Fourputt

3 putters in 30 years. I only change when I find something that feels better, and that doesn't happen very often. I don't change when I start putting badly, I go to the practice green and figure out what I'm doing wrong... believe it or not, that works. I've tried most of the putters that I can actually stand to look at in Golfsmith. I hate a mallet, and some of those strange things out now look they'd be better used for branding cattle. I've found a couple that I like as much as I do my 7 year old Odyssey DF992, but none that feel better, and that's my only real criterium for changing. I like my putter, it works for me, and I'm sure not going to spend $300 on a Cameron that basically feels the same as my $84 Odyssey.

I hit a lot of feel shots, but not with the driver. If I need less than a full driver, I dont use it, period. I have a 3W, and 19, 22, and 25 degree hybrids that I can use when I don't need a driver, so why mess with my swing on a club that can be so easy to screw up anyway?

Also for greenside bunkers, you should pick the club up quickly, bring it back down on the same path striking down about 1" behind the ball and imagine that you are tossing a 4-5 inch dollop of sand where the ball lies onto the green. If you do that, the ball simply has to go along for the ride. Trying to pick the ball too closely results in inconsistency, because one time you get all ball, the next time you get all sand and you never know what's going to happen.

When I'm only playing 9 holes I walk and push my Sun Mountain Speed Cart. For 18, or for some of the hilly courses in the foothills, I ride. I have trouble with my feet which made me retire from backpacking about 15 years ago, and I put up with a lot of pain when I walk on turf, or any relatively soft surface. I walked all over the place last summer in Italy, but almost all of it was on pavement or firm surfaces. By the time I'm done walking 9 holes on grass, I'm pretty much finished for the day.

I don't generally get into the mechanics of any part of my swing, because when I do, it just screws me up. I certainly won't be changing what is already an effective putting stroke by anything I've read here. My stroke feels good and it works for me, and after all, that is what counts. That said, mine is probably more Pelz than Utley, although I doubt that either would lay claim to inspiring it. My primary swing thought when putting, especially for putts inside of 10 feet, is to chase the ball down the target line, and to that effect, I try to finish square. I'm not saying that I do, but what I FEEL is that I am finishing square. In order to feel that I'm finishing square, I pretty much have to also FEEL like I'm starting square, which is why I say that I'm probably closer to Pelz in stroke shape if not in technique. I've never read a book by either, so I'm only talking about what I feel when I putt. I've never seen my stroke, either in video or in a mirror, and I like it that way.

Golf has been dead here in the Denver area since Thanksgiving. Most years we have to take a few days off here and there, but his year we got hit early with cold weather, then a major blizzard right before Christmas finished us off. We've had more snow this year than in any 3 years running that I can remember. I retired the 1st of January and I was looking forward to lots of weekday golf... right!!!! The good news is that I'm headed for Florida on Monday for a week, and the clubs are coming along. To those who play Links... me too. I play regularly online with a group of friends from around the country and overseas (UK and Australia). We use a voice chat program to talk while we play, so it's as close as we can get to being on the course. We should be getting together here in about 2 hours....

Have you ever seen Augusta? If you think there's no elevation change then you haven't. Just as an example... The drop from tee to green on #10 is 34 yards, on 11 is 25 yards. Augusta National is nothing but hills... there isn't a level spot on the course, so not a great example. On the topic at hand: I don't doubt that there are kids out there who can hit 300 yard drives all day long, but I what I want to know is... do they have a game? You can hit all the 300 yard drives you want, but if that only ends up as another double bogey on your card, then I'm not impressed. You'd be using your time better spending it on the chipping green than at the range.

My club has done this for several years now. We had a member who was a shameless sandbagger, but he was an early retiree, so while he was still young enough to play a good game, he was also free to play anytime he wanted. As a result, even when the handicap committee di a manual adjustment, by the next tournament he had enough scores returned to inflate it again. After he won more than $1000 for 3 years running, the club switched to tournament scores only, and he immediately quit the club. Sandbagging hasn't been an issue since.