badbeatj

I'll recheck my 9 iron numbers tonight. It may be more like my 52 degree (125 yds) and inside that are within 10 yds which I'm pretty confident with. Even then, a 3 putt is not uncommon for me. I am here because I want to improve. I don't need to be right. I just want to get better. My drive does need work. I am the first to admit that I work on this part of my game the most. I want to say that I'm within the 60 yard dispersion but I'm not because every now and then, I'll hook one 45 yards left or slice 45 yards right. So I guess that's like an 90 yard dispersion while 80 % of my shots are within the 65-70 yard dispersion. I know I have to eliminate these random erratic shots. What do you do if a fairway is like 35 yards wide and tree lined on both sides?

LOL now. I'm rethinking this. Yes it's on the Sim. When people are verifying data, how many shots is the minimum sample size? Isn't hitting wedges within 10 yards a legitimate thing? That's still a 30ft putt?

Thanks for your comments I think a great question you asked was whether my comments about my putting was statistically logged or just perception. I lose track of my putts when I'm on the field so I will do a better job recording this summer. When I step up to a 3/4 ft putt, I have major trepidation and have a losers mentality. If it is on a hilly green, game over... That's a 2 putt. I am definitely under 50% on 5 ft putts which lead to a few more bogeys per round. I know golf simulators are not the same as on course. I do struggle on tougher courses like Augusta (members tees) where fairways are tree lined and fairway bunkers are in my shot zone but on wider courses like Cabot Cliffs, I shoot quite well. I avg 155 mph ball speed and carry 250 yds on my driver. (spin is a bit higher than I like at 2800-3k rpm) My 7 iron is 175 yds and usually within 15 yds left or right of target My 9 iron and wedges are within 10 yds of target. I put gimmes at 6ft My scores are mid to high 70s on a sim I admit, I have a perfect lie every shot which I arbitrarily attributed a 5 stroke improvement compared to real life. I had guessed that the other 5+ strokes in improvement was due to the 6 ft gimmes I have been practicing hard all winter and psyched for golf season to start. I've been practicing my approaches and chips 80 yds and in and feel quite confident there. I'm getting my 30 yd shots to spin at 5500+ rpm and check up on the green My hope is to break 80 this year but I feel like putting is my Achilles heel that prevents this. Am I wrong? Is it still Driver that I need to work on? I think I'll actually record my driver stats and perhaps post it here because you guys may be right. While I focus and lament on putting, maybe my driver does need improvement in terms of dispersion. How many balls should I hit?

Is this based on a certain baseline for putting skill? Like is this an assumption that everyone makes 3-4 footers? My driving and approach is better than most ppl that break 80 but I shoot in the mid to high 80s I'll have an errant drive which results in a triple bogey every now and then but what's killing me is the amount of 3-6 ft putts that I miss per round which result in bogeys after 3 putting or even sometimes 4 putting when I hit the green in regulation. Sure you can say, if my approach was better, I'd be putting for birdie, but my peers aren't giving up strokes on putting like I am when starting their putt from similar distances or even chipping from off the green... But would you still say that my practice time is best served by hitting drives and approaches?

I just looked up my city's altitude and it's 3500 ft. Also, it's very dry here so there's always a lot of roll. (Desert like climate) Is it possible to hit 300 yards under these conditions? If not, I must honestly say that the machine's measurement must have been off. My friend and I both have seen each other hit 300+ yards so either its possible with a 100 mph swing or the machine is off

Well I know for sure I can hit 300 because I do it quite frequently... Do you think the machine was off on my swing speed? But the funny thing is, I did it with a friend who drives about as far I do except sometimes he hits slightly longer than me by 5-10 yards. His SS came in avg 108...

I checked out my stats for the 1st time today. My swing speed avg is 99-101 mph (easy comfortable swing) My average drive goes 280 when I'm going for accuracy (c+r) If I put more juice on it, it goes 300 but there will be more dispersion. To be honest, I was kind of disappointed as I thought I would be around 110 mph In Calgary, I usually hit between 280-300 but 1 or 2 drives per round will go around 325. I was hitting 280 on the machine and topping out at 300... The guy said that the machine was adjusted to sea level... Is it the high dry altitude in Calgary that's making my drives seem longer than they actually are? Also, I was hitting top flight balls on the machine if that makes a difference...

Thanks for your helpful information. You are definitely right about working from hole backwards. The year I made this post, I ended up playing around 35 rounds and ended the season hitting around 84-85 with 2 rounds in the 70s... I would hit 2 over on some 9s and then explode on the 2nd half to end at 84-85. I'm replying 3 years late lol. I had taken a hiatus from golf as I have been super busy with work and living in Calgary Canada, Golf season goes from May to Oct. I had only gone out 4-5 times a year at most the last 2 seasons. This year has not been much better in terms of making it to the course as I had my first son!!! However I've taken it very seriously by reading and thinking golf pretty much every day starting July. As of July 1st, I've gone 4 times and by supplementing going to the driving range, i hit 102, 97, 94 and finally 85. I don't know how but after all this time off golf, my driver actually improved and I'm hitting a lot more accurately while avg 280 yards (75% fairway) My irons are also going well as I am super confident about hitting the green from 150yards and in. (about 65-70%) The big jump from 94 to 85 came because during my 94 round, I lost a LOT of strokes due to chunking chips and 3 putting 15 ft birdie chances on MULTIPLE occasions.. I decided that when it came to chipping, I'll overhit rather than underhit which has stopped me from de-accelerating and chunking my shots. I just bought a 9ft putting mat and am working on my putting stroke for the 1st time in my life. I've decided to make 10 in a row every night before going to bed and its becoming more and more consistent. I still haven't worked on my chipping as much as I want to as I don't have the time to go to a chipping green and my backyard is too small. I am playing this Saturday and I anticipate that I will prob play 2 more time before season ends. I just really hope to end the season with at least hitting 1 round in the low 80s lol I will update my progress.

Quote: Originally Posted by iacas I started with blades. MacGregor/Nicklaus blades. I consider it one of the best things I could have done. I take no credit, because I did it unknowingly, but I'm glad those were the clubs I got. I learned quickly that striking the center of the clubface was important. And I'd played all of one or two rounds of golf prior to getting them, so I was about as "noob" as it gets. Same here. Father in law (great golfer) bought me (complete noob) Ben Hogan Apex Blades. I REALLY struggled the 1st season but my ball striking got really good. I got used to playing with them (learned to shape shots etc) and hit bogey game. After that, I rewarded myself by getting TaylorMade R7 TPs and instantly added another 10-15 yards to my irons while getting a bigger sweet spot) Main thing is, once I learned how to hit blades, I could pretty much hit any club.

I find myself pre-occupied with counting the scores of the people I'm playing with. If there is a guy that I'm trying to beat and I see him screw up a drive AND the 2nd shot, I can't help but keep his score while I should be concentrating on MY shot. I do this because on occasions, I've seen them miscount their shots when they blow up on a hole.

I am usually pretty confident in my irons but I seem to struggle a lot when the ground is fairy wet or muddy. I am used to hitting down on the ball and pinching the ball off the turf and my club head. However, I feel that during wet conditions, the ground is either too soft or wet and I feel like I chunk the ball a lot. What I mean is I end up taking a huge divot when I normally don't. basically I mishit a lot more and those mishits are killer because the ball only travels like 50-80 yards. I guess you could compare a dry day to hitting/practicing on astroturf and the wet day as hitting off real grass. Do people change their swing when the ground is fairly wet? Should I be scooping the ball a little more rather than hitting down on it? Any suggestions or tips would be great Thanks

I looked up how to play Nassau and it looks very fun Is this pretty much the rules? http://www.golflink.com/how_402_play-nassau.html I dont quite understand the meaning of "pressing" like double or nothing so say we bet $2 for front 9 and $2 for back nine. And we bet another $2 for overall score. Do you usually limit the number of presses or is it open for anyone thats trailing? Also can you lay 2 presses at once? Say you are trailing by 2 after 6 holes. Can you put a press on holes 7-9 as well as the overall score of holes 7-18 OR do most people wait to press the overall score until much later?

My bro and I are looking to start making things a little more interesting by playing for money. (Nothing Big, just very small amounts but enough to put a little pressure on each other) We are similar skill levels. We have similar handicaps but I find that throughout 18 holes I would make more birdies and pars but blow up on a few holes whereas he is much more consistent and consists mainly of bogeys and pars. We thought of match play like a skins type where we bet a dollar per hole with tied holes carrying over to the next hole and so on. I find that I would have an advantage here because I usually score better on the majority of holes. If we do strke play it would be anybody's game and we can do something like betting $10 a round. Are there any other interesting ways to play/bet when its just heads up?

So, I played my next round and was a lot more consistent on my drives. I actually didnt lose any balls until the 17th when I decided to play "safe" on a par 5. I was at 8 over and thought single digit round was within reach. I ended up hooking my 3 iron OB!!! Needless to say, my game crumbled as I ended up the final 2 holes with a double and a triple to end at 13. My GIR was 9/18 and my driving accuracy was 11/14 (2 was in the bunker and I sliced on that I was still able to play. My putts were 36. (No birdies)

Thanks for your post. It was a great read. I look forward to looking at the pictures. (When I am not at work.hehe) A lot of the courses you mentioned are ones that I dreamed of playing. Especially ones in the Myrtle Beach Area. I've already done my research and I've already picked most of the courses you mentioned as a must play if I ever get a chance to get down there. I also want to play Bandon Dunes when I get an opportunity to one day. The best ones I've played at are Troon North-Monument (Phoenix) TPC Scottsdale- Stadium Course (Phoenix) Ocotillo Golf Course (Phoenix) Paiute- Wolf Course (Vegas) Silver Rock (Palm Springs) Desert Willow- Firecliff (Palm Springs) Kananaskis Golf Club (Kananaskis/Alberta/Canada) Silver Tip Resort (Canmore, Alberta) Grey Wolf (Panorama, BC) Vancouver Golf Club (Vancouver, BC) Furry Creek (BC)

Alberta Canada has good courses. It would be a nice destination trip for people living in the states They have many by the Rockies which are challenging and scenic http://www.kananaskisgolf.com/ http://www.banffspringsgolfclub.com/Welcome.html http://www.silvertipresort.com http://www.stewartcreekgolf.com/golf/

I am a pretty long iron hitter and use Taylor Made R7 TP. I hit about 2 clubs longer than my friend who hits Titleist 695MB I tried using his club and it feels nice. I am able to hit blades as well because I used to have the Hogan Apex blades. For him, I think he wants to gain more distance hence contemplating the trade with me. For me, the pros of this trade is, the iron set looks nicer, and I am not completely sure but the Titleist irons seem more valuable (price wise?). Performance wise, I think its pretty similar except I hit about 10 yards less. I know you should pick a club that suits you rather than price, looks, etc BUT, what is the general conensus as to which one is a better club?

Thanks for the help guys I really appreciate it. I am planning on getting a video lesson from a golf pro to focus mainly on my drives. I feel very comfortable with my irons and I think you guys are right. The penalty strokes off the drives hurt me. Never really though about it because I saw it as maybe 3 errors a round. Didn't think far enough ahead of the ramifications of having a bad drive like lost strokes and worse chance of hitting greens on the next shot, etc. How is my putting 33-35 per round? What do people in the low 80s usually putt per round?

I have always been a casual player who played around 3-5 rounds a year. However it is only as of recent (last Sept) that I have fallen in love with this sport. I feel that I am progressing quite quickly as I have played alot during this period. I have started to track things in a quest to improve and hope that people that look at my stats can tell me where I am weak and lacking and where I should focus to get to the next level. My score is usually in the high eighties. I calculated and I average about 7-8 GIRs per round. Is that on par with what people normally play with that GIR percentage or should I be scoring better with these stats? I personally think its my putts that kill me as I average around 33-35 per round. I also lose about 3 drives a round into the trees or OB (Usually its due to a slice but I will turn my wrist over too much in an attempt to cure the slice and end up hooking it OB every now and then as well) These are my stats. What should I be concentrating on at this point? Should I be concentrating mainly on Putting, Drives? If someone has a work out plan for me, that would be great

1) Hit the fairway on my drives 80% of the time 2)Average 32 putts per round This would save me about 5 strokes per round at least.

Thank for your inputs guys. That makes sense. I agree that my potential could be what the index is. Just the matter of consistency. I'll shoot a 5 or 6 in a 9 and blowup on the other half, etc. When people ask what my handicap is, do they usually mean the index then or what I normally score on average?

What I don't understand is, I went to a website that helps calculate your handicap index. http://www.pgaprofessional.com/handi...ml#calculators I've played 14 rounds this year and keep all my scorecards to track how I play. My play varies widely as on a good day I'm in the mid 80s and on a bad day I'm in the low to mid 90s. As a result, I always told people my handicap was about 18. This site says that to calculate my handicap, if I have 14 scorecards, I am to take my best 6. Now one of the 6 happens to be a day when I was on fire and hit my first ever single digit round (shot an 81) As a result, my handicap index was a lot lower than what I would normally tell people and it ended up at 12.7. Now just to see, I also entered my last 10 rounds (not my best 10) and it came out at 15.4 I wouldn't feel comfortable telling people I am a 12.7 because somedays, I score as bad as 97. In fact, I wouldn't even feel comfortable telling people I hit a 15.4. Should I have really taken my best 6 out of 14 to calculate my index? How is this legit for people like me who are inconsistent and have a wide range in scores?

If your tee-shot is OB/lost and you do not hit a provisional off your tee-shot, is taking a 2 stroke penalty where you lose the ball frowned upon? ALso, I had a situation on a par 3 when I hit what I thought was a good shot, the ball hit the green and I lost track of it afterwards. I thought it was all good, maybe rolled off the green and to the fringe at worst. However, when I got to the green, I could not find the ball at all. There was a hazard behind the green and I am thinking maybe the ball bounced hard off the green and fell back there and I could not find it. What do I do? At the time, I dropped the ball in front of the hazard behind the green and chipped on with a 1 stroke penalty but I am thinking I didn't play that right. What should I have done? (There were no hazards from tee to green)