Arizona

I just bought my wife a new 3 wood to match her set

We had a Coyote running around the course today. We saw him on a few holes.

I have a tee time today and because courses overseed for the winter here it will be cart path only. My back can not take carrying clubs for a round anymore so I always take a cart. It occurred to me that there are times when I have to pick a club and carry it to my ball. If I don't get it right, I won't always be able to go back and switch. I can think of many times when I pull up to one side of the green and my ball is across the other side and I bring my putter and a wedge only to get to my ball and realize another club might have been a better choice or when sharing a cart you get stuck far enough away from it that you can't change your mind and select another club. Having all your clubs with you all the time must have an advantage but I wonder how much. What are your thoughts? Do you think it saves a lot of strokes or doesn't make much difference?

This is an excellent read. I used to have a slice I could not get rid of. I spent a whole season playing with a slow half swing worrying about hitting it straight instead of far and after that never had a bad problem with a slice again. I'm a believer. Thanks for posting this.

Odyssey Stroke Lab One Putter

Hello, I am from AZ and have been playing on and off for most of my life but never consistently or seriously until this year. I am at around bogey level and improving. I look forward to being a part of this community.

We all need to be careful of relying on the internet to help us improve our game. Especially with swing tips. Having said that there are a few things I have read that have helped my game a lot. I mostly concentrate on strategy tips. The best have been: 1) Do not aim for the pin unless you are close to the green. Aim for the center of the green or away from trouble. This seems like common sense now, but for a long time I was trying for the low percentage "hero" shots and losing strokes because of it. 2) take an extra club. Most shots from mid to high handicappers are short. I didn't even realize this until I started paying attention. Now I mostly hit for the back of the green and have gained a couple strokes because of it. There are a few more that have really helped me. There could be a whole other thread about what tips to stay away from but I would love to hear some other peoples online tips that have really helped their game.

Last think I bought was last week. I bought a new Odyssey putter. A big improvement in feel for me.

I know this is an old topic, but I read through it all and found some very interesting viewpoints and I thought I would add a few of my own. I used to use whatever ball I found on the course or on sale. I didn't have the game to have it make much difference. Then I started noticing that the feel of the ball was much different on different balls so I started using balls that felt good. Once I started to get a little control over my shots I realized that I could benefit from using a ball that was geared too my game. I saw a lot of high handicappers with low swing speeds using high compression premium balls because someone told them they were the longest off the tee. This is a mistake a lot of people make. I did a LOT of research (probably too much) on what ball would be best for ME. Distance being probably the least important thing. If you are buying a ball because it goes farther than the rest you are probably missing out on a lot of what is important in making the choice. For ME these are the five deciding factors of why I chose my ball in order of importance. Your mileage might vary but this is my 2 cents. 1) Color. I know it sounds stupid but my eyes are getting worse and with a white ball about 30% of my tee shots I don't even see where it went. I was losing balls on the course on shots that felt good to me. There is nothing worse than hitting a ball you think is in the middle of the fairway and never finding it. White balls are no longer an option for me. 2) Spin on the greens. I had a problem with my balls rolling over the green a lot. Even with my wedges. Using a ball with a premium cover was a HUGE help for me. 3) Feel off the irons (and putter). Some balls just feel mushy or like I'm hitting a rock. A ball that feels better to you will preform better. 4) Dispersion. I usually hit pretty straight off the tee but the difference of just off the fairway and just on is huge on the desert courses here in Arizona. 5) Distance. I don't feel I lose many strokes if my tee shot is a few yards shorter, but I really didn't have to sacrifice this much because I found a 70 compression ball that is matched pretty good to my swing speed. My choice in the end was the Srixon Q-Star Tour. It checks all the boxes for me and I really can tell the difference. I guess my point is there is more to consider when choosing a ball than distance and no website is going to tell you what ball will work the best for you. We all have to figure that out for ourselves.