tsdugger

I'm not very good. With that being said, my yardage gaps are consistent (10-15yds) all the way through my bag so fairway shots >95 yards are always full shots for me. I practice <95yd shots on the range regularly, so I am capable of rolling a 3/4 swing out across my bag. Now, I'm not very good (remember?). With that being said, I am in trouble frequently off the tee and I have to focus on less-than-full swings regularly to get the ball back in play. Off-fairway/slight trouble, my go-to play is a 6i since i can keep it low (read: under a tree) and can control distance "pretty well" anywhere from 100-150yds, typically staying within 20 yards of intended target. Sometimes this is more of a punch shot, other times I am trying to draw it around trees (mostly unsuccessfully). But - If I am my full 6i distance though, I am hitting a full 6. The biggest problem I have is instead of taking a 3/4 full swing, I have the tendency to decelerate leading me to hit about 24" behind the ball - this is why I typically opt in for full swings when I can. Purely Mental... Maybe I'll get on the range and try this "flighting" technique a bit more

I thought the same thing. I couldn't find any info on a second spawn here in Arkansas and the water in these ponds is far to warm to warrant a late spawn. I can just assume she just had a full belly. Picture attached shows a fin in her throat from another bass she had just eaten - pretty wild.

I love the banter here This thread reminds me of a comedy reality show I had an idea for which 8 regular golfers (friends) traveled and played tour courses (not on tour, though) for a month or so. I think it would be hilarious to have them all "mic'd up" so you could hear everything that goes on during the round - it would give perspective on how average golfers would play on tour spec courses. There would be banter, side games, betting, good shots, bad shots, night life, drinking, cigars, fishing (for me of course), cussing, drama, and most importantly, GOLF. There would be some sort of prize at the end. Playing with @kpaulhusand our weekend group made me think of it - multiple HUGE personalities and some good to bad golf all the way around. Anyway, just an idea - if anyone goes live with this, just let me be involved :)

Fast Forward a month and a half to the first day of my club's Member/Member: I wish I had a fun story for this one but I think I blacked out during the round and had my career low of 77. I knew I was playing well when I made the turn at +2 (back 9 first) with a double, two birdies, two bogeys. Made a pit stop at the turn, chatted with the pro, grabbed a gatorade, headed to #1. Now, I usually either birdie or double the short par 4 #1 - it just has my number, mostly double - and like a lot of times, I pulled my drive left close to the range (ob) thought "there goes my round" and hit a provisional. Luckily the first was in but behind a bunch of trees and whatnot: Punch out, hit it fat in bunker short, bunker shot to 15 ft, made the putt - wow what a bogey let's get out of here and not look back. Basically after that, it was just boring, non-memorable golf. Bogey'd long par 3 #6 after hitting tee shot in the water and almost chipping in from drop and bogey'd 8 & 9. I took a lesson two weeks ago where we worked on my swing. It took some range time and about 9 holes to get in a sort of groove - I still fight bad habits and still have the tendency to get a little chicken wing but overall, my misses are 20 yards now, not 60 and I have become way more consistent. This is ultimately what helped me get that sub-80 on the card. Accomplished two 2017 goals Saturday: break 80 & get to single digit index. Thanks for all the support!

Yeah... thanks for everyone's help here. Regained the confidence in the driver (although it is still a pretty wicked fade) and broke 80 for the first time in my life! Trending 9.5 now.

I was able to play the Norman Vidanta course in Puerto Vallarta, MX in March and remember it being very fast, but wide open fairways. Greens, if I remember correctly, were tough - lots of undulation. This course is also home of the longest golf cart suspension bridge in the world... it was pretty wild!

Haha that Largemouth* was caught at my club on hole 14 here in NW Arkansas on 4th of July - eyeballed her about 4lbs, maybe a little more since she is full of eggs (which I found EXTREMELY strange for July)

That's good advice. Just need to get with the club and get a shaft fitted. They can do all that with the Trackman, right?

What would ever make you think that? P.S. this is something I'm working on (:

My bud got some sick custom spikes - @kpaulhus care to share a picture?

It can be 2-3 clubs different. P-7 are 15 yards between but 6-4 are around 10 yards between. I play my 7 iron 180.

Thanks for the valuable input. The point of the post is to survey this membership with the following: If I am able to hit another club (in this case, my hybrid) extremely well, and only lose 30 yards to my driver (which is extremely sporadic), should I leave the driver in the bag when I am on the course until I figure out how to hit with a higher accuracy? Look I am a double digit hcp still, I am going to mess up shots with anything. Just so happens the hybrid is my most confident club and I hit it a long way.

Got to say that rule changes in lacrosse over the past 15 years have turned the game into more of a finesse sport than full-contact sport. It is the perfect medium for kids who want to participate in a team contact sport to "get aggression out" in an environment that encourages safety from coaches and referees. "Big Hits" are now penalized and highly discouraged - player safety is of the utmost importance. Plus, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, men's and women's lacrosse along with women's golf have the most un-used scholarships in all of NCAA.

My hybrid is the (don't laugh, it's old) Titleist 909 17*. ~235 from the ground and up to 250 from the tee. I was unclear on the 150-180 yard shot; what I meant is that by being 150+ yards out, my approach is not always on the green so I would have a wedge in my hand to chip up to the flag.

Already have mine cut down 1/2" for control Read some good stuff that @DeadMan linked and will hit the range today and try to implement it

Thanks for the link - I struggle with hitting the sweet spot, but the main problem (I can feel in my swing) is that I regularly don't release my hands which turns into a push + slice. The slice is sometimes playable, but I am losing A LOT of distance. Seems that when I offest my alignment to accomodate the slice, I hit it straight. Crazy game.

As a mid-handicap guy (11.9 trending to 10.8), I find my most productive rounds are ones I leave the driver in the bag. I have been atrocious off the tee this season with the driver, 3w is decent, and hybrid is pure (230-250 yards). Irons are relatively strong so I am less worried about approaching and my course is short enough where the driver isn't always needed - especially from the Men's tees, but taking 30-50 yards off approach shots could accelerate me to a single-digit hcp as I still have a wedge in my hand on ~50% of the holes (180-150 yards in instead of 150 and less). I have played my best golf ever the past couple weeks after a lesson and have dropped 3 strokes off my index since mid-May. Basically, if I am in the fairway I am very competitive. I seem to be able to put it together on the range but as soon as I am on the course I fall apart. Even in my lesson, the pro had me hit 10 balls and said he didn't want to change anything at that point as I was hitting it pure. Basically, driver is the only club which I consistently slice (read: uncontrollable slice) the ball on the course - everything else is a nice easy 5 yard fade, if not straight. Have you ever given up on a club from pure lack of confidence? Doesn't seem like practice is helping much.

I'd like to see the breadcrumbs of this adventure! :)

Two specific goals this year: 1) more rounds in the 80s than 90s - if I shoot in the triple digits, I have to make it up with two rounds in the 80s :D 2) Break 80 at least once - I have a great story of how I went double double on 17 and 18 to shoot 80 earlier this year (you can read it in the breaking 80 thread) Things I am doing to reach these goals: Range time and focus on a specific practice plan (which I am behind on). In the past, I have just gone and hit balls and hit balls and hit balls with no consistent plan - hit the driver 3 times and they're decent? fine, I'm done with that club... Have a specific pre-round stretch/warm-up routine to cultivate focus for (hopefully) consistent on-course performance Break down and take some lessons... easy, right? never had a lesson but I don't really want to change from my 10 finger grip and a couple of my pros think I should :( Put the bottle away until the 19th hole on weekend rounds - the cart girl is just such a great sales person! Focus on every shot, take my time, take my meds, and don't let a bad shot affect the next shot - keeping my head in the game is going to be the most difficult thing to control Remember that I am not a pro and I PLAY GOLF BECAUSE IT FUN (and competitive, but mostly for fun) - no sense in getting frustrated.

zero for me in about 6 total years playing. But a guy I know holed out from the tee box on a par 3... he just happened to hit first ball OB

Bingo - the chatter has been real this week. I just want to break 100 :)

There I was, pulling up to 17 tee of Hardscrabble CC in Ft. Smith, AR (away course) after a birdie on 16 when I made a fatal mistake. On the front I had a birdie, 3 bogeys, and doubled the 9th to card a 39 - only broken 40 on 9 around 10 times in my life. On the back, I continued playing out of my mind grabbing my third birdie of the round on 16 to put me back to +2 on the 9 (2 birds, 2 bogeys, 1 DB, 4 3-putts in the round up to here) going into 17. That's when I counted my score and realized I can break 80 (par 70 course) with a DB and a bogey on 17 & 18... Pull up to the 195 yd par 3 17th (WAY down hill and over a lake) and CANNOT get my swing thoughts in order. Back off the ball, re-address, hit it fat, give it a bath. Damn. Drop zone, over the water and a bunker, land it on the fringe, 2 putt DB. Let's get it back right here on 18 - all I need is a bogey to become part of an elite group! 415 yds, slight dogleg left, OB WAAAY Right... standard issue easy hole. Tee it high and let it fly!!! ... hands wide-open slice and, conveniently, it stayed in bounds - about 10 yards from being WAAAY Right. Problem here is it is lying in a root system at the base of a tree and the only out i can attempt is a chip straight out to the fairway leaving me hitting 3 from 140. Fine. Chip to fairway, hit PW in, and two putt should be easy right? right..... so the only good shot I made on the hole was the chip into the fairway. I address with my PW and blade the pitooie out of it - I must have been living clean because the ball ended 12ft from the hole, pin high slight right to left break, slight down hill. OH BABY! All I have to do is two putt! Stroked the putt, the ball passes the hole, passes gimme range, passes easy comeback range, passes "well-shit" range, and ends about 9 ft from the hole at "M********" range. A combination of nerves, excitement, an extremely poor natural putting stroke, and a jolt of super-human strength got me here, now I got work to do. I know the line, the ball just traveled it... the putt is 9' but it is easy uphill and very slight left to right - so I make a beautiful stroke and as the ball is about to fall in at 7:30 on the hole, it rolls over a spike mark, causing it to lip out. Hopes and dreams all achievable in an instant and all taken away even faster. 39 - 41 80 with 3 birdies. Hands down the best round I've ever played, and considering that is 1 of 3 rounds out of the last 10ish that I have broken 90, I walked away happy. And that's why I love this game - there is never a shortage of challenges.

Excited to watch this round... @kpaulhus and I are building some interest at the club and it looks like we might have a proper gallery to follow the group. Trying to set it up where the club pro announces names on the first tee and have someone follow the group with a scoreboard