Leaderboard

Tunes in my head. Last week it was Wichita Lineman, today Train Kept Rolling. I suppose there are worse disorders to have .

As long as it isn't the Banana Boat song. Oops, don't go there!

If you don't want this song in your head, don't listen!!!!!! Fair warning!!

There a lot of golfers across golf forums, Facebook groups and other social media platforms including myself that will disagree that lessons haven’t helped anyone and definitely disagree they haven’t significantly helped anyone. I went from a 20+ handicap to a single digit handicap in about 2 years from lessons and they were far more than the basics of grip, alignment and posture. Those who want to get better will make the time to spend hours practicing and getting lessons which is no different than anyone trying to get better at anything. I played golf, practiced golf, workers 8-10 hours days, hit the gym and played baseball 2x/week. I know several others who had similar lifestyles

Nice stuff. I've been eying the Legend Golf markers and divot tools.

Everyone knows the only way to be sure you are playing your own ball is to put a mark on it, usually with a Sharpie marker. I come across lots of balls that like mine often hide so they don't get hit by me again. I often thought if a course had a table out at the starters shed or somewhere that found balls with marks on them could be left, it would be possible to be neighborly and return errant balls to their previous owners so they get another chance to whack them. My marking used to find a hexagon of dimples and put a purple dot in each one then pick opposing dimples to create a diamond. Effective but time consuming. During a career change seminar one snowy Kansas day they talked about having a personal brand. I'm not sure they meant something like this but it started me thinking of what unique symbol I could put on a business card. Or golf ball. This is the result of the creative drive that day started, my own logo of stacked initials in Ariel font lower case. If you find either of these marks on a golf ball in purple Sharpie marker then you have a good idea it was my hand that marked it, not necessarily my club that put it where you found it.

if it is truly a revolutionary design, history tells us the 2.0 version will be even better next year

This is a simple one for me. I just want a new driver. My Epic Sub Zero bit the dust in a who knows what happened incident. Now using my Cobra Flyz plus which I don't hate, but it is much much shorter then other drivers I have used so can't wait till we hear more about the new drivers and take the plunge... even if it would count as a late Christmas gift.

If the new TM driver doesn't end up living up to the hype, it sounds like it will still be revolutionary in design, supposedly non-titanium face (not even metal)

Pair that with your autoflex and it will be beyond revolutionary

I never mark mine….

Raised from a pup in Ft. Lauderdale and we and most neighbors had orange, grapefruit, lemon, and a mango trees. Those made for some hellishly good overripe dodge-fruit fights.

Ordered a couple of random items: - Mannkrafted single prong divot tool - Lambcrafted ball marker that was released today

Not sure about your neck of the woods, but we're now seeing "what's in your bag" signs at the courses here in AZ reminding players that bringing your own alcohol beverages is a no-no. I'm not sure if this is a local county or state wide restriction but we've not seen these reminders years past. One obvious reason is competition with their own bar/beverage carts. Another sounds like risk of them (the course) losing their liquor license. What do you see at your courses?

Please help me wish two great members, Hit squad member @cnosil and @Larryw, a very Happy Birthday. Hope you both have a great day!

Awesome thread. I’d spend 1000 on lessons to tune up for spring. Then the last 1000 I’d get a backup set of wedges same specs (500) and the last 500 I’d get a hybrid (300) to switch in and out with 7 wood or 2 iron and the last 200 I would spend getting my 2 iron restarted with either a Ventus blue 9x or LAGP AXS Blue shaft to match my driver and fairway. The AXS blue are such good shafts with feel and a stable tip. It has already out performed by ventus black 6tx on two sessions so far more testing to come

4 hours is the generally accepted “standard” but it isn’t always possible. There is a course I play regularly and it’s pace is 4.5 hours. This is primarily due to distance between holes and I can tell you with no one in front of you and playing as a foursome, 4.5 is really hustling.

I use a circle (usually blue) around the number. Oddly enough, the only decent pic I had is of a Pinnacle that I used when we did the “Hard Rock” challenge or whatever we called that.

I have to wonder how is it that someone HAS to consume Alcohol Beverages on the golf course. I mean to say that if you cannot go 4 hours without drinking you may want to consider figuring that out first.

I just got on the Mitchell refurb waitlist, but it is 40 people deep

I've been playing a Ben Hogan UiHi with a steel shaft in it, and am likely going to find a nice graphite shaft for it this off-season. Steel feels a bit heavy to me at that length, and I'm also more concerned with distance with that club, because it's nearly exclusively a tee ball club for me. Finding a good graphite option hasn't been the most straightforward for me though, so there is that to consider as well.

Hogans book covers those items but also gets well beyond them and that was held up as a standard for instruction so I wondered where exactly the "basics" line should be drawn. I learned a lot by reading the condensed version that was included with the purchase of a dozen Hogan balls back in the 70's. The image of having your arms wrapped in an ace bandage holding the triangle was the most influential swing thought I ever encountered. I have the full version on the book my shelf and still re-read sections of it often.

Hope you enjoyed Torrey North one of my favorites, I always recommend Coronado just because it is so pretty on the bay and it’s affordable. A little farther North about an hour journey at Pechanga is great. Rancho Bernardo Inn is nice with great food. La Costa & Aviara are nice in Carlsbad but not cheap. Maderas is the same - very nice but expensive. Lots of great private courses.

You have some people that are always looking for ways to beat the system. These are the same people that will not follow the rules and have no golf etiquette on the courses. Drive their carts in areas marked as do not enter, don't fill divots or repair ball marks on the greens.

I don’t play in tournaments, only with the same 2-3 guys, and I’m the only one playing a yellow Pro V1X. No markings needed!

I got out and played 18 yesterday. It's been unseasonably warm here in SLC, so I was in shorts all day... which just felt strange. I finished at 99, which was good score seeing as how I've not been playing much. I had 2 pars and 1 bird. 6 bogeys and 9 doubles or worse (3 of those were triples). I hit 3 fairways, but most of the misses were in the first cut (or couple of adjacent fairways). I ended up with a lot of shots blocked by trees and or requiring a punch out, so that added up on the scorecard. Best hole was the 3rd. It's a pretty straight forward 360 yard hole. I ripped a driver about 290, nice 3/4 58* to about 8ft and rolled in a birdie. On the 11th, I hit a towering 50* to about 8' but slid the birdie putt past the hole. There were probably 3 or 4 putts I missed by a couple of inches, so the score could have been better. Worst hole was the 10th, I snap hooked a tee shot OB, reloaded and pushed it right into the junk. I recovered, but had a couple miss hits and ended up with a triple. The 14th also had a lost ball ob right this time. I hit 4 GIR and a couple nGIR. I totaled 37 putts (3 three putts and 2 one putts). My three favorite shots of the day. The tee ball on 11 (50* to 8ft). My second on 13. I missed my tee shot pin high right and it kicked down a hill. I had a flat lie on some packed mud, but hit a perfect flop to about 2'. I slid the putt by and took a bogey. My second shot on the par 4 15th was a gem. I teed off into the sun with my 3U. I pushed it off the toe and had about 195 yds over a greenside bunker. I roped a 6I and ended up with a 20' putt (3 putted). It was perfectly executed with a little cut over the bunker to the green. The short game was overall decent. One skulled shots, couple left short, but overall okay. I need to work on getting it closer to the pin on chips and pitches. It looks like I 2-putted after most of my chips/pitches so I'm not getting it quite close enough on those. I think I'm close, but still some things to work out.

Technically it is necessary even if you are confident in knowing where it is going. I was at an LPGA event and the players were on the first tee and telling the other players the ball they were playing and how they marked the ball. One of the players was playing an orange Volvik with no marking and said it was ok very few players play that color ball; Morgan Pressel looked at her and said that when we are looking in the rough how can you 100% identify that ball and ensure it isn't another players? The player added a mark to her ball. For casual play mark however you want, but officially you should always have an identifying mark on your ball.

i'm just catching up on the hype of the new TM driver that is going to be released. supposedly revolutionary

It's not necessary when you know where they are going when you choose where you are going to hit it, and it goes where you hit it. I am always in awe of that kind of play. My golf may never reach that level.

Glad that I don’t live in Illinois. In all seriousness if you are content with your game, great. But recognize that others aren’t, they wish to do better or even for them the pursuit of being better misguided or not, is what’s fun. You are very unlikely to change anyone’s mind by launching attacks. And I happen to agree about the you tube video stuff - the guy doesn’t know my physical capabilities or swing type - following his advice may cause more harm than good. But that’s me, some swear by that style of learning - good for them.

Like the thought of having a table with lost balls on it, but that would be a friggin big table in a lot of places. Last Christmas I bought my son some ProV1’s with his initials on them. We played early last spring and he lost a couple. One of the lost ball searchers at the course, found one of my sons Titleist a couple of weeks later and offered to sell it back to me , even after finding out they were Christmas gifts. Would not give him cash out of principal, but traded a found ProV1 to get my son’s ball back. Had his ball rattling around my bag for months and we both had a chuckle when I returned it to him.

Looks the same to me What the picture can't convey is how different the cover *feels*

I like what you came up with. I occasionally think about doing something like that with my initials. I know you asked for a photo but I simply put a magenta sharpie dot next to the number on each side of the ball.

Got a new 3w head cover from Rose and Fire and picked up some All-fit adaptors and collars from Bort Golf @dlow206 so I can swap out my shaft to try on my cobra driver head. And Winn dri Tac grips

Dang, that sounds way too much like the weather we ran from last month. No doubt has the citrus growers on edge .

Played Friday and this morning 9. I’m at the “bottom” of the Roller Coaster ride again. Both mornings cold (43-46) light wind. First 3 holes really bad , all over the place then kind of straighten out. I still haven’t gotten thru my thick skull that when it’s that cold to add a club or 2. Greens both courses were not bad, cut both mornings and were rolling decent. Made a couple decent putts to save Par. Tomorrow morning Weatherman is threatening 39*!! Not pleasant for this group of Ole Farts.

I think they can definitely be both; there are times where players need instruction and others where they need coaching.

I had always thought of my instructor as both. Certainly my last two have offered on course playing lessons which would seem to be similar to "coaching." I'm in the camp of always trying to improve - I'm at that age where if I don't I'm going to head in the wrong direction pretty quickly - certainly I need to learn how to fit what I'm capable of into the course that lies ahead of me in the fewest strokes possible.

pics or it didnt happen

Got my lights up…

I see it all the time. I’ve played with random groups throughout the summer and see the whiskey or fireball bottle being taken out for birdies which is a bit of a head shaker. I’m not much for drinking on the course but I also play in a competitive morning group teeing off at 7am on the weekends. It seems that more and more these days people are pushing the limits on anything

My course here in Tennessee has always been that way. No outside coolers or drinks. Outside beverages would take away from the clubs revenue. It would also can allow them to monitor someone's consumption if need be. You can get a cooler full of what you want from the club to take out on the course. You just have to purchase the liquor at the club.

Scuba gear...... for me it's definitely golf related.

Maybe I just assume that adults should be able to figure that out for themselves. Probably a silly assumption.

I have played a lot of championship courses that have held PGA or European Tour events. (Even Majors) $200 is a very fair price. $250 would be the max I would pay. This will never happen, but I would pay more to play Augusta National, but nothing else.

According to the Illinois golf association. Averaging 4-5 rounds a year is avid. Which I concur is more than efficient for getting ones game in good standings. Not sure about online forum golf (which appears to be all fields of beautiful roses). But in real life.. lessons really haven’t helped many amateurs besides the basics of the game. Proper grip , alignment , and a posture that allows one to make contact with the ball. These videos that I watch from top instructors are extremely futile. Who has the time or effort for practicing hours upon hours fixing swing faults that may have been ingrained for decades. The dedication I’m sure is there. But come on now folks … it’s really ludicrous. Whatever happened to swing your swing ? I think knowing the ball flight laws and a basic under of physics is all ones need. And ball flight laws has been around since the invention of this game. Boy some of you are lost : and not sounding harsh. But wake up

Some people enjoy taking lessons, some people enjoy buying new equipment, some people enjoy playing overpriced golf courses. as you said, go out and enjoy the game. That is what we are doing on this forum, talking about the game we enjoy and how we practice and work to get better. You may be enthusiastic about the game, but I think most people would say you don't play a lot of golf. You may easily be able to beat me; never said you could or couldn't. I simply asked how you learn about strategy and improve your game.; I guess you have no interest in improving. You said to learn the basics; where do you learn the basics and how do you develop a "natural" ball flight if you shouldn't waste money on golf instruction?

With a budget of $2000, I'd want a Flightscope Mevo+. They're running a sale in them right now and they come in at $1799. Although, if I got that, I'd have to buy my wife a LOT of plants.

I've been fit before, By Bridgestone years ago when they were very actively doing that. And while I'm no pro, you could say I'm currently in the middle of a lengthy ball fitting...