Lbob

I am puzzled about putters. How can you tell if your putter is a good fit to your putting style? What is involved in putter fitting? Anybody done it? Was it worth it?

Here in Lincoln Nebraska we have it pretty soft. At one of our muni courses I can play 18 with a cart for 25 buck on Monday thru Friday. That reflects a senior discount (over 50). Four youngsters it would be about 30 buck. For private courses like Woodland Hills ( a Golf Digest top 50) or Widlerness ridge, its more like 45 which included a cart. Because there are 17 courses within 20 miles theres a lot of competition so the prices are low. BTW, last week I played 18 holes in 3 hours and didn't see a soul until I caught up with a foursome on the 16th. That was heaven!!

To give another data point. My average GIR over 2 years (about 20 rounds) is 6.7. Using the formula that would suggest an average score of 81.6. Real average is 86.6. I don't think this formula accounts for "blow ups" very well. Case in point. On my last round I hit 9 greens. But two doubles and a triple put a real crimp in my score. I think this formula is at best a ball park estimate.

This really got me thinking. I went to the range and checked the club position at the top of the swing. It's close to 90 degrees. Not sure exactly how that happens. I think maybe that my estimate of the soft set angle was a bit off.

Let me clarify. You are both right. I wasn't referring to this, but yes your muscles shouldn't be tense. The wrist are what I was referring to. What he had me do was a slight wrist cock at just above waist level. Then you just hold it through the rest of the swing. It's hard to estimate how much cock. I'd say around 30 degrees. If you try this bear in mind that the first few times will feel bizzarre. But if you suffer from too many moving parts you might benefit.

I got a great lesson last week. I went in wanting help on making more consistent and better contact with the ball. The pro had a great teaching facility. There was digital video to examine your swing (first time I'd ever seen my swing!) and the facility was indoors with a large garage door like opening so that you could hit balls to a range. The pro was fantastic. He immediately noticed a stance that was too narrow and and also help my posture (stand like a football I-back). Then he showed me a swing change that simplified my swing and really felt good. The change was simple. Get the club back to waist hight, make a soft set, then maintain the same hand position for the rest of the swing. At first I though he was joking, but I gave it a try. It took three or four swings, but I soon got the fell for it. What it felt like was that it took hands and arms out of the swing and it was all body. Once I set my hands all I had to do was turn. I was literally making effortless swings and hitting very nice iron shots- a high draw. No worry about weight shift, cocking or releasing or any of the other 97 things to worry about at contact. Just turn, set, and turn. This is great for me because I'm a tall skinny guy with long arms and legs that don't always work in a coordinated fashion. This sounds strange, but I literally felt like I was swinging from my belly button. I just hooked my arms and hand to the old bellybutton and then rotated back then through. Also worked with the driver though for some reason it felt a little strange. There was no loss of distance, and accuracy was fine. BTW, I went to the range and practiced it. I found that a good way to capture the feel was to hit half-wedges. Just take the wedge back a bit higher than the waist, hook things up and turn.

Will Tiger play in the Open or stay home with wife and child for a while? Any thoughts?

Played once with a kid whose cell phone rang on the second hole. He immediately answered it. Told the party who called that he was on the golf course and couldn't talk. Then he turned it off and apologized. There is still hope, at least in Nebraska! But, full disclosure, in the group behind us we could see a guy talking on his cell phone for the whole round. He even called somebody when his group was on the green.

While I was at the range this Saturday, an organization brought out a group of folks with physical disabilities. Many were wheelchair bound and others were missing a limb(s). I could hear the leader explaining the purpose. The golf was intended as therapy. Evidently it was a good form of exercise. Not too demanding, but that would work the muscles and hopefully be a little fun. Well I was focused on my practice for the most part, but I noticed that one speaker was giving instruction on how to hit the ball so I turned around to watch. The guy had a prosthetic left arm and right leg (below the knee). I watched his swing and it was darn near PGA! He gave his spiel as he just cranked out perfect shots. Two thoughts went through my head. First, the guy was amazing. I couldn't figure out how he could hold the club much less swing that well. Second, the guy must save a fortune on gloves!

I feel your pain. I shoot in the mid 80's to mid 90's although I keep it under 90 most of the time. Practicing is a good idea, although only if you are practicing good things rather than bad. I love to practice myself and it's helped me. But I think one of the keys is to stay in the moment. Here's an example, yesterday on the 390 yard 18th which has water on the right, a jungle on the left, and a tree in the left, I hit a career drive. Right down the middle and only 100 yards from the center of the green. My buddy was whooping over it and I was feeling pretty high. I started seeing birdie on the card. The result? I stood up on a simple wedge shot and bladed the ball over the green. Ended up with a bogie. I think that good golfers need selective amnesia. Forget the last shot, forget the next shot, just focus on the one you're about to hit. Get everything out of your mind, go through your routine (you do have a routine right?) and hit the shot.

My old martial arts instructor used to say that practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. You may be practicing a bad habit. You might want to consider visiting a pro for a lesson.

This Sunday I went to my local course to hit some balls. The place was deserted. Probably because the forecast had predicted that it was going to be cold wet and rainy. Well it was sunny and warm. The pro said if I wanted to play I could hop right on. Well I decided that this was natures way of telling me to play so I took him up on it. I had one of the best rounds I've had all year. What distinguished it was putting. It was almost as if I could actually see a little railroad on the green. All I had to do was put the ball on the rails. I usually use a line on the ball to help me putt, but I didn't feel like I needed it. I honestly felt like I was going to make every putt from inside 20 feet, and I darn near made a couple of 40 foot snakes. Inside 10 feet I only missed once. I let my wrist turn over and missed a 4 footer for par. I had four up-and-downs which I think is a personal best. This is the second time this year I've had a round like this. I hope it's an omen of things to come. 33 putts is my personal best. Course I did have 2 3-putts so there is room for improvement. But even the 3-putts were forgivable. One was from 60 feet, and the other was a long double-breaker that was right up against the fringe. I had to baby it a little because if I went a little long it would go off the green.

I've actually hit most of those at a demo day last week. I go for the longest and straightest and would add most forgiving. Truthfully among those you listed there's not that much difference that I could detect in terms of distance or straightness. I do think the Titleist D1 is about the most forgiving club I've ever hit.

Last year I averaged 36.7. This year I'm down to 34. I think you have to be a little careful interpreting putt number though. For example, the reason that my numbers went down is due in part to the fact that my irons are getting more consistent so I don't have as many opportunities to 3-putt from 60 feet, and the fact that my wedges and chipping have been pretty strong. I'm getting a lot of tap ins now. Course I've also had a little bit of a hot spell and have been rolling in 15 footers. Just note that a high number of putts isn't necessarily bad putting. For example if you hit every green in regulation and two putted your average would be 36 putts. I think I would be happy with that.

Ooops. It was the Burner.

I went to a demo day this Saturday and had a chance to try some of the new drivers. I can’t comment too much on distance, because it was at a club I had never been to before so I couldn’t tell exactly how far the balls were going. No “I got an extra 10 yard!” comments. Additionally I was hitting into a 15-20 mph Nebraska zephyr. All drivers were 10.5 regular shaft unless otherwise indicated. My swing speed is toward the slow side. Normal length is about 220. Callaway FT: Biggest disappointment. Could not get the clubhead square and as a result only got weak pushes or a slice. Something about the angle of the shaft and clubhead seemed wrong. However, I watched others just powder the ball. There’s no accounting for taste. Nike Sumo - Ugliest looking club in the world! Of all the clubs I hit I think this was the most consistent. It was monotonous. Straight, straight, straight. Sometime I’ve had trouble getting clubhead square with the flatter designs. I had no trouble hitting the ball square with either the round or square version. I liked the feel also. It was very solid. Can’t speak about forgiveness, because I hit every shot square. That could mean something or it could mean I just had a spell of good swings. Cobra- I’m using a Cobra Speed driver now which I like a lot. Interestingly I have hit the new Cobra in the simulator and had trouble getting solid contact. I sure didn’t have any trouble this day. I used a 10.5 degree loft and got a real nice ball flight. Subjectively it seemed lower than my current driver which has the same loft. Interestingly after I had hit 4 or 5 shots the rep came out with a 9 degree loft for me to try. He thought the 10.5 went too high and that I’d get more roll with the 9.0. My normal flight is a slight draw. That’s what I got with this driver. In fact I had to be a little careful not to over cook it or I would get a major hook. Don’t ask about a fade. I can’t hit one on purpose. This club was forgiving too. Mis-hits that were thin or off the toe still were respectable. Some small nits: (1) The sound is very tinny. (2) I didn’t like the feel of the club as much as my old club. It just didn’t feel as solid. But having said that, I think it out performs my current club. Cleveland - Sigh. I used to own a Launcher and really liked it. It was the first driver I could actually hit. IMHO, the new Hi-Bore is a disaster. It was the shortest of all the clubs I hit. The shot shape was a low hook. I hated the feel and the sound. Taylormade- Of all the clubs I hit this one felt the most solid and had the most satisfying sound. It also performed well. My friend claimed that I hit a couple of balls out of sight. Of course his eyes aren’t that good. The shot pattern was a bit higher than the Cobra, but not as high as the Nike. Most shots went dead straight. I could hit a draw at will though. It was very forgiving. Toe hits hardly seemed to be affected at all. Titleist- This D1 is close to being unethical. It literally didn’t seem to matter where you hit the ball. Toe hits or thin hits or square hits all looked the same. There might have been a little loss of distance, but otherwise all shots looked the same. Mis-hits just don’t seem to get punished at all. Part of me was feeling guilty; I should be punished for mis-hits. Shot shape was straight, though I could coax a draw. It was between the Cobra and Taylormade in terms of shot height. I loved the feel of this club and the sound. Looks are another story. A mutant cone-head triangular club head that looks like it’s partially made of plastic. But hey, you should keep your eye on the ball anyway right? Postscript: Went to the range the next day to practice. Could not hit my driver worth beans. Do you think it sensed infidelity? Could it suspect?

Last year I had two "firsts" on one hole. My first putt for eagle and my first three-putt-par. Well yesterday I had another first. I got 3 birdies in one round. I actually got two in a row! That's pretty good for a guy who averages .5 birdies per round. The best thing was that on one hole one of the mowers watched me play the hole. I hit a drive right in the middle of the fairway. Then knocked my second shot about fifteen feet from the hole. Had one of those down hill tricklers that lo and behold trickled in the hole. The mower gave me a fist pump! The back to back birdies were really sweet. The only problem was that on the previous hole I had a nice little 9 which didn't help my total score one bit.

Golfers are like corner backs. Both will always make costly mistakes. Golfers make bad swings and cornerbacks get beat deep. It's just a fact of life. So I think the best thing a golfer can can have is selective amnesia. Just walk away and forget about it. When I learned that, I stopped having 2-3-4 screw up holes in a row. Sure you get mad, but if you engage the rage you will try to destroy your next shot and then in all likelihood you will hit another poor shot and just get more upset. I give myself permission to be mad for about 30 seconds, but then I just let it go. Otherwise you start a vicious cycle. Besides, life's too short, and a bad day on the links is better than a good day at work.

Has anybody here had experience with Golf Tec schools? One just opened up near me and I'm wondering if it's worth it. They seem to have a lot of high tech teaching equipment, but I don't know if they help or if the prices are reasonable.

Great idea for a thread! My goals: Break 80 three more times, including once on a course that in my bete noire. Shoot 9 holes in par. Get my putting improved. Curreently at 36.6 putts per 18 holes. I need to get that down to about 30-32. Improve my up-and-down's. Only averageing 1.2 want to get that over 3. I don't need a resolution to practice more. I love to practice. But I think I need to practice smarter and structure the practice sessions more especially with the short game. Not sure how.

37 putts? Dude I had 41 once. You don't even know what putting pain is!

Well last Sunday I played with a colleage kid (who is majoring in Golf Management!). He cracked 3 drives over 300 yards. Course he also hit one that went 200 yards straight and then made a sharp right turn and went another 100. But hey yesterday I played with a guy who was a mechanic and was well north of 50. He played from the blacks and I played the forward blue tees. He was putting his tee shots 50 to 75 yards past mine. In 18 holes I think he hit at least 3 drives over 300. So do I think the kids can hit it 300? Yep.

Perhaps I should follow up on my round. It was one of those "missed it by that much" rounds. For example, I hit a nice tee shot on a par three, but pushed it a smidge, maybe a smidge and half . Went right toward a bump on the side of the green. It could either kick left and end up real close or kick right and leave me short sided in a real steep grass bunker. Well I got a bogie so you can figure out what happened. But hey, I could have been at work

Last Thursday everybody in our department got the word that the next day the water for our building would be shut off for water main maintenance. Because that constitutes a health hazard, the boss said that everyone had a day off. Well the weather report for Friday was clear and in the 60's so guess what I did! I figure this was nature's way of telling me to hit the links!

I switched from RAC OS (don't know the number) to Mizuno MX 23's. I can't say that one is more forgiving than the other. My major reason was the feel of the forged irons. I liked the way that it felt when I hit the ball, and I got more feedback on where I hit it. I also found that I swung differently. With the Taylormades I used my hands and arms way too much. With the Mizunos I used more big muscles. Can't say why, but there is a very different feel to the two irons. I would make sure to hit the Mizunos on turf (a bucket or so) to see if they suit you. I literally was sore for the first few weeks of adapting to the Mizunos, but now I swear by them.