ash

What about your irons into the greens... yes, putting needs work... but it seems to me that even though your long game is 'on', you are not getting close with your approach shots, to give yourself a 'certain' (if there ever is such a thing) 2-putt. I have found that when my long game is 'on' I tend to have more putts, as I am leaving myself longer putts on the green. When my irons aren't going well, then I end up missing the green, and chipping to much closer to the hole, so my putting stats drop. And my total score tends to even out... Just a thought....

So I was standing behind a tree (driver missed left and long of a dogleg right), about 130m to the green, needing to draw the ball around the tree to get to the green and miss the short left greenside bunker... took the shot, perfect timing, exactly as I had planned (unlike the aforementioned drive), and onto the green... for me... a 'Hero Shot'. Got me thinking, when I was starting to play the game, the Hero Shot was a frequent occurence, or at least, the attempt of one... as I've regained control of my driver somewhat, I haven't had to resort to this kind of shot in some many months... and there is a definite sort of pleasure you get from hitting this 'unlikely shot'. So, those consistent fairway hitters... do you miss the 'Hero Shot'? And for those, not so consistent fairway hitters... any great 'Hero Shot' stories?

Stroke Play at our Club Saturday Comp. 89... NET 69! Just missed out on winning on the count back cos I duffed the last hole with a dbl bogie! :( Hcp.... has dropped to 16.3

"Golf for Enlightenment' by Deepak Chopra - Different kind of psychology book "Harvey Pennicks Little Red Book" - Very entertaining, and some useful insights into the mental aspect of golf.

Hi, no real questions, just thought I'd share some of the changes to my bag over the last 4 months and review the clubs since i've had a few rounds to really get a feel for them... I recently 'restarted' golf after about a 3yr lay off. 1st change was Driver. I was previously using a Srixon XXIO Driver from the early 1990's, apparently illegal for competition play... beautiful club, nice sweet impact sound and excellent distance... but a little erratic with off centre shots, so much so that I had no real confidence at the tee. So I thought I'd legalise my bag by getting a new driver. I decided on the Cleveland HiBore XL Tour 9.5 deg driver ($84 at RBG)... 460cc... huge compared to my old XXIO, the first round was TERRIBLE, just getting a feel for the club i guess... but once I had played it for a couple of rounds the benefits of the 'high MOI' club became apparent... off centre and instead of being behind a tree in the deep rough, i'm in the 1st cut of rough. Finally found confidence at the tee which is GREAT! Only thing is I seem to have lost a bit of distance with the Cleveland... If anything I had thought I would gain some, with the increased size, etc... is the Srixon XXIO's trampoline technology THAT good that i would lose a good 20 metres?? 2nd change was buying a gap wedge. I was previously using a set of Cleveland 588's (54deg and 60deg), but since buying them never really liked the feel of these clubs... prior to these I had a lone CG10 56deg wedge. So i decided to get a 52deg gap wedge and reinstate the 56deg CG10. Bought a Nickent ARC Wedge 52deg ($29 at RBG)... and LOVE it! It has that 'soft' feel that the CG10 has, so i feel a bit more 'matched'. It seems very unusual based on this forum, but I feel like I have no need for a 60deg wedge, I tend to use my 56deg for anything within about 60m, and the gap from 60 to 90m. 3rd change was the putter. My first 'upgrade' from my starter set was an Odyssey White Hot Rossie, loved the putter for many a year, on advice from someone decided on shortening the putter by an inch to 34" which worked well for posture, but... knocked out a good bit of weight... tried remedying this with lead tape... but as can be expected... looks terrible... and didn't really help the balance of the club... so anyway... forgot to mention... lost all confidence in my putter since restarting! So... after much review reading... decided on the Odyssey White Hot Tour #1 putter ($79 at RBG), nice classic shape, simple design. I had been thinking of getting a SC NP2.0... but really couldn't justify the cash! Anyway... I have played 2 full rounds with the putter and... AMAZING is an understatement! I love the heaviness (I got the 34" putter length which comes with the heavier head), the roll is true, no bouncing... lag putting has become so much more predictable, short puts more consistent. Now I'd not exactly 1-putting every hole... but I guess... much like the previous clubs... the confidence is back! To top it all off... the last two rounds, with all the above clubs have been awesome! I was initially shooting in the mid to high 90's regularly, a week ago I played a shorter muni course and scored 85 (PAR 69, which included back to back regulation birdies)... and just last weekend I played a long and narrow country course and scored 88 (PAR 73, which i had only 30 putts, a new low, and a 42% fairway hit percentage!). Anyway... the confidence is back... I think its weird... once you lose confidence in a club... regardless on whether it has to do with your swing or something else... its very hard to get it back! Ciao Ash Oh and I forgot to mention... I also upgraded my 8 year olf Nike Golf shoes for some Footjoy DryJoys... wow! The hype is right for once!

Golfshot iPhone app... really nice layout and FREE! The application includes total shots, putts, club used off tee, fairway (hit, left, right, short, long), Sand Shots, Penalties. Puts all the figures in cool graphs and pi charts too... I used to do what most have said... lots of little symbols indicating stats... iPhone is much easier!

45 today over 9... average score, but actually some great changes. New driver in the bag, Cleveland XL Tour. 70% Fairways Hit! never seen a number that high... only thing is I think I may have lost a few metres on my old XXIO. Short game killed me... 4 sand shots... on one hole! (protected green). Comp on Sat... hopefully I can break 90!

No, i know the headcovers wouldn't have prevented the scrape, but.... small leap of logic... showing the softness of the clubs, and hence need to protect them from clubhead to clubhead dings in the future. In regards to preventing the scrapes..... staying on the fairway is highest on my priorities!..... Still working on that one!

I use head covers... but then, I'm just that kind of person... don't like 'dings'. The metal is soft... I think it was the 4th or 5th round I played with them... was in the rough, had my trusty 7iron in hand, swung.... hit a small rock under my ball in the stroke... nasty scrape on the bottom now. ..... I bought head covers the next day.

I am! They are great... and provide excellent feedback in the short irons (blades) and acceptable forgiveness up top (full cavity back). And... just as importantly... they look schweeeeet!

93... 49/44 (Strokeplay... net +2) Highlights Birdie Par 5 (8 iron from 140m to about 1m from the pin) GPS measured 247m drive onto the fairway! (also 70% Fairways hit) Lowlights Shortgame... 4x 3-putts, 3 'extra' shots in various bunkers Guess I know where I need to put some practice in...

Hmmm... got me thinking, I used to have a set routine, but now it only comes out sporadically. Driver: Tee up, stand behind ball and pick intermediate target, practice swing, then step to the ball and setup, visualise, waggle.... SWING Irons: Standing behind the ball pick intermediate target (for longer shots), address inside the ball and practice swing until comfortable with lie/swing, step to ball, visualise... SWING Putter: Mark ball and remove, pick line from behind finding intermediate target, replace ball with putting line in-line with target, address inside the ball, practice swing, step to the ball, visualise... PUTT Reading the previous posts, I think I need to get back into the habit to get back some consistency!

+1 to cleaning clubs after every round... or range time.

Agree with DaSportsGuy... I use (and love) my 3-iron, no hybrids, no 5-wood, no problems with distance gapping.... Definitley depends on your game, and whether you find you need it or not.

+1 for Footjoy Dryjoys Recently had a sale on above at a local shop, changed from (very) old Nike's... unbeleivable difference.