Vespidae

See above.

Thank you.

I’m sorry I wasted your time. I literally took the stats from each section of LSW and converted them from percentage to shots. I’ll ask my pro. Thanks for your input.

Do you want me to cite each page? I can.

It's right out of LSW.

I’ve used various versions of 65/20/15 for some time. I’m changing up my routine (new work schedule) and am considering the program below. I estimate it at about 100 minutes, 3 times a week. I play the other days. The course I’m now playing has very undulating greens, hence the variety of Greenside/Approach shots. Comments welcome. Putting Make 10 out of 10 of your 3 foot putts Make 5 out of 10 of your 8 foot putts Make 3 out of 10 of your 15 foot putts Lag putting: Roll your long-range putts < 10% of their starting distance Greenside shots (1-20 yards): Hit 8 out of 10 to within 6 feet of the hole. 10-yard chip shot from light fringe. 20-yard chip shot from light rough. 15-yard short pitch shot to cup. [Front edge floater] 15-yard lob shot over bunker to cup. Greenside Bunker Shots 10 out of 10 out of bunker to a distance of about 30 feet Hit 5 out of 10 stop to within 9 feet of the hole Approach Shots (20 - 60 yards): Hit 4 of 10 to within 11 feet of the hole 30-yard pitch and run to the cup. [ … to back pin] 30 yard floater, various lengths (<30 yds) Ladder drill … low spinning pitch (vary trajectory), 5 ea Full Swing: 50-yard pitch to the cup. [Driving wedge w/spin]* , use as a warm up Hit 2 balls with every iron (SW - 3H); land and stop on the green Hit 4 balls with every wood (5W - 3W); hit 3 of 4 GIR or nGIR Hit 6 balls with the driver; Hit 4 out of 6 in the fairway at 250+ yds

It is a gift card. It works like any other gift card only and yes, the balance is $1440 and can be used at any ClubCorp location in the US.

I'm a former member of ClubCorp and received this ClubCorp Rewards Gift Card. I would use it myself, but I already have another membership I'm using. It gives you access to incredible golf experiences and tee times at 200+ participating ClubCorp clubs. In addition to saving 20% on your golf, you will receive: Advance Tee Times | Book 48 hours in advance for Sunday noon - Friday noon. Golf | Use your card for full rounds including any green or cart fees. Guests | Invite up to 3 guests for a round with you and cover their fees. Golf Club Rentals | When you travel, leave your clubs at home and use your card to rent on site. Exclusive toll-free number for customer service. If you enjoy golf, you'll love the savings. It also gives you access to Firestone Country Club if you want to arrange a vacation package to play there. If interested, please PM me for details.

Grand National has 100,000+ rounds a year. For good reason. You will enjoy playing ANY of these courses. Again, PM with any questions.

Here's my take and then my recommendation. Capitol Hill - The Judge, The Legislator, and the Senator are all fantastic. I personally prefer the Senator of all the RTJ courses in the state and it is the only one that holds a regular tournament ... the Symmetra Tour. Great amenities nearby. They are sticklers here for pacing and use marshals to keep you on pace, so be prepared for that. Birmingham - Oxmoor Valley and Ross Bridge both take advantage of the best terrain in the state for golf. Ross Bridge is the PREMIER course on the trail and simply outstanding. You can't go wrong playing these three. Mobile - You can play Magnolia Grove (which used to hold a Champions Tour event) AND ... Lakewood, which is an older Perry Maxwell design, but one of my favorite courses to play. Magnolia Grove though, struggles with handling rain, so be careful about playing in the summer. Lakewood is a great track and usually hosts USGA events, and it's a great vibe as well. Grand National - this is where I usually play. The Lake Course used to host the Barbasol Champiohship, but the course gets too much play now to host tournaments. The Lakes and the Links course are both great, almost always in great condition. The Links course was recently renovated, the Par 3 short course is currently under renovation (to re-open in October). The other courses ... if you are in the area, fine. If not, I wouldn't drive out of the way. Robert Rulewich designed almost all the courses and other than terrain, the designs are similar. Very challenging at the green and will defend par with the putting surface. If it is your only visit, I would recommend playing all 3 of the Capitol Hill courses or 2 plus Ross Bridge. Capitol Hill and Birmingham are so close that you can easily do this. Grand National is super convenient to Atlanta airport and if you wanted, you could do Grand National (both courses) and then drive to Prattville and play the Senator without changing hotel. Plus, a cool college town. Hope this helps. The Trail is awesome, I highly recommend. PM me or call me if you need more.

Pursell Farms. Probably the best course in the state. It's near Sylacauga and totally worth the drive. The course is better than any of the RTJ courses and I've played a bunch of them. The conditioning of the course is first class.

I know that course well. When I was younger, I would regularly play 36 holes a day. You could buy an annual pass for $200 for unlimited golf. Legend has it that Bobby Jones himself played on opening day. And, promptly quipped, "I'm sorry I lent my name to this cow pasture." It actually was a fun course. Dramatic views of downtown. Not to mention the drive from Number 9. I've seen the redesign by Cupp and was recently there a few weeks ago. It's an interesting change and probably good for business. But, If they had just irrigated the old course and put in more interesting greens, it was a fun place to play and hangout. I actually miss it. True story. A Viet Nam vet describe what it was like to pass the time while jailed in the Hanoi Hilton. He said one of his techniques was to relive rounds of golf he had played at Bobby Jones. I can still do this in my mind, clearly, almost 40 years later.

Interesting. I had a Dutch colleague who played at a club near Amsterdam. He was quite proud of the mandatory red trousers all members wore when playing. Something to do with the nautical nature of the area.

You may be right. Do you have a favorite you would recommend? If not, I may just head to Pinehurst.

Watching the Ryder Cup, I'm curious about any opinions on Whistling Straits (only if you have played it). I'm debating a trip to either the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island or Whistling Straits but also open to other options. I don't really want to travel to Oregon or the UK, so let's just limit the options to the USA. Thanks. PS. I have played Pebble Beach, so let's table that one for now. It was fabulous.

I wasn't looking at the issue of "Is golf a mental game or a physical game" as much as I was "why are some people more affected by stress than others?" So, reading up on the subject, I came up with a framework that works for me. And that is ...About 20% of the population is subject to anxiety and responding to that anxiety is a function of the degree of natural resilience, use of a chemical management, and/or behavioral changes. So, it's a continuum and it's a personal thing and different people need different things. Some don' need anything, some need yoga and breathing, others need drugs. It helps me pull together and explain people that I know and it seems to fit. Is it the best way to look at it? I don't know. But I know someone who does and I'm going to run over to her lab tomorrow and ask. I'll let you know.

One of the things I like about TST is that it has really interesting topics. It encourages me to learn more about subjects I don’t normally think about. This is one. So the thread began with a recommendation to simply “enjoy pressure”. Is it really that easy? In some cases, yes. Harvard psychologists demonstrated that moderate levels of anxiety improve performance in humans and animals: too much anxiety, obviously, impairs performance, but so does too little. But research also determined that 1 in 5 suffer from anxiety and one outcome of anxiety is stress which often has physiological effects (tense muscles, breathing, etc.) which in turn, affects performance. Why? Why can’t people just relax and play their best? Apparently, a person’s allotment of neuropeptide Y (NPY), a neurotransmitter in the brain that regulates stress responses, among other things, is relatively fixed from birth, more a function of heredity than of learning. People high in NPY tend to be unusually psychologically resilient and resistant to breaking down in high-pressure situations. It’s possible that those who thrive under pressure (and become world-class athletes) have learned to be resilient—that their high levels of NPY are the product of their training or their upbringing. Others however (20%), are unable to do so. They have insufficient levels of NPY to deal with high pressure and their physiological response is any of a number of things …sweaty palms, labored breathing, tense muscles, etc. Sian Beilock, a University of Chicago cognitive psychologist who specializes in the topic, stated that to achieve optimal performance—what some psychologists call flow—parts of your brain should be on automatic pilot, not actively thinking about (or “explicitly monitoring”) what you are doing. Beilock has found that she can dramatically improve athletes’ performance, at least in experiments, by getting them to focus on something other than the mechanics of their stroke or swing. So pressure (and some anxiety) produces better performance than not having the anxiety. The open question is … how much is too much? The very best athletes seem to either naturally resilient to stress or how to manage themselves “in the zone” … either chemically or through coping mechanisms. Interesting topic!

I think the term was it’s overrated. And at the highest levels of the game, I don’t think it’s overrated. I’ve stated my reasons why ...

I never said that. These same athletes are playing against other superior athletes. Little edges matter ... As to casual golf, I don’t think it matters much if at all.

Spurious argument. Stress is situational. Are you stressed when you are in your office? I doubt it.

Please find the part where I said it was more important. I believe that at the highest levels of the game, golfers probably suffer from anxiety at the same rate of the general population. And those who do, control it better than their peers.

Nonsense. Bubba has fear of crowds. Let’s say he is surrounded by a group and tightens his grip in response (a real outcome of anxiety is tension). He then hooks the ball out of bounds. You’re saying that has nothing to do with his score? It doesn’t happen (often) because Bubba knows this and manages it. At the local muni, who cares? Playing for millions ... I’ll bet they have all sorts of coping mechanisms. I never said it was more important. I said it’s not zero.

You do understand what “physically better” means? It means less variation in performance ... which means he manages stress better. How do you know that their physical underperformance wasn’t due to complications from anxiety?

What’s your point? A PGA champion is going to beat my ass and that proves your point? How about all the players who couldn’t control it and washed out?