Golf Thread

Hi all!

Been getting into golf over the past few months!

As expected I'm awful but noticing improvements all the time!

Was kindly donated a set of Ping G2 Irons (4-SW), a King Cobra SZ440 and a beaten up old putter!

For the life of me I can't hit a driver, either top it and it bobbles 20 yards or I slice way right.

Not going to ask for advice here (but PLEASE if you've got anything feel free haha!), but have been told by friends I'd benefit from getting a hybrid for tee shots so I can actually get some distance from the box.

Any other input on this? And if I was to get a hybrid would a Wilson Prostaff HDX 19 degree fit the bill?

I'm not looking to spend much money at the moment as I imagine I'll invest in some new clubs after a year or two once I know I've improved enough to see benefits from newer clubs :)

Cheers guys!
 
Benross, MD, Wilson all make reasonable clubs. It doesnt have to be a hybrid, a 3 or 5wd would do the job just as well.
Do put some effort into learning to hit long irons though as they are much more satisfying when hit well and versatile to play with be it a bump and run or slice round trouble. I have a 1i and 3-pw with a Driver and 5wd, never felt the need to but a rescue/hybrid. A lot of people get scared when the loft decreases in irons. My advice is to treat them like woods, they go much better when you hit through them instead of swinging at the ball.
 
My iron game both long and short is really coming along nicely to be fair! Once I'm warmed up I'd say 60%-70% of my iron shots go relatively straight and a decent dictance, maybe not as far as I'm capable of (6'3" and ex-rugby player) but I'm happy with it for now.

Just the teeing off on par 4s and 5s is my biggest hurdle to get over at the moment, played my first ever round last month and 95% of my drives I just topped and they went no more then 20 yards :(

Had one lesson when I first started which I feel was a bit of a waste as I was a total beginner so feel I'd benefit from another one now I know where my weaknesses lies :)

What sort of distance should I expect from a hybrid/3 wood off the tee?

Also, I believe you hit a hybrid like you would an iron, coming down onto the ball more. Would a wood be hit like a driver with a more upwards motion?
 
Went to american golf earlier on the hunt for a driver as previously explained had a few swings with a range of clubs, the guy doing the fitting was the same height as me and was adamant standard length is what i should use so never gave me a shorter option. That said he gave me some pointers which lead to me hitting quite a few down the middle by adjusting my feet position and loft to 12degrees, my swing speed averaged 91mph which lead to me buying a pre owned Calaway XR16 stiff shaft which had felt good in the hand/swing for the most part.
 
Megahurtz400 said:
Also, I believe you hit a hybrid like you would an iron, coming down onto the ball more. Would a wood be hit like a driver with a more upwards motion?
Click to expand...
Driver should be a few degrees on the up
Woods can be virtually flat angle of attack and long irons should be every so slightly hit down down on, what I'm getting at is that the feeling should be the same, you are hitting through the impact area instead of hitting at the ball and slowing down immediately after.
 
Megahurtz400 said:
Hi all!

Been getting into golf over the past few months!

As expected I'm awful but noticing improvements all the time!

Was kindly donated a set of Ping G2 Irons (4-SW), a King Cobra SZ440 and a beaten up old putter!

For the life of me I can't hit a driver, either top it and it bobbles 20 yards or I slice way right.

Not going to ask for advice here (but PLEASE if you've got anything feel free haha!), but have been told by friends I'd benefit from getting a hybrid for tee shots so I can actually get some distance from the box.

Any other input on this? And if I was to get a hybrid would a Wilson Prostaff HDX 19 degree fit the bill?

I'm not looking to spend much money at the moment as I imagine I'll invest in some new clubs after a year or two once I know I've improved enough to see benefits from newer clubs :)

Cheers guys!
Click to expand...

Lessons, the best thing you can do as it will help you get the fundamentals correct which is where everything in the golf swing is built from

Megahurtz400 said:
My iron game both long and short is really coming along nicely to be fair! Once I'm warmed up I'd say 60%-70% of my iron shots go relatively straight and a decent dictance, maybe not as far as I'm capable of (6'3" and ex-rugby player) but I'm happy with it for now.

Just the teeing off on par 4s and 5s is my biggest hurdle to get over at the moment, played my first ever round last month and 95% of my drives I just topped and they went no more then 20 yards :(

Had one lesson when I first started which I feel was a bit of a waste as I was a total beginner so feel I'd benefit from another one now I know where my weaknesses lies :)

What sort of distance should I expect from a hybrid/3 wood off the tee?

Also, I believe you hit a hybrid like you would an iron, coming down onto the ball more. Would a wood be hit like a driver with a more upwards motion?
Click to expand...

Why do you feel it was a waste?

Every golfer was once a complete beginner, some may have had more natural ability than others, but it is much easier to learn good habits as a beginner than teach yourself bad habits to then try and change them to correct faults in your swing - trust me, I know...

As for distances off the tee, that will depend on a lot of things, but the correct technique will give you the best distance possible for your swing speed

One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to hit the ball too hard and they lose control of their swing and 99.9% of the time will actually hit the ball worse than if they were to swing smoothly but slightly slower
 
Why do you feel it was a waste?

Every golfer was once a complete beginner, some may have had more natural ability than others, but it is much easier to learn good habits as a beginner than teach yourself bad habits to then try and change them to correct faults in your swing - trust me, I know...

As for distances off the tee, that will depend on a lot of things, but the correct technique will give you the best distance possible for your swing speed

One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to hit the ball too hard and they lose control of their swing and 99.9% of the time will actually hit the ball worse than if they were to swing smoothly but slightly slower
Click to expand...

Mainly due to the fact that I had no idea of the concept of the golf swing and how it was made up, so now I understand the concept of how each club should be hit and have watched some more videos and played some rounds I feel I'll have more of a benchmark to work against.

Just the way my brain works I guess :)

Will get another lesson booked in for next month!
 
Incredible performance in the medal last night. Mad dash from work at 5pm to get changed and get on the tee for the final time at 6pm. All rush, no chance to practice or warm up!

Boom, scratch 67, less 1 for a 66. What a round, everything just went perfectly, I couldn't have placed the ball any better. Handicap's haven't officially been updated yet, but considering I was on 0.8 I think I can soon officially call myself a scratch golfer! YAY!
 
Congrats fergie, I'm hoping to get to scratch some day but I have a long way to go yet!

Poor old Rory and Day had a truly awful time at the US Open yesterday. It must have been incredibly hard for Justin Rose to maintain any level of good play with the other two being so out of form, it's never easy playing in a group that's struggling. Incredible opening round from Rickie, I'd love to see him go on and win the tournament so hopefully he can maintain the level.
 
Probably a stupid question, but what clubs do I need? Time's moved on a lot since I bought my last set of 2-9 irons, pitching wedge, sand wedge, 3 wood, 5 wood, driver and putter!

I'm looking to get a new set of clubs in the next year, and I'm thinking of getting the following, am I missing anything or is there anything I can do without? I'm playing off 28 and hopefully looking to get down to 20'ish.

10.5° driver (just bought a barely used Taylormade SLDR)
3 and 5 fairway woods
3 and 5 hybrid
6-9 iron
52, 56 and 60° wedges
Putter

Looking to get fitted for the clubs too, any advice and recommendations much appreciated.
 
I'm not convinced you need two fairway woods and two hybrids. Most amateurs find fairway woods hard to hit and the lower lofted hybrid would probably be almost exactly the same loft as your 5 wood. Personally I'd go:

Driver (10.5 degree)
3 wood (15 degree)
2 hybrids (19 and 22 degree or similar)
5-9 - I'd suggest going to test some irons. A lot of people recommend game improvement irons for higher handicappers, but you might equally find that slightly more 'players irons' suit you just as well. A five iron is worth having, in a GI set it would be somewhere around 25 degrees loft, so a good gapping to the hybrids.
52, 56 and 60 degree wedges - you could probably get away with leaving out the 60 degree wedge for the time being if you wanted to save money because it's a speciality wedge that most people will only use for situations where they need loads of loft. Also, most amateurs make the mistake of going super high loft around the greens for chipping when hitting a low chip with an 8 or 9 iron would be far more sensible, so you may find you really only use the 60 degree wedge out of high-sided bunkers and if you really need to pop it up quickly.
Putter

Definitely get fitted for as much of it as you can, it's well worth it. I've been fitted for all my clubs bar the putter, and it's probably no coincidence that that is the club I most want to change. Also, get lessons. I've had a couple of lessons recently and it's helped absolutely no end.
 
I currently play:
Driver (9.5 degree)
3 Wood (15 degree)
Hybrid (19 degree)
4-PW Irons (PW is 45 degrees)
48, 52, 56 Wedges
Putter

Also looking at your bag, that looks a big gap between your 9 iron and your next club being a gap wedge? That must be a near 10 degree gap if you are using fairly recent irons. For me, that would be a gap of about 25-30 yards!

A lot of my high handicap (15+) friends play with a 60 degree wedge and I just don't get it. It looks awful to try and hit in my eye. Each to their own I guess! I also can't stress enough that it is OK (!) to get your putter out around the greens, even on slopes up to greens. A poor putt generally finishes better than a poor pitch/chip/flop/etc. Also low chips with 7, 8, 9 irons as above poster recommends.
 
Can anyone advise on a good android app for GPS and score tracking?

I've tried Swing by Swing for a round, and while the GPS was good, course info was average and the app was very clunky to use.
I've just downloaded GameGolf, which looks decent but yet to try it out.
I remember being recommended Golfshot Plus: Golf GPS by someone a few months ago, it's £24.99 so with the number of reviews then I know it's probably good, but a free app would be great if possible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom