Brooky03

I have not joined because I don't play enough to make it worth the money. And the social aspect of it has no appeal to me. fwiw, I'd only be looking at getting a membership to a public course. Truly private courses are way out of my price range and I'm not sure I'd ever feel comfortable even if I could afford it.

To the pace of play point that's often made, I don't think tees are the big issue. It's the, 'search the woods for 5 minutes, find ball, get rangefinder, triple check it, take 3 practice swings, duff, repeat' that seems to slow play down, in my experience.

@chasingparAre you affiliated with KEA Golf? Each of your posts has brought up their apparel. edit: In one of your first posts, you refer to a Kea Golf headcover with the terms "our" and "us." If you are affiliated with the company, I think that should be disclosed.

The right answer will be a combination of skill and distance, but I've always given the edge to distance when determining which tees to play. To your LPGA example, why not play the same tees? Handicap adjusts for the skill difference. Why would you need handicap and different tees to make up the skill gap? This is where I think the argument for choosing tees primarily by distance is a strong one. If you put the #1 LPGA golfer against the #1 PGA golfer, neither will be carrying a handicap, so 'skill' is essentially removed as a variable. Both are obviously very skilled and, within reason, probably very close in ability on and around greens. The difference will be the PGA golfer hitting driver 320 without swinging out of his shoes and the LPGA golfer putting everything she has into a 280 drive. The PGA golfer will probably be 2 clubs longer throughout the bag. So the LPGA golfer, arguably of equal skill, should be playing shorter tees than the PGA golfer. That's how to close that gap and make it a competitive match.

Launch angle is the other important factor. I haven't looked into this, so I don't know the full story with the Mavrik Sub Zero but I'd assume it launched higher than the other low spin drivers. That could/would make it more suitable for moderate swing speeds. And, of course, there's the matter of attack angle on a golfer-to-golfer basis. A moderate swing speed golfer with a downward AoA is going to want the lowest spin driver they can hit straight. I'm on the low end of 'high' swing speed, but I have all kinds of trouble when I try to hit up with driver; hitting slightly downward is just more natural and controllable for me. So, I'm always looking at low spin drivers, which would be true even if I swung slower.

Who: Jack Why: Jack

I've always been curious how they arrive at these distance averages and whether they chop off the outliers at the top and bottom. If I hit 250, 250, 250, 280, 30, the 30 definitely shouldn't count and the 280 probably shouldn't count. If the chart is total distance, my handicap is 4-5 lines from where it 'should' be.

Edit: My long story wasn't that interesting and I don't want to catch strays. Just don't threaten people with 'wrapping a club around their head' or other sorts of violence unless you're sure the offense was reckless or intentional. If you know it's a blind tee shot, you're playing slow, and there's no bell near the blind landing area, maybe chill out.

I have young kids. Their baby wipes seem to work pretty good on grips.

Once I set my bag down and pull the club, it's all the same as riding. I wear a gps watch, so there's no rangefinder to deal with. Tees are always in one of my pockets.

Almost always later than I plan to. Rarely late enough that I'm not on the tee at my tee time, but I can cut it quite close. I can only recall being late to a tee time a handful of times in my life.

I carry 50, 54, 58. They're all the same sole grind (I think), so no worries about one being better for sand or one for tight lies or anything like that. I use the 58 for anything 100yds and shorter, including chipping around the green. Occasionally, I'll trying bumping something with the 50, or even my PW, to get it rolling a bit sooner but the results are mixed. Just simpler to stick with the one I'm used to.

Whatever is on sale. I have a real hang-up with paying retail for clothing because the quality never matches the price, imo. Bonobos golf pants for $100+? No thanks. I know that's considered a good price for some, I just can't justify it. I usually golf in shorts, but I think my current 'golf pants' are some Dockers Comfort Knit Chinos. They get the job done; plenty of stretch and not heavy. I'm 5'6" and don't wear my pants up at my belly button, so 30" inseams don't work for me, which excludes (if price doesn't) most brands like Nike, Puma, Adidas, Travis Mathew, Under Armour, etc.. At least, I never find anything from those brands in 28 or 29 inseams. Tailors around me are few and far between and paying extra to make new pants actually fit is not appealing, on principle lol.

On a par 3, the difference is even less. If we all hit our shots, then let the faster golfer(s) through, there's a really good chance we're going to be walking off the green as they're walking off the next tee box. Then we're waiting for a tick on the next tee box for the group we just let play through, in all likelihood. If we wait to hit our shots (let's say the next hole is a par 4), we're probably teeing off on the next hole as the golfer(s) who played through are on/near that green, so no wait. So I see it as the difference between waiting twice or waiting once. The real life difference in time between the two is probably only a few minutes.

I'd feel just as rushed if the group letting me play through hit their drives as I would if they waited to hit their drives. I think it's an unavoidable feeling. I've experienced both and from both sides of the coin. I prefer the method of waiting to hit drives (as the one playing through and the one letting somebody through) to hitting drives and then waiting. It usually creates more of a gap, which takes a little pressure off of the one playing through. The only time I'm in favor of hitting tee shots and then waiting is when the course is really packed and creating that slightly bigger gap is going to disrupt the golfers behind the one(s) playing through. If I'm letting somebody through, I do my best to move as far away from the tee box as reasonable and try to make it obvious I'm not watching them. I'll fiddle with my bag quietly or quietly talk to somebody in my group; stuff like that.

Are we talkin' removing a club at the top of the bag to carry SW and LW or replacing the SW with a LW? For the former, I'd say it depends on what kind of gap you're creating at the top of the bag. For the latter, I'd suggest sticking with the SW. It should be a little more versatile and I'd assume it's more likely you'll be at a SW distance hitting into a green than LW distance.

I thought of the bar example, but the reservation example seemed more one-to-one since we're talking about reserved tee times. When you reserve a table for 3, you expect to eat with just 3. The table or booth is probably going to be one that accommodates and is set up for 4; the 4th seat will just remain empty. It all comes down to expectations, I suppose. There's usually no expectation of being able to save seats at a bar; it's understood that bar seats are a free-for-all. There is, in my experience, an expectation that if you book a threesome, you're going to play the round as a threesome. I guess better communication from the course would be what I'm after. Online booking is probably the culprit. Others mentioned that some courses don't allow singles to book online. I don't love that either, as somebody who plays solo somewhat regularly, but I wouldn't mind some kind of limitations, either during busy times or in the case of a threesome already booked. I had friends that worked the pro shop of the course 5 minutes down the street from where I grew up. I would often play a quick 9 holes with them after their shifts and I'd naturally hear their stories of the pro shop shenanigans that day or week. Anyway, this was back when all tee times were booked in person or on the phone, and it was explained to me that they would treat threesomes as a blocked off tee time unless they had no other choice. I'm still friends with one of them and just texted him about this. If a single came in and asked what tee times were available around a certain time, my friend would give him the times that were open or booked with another single. If the golfer balked at those times, he'd expand it to the times with twosomes. Pairing with threesomes was a last resort. Admittedly, I have no idea how common that is. The course was a formerly private course that turned public. Membership fees weren't cheap, especially for the income level of the area, so the members wouldn't hesitate to raise a stink about some random being matched up with their group. That might be why the pro shop there did what they did with tee times. I don't know. It's worth noting that most courses that I've played did/do not have marshals. I wouldn't be shocked if there were instances where a single was slotted in with my group or I was slotted in with another group on the tee sheet but we all just teed off when we were ready and played separate.

The first set I remember was a Walmart Acuity box set. Then, a Ram set (again,Walmart box set). My first real set was the Adams IdeaTech V4’s, used. It was the first set I bought myself. Then came some Mizuno JPX 825s gifted to me that I’m still playing now. The first driver not from a set was a Callaway Diablo Octane. Then, a Cleveland Custom XL, Taylormade SLDR, and now a Callaway Epic Max LS. Wedges: First stand-alone wedge was a Tom Watson 56*. Then, I grabbed a Ping Tour Gorge 58*. Now, I have a set (50, 54, 58) of Cleveland RTX-3s. Putters: First stand alone putter was a Taylormade White Smoke ln-12. Then, an Odyssey O-Works 1WS. And now a Taylormade Berwick.

For $30 they should have premium balls. Dang.

Thought experiment: If you show up to a restaurant with 3 people, they’ll probably seat you at a table for 4. Let’s say it’s a packed house even. If a single shows up for dinner, should the restaurant seat them at your table? It’s an open seat after all and the restaurant needs to maximize revenue. If this is different than golf, how so?

Singles are very common. Singles ASKING to join groups are less than common but not rare. Groups forced to play with singles are not common and are indeed rare.

In my experience as a single, you can snake your way through the course/groups and find a decent gap to settle into, usually within a few holes. The course on the day I’m referring to, at least, was not THAT full that a single couldn’t play through. As for the courses losing money, that probably doesn’t hold a lot of water. Customer satisfaction is a part of business. Sometimes you sacrifice crumbs here and there for that. Not leaving a bad taste in your customers’ mouths can be better for business than squeezing every dollar out that you can today. In this instance, cramming a single in cost the course a return customer, in all likelihood. Does that happen a lot? Probably not, but it’s not as simple as just subtracting the lost revenue from a single walking away if you making them find an open or less full slot. In all reality, we’re talking about pretty rare occurrences that aren’t going to make dents in the bottom lines of golf courses.

I replied to this but not signed in, so idk if it will show up later or what, but here’s attempt #2. To each their own, but I would feel like the selfish one if I imposed myself on another group as a single. In the instance I described, the course uses an online booking system. The single was not a ‘walk-in’. One of two things happened; he either saw a spot for one was available at the time he wanted (4 were available for the tee time when I booked it) or he called and the employee saw an availability of one slot at that time. Either way, the course decided us 3 were playing with him. Not the twosome with the tee time ahead of us or the threesome behind us (who arrived late). Bad luck, I suppose. Courses gotta make money. This has fortunately been a rare occurrence for me in my 20 years of golfing or so. I don’t know if this is common in other areas, but at the courses I play (not really nice but not goat tracks) being forced to pair up just hasn’t happened. As for my preference to play alone when not playing with friends/family, I like the solitude and the ability to relax. I have a 3 and 5 year old. I usually book my tee times in advance. When I do, I avoid slots that show other golfers booked. On the rare occasion I show up without a tee time, I don’t impose myself on others, regardless of whether they see it as an imposition. I’ll wait for a later tee time or try another course. Different strokes for different folks.

The 18th green and the 1st tee box are often pretty close to each other (ending and beginning at the club house). What about mowing backwards would increase the amount of fuel?

I will wait a reasonable amount of time for workers to move, especially if they might not be aware that I'm there. But if they see me, and then to decide to start cutting around the green when I'm standing at my ball 150yds away, I'm sending it. They know, or should know, the risk of the decision they just made. I couldn't imagine a head groundskeeper telling his guys it's cool to just cut away while golfers are within range.