blcorn80

Agreed. It's one of those situations where hindsight is 20/20. Sometimes as golfers I think we fall into the trap of assuming we are always going to execute the shot we are attempting. I suppose it's a fine line between envisioning yourself successfully executing a tough shot and ignoring the potential setbacks from executing the shot poorly.

Take a look at my example with Mickelson earlier in the thread. He didn't want anyone to look because if he took stroke-and-distance, he wasn't guaranteed to end up in as good a spot as his provisional. He would have rather been able to use the provisional that was in a great spot.

I'll give a quick example that I actually saw happen in a tournament round: Player A is faced with a 10-foot downhill (I think birdie) putt to a hole on the precipice of the false front of an elevated green. The player misses the putt, the ball rolls down the false front and comes to rest some 25-30 yards off and 20 feet below the green. The player chose to play the ball as it lied, but left the pitch shot about 10 feet short and the ball rolled all the way back to his feet. He is now hitting 5 from 25 yards off the green whereas he could have declared it unplayable from the get-go and played his 5th shot from 10 feet (and much more carefully this time). Within the rules? Yes. Would it be frowned upon by the other players? Perhaps -- I guess it depends on where he finished.

I think that what we have to remember sometimes is that it is not the sole purpose of the ROG to punish players for bad shots. Quite often the ROG can be used to a player's advantage and every player is well within their rights to use them to their advantage if the opportunity presents itself (which is why you can sometimes see some pretty awkward stances/swings from pros campaigning to get free relief from cart paths or other obstructions).

No. You may only play a provisional for a ball that may be lost outside a water hazard or OB. You may not play a provisional for a ball that may or may not be unplayable.

Correct. However, I don't think you can hit a ball into a bad spot, hit a provisional, look for and locate your original and then declare it lost and chose to play your provisional.

You always have the option of taking a one-stroke penalty and hitting another from the spot of the last shot. The ball does not have to be lost, in a hazard, or OB.

I agree. Nice to see someone on the internet that understands the purpose of discussion forums.

I'm going to have to agree with mruseless on this one. It is my understanding that a provisional can only be played in the case of a ball thought to be either lost or OB. Since the original ball was found in a hazard (not lost nor OB), then the provisional ball is disregarded and the player must proceed under the rules and options pertaining to hazards. One of these options would be to return to the spot of the last shot, drop, and play his fourth. However, he cannot simply treat the provisional as his fourth ball played under hazard rules. A good example of a similar problem occurred on tour a few years ago. I can't remember the tournament or hole, but the gist of the situation was this: Phil Mickelson had hit his drive way off the fairway into some pretty long fescue grass. Thinking the ball might be lost he hit ( bombed ) a provisional right down central. Phil realized that even if his original ball was found there was a high probability that he would not end up laying 3 in as good a position as his provisional ball put him (i.e. he might have to take an unplayable but still have to hit out of the fescue). If his original was found he would, of course, have the option of returning to the tee, taking a penalty, and hitting his third shot (in hopes of ending up in a similar position as his provisional). Of course, Phil being Phil, the odds of him blasting another tee shot down the middle were not guaranteed - it would certainly be nice if he could just play his provisional. Therefore, he practically begged the spotters and spectators not to look for his original ball, knowing that if they found it he would not longer have the option of simply playing his provisional. Clearly if the rules allowed Phil to proceed as the OP would have liked to in his situation (i.e. deciding whether or not to use the provisional as his third only after discovering the position in which his original ball lay) he would have tried his hardest to find the original shot, and then decided whether he wanted to try to pull off some super-heroic and near-impossible shot or simply play the provisional ball. If memory serves me, I believe the original ball was found by a spectator and Phil was forced to take an unplayable. He was not happy.

Much rather putt on fast greens than slow ones. I agree with Marinemike in that faster greens allow the ball to roll more truely and hold its line much better. I also think it is much easier to start your ball on the correct line if you are able to hit it softer than a slower green requires. A smooth stroke is just so much easier to execute when you can hit a 10-footer without having to hit it with the power normally reserved for 30-footers. Side note: My statistics for this year seem to back up my feelings. My home course has a new superintendent this year whose main goal was to get the greens running a little faster. My putts-per-round this year have gone down to 31.2 from around 34 last year. I've also had far fewer three-putts this year.

I've had several (some of them "cheaper" than others): Highland Park Golf Course (Bloomington, IL) - #4 (290 yds), #9 (257 yds), #14 (258 yds), #15 (262 yds). Prairie Vistia Golf Course (Bloomington, IL) - #1 (382 yds -cut the corner and got a bounce off of a cart path), #2 (322 yds - again cut the corner pretty good), #17 (295 yds). The Den at Fox Creek (Bloomington, IL) - #15 (304 yds), #16 (337 yds) Weibring Golf Course (Normal, IL) - #15 (309 yds) LeRoy Country Club (LeRoy, IL) - #7 (~285 yds) Oakbrook Golf Course (Edwardsville, IL) - #6 (310 yds) Oak Terrace Golf Course (Pana, IL) - #12 (300 yds), #15 (238 yds - all carry over water with a slight fade required, but still pretty cheap) Ironhorse Golf Course (Tuscola, IL) - #9 (346 yds - one of my favorite holes I've ever played) The sad thing is, I didn't make the eagle putt on any of them!

Well, with the heat and humidity we've been having for the past few days I took a few days off from golf. I also did some stretching and alternating ice and compression for a few hours each night. Yesterday I played nine holes with a cart and, lo and behold, no pain at all. Granted, it was only nine holes and no walking involved (and I'm sure the 3 ibuprofen I took beforehand helped as well), but that kind of play would have certainly caused some significan pain two or three weeks ago. I'm looking at it as a positive step forward. BTW, the stretch that pittpanther suggested really seemed to help.

I really like this idea. My home course has had a real problem to start the season with people not fixing ball marks. I would have to think that if each hole had 4-5 members "responsible" for keeping it looking nice, the overall effect would be pretty noticeable. Of course, it's a shame to have to rely on others going above and beyond the golfer's call of duty just to cover for things the everyday golfer should take care of, but that's for another thread...

Thanks for all the good suggestions folks. I am definitely going to look into some orthotics and see where that gets me. I have noticed that riding in a cart doesn't really make it any better. It doesn't make it worse, necessarily -- but it doesn't really make it go away either. If the orthotics don't do the trick then I suppose a doctor's visit is next on the list. We'll see...

Well, I teach high school if that helps. I'll try the toe raises, though. Anything to get my leg to stop feeling like it's being crushed.

I've been hitting my 5-wood better than ever this year and it's due to one change that I've made - I concentrate on swinging at about 70% of what I used to. Not revolutionary, I know... I finally realized that with the longer shaft, my hands don't have to be going very fast for the clubhead to really be moving. Add to that the (relative) ease of hitting the ball pure with a slower swing and I've been consistently getting 225-235 with a nice little draw off the deck with my 5-wood. Very satisfying!

My understanding of shin splints is that it is basically an inflammed tendon, so a heat wrap might actually make it worse. I'm sure taking two or three weeks off of golf would probably help, but who wants to do that???

I've been fighting shin splints for the entire season this year. I carry my bag every time I play (unless it's in an outing), and the course I play isn't too hilly, but there are a couple of smallish hills I have to navigate. It's only in my left leg, which makes me think that it might be the twisting and torque applied during the swing more than the walking. Anyone have experience with this problem before? What did you do to get through it? If I take about 3 Advil before the round it usually knocks the pain down to a manageable level, but I am just too stubborn to stop playing. I've started using ice and an ACE bandage within the past few days, so we'll see how that goes.

Just went through about 6 of the TP Reds...really like them. They definitely spin less than a Pro-V1 (about like a Pro-V1x), but seem to be a little longer off the tee and a little more durable for wedge shots. I felt that they had pretty good feel off the putter as well. For about $17-$18 less than a box of Pro-V1s, I'll take that and run.

I found that I have to tee the ball about a quarter- or half-inch lower with my FT-i than I did with my old R7. It took me a few sky-balls to figure that out.

Just switched to an FT-i a few rounds ago. I love the way I hit the ball with the FT-i. Like others have stated, it's biggest advantage is in off-center hits. If I get really out-of-line with my swing path, I can hook or slice it no problem, but so long as I am swinging with that nice inside-square-inside path, heel or toe contact still sends the ball straight down the middle. I never really understood people complaining about how a driver looks at address. If I feel like I'm going to hit the ball 270 down the middle with a club, I don't care what it looks like.

My GIRs are HORRIBLE this year!! I am playing the best golf of my life score-wise, but only hitting 23% of my greens. I guess the silver lining is that my putts-per-round has gotten to be pretty good (30.9) as a result. Easy to one-putt if you are missing a bunch of greens and can get up-and-down pretty well. It sure makes getting birdies pretty hard, though!

Three for me. Ace on a 148 yd. par 3 and a holed-out bunker shot from about 20 yds. on a 530 yd. par 5. Never made an eagle putt, though.

PW for me. Get me anywhere from 125-105 with it and I feel like I'll be within 20 ft. 85% of the time.

Ever since I got back into golf seriously (about 3 years ago), I have been walking every chance I get. I started out with a Sun Mountain push cart thinking that would be the easiest way to go. Then one day I tried a carry bag just to see what it was like. Best decision I ever made in golf. Carrying is SOOOOO much easier for me than pushing a cart (probably because the courses I play have some decent hills). Side note: I do find that I play about 4-5 strokes better when I walk, for whatever reason.