MPforthewin

Yes, stop thinking about breaking 90. Go out and hit every shot to the best of your ability and thats it. You will break 90.

Yeah, he's not just gonna be able to walk out to Dallas National and play no matter how much money he has. Its extremely private so scratch that. Waterchase is a good suggestion, Cedar Crest is in the hood but its close to downtown Dallas, cheap, and they played the PGA there in like 1927 or something. Texas Star is a good track and not too far from the airport. Thre are a ton of courses here so it really depends on how far he is willing to drive.

I have always tried to help others who aspire to play this game better. I have been blessed with the ability and spent a long time practicing to play the way I can. That said, I try my best to help others play better because a good golfers role is to be an advocate for the game. I think the problem is people who think they have to be arrogant to be the best because some of the best are arrogant. Being arrogant is not the same as believing you are the best player at your club, in the state, etc.. Jack and Tiger KNOW they are the best and yet they do nothing but good with their gift. I havent really gotten that vibe from anyone here yet but im new so maybe with time.

Funny you ask this, it just happened to me a few weeks ago. I hit the driver horribly, had no idea where my irons were going, and wedge shots were at best mediocre. The saving grace was I made evry putt I looked at and shot -3. I might have hit 8 greens in regulation all day. I felt after the round like I had just got my tail whipped but somehow won the fight. Weird Day.

Ok, I am very familiar with the problem you speak of as I have been trying to go from a draw to power fade for consistancy. On of the things I have noticed is do not swing more upright, this will make you steep and cause you to double-cross. Just open your stance and clubface and make the same swing. I try to stay especially on the balls of my feet, and the most important, you have to, have to , have to, stay down and drive through the ball. Also choking up tends to help me control the fade on the driver. I think sometimes you think you are set up open but you arent really because you are so used to being closed that straight looks really open. Hope that helps.

Been putting cross-handed since I was a freshman in high school and will never turn back. It took me some practice on long putts at first but you will get used to it. Now I am deadly with speed on long putts. Practice it and you will love it.

Well, as I said I am not telling you you are doing anything wrong, but the fact remains you are taking the book of one guy who played on tour and quoting it as gospel because you like it. Thats great if it fits your game, BUT There are countless pros and all-time-greats that made their living on tour that teach the same thing I am talking about. Tom Watson is my first example, as I have his book "Getting Up And Down From 40 Yards And In" Im pretty sure he made a great living with his short game as well. What Im trying to say is because one guy on tour wrote a book doesnt make it the best way. If Jim Furyk wrote a book on swing plane would you follow it because he is successful on tour? You do what is comfortable to you, but that doesnt mean it is the BEST way to score. I gurantee you if you asked the top 50 or so short game players on tour if they use the same club for all short game shots, you would receive a resounding NO.

I personally don't like Houston, not to say there isn't great golf but I just don't like it. Austin is beautiful with great golf, anyone would love it there. DFW is alright but I grew up on the beach so its a little inland for me. We do have a shiiite load of golf courses here though from the cheap to very expensive. Tomorrow will be a high of 99 with 100 on Sat here and that will get hotter towards August so you need to consider that. Also you mentioned sports teams, I think I'm safe to say we have the most sports teams in one place out of all other options. Houses are very reasonably priced and the cost of living is pretty good. No state income tax and you can carry a concealed weapon if you have a license. 2 major PGA events in 2 weeks and lots of Pros live here So Yeah all in all its a pretty ok place to live. I just miss the beach and TPC Sawgrass

reading > me

Most of you are getting confused.....the question was which is EASIER not more or less frequent. Much more skill is required to acheive an under par round which makes it much harder, hence not as easy as hitting a thin 8 iron that kicks off a mound and goes in the hole. A Hole-in-one is EASIER.

How tall are you? 1.5" short is a lot.

And Im not trying to tell you what you did was wrong, but if you have the 8 iron bump shot in your bag I would bet you a large sum of money that you will put that shot closer to the hole much more often than the 64 flop with spin. If possible I never try to count on spin, its much too unpredictable. Obviously do what is comfortable to you, but im saying get comfortable with alternate shots because there are much better ways to score than just chipping with your 52 all the time.

I think you would find that if you practiced the shots we speak of, you would feel differently. Alot of golf is choosing your highest percentage shot and to a pin on the upper tier with 60 feet of green in front of you the highest percentage shot to get it close to the hole is a bump 8 iron or something of the likes. Im not saying your way is wrong, its just not the highest percentage shot for every situation.

I personally like to play drawback when I am practicing. I use three balls and go to each hole and play drawback. Seems to work for me.

I will use anything in my bag. I have putted out of sand traps and chipped with a 2iron all the way down. Whatever gets the ball rolling quickest is what I use. The ball is much more predictable when it is rolling. You guys that use one club are really cheating yourself out of easier ways to score.

You guys should really go hit some Mizuno blades. I have had MP-9s, MP-14s, MP-29s, and now MP-60s (kinda half-cavity). I never lost distance and the feel cannot be described. Im not hating on Nike, but Mizuno has been doing this for a long time and Ive never hit a Mizuno iron I was dissapointed with. Sorry for threadjacking ;)

I know it sounds hard but you have to literally focus on every single shot. Everytime you step over the ball, you have never hit another shot and you are not going to hit another shot. The only thing that exists is the shot right in front of you. Then on 18 green you will add it up and it will be a 77 or something. The pros fight the same thing all the time except they are 7 or 8 under after 11 and have to not think about it too keep it going. They focus on only the shot at hand.

Those should be the exact same thing. Grounds and GA both just get you in the door, nothing else.

I shoot under par about 75% of the time and have never had an ace, so for me obviously the hole in one has proven to be more difficult. But in general I have seen a lot of "lucky" hole in ones along with skilled ones so on any given par three with the right bounce an ace is possible. That being said shooting under par requires a ton of skill and time spent blood, sweat, and tears. So I guess I would say for a huge majority of the golfing world, an under par round would be tougher.

I think I remember Hogan saying to try to watch the club hit the ball, even though you will never accomplish it it forces you to keep your head still. I have played for 27 years and can't ever recall actually seeing impact of club and ball, I don't think it is possible.

When I used to play at my Country Club in FL after a good rain when the course was empty me and the Pro and a couple other guys would play the course backwards. I.E... Tee off behind 18 green and play to 17 green, then from behind 17 green to 16 green, so on so forth. You wanna talk about tough......

I have heard WGV is awesome also. Slammer and Squire was done when I lived there but they were still working on The King and The Bear. Both I hear are great tracks.

That would suck if you won and they said, "I'm sorry the irons are right handed." Seriously though, almost all of your scoring occurs inside 100 yards so that is where your focus should be. Confidence in your short game and putting will translate to the rest of your game, so that is what I would practice most.

1. Qualify for and play well in the U.S. Amateur. 2. Play well in City Championship. 3. Get my wife better at hitting the big dog. 4. Enjoy the ups and down of the game and know I have the ability to be the best.

Go ahead and set aside 400 dollars and when you get to St. Augustine rent a car and drive 20 miles north to Ponte Vedra and play Sawgrass. I promise you wont regret it.