Farm_kid

I think Danattherock, sounds very wise. I would follow his advice.

It sounds like you are pretty good. I don't think three years off is going to turn you into a 18 handicapper. I bet you will be able to hit any driver or iron out there. The rusty part of your game is probably going to be putting, chipping and pitching from 100yds in. It might be worth having a club fitter look at your mechanics and swing speeds. They can at least steer you away from the WRONG stuff, and you will still have plenty of options to choose from. So buy whatever looks good to you. Style, color, material, whatever. I think shaft technology is more important than the chunk of metal and rubber at the ends of the club.

I have the caddypatch which is reusable and it is not too bad. There are some other reusable types as well you could google "strike n swipe" They won't last forever, but they might be handy in some cases.

I don't know too much about antique golf clubs, but for most collectibles, ebay is as good a price guide as there will ever be. If you have an ebay account you can search recent sales. Now if you have ultra-rare, highly collectible stuff, then I can't help you much.

Harmonious, I really like the drill you suggest. I bet if you turned most drills into statistics and then tracked them over time, it really would make practice more fun. How about this idea (based on the ideas from above and combined) 10 balls 9 distances (Putts; 10', 15', 20', 25') (Chips; 10', 20' forward pin, 20' back pin, 30' forward pin, 30' back pin) The goal is to track how many up & downs you can get. For putting, the goal is to not 3-Putt! I think you would get plenty of short putt practice opportunities inside of 10' trying to avoid 3 putts and trying to get up and down. Time:?? Anyone have an idea on how long to putt and chip the ball about 180-200 times? You could use one side of a regular golf scorecard to record your results. Put a date on the card and use the same card for 8 practice sessions (4 practices on the front and 4 on the back-9)

Here is my thought for making it fun. Don't worry about the drills. Instead focus on the "experience" of being at the course. If you have the time, go and hit putts for 15-30 minutes, when that gets boring, then go check out the gear in the pro-shop for a little bit. Then go back out and chip until that gets dull. Then eat lunch at the food counter. Then go out and bomb a bucket on the range. Then go back in and watch the PGA tourney or golf channel chatting up with whoever is there. Then go back out and work the pitching wedge.

I read the book, but I am no experts instructor. From my understanding, the impact zone for the irons is a descending strike meaining the club impacts the ball before the bottom or low point of the swing arc. So what you are focusing on 4" in front of the ball is supposed to be that bottom or low point. Therefore with a sweeping swing on the hybrid, you don't want contact to be as much prior to the low point. You still want to hit the ball before the bottom consistently though, or else you lose directional control and consistency. I speculate that the "shape" of the hybrid sole helps prevent the golfer from digging into the turf since you are trying to "time" the arc bottom with the ball. I hope this helps, I could probably draw it easier than I can explain it.

I play with One Iron Golf. I think they are the perfect clubs for me since I don't play on a very regular basis. They allow me to gain confidence in my swing during a round of golf. I often have a better score on the back nine than I do on the front nine.

I am more partial to the Ping Zings that replaced the Eye 2s. But I don't think you can go wrong with any set of clubs from "Karsten MFG Corp." Made in the USA!!

I bought a box recently and played 18 holes. I lost a ball into a murky creek on my second hole and then played the rest of the day with one ball (16 1/2 holes). I thought it held up very well. No major surface cuts or scuffs. Maybe a couple dings in the cover, the kind that you can just scrape off the plastic speck with your fingernail. Greens were pretty hard and I don't spin the ball back very often anyway, so I can't comment on that area of playability.

That means his PW will go from 80yd to 100yd and he will have to buy two more clubs to fill the gaps. Marketing Genius!! Or he could not fill the gaps and not be a good short game player, that's always an option.

I like my irons for ease of play, but probably can't find them for the money you mentioned. They don't show up for sale used very often. My next advice would be to get your swing analyzed by a certified club fitter and get their reccomendation. Lastly, check out almost any set of Pings.

My cynical side tells me that the the Big Name companies label golfers purely from a marketing perspective in order to justify multiple lines of clubs, and they will tell people anything they want to hear, especially as they smell a pending sale. They can stroke a person's ego in order to sell a more expensive set of clubs rather than thier entry level. In truth, companies are just guessing and generallizing people's ability becasue there is no right answer. A person could be an excellent ball striker and irons player, but average 40 putts in a round if that is thier week area. Their high handicap might indicate that they need game-improvement irons, but in reality they could easily be playing blades and effectively working the ball left and right in order to get closer to the green and pin for easier putts.

I didn't tally the votes, but I think the Sun Mountain sounds like the better bag. I am wondering how the OGIO Grom compares to the two previously mentioned?

Great responses from all. I knew the SW was a must and 1Iron has one with extra bounce compared to the rest of the set and wedges. I think 3W will be my next. I'm kind of old school and switching over to a hybrid will be weird for me mentally. I hit the 3i okay. You convinced me to go the one at a time route.

Right now there is 10 inches of snow on the grounds so I have time to strategize and put some pocket change in a jar. Anyone have any recomendations on what else I should put in the bag? Some specs of my game... Driver = 230 +/- 20yds (Slice 30%, Straight 68%, Hook 2%) 3i = 190 w/ 10 yard gaps down to PW PW = 110 Right now I use the PW from 25yd up to 110. 25yd and lower= I chip wit a hands forward putting style stroke. (PW-7i)

I play with an O-Blade and like it, sometimes wish it had a little more weight. I would like to get a Ping 1A to play just for the nostalgia of it.

Dynacraft Prophet Tour

Putters are a mystery to me also. How is a more expensive putter supposed to make the ball go in the hole? I suppose there is some science involved, but only to create a different "feel", which is not better or worse, just player opinion.

The website says that they are comparable to ProV1 and other top of the line balls, and they have endorsements with Pros and Long-Drive Pros. After looking at the website a little closer, it almost seems as if you can only recycle through a retailer, as well as only get them through a retailer. So right now it doesn't really seem to have a far reaching market.

I was wondering if anyone has heard about these Earth-Friendly Golf Balls. The website is pretty, but not a lot of substance. They have a program that you get .50 credit for golfballs you send in to them and a full 1.oo for used Dixon balls. The credit is for future purchases from them. I like the idea and would probably pay $2 a ball, but I could only find them on ebay for about $40 per dozen. Does that seem like a good price to anyone? What would you pay to be a better steward of the planet?

Zeph is correct, but hitting the ball first is easier said than done depending on the how the ball is sitting in the grass. The club and arms should make a lowercase "y" as it contacts the ball and into the follow through.

Kilbyman, I have three reccomendations and they get progressively radical in concept. 1. Ping Rapture - Ping has the best "generic" fitting system of all the big name golf equipment makers. 2. Find a certified PCS (Professional Clubfitters' Society) or ICG (International Clubmakers Guild) Clubfitter and have them build you a set (might not be as expensive as you think.) 3. Read up on the concept of "single length Golf Clubs or check out the type of clubs that I use, see signature. I get PMs a lot asking about them and I always reply. Or, just use the old trial and error method until you find the clubs you like.

Are you kidding? you don't think there is anyone who can beat Kentucky? First of all South Carolina DID beat UK. Second, you think on any given night, Scotty Reynolds couldn't go crazy and put 30+ points up and the rest of 'Nova play well enough to beat UK? I do. Syracuse's match-up zone will shut down UK unless someone is shooting unconsciously from outside. (UK is capable though) Kansas is THE mentally toughest team out there and have SEVEN players with the green light to shoot threes. (MK Morris, 9 of 13; Morningstar 15 of 31; Reed 27 of 62; Henry 45 of 117; Taylor 13 of 34; Collins 47 of 123; and MC Morris 8 of 22) All 36.4% or better and that does not account for the mop up crew (15 of 30). UK is very similar to KU, except in the experience department, so you can't say that NO ONE can beat UK.

With all the Taylor Mades in your bag, I am suprised that your don't want TM's stand bag, they have a pretty nice one for around 110 bucks. The SASquatch looks pretty nice though, I like that it has dividers for 10 and the Air padded straps are kind of cool also.