole from the fairway 49th in GIR % 2016 Off the tee 32nd (+.402) Approach the green 87th (+.145) Around the green 24th (+.264) Putting 2nd (+.758) 24% on 15-25 feet, while the tour average was 15.6% T91 in proximity to the hole from the fairway T145 in GIR % 2017 Off the tee 44th (+.321) Approach the green 1st (+.963) Around the green 12th (+.393) Putting 48th (+.278) 22% on 15-25 feet, while the tour average was 16.1% T5 in proximity to the hole from the fairway 4th in GIR %

I go to the range to practice my game and work on my priority pieces, it doesn't matter to me what anyone else is doing there. If someone next to me shanks it, no big deal, maybe they're working on a massive swing change. Maybe they're new and just getting into golf. I don't know, nor do I really care. There are a lot of benches at my range, so it's somewhat common to have someone sitting on one and watching others hit while they are taking a break from their own practice. I actually enjoy having someone I don't know watch me hit, it adds a level of pressure and makes me focus more. Maybe wearing some wireless headphones with some music might help block out what others are doing?

Yes he's not making as much money as he could be, but he is also free to play whatever brand he wants in each slot of the bag. Obviously to him that is more important than the extra money he could receive from playing one brand exclusively.

I agree that a small aspect is not zero, but as @DaveP043 pointed out, it was easy to give those mistakes more weight because of where they happened in the round. Nothing about that double bogey has anything to do with the mental game, IMO. If @tessallated was hitting the full wedge in for her 3rd shot, rolled off the green, chipping for 4, that means she either needed 2 chips and 2 putts, or a chip and a 3 putt in order to make double bogey since it was a par 5. Or she needed an extra approach shot somewhere before the green. That sounds like a physical/skill/execution issue, not a mental issue. Not saying the mental game didn't play a role, but ending the post with lends me to believe she thinks the mental game contributes way more to her score than it actually does.

In my initial response to you I quoted the portion that I felt was "dangerously close to bringing politics into the conversation" I'll quote it again That comment has absolutely nothing to do with this topic, it directly involves politics, and it's not even an accurate statement. I have no issue with anything else you have said, like I said before, it's perfectly fine to state that you will/won't play the course because of political reasons, but when you start mentioning specific events that happened in politics, that is crossing the line, IMO. It's not even that big of a deal, I'm not even a moderator, I was simply stating that your comment (the portion I quoted) was dangerously close to bringing politics into the discussion, which we are actively trying to avoid, especially in this thread. I didn't interpret your intentions at all, I simply responded to the words you typed. Again, that isn't what I had issue with.

One additional shot that I use my 3 wood for is when my ball is on the fringe around the green and it is up against the rough where I wouldn't be able to make great contact with a putter. I take my stance like putting, hold the 3 wood really upright, and grip basically at the bottom of my grip, and make a putting like motion at the ball. I'd suggest practicing it a few times before use in a round, the ball definitely seems to "spring" or jump off the face a little. I dont need the shot very often, maybe 1-2x a year, but it's a handy one to have when I do need it.

The topic doesn't need to be eliminated, people just need to discuss it without bringing up direct thoughts about politics. Or, phrased a different way, you are asking for the topic to be eliminated because you were called out for not following a rule. Just because you didn't follow the rule doesn't mean that the topic should be eliminated. (Based on the definition of chastise, I didn't even chastise you, I simply said a specific part of your response was borderline talking about politics, which it was). If you (anyone) doesn't feel they can comment on the topic without directly talking about politics, then don't comment on the topic. It's fine to say that the reason you would or wouldn't play the courses is because of politics, but bringing up specific topics or things that occurred within politics serves no purpose in this (or any other) thread.

That is dangerously close to bringing politics into the conversation. But this thread has been active for well over 2 years so that's not even an accurate statement

As has already been discussed in the thread I linked earlier, the mental game accounts for a very very small aspect of your overall score when playing the game.

The mental game doesn't have nearly as big of an affect on your score as most people seem to give it credit for.