wmiller

Delete my account

I don't practice. Anymore. When I was playing seriously, years ago, I practiced all the time and played 4 rounds a week for score. Now I play once or twice a week, just for fun, hitting a few putts before the round but that's about it. Most rounds are in the mid to high 70s with an occasional blow-up round in the low 80s and an eve rarer sub-par round. Walking a course and playing with friends sure beats sitting on the couch!

Yes, this is a open carry state, and I do have a concealed carry permit. I always carry, and when golfing, I put the gun in my bag, as I don't want to leave it in the car unattended. Not a very responsible thing to do. No, I don't carry in the shower. Takes too much time to disassemble and dry the gun afterwards. ;)

No excuse for getting angry on a golf course. Most people aren't good enough to even warrant getting upset. Only time someone came close to hitting me with a golf club, I asked/told him to go play with someone else. As the young idiot started walking aggressively towards me, my friend said "I'm a cop, and he's carrying". Stopped the idiot in his tracks like a deer blinking in a car's headlights. Then he stormed off to probably go whine to his Mommy or something.

I removed my 'handicap' because it offended someone, can't remember who, because it was calculated on ClubSG, not a true USGA number. Doesn't matter, as I don't fall in your average numbers anyway. As for asking questions, I have witnessed posts on this site and others, where the first thing written is an apology for asking a dumb/stupid/ignorant question that may have been asked before, and the subsequent flamethrowers applied. Now this site is not as bad as some, but there are a few here that are very quick to lash out, and I think this causes trepidation on the part of new members. So why post and risk public humiliation? Just an observation.

Thanks! I am getting kind of excited about playing with her as well. I too can use way different swings, stances, and ball positions and play adequately, though not to your level. Maybe she has some of my so-called 'talent'? Of course that might not be a good thing, from a consistency standpoint. Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. My concern with getting her lessons is that many of the teaching pros in my area here are very fixed into one method of swinging a club. One guy stresses 'positions', another timing, and so on. I don't want to confuse her, or frustrate her into quitting. For now, she can watch me, I guess. She said she needs to get into the 70s so she can beat her Old Man. I told her that if she just waits a few years, she won't have to go quite so low... ;)

Yea, my S57s are cast in China, assembled and tested here in Arizona.

About once a year. I play year round, probably between 60-70 rounds a year. Tour velvets .600 round. :)

You're right, of course, my swing is too upright (bad lower back) and while I'm a D/D, she's more of a D/S (driver/slider). She likes Paula Creamer, as we watch the girls play when we can. I'd say she'd be an ok role model. And she's a girlie girl like my daughter.

Question. Why is it some people need to be shown every technical detail of a golf swing in order to properly push a golf ball downrange, and then there are others who with a simple description, or maybe a visual example, seem to do just fine? For example: My daughter wanted me to teach her how to play golf. OK. So I took her to a driving range, and we walked way down to the end, so our talking wouldn't bother anyone. Now my daughter was a pretty good athlete in school, playing soccer, softball, basketball, and volleyball. So I know she has pretty good hand-eye coordination. Right away, she started asking questions about stance, grip, the swing, etc., etc.. I thought about it for a second or two and decided I wasn't going to fill her head with a bunch of mechanical stuff that I'm not entirely sure I understand. So, I though I'd try something different. I explained how the clubface and swing path control ball flight, and how you want to square the clubface at impact. Then I asked her if she remembered how she swung a baseball bat. She said yes, so I asked her to swing the club like a baseball bat. She started on her back foot and stepped into the bucket and made a very good swing. Now, I said, the major difference between a bat and golf club is the flat of the club face. You need to get it square to your target line to get a decent impact. So do whatever you have to do to get the face square. And I suggested she not start on her back foot, but rather transfer her weight to the right on the backswing, and then slide forward with the downswing, posting/pushing up on her left leg just before impact to add additional power to the release. I also told her to make impact BEFORE her wrists released fully so the shaft doesn't unload too soon. She wiffed a couple, got mad, and asked me to hit a few for her. She just stood there and watched, then grabbed a club and withing 20 balls or so, was making pretty darn good contact. Her swing was bottoming out a little too soon, so I suggested that the bottom of her swing should be in front of the ball. She gave me this 'well why didn't you tell me that earlier?' look, and proceeded to start making some really decent contact. I mean really, really good contact. I was impressed! Some of her shots were going right and left (mostly right) and she asked me how to fix this. Instead of answering, I asked her how she would hit a ball down the first or third baseline, or right at the pitcher? She looked at my kinda funny, then thought about it. She struggled a bit, but pretty soon she was pretty much hitting it in the direction she wanted. Granted she couldn't hit a 5 yard fade, but she could move the ball left to right, or right to left fairly consistently. So, after 3 range sessions, we're headed to the local par 3 to play 'real golf' (her words). She hits her driver about 160, had one triple, several doubles and one par. Wow. Now she telling her husband (no athlete, lousy golfer) she wants clubs so she can start playing. And she said, he can babysit while she's playing golf with me. I may have created a monster here, but it's been a long time since I've seen her smile like that. SO.....(the crux of my post, I guess) how is she doing this? We're both visual types, I'm a feel player, and I am thinking she will be also. But how on earth is she doing so well, so fast? Bill

I've met and talked to him before. I think he's the west coast rep? He told me he'd be back in Feb., with the i20 driver. He thinks I'm gonna love that thing. Hope so, because my current i15 is a tad too much fade biased for me. If I'm the least bit late to the ball, it goes right. Always. Maybe I should hold off and try the i20 irons... Didn't think of that till just now. Hmmm....

Ping was at my home course today, and I decided to try some of the new offerings and do a formal fitting. We did the static fitting, which showed a silver dot, .5 over as a starting point. When the rep asked me what I currently played, I told him S57s white dot, .5 over. He looked at me and said "ok, why don't you hit a few for me, and we'll check your ball flight." So I hit 3 or 4 balls, all of which moved left 10 or more yards. He asked me if this was my normal flight, where I was aiming, and what my target was. He didn't like the fact that I was having to aim 30-40 feet right of my target, and asked me if I was intentionally trying to move the ball that much right to left. I said "no, I'm trying to hit half that." So he put me on a lie board, with a white dot, and I was dead center (the ball hooked left). He frowned, gave me a green dot, and asked me to hit another one. Dead center on the bottom of the club, with the ball not moving quite so far left. He said "well this isn't going to work, you're just adjusting to whatever club I hand you." So he got rid of the lie board and just started handing me clubs and watching my ball flight. When the ball started going dead straight, we stopped. We ended up at blue dot, plus .5, which is only 1 deg upright, I think. Then we started trying different irons. I tried the Ansers, S56s, i15s, and G20s. Best ball flight and best feel was the S56s. Worst was the G20s. Sorry guys, I just can't hit those things. S56s, blue dot, plus .5", and C-tapers, stiff will be my next irons. :)

I have, years ago when I played in a few USGA events. Shot two sub-par rounds at Rivera CC in LA during a two day qualifier, for example. Don't know if the nerves would hold up any more though. That was over 20 years ago.

Ok, I see your point. But, in my defense, my 1.67 putts avg over 100+ rounds means I 'might' make a few of them... :) Edit: Besides, my putting ability wasn't the original purpose of the experiment. I was simply trying to ascertain if I can make a repeatable stroke.

I misspoke when I said that my misses are directional misreads. I absolutely understand that breaking putts are all about pace, I.e., less pace means more break, more pace means less. I definitely miss putts because I didn't have the pace right for my chosen line. Yet oftentimes I simply don't see a break, or underestimate it's severity. I also don't understand the math that has me missing 3 of 60 on carpet equating to 20 percent on fast smooth greens? I actually putt better the faster and truer the green are.

Ok, thanks guys! Yea, reading greens has never been my strong suit, so I am not so consistent at 10-20 footers with any significant break. My misses seem to be more directional misreads than anything.

I seldom three-putt. Maybe once every two rounds?

I was bored tonight, and doing a little berber putting in my computer room and thought I'd try an experiment. 20 putts from 10 feet, how many can I make? First attempt I missed the 5th putt, for 19 out of 20. Second attempt I made 20 of 20. Third attempt I made 18 of 20. (think I was getting bored, and got sloppy there towards the end) Back was getting tired, so I called it quits. But then I started wondering: Is this pretty good, or just average? I was simply trying to determine if my putting stroke had any consistency to it, and it appears that it does. So, I'll ask the better players here. Is this normal for a weekend hack? I understand that this isn't real world as the speed and break (just outside left) is known. I was just trying to see if I could repeat the same stroke a number of times.

This ain't religion to most, so get over it. The way I understand it, the rules of golf started as a way to insure consistency during competitive play, be it a tournament worth millions, or a couple of sheep herders playing for whatever a few hundred years ago. They've (rules) grown into a cancer of sorts, and totally overboard for casual play. In my opinion, golf has a very checkered past, best forgotten. We don't use all the rules when we play football in the back yard either. You don't like casual play, that's cool. I don't like your intolerance either. Play your own game. I'll play mine. And around here, throwing rocks at someone just might get you shot. ;)

Never had that problem, but I always clean and dry the head before I put the cover on anyway.

Do your own thing. The last set of forged irons I had (Mizunos), I kept them clean and covered. Got an extra $100 on trade in because they were in such good shape. And who gives a damn what other people think? I guess some of the more insecure worry about it, but I don't. YMMV...

+5 on these over seeded shag carpets they call greens. Kinda weird watching your putt weave back and forth as it rolls towards the cup. Oh well, they'll be really great in a couple more weeks.

Well, I've decided to modify my goals slightly: Establish a handicap, again, and play a sanctioned event as a senior. That's if my back holds out...

I bought these VIP wedges at golfsmith a few months ago when they had a sale going on them.