edingc

If you're around West Michigan there's several nice ones: 1) The Ravines in Saugatuck - A Palmer design, but really expensive. 2) Diamond Springs in Hamilton - Very affordable and more fun than Ravines, IMO. 3) The Meadows in Allendale - Also affordable and well taken care of.

Not that it's hugely important, but next fall I will be a senior in college. Because I need to fill some credits in order to graduate, I was able to take two golf classes (Golf I and Golf II) during the fall semester. For $50 in extra fees I get instruction from the school's PGA professional and range balls for two hours a day, four days a week. I'm really hoping I will be able to use this opportunity to significantly improve my game.

I got a chance to play 18 holes on Wednesday at what has become my "home" course as of late. It has dried up a lot here this week, and it was in the mid-60s with little wind when I played. I shot an 87 (41 on the front, 46 on the back). It should have been better, but I fell apart with a pair of eights on both par-5 finishing holes. Friday I went to the range to work on my ball striking. I'm doing a better job of making solid contact with the ball, but I am constantly fighting an urge to flip the club at impact. While it was windy Friday, I was having lots of problems getting distance out of my irons. I'm pretty sure the root of my problem is coming back and through at too steep of an angle. The only way I can get good contact is too flip the wrists like that. I'm going to focus on taking a flatter plane to the ball the next time I go out.

After spending much of the last four months buried under snow and annoying my downstairs neighbors with full wedge swings on the carpet, I finally got a chance to get out and play a couple of rounds over the last several days. While temperatures have been creeping into the low 50s occasionally, the ground here is still very swollen with water. The only course open near me is a pretty beat-up, nine-hole field, but at $5 to walk I'm not really complaining. I went out three times -- Saturday, Sunday and Monday -- and played two balls Monday as my friend and I were the only people on the course. Through the four rounds, I shot: 44, 48, 47 and 43. We played using preferred lies because the ball buried itself an inch or so in the ground on almost every shot. On Monday the ground was finally dry enough in spots that not every shot stuck in the ground. Monday was also the only day that the wind was not 10-15 mph in a direction. Highlights from Monday's round included the first birdie of the season on a long par five where I stuffed a five iron to about five feet. I also landed a 75-yard wedge about six inches from the hole on a short par four. Unfortunately, I missed the resulting four-foot birdie putt. Overall, I am very pleased with my performances so far. I'm hitting the ball well, and I have seemed to correct the driver slice that haunted me all of last year. I occasionally hit a bit of a fade now, but most of the time it's pretty straight. I still need a lot of work on correctly aiming my shots. I'm hitting a lot of correct distances, but I'm leaving myself with difficult chips because I'm ending up left and right of the green. I also need some work on hitting down a little more on the ball. I'm hitting a lot of irons a little thin with no divot and my distance is suffering as a result. Another area for concern is I sometimes get a little too far around on my drives now and hit a straight, 45-degree pull to the left. I'm guessing some time on the range will fix that. I'm hoping to get out a few more times before the end of the week. I'm extremely busy with school and coaching baseball, but the weather is supposed to turn nasty again at the end of the week. I figure I might as well enjoy the taste of spring while it lasts.

I second the thought on hybrids. My 3 wood is usually used only off the tee, I like the hybrid much more off the fairway. Just swing it like an iron and the ball flies away nicely.

I'm pretty sure I'd have to go with Adams, even though they are definitely not a top-tier company. I love my (relatively old) driver, 3 wood, and hybrid. I know they make great irons too.

My 5 iron needs a new shaft and a new grip is in order for the driver. Otherwise, I'm pretty much all set for 2010. Pocketbook can't take much more tinkering. I just need the weather to start cooperating now.

Picked up a used Adams Insight BUL 3 Wood for $32 today and it went directly into the bag. Also grabbed a new Nike golf towel and a Nike Durafeel glove because they were on sale.

Same here. After playing baseball throughout Little League and high school, I had a huge void in my life when I moved onto college. When the weather is good, I try to play 1-2 times a week. I have a never ending urge to compete, so golf is perfect because I can compete against myself. I don't need to find 17 other people to put together a baseball scrimmage.

Great video Uberswing. Those distances are right in line with mine. Like you said, it's nice that I can hit a driver 210-230 straight, but on most holes this leaves a hybrid or 4 iron for me into a green, and makes even short par 5s nearly impossible to birdie.

I played all kinds of balls until I finally settled on Top Flite D2 Feels. Great price, good feel. First ball that I can actually stick on a green.

I was playing behind two groups once and was waiting to tee off on the first green. First group was an older couple and the second group consisted of two 12 or 13 year old kids. The older couple teed off (including the woman from the reds) but drove back to let the two young kids through, leaving their cart facing the tee on the left. The first kid winds up and overswings a bit, and absolutely smacked the windshield of the cart with his tee shot. Thank goodness the windshield was up, or else the woman would have taken a drive to the face.

Played 18 this morning at Crestview Golf Course in Borculo, Mich. Shot an 89, which is my first time ever breaking 90. Many thanks go out to this forum and the people on it for all the wonderful help.

Went and played Crestview Golf Course in Borculo, Mich. Shot a 40 (!) on the front, before falling back to a more normal 51 on the back. Two bad holes killed me on the back. Oh well. I still can't believe I shot a 40.

I should also clarify and say that the majority of balls had logos on them and/or pen marks. They are definitely a good deal though.

I've never bought a bucket, but I did buy 60 AAA Warbirds from them. I'd say about 50 of the 60 were in great shape, but there were 5 or so that I wouldn't want to use because they had a few good scuffs in them. They'd be fine for practice though, in my opinion.

The Pheasant Golf Course in Borculo, Mich. A nine-hole course that actually has some length, but the condition will make you scream. Almost dead straight, has a 89-yard par-3, spotty greens and fairways, and a couple of misplaced bumps in the fairway just to make it more "interesting". Worst of all, all nine greens are sloped back to front at about a 40 degree angle, making putting extremely difficult, boring, and repetitive. Sadly, I'm about to go play. Haha, $15 with cart without a tee time is good for a Saturday.

I used to clean out and do maintainence on repo'd homes for a job. In three years at that job I saw lots and lots of things like holes in walls. And much worse. But yeah, that's pretty common.

Lucky you. My first car was (and still is) a 1999 Cavalier. My parents paid $900 for it, and I won it off of them in a bet on my ACT score. I've stuck about $1000 in tires/brakes but nothing else major in five years. Still runs like a champ and if I hadn't ran a stop sign and gotten t-boned, there would be no rust or any body damage. Sorry for sliding a bit off topic. In all seriousness though, I'd go with a VW or perhaps a Mazda 6.

Went back to the same course I played earlier this week and played two balls again: Ball One: 51 Ball Two: 43 Had two bad holes with ball one and a couple lucky breaks for ball two. It rained some here today so the greens were slower than when I went earlier in the week. Sadly it took me about 4 holes to adjust to them or else the scores would have been better.

360 yd par 4, sharp dogleg left. Hit a nice 3-wood to the dogleg, but left my second shot about 20 yards short... From about 20 yards I just told myself to hit down on the wedge and pull the string. Took a nice divot in front of the ball and it hit and stopped dead about 3 ft from the pin. Of course I lipped out the par putt, but that's another story.

Played two balls on a par-35 back nine. Shot a 50 and a 49. Oddly enough, the 49 came with three triple bogeys. I suppose I'm okay with that.

Went out by myself yesterday and played two balls: Ball One: 51/46 = 97 Ball Two: 51/45 = 96 First round that I've been happy with in a long time. Driver didn't hurt me at all. Wasted a lot of birdie and par opportunities with poor chipping and missed short putts though. Can't wait to get back out now. Hopefully the weather will be a little cooler as it was 90+ degrees yesterday.

Course management is a big thing that I wish I had learned right away. When my score goes skyward it's a result of poor shot choices. But hands down the biggest thing I have learned over the last few years is that what works for some doesn't for others. Sometimes I wish I could drive the ball 300 yards, but I've gotten used to hitting it shorter and finding a way to the hole.

The Ravines in Saugatuck. About 10 minutes south of Holland. I played their once this summer before the greens were messed up. Nice course, but really expensive when there are many other good courses in the area.