joepro23

Nice. I didn't realize it, but I guess it is cool to be able to compile a pretty length list like this. I actually wish I could remember more. For me, some were easy since I kept a scrapbook from my days in junior competition. But, most of them were just floating around in the noggin. My brother and I would always push each other competitively growing up and he kept even better stats than I did.

Career milestones/achievements (taken from my forum thread) Just wanted to put the list in a blog post, so I can add new ones if they happen, come back to it after I have a bad day on the links, and/or just reflect while I'm waiting for the snow to melt in the winter. Firsts Breaking 80 from mens tees: 1999 (12 years old) First eagle: 2 on a par 4, 105 yards, 9-iron (1999) First junior tournament win: 1999 Breaking 70: 68 (also lowest round) (2004) First ace: 170 yards, 7-iron (2007) First club championship: 2009 First double eagle: 2 on a 454 yard par 5 - driver/8-iron (2010 - 3 weeks ago) Cool stuff Longest par streak: 15 holes Longest birdie streak: 5 holes Consecutive rounds with an eagle: 3 (this happened this summer and it is my favorite...all 3 eagles on same course, same hole, with same witness - my dad; 495 yard par 5) Consecutive rounds below 80: 18 Most eagles in one round: 2 Most GIR in one round: 16 Lowest nine hole score: 32 (4-under) Lowest putts: 24 Lowest scramble score (team of 4): 54 (17-under) Lowest college golf scoring average: 76.4 (2005-2006 season) Best college tournament result: 2nd place (71-71 - 142; 2-under) Wall of shame Most untimely bogey: First playoff hole (37th hole) of club championship finals circa 2002 First 5-putt in a tournament: college golf - 2008 Consecutive shots OB: 3

Perhaps this would have been better suited for a blog post. Still, I am curious about cool milestones/achievements from other TST posters.

I voted positive, but it is really a minimal difference I have found and not a big deal unless you get buzzed out there. The only occasions I may have a brewski on the course is when I am on vacation/playing a resort type course/st. patrick's day. If you just have 1 or 2 out there, it really is not going to do much either way. For me, it is a little relaxing, and that is the only impact.

This definitely works. After adding up my front nine (and the front of others in the group), I make a small note of it, but I "move on". I like treating the back as a clean slate and try not to pay attention to my overall score. No joke, I have so many rounds this year where I would come in off the 18th green and all the caddies that I know would ask me how I shot and I would respond, "I have no clue yet, but it has a '7' in front of it." It would usually end up being something like a 75.

I made a double eagle a few weeks ago (hurray!) and I was just doing a little reflecting on some of my golf milestones over the years. Now with the albatross in the books, all the big ones are covered (luckily I was able to start young). So, I wanted to compile all the milestones/achievements that I can remember, which is something I have never done before. I am including a bunch of random/fun ones in there to keep it interesting. I encourage everyone to do the same. Here it goes: Firsts Breaking 80 from mens tees : 1999 (12 years old) First eagle : 2 on a par 4, 105 yards, 9-iron (1999) First junior tournament win : 1999 Breaking 70 : 68 (also lowest round) (2004) First ace : 170 yards, 7-iron (2007) First club championship : 2009 First double eagle : 2 on a 454 yard par 5 - driver/8-iron (2010 - 3 weeks ago) Cool stuff Longest par streak : 15 holes Longest birdie streak : 5 holes Consecutive rounds with an eagle : 3 (this happened this summer and it is my favorite...all 3 eagles on same course, same hole, with same witness - my dad; 495 yard par 5) Consecutive rounds below 80 : 18 Most eagles in one round : 2 Most GIR in one round : 16 Lowest putts : 24 Lowest scramble score (team of 4 ): 54 (17-under) Lowest college golf scoring average : 76.4 (2005-2006 season) Best college tournament result : 2nd place (71-71 - 142; 2-under) Wall of shame Most untimely bogey : First playoff hole (37th hole) of club championship finals circa 2002 First 5-putt in a tournament : Senior year - 2008 Consecutive shots OB : 3

You can do it. I know breaking 80 is a nice milestone for every golfer, but if you make a big deal about it, it will be harder to do. I am guilty of the same thing with breaking 70. I have done it twice, but after choking a few times, I made it into a tougher feat in recent years. I don't play as much (thank you law school), and I have forgotten how to "close" out a good round. Now when I am 2 or 3 under with a few to go I start telling myself, "just par out and I shoot 69". That is just dumb because I would start planning how not to screw up instead of focusing on the shot at hand. Good luck

I grew up with half sets, but I don't know if it made me more creative or any better. If anything, it made club selection easier when I was a kid. Actually, in my first set (hand-me-down from a neighbor) the 7iron was lost before I got the set and the head came flying off the 5iron maybe a year in. So, I will always remember playing in this junior tournament at the age of 10 with just 4 clubs - 3wood, 3iron, 9iron, putter. Crazy. Nowadays, I don't think playing with a half set would do much for me. If I want to work on half-shots and choking down on the club, I would do so at the range. Why make this game harder when you are on the course?

2010 goals: "- repeat as club champion" No. This was a close one though. I lost in the finals this year. They made the club championship match play and I pretty much cruised into the finals like a lot of people expected. I was a little off my game in the 36-hole championship match and my opponent took advantage and started dropping birdies on me like crazy. Good battle though. I just wish I put a little more pressure on him in the middle there, because his putter can get pretty shaky. Instead, he got comfortable when I hit some errant shots and capitalized. Overall, match play runner-up and stroke play winner (medalist in the 2-round qualifier) is not a bad year though. "- hit more fairways (45% in 2009)" Yes. I hit 50.4% this year. Stopped tracking stats in August because of vacation and playing new courses, but I think I was at that average. Working on a little fade with the driver really helped me hit more fairways and I think my fairway numbers would be even higher if I kept my fall stats. "- improve scrambling - making par or better after missed GIR (37% in 2009)" Don't know. My free stat tracking site stopped keeping scrambling. Too bad. That is a good stat. "- at least maintain greens in regulation (57% in 2009)" 56.2%. Maybe I should have set a higher goal. "- learn a new shot (3-wood stinger, chip with hybrid, etc.)" Didn't learn either of those two I listed. I did work on my knock down shot and I am trying to bring in the fade more often. BONUS: I did have a double eagle, so I guess that counts as a "new shot".

Witnessed a close call once. NJ high school state tournament. A fellow competitor and friend of mine tees off and bombs it. We all notice the ball is not cutting and is probably going through the fairway at this big tree about 300 away (seriously). Standing right at the base of the tree was one of the coaches. We all start yelling fore and he hears us thankfully at the last second and ducked out of the way. When we caught up to him he said he never saw the ball, but heard us just in time. The ball hit the tree trunk right where his head was. I was hit in the arm about 7 years ago, nothing too bad though. A shot came in from another hole that I never saw, it clanked around the trees, hit the golf cart and then hit my arm. It didn't have a lot of juice left by the time it hit me. Didn't even leave a mark. A college teammate of mine said he was hit in the mouth once. Can't imagine that was too pleasant.

It does seem like a lot of people on here, as with driver distance, are overestimating their 3-wood length off the tee. Who knows, maybe everyone on here is really at tour distances when "hitting it on the screws"?

Goals for 2011: 1) Play some new courses. Planning a trip to the west coast for the first time and bringing the clubs for sure. That is a start. 2) Break 70 again. Haven't done so in 4 years. Oh so close dozens of times, but it always seems to slip away (usually when I start thinking about it ). 3) Work on my wedge game - 60-100 yard shots 4) Work on my fade with the irons. Naturally a draw player, and I have never felt comfortable using this shot when it matters.

I have a good amount of match play experience, and there is a certain competitiveness/intimidation that happens during the match that makes match play so much fun. Clutch short game shots are the big one. If my opponent and I have a similar chip/putt and he goes first and has a tap-in left/holes it, that makes the shot for me just a little more testy. Someone's distance doesn't intimidate me, accuracy and clutch putts are usually the main ones. If someone is really talkative or gets too close to me during the match, that sometimes bothers me (unless they are a friend). When I can, I try to use my distance as intimidation on the par 5s. Usually, if I hit the fairway, I am going for the green on any hole under 530 yds. Leaving a good birdie opp is a good way to force a mistake from your opponent. In stroke play tournaments, it is you versus the course and the only way I get thrown off my game is if playing partners are annoying, slow me down (has to be a lot), or don't know the rules/etiquette.

No way. I have to agree with everyone here in that appearance and clubs means very little. This thread would be better served if we talked about certain things on the course such as sinking putts, shotmaking, style of play, etc. that gets people intimidated. IMO, there is nothing more intimidating then when someone is chipping and putting really well against me in a match. Even though I have a very good short game myself, it kind of throws me off my game a little. I sometimes try to intimidate opponents by going for the par 5s in 2 if I am set up well. Accuracy usually wins over distance though, and if you are hitting every fairway, that is also very intimidating.

Haven't played it, but just thought about the 19th Hole at Legends Golf and Safari Resort in South Africa. 630 yard par 3, 1400 ft elevation drop, and you need to take a helicopter to get up there. Tee shot hangtime is like 30 seconds. http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/de...rn=golf-152314

Hole 5 at Grande Oaks in Fort Lauderdale. 250+ yards, flat, with bunkers. Played it during a Div 1 college tourney into the wind and many players took driver. I put 3-wood short and got my par. Website says they can stretch it to 275 from the champ tees. Interestingly, the course isn't that long (6700), it is just that hole really.

Topping fairway woods is a common problem for beginners. I have introduced a few friends to the game and I think it is just something you need to get through by hitting tons of golf balls at the range. Don't change your swing just for the woods. I don't think there is anything different about a 3-wood swing versus an iron swing or a driver. What makes it tough is that the club has a long shaft, but unlike the driver, the ball is on the ground and there is less room for error. My suggestion is to try teeing up the ball at the range and get comfortable making solid contact (not topping, whiffing, or getting way behind it). Gradually decrease the height of the tee until you are using no tee at all. This should give you the confidence to make a smooth swing and get the ball off the ground with the woods. The ideal impact is a slight descending blow where you are clipping a very little bit of grass (or the range mat i guess) just after impact. It's important not to give up on the fairway woods. Once you get good, you will probably be hitting them straighter than your driver and may even prefer it off the tee. I do. Also, check with your instructor...I'm not really a pro, unlike my username may suggest.

Nice videos...some interesting stuff he said in there. Not really much instruction, probably because he was giving this lecture to other teaching pros. I liked how he said there have been some people he has taught for 8 years that have NOT improved, but still come back to him for everything else he "teaches" and what goes on in the lesson, such as relationship stuff, mental-game, etc. His description of first timers was great - Sean: "First thing I ask is - what exactly are you trying to do to that ball?" Golfer: "Get under it so I will make the ball go up in the air." Sean: "That's not how it works...it's called loft." Sean: "Then these guys buy 10 lessons from me and call me the messiah!" HAHA.

I know I'm not a + handicap, but I am in the ballpark. Remember...handicap is not scoring average. I am a 1.5 index and my scoring average was 77 at my club (CR 73.1, Slope 135, Par 71). A +2 will probably have a scoring average of 72 at the same course. I can't imagine a PGA pro averaging as high as 72 at my course. My guess is that if an average pro teed it up against me he would beat me by at least 10 shots unless I am really on my game. Take a look at the U.S. Open Challenge as an example. I believe guys like Tony Romo and Michael Jordan, who both play around scratch or at worst a 2, are shooting around 80. Even though the course is tough, most pros were able to beat those guys by 10 shots. I remember seeing the same thing bkoguy07 is talking about. They calculated Tiger's 2007 handicap and it was around +8. The worst PGA pros were +4 I think

Good point. I actually do consider my usual/normal distance with each club...which is the center of that range, and often play off that. I guess the whole distance range is just another consideration to factor in when picking a club. Also, as you said, it's important to take the whole shot into account, not just the yardage (pin position, bail out spots, uphill/downhill, ridges in green, etc). One club doesn't always work for the same yardage.

Definitely, I agree. Every club has its distance range and the best players narrow that range down through repetition and feel. My 7-iron is 165-175, but I can break down a shot from various yardages in that gap and figure out how I need to "dial it up" to hit it pin high. 165, I need to take a little off; 175, I need to hit it flush, etc. The pros do this much better than I do of course.

Answer: A little bit of both, but mostly number 2. I have always been more of a "feel player" and less mechanical. If my swing breaks down mid-round it's usually a hook, and I can try a couple things to fix it. I try opening up my shoulders and stance and slowing down my backswing to even out the tempo. But, if I am spraying it all over the course, I basically just go into damage control and try to get comfortable again. I take 3-wood or iron off the tee if the driver is the culprit. Sometimes you just have those rounds where the "wheels fall off" and you have to grind it out.

I feel like every club has between a 10-15 yard variance depending on how you well you hit it (the gap gets bigger with the longer clubs). It's foolish to just pin one yardage number on each club. It's better to think of the usual distance range that each club has. Still, we all have had those shots that air-mail the green because we hit it much farther than expected for whatever reason. Maybe you had a flier lie.

Agree with a lot of the posts above. GIR and par 5 scoring are your two big concerns. Look at your course management. If you're not the longest hitter, play to your strength on the par 5s and leave a good wedge yardage and angle so you can knock down some flags. It often takes me 2-4 birdies to break 75. If you are coming in with long approaches, play to the safe side of the green and get the GIR at least. 10 or 11 GIRs per round and you're bound to shoot sub-75 with decent putting. You are close at 8 GIRs. Picking up some yardage is good, but don't sacrifice too much accuracy. Looks like you are playing a pretty long course (approx 7000?). Are there shorter tees, and if so, do you score better from those? Not saying to give up on the long tees, but I was just thinking it could solely be a distance issue here.

Yep. The concert was Saturday. http://idolator.com/5664902/justin-t...stina-aguilera