Norm66

It makes sense, but I too suffer from the pop-ups when teeing too high. I need to keep working on it I suppose.

My practice swings lately have been much less than full swings rather than the two or three full-swings I used to take so I'm already heading this direction. I don't think I'd like to go completely without though.

As a newbie to watching professional golf, I've wondered the same thing. The media often grabs and runs with the most trivial things just to get a story. To me what is more telling is that oft-quoted 'least desireable playing partner' thing. I'd love to know if that was really a vote of PGA Tour pros or what. If true, I would guess Rory shoots off his mouth more on the course and in the locker-room than what we know.

I was having trouble hitting my 3hybrid so I asked my instructor about it last week. His advice was to put the ball up farther in my stance and hit down on it like an iron, not to sweep it like a fairway wood. I'd been closing the face down by putting it too far back and having all kinds of trouble with topping shots with that club. To help hit down on the ball he told me to focus on the front of the ball rather than the back or top since that's where you really want the club to contact the ground. Hope that helps.

There's nothing worse than counting on the coolers at #5 and finding them empty. Very frustrating. One course I play has actual water fountains here & there. They're not as cold, but at least they're never empty.

That's what I was talking about. I've lost several balls right in the fairway and not always off the tee. I imagine it's got to do with the quality of courses I'm playing on. If it's an obviously lost ball I'll hit a provisional, but if I can't find it and didn't hit a provisional I'm unlikely to hold up the group behind me by walking back to the tee box.

Yea, I know the rules.

I don't mind hitting one into water, but to lose a ball just off the fairway (or in the fairway) just pisses me off. That said, I don't think I've ever taken the entire 5 minutes looking for a ball, I just take my penalty and move on.

Yeah, one of the courses I play is on a corner of two roads with a baseball facility on one side and a trailer park & apartments on the other side. There are constantly kids (and adults!) cutting through to walk to the store or home from school. Normally I don't mind, but one lady last week walked by me as I was getting ready to tee off on a par-3 and she walked right in front of me, right over the bridge and directly across the green I was trying to hit. You expect it from kids, but an adult? A while later I saw her walking back carrying a case of Natural Light so there you go. I've also had kids in the creek looking for balls when I'm trying to hit. Annoying, but I know if I was a kid in that neighborhood I'd be doing it as well.

I haven't carried a driver in my bag the whole 11 months I've been golfing. I've done nothing with it but slice so I've stayed with the 3-wood off the tee. My instructor tells me my swing is ready for the driver now though. He wants me to bring it to my next lesson so we'll see how it goes from there.

My Ogio Grom bag is awesome. And it's got that insulated drink pocket mentioned above in addition to a score-card holder, balls on the outside, zipperless ball pocket and a strap system that is comfortable either with one or both shoulders.

Bad etiquette certainly. But she's hardly the first to do it, look at every Olympic gold medalist with the flag wrapped over them drooping on the ground etc.(though in all honesty I don't recall anyone ever sitting on one). You have to take into account the fact that the photographers in France probably aren't aware of US flag etiquette and that's probably who posed her such. Does it tick me off? A little. My father, and three of my four grandparents served in the Armed services and I was taught to honor the flag as a way of honoring those who serve(d) it. I don't think it'll make me anti-Natalie though. It was an exciting day for her and flag etiquette was probably the last thing on her mind. I do bet she gets enough flack for this that she'll know better next time.

Congrats to Natalie! She played great under pressure at the end there. Good job. "I had tivo'd the match, and was bummed when I read Natalie won..." If there's one thing I've learned about recording sporting events, it's that you can't rely on others not to spoil things for you. If you really care to watch it un-spoiled you need to avoid places like this & the Golf Channel like the plague. But having had it happen to me I do feel a little sympathy.

I'm with you. One of my most memorable rounds of golf happened when I had only been golfing a couple months last October when I woke up at work time on a Saturday morning. I cooked breakfast and found myself at a local course that has tons of great views and beautiful trees. I was there about ten minutes before the clubhouse was even open so I had a chance to wander around a little just taking things in. I was first off the first tee, it was about 50 degrees and pretty foggy still. The leaves were in mid-change and deer were everywhere. On the second hole I nearly got my cart stuck on the side of a hill I had no business being on with dew still on the greass. Later on I nearly got stuck in a creek trying to get over a submerged bridge that had too much mud on it to get traction. I also lost so many balls that I had to finish with my wife's that were in my bag and happened to be pink. Luckily there wasn't anyone around to see. ;^)

My gap (52*) is my go-to club for 110 yards and in. I chip around the greens with it and my 56* depending on how much run I need after it hits.

Well, I'm here to tell you that lessons work. A few weeks ago my best 9 hole score was 45 and that had only happened once. Now, I've had several 9-hole scores of 42 and 43 (almost had 41 last night, but missed a short putt). My previous best 18 hole score was 92 only done 3 times but last night I finished at 89 for the first time. Three lessons and my tee shots aren't slicing OB or into the adjacent fairway and my ball-striking has improved immensely. I still hit the occasional fatty or topper, but I'm much more consistent than I was.

Short, 290 yard par-4 with water coming in from the right at 155 yards or so. Hit an 8iron off the tee and blocked it right a bit leaving another 8 iron into the green over the water. My second shot went almost to the back fringe, about 45 feet from the cup. I read about two cups right-to-left and for once got the speed right. It actually went left of the hole until about 4 feet before the hole and then back right into the hole for birdie. Woohoo! My third birdie since last Friday.

I started at a company outing late last August so I'm approaching my first year.

No, I was born in '71, but my grandpa got me started saving bicentennial quarters when I was a kid and I've never stopped. The two that are in my bag are the only two I've come across since I started golfing last August. They're getting scarce nowadays.

Not that I give a lot of tips (because I'm not that good), but I just covered this two weeks ago with my new instructor. Essentially the idea is to snap your forearms over through impact: for a lefty, your right forearm's top is up during the backswing. Then when you come down from the top your forearms flip over so after impact your left forearm's top is up thus hopefully getting the face square at impact. And I mean really snap them over too. You can actually hit balls surprisingly far just with just a short backswing and flipping the forearms over. This was something I had not done at all prior to taking lessons and it's helping me immensely. In fact, couple that technique with a full turn and holding my follow-through for a second has pretty much eliminated my horrible tendency to slice. The best advice I can give is advice I resisted for most of a year after taking up the game: Get a few lessons. I've made great strides with just two lessons under my belt. In fact in consecutive days I've broken my previous best 9-hole scores (by 1 and 2 strokes respectively). Good luck.

Well, if he just barked orders at me I wouldn't have finished the first lesson. Besides, I'm 6'-3" & over 300lbs. He wasn't going to bark anything at me. ;^) I don't have a problem with taking lessons from an older guy (Gary's 64 BTW) at all. I look at it like I do doctors: If I have a rare type of cancer I want the young doctor just out of med school who knows all the latest techniques & treatments. But if I have a gash in my head it's the 60 something ER doctor I want working on me because he's done it thousands of times. My golf swing is definitely at the stitches stage rather than the nuclear medicine stage so I'm perfectly happy with my older instructor. Plus, he's just a really nice guy. Cheers! ps- I beat my previous best 9-hole score by two strokes (42) last night after only two lessons. Of course I lost it after the turn and wound up with 53 for 95 total, but what the heck.

I like to dress nice on the course, my days of jeans & tee-shirt are over. I think it shows a little respect to not look like some homeless dude on the course. That said, (and no offense intended) I think it's funny to hear a bunch of guys throw around names like Ralph Lauren or J Lindberg. Sounds like a bunch of women discussing their purses or something. hehehe

In one lesson I went from three consecutive 9-hole games with zero, nada, nix in the way of fairways hit to hitting 5 of 7 fairways. I've got another lesson tonight and I couldn't be looking more forward to it. What words of magic will my pal Gary utter to improve my swing just a little bit more? :0)

I prefer to walk. Unfortunately, there's only one walkable course in my immediate vicinity. For all the reasons listed above.

I had been using a Bicentennial quarter, but I played in a scramble a few weeks ago and our sponsor bought us all Titleist caps with a magnetic ball-marker on the bill. Pretty nice!