Shankapotomus

It looks like we will be playing at Pohick Bay on the 11th, our tee time has been confirmed. It's only 30 minutes from our hotel in Pentagon City and the $61 greens fee is acceptable. K-Troop, thanks for the reply.

My dad and I will be in the Arlington/Washington DC area the weekend of May 11th. There are a plethora of golf courses down there and I'm having a hard time deciding where we should play. Anyone have any suggestions? We are both high handicappers, somewhere in the mid 20's. $75 or less green fees, with cart, is our budget. Thanks.

On my blog, I just posted two photos along with some more talk about my class experience: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/entries...-June-9th-2010

As some of you know, I am very new to the game and have been trying to learn to swing the club mostly through self-teaching but I also had one lesson with my club "pro". Yesterday, I attended a Stack and Tilt class offered by Golf Evolution (Dave Wedzick, James Hirshfield, and iacas). Jim Burke, Harvard golf coach, was also in attendance to lend a hand. Although I didn't leave the class with a complete and full swing, I did gain an understanding and solid base upon which to develop my consistency and this was my primary goal. Below are two of the before and after photos I like the best. Later on, I may add more of the photos from the class but I really like these two. Flying Wedge On the right, I am working on developing a nice flying wedge and you can see on the left how my hands and arms were prior to class. Now I know why people were telling me to "keep my wrists locked" but couldn't figure out what they were saying. My wrists didn't feel locked in a flying wedge position but this is clearly what my dad and others were trying to "teach" me by yelling at me to "lock my wrists". This is a perfect example of how Mike and Andy are trying to change the way the game is TAUGHT. I fully understand this now. Top of Swing This photo is really impressive to me. Given the fact that I am seriously overweight and in terrible physical shape with poor flexibility, I never thought I'd be able to develop a full back swing. However, the before and after photo below is proof that I do have the ability. I don't have the consistency yet to do a nice back swing like this each and every time but knowing that I can do it gives me the confidence I need to keep working on it. Conclusion I still have much to develop with my swing but I feel I am now in a much better position to continue working on it. I was going nowhere fast prior to class. Thanks again to everyone with Golf Evolution.

I'll have to echo Scott's sentiments. It was indeed a great day with plenty of one on one instruction thanks to the small class size and the four instructors we had on hand. As some of you know, I had some apprehensions in taking the class because of prior bad lessons and all the nay-sayers against Stack and Tilt who told me I'd be wasting my time and money. I am glad to say I proved myself and the nay-sayers wrong. Although I do not yet have the full swing down and can't hit my 7-iron 150 yards quite yet, I feel I now have a solid base swing to build upon. Tomorrow I will try to post some of the before and after photos, maybe I will start a blog here with them. I am just much too tired to mess with the scanner tonight. Come back to Boston again guys. I'll be sure to look up Jim in the meantime for any follow-up instruction.

Bring rain gear too folks, the forecast isn't looking any better and now they are forecasting some good wind as well. We had golf ball size hail here this morning from a thunderstom that rolled through quickly. Going to be that kind of weekend in the North East it looks like. Sunday: Showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 72. Breezy, with a south wind 8 to 11 mph increasing to between 18 and 21 mph . Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Shot a 64 on a 9-hole, par 32, course today. I am still trying to learn how to swing the clubs properly. However, I did manage to shoot my first par today on a short par 4 hole.

Do I need to bring anything other than my clubs? Will there be a lot of notes to take during the theory part of the class? Edit: Weather forecast is not getting any better.. courtesy of NOAA: Sunday: Showers likely before 2pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 2pm and 3pm, then showers likely after 3pm. Cloudy, with a high near 68. Northeast wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Stretch, I wish I swung half as good as that right now. Hopefully the "Erie Gang" will be able to help you polish it up a bit more on Sunday. They are going to have their hands full with me on the other hand.

Four instructors to seven students.. I like that ratio. My Stack and Tilt book arrives tomorrow so I'll be sure to do some reading before Sunday.

Excellent! Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we aren't wet all day. Currently a 50% chance of showers but it can all change before then.

Post 64 on the previous page No worries.

Umm guys? It's over. The winners have already been announced.

Correction to my post above. I've now found three Par 3 courses within a 45 minute drive of me. I may have to check them out sometime.

I had to do a lot of soul searching before I decided to start playing golf a few weeks ago. I have a habit of rushing into new hobbies and/or emo-rage quitting or throwing a fit when things aren't going my way. It is a major personality trait of mine, although it has been getting better with age, that I wish I didn't have. I've never understood those who throw clubs or any kind of tantrums on the course yet I could easily see myself being one of those people. When I decided to start learning, I told myself I would never, ever, be that way and stick with the game. Learning is going a bit slower than I had figured it would and I lose quite a few balls. Other than loudly saying "oh come on, you can do better than that" a few times on the course, I have never once lost my temper. Maybe golf will actually be a good thing for my bad personality traits.

Joining a league is a great way to make friends, new people to play with, at the course where the friendship doesn't leave the course. My dad plays in two different leagues each week. I've been tagging along, playing a few holes as I can for practice, on a regular basis for a few weeks now and have met several interesting people I'd like to play with in the future.. and some I'd rather not. I'm looking forward to joining both leagues next year once I am playing better.

or find new friends all together. Someone who has to cheat on a golf course isn't someone I want to associate myself with in the first place.

I'm not sure what I am going to do in the middle of summer here as this is my first year playing golf. However, I hope I will not have to wear a hat of any kind as I don't find wearing a hat of any kind to be comfortable at all. Thankfully up here in the North East, shade can usually be found.

What: Develop a consistent full-swing focusing on control and accuracy first followed by maximizing distance. I currently have only been swinging clubs for three weeks and mostly self taught. My current problems include a terrible slice with my driver and topping the ball on my irons. How: 1) Learning the Stack and Tilt Method by reading the book and taking a day long course (June 6th) hosted by the "Erie Gang" (Dave Wedzik, Erik Barzeski, et al.). 2) Practice, Practice, Practice via range visits, 9-holes twice a week, and my 12x12' driving net in my back yard. Goals: Establish a handicap of 30 or less.

This is my understanding as well from everything I've been reading as I learn this game.

A no clue wild guess of 11.5 -- already have a SC license anyway. :)

One of them is Portsmouth Country Club. I don't recall the other one but it might have been private. Edit: At Portsmouth, I was on the range with a Ferrari Racing cap on and was asked to remove it.

I think it depends on the course dress code. There are at least two local courses here that state "no logos" on any attire.

At Colonial, Mickelson dumped the hybrid in favor of a Callaway X Forged 2-iron.. maybe this is one of the reasons he missed the cut.

A quick google search resulted in this interesting article about Phil's putters: http://blogs.golf.com/equipment/2010...r-masters.html