Jack Lee

To this point, my issue bringing my handicap down was consistency. Thin/topped shots or big pushes. I recently got a little help with that and am coming along really fast in getting those out of my game. I do a lot of sand work with my sixty degree wedge when I'm in a steep bunker (common where I play) or short sided. It's actually one of my better clubs. I still have my old 5 wood and might try pulling my pitching wedge for a round or two and replacing it with that and see if it helps. My big concern in looking at this at all is that the courses I play have a lot of doglegs that force shorter tee shots. I have situations that call for that middle range between my 3 wood and 3 hybrid more often than I'm comfortable not being able to address, especially as I get more consistent. My driver has turned monstrously long since my last bit of help and I've hit my 3 wood for what my girlfriend guessed at about 250 in recent rounds. I just worry about being able to hit a shot in that mid range between 250 and 210 and have it stick without worrying about flying the green. Maybe it will prove to be over thinking an issue I won't see as often as I think as my game improves. I'd still love to hear impressions from folks that have carried 4 woods or high threes that they liked. JL

I've been playing a set that leans toward short range for a while now. My current set is driver, 3 wood, 3 hybrid, 4-pw, 52, 56, 60. I'm finding myself with a big gap in the long end of my set. I hit about 245 with my 3 wood and 200 or so with my hybrid. I'm thinking of going to a set makeup of driver, strong 3 wood, high loft 3 wood (or 4 wood), 3 hybrid, 4-9, 48, 54, 60. That would leave me versatile on the short end and close the gap in my long end. What are you folks thoughts on that change? And who makes a 4 wood or high loft 3 wood that folks would suggest trying? Thanks! Jack Lee

I'm looking at upgrading my wedges here soon. I'm looking at the callaway mack daddy 2, taylormade tour pereferred ef, or titleist sm5. I play 52, 56, 60 degree wedges. Which have you played and/or prefer and why?

I have been playing now for about 7 years. I have broken 100 exactly once to this time. I will reinforce the folks that said lessons are worth the time if you are serious about improving your game. I got my first lesson 7 days after starting to play. It was a demo day at a local course. There were instructors there to give you a free 5 minute lesson. One of them watched me swing and offered his help. In that 5 minutes he cured my beginner's slice and started me on the road to loving and enjoying this game. I took a few private lessons with that same instructor. (His style of teaching obviously worked for me.) When we started, I was shooting about 122 over 18 holes. By the time we were done, I was shooting 105 or so. One of the most helpful things that he told me was to read the book Practical Golf by John Jacobs and Harvey Penicks Little Red Book. Both have been excellent sources of information. Recently, I had been topping and pushing an awful lot of shots. I returned to the book and read the section on that issue. What I thought I was doing (lifting my head) was not what the book said was causing most golfers to have that set of issues. I made the swing change outlined in the book and have been practicing and playing with it. It looks like breaking 100 might just be in reach now. I have also recently changed my driver from a 9.5 degree driver to a 10.5 degree driver. The results of that change were immediate. I gained something like 30-40 yards off the tee. The things that I find seem to make a difference in my golf are good golf balls and focus on taking dead aim. Lately, I have found myself struggling on the course due to issues I can be happy with. I am hitting my clubs much further than before and having to try to adjust what club I go to for what range. I shot 52 during a Saturday 9 hole round with my dad this past Saturday and felt much more confident and relaxed on the course. If I hadn't been blasting shots over the green with the clubs that I usually hit from the yardages I was hitting from, I would have broken 50 easily.

Playing 9 holes with my dad this past Saturday, I teed up my new driver on a 286 yard par 4. I mashed it off the tee and couldn't see where it landed. When we got to the green, I had driven it alongside the greenside bunker. Maybe 10 yards off the green, if that. I was stunned.

Interesting point. And a good one, too. I'll have to also give some thought to how to politely deal with a group playing that slowly ahead of us in the future as well. We were keeping up with the group in front of us and I have no idea what our who may have been in front of them. We were being careful to give them room before hitting our shots so we didn't hit into them, but we were also getting to our balls and waiting there so as soon as they were clear, we were ready to go. I'll think on that one, as well.

So, when I started playing, I was using a loaner set of Ping I2 clone irons. The woods were all original style metals (sized like wooden woods) so I went to the local used sporting goods shops and replaced them with newer stuff on the cheap. Those woods were a Taylormade 300Ti driver, and Cobra SZ 3 and 5 woods. The driver and 5 wood have all been upgraded out of the bag, but the 3 wood is still in play. I am good for 240+ yards off the deck with my trusty old Cobra and it sounds ten times better than anything that I have tried out in stores in current generation clubs. This past weekend, I hit a shot that was 250 and change while playing 18 holes. I just can't see parting with my Cobra even though it is 10 years or so old. So, I was wondering if anyone other than myself is still playing a club significantly older than everything else in the bag that they wanted to pay tribute to here. Jack Lee

I recently updated a few clubs, so now the bag contains: Taylormade SLDR 430 stiff driver 10.5 degrees Cobra SZ 3 wood Adams A7 3 hybrid 19 degrees Taylormade 2008 tour preferred irons 4-pw Mizuno JPX wedges 52, 56, 60 degrees Odyssey White Hot XG #9 putter 34.5 inches.

Well there's a DUH moment that I should have thought of. I didn't even consider calling the clubhouse. That is one in the arsenal for if it ever happens again. Hopefully, it won't. Thanks!!

So, I was playing 18 with my girlfriend this past Sunday and we were having a nice time. We were both playing well, the weather was lovely, and the course is just awesome. We had a group in front of us that was playing slowly enough that we kept catching up to them. Now, we aren't fast players ourselves, but we either stand aside and wave faster players through or something similar if we are obviously holding someone else up. It was a little annoying, but no big deal to us. Where we started having problems was when a group that appeared to be an adult, a mid to late teen, and a ten or so year old caught up to us. They were being as obnoxious as anyone I have ever had the displeasure to be on a course with. This bunch was shouting to each other across the course as we were trying to hit shots, cutting donuts on the fairways with the golf cart, repeatedly screeching to a halt in the golf carts on the path, and so on. At least three times, they hit shots that came within 10 yards of us with no warning call. I have NEVER seen such behavior on a golf course. I was truly at a loss to decide how to respond appropriately. They ended up leaping past both us and the slow group ahead of us, but that was a long 6 holes to put up with them. I had originally intended to ask the folks at the clubhouse to talk to them if they had finished behind us, but after they passed us, it was a little less effective. I did make the clubhouse staff aware of their behavior anyway in case they were regulars to the course. I was told that none of the staff had seen them before that they could recall. So, how would you respond to this sort of behavior on a course? Keeping in mind that there were kids in the group. (That influenced my reactions heavily.) Jack Lee

Hard to word that topic line to make sense, but here is my question. Have you found that as you work on part of your game the rest suffers? For example: I have been working with a pro on my irons and short game. I have been at the range two times a week or so for the last month hitting my drills and working on incorporating the new changes into my swing. I spend the first part of every session hitting half wedge shots and short pitches to try to stick the swing path and such into my muscle memory. Result: my irons and short game are coming around but I can't seem to hit my woods worth a flat darn. My favorite clubs in the bag used to be my hybrid and three wood, but I can't seem to hit a clean shot with them to save my life now. Can I expect to continue to drive myself nuts like this as I learn? How hard was it (if you have) to overcome this sort of issue? Thanks for your time! Jack Lee

I found in my game that working with a pro has helped me to see what I am doing wrong. I found someone whose teaching style worked for me and I have been working with him for several months now. If your mind is open and you are willing to listen to a pro, then yes, the lessons are worth every penny. If you aren't ready to listen to someone yet, then you would be wasting your money. The other thing is that you have to be willing and able to spend time working on what you learn. You won't get better without working outside the lessons as well. Understand, I am no great player, I still shoot over 100 each round, but I also am getting better each round. That is just my opinion and worth exactly what you paid for it. Jack Lee

Ok, I have been working with a pro and taking two or three practice sessions at a local range a week. Here is the issue I am coming up with. I am coming up with insane amounts of power at the strangest times. For example, Saturday, I had a shot into a green backed by water. Check the range and get 140 something to the center and 155 to the back of the green. There is 7-10 yards of fairway/fringe behind the green and then it drops off to the lake. I took out my 150 yard club and put a smooth, clean swing on it. Right on target, line is good, I watch with amazement as my shot soars clear over the green and lands 5 yards or so past the land with a lovely spash. An easy 170 yard shot. That happened one other time that same round. I play a shot that should be exactly what I need and hit it so clean and pure that I overshoot my target by 20 yards. I am trying to work out how to account for this in my practice. I can only guess that these monster shots are coming from much better iron contact. It is just giving me fits on the course. I am minding my distances in my practice sessions and using those ranges on the course. So, any tips on how to address this? Thanks! Jack Lee

I have two that really bug me. The first is people that litter on the course. Especially cigarette butts on the greens. The two courses I play regularly are both very well maintained by the grounds folks. The busier that they are, the more you find junk on the course. Some times it is stuff that could be accidental and thoughtless like a ball sleeve. The real winners are things like the sand trap on my home course that some idiot dumped several empty beer bottles in. The second is folks that feel like they are the course police. The example I would have to give for this one is an incident from a par 3 when I was playing with my dad and fiancee. She ended up in a greenside sand trap. We were both on the green. There was a group pushing us, so we were playing hurry up. She walked onto the green to make a lag putt since she was still away saying to us "Let me putt this up real quick". She hadn't raked the trap. All three of us still had balls left to play on the green, so we were surprised to see a player from the group behind us come full throttle up to the green in his cart and call out at my fiancee "SON! HEY SON! You need to rake that trap!" Now, she is very petite and often gets mistaken for a male by folks that are just glancing, so that part was understandable. The part that offended me was that three of us were on the green, still finishing the hole. Had we been walking to our carts, I would have understood someone pointing out politely that we had neglected to rake the trap. I would actually have appreciated it. As it was, we get some jerk barking at us. Not to mention that to do so, he came almost onto the green in a golf cart. Talking about it later, my dad and I had both noted that my fiancee hadn't raked the trap and were planning to remind her if she finished the hole and didn't take care of it. Y'all take care! Jack Lee

I have to say that for me, the thing that makes me the happiest is hitting my target dead on. Watching the ball flying EXACTLY the line I wanted is just such a beautiful feeling. I can overlook a lot of junk in my game if I can keep my target line going on like I want it to. Y'all have fun! Jack Lee