bonvivantva

This is great advice, especially for someone in their late 30s who hasn't realized they're mortal yet

I don't disagree with you in general, but my point was that he is putting the ball 260 out from the tee on average according to his OP. Unless he is playing from the tips, his ability to score is not inhibited by his current distance off the tee. If he is currently finding tee shots 260 out and in play, I wouldn't mess with that if I was looking to improve my scoring. But again, I'm not sure of the OP's goals. Also, at 37 and given his stated distance I'd imagine he'd stand to gain more by addressing technique rather than strength training. As you stated yourself, getting to 100 at that age shouldn't be an issue unless there are some physical limitations which means the limitations that exist are likely technical.

I really think you need to consider the answer to this question first. You're already driving the ball far enough to dangerous from the white tees. If your goals are about enjoyment or consistency or something, then maybe chasing speed should be on the backburner for now. If you're playing normal tees and just playing with friends, short game or putting might be the best way to improve your score. Regardless of your goals I'd imagine this is what you wanted to hear. I also don't disagree with the statement at all. Again, I don't think chasing speed is the best way to lower your scores given what you've said about your game, but it probably won't hurt and you'll probably do it regardless.

#6 on that list is Golphin Kids. I bought my 6 year old daughter a set of US Kids Clubs a while back based on age and height, but they were too heavy for her. I bought her a set of the Golphin Kids clubs and she loves them. I take her out on a mid-length course and she'll ride in the cart with me, chip from about 10 yards out, and then putt out each hole on her own. Doesn't even get in my way. She hits driver and the 7i on the range and in our simulator, but she doesn't quite have the skill or interest to do so on the course yet. If you're looking for a first set for kids, the light weight and large face of Golphin Kids clubs make them a pretty good choice.

My driver and 3h carry distances are sadly not very disparate, but since you can't hit a driver fat (or at least it's pretty difficult to do so) my driver is actually more consistent. I really only use my 3h off the tee for particularly tight fairways. On the course I play most, there is only one hole in which I generally take hybrid. There is another hole that I probably should but generally don't. I'm always jelly of my friends that have real distance and often take irons off the tee. I have a buddy who is 6'10 that hit his 5i 275 (total not carry) the other day. I hit driver on the same hole and was well short of his tee shot.

If it makes you feel better, I'm mid-30s with similar concerns. I've spent the last two years really trying to figure out my swing. During covid, practice was almost exclusively on a mat, and I did a lot of practice which can take a toll on you regardless of age. My thought process was that while I'm still younger, I should figure out my swing, which has been OTT and heavy, because right now my body can handle the stress of making that change. I'll have the rest of my life to worry about short game, course management, and the like. I'm pretty healthy and I'm in decent shape, but my buddy and I are planning a 40th birthday trip to Bandon and I plan to train some in order to walk 36 a day. Like you, I've seen some peers that have not taken care of themselves struggle physically, and at my dad's age, he struggles to find friends healthy enough to golf with him. Never too early to start thinking about longevity, but like others have pointed out, you're probably already better positioned than most. I cannot recommend a therabar enough. https://www.amazon.com/TheraBand-Tendonitis-Strength-Resistance-Tendinitis/dp/B000BPV3GO/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=theraband+flexbar&qid=1625669461&rdc=1&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNzJLVElPN0ozR1VHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTI5NjIxMUdCQTlNSDlFTUlQWSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjQ1Mjc3MUJHQk1aSEg1Rkw1QyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= I would not have been able to practice 3+ days a week, maybe 9 hours total off a mat during covid without it. It's important to watch the youtube videos about how to use it, but it's great. I've also found a massage gun to be helpful for recovery. I use collagen protein, but I can't say for sure if it helps.

I've been going on group trips to Myrtle for about a decade. Even started organizing another trip myself. If there is a better value, I'd be shocked. One of my groups drives mostly from the DC area, and the other flies from WV, KY, so I imagine it would work for you as well.

I remember playing my last round of a golf trip in Myrtle Beach at the Legends resort. I forget which of their courses I was playing (this was over a decade ago), and since it was a big group, I may have been ending up on a front 9. But on my 17th hole, my dad pointed out that I could break 100 (for the first time ever) if I went maybe bogey bogey. I remember there being an intimidating looking forced carry. I popped the driver up, and it did clear the junk, but only landed maybe one or two feet onto the fairway. Next I remember having maybe 200 into the green. This was before I carried a hybrid, so my 3w was the only club I would have had a chance with. I pulled the 3w out, and my dad told me to put it back and hit two irons instead. In retrospect, that was definitely the smarter call, but I hit the 3w pretty solid, and landed just shy of the green. I shot 99 and remembered being pretty jazzed about it. My friend that was riding in the cart with me shot an even 100 that day, but we didn't know until we added his score up in the parking lot. This past fall I was playing a course where my dad has a house, which is probably the course I play most often. At that time, my best at this course was probably a 92 or so. I started off the round with a double, and then my scorecard looked like as many doubles as pars until 15. I hit a great drive, my second shot was a crazy long hybrid that must have got some cart path or something, because it landed about 30 yards longer than usual just shy of a drop off before a water hazard. I hit a wedge across the water to the green and then one putted for birdie. On the next hole I hit another great drive, really long, but it's really downhill. Another nice wedge and putt and I had another bird. At this point, I knew I had a better round than usual going, but I didn't think I had a shot at a personal best or anything. I remember hitting a really nice drive and 9i on 17, but three putting for bogey. Then on 18, I hit some decent shots, but my approach was crazy. Maybe 2 feet from the pin from 160 out uphill. Maybe the best 6i of my life. I took a picture of my scorecard and uploaded it to The Grint. After returning the cart, I looked at my phone. 87. First time I ever broke 90. I had no idea that was even possible. Three months later I went out there again and despite starting out with a double double, mostly kept them off the card and ended up shooting 82. Again, I figured I'd shot a decent round, and possible even broken 90, but it wasn't until I checked The Grint that I found out I'd shot another personal best. So I've experienced breaking a number both ways. Knowing it and still doing it, and having no idea it's possible. I'd definitely recommend the latter. I have enough to worry about on the golf course. Playing smart is almost always the better way to go. I can't even imagine a time that the added pressure of knowing that a milestone is within reach would help most golfers. Maybe if there is a layup or go for it option, and you're one stroke away from the goal on 18, but I bet most players would break more milestones by not adding up the score until after the round. In fact, if you can get an app like The Grint that adds it up for you, even better. Then you hardly have to look at the scorecard at all.

Are you recommending capping gambling participants at say 24 or something similar? When we let people self report handicaps the first year, half of the participants listed their handicap as being 30+. Now I play regularly with a lot of these guys, and I know them to have handicaps more in the 22-26 area, but I guess that isn't particularly far off. I delegated the keeping of scores to another friend, but we have all the handicap information now that is based on actual posted scores and if I recall there are only about 4 guys that actually played to a 30+ handicap. I guess I could cap it at 30. Then 12 of us could reasonably compete while the other 4 only pay and compete for longest drive, closed to the pin, longest putt, etc. I don't think I'd get a ton of pushback about not having the 30+ guys compete fully, or allowing them to play based off of modified rules just to make things easier/more fun. I suppose I could also make it elective. Explain the rules and let the higher handicaps choose to gamble and play by the rules, or not gamble and play by more lax rules. To better explain the lax rule necessity, consider a 30+ handicaps round. On a par 4, let's say they slice their tee shot OB. On their third shot, they drop about where it went out, punch out. Top the ball. Advance the ball 80 yards. Advance the ball a short ways again. Then have to pick up before reaching the green. That's not a recipe for fun. When I had a true beginner in my group, I'd have them take a tee shot. If it wasn't playable, they'd hit their second shot from wherever the best ball ended up in our foursome. Then if they were getting close to triple bogey, they'd pick up and at least get a chip and putt to get the practice in. Now I appreciate that they didn't even really play the hole, let alone follow the rules that way, but they did get to hit a tee shot, fairway shot, a chip, and a putt minimum, which gives them more of a feel for playing golf in my opinion. The true beginners really did seem to enjoy playing that way, and it doesn't hold anyone up. Seems like a win-win. That said, playing that way wasn't for everyone. We had another true beginner that basically hit 7 iron off every tee, and just kept at it until he was at triple every hole. He seemed to enjoy getting the practice in, and although he rarely got to practice chipping or putting, he seemed to have a great time just banging away at the 7i. He did manage a closest to the pin win on about a 140 yard part 3. Anyway, I guess my point is that I basically let the true beginners do whatever it took to enjoy the rounds as long as they didn't hold anyone up. I like your idea about a hard cap. I think 30 would work given our handicap data. Then below that I could make gambling optional.

I've been going on a golf trip with my dad's high school friends for going on a decade. I'm about a 16 handicap, and I'm one of the least skilled players on the grip of about 40 or so guys. There is a lot of gambling going on between fairly evenly matched players using a handicap system, and as a result, they have a pretty basic and simple modification to the rules. There is a triple bogey rule, and when it's raining or wet out, our leader will call for winter rules for the round. That's basically it. Some people are more serious than others, but if you want to play by the rules it's pretty straightforward. Those two modification keep pace of play moving pretty well, and nobody is getting frustrated over plugged lies or mudballs, etc., when the conditions are less than ideal. I started my own golf trip two years ago. This trip had 16 people of varying abilities. We had two true beginners. One had only been on a course once, after committing to the trip. We had a bunch of people hovering around a 20 handicap. Then we had a few high single digits. Managing fair gambling and rules for such a varied group was not as easy. I decided to use my other trip's triple bogey rule as well as the winter rules, which was pretty well received. My dad's trip is mostly people 60+, so we play senior tees in Myrtle Beach, which are often similar in length or difficultly to public courses from the whites locally. I decided to stick with the senior tees on our trip, which was initially met with a lot of resistance, but after the trip, literally everyone agreed it was the right call after all. I also decided to allow one breakfast ball (a tee shot mulligan) anywhere on your first 9. For the sake of pace of play and simple enjoyment, I also instructed the beginners to improve all their lies as much as they wanted, when they didn't have a good shot/look to throw the ball back into the fairway, to take no more than one shot out of a bunker before throwing the ball out and putting. I don't recall any further instruction, but basically, I told them to do whatever it took to enjoy the round and not hold anyone up. So far we've just gambled using longest drive, closest to the pin, longest putt, etc. Eventually we want to incorporate low gross, low net, skins, etc. My question is: Does anyone have any experience managing trips with golfers of varied abilities, and how do you modify the rules to keep things competitive and fair? Right now, I'm thinking about making an arbitrary cut off where I ask the very inexperienced/true beginners to only gamble on the closes to the pin, longest drive, longest putt type stuff, and then separately manage everyone else on a handicap system for low net, low gross, skins, etc. Thoughts?

I with you on smoking nicer cigars on the course. You can't really appreciate them with so much going on. If I had the skills, I'd try the pipe though. I'm pretty sure that old guy putted while smoking.

My wife bought me an espresso machine, so most days I think an americano due to convenience, but on occasion I'll enjoy a double espresso. Prior to that, I was a cold brew addict. My stomach has always been sensitive to coffee, but cold brew never seemed to bother it. I would buy the stok brand from the grocery store, and then I got to where I made my own using cafe du monde, which I really enjoyed. The chickory gives cold brew a little extra flavor that I think is otherwise missing since cold brew tends to produce muted flavors. We have a fancy coffee bean roaster in town that does pour over coffee. I'd admit it's the best coffee I've ever tasted. Each bean and roast seems unique and interesting. But almost every time I've enjoyed it, my insides have been destroyed. As good as it is, I can't say it's worth the risk for me.

Finally, cautiously, enjoying some improvement

The year was ~2005. I was volunteering at my college roommate's dad's company's golf tournament at Kingsmill. I had probably only played golf a handful of times, so I was somewhat knowable of golf, but not much. We were tasked with handing out beer and water on a par 3. The tee box was separated from the green by a deep crevasse. You could get away with hitting long, left, or right, but definitely not short. This was before gps or lasers were common, so each group that came up to the tee would ask us how the hole was playing. At the time, I did not understand that because the green was slightly elevated, but stated distance on the tee box of say 155 would actually play longer at let's say 165, but my roommate did and he'd explain that to each group. The day was mostly uneventful as we drank some beers and talked to each group as they passed through. Two things have really stuck with me though. One particularly drunk individual literally stumbled up to the tee, asked for the distance, stumbled back to his cart, selected a club, and proceeded to stick it within about 9 feet. I thought it was one of the more incredible things I'd ever seen. The next was a much older gentleman. A well dressed man of about 70 I'd estimate. He had a mustache and a newsboy/driving cap. He walked up puffing on a pipe. Armed with the distance, he selected a club, tucked the still lit pipe into his back pocket with the bowl just hanging out and away from him, hit the middle of the green, and then went to relight the pipe as the rest of his foursome took their tee shots. To this day, despite seeing countless cigar smokers out there, I don't think I've seen anyone with a pipe since. I'm an avid cigar smoker, and while I do own a few pipes, it's not really my thing. But with the weather changing, maybe this year is the year I'll finally give pipe smoking on the course a shot.

Also consider your short vs long term goals. When I was fighting my really bad ott swing, I was coming into the ball very steep and more often than not I was hitting it fat. With an iron that meant a huge divot. With a hybrid, I'd often hit the ground first then top the ball. As a result, my irons were much more reliable than my hybrid was. After I sorted out my poor backswing and managed my path better, the hybrid became much more forgiving than my irons. I could hit it a little fat or thin and still have a very reasonable result. My point is that in the short run, you should do whatever works. If the longest club you can put in play off the tee is a 5i, so be it. In the longer term, you look young and athletic enough to find enough distance to be hitting approach shots on your 3rd shot on even long par 5s, etc. Finding an instructor that is both skilled, and matches with your learning style and personality is not easy, but will be well worth it.