Able Hands

JWL1957's Egypt course is the winner. The course I play regularly was very similar to your description 2 years ago. It is a historic course founded in 1959. When the civil rights movement really took hold and black players were allowed on white courses, the membership fell off, and the course went into a long state of disrepair. Recently, it was purchased by a local college, and they are making headway on the whole course. The first three greens are horrendous, more dirt and weed than green. The final six greens (9-hole course) are near perfect, though inconsistent as far as speed is concerned. They have started mowing the fairways to create an actual fairway, and rough. They do have a driving range, but it is short at around 225yds in length. The range runs adjacent to the 9th hole, and the back buts up to the 6th. If they could afford a net that would not be a problem, but with no net finding your ball can be difficult on those two holes. So, now that I have really talked the course down, I have to tell you I absolutely love playing there. All of the staff is extremely pleasant, and they are working very hard to rebuild everything into a nice course. I tell folks all the time that I play there and ask that they give it a shot as well. The more tee times they can fill the sooner they will be able to get the place back in shape. If you are local to the Raleigh, NC area take a day and go check out Meadowbrook Country Club in Garner. Weekend greens fees are $25 for 18 with a cart. To the mods: If the above is viewed as an advertisement I apologize. Please feel free to remove or edit my post as necessary. I have no affiliation with the course other than as a player.

I am neither Left handed, nor a Lady... But IMHO, almost any boxed set will get you a feel for the game. It may turn out that you hate walking, or riding, around chasing that STUPID little white ball. In the case of my wife, I bought her a boxed set of clubs, right handed, 15 years ago. They sat in storage after two uses until about a month ago. Now, with my renewed interest in the game she seems to have become addicted. If her interest continues then I will consider investing in a newer, better set of clubs for her. For now, what she has will have to serve the purpose. She has shown enough interest to purchase her own golf balls, tees, glove, etc. which IS promising. She is saving for a new bag, which is even MORE promising. In the end, spend as little as possible up front to see if you enjoy the process of golf. If it turns out you love the game, you can sell this set and upgrade for a modest loss. If it turns out that you hate the game you can sell the set and not be out a whole lot of money. Take your time and learn to LOVE the game. You will wonder where all of your money went!!!

I just regripped my driver and fairway metal. How long do I allow the tape/mineral spirits to cure before I put 'em back in the bag. I'm not going to playing for a few days, but I don't want to skew the alignment. For that matter, how long should they be allowed to cure before playing? Again, I'm not playing these clubs in the next few days, but I plan to regrip the whole set (different style) in the near future. So if I regrip in the AM before a round, how long to I HAVE to wait?

I used to fluff nearly every shot I hit. More recently, since I've really decided I want to get better and track my real score I play where it lies. The only time I move a ball now, is if the lie will do damage to my club, and then I take a penalty stroke. I suppose if I made the kind of money the tour pros do, I could play better courses, and not worry as much about damaging clubs. My first trip out with my new x18r irons, I took a pratice swing in the rough, hit a small rock, and put a nice ding in the bounce of my twice used SW.

That is AWESOME!! I hope to get out tomorrow, to my quiet little course to work almost exclusively on my

That is an awesome idea Mark

The course I play most often is only a 9 hole course. Before I started hitting at the range before my round the first 9 always stunk. Now that I make it a point to hit some before starting play, they are much more even.

Download and listen to (or buy and read) Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, and/or Your 15th Club. Both were written by Bob Rotella. I keep them both loaded on my iPod all the time, and listen to them both at least weekly. They have helped my mental approach greatly. I actually want to download a couple more of his audio books. The two above are great to listen to for me while I'm working.

I use anything from a 6i through 60*. As most others have said it just depends on the required shot. I love hitting the 60* and seeing it stop dead on impact, but that is an iffy shot for me. In fact I sculled a full swing 60 last weekend and sent it about 150 yards a foot off the ground, right at the club house entrance.

My whole yard is about 1/3 acre so I strictly use 60* SW or PW (only wedges I currently own) in the back yard only. And I only ever concentrate on VERY short shots, from 3-foot to 20 foot carry. That way if I hit it thin I'm only gonna carry 40 yards or so MAX. I did purchase some mushy practice balls for my son to play with, I forget the brand but they fly true. If you slice it, it slices etc. I can almost hit a full 60* with those balls, but unfortunately if I flush it I will fly the yard. I did play around one night with them hitting over the house front to back. Scared the CRAP out of my son when a ball hit him in the head!! Glad it was a mush ball, or he would have a mushy head.

I learned several things from that day on the course... My son requires more time to wake up to get his behavior under control, before I can take him golfing. My wife needs more time to wake up before she can handle my sons behavior on a golf course. I absolutely have to hit a few at the driving range before I start a round. My wife is just getting back into the game after 15 years away, and not playing much back then either. My son is 10. I have had him out to the range a bunch of times, and now I've had him on the course 4 or 5 times. Normally my mental game is strong enough to withstand the distractions and bad shots (from me). For some reason I could not hold myself together on Saturday.

For the first time in my life, I walked off the course today. My game was so horrible, I could not stand to be around myself. I was out with the family, and my son and wife could not get along worth a lick. Much bickering and distraction, coupled with my inability to hit a ball even slightly straight finally sent me running for the hills. We came home and I sat in my office and sulked for 45 minutes. Went back out to the driving range, and low and behold I could hit a golf ball again. Suffice it to say that not only was my physical game off, my mental game was non-existent. I can normally handle the distractions, and blow off my bad shots...

I think this is about the best response to this post. As a player with a similar cap it makes sense. I suppose if I was scratch, I might reconsider my opinion. But since I have 16 strokes to get to scratch, I don't think a scuff is going to make as much difference as my recently unpredictable swing!

On Thursday, I shot an 83 and was pretty unhappy with the round. I went out today with the wife and our 10 year old and shot a 99. Sprayed 5 in the woods off the tee which explains a lot. But I was REALLY happy with my round today even with the crummy score! Two sand saves (leading to one putts from 4' or less) and three other one putts on crummy scoring holes, one from 25'. I did miss a 20' eagle putt, and to make it even worse, I three putted that hole!!!

Don't know if I am mentally challenged or if I am over thinking the concept. I have spent more time on youtube in the last few days than I ever have in my life combined. There seems to be a lot of similar yet differing ideas on this subject. Is there a really good walk through anywhere? What is the difference between the spine and NBP? I have one shaft that shows what I call "the spine" solidly in two positions every time (about 180* apart). I have another shaft that is all over the place (piece of crap shaft lets not worry with that right now). I obviously have no idea what I am talking about or doing so let me ask a few specific questions, and we'll see where this goes... Before I get gored for not using the search function. I have used it on this, and many other sources. Like I said I have viewed and read many, MANY videos and posts on the subject. Given the shaft that is showing two positions, how do I know which is THE spine? Next, once I/we have identified THE spine how do I position it relative to the club head? As a point of reference, which seems to be lacking everywhere on this particular question, if I set the club head on the ground with an imaginary shaft in it... The striking face of the club is oriented at 9 o-clock, I'm a righty. The reason that I am deliberately being so specific is that I have seen (on video) and read that THE spine should be aligned at 3, 12, and 9 o-clock. So, which is it?

Playing in a group of five is not something that I have ever done before. I can guarantee that I'll never do it again. I do work (for free golf) for the course as a handyman, and I'm friendly with the assistant, and general managers of the course. I think that is the main reason we were allowed to go out as a group of five. Also the course is in the process of rebuilding it's clientele so it is generally a quiet place. If the course had been full, we would have voluntarily broken into two groups. Was it irresponsible to play in a group of five? I don't believe so on this course on this day. Would I try to do it at a high volume course? Absolutely not. I looked at the sign in sheet at the end of it all, and there was only an additional 4 or 5 groups that went out after us. As I said we let all of them play through us, and as such we did not hold anyone up for more than about a minute. None of the groups was back-to-back, so we did not cause a pile up either. In the end, who did we hurt? No one! Well, no one but ourselves.

I am admittedly a slow player. In fact I have stated as much here on this forum. A four hour round for me is normal. In our group was one of my nephews, a first time golfer that truly did not have a clue. Another one of my nephews has played some, but isn't all that good. A lot of our time was spent helping those two with their swing, and looking for their shanks. More time was spent waiting to allow other faster groups play through us. Fortunately the course was, and usually is, very slow. So we didn't have to worry about being "in the way". The other three of us played a pretty decent round. For the first time ever, I finished a round with the same ball I started with. As far as the comment from mrserv0n18. We were only in the way of any group for half of any one hole. When we saw a group coming up from behind would stop to allow them through. In fact, on two occasions I walked back to ask different groups if they would like to play through. I could start an argument with a snappy retort, but like your comment, that would serve no real purpose.

I played today in a group of five. 18 holes on a short (5800 yd) course took 7 hours and 15 minutes. I've never spent that long on a course unless I was drunk and passed out. I think every other group on the course got to play through us at least once. I am completely exhausted. Can't wait to get back out and play a round by myself at normal speed. We had a great time, yeah even that slow it was still fun, but WOW... 7+ hours?

I hit the 6-iron a few times and I liked the way it felt, but it's kind of hard to tell off from the mats. I like the look of the club, and I've heard of Maltby clubs. I just wanted to see if anyone here had played them. I currently play a set of 12-year old King Snakes (King Cobra clones). These clubs were put together for me by an amateur club maker but I'm not sure the fit is right. On the rare occasion that I hit my current clubs correctly they feel good and I get good distance. Will the Maltby clubs be an upgrade or downgrade?

I was in Golf Galaxy today, and they have a set of Maltby MHS hybrids on sale 75% off. I'm curious if anyone has any experience with them. Granted at 75% off, a set of fitted clubs for $100 isn't much to lose but then I don't have much to begin with. Are they worth it?

My favorite type of course is CHEAP!!! Golf is only one of several expensive hobbies I have. I am just getting back into the game after a long, long time away, so I don't want a course that makes me think too hard. Beyond that I am a pretty middle of the road kind of guy. I don't have any experience playing links or desert courses, but I would love to give them a try at some point.

I own and operate a handyman business. If you see me on here mid-day, then things aren't so good, and I should be trying to drum up more business.

I have to revise my earlier post. I am just getting back into golf and watching golf after a ten year hiatus. So, I'm watching the PGA right now, and I just watched a "pro" hit his tee shot and release (read as THROW) his club at the end of his follow through. The club skittered (maybe not a word) across the tee box. I also watched the US Open, and saw Anthony Kim perform this move several times. Here's my suggestion... If you are that disgusted with your game, walk off the course. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'll wager none of the classic greats pulled that kind of crap. As much as I am against sports stars as role models, these guys have to realize that young kids are watching them. For instance, my 9-year old was sitting watching with me. My son has massive anger management issues already, due to a complete lack of responsibility on the part of his biological parents but I digress. He does not need to watch some chuckle-head on TV hit a bad shot and throw his club, for that matter neither do I!!!

I did a search, actually several, and could not find what I want. I am considering getting a new set of irons. Right now I am playing a 12 year old set of King Snakes (King Cobra clones). I like the clubs I have, and they have probably only seen 30-40 rounds, but I am curious about getting a new set and getting them fit to me and my swing. Unfortunately, I simply cannot afford a brand name set. Also, "unfortunately", I'm 6'3" so off the shelf clubs aren't much of an option. My question is... Is there a source online to read unbiased reviews of clone vs. brand name clubs? Matt

This is quite possibly the funniest thing I have read in a long long time. My biggest peeve is poor sportsmanship of any kind. Seeing a golfer whip a golf club, or a baseball player throw their bat drives me out of my mind. But what drives me even more crazy is the over exuberant celebrations by football players... OOOHH LOOK AT ME, I MADE A TACKLE!!! Congratulations, now go cash your million dollar paycheck for doing your "job".