fredloves2golf

Simple math: Add gross score + course hdcp = net score Betterthan "scratch" have + hdcps so something like 69 + +2 = 71 is common. For the rest of us mortals, 81 + -10 = 71...(two players of wildly different ability tied).

Definitely real. Had one today. I'm starting to recognize them more, now. As already been said, if its sitting down in light rough where you cant get the club immediately behind the ball, but not so thick that it impedes swing speed there's a good chance it'll jump.

Your state's golf association, in partnership with the USGA, follows another formula/guide for setting course rating and slope. My home course was recently re-rated. Things like hole length, fairway width at the landing area(s), proximity of bunkers to green, other hazards, forced carries and pyschological factors all account in their formula. I believe I've found the guide online once, but I can't locate it immediately now.

The tournament may also be a "scramble" tournament. I've seen a lot of these advertised incorrectly as best ball. The thinking being that all 4 teammates hit the tee shot, move to the "best" one and then hit again until the ball is holed.

Odd timing... I just started a thread about a ball I'm really loving right now, and only $19.99/dozen. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31111

I've been buying gloves from MasterGrip for just about as long as I've been playing golf. Recently, I decided to take a chance on their mg Tour C4 golf balls. At $19.99/dozen, I thought, "Why not?" Well, I've been out 4 times with them (rounds of 80, 81, 79, 83) and they're super soft, fly long off the driver, and stick or spin back on all iron shots. I'm definitely a fan and playing the best golf of the season (which may not all be related to the ball)! If there's any fault, it would be durability. I hit a cart path on the second hole this morning and it tore a chunk of the urethane cover to where I could see the next layer beneath it. Normal wear is pretty decent where only a short wedge might scuff it. Hopefully this post doesn't come across as a shill... I just wanted to share my experience and help someone with an option to save half the cost of other premium balls.

When I was about your handicap, I actually switched grips in the opposite direction...going from interlock to overlap. So, definitely, it's possible to spray the ball with an interlocking grip! For me, it was for comfort and I thought I hit a plateau where I needed to change something but didn't know what. I changed the grip over a winter, got some lessons in the Spring and the years afterward and I'm slowly trending lower ever since. I would say the improvement is more influenced by lessons and practice rather than a grip change.

I love my Speedline driver, but only after cutting a little more than an inch off the shaft... 46" is too long for me to control. Before that, I was spraying it all over the place! I suspect they're trying to clear house so that the improved Speedline 9032's can get some attention.

Keep your grips clean... and your glove will stay relatively clean, too.

Or, you can think of it this way... The position of the hands at setup never change, but the ball position within your stance does.... giving the impression that your hands are well forward for short irons and even or behind for long irons and woods. In my setup, the hands are aways at the middle of my left thigh (or closest to the target).

Not to be a killjoy, but if I read your post correctly, damaged equipment is considered non-conforming and use of such equipment in competition could be subject to disqualification.

Yep, it's not a perfect system. Your handicap committee could even remove the R if it bothers you that much and you make a good case for doing so. As handicap chairman at my club, I've only made that decision one time and it was for a steadily improving player that posted exceptional tournament scores and then had surgery and couldn't compete at the restricted level. All we're looking for is fairness of competition...

I'll throw out the dissenting opinion and say you should spend it, if that's what you want to do. When you get older and have a steady stream of bills, and perhaps a questionable stream of income, saving takes priority. As a student, you're still free of all those life challenges. Besides, what's the incentive to save? If it's just a "few hundred", while that sounds like a lot, it's not. Banks aren't paying much interest on deposits (I think I get 0.55% on my savings, and a whopping 1% on a CD). A brokerage account for stock trading is going to ask for a few thousand dollars minimum. My parents always told me I should work for my money and then let my money work for me. Well, the financial institutions aren't holding up their end of that equation at the moment. So, buying a set of golf clubs (especially if your current set is old or low quality) can be money working for you, as an investment in yourself to get better at this great game of golf.

I'm in the same boat as a 11.8. I often say I'm a 5 hdcp ball striker and a 30 hdcp putter. For instance, I shot 82 last weekend which included 41 putts! I would say, my putting IS brutal but I've been working on something this week that might just turn all that around (I'll find out this weekend). I started working on the idea of right-hand dominance in the putting stroke, which means I'm focusing on the right hand to initiate the backswing and forward swing of the putter. Before now, I've always focused on rocking my shoulders, and never getting great feel for distance. My typical "miss" was leaving putts short or WAY short. From today's practice, I think I can also apply the same principle to greenside chipping... time will tell.

I choke down an inch or so when the ground is soft and has some give under my feet. I FEEL like when I make my downswing and drive my legs through the shot that I actually sink into the ground a little which can cause a fat shot. Gripping down seems to help.

What would YOU expect to shoot with.... 41 putts!!? {gasp!} Well, I shot 82. I just couldn't believe it. I had a spat of bad putting like this in March, but since then I've been putting in 30-34 strokes per round, then THIS happens. The timing wasn't great either, as I was playing a third-round match in my club's match play tournament. I lost, 2&1. If I had "simply" 2-putted on the 5 greens where I 3-putted, I could have won, 4&3. UGH!

Clubface looks closed at the top of the swing...

If it's in my peripheral vision, I expect to make it... doesn't always happen, of course.

Stupid moment: Front 9 = 48; Back 9 = 37

Is your handicap accurate and other than NH when viewing from your home course computer? Could be a matter of transmission frequency, from the local computer to the GHIN servers. Our home club synchronizes hourly, but I've seen other clubs do it weekly or only on revision dates.

Most likely.

Another vote for the Neo

I can't give you a measurement of how deep the hole should be. I think the bottom of the cup sits 6" below ground level. When I worked on the maintenance staff of my home course years ago, I would set the pins. There's a tool that's used that has a flange on it. You can only dig it into the ground but so far to create the new hole. The tool pulls a plug of earth out and you put it back in the old cup hole's place... leveling and top dressing with sand and soil as necessary to get the surface level. I've never seen those cup inserts you posted pictures of. I know for certain tournaments, I would paint the exposed dirt above the cup. I think it's only for additional visibility, though. I would say the biggest problem at your course is that the pins are only moved twice a week. That's not often enough because you get what you've seen... grass growing over the edges, the edges caving in from lots of play, not to mention all the spike marks in that area. In the winter time, we'd change the pins 3 times during the week and both days of the weekend; In the summer time, it was daily.

I can't find the article off-hand, but I remember reading in the Washington Post an article by the Sports writer that played with some golfer due to play at Congressional for a tournament, at the sportswriter's public/home golf course. Anyway, the pro golfer didn't do as well as he was expected to (low 60s, etc.) and complained about the "high" grass in the fairway didn't let him nip the ball perfectly like he's accustomed to, complained that the greens were too slow and not smooth or consistent. I believe there was some other complaints, too, about things we all would find commonplace at a public course. Anyway, if memory serves, the article finally shares that that pro shot, I think, a 68 on par 72.

As a low double digit handicapper, I find the OCCASIONAL need to work the ball left or right during a round. Typically, it's to try to gain an advantage on a hole, or avoid trouble. Two examples from my home club: 1) a 545 yard par five where the tee boxes are placed on the right side of the hole while the hole immediately doglegs right and guarded by a long stand of trees. The conservative play with a straight shot is something less than 200 yards or run the risk of going into the rough on the left side, leaving about 350 yards to reach the green. The agressive play, like when you're down in a match, is to take driver and cut/slice it around the stand of trees to advance the ball much further up the fairway leaving 250-280. In the right situations that extra distance gained might afford the opportunity to reach the green in two. 2) a 192 yard par three with a wide narrow green and a large deep bunker guarding the front left. When the pin is front left, I much prefer to try a draw aimed at the right side avoiding a line of flight over the bunker and working the ball back toward the hole. If the ball doesn't draw, I'm left with a long distance to putt. If I were to have gone straight at the pin and not hit it flush, I could be in that bunker and looking at a possible double-bogey score.