The Golf Thread - 2016!

[anonymous-user]

DuncanM said:

Rosscow said:

cheddar said:

Rosscow said:

I'm considering a top of the bag rebuild!

New equipment won't fix your game, it almost never does but YOU can fix your game.

Shiny things don't make things better, applying yourself does

I don't necessarily agree with that, actually!

I hit my 3 wood well - so I want to use it more.

I struggle with my long irons, but hit my hybrid well. So I'm going to swap them. That's all.

I'll still have my driver and long irons, so if I fancy putting them back in I will.

But time is scarce at the moment - spending hours on the range doing drills just isn't possible for me right now. My Sunday morning golf is precious to me, so if a few club changes make it easier and more enjoyable for me for the time being then I think it's worth it.

I haven't bought any new equipment for 2 years so I'm not a prolific equipment we!

Next year is going to be tricky for me - starting a very large house extension/renovation, 2 young kids and I'm Captain! Spare time is going to be minimal.

Plus, it's nice sometimes to buy new shiny things

Edited by Rosscow on Tuesday 6th December 09:30

Cheddar is right overall, I'm sure you know that.

However, what you've described actually makes sense, and will hopefully improve your scores, not to mention make you happy over Xmas!

Sounds like a good move

On a more general note regarding equipment, anyone old enough to remember wooden woods, and the first small metals, hardly anyone from say 15hc up, would use a driver, because they simply would score. The idea of everyone using a driver, is a relatively new concept, pushed by companies like Taylormade.

First ever club was a Max Faulkner persimmon 5 wood - lovely when hit flush, didnt even feel the ball off the face.

Had NorthWestern persimmon driver,Ping Eye 2 and the Wilson Whale with a Firestick shaft, I think just about the first "oversized" head even though made of wood...and man that thing felt it went a long way....back in the day!

First metal was the Wilson Bazooka with a carbon/boron shaft...didnt get along with it and went back to the Whale for a couple more years.

[bodhi]

SpeckledJim said:

Adjustable clubs should be banned, IMO.

We're allowed 14 clubs in the bag. If you can tune them longer/shorter/higher/lower/fade/draw, it makes a bit of a mockery of the limit.

Crafting a shot from the restricted tools at our disposal is a good part of the game, it shouldn't be side-steppable.

In a way, they are. Adjustable clubs are all well and good, but once you have teed off the first, you can no longer adjust them within the rules of the game - so if you see anyone getting the adjusting tools out in game, you can pull them up on it. I nearly got disqualified from a medal for tightening the adjusting screws on my driver as there was a worrying crack at the top of my backswing - if I'd removed the head, it would have been game over.

On old school drivers, I think my favourite was still my Yonex A.D.X 200 - boron shaft, graphite "oversize" head, went like an absolute rocket out the middle. The original Great Big Bertha was an absolute monster as well, but the Yonex actually went further when flushed. It was just if you brought the head through slightly open it had issues - 90 degree slice ahoy

[bodhi]

Rosscow said:

I'm considering a top of the bag rebuild!

I just can't get on with my driver anymore, but I'm pretty consistent with my 3 wood. So I'm considering:

Ditching the driver
Replacing current 3 wood with the Ping Stretch 3 (13 degree, adjustable up and down by 1 degree)
Getting a new G hybrid 3, and replacing 4 and 5 irons with G hybrids.

The G Stretch will effectively be my driver - I don't use it off the deck. I'm so much better at hitting my 3 hybrid than my 4 iron so I thought I'd get a 4 and 5 hybrid.

I'd ignore the nay sayers and go for it personally - golf is a very very personal game, and if you find something that will increase your enjoyment of the game (especially in Captain's year - only 2 captains have got their handicap down whilst in office at our place, the current Captain and me dad, who was Captain in 1997...) then it would be a bit silly not to indulge.

I've got a few options at the top of my bag, and vary them depending on conditions, type of competition etc. For the first time ever I am considering dropping my driver from time to time - not a that I have too much of an issue hitting it, but the Vapor Fly 3 Wood I bought travels that far it's more like a mini-Driver, so gives me room in the bag for either a 2 iron or 5 wood.

Plus, the most important thing as you've noticed - you get new shiny. Shiny shovels in the case of Pings but shiny nonetheless

[SpeckledJim]

bodhi said:

SpeckledJim said:

Adjustable clubs should be banned, IMO.

We're allowed 14 clubs in the bag. If you can tune them longer/shorter/higher/lower/fade/draw, it makes a bit of a mockery of the limit.

Crafting a shot from the restricted tools at our disposal is a good part of the game, it shouldn't be side-steppable.

In a way, they are. Adjustable clubs are all well and good, but once you have teed off the first, you can no longer adjust them within the rules of the game - so if you see anyone getting the adjusting tools out in game, you can pull them up on it. I nearly got disqualified from a medal for tightening the adjusting screws on my driver as there was a worrying crack at the top of my backswing - if I'd removed the head, it would have been game over.

I did not know that! Thank you.

bodhi said:

On old school drivers, I think my favourite was still my Yonex A.D.X 200 - boron shaft, graphite "oversize" head, went like an absolute rocket out the middle. The original Great Big Bertha was an absolute monster as well, but the Yonex actually went further when flushed. It was just if you brought the head through slightly open it had issues - 90 degree slice ahoy

Yes, very nice. The Wilson Whale also appeared in my bag. In fact I've still got it. Honourable mention to TM Burner Bubble!

And I still play Big Bertha Warbird 3, 5 and occasionally 7-wood.

And there are a quite a few GBB and GBBII, PING ISI, Mizuno MP, Callaway ERC drivers and 3 woods cluttering up my garage that have blotted their respective copybooks at various times and thus been banished.

[bodhi]

SpeckledJim said:

Yes, very nice. The Wilson Whale also appeared in my bag. In fact I've still got it. Honourable mention to TM Burner Bubble!

And I still play Big Bertha Warbird 3, 5 and occasionally 7-wood.

And there are a quite a few GBB and GBBII, PING ISI, Mizuno MP, Callaway ERC drivers and 3 woods cluttering up my garage that have blotted their respective copybooks at various times and thus been banished.

TM Burner Bubble? None of that new fangled stuff for me, in the garage at home I have one of the original Taylor Made Burner 3 Woods, along with:

Great Big Bertha Hawkeye Pro Series (7.5 degree loft!!)
Powerbilt TPS Persimmon Driver
Petron TPX 5 Wood
Yonex Super ADX Titanium
Callaway Big Bertha 1 Iron

Might have to pop back soon and see what I can dig out!

[GTO-3R]

Best driver I ever had was a Great Big Bertha with an RCH36 Tour Series shaft in it. I'd still be using it today if I wouldn't be miles behind by current driver

[Blaster72]

johnxjsc1985 said:

StescoG66 said:

Well...... for the first time in 4 years got a handicap cut. Chuffed doesn't cover it, played really well following on from my 74 at Geleneagles. 78 in the medal at my home course ( Crail, Balcomie white tees) then followed that up by shooting 76 today in a bounce game. If Carlsberg made weekends.........

well done mate

+1 Tremendous results.

[DuncanM]

I had a T-Zoid Pro, with a stainless steel shaft, best driver I had, seemed to go miles.

I really struggled with moving to titanium/graphite shaft at the time, but you can never go back once you've figured it out.

I have a friend who plays off scratch at Woburn, his thing is to buy old sets of blades, and persimmon woods off ebay, and play them! He still shoots ~par

[anonymous-user]

DuncanM said:

I had a T-Zoid Pro, with a stainless steel shaft, best driver I had, seemed to go miles.

I really struggled with moving to titanium/graphite shaft at the time, but you can never go back once you've figured it out.

I have a friend who plays off scratch at Woburn, his thing is to buy old sets of blades, and persimmon woods off ebay, and play them! He still shoots ~par

Not been around these parts much lately, but have you managed to dial out that dip and over rotation of the hips?

Still got the Cerb too?

[Rosscow]

I had a real good think about it, and my Pro has done me such a good deal on them, so I've gone for it! Shiny shiny!

[DuncanM]

djstevec said:

DuncanM said:

I had a T-Zoid Pro, with a stainless steel shaft, best driver I had, seemed to go miles.

I really struggled with moving to titanium/graphite shaft at the time, but you can never go back once you've figured it out.

I have a friend who plays off scratch at Woburn, his thing is to buy old sets of blades, and persimmon woods off ebay, and play them! He still shoots ~par

Not been around these parts much lately, but have you managed to dial out that dip and over rotation of the hips?

Still got the Cerb too?

Hey Steve, yes, got rid of the ott move, with the help of a great pro called Sam Smith, in Bedford. Great guy.

Unfortunately, due to crippling injuries, I only get to play ~5 times a year in a buggy

Still have the Cerb, it will likely need a full refurb in the not too distant future, will never sell it!

Is your Cerb all lovely now? I remember the early pictures of your restore thread

Any golf for you lately?

[anonymous-user]

DuncanM said:

djstevec said:

DuncanM said:

I had a T-Zoid Pro, with a stainless steel shaft, best driver I had, seemed to go miles.

I really struggled with moving to titanium/graphite shaft at the time, but you can never go back once you've figured it out.

I have a friend who plays off scratch at Woburn, his thing is to buy old sets of blades, and persimmon woods off ebay, and play them! He still shoots ~par

Not been around these parts much lately, but have you managed to dial out that dip and over rotation of the hips?

Still got the Cerb too?

Hey Steve, yes, got rid of the ott move, with the help of a great pro called Sam Smith, in Bedford. Great guy.

Unfortunately, due to crippling injuries, I only get to play ~5 times a year in a buggy

Still have the Cerb, it will likely need a full refurb in the not too distant future, will never sell it!

Is your Cerb all lovely now? I remember the early pictures of your restore thread

Any golf for you lately?

Good work on the swing changes

Zero golf for me at all chap, knee pretty much shot these days. Consultant said to stop any sport until it's replaced. Trying to keep the weight down, but walking for long periods and it hurt like a bh. C'est la vie!

Refurb for the Cerb soon huh?? I know that type of pain too

Mine was back on the road a couple of years ago, but still have annoying little niggly issues that have limited driving it, and getting out of it is pretty comical these days.

But, she still looks pretty good just sitting in the garage (IMHO)!

Edited by djstevec on Wednesday 7th December 11:11

[DuncanM]

djstevec said:

DuncanM said:

djstevec said:

DuncanM said:

I had a T-Zoid Pro, with a stainless steel shaft, best driver I had, seemed to go miles.

I really struggled with moving to titanium/graphite shaft at the time, but you can never go back once you've figured it out.

I have a friend who plays off scratch at Woburn, his thing is to buy old sets of blades, and persimmon woods off ebay, and play them! He still shoots ~par

Not been around these parts much lately, but have you managed to dial out that dip and over rotation of the hips?

Still got the Cerb too?

Hey Steve, yes, got rid of the ott move, with the help of a great pro called Sam Smith, in Bedford. Great guy.

Unfortunately, due to crippling injuries, I only get to play ~5 times a year in a buggy

Still have the Cerb, it will likely need a full refurb in the not too distant future, will never sell it!

Is your Cerb all lovely now? I remember the early pictures of your restore thread

Any golf for you lately?

Good work on the swing changes

Zero golf for me at all chap, knee pretty much shot these days. Consultant said to stop any sport until it's replaced. Trying to keep the weight down, but walking for long periods and it hurt like a bh. C'est la vie!

Refurb for the Cerb soon huh?? I know that type of pain too

Mine was back on the road a couple of years ago, but still have annoying little niggly issues that have limited driving it, and getting out of it is pretty comical these days.

But, she still looks pretty good just sitting in the garage (IMHO)!

Edited by djstevec on Wednesday 7th December 11:11

Your Cerb is stunning! I kinda dread the bill, but also can't wait to do mine

I hope you get a solution to your knee soon, being in pain from walking is no fun

[Noodle1982]

Good afternoon guys. I'm looking for a set of used irons (5-9) with a budget of £200 and a handicap of 19, what would you guys recommend?

[DuncanM]

Noodle1982 said:

Good afternoon guys. I'm looking for a set of used irons (5-9) with a budget of £200 and a handicap of 19, what would you guys recommend?

Hello, although I've never owned a set, I would say that Ping are the best bet second hand, due to their coloured spot system.

Rosscow knows a bit about Ping so hopefully he'll chime in.

Basically, once you know your spot colour, you can buy a second hand set, that will be practically fitted.

They also wear extremely well.

[Rosscow]

DuncanM said:

Noodle1982 said:

Good afternoon guys. I'm looking for a set of used irons (5-9) with a budget of £200 and a handicap of 19, what would you guys recommend?

Hello, although I've never owned a set, I would say that Ping are the best bet second hand, due to their coloured spot system.

Rosscow knows a bit about Ping so hopefully he'll chime in.

Basically, once you know your spot colour, you can buy a second hand set, that will be practically fitted.

They also wear extremely well.

I love my Ping!

You could go for either the G or the I series. G is more forgiving (a 'game improvement' iron) where as the I are supposedly for the better player (I am a 15/16 handicapper and use the i25 irons). The main reason I went I instead of G is that the soles on the G irons are HUGE with lots of bounce. Not good for the firm, tight fairways where I play.

Have a Google for the Ping fitting chart - work out what colour dot you are and go for a set.

Also, if you're tall I'd try and get a set slightly longer set - I'm 6'2" and my irons are 1/2" long. But see what the chart says.

G20, G25, i20 or i25 will be your target. The newer G30, G or I irons will I'm sure be over your £200 budget.

[Mindisablank]

This time last year I decided to take up golf at the age of 52.

I played a bit when in my teens and early 20s, but never reached a point where I could break 90 regularly, and the number of games I played each year dwindled down to zero about 20-odd years ago. But every summer for the last 5 or 6 years I'd regret not playing, and vow that "next winter, I'll get some lessons and be ready to play next summer". Last year I finally did something about it and signed up for some lessons.

1 year later - after many lessons, buying new clubs, joining a golf club, playing in some medals, getting a handicap, getting injured from hitting too many balls, recovering from that, I'm now taking stock and setting some goals for getting into a new winter practice routine.

At the start of the year, my goal was simply to take enough lessons at the local driving range so that I could get around a real golf course without losing too many balls, and break 100. Breaking 90 occasionally was something to aim for, but I suspected it might be out of reach. I was ready to just bin the fantasy if it did not work out - but I was willing to chuck some time and cash at it to see what I could achieve.

I did not get off to a great start - my golf lessons were filmed, and looking at the replays, I was horrified - looked like a fat, axe-murdering hunch-back. I think my pro was equally horrified. He had trying to just hit 7 iron chips to stop massive slices and/or thin, fat, shanks and complete misses. That took quite a few weeks to get something approaching a normal golf swing. But I was hooked, and spent quite a few hours between lessons practising at the range last December and January.

When I knew I was hooked, I bought some new clubs to replace my 25 year old Ping irons (the woods must have got thrown out at some point). Big difference. Mostly because the grips were not 25 years old and shiny. But they gave me some confidence to start hitting even more balls, taking more lessons, and by February I had decided I was going to have to join a golf club if I wanted to start playing regularly, so I did that, and became a member by the end of March. Ready to play for real again.

Over the summer I tried to play almost every day. Eventually started playing OK - was regularly scoring under 90 off yellow tees, but could not do well in medals off the back tees. I got a handicap of 18, cut that to 16 and then back up to 17 - where it remains. Injuries meant that I did not manage to play in too many medals. But I've been fit again for a few months and have been regularly scoring high-70s / low 80s in winter league competitions, and friendly games.

On Saturday I scored 79 - with a 6 at the first and a 7 at the last hole - 4 over for the 16 in the middle. Sunday I scored my best round ever - 74 on a par 70 course made a bit shorter by forward winter tees. But I'm counting it!

Now the work begins again over the winter - I don't want to slip backwards next year. I'm still taking lessons, and practising the things I don't like / am not good at rather then just bashing 100s of balls aimlessly. I know my progress will slow down and will eventually plateau (and then get worse as I get older) but I am still improving and really interested to see what happens if I keep at it.

My only regret is that I did not do this 10 years ago.

[Rosscow]

Fantastic!

Just shows what can happen when you apply yourself and you have the time. Well done, mate!

I can but dream of playing nearly every day, I'd like to know just how good I could be if I could do the same.

[Blaster72]

Playing or practice often seems to be the key to game improvement. Those are some great results and some super scores that many players who have played for years would be pleased with.

I really think the game is all about a small amount of natural ability and whole load of time practicing the short game and putting. Most of us who only get to play once every week or two and don't practice much will always struggle to lower our scores.

Great to read that you can come back into the game, put the time and effort in and end up with some great rounds.

[toasty]

Rosscow said:

Fantastic!

Just shows what can happen when you apply yourself and you have the time. Well done, mate!

I can but dream of playing nearly every day, I'd like to know just how good I could be if I could do the same.

+1 well done.

I'd love to be able to play once a week but life just doesn't permit at the moment.