Moxley

20 yards is a pretty big gain though , If it's assumed that the extra distance isn't at the cost of accuracy/mishits. Just one off the world drive would cost 2 shots , and It would take a fair bit of improvement to my swing to get it 20 yds further without risking those shots.

Yeah, as already noted it'd need to be scratch male amateurs, not just low cappers. The type of scratch players might have an impact - many club players who are around scratch are older middle aged guys who have been playing for decades , and haven't yet lost too much strength , but some are also really talented younger guys who hit the ball much further but lack a complete game. The latter of these groups might be able to take advantage of the course setup better. This would also be the one most interesting to see, if you had the guy driving 50 yards further but running off the green with his wedge, while the LPGA player sticks it to within 10 feet with her 5 iron.

I find predictable curvature a good thing , and more preferable to slightly straighter but unpredictable. Play with a guy who slices off the tee and reliably finds fairway or light rough. That said, the curvature sounds really extreme, I'm surprised she holds the fairway with a hook like that , because normally hooks are low and roll out a lot on landing. And if she does get sufficient height, I'm surprised that the kicks don't mess things up.

If it's any use to anybody , then here goes: Driver : rarely use but maybe 235 Mini driver : 220, much further in very dry conditions 5 wood : 200 3h : 195 7w : 175 5i/h : 165 6i : 152 7i : 140 8i : 130 9i : 120 pw : 95* sw : 70* I don't generally get enough distance through the bag, although I think that the mid irons are the biggest issue. I can hit my driver further if I wish but rarely swing full throttle. * backswing is shorter with these.

It doesn't make to play if it's fun, but there's probably a way you can make it fun again. It might be something like playing with a different group, changing to senior equipment, or playing a scoring system that suits what you can still do. If you do quit, find a way to replace the exercise (if you walk).

I can't help with the medical side, but I have the exact same pain (and same after symptoms), and in my case it's related to a bad injury from a motorbike crash 10 years back. I hope you find and are able to deal with the cause. I generally find that I'm able to play, but I have to manage the issue. Range is no/no (yes, it's not good for the long game) , but playing can be OK. I then use a combination of strategies to get by : - Lessen bad impacts - thicker grips, softer balls, hybrids > long irons. I haven't got graphite in my irons, but have considered it. - Use ibroprofen gel on the wrist before/after golf. I apply right the way up the ulna side about half way to the elbow. - Always pick the kettle & other similar objects up with my left hand - I haven't yet started using a trolley (I much prefer to carry) , but I think it's inevitable that I will. - Live with a little pain, but ease off golf if it's too much. If I have an important game, I try not to play too much in the lead up. Sadly it also affects the golf a little too, with the main issue being pitching. Best of luck in either sorting out. or adapting to it.

The complexity of the rules as a whole derives , at least in part, from the extent to be which they need to be understood. That's not to say that implication that you don't need to understand all the rules doesn't come with problems, as already well highlighted in this thread. It doesn't, but they may have decided that they don't think this will happen, or at least not often enough to be a problem. There are already more effective ways that a dishonest player can take advantage of the rules to cheat. For instance, If you hit a shot over water, and claim you saw it reenter the hazard green side , it matters not what anybody else saw (or indeed what happened), you get yourself your favourable drop. True, but this is just sport and the incentives are generally lower. It's a shame that this provision doesn't apply to low level competitions for newer players, since the temptation to cheat (and impact on the field) increases in competitions where there is something at stake. Different people see it differently, some see it as a cheating penalty, see @NM Golf's post for an example. Either way it's a penalty of shame. I think we're agreed on this point. Thanks for clarifying, but I think I preferred your first post.

Not got enough to have started to sell, but one thing I have learned is not to give up on a new club too quickly. I've made a few purchases that haven't seemed to initially work out (5 hybrid, Mini driver, 5 wood) which have at times cycled out of the bag, only to come back in and later do the business. My mini-driver was the best club in my bag this spring, and my 5 hybrid has been invaluable to me the last few months while my iron game has been off - both clubs I'd initially wrote off as bad purchases. In future, I'll probably sell when I get a like-for-like replacement, but hang onto clubs that have something different about them.

I doubt that this where the rule change has come from. They have said in their notes that they are trying to strike a balance between rules that are simple enough to be understood, complex enough to be fair (i.e. all the various exceptions/decisions), and preserve the spirit of the game. I think the spirit of this rule is to cater for situations where golfers, especially newer competitors, fall foul of an obscure part of the rules and are then given what could be perceived as a cheating penalty. These situations are rare, so I suspect that it's a perception thing - avoiding situations which reinforce the idea that the rules of golf are complicated and penal. Whether or not this is a good way to achieve that is a different matter, but I doubt it was done to throw a bone to the folk who just don't like rules, who simply shouldn't be part of competitive golf.

On the whole I agree, although I'm somewhat more sympathetic to the change if applied in limited circumstances. For professional golf, this should be a non starter - it's your Job to know the rules, simple. For elite level amateur comps, I'd say the same, since those players will have been competing for long enough to know. Where I can see more of a case for this is in circumstances applying to newer golfer, juniors and such who might not know all the rules well enough to avoid an honest mistake. Over here competition golf is predominately played by club members, so being dishonest is a big deal, and thus I don't see this rule change being so much of a problem - over your side of the pond where club membership isn't as much of a norm, maybe not.

@FrivolouslyWasted Another option I looked into before the mini was a deep 3 wood - face is still similar to 3 wood size, but just a little deeper (again, more tee shot friendly).If this matches your preference , then there are a few of these, such as one from Calloway.

I mean on the day. To be more specific, I'm meaning mid 80's (i.e. shooting my handicap) - since my handicap is primarily an indicator of my better rounds, I know those rounds are ones where I've driven the ball pretty well and not had a problem with lost balls and so on. Rather than getting frustrated that I won't shoot that figure or start playing silly golf, I generally revise my aims around what I can achieve if I go for GIR+1 on non par 3's for the rest of the round. For some people it's all or nothing but I personally don't enjoy blowout rounds.

When you hit a shot , a genuinely bad shot rather than an unlucky one, which looks to have found trouble, do you do anything different for your provisional ball? For the purpose of this discussion, I'm largely talking about holes/courses you are familiar with and can be confident about your initial strategy. The logic for sticking with your original plan is obvious - if you were playing the correct type of shot and the problem is in the execution, then it makes sense to stick with this and chalk it down to poor execution, but I've found on some occasions that when I take a provisional ball, I manage to reproduce a near replica of the shot that just got me into trouble. Equally, I sometimes try and avoid the error I've just made and unsurprisingly find the other side. I'm thinking it might be better to club down and hit an iron or hybrid into the fairway with these shots, on the basis that : a) I avoid repeating a mistake I'm likely to repeat b) I avoid over compensating and now having to find balls either side of the fairway c) I can maximise my groups time on finding my original ball. and most importantly d) I avoid the shame of having to take a 2nd provisional, or , even worse, trudging back to the tee to do so. And a question for those up on the rules, does you get an additional 5 minutes to look for your provisional if this ball also strays offline, and if so , how is it determined which ball you have started searching for should they be in similar areas?

I also have a 14 degrees aeroburner mini driver - it's the club that is almost solely responsible for trimming 4-5 shots of my handicap (at least, when it was working 🙂 ). It normally replaces my driver, which I often don't take out. I think you already understand that you get less playability from the turf. The idea of the club is that it's a cross between the two - a bit easier to hit than a 3 wood from the tee, but harder to from the turf. I'd say I lose 10-15 yards of carry vs my main driver, but for some reason I tend to be able to get a flatter trajectory and get more roll, despite the increased loft. Misses don't tend to be as bad as with the driver, and usually in play. From the turf, it's more playable than a driver, but less playable than a 3 wood - shots low off the face still get a lot of speed, but the launch is still very low. If you want to hit a low shot that runs on a long way, no problem, but if you want to carry over a pond 200+ yards away, then you'll need to be a better player than me to do it with this club.

So many responses that resonate with me , but the one about finding yourself alone on the course during twilight is a big one for me, it's just a wonderful peaceful feeling. Another great thing though is that you can always have the joy of competing - whether against friends, in a formal comp, or just against yourself.

To start with, accept with that shooting in the 80's is probably not going to happen, and then manage it hole by hole - where I can away with it, I'll play for a workable miss , and on holes where I can't, club down. I'm currently working on my hybrid from the tee at the moment , on the basis that it's a different swing and just about long enough for some holes.

Although I agree that most professional golfers would have the ability and training to adapt their game as necessary, I do think that British players have a slight edge here. Weather is part of the course (especially coastal links) on a great deal of our courses here in the UK, so all our golfers will have grown up playing regularly in such conditions. Even inland courses will experience a significant amount of wind/rain. True, but most of the best players in the world are American, with 3 of those wins coming from Woods during his dominant spell, so that would be at least the expected haul. Americans have took a greater share of all the other majors in that same period.

After reading this thread, I worked on doing a lower body turn during iron shots to get more speed. Didn't hit enough shots to get a reliable sample, but I hit a few surprisingly far. Distance is one of my main weaknesses - hit a 6 iron which was meant to be a layup, and it made it 170 onto the green, a good 15 yds further than normal, without feeling I was swinging fast. Hoping I've uncovered something here.

I can't see it happening, but Duval would be great - always one of my favourite players.

It's individual to each tournament, sometimes things like the course aren't really a factor. In the case of the 2018 Ryder cup though, I think all 3 were important, with the order being Players>Course>Captains.

The 2 clubs that the original poster mentioned would be far from identical - the 5w has less loft, and will likely have a longer, lighter shaft.

I think that like most things , it depends. A 3 wood isn't a much of a downgrade for an amateur , but a hybrid or 5 wood is. Sometimes Driver is the best bet, I just don't think it's often going to be the best 14 times. I played a game at a lovely course with a few weeks back in a fourball which took 5 hours thirty, and very little waiting (only waits were letting people through). Most of the time was spent in searching in the rough for errant tee shots. It was like none of the others realised that balls beyond the first cut were not likely to be findable.

Very true. Among the groups I play in (mostly higher or high-mid cappers), I'm usually the only person to play less than driver on non par 3 holes. I think, at least among men, a cultural change is needed here as too many just pull out driver whether it's the best play or not.

The 5 wood should go further, comfortably. From my own experience : - hybrid will be easier off tee & rough - hybrid should be straighter, although I'm more likely to miss left. - 5 wood easier to curve when desired.

I don't agree at all that he's a bully - there's a big difference between somebody having an angry outburst, which is really just a loss of temper (and who hasn't lost their temper, at least to some degree?) and a bully. If he'd then sought to have those spectators removed, as indeed some golfers do , then perhaps I could see that, but I don't take that sort of malice from the reported incident at all. And I just don't think it's Poulter at all - he's a warm person, a passionate guy that sometimes gets hot under the collar, but bullying just doesn't seem his sort of thing.