klineka

I've been Playing Golf for: On and off for about 10 years, have been taking it more serious for the past 2 years My current handicap index or average score is: 12 ish, typically low-mid 80s My typical ball flight is: Very low ball flight with driver, some slices. Occasional pull with 3 wood but typically straight. Slight fade with long/mid irons. Occasional pull with wedges The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Driver height and slices, and 3 wood pull. Overall ball striking consistency needs improvement as well. Videos: The first video is with my driver, the 2nd video starts out with my sand wedge followed by a few different mid irons (I dont remember exactly which irons they were) I have not had any formal golf lessons before, I am a former collegiate baseball player (Left-handed pitcher) and really started to try to improve at golf once I was done playing baseball. I have dropped 5 or so shots in the past year through playing/practicing more, upgrading clubs, and getting comfortable chipping/pitching onto the green. Now I feel I am at the point where I wont be able to improve much until I work on my swing and make the ball striking more consistent. My driver height is very low, and I feel that is causing me to lose distance, my 3 wood has a much better ball flight and the 2 clubs go very similar in distance (240-260). I have tried moving the ball very far forward in my stance and tilting my shoulders back at address, but the ball still comes out very low. With the irons and wedges, consistency is my #1 problem. I will hit 3 or 4 good shots in a row, and then top one and hit one thin. I would easily drop a few shots per round if I could avoid those types of shots and at least advance the ball more than just 30 or 40 yards with a full iron shot. Any help/criticism would be greatly appreciated! Like I said I have never had any formal golf instruction before so I am interested to hear feedback.

The most heroic one personally isnt so much due to the difficulty of the shot, but rather the circumstances in which I executed the shot. I was having a very solid round and knew I would be close to breaking 80. On the 18th tee, I knew that getting a 5 was all I needed to shoot a 79 and break 80 for the first time in my life. The hole was a pretty simple 340 yd par 4, slight dogleg right and a decent amount uphill from the tee to the green. Pulled my drive into the left rough, was under some trees so didnt have a shot at the green, used a 5 iron to punch back out into the fairway. Middle of the fairway about 60-75 yds out on a slight uphill lie to an elevated green hitting my 3rd, I knew I had to get on the green and 2 putt to get a 79. Took my 56 wedge and pitched it to 6 inches for the easy tap in par for my lowest round ever 78 and first time breaking 80. I have had a couple of chip ins, 1 hole out from a bunker, and a couple 30+ feet putts, but the shot I just described is the most heroic for me since I was under pressure for breaking 80 and I was able to execute. (there have been countless times I have missed the green from 60 yds so it wasnt a guarantee that I'd even get on the green from that distance)

I have been using teeoff.com much more this year compared to golfnow. I regularly get 10-30% off coupon codes emailed to me for teeoff.com, and they dont charge booking fees. Not all of the courses I go to are on either website though so it really depends on which course I am playing.

I would pick the area you are the weakest at, and devote the most amount of time there, dont try to practice all aspects of your game in 1 hour. I typically have 3 different types of practice sessions, short game, where 75% of my range balls are 9 irons or lower, I work on flighting the ball, distance control, etc. my short game sessions are usually a smaller bucket of balls (40 or so) followed by a good amount of time at the chipping/pitching/bunker area, and occasionally I'll do a little bit of putting. I also do long game sessions, mainly long irons and woods/driver. Then I will have a simulated round type practice session where I visualize holes in my head and hit shots based on that. Example I will start with a driver, then hit a 7 iron, then a chip. Then I'd hit a 3 wood and a wedge, etc etc simulating the varying club selection I would face on the course. My chipping and pitching is the worst aspect of my game right now, so I try to do 2 short game sessions for every 1 long game/simulated game sessions I do. Focus on one small aspect/area of your game at a time and keep checking them off the list as you improve.

Make sure to claim the achievement in the proper forum thread! congrats. A hole in one is a hole in one regardless of the distance

It worked out well, she spent a few hours at the pool and the spa and I went golfing. She was thinking about riding along for the views and pictures, but we didn't know if I was going to get paired up or be in a 4+ hour round. Finished the 18 hole round just under 3 hours so not bad at all.

Significantly more than I am used to paying for golf haha. This is considered their "non peak" season, so it was a lower rate, but the round of golf, cart, caddie, transportation to and from the course, rental clubs and range time was $275. I bought a hat at the pro shop and obviously tipped the drivers and caddie. The caddie mentioned greens fees can climb up around $400 during peak season in December. For any baseball guys out there, the caddie also mentioned that course is where David Ortiz holds his annual charity tournament getting numerous baseball and some basketball players including Josh Donaldson, Terry Francona, Miguel Cabrera, and Ray Allen. The caddie said one year Donaldson lost $5,000 cash to Ray Allen from betting on a round of golf there, and he said Miguel Cabrera regularly pays for everyone that attends, including tipping caddies, $500-$600 each

Im quite familiar with that course, play it all the time. But yes this was by far the nicest course I have ever played. Fairways were perfect, minimal divots, 0 ball marks on the greens, sand traps were perfect as well.

So last week I was on my honeymoon in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and the wife and I planned a day where she would go to the spa and I would get to do a round of golf. I did some research and chose Punta Espada Golf Course. It was highly ranked based on numerous articles I have read, and I believe the PGA Champions Tour has held tournaments there in the past. The course has multiple holes on the water and I was pretty excited to play there. Included in the course fees was transportation to and from the course, so I got to the course around 10:30 for an 11:40 tee time. I checked in and then was taken to my cart where I met my caddie, Franklin. Caddies are mandatory at this course, and this was my first time ever playing with a caddie. Since I was going out as a single I figured I would be paired up with people, but to my surprise, the course was pretty much empty and it was just myself and my caddie. I used their rental clubs which were very solid for rentals. 2016 Taylormade M2 Driver, 3 wood, and 3 Hybrid, Taylormade Aeroburner 4 iron - PW, M2 gap wedge, Titleist 60 degree wedge, and an Odyssey putter. I brought my own golf balls so it was a mix of pro v1s and some Nike SFT. Tees were included, as well as a cooler with water and towels, and a yardage book which turns out I didnt even have to use. Once I get situated with the cart, we headed over to the driving range, which was nicer than the majority of the courses I play around my house! I went to reach for some clubs to take and the caddie politely said he would handle it, just tell him which ones I wanted. I took driver, 7 iron, and a few wedges and spent about 20 minutes hitting some warm up shots, although it didnt take much to get loose since the temperature felt in the upper 90s with humidity factored in. After the range we started on the back 9. Took me a few holes to get used to the caddie and the greens, but didnt play too bad overall. I played from the blue tees, which was 6314 yards and was 72.4/133. Definitely a little more difficult that I am used to. Precision off the tee was required to even have decent looks at the green, and I found myself in a few more fairway bunkers than I usually do. I brought my range finder but never had to use it, Franklin was spot on with the distances as well as the reads on the green. The main highlights of the round include a 2 putt for par from about 60 feet on a par 3, a 280 yd drive over water right in the middle of the fairway, and a chip in from just off the green for a par on my last hole, hole 9. Below are a few of my favorite pictures, I also have a few videos I will edit together and post in the next few days. I highly recommend this course to anyone who visits Punta Cana and think it is worth every penny! Above is the view from the tee box on the hole where I drove it 280 straight over the water, left myself around 140 into the green. Pretty close after a tee shot to going in the ocean but still in play! Above was one of the tougher holes, a very long, 575 yd, par 5 with the hole being to the right of that blue water/pond area which actually connected to the ocean.

I'm in. It'd be nice to put some faces to names and some golf too! I'd travel up to Toledo/Cleveland areas as well if that meant more people would participate like @Wally Fairway said. Either way is fine with me. Back on topic though, I havent actually been to The Memorial before, only tournament I've been to in Ohio is the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, OH. I dont know much about the course either, is it a long course?

I live about 20 minutes from the course, but I am getting married on Saturday and leaving for the honeymoon on Sunday so I wont be able to make it this year. It would have been nice to meet up with you @iacas. Do you usually go every year? I will go next year for sure. On the bright side, next week I get to golf Punta Espada Golf Course in Punta Cana

Have you started a "my swing" thread in that section on this forum? That will be the best place to get advice related to your specific swing. If you posted videos of both your driver and 3 wood swings from front on and down the line views, I'm sure plenty of people will be able to help.

Two good shots from my 9 hole round yesterday 1st hole, drove into the left rough, but still had a line to the pin, 90 yards out, ball landed about 5 feet in front of the pin and rolled to 1 foot for the easy tap in birdie. 8th hole, my approach shot from 150 went long over the green but was only a few inches into the rough, still was about 20 feet from the flag. Didnt feel comfortable chipping from the spot I was in, and it was too thick to putt, so I used my 3 wood, choked all the way down, used my putting stroke motion and put the ball within a foot for the easy tap in par. My playing partners were quite confused seeing me get out my 3 wood at first, but they were impressed with the result, as was I!

what club are you using for the 35-75 yard shots? A wedge with a higher loft such as a 58 or 60 degree lob wedge would help get the ball higher in the air and stop quicker once it lands. Also, how old are the wedges you are using? Are the grooves crisp and sharp? That will affect the amount of spin you are able to generate on the ball.

I think it really depends on the courses you play and the distances you typically have left. some people carry 2 wedges, some people carry 4. Some people carry hybrid clubs, some people carry 2 irons. I think it comes down to what clubs you hit the best and fit your game the best, giving you as few distance gaps as possible. If you hit a 3 wood 225 but the 2 iron only 190, then it certainly makes sense to carry a 5 wood, but if the 2 iron goes 215, then there might not be as much value in carrying the 5 wood. Do you know what loft the 2 iron is? I would be interested to see the difference between the 2 iron loft and the 5 wood loft. Same thing with the wedges, if your PW is 120 but your SW is only 90, then it might be worth looking into getting a gap wedge like a 50 or 52 degree, and if you are faced with a lot of partial SW shots, like 75 yards, could look at getting a lob wedge like a 58 or 60 degree. Personally I go right from 3 wood to 4 iron, with 3 wood around 235, and 4 iron around 205. While there is a large gap there, I rarely (less than 5 total times out of 15 rounds this year) am faced with something in between those distances, and if I am, it is more than likely on a par 5, so if I was 225 out on a par 5, depending on the situation I would most likely hit the 4 iron then chip/pitch on. It really comes down to your own game and your own yardages. Dont overthink the "modern vs. traditional" lofts on irons either. Know your yardages that you hit each club, regardless of what the loft should or shouldnt be for that club. Example, if we were playing and had 160 to the pin, you would go to your bag and pick your 160 club, and I would do the same. I wouldnt ask you what loft your club is because when you are out on the course, it doesnt really matter that much. I think people make a bigger deal out of the modern v. traditional loft on irons than it really is. Know your clubs, know your distances, know your trajectories, play your shot.