danwalk

Although his play perhaps wasn't as manly as you would have liked, it was extremely intelligent. It was effectively a match play situation and Kaymer did exactly what he should have done and was rewarded for it. All in all, it was a very weird day on the course.

Neuman's article is rather interesting. As someone who started golf by playing on short executive and par 3 courses, I certainly agree that these types of courses are not only fun but also help to bring new golfers into the game. What I find a bit odd is his assertion that we actually need more of them, especially in light of the fact that par 3s are closing at a higher rate than standard courses. If they were in such demand, I really don't think they would be closing up shop. Here in my little corner of the Midwest, the general "problem" seems to be that there are too many golf courses competing for too few golfers' dollars. When you can often get discounted greens fees at one of the top courses in the state for $25 with cart for 18 holes on a weekday, it is hardly surprising that little par 3s can't hang with the big boys. The fact that some of you were paying under $10 for 9 holes speaks to this fact. There is simply no way to make money by charging those prices. Certainly this enviable situation for many golfers in the Midwest sounds rather wacky to those of you living in areas like New England, where I am originally from. Perhaps there is demand for more short courses in other parts of the country but if the recent crisis has revealed anything, it is that golf is a sport that suffers when the economy hits the skids.

Here's another vote for Body Glide. It works wonders for long distance runners and consistently prevented major problems for me when I was putting in lots of miles on both the road and trail. I imagine it would work just fine for a gentle walk around the golf course.

I think that of the three, The Art of the Short Game is the strongest. While The Art of Scoring does indeed distill the essence of both of the other books, I don't think it provides quite enough information to truly get your head around Utley's short game techniques.

The straight pull had been a problem for me recently. I went for a lesson last week and the pro said that in my case it was due to sliding my weight forward to the front foot instead of rotating through completely with my hips. Although I was making a nice turn on the backswing, the rest of my swing was mostly arms. As I have worked on this, I am now successfully clearing my hips and finishing facing the target completely. Mileage may vary on this, especially since we haven't seen your swing.

As some others have suggested, this is a great part of your game to work on. I have improved greatly with my short irons this year and my game--and scores--have gotten much better. Something to keep in mind is that short irons and wedges do not require hard full shots. Accuracy will be much improved by laying off a bit and using a nice smooth swing, even if you have to grab one club more in the process.

Here is another vote for a 3 wood as it will fill the gap between the driver and hybrid quite well. Certainly try some out before you purchase so that you can see if you get it up in the air enough. Some people who have trouble getting the ball airborne have found success with 4 woods. Adding a 3 wood will bring you to 13 clubs if I am counting correctly. Instead of bringing the 4 iron back, you could consider replacing it with a hybrid in the 24* range so that you can fill that smaller gap between your 21* hybrid and 5 iron. Best of luck!

I purchased the lovely Spin Milled Vokey's that are now hanging out in my bag/signature. Although I have only taken them out on the course once, two practice sessions have gone swimmingly. I am amazed at how much spin can be generated with these as compared to the 55* sand wedge (matching my TaylorMade r7 irons) that I was using before. The bounce and grind are just about perfect for me.

The best shot for me came on an uphill 540-yard par 5. After hitting my drive into the left rough, I pured a 20* hybrid that landed right in the middle of the fairway, only about 105 from the hole. Although the wedge to 10 feet looked more impressive, it was the perfect second shot that set it up. If only I had made my birdie putt...

This is very much dependent on what Tiger does going forward. Before November 2009 I would have said that Tiger Woods was the obvious choice but events that have transpired since then have made things a bit more murky. For now it's still Jack.

Hi everyone! Another educator here who very much enjoys his summers off.