HAZARD MAGNET

I may have told this one on another thread, but it fits well here too. It was my 1st time ever playing golf, I told the starter this and he suggested that for $40.00 I should see the pro for at least 1 beginner lesson. My reply was "I would 1st like to try on my own, sort of get a baseline". This is an executive course so most of the holes are short par 3's. After shooting a 5 on my 1st ever hole I went to the 2nd hole ( a 127 yd par 3 with a terraced green) and hit my tee shot on the green were it rolled off the green and over the stone wall supporting the back terrace. Finding my ball down and behind the green but still in bounds I played the lie. I tried to hit a flop shot, instead I bladed it and hit the stone wall about 4 ft. from my lie. The ball came back and hit me square in the mouth. After shaking out the cobwebs I checked my wallet, found 2 $20.00 bills,stopped at the bar for some ice in a napkin and went to see the pro.

YOUR A BRAVE MAN TRACKER!!!! You give a command like that at my house and you might not like what gets ironed. FUNNY THOUGH!

My everyday ride is a 2000 F-250 7.3 liter diesel with a 6 speed manual trans. On race days it hauls the car in my avatar pic. a Harris chassis I.M.C.A. modified (2485 lbs. 512 h.p.) that can be set up to run on dirt or asphalt ovals. But since I work for an auto restoration and custom shop you might see me driving anything from a T-bucket to a limo to a Corvair with a supercharged small block V8.

I read somewhere that the average break-even point for a course is 40,000 paid rounds per year !! That seems like a long time to wait for the profits to kick in.

YOU AIN'T KIDDIN', r.c. stuff has gotten out of control! A bunch of us who race full size cars in the summer used to run the Dirt Runners indoor series in north Jersey in the winter. Some of the guys, like my son went for a bunch of classes, some were sick fast. They ran one class ( modified turing 4 wheel drive ) 2 rules- had to have a 1/10 scale turing car body and a 6 cell limit. He started out with a Losi XXX-S , an 8 turn motor, 6 sets of batteries with a.h. numbers 3000 points higher than most people knew existed ( and cell matched to 3 decimal places ). We ran on a flat carpet oval about 2/3 the size of a basket ball 1/2 court and twice he ran 100+ laps in a 4 minute race! The club stopped running the class for safety reasons and because the guys running in the class were tired of dropping 4 tires, a set of motor brushes, ball diff with rings and a spur gear in the trash every time the car was run. Not to mention cutting the commutator after each run (3 cuts and the armature is junk). After 6 charging cycles the batteries began to " fall off " so he sold them and built new. I on the other hand, stayed with 2 " spec " classes until the club made both classes "brushless" Now I have to buy brushless motors, they need a brushless type speed control. The new batteries I need to make all this new stuff fast can't be charged on my chargers. SCREW THIS - I think I'm going to work on my I.M.C.A. modified this winter! WAIT A MINUTE! I just remembered, I have a box of chain saw engines I got at an auction. I have a 2 acre back yard! I can weld up a bunch of 1/3 scale modifieds and sprint cars! Invite the guys over! My wife will kill me.

I'm thinking of getting involved with club making and would like to start with building my own 3-I. I want to have the shaft pured but assemble the club myself. I've heard 12 o'clock and 9 o'clock for lefties. Which ( or both or neither ) is correct?

There is no perfect way to compare any 2 athletes from different times. Differences in equipment, training and even nutrition change the base line needed for comparison. The closest method of comparison is not who won what, or who acted how in private. We need to look at stats like fairways hit, greens in regulation, sand saves etc. From there average rounds can be compared, not perfect but probably closest. I just hope enough statistical information is still around from Jack's earliest rounds to put together a definitive average.

You could live to 820 and still get stumped out there. LOL

I think I see a pattern here. The guys that learned on irons seem to like them best, while guys like me who haven't been playing as long tend to go with the " newer club". There is some crossover as in any pattern but the preference does seem to go less by handicap then by what was being marketed when each of us starting playing. I have a 3h and 4h in my bag and seem to hit a 4i and 4h the same,short (gimme a break, I'm old!) I do envy you guys who can hit a 1i (friggin' things got less loft than a hockey stick)!!

I must be missing something. HOW does something that never touches a ball in play affect the skill level of a golfer? The iron cover is removed before the club is used (you DID know that?) and a retriever is only supposed to be used for getting an out of play ball for a drop. What would be fun would be to watch a "hacker" leave all his "hacker gear" in his car, the starter puts him with you ('cause now he looks as "cool" as you!) and turns your round into a scene from CADDY SHACK!! OR a hustler with all the latest in "hacker gear" takes you up on your generous offer to teach him " skins" and sends you home in your SHORTS! My iron covers were a tip from a former touring pro! Not for on the course but for protecting my irons in transit. As far as retriever tools go , they are gaining favor with coaches and instructors who are tired of crawling after balls they can't reach with a shagger. As for range finders, when they first came out they were called "gimmicks" ,the old word for "hacker gear". NM GOLF HAS SPOKEN!!!!!!!!! You don't need a retriever because you just walk out there and get your ball. Seriously , I find your condescending attitude quite offensive and I know for a fact if a potential new member of my club was treated the way I have seen you treat members of this forum, the offending member would be summoned to the presidents office for "a talk".

My first round of golf was almost my last. I went to a local par 3 course by myself for my 1st ever round of golf. I went to the starter and told him I was new to this and what do I do to start. He suggested I go see the pro for a 1/2 hour lesson for $40.00. I told him I wanted to find out what I could do on my own and take lessons in the near future. He points me to the 1st tee ( par 3 about 140 yd ) , I think I shot like a 6 . Feeling pretty good about myself I went to the 2nd tee, another par 3 but with a 4 ft. drop off behind the green. My tee shot lands on the green and rolls off the back. When I get to my ball, it is still in bounds and about 3 ft. from the stone wall supporting the green. When I tried to chip back onto the green, the ball went up about 3 ft. (remember, the wall is 4 ft.) hit the wall, came back and hit me square in the mouth! A few minutes later I looked in my wallet, took out 2 $20.00 bills went back to the pro shop, after going to the bar for a napkin and some ice.

I see by your handicap that you are an extremely accomplished golfer. I on the other hand am a 27 handicapper who only started the game august 2009. The reasons I took up golf are at age 55 I need to learn a sport I can play in my later years and to get some low impact exercise. You see, 8 years of semi-pro football have taken their toll on my knees and ankles. When I played I was sometimes subjected to abuse from the other teams because of my size ( 5' 10" 175 lbs.). Those were usually some of the best games I played. My other fall/ winter sport is bowling. I show up at a tournament with 1 ball for strikes and 1 for spares, the snobs with a truckload of the latest and greatest stuff laugh. It's fun to take "their" money. My summer sport is stock car racing. I pull my rig into the pits and park next to a truck and trailer that's worth more than my whole racing program. The snobs who buy all the latest and greatest, come over to look at my home made suspension parts, body panels and stock block home built engine, and laugh. Now I have to keep 2 sets of front end parts in the trailer because most of the time someone wants to buy 1. NM Golf, you are a much better golfer than me so I can't hope to compete with you, but if some old guy shows up with a ball retriever,all his irons neatly covered, tells you about how they used to call rangefinders " hacker gear" then proceeds to take your money and knock the snob out of you, karma will be served. Even better would be if he needed a chip-in on 18 to shut you out he pulls out a $14.00 K-Mart chipper and drains it!!

I consider myself semi-retired, but all that means is I am sitting around waiting for work. It will probably happen like it happens every year. in March everyone with a bent or broken race car will go oh s**t and tow it to my shop. Since the season starts in april I will not be free to play golf probably until the middle of May.

I love to play golf, any time, any place! I don't see where spending $495.00 + the cost of getting there could be THAT much more fun than I have playing my local course for a 25 min. drive and $30.00 for 18 holes with a cart and a good lunch included!! To me the idea is to have fun playing golf.

I don't know how far my longest drive went, it landed in a passing dump truck!!

If the brush is just nylon and brass it should not hurt an iron or wedge since most if not all are steel or steel alloy ( stainless ) true brass is softer and won't cut into them. Drivers, fairway woods and hybrids are softer and should only be cleaned with a wet towel. The brushes to stay away from are the phosphor bronze. They are harder than brass and can hurt club faces.

I was just wondering what everyone thought about this club. I have one and like it for shots off the fringe to about 15 yd. off the green. In less than 20 rounds I already have 3 chip-ins with it.

39's not old, your just a few years older than my sons. I'm 55 and just started golf 4 months ago.

I have always been involved in competitive sports from an early age, but not golf. I just never considered it. Both of my parents were tournament level bowlers so from the age of 6 I found myself wanting to do the same. When my father found a business opportunity he couldn't pass up we moved south to make a go of it. Because of the hours of time spent with the business my parents had to stop bowling. So at 8 years of age I was done to. Tried little league ( sucked) did nothing until a friend of my father took me to a local dirt track. That was all I needed, I was hooked! I worked hard for my father because if I did he promised to get me a go-cart and use 4 acres of red clay field as a practice track. I ran my 1st actual race a week before my 9th birthday. I am 55 and still racing. I actually got good enough to at least partially support my family and myself with racing jobs and still do racing related work. Golf is my anti-racing. Golf is quiet, racing is loud, racing is chaotic, golf is orderly, racing can be violent, golf is peace itself. THE ONE PLACE THEY ARE THE SAME IS THE UNDYING PASSION TO ALWAYS IMPROVE!!

I have to look into that real-feel mat. I practice at home a lot but I also go to a range that has those "welcome mat" looking things. I have trouble hitting a 3 wood so I stopped there on the way to the course to work on the problem. when I was satisfied with my swing I went to play. Second shot, first hole decent lie 3 wood. Topped it for a 15 yd. worm burner. 3rd shot, still 3 wood practically plugged the ball in place! Unless I can find a realistic mat I'll only practice on grass!

It's mid 30's F here and if it's not under the snow,it's covered with ice! I'm usually able to practice at home(drive into a net, put in the house). my back yard is long enough to practice my short game 120 yd. long by 50 yd. wide but the snow is too deep to find anything I hit. I'm trying to teach my Labrador retriever to find and return my shots, but that's not going well lol.

I am a semi-retired weldor fabricator. My last job was at a shop in jersey were we restored classic cars and built customs and hot rods. My job was to build chassis and roll cages,engineer and build suspensions and custom build the jigs and fixtures usually needed to fabricate a custom chassis. For sure the coolest job I ever had,but the market for hot rods turned to crap, plus I was driving 2 hrs. each way to get to work. Looking to start a shop of my own up here when the economy gets back on track.

I've checked into the series on the golf channel web site and the comments posted by golfers who have played in it. The card is purchased for $200.00, entry fees are as high as $750.00. Most of the postings I read were about guys winning their group by super wide margins (I think there are 6 handicap brackets) and about lax officials who rush the show. To see this, it looks like you spend a lot of money to play with sandbaggers (or crybabies) depending how you perceive the posts to golf channel officials who take your money, herd you thru like cattle and don't want to know about anything.

Not destroying the course is not just a matter of self control but thoughtful actions on the course. I followed a foursome at my usual course,all in all quite good about leaving conditions as they found them. Then it happened,one of them hit a wedge onto the green, 2ft. from the pin. When they were all on the green he, being closest to the flag walked over pull the flag, stepping on the blade of his wedge (about 3 ft. from the hole) in the process.If he had laid the wedge off the fringe my chip shot would not wound up in the canyon he left when he pulled that plugged club from the green.

Tiger may be more athletic than Jack in his prime,but we must not forget that Jack made some of the most amazing golf shots history with club and ball technology from the 1960,s. We may never know this answer unless they go head to head with hickory shafts and gum balls.