Flv02

Glad to see you back on the course Rev!

Played a round on Wednesday and it was sooo bad that I did not even post it. I basically lost my swing. So I played today, and had the worst tee jitters that I have had in a while. I was shanking still on the range so I did not know what to expect. I hit the fairway on the first with my 4H, and then hit a 7 iron fat from a bad lie in the fairway (at least it got over the hazard) and then finessed a SW from an uphill 93 yards to 4 feet and parred the 1st for the first time ever. 2nd hole I hit my 3H in the fairway, layed up with my 7 iron, pulled a SW pin high in the rough, chipped with a 9 iron to 4 feet, and parred. 3rd Hole- Decided to go short on the par 3 because I did not have my confidence yet. Chipped to 5 feet (stupid bowl of a green) and 2 putted with a rim out (RIM OUT TOTAL COST:1 STROKE) 4th Hole- Instead of cutting the corner, I decided to hit a 3H top the dogleg. I hit it too hard and went into the fairway bunker straight ahead (the 240 3H did give me some confidence). Hit the PW out of the fairway bunker fat. Pulled me 62* a little bit and it spun back of the green (Gotta love the 20XI-S ) into a bunker. Hit a great shot right at the pin but it didnt have enough to get up the bowl completely and had a tricky 6 foot uphill putt. I 2 putted for a DOUBLE 5th- Great shot over the water. Hit my Lob Wedge to the right rough pin high (compensated for the pull and hit it straight) Hit a terrible chip that went to 9 feet. Missed the first cut of rough where I was aiming and hit the fringe and it didnt die at all. Hit my par put at a perfect speed and looked great going at the hole. It rimmed out and gained speed, catching the downslope and trickling down to five feet. 2 putted (missed the 1st putt by 5 inches) (RIM OUT STROKE COST TOTAL: 3)DOUBLE ' 6th- Hit my 3H to the hybrid, then pulled my SW from 109. It was good because I figured out what I did when I pulled. CHipped to 5 feet. Missed the putt by 6 inches hole high. BOGEY 7th: Hit my 7 iron pin high 6 feet (this is my least favorite hole) to the left. Unfortunately with the pin location, that put me in the rough. I was on a downslope with the ball on a side slope below my feet. It was deep and I had to get it down quick. I pitched it to 6 feet. I could not get it to bite out of the rough, and had to hit it hard to avoid stubbing it. I made another great put with the perfect speed and it rimmed out. This time it only trickled down to 4.5 feet (THE GREENS WERE FAAAAASSSSSTTTTTT Today) missed the put by 4 inches on the high side. DOUBLE (RIM OUT STROKE COST TOTAL: 5) 8th: Hit my driver great into a fairway bunker. Hit a great 7 iron to 150 yards on a side slope. I hit a draw from a fade lie, and when it hit the rough to the right of the flag, it took off and went OB. Pitched on, one putt, for BOGEY. 9th: Driver slipped out of the hands and went OB. Took my 4 wood out and hit it into the fairway, 115 yards out. Hit my SW (predicted the pull perfectly) at a front pin location but went into the rough right in the front. My Chip RIMMED OUT, and tapped in for another Double . Score: 47 RIM OUT PENALTIES: 6 I felt great after Wednesday's disaster. And I know I should not use the rim outs as an excuse but it gave me comfort with the score. If the golf gods were with me today, I could have gotten a 41. It just keeps my mind at ease haha

MY EYES!!!! I'm sorry for your shaft loss Great review. I am still amazed how much shafts can do. Its something you all opened my eyes too when I joined a couple of months ago.

Visit the link to see a snapshot from my round: My Round I played from one tee up today because I was playing with my uncles. They said I could play from the other tees, but I thought it would be good to hit clubs I do not normally use on my home course. HIGHLIGHTS: I hit my 4 wood AWESOME all day. I love that new club. On holes where I could not use my driver, I would play a TW stinger with it. It was going dead straight 245. I'll take that every day. I had a bunch of very good shots, and managed the course well on most holes. I know when to take my chances now, and when to just hit the green. Made some nice putts, including a 12 foot downhill left to right birdie putt on 9. But I did not figure out the speeds of the green until that hole. They cut the greens this morning and a lot faster than they were yesterday. Another 44 on the front! LOWLIGHTS: Did not figure out the greenspeed until the 9th hole. I was hitting to the middle and backs of greens, but could not two putt like I normally do because I did not have the feel. I had 4 three putts on the front nine. And this season, I have averaged 1.93 putts per hole. So I was definitely not used to three putts. After I figured out the greens, my putting went back to normal. I had 4 penalties. The one on the front nine was me just being overagressive, and I had no problem with that. It almost cleared the water, but needed 6 inches higher trajectory. That was more me not knowing what club to hit off the tee because of the shorter hole. I had 3 Penalties on the back nine! 2 on one hole! The final 5 holes are notorious for being very difficult, and people have not returned to the course saying that the final five holes discouraged them from coming back. I let the difficulties get into my head. I hit a great drive which took a bad bounce, and landed in the high rough I was talking about before. I decided to use a 7-iron just to get it out and then over the hazard, which was 80 yards away. Thats my 165 club for 80 yards. The ROUGH WAS SO HEAVY AND THICK THAT MY BALL LANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HAZARD. Then I went for the green from 250 yards out with a low 4 wood, but it clipped some of the high weeds in the hazard (the rough in the hazard is 6 feet tall) of the clubface, and instead of going through, it died. Anyway, I let holes get into my head which I really should not. REVIEW: Had a lot of great shots and some shots I know I could have prevented. I know for next time. Played my first round with the Wilson Staff C:25 that I was fitted for online. Loved it off the driver, it went a ton! But SUCKED around the greens. We are talking NO SPIN WHATSOEVER. I played the same shots with the Callaway i(s) and it would bite everytime. The Wilson actually prevented me from getting a couple of birdie chances. I would hit a wedge to the pin and it would roll. I even hit a 300 yard drive on a short par 4 and had 42 to the pin. I took a 3/4 wedge shot with a lot of loft and it rolled 15 feet past the hole. And it rolled uphill! I was shocked! Still, nothing I have hit compares to it off the tee. Right now the Callaway i(s) is winning in the golf ball battle. It's next opponent is the Nike 20XI-S. After that, I will try to get a dozen Penta TP3 and FG Tour (that was what the fitting really said but they were expensive on Amazon where I had a $10 coupon) on eBay for as low as the callaways and nikes ($23) and if not, I will choose between the Nike and Callaway and make that my ball until I can not find it anymore. I LOVE MY NEW 4 WOOD! Final Score: 92. IM GETTING THERE! haha

Thanks for the advice rev. I'm glad you'll be making it back on the course. I'm looking forward to your post tomorrow!

You guys dont have to read this long thing. I just like replaying the round in my head, which is why I will do this after every round. BTW my course has a very high slope and a high rating, which is why my handicap is a 16, so 44 is not a normal score for me there. Played nine holes today. It was not another 44 like last time, but it could have been. Double Bogeyed #1 like I always do (what do you expect when the first hole is the 2nd hardest on the whole course). Par on 2 with a 15 foot putt. Double Bogeyed three because of a very unfortunate bounce. The fourth is a dogleg left. The fairway turns at a 90 degree angle so the green is actually reachable off the tee. The problem is, OB goes along the left side of the fairway tight. There is actually barely any rough on the left side. When I was hitting my hybrids well (and when I was that was all that I was hitting well) I would cut the corner and have had either pars or birdies. But after the double bogey last time when I was playing well, I decided to just hit my brand new 4 wood. I thought I would push it like I did on the range and on the tee shot on second, so I aimed at the left side of the dogleg. (BTW, it was a beautiful push. Not too much, dead straight, and FAR) I ended up hitting a draw directly OB. It ended up being my second double bogey in a row. Next hole, I was waiting on the tee box for 25 minutes because the course got backed up, got cold, hit my driver behind the ball for a total of like 15 yards. Went from the blues (3 tee) to in front of the ladies tees (1 tee) At least it did not go into the water (I am putting pictures up because I like doing that with every post . Oh, and the 1 tee is 301, not 201. That was a typo on my course's website) I decided to take out my 4 wood and try to hit a hook over the water and onto the green. I was 295 yards away so I did not expect anything good but I tried. I ended up at the 35 yard mark. Pitched on, and 1 putted from 12 feet. That was a hell of a par. Next hole, I hit my drive to 70 yards from the pin and tried to hit it onto the left side of the green (pin was front in the middle) because I was behind a tree, but the ball clipped the tree and dropped. When it dropped it landed underneadth the tree and 2 inches from the cartpath. I took a free drop from the cartpath, because my wedge would have broken with my swing, and hit it to 6 feet and 1 putted. My least favorite hole was next and I tried to draw my 5 iron, and it ended up going straight, pitched out from the trees, chipped on, 2 putt= DOUBLE BOGEY (an improvement from the triple bogey last round). I did not look at the scorecard, but just so you know, we are at a score of 35. If I par in like I did last round, I have another 44 with not so great golf. I don't know this, and just am excited about my favorite scoring hole. My favorite scoring hole is a long par-5 and I hit my tee shot and it landed in the fairway bunker 285 away. No big deal, hit my 7 iron, and am in the middle of the fairway 135 to a front pin tucked behind 2 bunkers. I decide to go right at it, thinking if I hit it long, I am safe, if I hit right, I'll have birdie, and if I am short I land in the bunker, which I have no problem from (well, that particular bunker I don't have a problem with). The ideal play was for me to have my 9 iron hit the top of the hill of rough after the greenside bunker and let it trickle down to the hole. That is what I usually do on pitch shots from around that green over there and it works out. So hit a beautiful 9 iron going directly at the pin. As it lowered I got a smirk on my face because it looked like it was going to hit the top of the rough and trickle down. But, it landed 6 inches below that mark and plugged in the lip of the bunker. If it trickled down into the bunker, I would have been happy. It plugged in the lip. I tried my best to get it out, but my attempt had it going behind me back in the bunker. I ended up with a double bogey. At that point, I am a little upset, but I still was having fun out there. The ninth I hit a drive to 95 yards, it a lob wedge that caught the wrong side of a slope when it spun back, and 2 putted from 20 feet to end with a par. Score:46 4 Pars 5 Double Bogeys (Again, its all about managing my misses better) +10 FIR:3/7 GIR:2/9 Putts:15 (4 one putts) Penalties: 1 STUPID PENALTY

If you say so. Thanks for thinking I can actually get to 5 . I hope it happens some day. I just wish I started the game earlier so that I could have competed. I was always baseball, basketball, hockey, and football. Since my dad didnt play golf, I was never introduced to the game. Then my uncle opened a golf store, and all my other uncles decided to introduce me and my dad to the game three years ago. Now Im obsessed with it. I just feel like if I would have started earlier than three years ago, I would have actually been good by this time. But you cant go back in time. I have made my goal to play in the qualifier for my county amateur next year. Only time will tell if that will happen. Right now I am just glad I joined this forum 2.5 months ago. My game has improved so much thanks to all of you guys.

Thanks for all of the advice! I'll keep your tips in mind Yeah, but I look at your handicap and see a 5 which makes me jealous

Went on today in the EXTREME HEAT to play nine holes at my home course (par 36). First off, I want to let you guys know that I never was able to hit any iron lower than a 6. I couldnt even get the 5 in the air. After using the new swing in the Golf lesson thread, I can now hit a 3 iron. But, I cannot, and I repeat CANNOT hit my hybrids for some reason. I guess itll take some time on the range to figure that out. Basically, I did not figure out the hybrid thing until the fourth hole. 1st Hole- Very difficult. 4 hybrid off the tee into the rough, 3 hybrid in the rough went nowhere, 9 iron from 150 rough uphill to the back of the green, 3 putted from 80 feet. = Double Bogey (+2) 2nd Hole- Decided to play smart. Hit 3 hybrid off the toe but came out as a push-draw which ended in the fairway, 7 iron to layup, SW to the front of the green. Chipped to three feet. 1 Putt = PAR (+2) 3rd Hole- Hybrid hooked into unplayable lie. Dropped pitched on, 1 putt= Bogey (+3) 4th Hole- Hybrid off the tee went two feet off the ground and barely reached the fairway. Layed up on the par for with a 7 iron. 57 yards out and pushed my pitch a little bit. Unlucky bounce put me in the rough. Chipped on and two-putted for another Double Bogey (+5) 5th Hole- Okay now I am getting worried. I came out today just trying to shoot in the 40s, and Im already in big trouble. I told myself no more hybrids and went on from there. Great drive in the middle of the fairway over water. SW from 110 with too much backspin put me in the middle in the green with a back pin behind a hump. I misjudged the break of the HUGE hump and had 8 feet for par and made it. PAR (+5) 6th Hole- Driver in the fairway. SW from 107 to 7 feet. 2-putted PAR (+5) 7th- Now I come to the hole I hate thinking I have a chance if I play smart. I decide to play a stinger to 190 uphill par 3 (my least favorite hole). I pulled my 5 iron into this HUGE bunker. Took two to get out, then a bad chip and then a good chip and then putts= TRIPLE BOGEY (+8). 8th- Now I realize that if I par out I can have a 44, my goal for this season because I really sucked in my 2.5 years of golf so far. So I try it. I hit a driver dead center down the fairway, lay up accidentally with my hybrid, Lob Wedge from 85 yard rough to 7 feet. 2 putt Par (+8) 9th- Now I AM EXCITED. Some nerves and pushed my drive into the right rough (OB left). I was 157 out in the rough. The green is very skinny but it wide. The pin is tucked front left, tucked behind bunkers. I decided to hit to the middle of the green to try and two putt for my par. I hit it and it drew for some reason and I thought it went into the bunkers. I get to my ball and it is in between the two bunkers. A straight line to the pin has no bunkers. The pin is so close that if I aim for the fringe, and hit the rough, it goes nowhere. If I hit the green, it rolls 15 feet past. From 8 yards out, I stuck the pitch to 1.5 feet. Tap in for a 44! I was very happy today. I just have to learn to limit my bad holes to just bogeys instead of all of these triples and doubles and I will be okay. And now I know to layoff my hybrids until I go to the range.

I'm in the 80s now because of this! Thank you for all of the members who contributed to this! I'm loving my game right now. I played 9 today and shot 44 and that was with 2 double bogeys and a triple. If I can start making my mistakes less severe and playing the safer side of the percentages more, then I am looking at even lower scores. Thanks everyone! PS: My handicap dropped to a 16 and it keeps dropping! *KNOCK ON WOOD*

I really was having a lot of fun out there. Unfortunately my home course is having tournaments every day this week. Plus, my girlfriend of two years has her birthday on Friday so Im taking her to the city. Looks like I will be going out Wednesday for nine at a different course. I love the change of scenery, and I actually learned a lot of golf on that course, but it is a tough one. Im interested to see how much carry over I get.

UPDATE: Alright guys. First off, I want to thank everyone for the advice that was given to me throughout this thread so far. I had a GREAT round yesterday. Swing-wise, it me three holes of double-bogeys to figure out what I wanted to do (YUCK!) but once I got to the fourth holes, it was just pars and bogeys from there. I didn't get to play 18 because it was starting to get dark, but I am very confident going into my next round. Throughout the round, I used three kinds of swings. It might sound like something I shouldnt do, but everything I did seemed natural. For my Driver and hybrids, I used my old swing, which worked. For the irons, I used Dante's and for the wedges I used my old swing. For everything inside 60 yards, I used hinge-and-hold. What allowed me to use all three swings while staying consistent was my grip. I used my old grip and it naturally created my old swing (and the hinge-and-hold), and when I used Dante's grip it NATURALLY (that surprised me on the course) made Dante's swing. What helped me the most was the pre-shot routine. It kept me with a nice tempo and I was hitting the ball longer. MY 9-iron was my 150 club, and I hit my 3 Hybrid 240 consistently all day. Thanks for everything guys! Ill let you know how my round goes on monday or tuesday, and will play 18 so I have a score to show for it

Thank you for both your story and your concern. I have taken everything you said and will make sure not to screw up my body. I'm talking to the PGA Pro where I work/ my home course on Saturday to start talking about getting lessons. Thank-you for everything!