newtogolf

I'll take the under, no one is in top form at this point of the season and Tiger has probably logged more range/practice hours in the last 30 days than any of the others.

Does this mean you think he'd still dominate? Monster in golf is good, the bag is ugly. It almost looks like an afterthought that was rushed to get something with their logo on it.

In terms of stats there are guys that hit it further than he did, grind better than he did and putt better than he did so it's hard to say definitively if Tiger would still dominate today if he was at his prime.

Probably not.

Good question, the deciding factor would be if your putt is from the same exact location 8 feet from the cup. If yes then I'd choose the putt.

They are a weird band, they enjoyed their greatest success with the Black album and then legally pursued fans for IP theft and reverted their music style back to their older garage days. Both decisions cost them all but their most loyal fans. The new release is somewhere in between their music timeline but still sounds dated because the genre has moved forward without them. I skimmed through all their tracks on iTunes yesterday and didn't hear enough quality songs to warrant a buy.

Congrats on getting fit and good luck with the new sticks when they arrive. Fortunately you live in Florida so you will get a chance to try them out as soon as they come in. I work with a small golf shop and we always talk about how some people feel they wasted their money when they find out after a fitting they don't require some crazy adjustments to the shaft lengths or lie angle. What most don't realize or appreciate is how different shafts are and how they can impact the way the club feels, the distances they hit and the trajectory. When I first got into golf 5 years ago I was buying used clubs online without ever getting fit and I made the game harder on myself. Almost all the clubs I was buying came with True Temper Dynamic Golf S300 shafts. At the time, these are the shafts the best golfers seemed to be playing so of course those were the ones I had to play. When I met my instructor (who I now do marketing for) he showed me my numbers on his GC2 using the DG S300 versus the shafts that he fit for me which were True Temper XP105 regular flex. The clubs felt so much better with the right shafts, I increased the trajectory of my ball flight as well as distance. So while I didn't need the lie angle or length adjusted, so in theory I could buy off the rack, having the right shafts installed was what made the biggest difference.

I'm a big Tiger fan and would enjoy watching him eclipse Jack's record but the window to do it is just about shut. Even if he's 100% healthy, he's lost the advantages that he enjoyed when he dominated because the rest of the field has caught up and passed him. It's been 8 years since he last won a Major and the field has only improved over those 8 years.

It's human nature as described in the children's fable, "The Fox and The Grapes". After making an effort and failing to get the delicious looking grapes the fox consoled himself by convincing himself the grapes were probably sour anyway. It's anecdotal but a high percentage of people I know that don't play golf, tried to play it. Some were honest enough to admit that it's a difficult sport and they had neither the time or patience to play. Others went to other more traditional excuses, it's too expensive, the people are snobs (it's elite), it takes too long, etc. I've never heard anyone not continue to play because of the rules. These people that quit barely made it off the range (some should have stayed longer at the range) so the rules were the least of their concerns. I almost quit because it's down right embarrassing to hit ground ball after ground ball 50 yards while your buddies and business associates are hitting the ball well and trying to encourage you to keep trying. The rules are the rules, I have the rule book in my bag and on my iPhone. When something comes up in our money game that we've never encountered we make a quick search and see how it's handled. The 80-20 rules applies, 80% of the situations that arise during a normal round of golf can be answered within 20% of the RoG. We've learned to hit a provisional whenever there's a risk of us being OB or the ball not being found which solves most of our problems, the rest of the situations are balls in hazard or unplayable lies. Those that are trying to create simpler rules or those that support them are grasping at straws and incorrectly believe a simpler set of rules will encourage more people to take up the sport. IMO, a simplification to the rules will do little or nothing to increase participation in golf. Most established golfers have issues with the rules in how they regulate equipment, equipment use and the anchored stroke which is completely different that the OP or the objective of those looking to simplify the rules.

As a beginner the last thing I cared about were the rules. I was #1 concerned about learning how to hit a golf ball somewhat consistently. Once I spent enough time on the range the next focus was etiquette, I didn't want to do something that was going to mess up my playing partners game. I picked up after double par, if I struggled on a particular hole I just dropped the ball near my playing partner, the goal was to get through a round not follow the rules. Just in the course of playing golf with my buddies they would educate me on basic rules like OB, hitting a provisional, relief from golf cart, unplayable lies, etc but I went quite a while before I ever opened up the rule book to actually read it because I wasn't at a playing level where it was warranted.

What about the 36 HCP? Most joined the USGA because someone told them to or they joined a private club that required they do. They got a calendar, bag tag and manual, they flipped through the manual and tossed it in a drawer or on a bookcase. Just because you got the rule book doesn't mean you read it or cared what it said, most people initially learn the rules from those they play golf with. As they improve or decide to enter tournaments they may become more interested in the rules but I would guess less than 25% (being generous here) of USGA members read the entire rule book.

What is the goal of your threads here? Do you want simpler rules overall or two sets of rules. NFL football has different rules than Canadian football and both are different from college football. Golf has one set of rules (excluding local rules) regardless of where it's played, isn't that something we should want to protect given the majority of golfers don't know or play by the rules anyway?

90% of golf shown on television does not showcase the rules, this idea that people think the rules are complicated and not playing golf because of them is unfounded. The average person watching golf, sees people tee off from a tee, hit an approach shot at or near the green and putt. Sometimes Phil will put one into the stands and he hits it out of the stands. I watch a lot of golf, compared to NFL football, the RoG play a minimal role on what is broadcast.

This is my point, individuals tend to pick whatever rules they wish to follow, golf (except in tournaments or money) is a self governing sport. I play with some older gentleman who won't hit their ball off or near a tree root because it's not worth it to them to risk injury to themselves or their equipment. They don't go through the process of an unplayable lie, they roll the ball a few inches out of harms way and hit their shot and no one cares if they add in penalty strokes to their score. If someone wants to come up with simpler rules, they can, I'm not opposed to it, I just think it's a waste of their time. The best case is that the simpler rules represent a set of rules that are closer to what most of the rule breakers play by anyway so they won't be in violation of the rules as often. In the scope of why people play golf I don't think it matters at all.

China and Bermuda have been dredging the ocean and creating islands and adding land to their countries land for quite some time so while some land may be lost to water, we're also actively expanding our land masses with the use of technology.

I contend that most golfers are ignorant of the rules and/or play by their own subset of the rules so the official Rules of Golf have little or no impact on their enjoyment of the game or how often they play golf. Even when non-golfers I know watched the US Open and the problems with DJ's ball moving no one I know said that they'd not try golf because of the rule. They did ask how many people I know would have called that penalty on themselves, and I said "none".

Define "better". Better in terms of maintenance, challenge or pace of play. I prefer private courses because the pace of play is better and that makes it more enjoyable.

Overall I understand your position but it's a very passive one. We all know that eventually we will die, whether we die from a plane crash, clogged arteries or old age, the inevitable conclusion is we die. Knowing that death is inevitable doesn't mean I'm going to play chicken with tractor trailers or act in other irresponsible ways to accelerate the timeline of when I may die. As for climate change, the focus is on carbon dioxide but it's like saying people are dying from heart disease and focusing on fast food. There are a lot of factors that are causing climate change, just as there are a lot of factors that cause heart disease. I think we tackle carbon dioxide and fast food because they are easy targets to address but that does not in any way ensure we eliminate the problem.

Chances are you're screwed, final sales in liquidation stores are usually non-negotiable. With any luck you get a compassionate employee who is willing to help you out and let you pick something else out of equal value, there's very little chance you'll get any cash back. If the store refuses to do anything I'd reach out to Callaway, explain what happened and see if they would be willing to help you out.

Most people are more motivated by cost compared to altruistic sacrifices to save the planet, which is why the left was pushing for cap and trade and carbon taxes. I don't like to waste money so running air conditioner or heating systems when I'm not in it is a waste of money as is leaving on lights, computers, tv's etc. I have a car that gets good gas mileage that we mostly use for long trips because it's more economical than my fun to drive car. I don't water my lawn excessively or take 1/2 hour showers because it's not financially responsible to do so. I hardly print anything unless it's absolutely necessary and recycle paper and bottles. If my fiscal responsible behavior benefits the planet it's a win/win. That said, I still enjoy my high performance car on weekends. I won't take mass transit unless it's significantly more convenient than driving. I have no plans to downsizing my house or desire to be uncomfortable when I'm in it.

I've never heard "elitist" as a reference to someone who plays by the rules. Elitist sport I believe refers to the stereotype of it being a game wealthy people play because it's wrongly assumed to be too expensive to play. The reference to elite players is in contrast to regular golfers which isn't about the rules but the level of their play. This is likely in reference to lengthening courses and making them more difficult to play so they attract pro or high level amateur tournaments. Nothing in the entire list beside the handicap simplification leads me to believe rules are a problem. As for ant hills, if there was an ant hill under my ball I didn't notice. I mostly play on private courses but I do play public courses once a week and in the last 3 years it's never come up.

If bunkers are intended to be penal then the question becomes how penal? Should we eliminate pot bunkers because they are harder to get out of, what's the maximum depth of bunker should be? People have trouble getting out of the woods and thick rough too. I'm not disagreeing with you but course setup is part of what makes every course unique and fun or in some cases not so fun to play. The relative difficulty of getting out of bunkers might be interpreted differently based on the level of golfer a course wants to attract.

My point is that most members in golf clubs aren't worrying about the rules at the level of "Is this a termite mound or ant hill", they aren't getting caught up in the rules minutia that the pro's have to deal with. I'm very serious about golf and do my best to play by the rules but I'm not dealing with these obscure rules references you're throwing out there. I don't interpret "elitist" to have any reference to rules or rules enforcement, that is an assumption you're making. The only one that I see being rules related is "Simplify Handicap System - 4%". Again, people that are just getting started in golf are worried about getting the ball in the air and eventually into the hole, not the rules, termites or ants.

I liked the older Gamer Tours but have not tried the new ones. What is your swing speed with driver? If you're looking for good deals, you should try the Kirkland Signature golf balls when Costco restocks them. They are 4 piece ball with urethane cover, similar to Pro V1 but cost $29.99 for two dozen.

It appears he's flaring his feet more to reduce the strain on his lead knee.