Timmy-9holes

Thank you very much for the response. It sounds like I may have gotten lucky and found a great bargain. The range you mention should fit into the flexes I have on my other clubs. I'm going to have to find a heated driving range to try it out.

I picked up a Great Big Bertha at a thrift store today. It was only $2.50 with what appears to be a new Callaway grip, the shaft doesn't have any bag wear and the head is n pretty good shape so how could I pass it up. I am trying figure out the flex on the club but, I'm not having much luck. The flex does not have the gram number like I have on my other clubs. The shaft is a Fenwick - World Class Eagle with a sticker that has FCM 3.5 on it. I found one website that mentions that the range goes from 2.5 for someone who hits their 5 iron 100 yards to 8.0 for someone who hits their 5 iron 200 yards. I normally use a senior flex so I was not sure if it was in the senior range. Does anyone have an idea of what flex this may be? Thanks.

I have tried it on. The velcro closure is down around the wrist instead of on the middle of the back of the hand. It has a much different feel that than my glove from last year. The packaging mentions additional support for the wrist and base of the thumb along with what it refers to as "orthopedic motion zones over the knuckles". It cost the same as other gloves so I put it on my wish list. It has been in the single digits and below zero for the past few weeks so it too cold to even swing a club in the garage and try it out.

Are all yardage books something that you have create on your own or are there courses that offer a prefilled yardage book for their specific course?

The club pro who worked with me said that I should play from whatever tee makes playing the most enjoyable. He suggested I start on the front tees and consider moving back as I improve. There is one hole on a course I played which was 72 yards from the front tees. I can't hit a wedge so, I just moved back to the tees that were 112 where I was comfortable using a hybrid.

I received a Bionic Relief Grip glove. It is supposed to help with arthritic hands. Various sizes of tees. A practice session golf diary for me to keep notes on what I practiced each time out. Michael Breeds book, 3 Degree Putting Solution

This will be my second year golfing. Last year was a year of learning that golf was not just show up at the course with your clubs and start swinging at the ball. --Continue the process of understanding the game of golf. When I started last year I quickly learned there was a lot to the game which I did not know about. I plan to continue learning more about how to play be continuing my reading, lessons, practicing and playing. --Get familiar and comfortable with my clubs. I did not understand much about the club shaft flexes. Once I found a flex I was comfortable with practicing and playing became much more enjoyable. --Practice with a purpose. My reading the past year had shown me the importance of practice and how to practice. I was one of those people who just got a bucket of balls and would just pound away one after the other. Now I understand better of how important being good with the putter can be. Every shot needs to be for a purpose and part of a plan. So, for this year I am setting up practice routines with goals to reach each time out. --Play at least 10 rounds of golf the right way. I didn’t understand the importance of warming up and how it can affect your performance on the early hole. Don’t use the first few holes to warm up. Have a warm up routine so I’m ready at the 1st tee. Being in Northeast Illinois, I can’t play year round so I figure a minimum of two round each month May through September is a good start. I only played five rounds last year after starting in June so, it would be double last year. --Play a round at five different courses. I have a lot of 9 hole courses within 20-30 minutes of my house. They have various length with some mainly par 3s and others a mixture of 3s, 4s, & 5s. I want to find a few course where I feel comfortable with the courses and people who run it. I went to one course last year where I had a lesson and showed up early to practice putting and someone from the pro shop came out to see what I was doing. It was a public course too. I want to golf where the staff is friendly and welcoming --Play the course to My Par. Hank Haney mentions on his show and I have read others mentioning it that the par at the course doesn’t really mean anything. I have checked out the lengths of the holes for the local courses and broken them down into what I would consider a par 3, par 4, par 5 or even some par 6s. Everyone is going to keep score. Make the goal realistic and as I improve the par for each hole will change.

It is a 9-hole Par 29. The course rating is 27.1. I am not sure about the slope rating. The greens are pretty much flat is that helps. The other course my cousin is trying to get me play more for nine holes is a Par 36 with a 30.5 rating and 117 slope rating from the tee I play.

Thank you for the responses.

Could someone please explain what the Course Rating and Slope numbers on the scorecard mean? Why would the slope number change depending on what tee box you are using? Thanks.

While I am not young, 51, I am learning to play golf on the 9-hole courses. I just love the 9-hole courses. Before I started, my wife suggested, ok told me, to list out what I wanted to get out of it. My list included, I wanted it to be fun, I wanted able to walk the course, I wanted to carry as few clubs as needed, I didn’t want to get discouraged by too many long holes yet still be challenged and I didn’t want to have to spend the whole day at the course. So, I purchased a Sunday bag and play with 7-10 clubs depending on the course and weather. Our local 9-hole course is actually 10 holes. They split the first hole into two holes. It includes an 18 hole putting practice green that you can chip onto, a driving range and a practice bunker. Within 15 miles from my home, there are three other 9-hole courses with 7 par 3s and 2 par 4s and four more 9-hole courses which are par 35 or 36. So I have a variety to choose from when I am ready. I am starting on the short courses. We had a group outing on a 18 hole par 72 and I learned it was too soon to try a par 5. I know that the golf is me against the course and in the beginning the course will be me every time. So the 9-hole course gives me nine individual chances for a win. If I get a 7 or 8 one hole, it doesn’t mean a 3 or 4 isn’t possible on the next one. When I play I track if I make the green in regulation, does the tee shot stay in the fairway and once I am on the green can I make it in two putts or less. I don’t add up my total score for the round until I get home. The total could be a bonus. If I reach par or a bogey, I count it as a win. The shorter nine hole courses allow for a chance to “win” using my rules. I shot at 44 this week on a par 32 but, I had a bogey on five of nine holes so I in my mind I won 5-4. A couple of the nine hole courses don’t take tee times. You just show up and start playing after your pre-round routine. It does not matter if it is a single player, foursome or anything in between. The atmosphere is very relaxed and the people on the course have been really friendly. Everyone seems to understand what ability to expect from others on the course so there is a lot of patience. The 9-hole courses available locally being anywhere from par 29 to 36 provide a variety of challenges not just in distance but with the placement of hazards. One of the greens on my local course is surrounded by water. I haven’t made it yet without donating at least a ball each round. I think these small courses offer much more than just the challenge of the course. Since practice is so important they also provide a great place for players of all abilities. When I have practiced and played, I have seen women, seniors along with parents and their young children playing the course. On the practice range and putting green, there are people of all ages and abilities. So while the low handicapper may not play a round there it is still their go to practice place.

Monday I played 9 holes shooting a 55 including three 7s. I hit some decent tee shots but struggled around the greens. I even managed to hit two shots sideways into a water hazard which wasn’t even between me and the green. As a newbie my goal once I reach the green is to need two putts or less. I did manage this on 5 of the nine holes. I was also able to make my first to pars ever. The first was a tee shot onto the green then two putts. The other was a tee shot short of the green. After my cousin showed me how actually use my chipper, I was able to chip to within 7 feet of the hole and made my putt. Overall a success with two pars, five two putts or less and three tee shots staying in the fairway. ----- I played another 9 holes at a different executive course. I’m lucky to have four 9 hole execute courses within seven miles of home. After some more lessons from my cousin on how to use the chipper, I was able to shoot a personal best of 44. I did not have any pars but six bogeys, two double bogeys and one 8. Add to that needing only two putts on five of the nine holes and it was a very successful round. I couldn’t believe how much more confident I was with the chipper and from how far away I can use it. I have put the wedges away for a while. A big assist goes to my cousin for all his patience & coaching during this round.

I want to start by saying that this forum has been a big help in providing information and feedback on clubs, bags and ball options for beginners. I have been reading topics for about six months and figured it was time to post. About the middle of last year six months after turning 50, I started thinking about taking up golf. I had an old set of clubs which were I purchased from Goodwill about 25 years ago. I recall the price being around $20 for the club and bag and spending a whopping $7 on the putter. I only used them about 4 or 5 time for golf outings at work. I even left the cobwebs on the bag for character. I knew that I would need to replace the old clubs which had now rusted so I searched for information on clubs for beginners learned about Callaway's Strata Clubs and found Callaway's pre-owned site. I picked up a Strata 3 wood and a Strata putter. I practiced at the local range and enjoyed it and decided to move forward. I picked up an older Big Bertha driver, because there were big at the time I last played 20 years ago and really wanted one. By this time winter weather had arrived and spent the winter reading a number of instructional books to prepare myself for what to expect and hopefully pick up tips. It wasn't until was again researching clubs for newbies as by this time I was fearful of irons and found threads at this forum on hybrids. After reviewing the threads and researching the lesser expensive options available I can back again was thankfully found old, old threads on the clubs which interested me. The introduction to hybrids I picked up from this forum opened the flood gates. I have a Cobra TWS Senior 6 Hybrid, 32*, which has become my go to club. After many hours of putting practice under my belt I tried my first nine hole executive course shot a 61 on a par 29. My cousin told me that if I was serious, he would set me up with a couple of lessons. After just the first lesson I was down to a 48 at the same course. I had heard about taking lessons from a PGA Professional but. I never knew how much of a difference they could make. So here I am now hooked. I even have a putter my wife doesn't know about. It's used like the rest of my clubs but, new to me. I look forward to becoming part of the group and want to thank everyone who took time to answer questions for other newbies and helped me along.