bwdial

It really depends on the skill of the golfer. High handicappers probably should focus on their long game initially. I played with a couple of guys the other day who made extremely inconsistent contact in the long game, so they had already burned five to seven strokes before they had gotten on the green. At that point, Seve's short game wouldn't have helped. Had they been able to hit the ball 175 yards off the tee and keep it on, or near the fairway, and get it near the green in regulation, then a good short game could have an effect. However, when your "putt" for double bogey is coming from 100 yards out, all the short game prowess in the world isn't going to help. On the other hand, low handicappers that are able to get close to - or on - pretty much every green in regulation are going to profit much more from a deft short game.

Maybe the heat was having a greater effect on you physically. I know that sometimes when it's really hot out, my arms feel heavy and rubbery. I don't think that hot weather has nearly the effect on the distance a ball travels as cold weather does.

I played Fantasia several years ago, and it will definitely humble you. There's a mini-golf course up near Duluth, outside of Atlanta that is kind of similar, though nowhere near as difficult. It's gotten a little run down over the years, but it's got the undulations and hazards. It is part of the Peachtree (imagine that in Atlanta) Golf Center, which also has a lit Par 3 course and driving range.

- More consistent contact with my irons - Break 80 - Consistently break 80

Mine usually go in the opposite direction. My last round was a two over 37 on the front with two birdies in a row (three total) followed by a 48 on the back.

Definitely underrated because of his length off the tee and his girth at the bar. Daly had/has a feather soft touch around the greens. Seve's definitely the best I've ever seen around the greens.

Pretty much straight. My trouble is that sometimes I don't transfer my weight and hit my irons fat... but they still go straight.

Everything is harder after a cruise... especially the cooking and cleaning up after yourself.

Big-M Golf Course south of Birmingham, AL. The fairways aren't very fair and the greens, while green, definitely make putting an adventure. When you can lose a ball in the fairway, you know the course leaves a bit to be desired, but it was run by some guy who just wanted his own golf course, so I guess I shouldn't really complain... and it was free.

What really concerned me at the A-Day game was our punting. I think special teams is going to be a real issue, since our kicker, punter (holder) and long snapper are all gone. If we need a 45 yard field goal, that a whole lot of inexperienced hands (and a foot) to deal with that pressure. Of course, with Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson in the backfield, perhaps we won't have to punt or kick field goals. :)

I was speaking more to the notion that some have about the tremendous distances these guys are hitting the ball translating to them being vastly better players than players of another era, and therefore that the talent pool is so much deeper. When Annika Sorenstam missed the cut on the PGA Tour, Ellen Goodman wrote a piece about how she hit the ball every bit as far as Ben Hogan did on the same course, as if that somehow put them on equal footing. She, of course, failed to mention that Sorenstam was using a driver with the highest C.O.R. allowed and a ball that would have brought Hogan to tears.

See signature. I have a few Pro V1s and V1xs in the bag (among other assorted balls), but for the money , I haven't found a ball that I like better than the Noodle. They feel good at impact and if I put a good swing on it, they stick like lawn darts.

Buy used. Down here (around Atlanta) Golfsmith and Edwin Watts have very extensive selections of used clubs. They may be a little pricier than finding something on Craigslist, but you'll be able to see a lot of different options all at one time. Everything in my bag (save for the driver, which I got for free through premium points) was bought used. Also, if there are any Play It Again Sports around you, give them a try. Sometimes they'll have decent sets at low prices because the kids working there don't know what it is.

Tiger Woods is, without a doubt, a supremely talented golfer, but I think there are some factors that tend to magnify his greatness to some degree. When Jack Nicklaus began his professional career, there were two all-time legends in their primes that he had to compete with. Gary Player won nine majors, including the career grand slam. Arnold Palmer won seven. Palmer never was able to win the PGA Championship, but he was an incredibly popular golfer. Arnie's Army was extremely faithful to their favorite, and they weren't very keen on some chubby blond kid from Ohio dethroning their "King"... and they let Jack know it. There was a tremendous amount of animosity toward Nicklaus early on, and he was able to ignore it, and ultimately overcome it. When Tiger debuted on Tour, the reaction was just the opposite. Except for a few bigots in the crowds, the vast majority of the swelling galleries were decidedly "pro Tiger", often to the detriment of his playing partners' games. I read somewhere (so take it with a grain of salt) that Tour pros averaged a full stroke higher on average when paired with Tiger. A lot of people say that the talent pool is much deeper now, and that is probably true. However, the talent pool is much more complacent now, as well. The money's (much, much) better so guys are able to keep their Tour cards by finishing in the top ten, week after week. This mentality of "play it safe... don't cost yourself $100,000 going after flags" had been bred into a generation of Tour pros when Tiger burst upon the scene. Remember Chip Beck's lay-up on 15 at the 1993 Masters? He decided to forgo the risk of a possible eagle that would have applied pressure to Langer in order to protect second place... in a major championship . Of course, this is the same generation of Tour pros with a sizable contingent who saw no need in even competing in the British Open because the courses didn't fit their styles of play. At least in Hogan's era there was a legitimate excuse not to go, since the Open usually conflicted with the PGA Championship. Tiger's arrival on Tour caused a fair number of pros to simply turtle. Plenty of comments were made to the effect of "we're all just playing for second", which was easy to do since most of them had spent their careers doing just that anyway. Jack didn't have that luxury. He had Palmer and Player in their primes, as well as the mystique of Hogan and Snead still hanging around. Palmer never played for second. Palmer drove par-fours at U.S. Opens to come back from seven down and uprooted gorse bushes at British Opens. Player never backed down either. And, when their careers had faded and their skills had diminished a bit, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson (not to mention Billy Casper and Seve Ballesteros) were waiting. No rest for the weary! Those six men all appear in Golf Magazine's Top 20 golfers of all time. Between them, they tallied a total of 38 major championship victories. Swimming in deep waters offshore is often much easier than in shallower water where the waves are breaking. Technology is another issue in the debate. Everything... clubs, balls, fairways and greens... has improved tremendously since Jack's day. Drivers and fairway woods were actually made of wood. Irons had a shorter, utterly unforgiving blade shape. Balls were wound and had a liquid center, and didn't fly nearly as far as they do today. A lot of people are seduced by the incredible distances that players can hit the ball these days, but it can almost completely be attributed to equipment. It's not just the ball. Lofts are generally stronger. The 1 iron Hogan striped to the 18th hole at Merion is the rough equivalent of a 3 iron today. Tour pros in Jack's day didn't carry three or four wedges. There was no such thing as a hybrid... that was your 5 wood. If you don't think technology has played a role in the sport, think about this. I am about an 18 handicap, and I hit my R580 (ancient technology by current standards) about as far as Tour pros averaged when I started playing golf in the early 1990s.

My name is Brad, and I'm a 38 year old real estate agent/student. I live with my wife in Anniston, Alabama and am currently working on finishing my bachelors degree. We plan on moving to the Atlanta area, where my daughter lives in a year or so. She plays golf as well, and will turn thirteen in September. I've been playing for about 18 years, and I guess I carry about an 18 handicap. Golf is a major reason (okay... one of the major reasons) I'm still working on my degree. I used to play almost daily... and that didn't leave much time for classes/studying.

Par 5 17th at Riverpines in Alpharetta. I had pulled my drive a little left and had a serious hanging lie on a downslope that defied physics, so I just punched it up the fairway (and nearly sprained my left ankle in the process) to about 130 yards out with a creek fronting the green. With a large tree in front of me, I had no other option but to hit a high draw... so I did... and stuck it about six feet below the hole. I missed the birdie putt, but the shot came off just as I visualized it.

I shot an 85 on Saturday at Riverpines in Alpharetta, GA (Par 70). I hadn't played in a while, and I started with a double bogey. But, I followed that up with two birdies in a row. I wound up with three birdies on the front, and four total, which sadly was more than the number of pars (3) I made on the day. The back nine was kind of a disaster. I was two over on the front and thirteen over on the back.

I am a REALTOR, and a student. I'm currently enrolled in the External Degree Program at the University of Alabama, and should graduate within the year.