Mfumar

My son was a huge golf fan growing up and I took him to a Senior event when he was no more than 4 or 5. We sat on the grass a couple of feet from the green at one hole and Chi Chi hit his approach right in front of us. He stood no more than 10 feet from us, lining up his birdie putt, and my son blurts out "I love you, Chi Chi." Well, I almost died, but the crowd went nuts and Chi Chi couldn't stop laughing. He came over, rubbed his head, and said "I love you, too, kid." We followed him around for the day and he couldn't have been nicer to us. A real class act as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I kept my hand over his mouth when they were putting after that. I took him to an LPGA event and the women were wonderful. My son has Fragile X Syndrome (think autism) and the women just seemed to get it as soon as they saw him. We walked past the putting green and a few of them stopped us and called him out to putt with them. I can't even remember who they all were, but I know Beth Daniel and Charlotta Sorenstam were there. Lorie Kane and Juli Inkster treated us like they'd known us forever. I just couldn't get over how friendly they were. If you want to talk to some pro golfers, go to an LPGA event, especially the practice rounds. They really go out of their way to make you feel welcome. Nancy Lopez was really nice to us, too. My own big moment with a pro golfer came when I talked to Arnold Palmer. I'm an air traffic controller and his plane flew through my sector. I recognized the call sign, N1AP, and asked if the boss was on board. Right away, that familiar voice came back saying "I'm right here." It was right after his bout with prostate cancer a few years back and we had just gone to see him in a Senior event. I told him how much it meant to me to take my kids to watch Arnold Palmer and how glad we were that he was OK. I was nervous because I didn't want to say something stupid and have to go through life knowing that Arnold Palmer thought I was an idiot. But he seemed touched by what I said and made me feel that he really cared. I'll be an Arnold Palmer fan my whole life.

I know, but I just post whatever the number is and the handicap program knocks off a stroke or two if it's too many.

I'm a 14.8 right now and my driver distance is about 240. My 5 iron goes about 165. I've cut my handicap in half over the last 5 or 6 years, so I'm pretty happy with the way things are going. Last year I averaged 6 fairways, 4 greens and 34 putts per round. My average score for par 3's was 3.98, par 4's was 5.37, and par 5's was 6.20. My scores last year ranged from 81 to 105. My big weakness is short par 4's. I'll go for it one round and wind up with an 8, then decide to play smart the next time and still get an 8. I can never get all parts of my game going well at the same time. If I'm hitting fairways, then I'm missing putts. And if I'm putting well, then I can't get the ball on the green. The only thing that's consistent is my sand game. I think over the last couple of years I've holed out from the bunker more often than I've left the ball in the sand.

I've had four eagles in the last 6 years. The first eagle putt I ever had was about a 50 footer that I left 30 feet short. Since then I've had 3 eagle putts and made all of them. I also holed one from the rough from about 120 yards out after 2 lousy shots on a par 5. My drive sliced into the next fairway and my 3 wood took about 100 bounces and was never more than a foot off the ground. Then my 9 iron hit the green and bounced 90 degrees to the left and popped into the hole. Just the way I planned it.

I started at a 17.9 and finished today at 14.8. It was 40 degrees today so I don't see myself playing much the rest of the year. I had an 81 this year - my lowest round ever, and had my highest ever GIR average for the year and the lost average number of putts per round. I can't wait for Florida in February.

1858 half-dime. 100 years older than me.

15 different courses so far this year and I should probably double that before the season is over. I'll be spending 2 weeks in South Jersey and a week in Myrtle Beach at the end of the summer, playing every day. My handicap always goes down 5 points when I have a stretch like that. Then it'll go back up over the winter and in the spring when I don't have as many chances to play. Just wait'll I retire and play every day in Florida...

Here on Long Island, it's about $35 to walk and $50 to ride during the week. There's probably a dozen courses within half an hour of my house and the prices are all about the same. Sometimes you can get a special or get range balls and lunch thrown in, but that's about it. 10 years ago it was tough to get on any of the courses around here, but now you really don't even need a tee time. If a course is backed up, you just go 5 minutes down the road to the next one. There were a couple of courses that used to act like they were doing you a big favor by letting you play, but that's changed now. They know you can just go someplace else so they've become a lot friendlier. Some of the town courses don't even ask if you're a resident anymore. They just give you the resident rate anyway.

I play in a few charity events every year and I do a few alternate shot tournaments with my son every year, too. I've played in a couple of individual and team tournaments with handicaps and they're a lot of fun. With my handicap, a birdie or a par can turn into an eagle - which looks pretty nice on the scorecard. I used to think I wasn't good enough to play in those kind of tournaments either, but the "good" golfers on my team liked having a guy who got a few extra strokes.

I'm a big guy (XXL Tall size) and I've been using a Datrek Solite Sportstrek stand bag for two years now. I love it. It's got the Izzo dual strap and it's very easy to slip on and off and it's very comfortable. It took me a while to find one that really fit me, but I'm happy with this one. It's got the 14 individual slots for the clubs and it's pretty lightweight. I'd guess it's under 5 pounds, but I don't know the exact weight. I've never had a problem with the stand not opening up on this one either. The only drawback is that it only has six pockets, but I don't carry a lot of extra stuff with me when I walk. I can't help you with the Ogio because I've never tried one. I would go around to the golf stores and try all of them until I found one I was happy with. Then I'd buy it online and get a better price.

Shoes - I've got a pair of Footjoy Contours and a pair of Ecomforts and I'll never buy anything but Footjoy again. I do a lot of walking and good shoes make a big difference. Clubs - My first "name brand" club was a Callaway Hawkeye driver and I loved it. Before that, I didn't even hit a driver. I used an old Spalding Bobby Jones 2 wood that I got at a garage sale for $2. As I started to replace my old hand-me-down clubs, I wound up with Big Bertha 2 and 4 woods, Titleist DCI irons, Wilson Staff wedges (with the brass inserts), and a Wilson 8802 putter. I eventually got a couple of used Vokey wedges off Ebay. About 3 years ago, I started going to a pro shop and hitting every different set of clubs I could find. I settled on Adams Ideas irons and I love them. Right now I carry the 2-SW, a Tight Lies Tour Brassie 2 wood, and the Adams 460D driver. If Adams made balls or a good putter, I'd probably use them, too. I'm using the Guerin-Rife 2 Bar Mallet putter now, but the jury is still out on that. I've got an Odyssey 2 Ball putter, too, but there's something special about that old 8802.

I've got an Adams Tight Lies 11 degree Tour Brassie that I've been using lately. Sometimes I switch off and put my old Big Bertha Deuce back in.

I've been using the Adams Ideas since late 2004. They came with the 3 and 4 hybrid and I added the 2 and 5. I couldn't be happier with them. They're regular graphite and I've regripped them with the Golf Pride Decade grips the last couple of times. I've been thinking about updating them with one of the newer sets, but not yet. I'll go to the local golf expo next month and see how the new ones feel.

I drove from the South Shore of Long Island to Myrtle on Labor Day last year and it took me about 12 hours. It took a little longer coming back because I hit traffic around Baltimore and DC. I set the cruise control for about 10 miles over the speed limit and had no trouble. It's not a bad drive.

I have a Datrek stand bag with 14 individual slots that I use most of the time when I walk. I have a nice Bennington bag that I take to Myrtle Beach every year since we ride carts down there. And I have a basement full of old Titleist staff bags that hold all the old clubs I can't bear to get rid of.

I guess it's time to get HDTV.

As long as I can find it after every shot, it's a "lucky" ball and I'll use it for the whole round. If I shoot a good score, I may even tee of with on the next round. Same with the tee.

I was on the road for last year's Open Championship and the 2005 US Open. I listened to the XM146 coverage for both tournaments and I thought it was great. I didn't feel like I missed anything by not watching it on TV.

I'd like to get my handicap down below 15 this year. I was a 31 in 2002 and I've been working my way down steadily. I want to be more consistent and shoot in the 80's regularly. I need to play smarter and avoid blow-up holes and really dumb mistakes. I've got to give up on the shot-of-a-lifetime recoveries, chip out onto the fairway, and move on. Sounds easy enough, right?

This looks like it's been a dead thread for a couple of months, but nobody mentioned www.fairwayfiles.com . I've been using it since 2002 and I've got every round I've played since then stored in it. There may be better versions, but it's free and I'm used to it. All the guys I play with keep fairways, greens, and putts. We've been doing it so long that we don't even have to think about it anymore. A dot in the upper left corner is a fairway, a dot in the upper right corner is a green and putts are just a little number next to your score. You enter everything after the round and it kicks out your updated handicap and sends an email to everyone in your group with the details of your round. If we know we're going to play at a certain course, it'll print out a scorecard that tells who gets strokes and on which holes. Kind of handy to have that written down before the beer starts flowing.

My best golf moment didn't even take place on the golf course. I'm an air traffic controller and one day just as I got to work, one of the other guys said "Anybody want to talk to Arnold Palmer? He's about to come on my frequency." I jumped in to relieve him and, sure enough, N1AP checked on the frequency and I recognized his voice right away. I was trying to think of what to say to him, and in the back of my mind there was a voice saying "Don't screw up or you'll go through life knowing that Arnold Palmer thinks you're an a**hole!" He was flying back to Latrobe after playing in a tournament on Long Island. It was right after he'd had surgery for prostate cancer a few years back. I told him that I'd taken my kids to see him at the tournament and what a thrill it was for us to watch him play. I'm sure I sounded like a complete idiot, but he seemed really touched by it and it meant a lot to me to talk to one of my heroes. I've worked Air Force One a bunch of times and a lot of other "important" flights over the years, but talking to Arnold Palmer was something very special for me.

In my usual foursome, we play 25 cent skins which works out to $5 a man when you throw in one long drive and one closest to the pin. Not a lot of money, but there is no better feeling than making a good shot from the middle of nowhere to beat those guys out of a quarter. Sometimes we'll play teams for a $5 nassau just to shake things up a little. When I went to Myrtle Beach last year (20 guys) everyone put $100 in the pot and we played for prize money everyday. I ended up winning $200 bucks for the week. I can't wait until we go back in September.

I've had the Golf Channel since the end of '95 and I've been listening to XM146 since it came on the air. I like to listen to Peter Kessler's show on the way to the golf course. I Tivo all the episodes of "Playing Lessons With The Pros" and watch them whenever I get the chance. The one where Gary Player gave tips about bunker play really helped me out. I just love to hear what those guys are thinking as they set up for each shot.

I thought I hit about 275 until I got my Sky Caddy and actually started measuring my drives. It's really only about 235-245. 300 yard drives are a thing of the past now that I carry that thing around.

I'm new to the forums here, but I've been in love with golf for as long as I can remember. Let me put my two cents in about the USGA. I couldn't care less about the trinkets they send out every year, but they sponsor Special Olympics Golf and I'll be sending them my membership fee every year for the rest of my life. I have a 15 year old disabled son who loves golf as much as I do. Thanks to the USGA and Special Olympics he gets free time at the driving range every week, plays free golf during the summer here, gets coaching from guys like us who volunteer because they love the game, and competes in tournaments all around New York State. I imagine they have nation-wide tournaments, but we've never made it that far yet. If any of you are wondering if your membership fee does any good, let me tell you that it does. I thank all of you who support the USGA.