murph182

It doesn't matter what the sport is, it goes like this: If you're "that good", then someone will find you. Otherwise, if playing your sport in college is more important to you than anything else then you pretty much just start calling the schools you want to go to and finding out how to make their team until you find a school where you can play. Then you see if you can get in. If not, keep going down the list. You're going to have to go to a school where you can be on the team, rather than getting on the team where you go to school...if that makes sense. It may be some craptastic school in the middle of nowhere that has been last in their conference for 30 years, but if you want to play and that's the only place you can make the team then that's what it takes. Frankly, unless you love the game THAT much that you're willing to put academics and everything else a distant second just so you can make the golf team then what you might want to do instead is find a school that you would actually want to go to that has a club team or intramural program, but where you may not be able to make the team. It may not be NCAA competition, but you'll get to play competitive golf and actually enjoy college. And who knows, maybe that's where you'll get the game you need to make the team or you'll get noticed by another school where you COULD play NCAA golf.

No, there isn't. At least not when you look at Tour TV ratings with and without him in the field. A few of my friends are "golf fans", just about everyone else I know who watches golf is a "Tiger" fan, as in they might as well just call the sport "Tiger" instead of golf because that's all anyone cares about. The PGA had better do something to make the game more interesting to the cult of personality out there, or else they're in for a world of hurt. And no, "These Guys are Good" isn't it. The Golf Channel is just showing us what they think everyone wants to see. They're wrong, of course, but they probably have 273 different market studies that say people would rather see Tiger clipping his toenails than other players, you know, playing.

Actually I thought of one more comment...is it worth $500? It is if you paid to play it a second time.

As has been noted, there are plenty of courses out there just as nice or nicer, with the same scenery or better (subjective) that are just as challenging or harder, for less money. Pebble costs $500 not because of the quality of the course but because it's Pebble (although it wouldn't have the rep if the course wasn't amazing). If you spend $500 to play there, it's likely for one of two reasons: you either have the money to "only play the best" or you want to play simply for the sake of having played there because of the reputation. There's nothing wrong with either of those reasons. I've spent nearly $1k to eat at some of the "best" restaurants in the world and have frequently had better food for $10 at my local neighborhood place. For some people tier 1 is simply the standard because cost is relative. For the rest of us you pay for the experience and the story to tell. Frequently, the higher the relative cost of entry the more valued the experience will be. There was a time when spending $20 to eat at Outback was a big night out for me and those steaks were the best in the world. Now it's a place I go when I need meat and it's right in front of me. Frankly, I'd rather go to a "lesser" resort and get 54-72 holes and a room for $500 but if playing Pebble is an experience that you want to have and share, by all means. If you're one of those people for whom $500 is your usualy price per round, then did I mention I am available for adoption?

there, fixed that for you. I know that would have been the first thing out of my mouth upon hearing the word "twin".

Lessons have helped me greatly. I spent ten years teaching myself how to play. I suck, but it was still fun to play and I slowly but surely developed a good swing. But I had no idea WHY I hit the ball well or poorly and when a problem developed it would take weeks or months and hundreds of range balls to correct...and the correction was just by accident. I started taking lessons with a PGA pro recently. In a few weeks I've learned more about the golf swing than I have in ten years, and am hitting the ball better than ever. Oh, and when the ball does something I don't like I can almost immediately identify what I did wrong and correct it, or at least get back on track within a few swings and actually enjoy playing until I can get some help from him instead of putting the sticks away for a few months because I can't take it anymore. I should have taken lessons years ago.

under the rules, they would have 82 points and probably win their division. You get the point simply for getting the tie in regulation, the winner in OT or the shootout gets a second point.

It probably wouldn't bother you as much if you were more clear on the rule and the history behind it. Originally, a win was worth 2, a loss zero, and a tie 1. In other words, a game was worth 2 points total. Overtime was the same 5 minutes as now, but 5-on-5. What was happening was that teams were playing to tie in OT rather than to win. With only 5 minutes of sudden death OT, all you had to do was play extremely defensively and you could almost guarantee the tie. Try to score, and you opened yourself up to breakaways and odd-man rushes. Just dump the puck and play the trap, and you'll end up tied more often than not. The league wanted more scoring. They wanted more exciting OT. They didn't want these 5-minute OT crapfests. So they changed the rule: at the end of regulation, both teams get 1 point. If you WIN in OT, you get a second point but if you lose you still get that first point. And what happened? More OT games ended in wins rather than ties. OT was more exciting, teams played for the win, and tv ratings went up. The standings column was wins-losses-ties-OT losses. 4 columns. It takes 2 minuntes to understand it but most people are idiots, aparantly, and everyone complained about it. So when they revamped the game after the lockout, they got rid of the tie. Now you either win, lose, or lose in OT/shootout. OT is 4 on 4 (although I think they implemented that before the lockout), and you get a point no matter what. You win in OT, you get a point. No win? Shootout until a winner, who gets the third point. Frankly, I think the shootout is stupid. I have no problem with a tie. Two teams played for 65 minutes and they played equally well. give them each a point and move on. I don't see why we have to have a definitive winner (just like I don't see the need for a college football national champion). I think it's silly that we play a complete game, 5 more minutes, and then settle it by focusing on a very small part of the game like the penalty shot. But it's good for ratings and it brings new, easily impressed, simpleton fans to the game. Well, if that's what it takes to keep it on tv and in my city, then I guess that's ok but I still don't like it.

I just replaced my 15 year old Wilson Pro-Staff starter set with a set of Taylor Made Burner 09's. Love them. Immediately longer and straighter by 2 or 3 clubs. I also carry a Taylor Made R5 5-wood. I "borrowed" it from a friend of mine a couple of years ago. I don't carry a driver or 3 wood. I just don't have the consistency with them that I have with the 5. I can get 200-220 off the tee, hitting most fairways, so I'm happy to just go with that until my game gets to the point where shorter tee shots are causing me strokes. As it is, it's taking me 4+ shots to get in the hole from 100 yds out so there are plenty of other areas for improvement. And an old top-flight sand wedge that I got in the used bucket at the driving range for $5.

1) You CANNOT ship a firearm over state lines to another person directly. You MUST send it to a Federal Firearms License holder. Any legitimate gun store has an FFL. Most will handle the transfer for a small fee ($20 at my local place). 2) you can sell the firearm to anyone you want, provided they are legally allowed to purchase and own firearms. How do you know if they are ok? That's on you. But if you sell it to a convicted crack fiend and he goes and shoots someone with your gun, and that gun gets traced back to you, you could wind up in big time trouble. Generally speaking, you'll be ok. But if the local authorities have a bee in their bonnet then they'll make trouble for you. Or if there was some kind of recent high-profile gun violence in the media and everyone is freaking out about stuff then you might have an issue. It's not hard for them to find SOME law that you broke by not checking out the person before hand even though you'd probably beat it in court because private transfers are completely legit. But do you want to spend the time and money on lawyers? So the way around THAT is to find a local gunshop as mentioned in #1 above, who will handle a private transfer for you. They'll do the background check and fill out the forms for a fee. They may want a % of the purchase price since most gun stores sell on consignment already and don't want to lose out on any $. Frankly, I think it's easier just sell it out of state via an FFL. Check out a site called gunbroker, it's like the ebay for guns.