Uncle Peter

+1 for the Org 14 I've have the Org 14 for a few years now. It's a very good bag, no complaints. It's got everything you're looking for too. The entire left side is an insulated zippered compartment (i've fit several large gatorade bottles, a few icepacks and snacks in it, with room to spare) and the right side is a large non-insulated zippered compartment that expands if needed. There's also many sub compartments all over (the main ball compartment is front and center - easily accessible). Bottom line is that it has room for pretty much everything

Two stories here for two extremes: 1) About two years ago, a friend decides to book at a new course nearby. Neither of us realizes that we booked on the hottest day of the summer, during the mid afternoon. We arrived at a deserted course and were already sweating by the time we got out of the car and walked to the clubhouse. The manager inside told us that it was in the lower 110's out there and were offering free water bottles to anyone playing. To date, I've never sweated so much in my life. It didn't help that I was wearing all black either. 2) Same year, about 3 weeks later, same friend booking the tee time. He supposedly books a tee time at our home course, but we arrive to find out that he skipped the booking and decided that a Saturday morning wouldn't be busy. Long story short we wait 2 hours for a spot to open. We play and get to the 4th hole, but the weather turns, almost instantly I'd say. It starts to hail heavily and winds and lightning begin to pick up. We run back to the carts, boot it to the clubhouse (hail hitting off the cart was pretty cool I'll admit), get our rainchecks and leave, only to find out that a small tornado would touch down hours later not far from the course. Moral of the stories: never let your "reliable" friend book the tee times.

A golf cleaning brush

A friend of mine and myself were at an indoor driving range a few weeks ago. Amongst the small talk between shots, the question of "what's your ideal/favouriote golfing weather" came up. He said his is a hot, sunny day with high temps, whereas I said mine was a cool, cloudy day with a little bit of drizzle, to his surprise. How about you guys? What's your ideal weather scenario or weather you play best in?

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm taking it all into consideration now. I'm going out to an indoor range in a few days and am going to focus on how the grips feel between newer clubs (bought a new wedge at the end of last season) in my bag and older ones (like my irons). I know grips are different from manufacture to manufacture but I figure it'll give me a rough idea. In the last year, I have noticed that my older clubs haven't been as "sticky?" or "grippy" as before, so I think regripping is needed before the season starts. I'll give them a good clean before I made the final decision though, then decide then.

I've had my irons for about 5 years now and still have the original factory grips on them. I golf a good amount I'd say, about 15-20 rounds a year, mostly in the summer. Recently a friend of mine at the local pro shop told me that grips should be replaced every 20 rounds. Personally, this seems like a short amount of time (but what do I know haha). What do you guys think, how often should I be regripping?

Bag: White Callaway 14 Org. Cart Bag Driver: Taylormade Tour Burner 10.5º

+1 for the mat. I find that hitting off a mat that's placed on a hard surface (ashphalt /cement etc.), gives me a false impression of my iron play. Not sure how a mat on a softer surface like grass will work out. Plus some mats leave a green film on some clubs.

I have a friend that always carries a 2i in the bag. He barely uses it and I find it impossible to hit well at the moment (maybe one day). I'd much prefer to hit a hybrid or wood.

Graeme McDowell, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Dustin Johnson

10th hole 305-yard severe dogleg left par 4, that's carved through a thick pine forest, at a local course I play often. Decided to play it safe (ironically) and hit a 3-wood, but sliced it hard left dead into the forest. I found the ball after a few minutes and assessed the situation. The ball was on level ground, but my path to the hole was blocked by about 30 yards of tall pine trees, about 90 yards away. I decided to risk it and go for a low 3H punch shot. I hit it beautifully and the ball barely got a few feet of the ground, just skipping it`s way through the forest. The ball makes it out, hops over the greenside bunkers, and lands 9 feet from the hole. I make the putt for the unlikeliest of birdies.

Excluding majors I love watching the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. It seems like such a relaxed event, as if you were watching a group of buds heading out for a few rounds. And it's played over some pretty cool courses and later in the season, so it all adds to that vibe. For majors, it's The Open. I find it much more interesting as links golf demands more creativity and it's always interesting to see your favourite pros taking non-typical shots. You just don't get to see that depth of the player too often in other tournaments. Plus there's the history behind it which is cool.

I mark my balls with a red dot so I always tee up with the red dot facing straight up. It's more of a visual cue than anything.

2014 goals: -Hit straighter shots -Have a good number of rounds in the 80's -Shoot a new lowest round -Play more often -Hit approach shots much closer

Quote: My main goals for 2013: 1) Consistently shoot within the 80's by the end of season. 2) Hit more that 50% of the fairways in all of my rounds. 3) Make solid contact with hybrids and irons. 4) Play more often. 5) Increase my distance a bit more. I think I may have gotten a bit more distance off of my driver, woods, and hybrids this season, and I did make cleaner contact with by irons/hybrids, but I didn't do too good with the others goals. I simply didn't play enough rounds (practice), or as many as I though I would. There's always next season though!

I'm sure we've all had an odd or weird driving range experience, so feel free to share it here! Mine was watching my friend put his golf bag down on the ground on the grass tees and then seeing a large rat run out of it and onto the range! He said he hadn't golfed in a long time, but I didn't believe hit until then.

This may be more of a personal thing, but I've noticed that I have trouble lining up for tee shots where I have to aim non-perpendicular to the tee box markers. Does anyone else have this problem and what can I do to help align myself better? I've attached a photo of what I mean, because it's kind of hard to explain. Basically, I am fine hitting shots in the direction of the red arrow (perpendicular to the tee box markers (straight shots)) but have a hard time aligning my body and legs on tee shots in the direction of the black lines (non-perpendicular to the tee box markers). Help or any tips would be much appreciated!

I saw a note written on the steering wheel of a golf cart last week. It said in large capital letters "Take dead aim, par it". I decided to try it and it actually worked out pretty good! One of my main rules though is to try to never hit the same bad shot twice. I try to follow it as much as I can...

7th hole par 3 189 yards, with a breeze moving left to right. I line up a 4H just left of the hole, hit an excellent shot and watch the ball start out left of the hole. It lands a little left of the hole, but bounces to within one foot for an easy tap-in birdie.

Shot an 88 (42-46) from the blue tees at a local course.

I'd say my weakness is ball-striking, specifically when I address/line-up with the ball. I don't always think I'm aligned properly and take a very long time to adjust myself, especially when I'm hitting a shot that's not parallel to the tee box or fairway.

Having the marshall/cart lady pull up behind you and watch you take your shot (which I will probably muff now). I know it's common courtesy and they're doing their job, so what can you do about it?

Shot a 77......... On a local par 63 course :) 14-over ties my personal best, which I managed to do without hitting any fairways and playing in gale force wind today!

3rd hole, 166 yard par 3, at a local par 63-course. It was really (and I mean hat-flying-off) windy today, near gale force I think. Anyways, I decided to play the wind and hit a 4H. I watched the ball start out left, then gently aim down the flagstick, landing 5 feet from it. I made the putt for a nice early birdie!

I picked up a 50 degree 10 bounce Cleveland Golf 588 RTX Wedge (Cavity Back) and it certainly lives up to all of the hype. Review to come shortly!