NCSU_MSE

Were you playing at Lonnie Poole?

There's one spot on my local course where you can walk ~10 feet into the woods and find all the golf balls you want. Once a month I go in there with a grocery bag and fill it up. When I get home I wash and sort the balls into 3 categories: Premium (ProV1s, Nike Ones, etc.) Nice (PD Softs, NXTs, etc.) Practice (XL3000's, Pinnacle Golds, etc.) Last time out I found 14 ProV1s after just 5 minutes of hunting.

When I had a bad sway, the driver would sometimes lead to a lost ball. However, I've fixed that issue thanks to lessons. Now when I miss one, it's usually in the rough. However, I'd much rather hit a wedge or short iron out of the rough (because I got good distance with driver) than a mid iron (because I sliced that 3 iron). At the same time, there are a couple of holes on my home course where the fairway is very narrow and any kind of miss is trouble (i.e. lost ball or hazard). In those cases I club down to a 5i off the tee and play a longer 2nd shot.

I've seen people with all kinds of gear hack it up out there. My guess is that you have something against Nike and TaylorMade, so you tend to pin a golfer's lack of ability on his/her equipment brand.

I don't see the problem with someone having brand loyalty. My first TM-Adidas purchase was a pair of golf shoes that fit me better than any Nike or FootJoy product (both of which gave me blisters). From there I demoed a set of r7 irons, and I've been hooked on TM-A. Will I neglect other equipment based simply on brand? No. But I always give TaylorMade products a look when shopping.

Erik, you really hit the nail on the head there. I get into discussions about "course management" with buddies all the time. They often tell me I should bag the driver and hit iron off the tee, and my response is always the same - "I can slice a 3 iron as easily as I slice my driver." In other words, the reward outweighs the risk.

I always take off my hat and sunglasses to shake hands with my playing partners on 18. I also always remove my hat before walking indoors to the pro shop, but it seems that almost nobody has manners enough to do that anymore.

I've been using a Sun Mountain C-130 for about one season and really like it - compartments everywhere, and a cooler pouch.

We play at a bunch of different courses: Rocky River, Highland Creek, Birkdale, etc. Fortunately we have several other courses in our area, but I agree. I don't want to be a jerk about this situation.

Ok, so after asking some of the players in my league, this appears to be what happened: 5:00 - First league group goes out 5:09 - 2nd league group goes out (I'm in this group) 5:18 - Non-league twosome A goes out 5:27 - 3rd league group goes out 5:36 - Non-league twosome B goes out Apparently the 3rd league group couldn't make it in time for the 5:18 slot, so I guess I understand the course sending off a twosome there (even though we technically have the time reserved). In talking to the last league group, they said they were hustling and trying to stay ahead of twosome B. They are really good about letting folks play through, but they told me that twosome B apparently skipped a hole to get ahead of them. My group ended up letting Twosome A play through and then got pushed hard by Twosome B on 7, 8, and 9 (with one of the idiots going for the green while we were lining up our putts). The long and short of this is that I won't say anything to the club pro since we have had a great working relationship to this point, but if this gets to be a habit I'll voice a concern.

41 in last night's league. That was good for a net 32.

I run up a small non-competitive golf league where I work. Our local course has signed an agreement with us for a block of tee times between 5pm and 5:35pm. Yesterday my group of 3 was 2nd to go out (at 5:09). On the 2nd hole we notice a twosome waiting behind us. At first I thought they might be league players, but I couldn't tell. Anyways, we kept up with the group ahead of us so letting them play through didn't make much sense. When we got to #6 we stopped at the water cooler and there was a big enough gap between us and the group in front of us that we let the guys play through. Well, on #7 another twosome starts to push us. These guys were definitely not in our league group. For the most part they were patient, but on #9 (a driveable par 4) one of the guys pops off a drive that lands about 20 yards right of us in the rough while we are lining up our putts. I seriously thought about going and tossing his ball into the creek that runs next to the hole. Anyways, the head pro wasn't around when we finished up, but would it be wrong of me to complain about them letting two twosomes go out right in the middle of our block of tee times? We have had a pretty good relationship with this course in the past, so I don't want to ruin that. How would you phrase the complaint?

We recently played at a course where the starter made you show your ball mark repair tool before he'd send you out. If you didn't have one he'd send you back to the clubhouse (where they were actually giving away cheap ones). I thought this was a great policy.

The only thing that ticks me off worse than not fixing ball marks is people who fix them incorrectly by lifting the turf up instead of folding it in.

Max for me would probably be 215 if I really mash a 3-iron. Anything 175 and in I feel good about getting the distance right (just maybe not the direction).

I talked to my wife's grandfather (who is a CC member) and wanted to echo and add to what others have said. If your club offers equity membership, you might have a harder time getting your initiation fee waived. You're generally buying "shares" of "stock" in the club with that fee. There's all kinds of restrictions that may apply in this type of membership, so be sure you get ALL the details before you sign. It's not uncommon to have rules that state you can't sell your shares (e.g. quit) for a certain number of years, can't sell below a certain price, or can't sell without board approval. You may be able to get the initiation fee waived or reduced (even if it's equity membership) by forfeiting your equity shares. Obviously this would mean no voting rights, but if you just want a nice place to play golf you might not mind. If this is a non-equity initiation fee, I'd absolutely try to get it waived or reduced. Just tell them the truth: that you are interested but would like to see if they can waive or reduce the initiation fee. Lastly, as others have said, you'll have a hard time getting your recurring membership fees reduced. At most you may be able to negotiate a lower food and beverage minimum.

Yep. In all my years I've never seen anything like it.

You should definitely ask. I know a lot of clubs in my area are waiving initiation fees (although the really ritzy clubs still charge a fortune).

Different scenario, but it also deals with grounds crews: We play in a casual Monday night league. One night my group was 1st to tee off. Starting at hole 5 we noticed the mowers finishing up mowing the greens ahead of us. On hole 7 we hit our approach shots onto the green and I end up sticking mine to about 6 feet (which is great for me). Well about that time the crew cranks up the sprinklers for a good 10 minutes. Long story short, I miss the putt which was all my fault, but I wasn't too happy about having our round interrupted like that. Has anyone ever had that happen?

Mine always follow a familiar formula: 1. Hit OB or lost ball off tee. 2. Hit again off tee, now lying 4, probably in trouble (woods, fwy bunker, short tee shot, etc.) 3. Try the hero shot since I'm already lying 4, only to duff said shot 4. Finally hit one near the green 5. Duff my chip or otherwise don't land it close 6. 2-putt at best (sometimes 3-putt) 7. Card my 9 or 10

I am personally of the opinion that "ignoring" cheating will keep you from ever getting better. I used to bump lies and not count all of my penalty strokes, and it did nothing but overinflate my perceived golfing ability. It's like a drug addict - he never thinks he has a problem until you lay out all the facts. Well, once I started really counting each and every penalty and playing by the book, I realized that I wasn't nearly as good as I thought I was. It made me take practicing and getting better much more seriously. Plus, I can honestly defend my handicap and golfing ability now.

After a heavy rainstorm in Charlotte yesterday, I still decided to go out for 9 with a buddy. I ended up shooting a 44 without even warming up. What I was most proud of was my response to my "blow-up" hole. I carded an 8 on the 4th hole and finished with four pars and one bogey.

Not necessarily. When I get sloppy, I hit the same shot without coming over the top (according to my instructor). He could be coming at the ball too steeply, and he's most likely hitting the ball with his hips closed to the target. Until we see a video, it's all guesswork.

They are a great set. You might also consider the G5/G10 irons and the Callaway Big Berthas. What you want as a beginner is an iron with a large cavity, lots of perimeter weighting, and plenty of offset. Do not, under any circumstances, buy any of TaylorMade's "TP" equipment just yet. You need to groove your swing before working your way into that type of equipment.

That assumes that the grooves were at the maximum width prior to being sharpened, no?