powerfade

The game you're describing is called "Animals". I usually play it with my higher handicap friends because it's a game that punishes the negatives but more importantly, it's great for laughs. We have picture cards for each of the animals with a carabiner so you can attach it to your golf bag....of course you can do whatever you want. Here's some of the Animal names for the ones you mentioned. trees (Woodpecker) out of bounds (Gorilla) cart path (Armadillo) water (Frog) swing and miss whiff the ball 3 putt (Snake) 4 putt (Python) Bunker (Camel) failure to get ball out of bunker go from one bunker to another putt ball of the green (Catepillar) Some more... Lost Ball (Gopher) Triple Bogey or worse (Skunk) Tee shot lands short of forward tees (Ladybug - Usually $5) I'm sure there's more. One little twist is if you have an animal and someone else gets it, you have to clip the animal to their bag before the next tee shot otherwise you're stuck with it. It's also important to play in order late in the round (or to keep track of who's away because it's the last animal scored that counts ). This game can be hilarious, especially late in the round.

No. I use a variety of clubs for greenside chipping. It depends on where I want the ball to land and how far it has to run before dropping in the cup

I would try to correct that reverse pivot first. It's a swing killer. Regarding the S&T...how;'s your back?

His posture disturbs me, specifically his rounded upper back to neck area. It looks like he's forcing himself to keep the chin high. It looks too contrived and restricted. I'm gonna call Butch. Seriously though...he was hurt during the prime part of the season. He'll be back next year.

I was fitted for the driver shaft I'm currently using. I love it. I was fitted for my Ping i10 irons but it turned out the original shaft (AWT-S) didn't work out. Too high a ball flight and too much spin. I switched to the x100's and am very satisfied. I didn't have a wedge fitting specifically when I bought the irons, but I changed the makeup when I changed the shafts. I went from a 51, 56, 60 (all Tour-W wedges) to a 50 (i10), 54 and 58 (Tour-W's)...all with x100's. It took me a couple months to dial them in but I'm currently playing my best golf. I may go for a putter fitting especially after switching to the Utley arc method in July. My Ping Piper H (35", black dot) appeared to be correct when checking in a ground level mirror. The stroke was so new that I figured a fitting wouldn't do any good. I now have the stroke grooved and will probably get a more accurate fitting.

I mapped my driving range which has permanent 'greens' with heavy duty metal 'cups' so they don't move the pins around. I have the front/back/center readings. I'm going to get a laser as well to pickout specific targets. Relating to this thread, I do not measure my drives on the range anyway.

SkyCaddy's have a "Mark" button that allows you to mark a starting point and an end point. The unit calculates the distance based on the GPS coordinates. It not only verifies those huge drives , it's helpful when setting up yardages for practicing short pitches (ex. 25-75 yards). The pitches seem pretty accurate vs stepping them off. I'd assume the longer distances would be close to accurate as well. (I know, it's not perfect).

You only need to prove it to yourself my friend.

Yes, about 2 years ago. Some friends were out to play 36 at my home course. On the par-5 5th, at the end of the landing area, is a grass slope that's roughly 10-11 feet above the cart path. I crept over the top but on the way down the rear end broke loose on the dewy grass. We slid parallel to the path, hit the two left tires on the right curb and got dumped. I was trapped on the path with my leg under the cart lying in battery acid. My buddy was ejected but hit his throat on the upright roof support. We were both cut up. Our other buddies were at the bottom of the hill and had to come back and take the cart off my leg. Other than some scrapes I was ok. We both refused medical help cause I was gonna play 36 that day! In hindsight, my buddy probably should have headed straight for the ER because his throat swelled up pretty good. Later in the round they all started cracking up as I went to tee one up. My clothes had totally shredded from the acid (I guess we didn't do a good job of rinsing it off). My back had small blisters on it. After the round and lunch the mood was low so they all went home (the one buddy headed to the ER where they really couldn't do anything for him other than give him an anti-inflammatory.). It took his voice 2 months to recover. Me, being the golf fanatic that I am, went home, showered, and played the afternoon 18. The "funny" thing is, is that there was a new rope blocking that whole slope. It is still there to this day. I later found out that another cart did the exact same thing but a guy broke his leg. I should have sued the course for negligence and got free golf for life Another buddy flipped on the same hole but further down on the cartpath. He hit a speed bump too fast (that's why they're there). No injuries. There's a lady at work who uses a cane. She was thrown years ago from a golf cart. Hell, just the other day my buddy did a quick turn (semi-goofing off) and hit a curb, over corrected, and almost dumped us. It scared the shiate outta me. I shake my head when I see people driving carts like a-holes.

Our 2-day Club Championship was this past weekend. My goal was to win...I am playing extremely well (My index has been dropping from an 8.5 in July, to my current 7.3 for August, trending to a 5.4). We have a small club so the format was a Gross flight from the Blacks (tips) and a Net flight from the Golds (normal tournament tee). I could have gone either way (no man's land) but decided on the net flight (8hcp). I figured I had to shoot mid 70's gross to have a chance in either flight so the percentages favored the Golds. Well, the old saying... "You can't win it on Saturday but you can sure as hell lose it".... held true for me. I was 1 over net par heading into the downhill Par-3 17th. With an unusually strong tail wind I hit a pure 9-iron to a back left pin (168 to the back edge). It took 1 hop behind the green and disappeared. I took an unplayable lie and re-teed, 3 putted and scored a triple. I hit my tee shot on the Par-5 18th (left-to-right crosswind) into the lake on the right. I hit my 3rd pin-high to the right hand greenside bunker. With a downhill lie with water behind the pin, firm-as-dirt sand in the bunker, I bounced the club into the ball and airmailed the water. A drop, chip and two putts later I effectively took myself out of contention with the triple/triple finish (87 for a net 79). I was shell-shocked to say the least. I bounced back on Sunday with a gross 75, net 67 to finish T6 (146). The net winner (12hcp) shot 130 with 2 career rounds...unreal. He's a good guy so we were happy for him (not a bagger). The gross winner shot 77+71=148 winning by 6. The important thing is that I had a great time with a bunch of friends who share the same love of golf. Good luck to you and everyone else heading into your Club Championships.

We started talking about her playing again (we played a little before we started having kids 18 years ago). We know a few other couples who play too, so I think it'll be cool. I like to mess with her and tell her I'll teach her , because I know so much more about the golf swing now than I did 20 years ago , ...but she reminds me of how I tried to teach her the first time. (She seems to recall every bad thing I taught her - what a memory!!). I just want her to get one of those Paula Creamer golf dresses!

Missed fairway. Bunker. Sandy-par is in play!

Do not attempt to teach her how to swing a golf glub. Send her to a teaching pro, unless you want the relationship to end.

Technically, if you line up square to your target, and do everything correctly (grip, path, plane, etc.), this should produce a nice tight right-to-left draw. This is the swing you should strive for. If you slice it or hook it excessively, then you're not doing it correctly and are probably making small compensations to keep the ball in play. It's virtually impossible to consistently hit a 'straight' ball as there will always be sidespin one way or the other to some degree.

I used to fade it all the time whether I wanted to or not. In reality, I was coming 'over the top' starting the downswing with my shoulders throwing the club out, then down. This meant I had no real control of the golf ball. I just adapted to that swing. Have someone watch you, or take video, to see if this is the case. Start that downswing from the bottom up. This will get the hips moving left before the shoulders, avoiding the OTT move.

What's the actual problem? Your grip looked a little to 'strong' but everything else looked pretty good. I find I have to keep that left shoulder down to get the ball up. (Maybe I should ask this question on the other thread).

I like the early wrist set, although I do not set it as early as the illustration. There was a good article in Golf Digest about 6-7 months ago written by a teaching pro who works at a Leadbetter School. I was actually suprised at the time because Leadbetter never advocated an early wrist cock...but apparently he does now. I think the magazine featured El's as well, and talked about his early set. I worked it into my swing over the past several months and like the results. I don't even think about it now.

It's good to hear you're back in action. Good luck at Q-School.

Ouch. Inevitably, it always comes down to the putter.

In your case, over-cooking a left to right shot could be dangerous. My miss would be to the left or straight (which isn't bad). It sounds like you have more confidence that the ball will turnover as it flys the right side bushes. I'd prefer not to aim over trouble unless there is no choice. Different strokes

BTW - That's an excellent approach to match play

So...how did you do?

Right, you still need two reference markers which his course does not have. I play at my buddy's cc once in awhile and they have this same scenario to the right of the par 5 4th. It's ob to the right from the tee to about 100 yards from the green. They have a double stake indicating the end of the ob line.

A 180 yard draw (with a 7-iron no less) over penal bushes on the right to a right hand pin? No disrespect, but maybe this type of course management contributes to your high handicap?

Cut a 6-iron in. Edit: If you're not comfortable with this, then hit a straight shot to the middle of the green.