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Everything posted by TropicalSandTrap
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The story should have been what a fantastic round of golf this young guy played two weeks before the open. Instead it was this BS. I would have liked to see some highlight shots. Instead I got to see a bunch of replays of him marking the ball and putting it back where it was and talking to the official and then jogging to the tee and then flash to brandle Chamblee talking about how horrible this event was for the game and then another clip of this guy marking his ball in the exact same spot. I would have loved to see more of his shots from the round.
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Yet golf channel devoted hours to this controversy Sunday. Was a black eye to the integrity of the game. Officials needed to protect he field. Blah, blah, blah. #FireBrandleChamblee
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Out of Bounds versus Lateral Hazard
TropicalSandTrap replied to TropicalSandTrap's topic in Rules of Golf
I understand that concern, but this is jagged lava fields. Nobody is playing out of this area (and you certainly aren't going to disturb people's privacy). With respect to the heather area, that is all course property. Thanks for the response regarding the potential rule change. That would be a good move. Much better than allowing the flagstick to stay in the hole during putting. Regardong the requirement of water, we are no longer only playing golf on the east coast and the Europe where many dead areas are going to have water. We now play in deserts and even lava fields where no water is present. Time to adjust. -
I understand the technical difference, that the hazard is supposed to have water, but I think courses should be allowed to mark areas as laterals in certain spots. Growing up in the northeast, it seemed that the only out of bounds on a course were the course boundaries. And all the "dead areas" on a course off to the side of holes where usually marsh type areas and had red stakes (or just woods so go find your ball). I notice elsewhere, these dead areas might not contain any natural water, so they get marked as out of bounds instead of just red staked. For practical purposes they are no different than a big scampish area on a course in the northeast, but we don't have as much inland water so it has to be an out of bounds? Have to go back to the tee and reload instead of a drop with a penalty? Or maybe the course is allowed to Red stake it and just opts to go with out of bounds? this picture is the course I play the most. The portion on the far left is red stake, but all that charcoal covered area is out of bounds. It's no different than if I looked at some of the courses I grew up on from a playing perspective in terms of dead marshland area, but you mis a tee shot and you incur a much stiffer penalty. And the other thing that kills me at some courses is when they grow the heather to a height were it might as well be a water hazard. You aren't ever finding your ball. I'm fine with them putting the obstacle on the course, but stake it off. Especially considering a lot of the heather is blind from the tee (unlike water that is marked on the scorecard or cart gps map). What ends up happening is 99% of the golfers end up playing these it of bound or heather areas like lateral hazards anyway. You never see people getting back in their carts and heading back to the tee to reload. So why not just mark them that way to begin with?
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Had a putt yesterday, 20 footer, had the flagstick in. Putt was dead center, good speed (a little hard but not cruising past the cup), hit the flag stick and kicked off just enough to sit on the edge of the cup. I can't stand putting with the flagstick in. And it's not like taking the stick or slows down the round.
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This guy plays an amazing round and all Brandle Chamblee and golf central are focused on is whether Rahm marked his ball at 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock before placing it back at 12 o'clock for the putt. Why? Who cares? Guy had a 4 foot putt before he marked his ball, and he had an identical 4 foot putt after he placed his ball down. Chamblee is the same clown who watches all of Bernhardt Langers rounds to watch if his extended putter grazes the shirt at all during a round and then goes nuts if it does. Im all for strict adherence to the rules, but some of this stuff that Chamblee likes to try to make a big deal about simply is not a violation. That guy should have worked harder at his game instead of being the nerd in the clubhouse accusing everyone else of cheating and maybe he would have made more cuts.
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The courses I play are all $150-200 per round. There are no local municipal courses with reasonable rates. They do have local/resident rates that are reasonable For 18 holes, but for 9 holes it is still a lot to pay. Growing up I was a member at a course and being able to play 4 or 6 holes in the evening without feeling obligated to "get your money's worth" was such a luxury. And later in life the courses around me all had 9 hole rates. I can go and hit the range and the practice area and putting green for 2 hours after work, but I can't justify paying an 18 hole rate to play 9 holes. Thats really the only thing stopping me from playing holes everyday. If only we just had a simple, modestly maintained municipal course with a $25 nine hole rate after 4 pm.
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Put in 10-15 hours per week at minimum. Hit the course, whether it's the range, putting green, wedge area, or even better if I can get out on the course, at least 5 times per week. Work to keep the plane of my swing steep (it is very flat through years of neglect) and improve the follow through. Stay patient and respect each shot. Don't worry about my score. Just do all this and the rounds in the 70's will come around.
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For example: that par 4 that you never seem to be able to get to. Always seems like you have a big shot in and when you step up on the tee you are totally psyched out. If you have played that hole using your best shot, you will have a new feel for it. When you step up to the tee your thought might be different. Instead of thinking how hard the hole is, you might be thinking: "if I hit the tee shot solid (not great, but solid), I will be between those bunkers." (You know this because you have hit a few out there). "If I am between those two bunkers, that's 185 in. But it's not a soft 185, it's a little incline and I need to hit it the full amount" (and you know this because you've hit a few shots from that spot. And you also know that from 185 it's difficult to put it close, and the goal is really to just get up to the green to give yourself an up and down chance for par and make no worse than a bogey.) or that 330 yard par 4 that looks easy on the scorecard but you keep messing up (or just not capitalizing on). You might realize that your driver doesn't gain anything for you and that maybe a 3W off the tee puts you at say 115 yards which is a nice number. It might tighten up 20 yards down the fairway and hitting the tee shot that gives you the easy wedge in is a better play than trying to hit driver to a tighter landing just so you are hitting a 56 degree instead of a wedge or 9 iron. The drill will also also help you realize what a scoring hole is (scoring opportunity) instead of being satisfied with a 4.6 average on that 330 yd par 4 we just discussed, you might realize that this is now a consistent 9I in for you, and that you should be optimistic about a birdie Chance and disappointed with a bogie because you have seen what you are capable of on that hole. You know where you need to be to put a scoring club in your hand and you know how to hit that scoring shot from 130 or wherever This drill might also show a player player how much work their scoring clubs need. If you are 80-140 yards out, you should be pretty accurate. If you are missing greens from that distance, then you know what to work on at the range. And then next time you do this drill you might see that from 130 you hit all 3 shots on the green within 20 feet of the hole as opposed to the first time you tried it and you only hit one on the green. (This is a benefit of playing the short tees too). Like I said, this is just something that has worked for me in getting over the hump from shooting low to mid 80's to being able to break 80 with some frequency.
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Using the best shot is a good way to learn the hole, learn your abilities on the hole, what to expect, etc... learn how to conquer that par 4 that seems so difficult and that you have never seemed to make par on. Learn what position to be in on that tricky par 5 in order to get a scoring club in your hand on your approach shot get comfortable with hitting the green on those par 3 holes Im not advocating starting to use mulligans. But rather commit to doing this with two or even three balls for a round and see what happens. We are all different, but this has worked for me in the past.
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I have been playing for 30 years and much of my career has been in the 7-12 hdcp range. I have never been below a 5 hdcp. Fifteen yrs ago I didn't have access to golf and took like 5 years off. When I returned I was able to go wrong back to the mid-80's pretty quickly but couldn't get below 80. I then played the ladies tees a few times. I noticed the scores were not all that much better. I then a long iron off the tee (still from ladies tees). Tried to set the tee shots up where a perfect drive would be from the back tees. After a few rounds I was able to identify the scoring aspects of my game that needed improvement. Accuracy with full shots from Thebes's 90-150 range, and general shortgame work. Also the importance of placing the ball in play off the tee rather than just trying to get it as close to the green as a possible. After some range work with mid irons for accuracy, and a couple of rounds, I was able to shoot even par from the ladies tees. Next round out from the white tees I was in the 70's again. I was really able to identify the way to score on the course and put myself in position to hit the greens in regulation on longer approaches how to mitigate a bit. I know some golf schools have what they call "short courses" for this very purpose. I no longer look at the tees as ladies or seniors or pros or whatever, but rather just identify the tees by distances. Do I want to play a 6000 yard course today, or do I want to go 6300 or 6500? Another tip is to go out and play a practice round on a scramble type format but just by your self. Hit tee balls, take your best one. What you will gain is an appreciate for what you are capable of on a hole. If you just play what you think is a hard hole and for on it, you might not ever get over the hump on that hole. See what your best shots give you on that hole so when you are playing a real round you know what to expect. For example I did this yesterday, there are a couple of par 5's on the course that I never knew if I could reach in two. One of them I was able to get to, and I know where a good spot is and what I need to hit to get there. He others I was not, so I know playing hen that I can approach them as easy three shot holes. ALso, there are a couple of par 4's that have some length to them. But now I know where a tee shot gets me, and I know even with a good tee shot I will need a long iron in. It is helpful to know what to expect from a hole when you get to the tee.
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250 yards is a respectable carry distance
TropicalSandTrap replied to bunkerputt's topic in Golf Talk
In looking at the card a bit more and where a 220-240 yard shot placed me off the tee: 18 holes, 10 par 4's and 4 each par 5/3 course played about 6k yards all par 5's a 3W off the tee placed me in position to be well within 100 yards after my 2nd shot. 6 par 4's I was within 140 of the pin after a 220-240 tee shot. The other 4 par 4's I was 179-190 yds away. So looking at where the placement would have been from the blue tees (6,290 yards): most of the additional yardage is on the par 5's, where I was already within 100 yards away off a 220-240 tee shot for the 6 par 4's where I was within 140, I still would have been within 140 some would be 130 instead of 120 type differences l. But still a scoring iron in on the longer par 4's, two of them would have been in the 200-210 yards away. So instead of a 5I from 185 it's a 3H from 205. But in the long run, the result for those shots more often than not is some sort of green side chip, which shouldn't alter the score on the hole too ofte moral of the story is that 220-240 yards off the tee is plenty distance to have respectable scores on 6000-6300 yard courses -
250 yards is a respectable carry distance
TropicalSandTrap replied to bunkerputt's topic in Golf Talk
I played today solo with a 3W off the tee. Hit three balls for every shot as I was trying to learn the course and see what my 3W got me on each hole. I hit my 3W 220-240 when hit properly, and my miss (trap draw, low hook) tended to go 190. I was using a range finder to confirm the distances. i was a bit surprised because if I'm 200 yd away, I hit a 4H. And from 185 I hit 5I. I thought the 3W would have a bit more pop but I was wrong. That said aid I was in play all day off the white tees, had no problem hitting second shots from respectable distances. Course from the white tees was just about 6k yards, and I only had more than a 7 iron in for a second shot four times. I also reached a par 5 in two. Another surprise was was when I pulled out a driver on 18 and hit it after I hit a couple of 3W. I really wasn't that much longer. THe 3W was in prime position (this was the par 5 I reached in 2). I thought for sure the driver would fly past the 3W. I am just taking up the game again after a few years off so re-learning my distances is something I am working on.