Golf Thread

stephenb said:
Glad there's good weather about elsewhere. Here in Sussex over the past week its been rain of biblical proportions, bar Friday, with no end in sight. Imagine all the local courses will be severely waterlogged :(
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Yeah, that's pretty much the only nice day we've had either...

The group has a tee time booked tomorrow for 10-ish and the weather reckons from 11 onwards it's got a 90% chance of torrential rain. I'm thinking I'm not gonna be joining them :cry:
 
ArcticHeron said:
Booked at Calderfield next Monday morning for a round. First a the few scorecards I'm going to keep to put towards my handicap. Will let you know @magicroundabout what condition the course is in :)

Really could do with a new Driver going forward. Wish I'd jumped on that PXG deal whilst it was still a thing.

Can anyone recommend me something second hand? Not going to have more then £150-200 to play with. Not looking for anything flashy, just something reliable that I can practice with until I can justify spending a little more.
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how was the course today?
 
magicroundabout said:
how was the course today?
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It wasn't too bad really considering the weather we've had. A few of the greens where being aerated but most pretty well maintained and where reasonably quick even though it was damp. I'd forgotten how narrow most of the front 9 was though. Lost a lot of balls amongst the autumn leaves... bunkers where in a bad way with most of the sand compacted but that's to be expected I suppose. Fairways where in ok nick.

Unfortunately I played woefully. Had a dreadful night sleep Sunday and probably should have cancelled, really effected my head space and ended up shooting 123. My short game was excellent and 2 putted almost everything but even playing 6/7 irons off the tee I wasn't getting anywhere fast. Just one of those days I suppose.

Going to play tomorrow morning before work. Think I need to stay away from the range and play more on the course as I need to get used to less then perfect lies as well as that unique feeling standing over a ball that cannot be replicated on a range.
 
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I'm playing Friday for the first time in almost 3 weeks. Going up Three Hammers Shortly to use the range and shake off the cobwebs.

My home course has started using carry mats for the fairways in a way to protect them as the course is wet which I have to be honest not looking forward too.
I'll see how it is on Friday
 
magicroundabout said:
I'm playing Friday for the first time in almost 3 weeks. Going up Three Hammers Shortly to use the range and shake off the cobwebs.

My home course has started using carry mats for the fairways in a way to protect them as the course is wet which I have to be honest not looking forward too.
I'll see how it is on Friday
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Ahh that's not great. I know they started doing that at Aston Wood near me a week or so ago to keep things looking healthy. Mate of mine said it was a bit of a hassle.

Contrary to my previous post I'm off to the range tonight. None of my nearby clubs allow visitors early enough for me to play before work so annoyingly am going to have to keep rounds confined to the weekends. To top it off I think my 3 woods splitting across the face... Only had it about a month, though got it second hand. Ping G series that only looked a little worn.
 
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ArcticHeron said:
To top it off I think my 3 woods splitting across the face... Only had it about a month, though got it second hand. Ping G series that only looked a little worn.
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I cracked my 3 wood last year. Long Par 5 and still had about 250 yards to go and the ball was sitting up on a small root which I thought was ideal, teeing it up for me to reach the green. Made a complete arse of it and hit more root than ball and split it right up the middle! :D

I'd only been playing for a few months at that point so why wouldn't I try to be a hero and hit the green in two with a rotten lie...
 
It's crazy as I clean my clubs regularly and hadn't noticed anything before Monday and only used it twice during the round. Didn't feel like I caught it on anything. Just going to have to rely on my 4 hybrid for time being :(

Decided to change teachers this morning. We get on really well and he's helped me in some areas, but he doesn't have the greatest of equipment and he feels very 'old school' in his approach. Booked in with at Aston Wood with a registered PGA professional who has Trackman and a studio. Will see how it goes I guess.
 
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I do think getting a teacher that 'works' for you is important, I keep meaning to try different ones (and actually one-to-one lessons :p) to see who is available nearby...

Played 9 holes at my local club today, bit of practice on the range that went pretty well and then the actual game was utterly awful :cry: Some of the worst golf I've played.

On the plus side I got three frankly ridiculously lucky 'member bounces', on my first game there as an actual member :D

On the downside ribs hurting a fair bit still, not great, and probably part of the reason why I'm playing so badly... The sensible thing to do would be to rest properly but...
 
It happens @SKILL mate. Sound like we're in a similar position though. I think if you're getting into golf and it's not a fad phase and you really decide to devote a big chunk of your leisure time to it, you really do have to accept that for a while the course is going to be your worst enemy. The range can never replicate that feeling you have standing over that one golf ball on a course and I think baking in a preshot routine, good habits and decent technique is so much more important then anything else. I'm trying to make more of an effort to play rounds instead of shooting at the range just to try and burn off that novelty.

Playing tomorrow down at my local and going to try get out Sunday to as the forecast doesn't look too bad.
 
I think one of the main breakthroughs with your swing is actually understanding your swing.

Know where you are going wrong. If you're looking for that perfect swing at our level you will never get it.
If you're a fader of the ball and want a draw. It may never come.

So understand your swing. Don't be afraid to hit a fade as you can use it to your advantage. As long as it's not a slice a fade works.
 
ArcticHeron said:
It happens @SKILL mate. Sound like we're in a similar position though. I think if you're getting into golf and it's not a fad phase and you really decide to devote a big chunk of your leisure time to it, you really do have to accept that for a while the course is going to be your worst enemy. The range can never replicate that feeling you have standing over that one golf ball on a course and I think baking in a preshot routine, good habits and decent technique is so much more important then anything else. I'm trying to make more of an effort to play rounds instead of shooting at the range just to try and burn off that novelty.

Playing tomorrow down at my local and going to try get out Sunday to as the forecast doesn't look too bad.
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Yeah, I agree with all that :)

The range is great for practice, and the range local to me has a grass area as well which I think is great, but it's just not the same.

I definitely want to play more, trying to almost ignore score (but also keep track cause stats :p), so although my score was terrible yesterday I'm not gonna give up or anything :) It's kinda annoying though that as I join a club with the idea to play more often as it's 'free' I then go and get injured, really I should be resting/not playing at all let alone more, instead I'm playing again Sunday :D

magicroundabout said:
I think one of the main breakthroughs with your swing is actually understanding your swing.

Know where you are going wrong. If you're looking for that perfect swing at our level you will never get it.
If you're a fader of the ball and want a draw. It may never come.

So understand your swing. Don't be afraid to hit a fade as you can use it to your advantage. As long as it's not a slice a fade works.
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My biggest issue right now is just a complete lack of consistency, and I guess that also goes into what you say in that I often don't know what I've done 'wrong' one time compared to the next.

An example from yesterday on a par 3, that actually turned out to be my best result. First shot off the tee with a 6 iron I thought I did my normal setup/swing but must've hit it off the toe as it went 45 degrees to the right, thankfully onto another fairway so easy to see/hit. Next shot basically 10 yards closer but 40 yards or so off to the right I pick a 7 iron, partially for loft as I needed to get it over a tree rather than the difference in distance, I feel like I setup/swing the same but this time it's beautiful, bit left of where I thought I was aiming but the shot is straight, easily clears the tree and ends just on the fringe/edge of the green. Then I two putt for a bogey.

Just no real idea why that first tee shot went completely wrong :p Was I setup too far from the ball, did I lift my spine angle during the backswing, was it the main swing, was it something else, I don't really know tbh...
 
SKILL said:
My biggest issue right now is just a complete lack of consistency, and I guess that also goes into what you say in that I often don't know what I've done 'wrong' one time compared to the next.

An example from yesterday on a par 3, that actually turned out to be my best result. First shot off the tee with a 6 iron I thought I did my normal setup/swing but must've hit it off the toe as it went 45 degrees to the right, thankfully onto another fairway so easy to see/hit. Next shot basically 10 yards closer but 40 yards or so off to the right I pick a 7 iron, partially for loft as I needed to get it over a tree rather than the difference in distance, I feel like I setup/swing the same but this time it's beautiful, bit left of where I thought I was aiming but the shot is straight, easily clears the tree and ends just on the fringe/edge of the green. Then I two putt for a bogey.

Just no real idea why that first tee shot went completely wrong :p Was I setup too far from the ball, did I lift my spine angle during the backswing, was it the main swing, was it something else, I don't really know tbh...
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Perfect example of what I was meaning. I used to go through exactly the same. I worked on my swing, had a couple of lessons and hit the range to try different shot. Only to get a feel of where the club face is at impact

I know my biggest issue still is keeping my eye over the ball and completing my release.
 
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So after going to the range Tuesday and using the TopTracer facility I'm torn with replacing my 3 Hybrid for a 3 Wood.

I'm still needing to get my lofts checked on my hybrids as my 3 Hybrid appears a weaker loft in comparison to my 4 Hybrid even thought they're supposed to be 19 and 21.
At the range I was hitting my 4 Hybrid 210-225 and my 3 Hybrid similar. Hence the thought of changing.

I'm thinking a 3 Wood at 14.5 Deg would bridge the gap nicely between my 4 Hybrid a Driver.
And at a decent price it's a relatively cheap change.

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magicroundabout said:
So after going to the range Tuesday and using the TopTracer facility I'm torn with replacing my 3 Hybrid for a 3 Wood.

I'm still needing to get my lofts checked on my hybrids as my 3 Hybrid appears a weaker loft in comparison to my 4 Hybrid even thought they're supposed to be 19 and 21.
At the range I was hitting my 4 Hybrid 210-225 and my 3 Hybrid similar. Hence the thought of changing.

I'm thinking a 3 Wood at 14.5 Deg would bridge the gap nicely between my 4 Hybrid a Driver.
And at a decent price it's a relatively cheap change.

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Buy cobra king ltdx ls golf fairway mens right or left online at Scottsdale Golf
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I tried similar recently, I only had/have a 4 Hybrid and wanted to try a 3 wood to position between that and the Driver but being tight I bought a £15 Slazenger 3 wood (15 degrees). So far I've only used it on the range but on a clean strike it definitely goes further than the 4 Hybrid, so for filling the gap it's good, but for me personally I struggle to hit it off the deck, off a tee it's not too bad but I kinda don't need it there :p I'm pretty sure that's 90+% my poor technique though and maybe a little down to cheap club as well...
 
magicroundabout said:
£15 :cry:
that's ridiculously cheap.

I think I may go back to American Golf at Three Hammers to have a hit and maybe see if they have a loft checker there.
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Yep :cry:

All the Slazenger clubs are around that, for the lols I picked up a 60 degree, 3 wood and 4 iron to try out, admittedly only the 60 degree has featured on a round but £45 to try some different clubs and get an idea seems reasonable :p
 
Got 9 holes booked in for tomorrow morning. Have had a cold since last weekend which I was hoping would have cleared by now but seems intent on sticking around. Hopefully the fresh air does me good. Whether the golf can do the same remains to be seen :p
 
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Today's course report.

Starting with the positives I made three pars* and three bogeys. Two of the bogeys could have been pars but for some poor putting, both on par three's. Generally just a bit short of pace today with the amount of dew on the greens. My highlight was a lovely put which I sunk from around 15ft on the eighth for par. Hit a couple of good drives, my favourite being on what for me was a long par three playing 200 yards. Stroked one on onto the fringe but then three putted for bogey :rolleyes:

The negatives came at the first and fifth holes. Inevitably after a good warm up on the range and with an audience on the first tee I sliced my drive into a bunker on the opposing fairway! I played out of the bunker first time, although more luck than judgement and not very far :p I then elected to bunt out sideways back onto the fairway. The next three shots were horrible tops before I ended up finding water at which point I decided to move straight onto the next hole.

It was after I'd teed off on the next and was walking off the tee that one of the gentlemen from the threeball behind me came up and enquired if I was "playing a TaylorMade 1 with the marking BAC?", to which I replied yes. You can see where this is going. Turns out I'd played his ball off the fairway on the first hole. I apologised profusely and carried on my way with extra ball back in hand. At the time I couldn't work out how this had happened as I'd had full sight of my ball, or so I'd thought, at all times. Looking back when I bunted out back onto the fairway the threeball must already have started teeing off. My ball must have gone out on a line right over this chaps ball and when I walked back to the fairway his was the only ball I saw and I played it, completely oblivious that it wasn't mine! You live and learn :p

The fifth hole I got into some trouble in the trees and started playing pinball, ending up with a nine. In retrospect I should have taken my medicine and played out sideways.

*about one of those pars, the last hole. I don't know what I did on my first tee shot but I took big divot with my nine iron well back and to the right of where I had the ball teed up. It was that bad I've no idea how I even made contact with the ball. Putting that aside I teed up again and this time flighted one right over the pin to the middle of the green and two putted to close out. Notionally gave myself a score of 50 allocating a 10 for the first hole where I abandoned.
 
Sounds better than my game :( :cry:

Managed to score my worst ever 18 holes at 132 :eek: Just played absolutely terrible everywhere really but then out of nowhere I hit a solid par on the last hole, Drive was beautiful, 9 Iron was a bit meh hitting the ground first but went a bit at least, nice chip onto the green pin high and maybe 4 feet for an 'easy' putt :p

Weather was absolutely lovely, 16/17c and sunny, glorious. Although being winter the sun was low, on a few holes I had no idea where the ball went as I looked up after hitting it off the tee to be blinded by the sun :p

Think at least part of it is/has been the ribs, they felt pretty good today and I think in the last 2-3 holes which had some better shots I started to swing a bit more freely where I suspect I'd been altering my swing to try to avoid the rib pain and now, hopefully, I'm swinging better... Hopefully...

Gonna do another 9 tomorrow as well, at which point I'm gonna get my handicap and it's gonna be sky high :cry: Time to challenge my mates to a competitive game :D
 
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