Vladimir Puttin'

http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-on-Clubs-and-Balls/Clubs/ Look at 'Fig 8. Putter with curved sole' from the link above. Stricker putts like this. How does he get away with it?

Cool. Thanks. That is exactly what I was looking for. Definitely subjective and hard to believe they make it so vague.

Hole-by-hole is my preference. I prefer to write stuff down and then transfer to my computer later on after the round. Things like battery life, glare, and the little keypad make it too difficult to enter stuff via my phone. And since I already have a scorecard in my pocket it's only a couple extra seconds to jot down the other things I track. I have a shorthand method for keeping all my stats so a print out wouldn't be necessary for me, but for someone that is new to tracking their info, I could see how that would be a nice option. A couple other things I thought of: If you have multiple rounds at the same course the ability to track your scoring average for each hole, par 3s, 4s and 5s for that particular course would be a nice addition.

I've been looking for golf stat software and have been disappointed in everything so far both free and fee. Here's what I'd like to be able to track: Fairway hit If I miss what side did I miss Drive distance % of Greens hit from > 200 yards % of Greens hit from 199 to 150 % of Greens hit from 149 to 100 % of Greens hit from 100 and less I would like the software to tell me on what side; short, long, left or right my misses are from these distances Putts per GIR Total putts per round # of putts from 30' + # of putts 29 to 20 feet # of putts from 19 to 10 # of putts from 9 feet and in % of putts taken of the total score One putts (distance) Two putts (distance) Three putts (distance) Total feet of putts made % U&D; from 50' and greater % U&D; from 49 to 30 % U&D; from 30 to 15 % U&D; from 15 and in % U&D; for all distances % Sand saves And then all the handicap calcs and all that junk. That's a start. I know it's a lot but, you asked. BTW, this is all stuff I track via old fashioned methods of scorecards and paper.

What if the second ball moved the first. Could he clean it?

No, the fact you can't straddle the line of putt prevents a croquet style putt. And they already have a rule as to how vertical a putter shaft can be: " (i) the projection of the straight part of the shaft on to the vertical plane through the toe and heel must diverge from the vertical by at least 10 degrees" I want to know what this means: "If the overall design of the club is such that the player can effectively use the club in a vertical or close-to-vertical position, the shaft may be required to diverge from the vertical by as much as 25 degrees"

From Appendix II Rules of Golf 2012 - 2015 page 148, can someone explain the following: "If the overall design of the club is such that the player can effectively use the club in a vertical or close-to-vertical position, the shaft may be required to diverge from the vertical by as much as 25 degrees" It doesn't make sense to me and is very vague. Any help in deciphering this would be much obliged. Vlad

I think it would be great if we could get a World Triumvirate. They had the Great Triumvirate of Vardon, Taylor and Braid. Then came the American Triumvirate Hogan, Snead, and Nelson. Then the Modern Triumvirate of Nicklaus, Palmer, and Player/Trevino. It would be great for golf fans and golf in general if we could get a Woods, McIlroy, and ? to step up and battle it out on the world stage of golf.

It ain't gonna happen. Long putters are here to stay. What is going to change in the foreseeable future is a restriction on initial velocity of the ball. Courses have been stretched and lengthened to their limit but guys are still hitting driver/9 iron into par 5s. Mark my words.

Yes and no. On the 'yes' side, golf is a very mental endeavor. If you feel that having the newest and shiniest in your bag will give you an advantage, then it may help you to play better. On the 'no' side, it's 99% marketing and there is very little difference between the clubs that are coming out today and what came out a couple seasons ago. Finally, if you find a club that you really like, especially if it has a graphite shaft, buy it. In our club building class, we had a visit from a Fujikura rep and I was amazed at the disparity and amount of variation that goes into laying down the layers for a graphite shaft. So, if you've found a club you like, chances are, that another club with the exact same shaft may be feel/react completely different.

It's funny, the more I practice, the luckier I get.

I converted to hybrids a couple years ago and now I don't have anything higher than a 5-iron in my bag. It's funny, it took me a while to get used to them too because I was trying to hit them like an iron. I found a sweeping stroke to work better for me...we're all different. A couple things I haven't seen mentioned is that I find hybrids much easier to hit out of the rough - the long grass just doesn't seem to grab them like it does an iron and they come handy for chipping around the green when you have a lot of run out.

This is what I was thinking too but if you're hitting a 3-wood 270, then club head speed isn't your issue. Is your ball flight different off of each club? I'd guess your driver ball flight is much lower than your 3-wood?

How far do you hit your 3 wood? Driver? What's the loft of each?

This is exactly the issue. The USGA and R&A; refuse to give in, rightfully so, IMO. The question is can we meet some compromise, something BTW, something that I haven't seen mentioned in previous posts, the vast majority of golfers aren't playing by the rules of golf anyway...breakfast ball, bumpin' it up, playing from the wrong place, etc.

Mark King: "When bowling alleys started to resemble ghost towns, the industry attracted new players by making the game easier. They installed automatic scoring systems, put guards up along the gutters, and provided light balls that kids could roll. Today, bowling alleys are packed. We can do the same in golf by encouraging beginners to play the forward tees, to tee the ball in the fairway, and to call gimmes within five feet of the cup. We could even increase the size of the cup for beginners' leagues." Mark King, president and CEO, TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/no-1-gear-heads-club-company-ceos-george-fellows-cindy-davis-greg-hopkins-and-mark-kin

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Is-a-15-inch-cup-the-future-of-golf-?urn=golf-334096

It's not an analogy. It's stuff I've heard from the likes of Mark King and read in various PGA rags. It's where things are headed.

It's not just Mr. Nicklaus proffering this idea. A lot of the manufacturers, course owners, and even the PGA are behind this in some part. Golf is in decline in America: the total number of golf courses is declining, number of rounds played is dropping, and more people are leaving the sport than are taking it up. From The Business of Golf: "Eighty-five percent of individuals who play golf don't have a handicap... Seventy percent drink alcohol while playing. Golf is not principally about competition, athletic challenge or individual accomplishment. Golf is simply entertainment, and golf courses are like theme parks - no two are alike...therefore, the success of the course is measured by how much fun the customer had...." Golf is entertainment and the they're taking a lesson from the bowling industry. Twenty years ago, bowling alleys were in decline; full of old people, cigarette smoke, and not very family friendly. They shook things up by adding bumpers, disco lights, and music among other things. In short, they made it more entertaining and saved themselves. Golf needs to do the same. It's stuck in the past and could use some shaking up. Besides the larger hole, there are other things they're looking at, like breaking courses into smaller 6 hole sides, removing restrictions on COR and restrictions on golf balls. Bottom line, they're looking at making golf more entertaining and I don't see anything wrong with that.

Odyssey 2 Ball putter with line in excellent condition. Also comes with weights and installation tool (350g, 360g, and 370g). Head cover included. Buyer pays actual shipping costs. Local pickup is an option (92008).

Bwahahahaaa...three months? http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/92260

Southern California (LA to Man Diego). Pros: Weather that is hard to beat, lots of stuff do to when you're not golfing, a ton of course in all price ranges, lots of golf shops, and superficial women with fake boobies. Cons: 4.5 to 5 hour rounds ALL THE TIME, long/time consuming commutes, heavily used/damaged greens, you're always hitting off mats at the range, and superficial women with fake boobies.

Still not convinced he played from the npr. Look at Decision 24-2b/3.7. Ball 2 (B2) is what the OP described and according to the rules the npr is between the OB fence and cart path. It doesn't show the npr to be to the right of the cart path.

This is addressed in decision 24-2b/17 Q. A right-handed player’s ball is so close to a boundary fence on the left of a hole that the player, in order to play towards the hole, must play left-handed. In playing a left-handed stroke, the player’s backswing would be interfered with by an immovable obstruction. Is the player entitled to relief from the obstruction? A. The player is entitled to relief since employment of an abnormal (left-handed) stroke is necessary in the circumstances — see Exception under Rule 24-2b. The proper procedure is for the player to take relief for a left-handed stroke in accordance with Rule 24-2b(i). The player may then use a normal right-handed swing for his next stroke . If the obstruction interferes with the swing or stance for the right-handed stroke, the player may take relief for the right-handed stroke in accordance with Rule 24-2b(i).” . The only problem I see is that your npr was not to the right of the cart path, it was to the left.

For ****'s sake people...another driver from TaylorMade? These guys are playing you like a finely tuned Stradivarius.