Golf Thread 2014 - All Things Golf!
Discussion
DuncanM said:
Nom de ploom said:
news today that Dustin Johnson is taking a break from golf. no US PGA and moreover no Ryder Cup.
was he a "woods" waiting to happen or just over played?
Can anyone see the US beating us on home soil at Gleneagles???
That is strange news considering he had a very good showing at The Open.was he a "woods" waiting to happen or just over played?
Can anyone see the US beating us on home soil at Gleneagles???
He's an interesting player as he seems to enjoy a celebrity style life, whilst still playing well, I like him.
TeeRev said:
DuncanM said:
Nom de ploom said:
news today that Dustin Johnson is taking a break from golf. no US PGA and moreover no Ryder Cup.
was he a "woods" waiting to happen or just over played?
Can anyone see the US beating us on home soil at Gleneagles???
That is strange news considering he had a very good showing at The Open.was he a "woods" waiting to happen or just over played?
Can anyone see the US beating us on home soil at Gleneagles???
He's an interesting player as he seems to enjoy a celebrity style life, whilst still playing well, I like him.
The PGA like to deal these situations 'in house' so no official statement other than Dustin stating: "I am taking a break in order to seek professional help with personal issues".
kentlad said:
Boydie88 said:
I've got a cheapo 60 degree wedge which is lovely when it all comes together but it doesn't half punish a ropey swing.
it shouldn't. it should be the easiest club to hit in your bag...more loft = more fogiveness.try putting the ball back in your stance, if that doesn't help maybe take a look at the 'bounce' on the club...could be part of the issue if you top it a lot or if you fat it. Once you learn to use the bounce (if that's the issue)...then you should become a lot more consistent with it! not saying it will be either of those, but they were the two issues i ran into!
SpeckledJim said:
A successful 270 yard start on most holes should be seeing 50% pars at worst, really, if your shot-selection is a good match for your shot-making.
Not too sure about that. I'm starting to hit 280+ yards more often than not. But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often. Getting the drive right is the easy part of the hole. It's getting the approach on the green/up and down from the fringe that is hard to nail 50% of the time.Just wondering what is everyone's standard distances? Under 20 yards/fringe I'll chip on using the pitching wedge with the ball behind centre of my stance, 20-50 yards is the 60 degree, 50-80 yards sand wedge, 80-100 yards pitching wedge then each clubs adds about 15 yards up to my 3 iron for shots about 200 yards. I have a 3 rescue hybrid which on a clean hit will go 230. 3 wood from the tee is about 250 and the driver 280. Once I worked out these distances and they became consistent, it took a good 10 shots off the round.
Edited by Boydie88 on Monday 4th August 10:04
SpeckledJim said:
If your driver is trustworthy AND going 270-90 yards but you're playing to 20, I'd politely suggest that either you need to spend a lot of time on the putting green, or your shot-selection strategy is floating somewhere on the graph a good way above your shot-making capability.
Playing for bogey is exactly right, but are you actually walking that talk, or still going straight at all pins tucked behind bunkers? Still attempting the 240 yard laser-guided hybrid into par 5s?
A successful 270 yard start on most holes should be seeing 50% pars at worst, really, if your shot-selection is a good match for your shot-making.
As i said, the driving (which was the worst part of my game at season start) is now one of the most consistent parts of my game. My putting is actually improving - the last 3 rounds have seen 34, 35 then 30 putts so it's averaging out to less than 2 putts a hole which (i think) is ok for bogey golf. Playing for bogey is exactly right, but are you actually walking that talk, or still going straight at all pins tucked behind bunkers? Still attempting the 240 yard laser-guided hybrid into par 5s?
A successful 270 yard start on most holes should be seeing 50% pars at worst, really, if your shot-selection is a good match for your shot-making.
I think the most pertinent part of your post is the comment about shot making v shot selection.
At the start of the round, i'm a bit wayward but by say midway through the font nine the dispersion is a lot tighter.
I've reduced the penalties / lost ball incidents to perhaps 1 or 2 per round which has helped an awful lot.
My biggest bugbear is my bunker play - i may as well get the Panatella's out if the ball hits sand. However, on my local course, there is nowhere to practice bunker shots which i feel would help an awful lot.
Also, the bunkers themselves are so compacted, it's like playing off dolomite in there. There is no softness to the sand. Invariably i try and get out and leave it in there. I then try to catch it cleaner and more often than not, it get's thinned out.
It's all rather frustrating to be honest but i'm trying not to let it get to me. I'm seeing real progression round by round and now that i've gotten my head around the idea of not trying to hit "240 yard laser-guided hybrid into par 5s" and that i can just chip out the trees as opposed to hitting through six inch gaps in the trunks, the scores are coming down.
I know if i can get these elements sorted, sub 90 (consistently) is achievable as is my ambition to get my H/C down to less than 15.
Boydie88 said:
SpeckledJim said:
A successful 270 yard start on most holes should be seeing 50% pars at worst, really, if your shot-selection is a good match for your shot-making.
Not too sure about that. I'm starting to hit 280+ yards more often than not. But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often. Getting the drive right is the easy part of the hole. It's getting the approach on the green/up and down from the fringe that is hard to nail 50% of the time.If he's knocking it 290 yards, then the remaining course is only 2,440 yards long, with fully 58 shots remaining.
Given his driving capabilites we know he's got a golf swing, so dropping 20 shots over that little course indicates some shot-selection maladies. (or he REALLY can't putt!)
Boydie88 said:
Not too sure about that. I'm starting to hit 280+ yards more often than not. But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often. Getting the drive right is the easy part of the hole. It's getting the approach on the green/up and down from the fringe that is hard to nail 50% of the time.
Ditto - thankfully my putting usually helps with "just" making bogeys. Boydie88 said:
Just wondering what is everyone's standard distances? Under 20 yards/fringe I'll chip on using the pitching wedge with the ball behind centre of my stance, 20-50 yards is the 60 degree, 50-80 yards sand wedge, 80-100 yards pitching wedge then each clubs adds about 15 yards up to my 3 iron for shots about 200 yards. I have a 3 rescue hybrid which on a clean hit will go 230. 3 wood from the tee is about 250 and the driver 280. Once I worked out these distances and they became consistent, it took a good 10 shots off the round.
One of the chaps i work with has his two kids - under 15 - out on the course all the time. Both are good players although the daughter is progressing more in the "ladies" game. One of the more interesting things he told me was that he went to a local pro who, via the GC2 monitor system they have has made small cards for them with their average yardages on for each club. Takes the guesswork away and has made them less likely to be long / short. Edited by Boydie88 on Monday 4th August 10:04
I'm certainly tempted to do the same at some point this summer once i'm a bit more consistent in my ball striking.
Interesting chat here today, I am with Jim on this!
You guys seem to have learnt the hardest part of the game first (long straight driving), and now need to sort the end game out sharpish!
<100 yards, you need to be looking for birdie/par, not par/bogey/double
Well done on getting your technique down, always go for birdie/par, DO NOT accept bogey when you have a PW in your hands!
Regarding yardages
It's all very well knowing your yardages, but in this country they can change a lot due to conditions. Just worth mentioning, as a cold wet winter day will see you lose a club distance for sure.
You guys seem to have learnt the hardest part of the game first (long straight driving), and now need to sort the end game out sharpish!
<100 yards, you need to be looking for birdie/par, not par/bogey/double
Well done on getting your technique down, always go for birdie/par, DO NOT accept bogey when you have a PW in your hands!
Regarding yardages
It's all very well knowing your yardages, but in this country they can change a lot due to conditions. Just worth mentioning, as a cold wet winter day will see you lose a club distance for sure.
DuncanM said:
DO NOT accept bogey when you have a PW in your hands!
I'd agree in part. If he's looking to go from say a 10 handicap to a 6, I'd agree fully.Looking to go from a 20 h'cap to, say, 15, I'd say the cardinal sin with a 100yard PW is to miss the green.
Yes, it feels great bombing a wedge over a bunker and stunning it to 3 feet and breezing in the birdie, but a 20 handicapper should be looking for the steady 2 putts from the middle of the green outwards to wherever the flag is.
The 100yd pin can be an unhelpful distraction, I think, for some golfers who have watched Rory peppering flags and think their A-strategy is the same as his.
Par should be the expectation from an 'ordinary' golfer with a wedge from 100 yards. Birdie a nice surprise.
Bogey tolerable only if you can blame a putt, not a groundstroke.
I often think a novice golfer from a desert island who has never watched a professional play the game would be at an advantage. He'd be alone to figure out the best way FOR HIM to get round the course, rather than inheriting ambitious strategies he is neither capable of justifying, nor conscious of why not.
Hey Jim,
It's this bit I picked up on:
"But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often."
He seems to have mentally got it into his head that a chip and 2 putt is acceptable?
Long straight driving requires more technique than chipping and putting, which is much more a mental game.
I think a change of mindset is required
It's this bit I picked up on:
"But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often."
He seems to have mentally got it into his head that a chip and 2 putt is acceptable?
Long straight driving requires more technique than chipping and putting, which is much more a mental game.
I think a change of mindset is required
DuncanM said:
Hey Jim,
It's this bit I picked up on:
"But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often."
He seems to have mentally got it into his head that a chip and 2 putt is acceptable?
Long straight driving requires more technique than chipping and putting, which is much more a mental game.
I think a change of mindset is required
Yup, I think the odd 3-putt is forgivable (god knows I'm guilty there) as is the odd "grip, grip, GRIP!" trickle off the back of the green.It's this bit I picked up on:
"But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often."
He seems to have mentally got it into his head that a chip and 2 putt is acceptable?
Long straight driving requires more technique than chipping and putting, which is much more a mental game.
I think a change of mindset is required
I agree though, the 'standard' handling of a par 4, when you've been within 100 yards for 1, shouldn't involve a chip!
And as-and-when it does, there should be only 1 putt to follow c.50% of the time.
Perhaps the hero of out tale is using his wedge in all cases, without consideration of whether a half-8 pitched short would be the more prudent choice? That is SUCH a reliable shot.
Lots of the chaps I play with are addicted to the rush of the bombed pitch to 3-feet, to the extent that they ALWAYS go for the flop. Without heed to the horrible consequences of a thin or a fluff, nor to the fact that a bump and run may not be sexy but it finishes closer to the hole 80% of the time.
A disastrous bump and run isn't half as horrible as a disastrous full-length pitch.
Not sure it's myself or Boydie88 who is the hero of the tale but seeing as i'm here i'll respond.
Coming back to the game after a 15 year lay off, i'm a bit more mature (i hope!) than i used to be. I've a more realistic expectation of what i can and cannot achieve.
I can find fairway 85% of the time.
I can putt reasonably well.
I can't get much back spin on the ball.
I have trouble with bunker play.
I'd say my "course management" has been responsible for most of the cut in my H/C this year as opposed to it purely being better play.
I'm using a lot more bump and run shots from about 100 yards out where i can - and getting close, like Jim said.
I'm using my imagination a bit more to see if there are ways of playing the hole to the best of MY abilities, not just trying to hit it as high as i can to land as soft as i can.
For example 13th hole is a par 3. OOB on left, water on right along length of hole. "Fairway" slopes left to right with green sunken into it.
When i restarted playing, i'd pull out a 7 iron and try and land it on the green and usually muck it up. Now i've started to hit a low running 5 iron along the left hand side of the hole and use the slope to feed it into the green.
Takes the OOB and water out of play and invariably results in a par.
I think that for my game, i'm trying to play bogey golf and will continue to do so until i consistently can do it. Once i've gotten to that point, i'll then look at my abilities and see where i can knock more shots off - probably then going on to aim for 2/3rd bogey golf.
I'm not trying for course records here but just want a solid game and to be as good as i can whilst realising i'm no Rory!
Coming back to the game after a 15 year lay off, i'm a bit more mature (i hope!) than i used to be. I've a more realistic expectation of what i can and cannot achieve.
I can find fairway 85% of the time.
I can putt reasonably well.
I can't get much back spin on the ball.
I have trouble with bunker play.
I'd say my "course management" has been responsible for most of the cut in my H/C this year as opposed to it purely being better play.
I'm using a lot more bump and run shots from about 100 yards out where i can - and getting close, like Jim said.
I'm using my imagination a bit more to see if there are ways of playing the hole to the best of MY abilities, not just trying to hit it as high as i can to land as soft as i can.
For example 13th hole is a par 3. OOB on left, water on right along length of hole. "Fairway" slopes left to right with green sunken into it.
When i restarted playing, i'd pull out a 7 iron and try and land it on the green and usually muck it up. Now i've started to hit a low running 5 iron along the left hand side of the hole and use the slope to feed it into the green.
Takes the OOB and water out of play and invariably results in a par.
I think that for my game, i'm trying to play bogey golf and will continue to do so until i consistently can do it. Once i've gotten to that point, i'll then look at my abilities and see where i can knock more shots off - probably then going on to aim for 2/3rd bogey golf.
I'm not trying for course records here but just want a solid game and to be as good as i can whilst realising i'm no Rory!
I played at the weekend and had a great front 9 (for me anyways) hit a 44 but then my lower back started to give in again and I also started to struggle gripping the club RSI I really need to take a few weeks off to recover fully and I ended up hitting 57 on the back 9 so walked off in a bit of a huff, Ive got a society day in 2 weeks hopefully I play better in that.
then plenty of rest!!
then plenty of rest!!
DuncanM said:
Hey Jim,
It's this bit I picked up on:
"But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often."
He seems to have mentally got it into his head that a chip and 2 putt is acceptable?
Long straight driving requires more technique than chipping and putting, which is much more a mental game.
I think a change of mindset is required
Definitely not acceptable and it is definitely where I can take the most off my game. I'm just speaking as new comer to the sport talking about the characteristics my game has developed over the last year. It's the chipping on from short range to within a distance that gives me a 90% chance of a single putt is the ball ache.It's this bit I picked up on:
"But my 'standard' par 4 is usually good drive, second shot from usually 100ish yards ends just off the green in any direction, chip on and 2 putt for 5, or my dreaded 3 putt 6 that happens a little too often."
He seems to have mentally got it into his head that a chip and 2 putt is acceptable?
Long straight driving requires more technique than chipping and putting, which is much more a mental game.
I think a change of mindset is required
I average between 90 and 100, if I could get myself 'up and down' from within 50 yards every time I'd take 15 shots off my round.
milner993 said:
I played at the weekend and had a great front 9 (for me anyways) hit a 44 but then my lower back started to give in again and I also started to struggle gripping the club RSI I really need to take a few weeks off to recover fully and I ended up hitting 57 on the back 9 so walked off in a bit of a huff, Ive got a society day in 2 weeks hopefully I play better in that.
then plenty of rest!!
You may want to get one of these if you suffer all the time with a bad backthen plenty of rest!!
http://reviews.boots.com/2111-en_gb/122564/homedic...
snowy said:
milner993 said:
I played at the weekend and had a great front 9 (for me anyways) hit a 44 but then my lower back started to give in again and I also started to struggle gripping the club RSI I really need to take a few weeks off to recover fully and I ended up hitting 57 on the back 9 so walked off in a bit of a huff, Ive got a society day in 2 weeks hopefully I play better in that.
then plenty of rest!!
You may want to get one of these if you suffer all the time with a bad backthen plenty of rest!!
http://reviews.boots.com/2111-en_gb/122564/homedic...
wedge suits me fine for about an 18 hcapper...Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff