MN Loon

I switched last year to a wide brimmed hat to cut down on the Sun exposure.  This one is an Addidas model, but also wear a few different brands - Titleist is my go to.

Great topic. When playing competitive golf I have 13-14 clubs.  My 3W is always an iffy club for me, but sometimes it’s better than using a driver depending on the course/hole distance.  For competitive play I push or ride, allowing me to use a larger bag.
For basic recreational play, playing for fun, I almost always carry 9-10 clubs.  Makes the bag a bit lighter and requires me to think a bit more.  Also helps my touch when between clubs, especially with wedges.  Seems to me my scores would be very similar over the course of a season if I just used 10 clubs.  I have a tendency to over think some shots wanting to use the perfect club - with my imperfect swing!

Great topic. When playing competitive golf I have 13-14 clubs.  My 3W is always an iffy club for me, but sometimes it’s better than using a driver depending on the course/hole distance.  For competitive play I push or ride, allowing me to use a larger bag.
For basic recreational play, playing for fun, I almost always carry 9-10 clubs.  Makes the bag a bit lighter and requires me to think a bit more.  Also helps my touch when between clubs, especially with wedges.  Seems to me my scores would be very similar over the course of a season if I just used 10 clubs.  I have a tendency to over think some shots wanting to use the perfect club - with my imperfect swing!

Great topic. When playing competitive golf I have 13-14 clubs.  My 3W is always an iffy club for me, but sometimes it’s better than using a driver depending on the course/hole distance.  For competitive play I push or ride, allowing me to use a larger bag.
For basic recreational play, playing for fun, I almost always carry 9-10 clubs.  Makes the bag a bit lighter and requires me to think a bit more.  Also helps my touch when between clubs, especially with wedges.  Seems to me my scores would be very similar over the course of a season if I just used 10 clubs.  I have a tendency to over think some shots wanting to use the perfect club - with my imperfect swing!

Great topic. When playing competitive golf I have 13-14 clubs.  My 3W is always an iffy club for me, but sometimes it’s better than using a driver depending on the course/hole distance.  For competitive play I push or ride, allowing me to use a larger bag.
For basic recreational play, playing for fun, I almost always carry 9-10 clubs.  Makes the bag a bit lighter and requires me to think a bit more.  Also helps my touch when between clubs, especially with wedges.  Seems to me my scores would be very similar over the course of a season if I just used 10 clubs.  I have a tendency to over think some shots wanting to use the perfect club - with my imperfect swing!

There are times when members invite guests/clients to play a round at the club or perhaps a spouse is learning the game and nervous to play with others.  In those situations I fully understand the member desire not to include others. Getting 5 hours of a person’s time is difficult, then if a walk-on joins the tee time it might hinder a person’s ability to talk to someone about an issue or concern.
I find league play to be either inviting - folks playing golf and socializing with other members - or at times very cliquey with a group that wants to golf with the same people and nobody else.  
When I joined my current club, I intentionally tried to join a new group for league play every week for the first year+.  I got to know lots of folks and would often join/invite them for a beer afterwards.  You can quickly learn about the different cliques, and in my case other golfers with spouses who wanted to play but only with folks they knew were at their level.  We often played with other couples on Friday or Sunday in the late afternoon and then grabbed dinner.  We’ve met and now socialize regularly with about 12 couples.  The spouses even play together in the 9-hole league and are improving.

It's the old supply and demand. Some courses insist of foursomes, and you get paired up whether you like it or not. Other less crowded courses will let you go out in any group size of four and under. I'm not antisocial by any means but enjoy my solo rounds. I can really focus on my game without distractions (looking for someone else's ball constantly, loud music, a heavy drinker, or a club thrower).  I'm in sales I deal with people all the time, when I'm home there are 5 people in the house. Solo rounds are just fine by me. 
I would ask your Club Pro if there are groups that you can join. Both of my clubs have a shootout every day of the week that is open to anyone joining the group and playing. It's a minimal entry fee like a buck or two. They have a random draw for teams, and it uses handicaps. one club does a two-man scramble format, and the other is match play.  
Being the new guy at a club is always awkward at first but give it some time and you will meet some great guys that you get along with. It's almost easy because you are starting off with a common interest. GOLF.

It is 100% part of the game. Generally there are two main reasons people don't want to play with strangers (1) they don't have confidence in their own game or (2) they only like to play with "their friends" (there are other reasons but this is generally the top two picks). I play as a single all the time and so I am biased but I think pairing people up is part of the game. If someone doesn't want to talk or be social fine, that shouldn't preclude me from being able to play golf with you. 

Here we dont have a starter. You book your tee time through an app, where you can see all tee times including people’s names and hcp. I only pick tee times with people who has similair hcp.  

I can see how some folks don’t want you in their time slot and others probably don’t care. Perhaps the starter or someone else can help guide you as to which groups are more amenable to having people join them.

Public courses, especially those setup for beginners are worst culprits.  My Country Club, others I’ve played, and most of the better public courses have good tee boxes.  I think is mostly an economic issue.  Private courses spend member money to enhance the course and keep tee boxes in good shape.  Entry level public courses, whether a muni or privately owned, have a difficult time economically and lack both financial and employment resources.  

Public courses, especially those setup for beginners are worst culprits.  My Country Club, others I’ve played, and most of the better public courses have good tee boxes.  I think is mostly an economic issue.  Private courses spend member money to enhance the course and keep tee boxes in good shape.  Entry level public courses, whether a muni or privately owned, have a difficult time economically and lack both financial and employment resources.  

Public courses, especially those setup for beginners are worst culprits.  My Country Club, others I’ve played, and most of the better public courses have good tee boxes.  I think is mostly an economic issue.  Private courses spend member money to enhance the course and keep tee boxes in good shape.  Entry level public courses, whether a muni or privately owned, have a difficult time economically and lack both financial and employment resources.  

Public courses, especially those setup for beginners are worst culprits.  My Country Club, others I’ve played, and most of the better public courses have good tee boxes.  I think is mostly an economic issue.  Private courses spend member money to enhance the course and keep tee boxes in good shape.  Entry level public courses, whether a muni or privately owned, have a difficult time economically and lack both financial and employment resources.  

Still love the sound and look of Ping persimmon Woods.   I still have my 1,3,4 & 5 

Like far to many golfers, I thought I could buy a better game when I was younger and working.  With 3 boys who didn’t play golf - baseball - finding time to practice was difficult.  I owned 3-5 iron sets at a time, always chasing the next best thing.  
 
today I am older, kids gone, clubs have been fitted to me, and I play/practice regularly - and amazing but my handicap is 10.2 versus 16-18.  
 
Fitting and practice are the key - especially 100 yards and in.

Like far to many golfers, I thought I could buy a better game when I was younger and working.  With 3 boys who didn’t play golf - baseball - finding time to practice was difficult.  I owned 3-5 iron sets at a time, always chasing the next best thing.  
 
today I am older, kids gone, clubs have been fitted to me, and I play/practice regularly - and amazing but my handicap is 10.2 versus 16-18.  
 
Fitting and practice are the key - especially 100 yards and in.

Like far to many golfers, I thought I could buy a better game when I was younger and working.  With 3 boys who didn’t play golf - baseball - finding time to practice was difficult.  I owned 3-5 iron sets at a time, always chasing the next best thing.  
 
today I am older, kids gone, clubs have been fitted to me, and I play/practice regularly - and amazing but my handicap is 10.2 versus 16-18.  
 
Fitting and practice are the key - especially 100 yards and in.

Like far to many golfers, I thought I could buy a better game when I was younger and working.  With 3 boys who didn’t play golf - baseball - finding time to practice was difficult.  I owned 3-5 iron sets at a time, always chasing the next best thing.  
 
today I am older, kids gone, clubs have been fitted to me, and I play/practice regularly - and amazing but my handicap is 10.2 versus 16-18.  
 
Fitting and practice are the key - especially 100 yards and in.

Okay. And the other thing pros do is figure their distance gaps without worry about the loft or specific iron numbers. To improve our own games we need to approach what goes in our own golf bags with the same mindset. That's why they don't play two clubs that go the same distance. I think it's so easy to overanalyze the loft specs and remember that all clubs are essentially designed to accomplish the same thing. 

The never ending question just like the chicken or the egg;  do you fix your swing or get fit for clubs.   I'd say get tools that help make things easier;  your swing dynamics probably won't change enough to influence the results of a fitting.  

Most amateurs don’t get fit. Most amateurs have no idea what the loft of irons they play are, all they see is a number and then does the club with that number on it go further than the one I have. They have no idea why it does or doesn’t.
Some amateurs buy new every year and some don’t. Theres a multitude of reasons why people return stuff and guessing it’s because too much loft is probably low down on the list 
 

My game definitely improved after getting new irons, but there are other factors at play.  Having properly fit clubs, along with shaft technology improving to suite more people, is why I think “newer” clubs are playing better than the older tech. 

Not sure it counts, but I volunteer and work the PGA 3M Open in the Twin Cities.  I’ve worked the course with Rickie Fowler.  

My preference is to play 18 holes, but I have played a number of 9 hole rounds this season.  Time is the biggest factor in determining between playing 9 or 18 holes. 
 
I’ve also started playing more Executive length courses.  Here I can get a quick 9 holes in and get to work on various parts of my game.  Driving ranges are great, but playing a quick 9 on an Executive Course - often by myself - allows me to play 2 balls and get in some situational shots.