oneF457z

Played Alvamar in Lawrence, KS today. Never played the course, and it was super windy, so I guess I'll take my 79. Played the first 7 even par, w/ a chip in birdie on #3. Then, +7 in my next 9 holes, with 7 bogeys and 2 pars... had 60+ft putts on 8 and 9, then 51ft on 10, came out of those three holes with 8 putts combined... Salvaged my round with a 35 ft birdie putt on the final par 3 and finished just under 80.

I'd say you should be able to help enough to get him started. The advice given already will work, start with putting then move out. Whoever said 25% then 50% then 75% is how I try to help new people. Once they can make consistent contact taking a quarter swing (chip shot) then have them take a little bigger swing, etc. Sending someone to their local PGA teacher might be the best thing for them eventually, but I'd hate to send someone who can't even make contact w/ a ball and have them spend the money for a glorified chipping session... Get some sort of swing established, then let a pro mold it.

I'd play for carry too... A white ball that hits a soggy spot in the fairway is going to stick pretty close or plug, no matter how many layers it has, what shape it's dimples are, or what logo is written on it. I've played in wet conditions many times, especially this season, and I've never seen one ball avoid the downfall of wet conditions in the fairway better than the rest.

I've never heard of anyone who is considering new wedges rule-out Cleveland & Titleist.... I don't have much help for you, but good luck! If I had to pick I'd go Mizuno. They always make good looking golf clubs, and I've never seen the Nikes before.

I'd go top-tier really. With your swing speed, you're still going to hit a 4-piece ball further than most people you play with, but you'll have the ability to keep balls on the putting surface from 30yds much easier. I love the Bridgestone Tour 330, but also will play the ProV1x and Callaway iX. My average drive is around 290 with 1-3 per round hitting the 300-310+ range, so you can still get distance out of these for sure! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by any of these golfballs.

Thanks, I'll have to check it out! I google searched and found a few courses, but I figured I'd see if anyone had recommendations instead.

I'm going to be in Topeka KS all of next week (oct. 5th - 9th) and it looks like my Wednesday afternoon will be COMPLETELY open, so I'd really like to get a round in! I looked around briefly and it looks like there are a few private courses, but does anyone know of/have recommendations for any courses that I could play while I'm there? Thanks for any help you can give!

Woohoo, I remember the first (and only!) time I played the Black, shot an 84 hitting the ball better that I had all year, haha! Last time I played Bethpage I played Yellow, great course as well. My folks live about 7 miles from the park, so whenever I'm there I try my best to get a round or 2 in.

Go for it! I got my Scotty around Christmas time last year as a sort of "gift" for myself also, and I think it actually improved my putting b/c of the mental aspect! I know it's probably not 100% true, but I get out on the course over a putt and think "dang, this is a hot peice of equipment, there's no way I'll miss this putt!" The squareback is sweet too, I haven't been able to roll one but have seen them around, you'll be completely happy with it!

I'm not much of a range guy really, don't spend much time there. And no, there is no browning or rust on any of the irons. Shafts are labeled, etc. Thanks for the input, I guess I'll be making a decision here soon, if only I could find my darn digital camera...

I think the iX plays very similar to the ProV1x, but I haven't found it's any more or less durable. I switched from the ProV1x after I got new wedges this season b/c I kept cutting the covers. I picked up a dozen iX's cheap at a local golf shop that is going out of business, and I seem to have about the same cover wear issues. The ball is quite good, but I think I'll stick to my Bridgestones after this dozen goes, they are just too right for me.

I had an opponent in a high school match do this once. I was a junior and he was a senior on the other team. I was having the round of my life (ended up with a 32 on 9, so -4... this was in 2002 and I hadn't shot another under par 9 until this year!) and he was pissed that I was beating him. On #8 he hit 3 straight OB after I hit the fairway and he said "There's no way YOU'RE outdriving me!" It was pretty humorous once our scores posted, hehe.

Midwest here too. Not too often do we have lots of snow staying on the ground, so like Jay-Bird said if there is a 40-50 degree window I'll be out taking advantage of it! I also have a full-size practice net and a driving range mat. I can set both up in the garage and have a pretty sweet at-home driving range! Mostly stick to shorter irons to avoid hitting anything w/ my woods on the backswing or followthrough, but it helps just keep the muscle memory.

Golf course I used to work at back in high school had gas carts, and we quickly discovered how to take the governors off. Now, they in no way drove like the one in that video! But I'd bet we got them going ~30mph, which looking back was probably very unsafe (and not great for the carts either)

Haha, awesome! I've seen the sparks as well, and would like to see someone try that gasoline thing! Maybe a backyard experiment though... The last 2 weekends I've played up until dark, and I think the worst part is how hard it is to read a putt at dusk! Putting through shadows is bad enough during the day, but at sunset it's practically impossible for me!

PS3, Xbox 360, Wii... just get all 3, that's what I did! Haha, I've always been a huge Xbox guy, so I had to get a 360 when it came out. The Wii is just too much fun to not have around, what a great concept! And then I got the PS3 basically because of the Blu-Ray capabilities, but there have been some pretty sweet games too. You don't really have to get all three, I have pros and cons about all 3 systems, I'm just almost as obsessed w/ gaming as I am with golf.

Used the Callaway Tour iX this past Saturday for the first time. Played very consistently with a ProV1x, at least IMO. Greens were super soft after rain Tues-Thurs, so hard to tell about roll, spin, etc, but hopefully the courses here will harden up a bit this week and I can test 'em again Saturday (playing in a 2-man tourney) and I still have the whole dozen!

I love my 60*, I have no idea what I did without it earlier! My irons are spaced at 4* increments, with 9i at 44, PW at 48 etc, so my 52* GW 56* SW 60* LW setup continues the trend and makes my distances very easy to regulate IMO. I rarely have a shot distance that falls between my 3w and 3i, and I have shots inside 100 yds constantly ... so I picked up the 60* to assist with these short shots.

They are not the TP version. Looks like the guide sets the regular rac MBs closer to $125-$150. I was considering regripping them, as I've got about a dozen GP decade multi-compound grips laying around, but it won't really be worth it if I can't get $200 out of them. I guess i'll just save those for something else! I will probably look into putting them in the Marketplace, after these pesky restrictions wear off...

I have looked on ebay, and there's usually a set or two, but they are all pretty much new sets, nothing like the dings I've got (even though mine are in decent shape!). I'll have to check the value guide, I'm assuming it would be on USGA's website so I'll go check there.

So, I thought I'd get some advice from any folks who have had experience selling clubs, either here, on eBay, locally, etc. I just got a new set of irons, and am considering selling my old ones. I have a set of Taylormade rac MB blades, 3-PW, steel shafted stiff, standard loft/lie across the board. Awesome set of clubs, I bought them in 2003 and used them through this August. I'd say I only got about 10 rounds a year on them between '03 and '07, and played more in '08 and '09 so they got a bit more action. Basically, being forged irons they have the usual bag chatter, but the 5i and 7i have fairly large dings on the soles from rocks (courses in South MO tend to have very rocky soil and you can hit some rocks in the rough if you take a divot...) that don't affect play at all (i used them both for years after the nicks) but will probably affect the amount I could get for them price-wise. I guess I'm wondering what sort of range might I expect to get for them being in good shape but with 2 cosmetic dings, or would it possibly be worth my time (and maybe more $) to try to sell them individually if maybe someone out there is looking to complete a set, lost a club, etc? Honestly, they are in great shape and would be a great club/set for anyone who wants to upgrade to a players iron w/o breaking the bank, I just thought I'd ask around before making a decision.

I work for a company that manages Flexible Spending Accounts. Not exactly what I planned on doing with my life, but at this point a job is a job, and it pays me well enough to let me get out on the course every weekend. That's good enough for me!

I think comfort is key. I think I remember hearing years back that changing your grip size can have an impact on your swing (maybe larger grips might promote less wrist action or something?) but I've never tested it personally. I have gotten so used to standard size grips that even midsize feel too strange for me. But I really like your idea about the 8i and 9i, I've always been a fan of testing ideas on your own rather than just going by word of mouth. You never know how a club/grip/loft/stance/whatever will affect you until you try it, and I'd say that one extra grip to experiment on is totally worth the $5-10 if it will result in your comfort and being able to play more of this awesome game! good luck!

I would have to say it depends on the amount of green I had to work with first, then maybe if anything lies between myself and the green. If there was a back pin, I would probably use my GW to land the ball middle of the green and let the slightly less loft run the ball towards the back. If there was a front pin, I would probably use the SW or LW and try to get the ball up to land (and hopefully stay) close to the pin, keeping in mind that conditions might require you to even land the ball short of the green to keep it close. It's all so different because of conditions and individuality of holes and shots, it's almost too hard to answer a ? like this one!

I guess I always assumed most iron sets were fairly similar with loft angles (+/- 1* or 2*)across the board, but I guess I was wrong! You say you've never even hit a ball before? If I were in your shoes, I'd just get out there and try to play with what you've got, maybe just pick up a cheap SW if you do need it for the occasional greenside bunker shot. Until you can play around and get a feel for your game, I'd hate to give you advice on buying a certain degree wedge jsut because "I really like mine" or something along those lines.