SSandlin

I like Ernie. He's been playing well going back to the end of last season. Seems like the recovery from the knee has happened and he can just get back to playing golf. He's already won and finished 2nd and 3rd this season overseas against pretty good fields. Plus, his familiarity with the course and grass should aid him as well. As long as his putting steadies, he should contend. Apparently he's been experimenting with a few different things with his putting.

Allin, I would agree that the Wilson Staff line of equipment is not entry level, but the Wilson recreational brand is. You can purchase a complete set for $200 to include the bag on some products and it will serve a great purpose for beginning golfers. The Wilson Staff line has improved steadily over the last few years since it's re-emergence as an option for better golfers.

I'm going to throw in a couple of cents towards Wilson. I know a lot of golf snobs will thumb their nose at Wilson, but they make good products for an entry-level golfer and someone on a low budget. I still use my Deep Red II fairway woods and they pop the ball just as hard as any others I've tried up until now. They used to be really well known for their wedges and persimmon woods. They've been overtaken, but you still see guys like Padraig Harrington playing their tour quality stuff and doing well. I think they make quality stuff for the majority of golfers that play. Once you get to the point of taking the game semi-seriously, then you're probably better suited for Titleist or Mizuno. I still have a set of Sam Snead persimmon woods and some X-31 blades (both of which outdate me by 10 years probably) that I hit every so often for the heck of it.

Wow, what a great chart! It really puts things in perspective, plus gives me some goals to shoot for. I never fully knew where I was losing strokes on the whole until I compared those numbers to what I typically do. I fit between bogey golf and average golf. My putts and penalties are lower than the number, but my up and down percentage is about right (assuming I actually have a chance at an up and down for par). Great stuff!

I can't speak for Erik, but mine are the stainless version. Mainly it's because that was the only metal that would allow me to have them bent up 4 degrees and extended out 1.5". I'm 6'7" so I needed the adjustments made and the chrome would not allow it, at least that's what I was told. I have heard that the stainless is a little softer than the chrome, but I have no experience playing the chrome ones. I will say that mine are very soft even on a thin shot or mishit. Not so soft that I don't know what's going on, but they don't leave my funny bone ringing for 4 holes either. And, on the occassions that I do hit the center, I barely feel the ball. I can't complain about them. I just played yesterday in 36 degree weather up in Alabama and had no problems with stinging fingers on mishits.

If, and when, I'm struggling off the tee for longer holes I always go to my 3-wood. I can get it out there in the fairway 240 or so and still make a good run at the hole. For shorter holes, anytime I need to make a good score, I take whatever I need to get me to 150 and a nice, smooth 8 iron. I'm not good enough to get it to 10 feet every time, but I'm very confident that I will have a putt at birdie. I know it's nothing unique, but that seems to work for me. I've actually developed a friendship now with my 3 iron for reaching a par 5 in two. It's nothing I would say I could go to, but the confidence is building.

From my limited experience and from knowing and watching others, I think there is a connection. It seemed for me when I first started, that I was very happy with a $125 full starter set of Wilsons. Once I was on the verge of breaking 100 for the first time, I tried more expensive clubs and saw instant success of about 5 strokes per round at least. Now that I've gotten into the 80s and low 90s, I could probably take most irons that are comparable to what I have and shoot the same score, but would not gain much from the "tour type" irons that are the next step up. However, I think once you get into that single digit handicap range and your skills allow you to work the ball at will, then an equipment upgrade is almost essential if you want to be able to maximize your skill set. As a friend of mine told me, "the sad part about this game is that the better you get the more expensive it becomes."

Being an Alabama fan, I was hoping the SEC would win (even if it was the Gators). With that being said, I shudder at the thought of all of the trash talk I'll be receiving here in Central Florida for the next 8 months. However, it was a great game and Florida played about as good as a football team can. They really put it to all the media bozos.

I'll add my name to the list of people who use broken tees on par 3s. I'll also agree that I ditch my tee on the 18th. If it was a good tee shot, I knock it into the tee box, but if it's a bad shot I find the nearest pond and try to skip it across the water. I also have this superstition that I never take the good shots on the practice range to the course. I'm not sure if that's superstition or just the state of my game right now, but it never fails.

I'll put in a "write-in" vote for Jill Arrington.

I've been using the Zero Friction tees for about a year. They do break, but very infrequently and usually because of a bad swing. They're a composite material so they will bend, but you can straighten them back out. I also use the tees that Disney gives out by the handful. They're made of the same material, but have a sharper point than the Zero Friction tees, so it's easier for me to clean the grooves with them.

My girlfriend, Sarah, and I were at Oak Trail yesterday. I'm just amazed at how good she is getting. I know a few posts on this thread have been about her shots, but I can't get over it. We were on a relatively long par 4 (350+ for me and about 300 for her). There is a bank of trees on either side of the fairway making it a tight tee shot, and there is a creek in front of the green about 50 yards or so. I hooked my tee shot into the trees and punched out to about 190. She blasted her 9 wood to around the 150 yard marker. We faced a pretty stiff breeze in our face. I hit a draw with a 3-iron that landed about 10 feet from the hole. Obviously, I was thrilled and told her that was my "retirement" shot. She took her 5-iron and absolutely drilled her ball. I was standing behind the ball looking towards the flag and it looked like a gun shot going towards the flag. She landed it about 10 yards short and it ran up to 1 foot from the hole. We both ended up with a 4 on the hole (she got nervous and pulled the putt). After that hole, we both officially "retired" from golf...at least until we got to the next tee.

Wow, that's great stuff. When he gets a little older you should take him to Target and get one of those Monster Wedges to play with. It's huge and fun. It's a bit heavy so he might want to wait a year or so. It comes with a tee and inflatable golf ball. I tried to find a link and couldn't, but the ones here in Orlando carry a whole line of that stuff. I bought one and the neighborhood kids love it.

So how many of you got a bit sidetracked by the promos for Big Break 7 and thought Bri would lose? I have to admit it got me thinking after I saw it the first time, but when they kept showing it over and over, I figured there had to be some sort of deception going on. And how about 'ol Jeff coming back to force a playoff? I enjoyed watching the guys show off their skills, and sometimes lack thereof. The girls have been done twice already, so it was good to see a different set of golfers competing. Gives me hope for when I turn 50 some day.

This may be a tad bit late to be of any help, but I bought my girlfriend one of the Marilyn models. I've never putted with a mallet putter, but I found that it worked pretty well. I liked the heavier feel, almost as heavy as my Scotty. However, when I tried the blade putter, it felt very light, as mentioned before.

The first set of clubs I ever had (and still have) are Wilson X31 blades from the late 60s. When I really started playing about a year and a half ago, I got a set of Wilson Deep Red II tour clubs. They're really nice, but very harsh on mishits as far as stinging. I found out that forged stainless can be bent more than the chrome (I'm 6'7"), so I chose to go with Titleist 804s to get started and then moved up to the 735s in the 410 stainless. I love the feel, but honestly I needed the forged clubs to be able to bend up enough for my height. Cast and the forged chrome clubs can only go up 2 degrees and extend out 1", or so I'm told. I can sincerely say that I got forged clubs out of necessity. I'm glad I did. I can't imagine going back to a cast set.

I'm usually a Pro-V1x guy. I had to switch to the Wilson Staff Tx4 balls recently because of an unfortunate 5-week layoff from golf (too much business travel). I had to rediscover my golf swing and began losing balls more than before. The Wilson balls go for about $30 through a golf retailer and they're 4-piece. They're definately no ProV or Callaway/Nike, but they do perform pretty comparable. I noticed I got a few yards more off the tee and a tad more spin than the ProV1x. It's a good tour type ball at a more affordable rate. I've since gone back to the X's and hopefully never have to look back.

I bought a 55 degree Wilson Harmonized BeCu sand wedge and it seemed to work decent. I couldn't tell because I was still struggling to hit the ball. I liked the ping sound mainly. As I slowly improved, I used it mainly for chipping and sand play. Once I finally got better and purchased my set of 804s, I went to play Disney and bought a Titleist 56 degree vokey in the pro shop. On the first hole, my first ever shot with the club was a lipout on a chip from deep rough about 30 yards from the hole. I've since had that club altered to fit the specs of the rest of my clubs. I also purchased an Oil Can 52 (bent to 51) from Titleist already adjusted. The second shot I used with it was a knock down from about 120 yards that landed 2 feet past the hole and stopped dead. I can't complain about either of them.

All of the shows mentioned so far are great. I have one that's a bit off the wall. I don't remember the name of it, but The Golf Channel broadcast the USGT? or some small tour, maybe a mini-tour event. It had that Tommy 2-Gloves on it. It was fun to watch these guys play because they're good, but not great. So, you have to actually watch them get out of tough situations after an errant shot. I would relate it watching a D-2 or D-3 football game. They carried their own bags and had no caddies. I guess I make a case for liking the College coverage as well. To me, at least, it brings everything into a closer perspective and away from the millions of dollars and cameras of the big tours.

Favorite - Watching JB Holmes win his tournament and listening to Feherty broadcast it...providing Cobra free commercial time during a tournament. Least - Hearing the news that Byron Nelson had passed away. What a loss!

Congrats on the birdie! As cheesy as this may sound, I've actually kept all of the balls from the first birdies I've made on each par, as well as my lowest score. Yeah it's cheesy, but it sure does always bring back a good memory and usually a good laugh from that round.

I used some starter set from Wilson until I broke 100, then I went for a used set of Titleist 804s. I must say the 804s helped me a lot with getting clean hits and just building up my confidence. I've since gotten a set of 735s and my ball striking has kept improving steadily. If I could putt worth a darn, my scores would be 5-10 strokes lower. The experience and confidence I gained in the 804s (oversized, offset, etc.) made the transition to the 735s much easier. There was a transition period were my scores ballooned back up a bit, but that soon went away once I got used to them. Visually, there is a drastic difference. However, being able to shape the ball as needed and still having a little bit of forgiveness has been great. My advice is somewhat in line with eyevan. I would get a more forgiving set until you know that ball striking is not dragging your scores down. I also like his idea of practicing on a 5 or 6-iron of a better set so you can slowly integrate yourself with a better set of clubs and eventually make the transition. I'm not sure of what availability you have to pro shops or eBay, but I'm sure you can find single clubs like that around somewhere and not have to fork over a huge amount of money.

I've been lucky enough to have owned an HDTV (and be able to have the programming along with it) for the last three years. The last two years I've watched the majors and other golf tournaments that broadcast in HD. To be able to see the Masters on Saturday and Sunday morning in HD is unbelievable. If you have a decent stereo set up, then you can almost immerse yourself in the broadcast and you'll feel just like you're standing along the fairways. Even the British Open and other majors are stunning when the picture quality is that good. I have a 47" projection screen and I truly envy those that have the new DLP or LCD screens. The resolution capability of those is remarkable. I can remember watching the US Open and being able to see beard stubble on some of the players. Now, while certain details of players like that isn't something you absolutely want to see (especially to those with any sinus problems), it is a testament to how good of a picture it is. Congrats on the new toy and here's to enjoying another great golf season to come. On a side note, college football in HD isn't that shabby either!

I'm not near as traveled or experienced as it seems most of you are, but nonetheless here are the best courses that I've played in my 1+ years. I've been very fortunate to have been invited to a few private clubs by some friends encouraging me to keep playing. I hope to continually add some of the courses that have been mentioned before (if I can ever afford them) to my "list" and venture out to play some courses that are not as recognized. There is one course that I'm looking forward to playing soon, Spessard Holland, that is on the Melbourne coast just south of here. It's a par 68, but they say that nearly every hole has an ocean view of the Atlantic. I guess it's as close to true links golf as I can get to right now. So, take this for what it's worth. 1. Fightin' Joe Course - Muscle Shoals, AL...It's on the Trail and from the tips is 8092 yards, 78.7/138 par 72. I played from the more reasonable 6630 orange tees, but I did play #12 from the tips which is a 716 yard par 5, just to see what it was like. To put it in perspective, it's about 275 yards just to reach the forward tees. It was a fun Scottish-style course. 2. Silver Lakes Country Club - Barstow, CA 3. Highlands and River Courses - Huntsville, AL (also on the Trail) 4. Orange County National Panther Lake - Orlando, FL 5. The Ledges Country Club - Huntsville, AL 6. Tuscawilla Country Club - Orlando, FL 7. Stoneybrook East - Orlando, FL 8. The Disney courses - I get the cast member discount, so $35 to play Disney will always rank them on my "list" 9. West Winds Golf Course - Victorville, CA...It's a 9-hole military course on an old Air Force base in the high desert. There are two sets of tees on every hole that change the par on a couple. It's nothing too special, but the views are great and it's rarely busy. T10. Weymont Run Golf Course - Weyauwega, WI...Another 9 hole with great scenery and not too much traffic. T10. Cedar Ridge Golf Course - Decatur, AL...A sentimental pick because it's the first golf course I ever played on back home.

This wasn't one of my shots, unfortunately. I was out with my girlfriend on Friday playing at one of the clubs here in town as a guest of a member. She's been playing all of 4 months and is slowly improving with every round. She had been struggling to hit the ball for most of the round and we made a small change that started to help. She was about 50 yards or so from the hole and used her sand wedge. She's always had trouble hitting down and through the ball and most of her shots don't have much height to them. But, this one did. It came off the club high and soft, landed on the green, checked up, and eased to 6 inches from the hole. She was excited, I was excited, and the guys we were playing with were excited for her. That was definately her "comeback" shot and now she can't wait to go play another round.