joepro23

The main difference is in the steel they use to make the putter head. The reason Scotty's cost a lot is because they use this "303 German Stainless Steel". While they claim (of course) that it's the best steel, I'm sure other putters have high quality steel that work just as well and isn't as expensive. Odyssey makes great putters too and they use the face inserts, which I am not the biggest fan of though. Other putters like Yes have face grooves that get the ball rolling true quickly. When people buy a name brand putter (or any other club), they are also paying for the name and the club designer. A $10 Wal-mart putter is probably made out of the cheapest metal that is just a step above the crap they use for mini-golf putters. Another thing would be the weight of the putter...the cheap putters are so light and just seem tough to keep square. People can develop a feel for just about anything though, and if someone practiced a ton with a Wal-mart putter they wouldn't be too bad I think.

I have a feeling these numbers for Rory are just estimates and the 10-15 yard window you were mentioning. He has his 8-iron listed at 160, but he could probably dial it up to 170 if he really goes after it. I really don't know how the pros get exact yardages. I'm sure they (and their caddies) do know them though. If Tiger has an 5-iron in his hand like you said he isn't ballparking like most of us do, Stevie and him probably know how far he hits it to the inch. I have pretty good estimates for myself, but they are still only estimates and came from years of playing. I rely on the plates at my home course which I have checked with a skycaddie or rangefinder and they probably aren't all wrong. I'm sure it would help my game to know exactly how far I hit it. Something like yardage also varies depending on the time of the year (ball goes shorter when it's colder), elevation, wind, etc.

In case people couldn't zoom into the article I linked on Rory's distances I copied them here: Driver (8.5*) 305 yards 3-wood (13*) 270 5-wood (18*) 245 3-iron 225 4-iron 210 5-iron 200 6-iron 185 7-iron 170 8-iron 160 9-iron 145 PW (48*) 130 SW (54*) 110 LW (60*) 95 Like I said before, I thought he would be a little longer with the irons. I don't think he has to worry about distance though...the kid has skills!

Here are Rory McIlroy's distances for each club via Golf Digest (print is a little small, they are in the lower right corner): http://www.golfdigest.com/equipment/...g_rory_mcilroy He doesn't hit his irons as far as I thought actually. Of course the pro level is all about accuracy and he probably "takes a little off" when he is trying to be precise. Interestingly, he also has some big gaps in his lower irons/wedges. Hunter has a "what's in the bag" article too, but there are no distances given. pgatour.com ( http://www.pgatour.com/players/r/?/02/47/81/stats ) lists his driving distance avg at 297 yds for 2009 (28th). McIlroy was 305.2 off the tee (good for 7th). There isn't much info out there it looks like. For most pros, the only thing we know is their driving distance.

Too bad Sonartec went out of business. They had some great looking clubs. A lot of people (myself included) are afraid to venture away from the big names and that is probably why they went under. I had a buddy who relied on his Sonartec 3-wood pretty much on every tee shot and hit the thing like 270. I used to laugh at the thing but then I tried it and it was real solid. The Titleist fairway woods still have small heads. I have a 980F from a few years back and I have seen the newer F3 and the head looks pretty small too.

I got a Studio Stainless Newport 2.0 in my senior year of high school (2004). It has been in the bag ever since. I have considered switching a few times, but I know the occasional bad putting day is my fault. I have made a lot of clutch putts with it over the years. Two 28-putt rounds during my club championship this summer helped bring home the title!

My friends and I brewed beer a couple times this year. Interestingly, the first time the beer turned out great and was a belgian-style beer similar to blue moon. It was also strong (around 7%) but had a smooth taste. The second time we tried for a winter lager but it skunked somehow. Not sure what went wrong. As far as my go-to beers...I am a big fan of anything from Brooklyn Brewery, Magic Hat, Wachusett Brewery (MA), and Ommegang. If you live near a brewery you should take a tour because they are a lot of fun. At Wachusett we even got to sample some new beers they were experimenting with. Overall, I'm not too picky though and I'll crack open some Busch Light if the occasion calls for some cheap beer.

11 strokes to get off the tee is rough (factoring in the water hazard penalties of course ). It gets easier I promise! Keep that driver in the bag until you can figure it out at the range first. If your irons and 3-wood are fine and get you decent yardage just hit that until the driver comes around. MSD already had a bunch of great tips, but I would add to try videotaping your swings with both an iron and the driver. See if you can find any differences between them and things you can work on. Good luck.

I got a CG12 earlier this year and noticed a ton of spin right away and I was really psyched about it. That only lasted a week or so. I first thought maybe I had adjusted to the spin and it became "normal", but I realized it was spinning a little less. I still play with the wedge and love it, but it doesn't have that same action it did when i unwrapped it. I don't notice any visible wear or dullness of the grooves so I am stickin with it for now.

Not TaylorMade, one of the most popular (and the one i was thinking of). Their 3-hybrid is 19 deg http://www.globalgolf.com/product/go...e-TP.aspx?gd=3

A 5-wood is usually anywhere between 18 and 21 degrees. I think the best club to replace it is a 3-hybrid (I would choose 19* if they offer it). Keep in mind that hybrids have a slightly shorter shaft and usually land softer than woods. If you can demo a hybrid first I would recommend doing so.

With Tiger out now (for at least a little while), maybe he can grab a few more than he would have. I think he can get to 20 pga tour wins, but as we saw at the Masters...he doesn't have the mental game to win a major. It depends on his schedule and if he keeps entering tourneys with weak fields like he has been doing, then he should rack up 6 wins.

I am a 1.7 handicap and my scoring average is 77.6. That means I am supposedly averaging 4-5 shots over my handicap (on my par 71 home course). My home course rating is 73+ though, so actually I have only been shooting about 2 shots over what my index says I should be.

I guess I shouldn't speak for the majority. I have a strong grip and my misses happen when I get too "wristy" with the driver. So, I know right away based on my wrist action when I hook it. I do have much more feel and feedback on my ball striking with my forged irons though.

Most people know by feel if they are striking it well. When the ball ends up in the fairway or close to it, and you hit it far enough to have a shot at the green, then you did fine. For high level golfers, having complete control over where the ball is going is what it is all about to be driving really well.

If you buy a hat like that I bet you get a free bowl of soup. Oh, but it looks good on you though!

I am somewhere in the middle... I prefer long courses if they maintain some character and are not all about length. If the long course is wide open then it is too easy because I can rip driver all the time and not worry about accuracy. A long and narrow course is a true test because the short/accurate hitters are more even with the bombers since they won't make the same mistakes off the tee, but lose a couple shots to the long hitters in distance. My home course is pretty short (only 6600 from the tips), but has tough greens and several tricky shots that make it challenging in its own way. The shorter courses have more risk/reward type shots that are fun as well (i.e., going for a par 5 in two, trying to drive a par 4, etc.)

Driver Accuracy - Off the tee with the Driver I am only hitting the fairway 45% of the time. While I still usually have a playable drive and my length (290) helps a bit, those 2 or 3 holes where I am scrambling from the trees really hurts my score. 3-wood off the tee isn't much better.

Right now I don't have a club for anything between 215 yds (avg 3-iron) and 250 yds (avg 3-wood). My home course is shorter with tricky greens so I opt to have an extra wedge instead of the 2-iron or hybrid to fill that gap. There is always one par 5 though where I get into that yardage and wish I had a club for it. I just hit the 3iron because its a tight shot anyway and going over would be real bad. On a longer course I would take out a wedge and put the 2 iron/hybrid in. Another yardage that bothers me is 100. It is a 90% SW and taking just a little off can sometimes give me problems because of spin control.

I would also go with Rachel, but they all lose to Elin I think. How does somebody have 3+ affairs and expect to get away with it? What an idiot. Anyway, here is a funny car chase game on the subject: http://www.break.com/games/tiger-woods-wife-outrun.html

How many amateur tournaments do you play in each year? 1 or 2. Used to be around 12 when in college How far would you travel to play in a golf tournament? Distance doesn't matter If you do travel, do you play the course in the month prior to the tournament? Usually, yes What golf item do you purchase most often besides balls? Gloves Which product do you purchase most often with your tournament earnings (money that can only be used in a proshop, not cash)? Golf clothes/apparel What is the driving factor for your golf purchases? Looks? Cost? Performance? Performance What brand of clubs do you play? Driver? Woods? Irons? Wedges? Putter? Driver - Taylormade, 3-Wood - Titleist, Irons - Mizuno, Wedges - Cleveland, Putter - Scotty Cameron What ball do you play? Pro V1x Does the kind of ball you play matter to you? Or do you play whatever ball you find? As long as it is that brand's best ball I will play it How often do you purchase new equipment? Balls, clubs, drivers, putters? Balls - 1 dozen per month, Driver and Irons - 3-6 years, Wedges - 2 years, Putter - rarely

Reading greens is all about trusting your eyes. Here are my suggested steps for reading putts on the green: 1. First determine if your putt is uphill or downhill. You can do this by observing the natural slopes in the green while walking up to mark your ball and looking at your putt from the side angle. 2. Take a brief read of the putt from directly behind your marker 3. If your putt is downhill, walk to the opposite side of the hole and read the putt from the uphill perspective because it should be easier to see the break. 4. If your putt is uphill, you could take a quick look from a side angle to see if there is something hidden 5. When actually reading the putt look at the cup itself from a distance and lower eye level. Is the cup slanted at all, and if so which way? 6. Determine how much break to play and pick an aiming spot (keeping in mind that you should try to hit the putt 1-2 feet by the cup) 7. When in doubt, aim right at it Extra tips: - Watch your playing partners putting on a similar line and add that in with any prior knowledge you have of the green. - If it is bermuda turf, read the grain in the grass. It always grows toward the sun and if you look at the lip of the cup you can see which way it is going - Greens always break toward water I guess that is a lot to think about, but I hope it helps. If you do most of the reading while other people in the group are putting you should be ready to go when it's your turn.

What does your front foot (left foot for righties) do during the swing? Also, does front foot movement or non-movement have any impact on distance or accuracy? When I was younger I actually used to pick up my left foot off the ground significantly during the swing. I heard from someone that doing that was making me lose distance. I changed it and for years I thought I was keeping my front foot completely still, but recently at the range I noticed that I have a small pivot and the foot changes direction slightly to the target. The movement happens subconsciously and during the downswing. I guess it is helping me clear my hips for the follow-through. Hopefully someone knows what I'm talkin about

Wow, I read Bart's posted excerpt of "Paper Tiger" and I like the author's boldness and straightforward writing style. Looks like I may have a x-mas gift to put on my list. A few months ago I watched an interesting documentary called "The Back Nine" by Jon Fitzgerald who at age 40 (and a 15 handicap) tried to see if he could "turn pro". He kept his day job at the same time, but as spent as much time as possible on his game and hired trainers, coaches, etc. to improve his game. I don't want to ruin it, but over a few years he just gets to about a 4 handicap. If he just played golf 24/7 during those two years, maybe he could have gotten to scratch and/or club pro level. Even if he did though, there is a huge difference between scratch and tour pro like the Paper Tiger excerpt said. I would estimate that if an average/good PGA tour pro played a round with a 0 handicap straight up he beats him by 6-8 strokes.

Absolutely. I think most of us miss that 9 or 10 age because everything was more simple then. No worries, no pressure, just fun. When we are kids we wan't to do grow up fast, and when we are grown up we want to be kids again. Nothing wrong with thinking about the past and missing it, because too often we let time fly by without slowing down to reflect. I used to reflect more on my childhood actually when I was about your age and before college. Now at 23, I mostly just miss college and the friends I am already losing touch with. Not saying this just because this is a golf forum, but I think around golf is where I have done most of my reflecting. Golf is something I have been playing my whole life, so I is also something from my childhood that I still have with me. I even play golf with the same people as I did when I was 10 (my dad and brother)! If I walk the course for a casual round or play by myself, I often think about my early days playing this crazy game.