Game

If they aren't in his top ten and he doesn't play other courses much then it probably isn't affecting his hdcp.. Are you hitting the ball differently at different courses? Are you more nervous when you play? You might just know how to play your home course and know how the greens break well. I know that playing different courses in my area means a pretty big difference in green stinting so sometimes the first 3 or 5 holes are not quite my best putitng holes. 15 strokes sounds like it could be nerves though

So much mat hate here! I understand that grass is the almighty practice surface but sometimes you just gotta hit off of mats because it's the only thing within an hours drive! If you know what you're doing and you know the difference between a chunk sound/feel and a pure shot then mats are really not that bad.

On the #1 handicap hole on Langdon Farms golf course in Oregon I drove it down the center then faded a 3w close to the pin for a tap in birdie. Feels good to do that on a hard par 4

3w 7i 54* I too would putt with the wedge, I've done it pretty successfully for fun in the past

My god I swear there is a golfer always ahead of me who puts his sunflower seeds in my line. How he knows where I will land the ball is beyond me but it seems like every putt is 1/2 reading the putt and 1/2 sweeping seed shells out of the way.

You could try some Fowler-esque stretches before your game, or practice more on the range if you can before each round.

If I were you I would keep track of these statistics on your next 18 hole round and post them in this thread so we can help you. Your Score (obviously) Greens in Regulation Fairways in Regulation Up and Downs putts that would allow us to help diagnose your problems better

I got to the par 4 4th and bombed a drive down the middle. I thought I was going to shoot birdie for sure from where I ended up. I pulled out a 5 iron and straight up topped the ball 30 yds. I was furious with myself. I walk up there with my eight iron, go through my preshot routine, and spin it to within 4ft of the hole for my par save. Made me feel better.

Did you have a putt for Albatross? Haha, good luck finding out how you shot that monster.

Today was my first try at a 'competitive' event and I just completely failed at it. I shot 20 (yes 20) strokes higher in competition than I did in my practice round the day before. The thing is that at least 15 of those are putts. I just got over the ball and the hole seemed impossible to hit from any distance. The day before I was rolling them in from 12' but today even my 2' putts were going out. Usually I have a clear feel of what I want to do over the ball but today it was like static mixed with despair. How do you guys re-center yourselves and get back in the zone when you're competing?

Thanks for the link Wine&Poker;! Definitely will want to have them with me for the springtime events!

Lots of people carry legally and I'm sure that when you're out and about you've walked by numerous people with guns concealed on their person. But.. but.. if so many people can kill you at a moments notice then isn't it just the most dangerous place in the world here? No.. you don't notice how many people, friends, coworkers carry because they don't flaunt it and they don't cause problems. Trust me you'll be a lot more happy your coworker has a pistol if someone decides to hold up your store. Not because it should turn into a wild west battle but because if the thief decides to not leave any witnesses you have an option available to you. To you UK guys who think you feel much safer than in America: When you're cornered by someone bigger than you who has a knife or just could easily beat you with their fists, wouldn't you like an equalizer? Is it worth possible death to make sure that law abiding citizens can't carry around their 'weapons'? Gun laws do one thing very well: make sure that people who responsibly use firearms and follow the law can't get them. Yes i sound like an NRA spokesman, my bad.. I think the real question here is: How do you carry on a golf course but keep it easy to reach? IWB carry seems like it would really interfere with your swing.

Mats aren't the end of the world as some would have you think. If you aren't hitting the ball first then it is easy to tell. Your shot should hit the ball first then THUD rather than THUD hit. If you really need more indication you can always practice with a towel behind your ball a little bit to make sure you hit down on the ball first and are not releasing your hands early into a chunk. The only range near me is so big that if they didn't have mats only then they'd probably have dug a hole a mile deep in the earth from divots alone. It's just a matter of making the most of your practice time and being aware of whether or not you're hitting the mat first or the ball first.

That is what I was getting at. Althoug there is a course in newton I feel like I won't know people with the means to navigate their way there, although if I live on the Newton campus I'll probably be within walking distance. I think I'll probably not bring them in September when school starts so I can focus on the important things (making friends and hanging out hah) and then because I'm flying home for thanksgiving I'll just bring them back with me after I have a better idea what everything is like.

Something I noticed but dont change your swing on the advice of an 11 handicapper.. i'm no teaching pro. You stand so far away from the ball.. lots of the pros bring their hands much closer to their bodies on their swing.

More likely than not if I ever get away from campus to golf which is unlikely for frosh year, I can probably rent clubs to make it easy even though I won't be very competitive with them.

We'll see if I can sneak my club case on the plane without my parents noticing haha... My only concern would be dorm room security of the clubs at that point

I'm going to start at Boston College this fall (go eagles) and as a result will not be hauling my nice clubs all the way from oregon to play the very few times that I will be able to between my studies. My parents are against the idea of golfing there and my game isn't close to being golf team worthy. To anyone who has had a break in their season or their game for a period of time such as all fall through spring and decided to play again, how long does it take to get back to shooting what you're used to? I'm afraid of going into college with an 11 handicap and leaving with a 20 because my swing isn't there anymore. As a side note: I will be playing most of next summer in tournaments at the club and taking lessons fairly frequently (2-4 times a month) so I shouldn't lose much right?

In this thread: People getting personal over a few inches of material on shirts and shorts. If you aren't on TV and you aren't at a nice (read: uptight) golf course wear what you play best in and have the best time in. Now I have no qualms over playing in collared shirt and shorts or collared shirt and pants or pants and a t-shirt. Frankly I do what I want while keeping respect for the course in mind. Note: consult legal restrictions in your area before following my advice

I do a 3-5 day a week split routine for appearance.. Most guys eat big and slack on the lifting and I'm the opposite. I work out hard and am sore all the time but by always working out and always golfing right after I burn so many calories that I cant gain muscle mass easily. I just need to work on my eating and I'll finally get the looks that go with the 250-270 yd carry drives

I was down at the nike oven last week and saw the putting lab where they showed tiger his putting stroke with his scotty and compared skid. The method putter just isn't something that you should change to right before a major. Start your new equipment out softly and practice often with it. Personally, I use the method and I think it is a great putter once you get used to it. The other nike guys use it or the prototype that became it and putted fine. Casey won match play with it and I think it was more a mistake from tiger to think that switching something after all these years would suddenly fix it for him. He decided himself to try the new putter and they just gave him what he wanted is what I gained from the Oven. They were really hoping to see him use it well because he could pretty much screw them over by switching putters back right away.

Ideally just take a yardstick and put it on the ground and know what that feels like to step from one side to the other if you really want to know the feeling of a one yard step

1. Break 80 2. Keep rounds below 90 3. play lots before I have to go to college

88 Got so excited about playing well that I lost focus on the last few

I was just fitted for the split cavities and I must say that if you are worried about the full cavities not being able to carry you into the low handicaps think again. Many Nike pros will get their long irons in the split back and sometimes even cavity back for the extra help up in the air. So really anything in the victory red line will treat you well if you get fitted into them. My advice for you is that if price is not that big of a deal (and if you are considering blades I'd say it's not because those things are pretty spendy) go get fitted at a reputable place that preferably fits off of grass rather than into a net or off a mat. You'll really get the right clubs for you and the professionals there will be able to give you better advice because they'll see your swing firsthand. As for the STR8 system basically it allows you to adjust the angle of the head by yourself by using a wrench to screw the head off and realigning an arrow on the head with an arrow on the shaft. Nike claims this will allow you to change the trajectory of your drives. Again if you get fit at a nice place then they will be able to reccomend the settings for the str8 system that work for you. Personally, the STR8 system is cool but once I have it dialed in (as in after fitting what worked best) I'm not gonna change it unless I really start swinging differently. The split cavities are nice though, and they look smooth. But i think you should get fit. Sorry for the scattered post