The Golf Thread - 2016!

[SpeckledJim]

DuncanM said:

SpeckledJim said:

..,but probably too low a handicap to stand any chance at best nett. So my only motivation is to set personal bests.

It's all about setting personal goals for me, hell I don't even play more than 5 rounds a year with friends anyway. The point I am making, is that without Stableford, Clubhouse golf is dead.

Clubhouse golf, as in a 28hc guy, playing with his <5 and enjoying a game of matchplay? Without stableford, this doesn't happen does it?

I can agree that handicaps are useful here. But you don't need Stableford. Handicaps in addition to Stableford just disconnects who wins from who is best even further.

Smack the thing! Smack it again! Shoot a 14, blob, move on, who cares!

Sorry, that's just not golf. Handicaps or not, every shot should count. What would we be if our biggest mistakes didn't have consequences? That's right! Americans!

DuncanM said:

Any club that has consistent winners with over 40 points, has a problem imo.

Agreed.

Handicaps should be very recent to be valid. And they shouldn't walk upwards over time by default. I see no reason why that happens. It just rewards banditry.

[JamesNotJim]

SpeckledJim said:

Agreed.

Handicaps should be very recent to be valid. And they shouldn't walk upwards over time by default. I see no reason why that happens. It just rewards banditry.

+1 for what speckledjim is saying

My anger is just in jest but somewhat also in annoyance.
I try my upmost to get better, countless hours practicing, countless lessons, thousands of balls hit over the year. All to push for a lower handicap,.
Yet there are those that rock up 4 days a month, mash it round, get awarded a 28 handicap and then play 3 qualifying comps a year. Wait's for the NQ's to start and all of a sudden Seve reborn appears and out comes the 45+ points.
I see it week in, week out. There is naff all that clubs can do about it. The annual review is supposed to help but how many gutless handicap sec's have pulled people. (they don't out of fear of a solicitors letter from said member)

I love the game, so it'll never stop me from playing or competing..... but a level playing field where the best golf on that given day wins would be nice.

[cheddar]

Oh good, we're still going

Firstly, anyone who massages their handicap in order to win whatever microscopic prize is up for grabs is completely missing the point, lobbing your integrity out of the window for 3 golf balls beggars belief.

I agree with everything that everyone's written, despite such differing viewpoints

My thoughts on the first tee are to be confident and to HAVE FUN.
Yes, I love shooting a low score but I've also walked into the clubhouse dead last feeling happier than the winner.

If we measure our golf pleasure only by our net/gross score we'll only ever enjoy it half the time.
Sometimes just that one shot, the hole out from 90 yards, draining a 30 footer, driving the green on a 500yard par5 in two shots is enough to enjoy a round even if the other 70/80/90 strokes are mediocre

Yes, I want a low gross score but the friendships, the incredible manicured environment and the freedom from traffic jams, work or painting the living room is just as enjoyable

Only once in maybe 2000 rounds of golf have I hated it, I shot a 67 through 9 holes on a 12 handicap carrying a party hangover that would have felled an elephant

Over to you chaps, oh, and more input on De Chambeau's putting please

[DuncanM]

HC should never go up. Shoot 82 off a 28hc? Here's your new hc of 14, and that's being kind.

I hate banditry in golf, I'd rather everyone had a vanity hc that they struggle to play to.

One last comment regarding Stableford, if you really want people finishing every hole, going back to the tee etc, just how long do you expect rounds to be?

[SpeckledJim]

:beers:

All in good sport, boys.

I hope nobody is reading into my words anything other than a collegiate spirit and an earnest desire to enjoy the game it its uniquely honest form.

Re stableford, I know it speeds things up, and god knows that is a good thing.

But it perverts one of the great essential tests of the game: patience.

It excuses rashness. It pardons the foolhardy. It encourages Big Dog strategy. If you can call that a strategy.

I am torn - I can absolutely see what you mean. But I disagree, and I never play Stableford. It is to golf what 20:20 is to cricket. And I know I have opened an argumentative trapdoor there, because 20:20 is likely to save cricket!

[Blaster72]

cheddar said:

oh, and more input on De Chambeau's putting please

It's a novelty stroke that's been tried before, nowt to see really.

As for the single length irons - again tried before and not adopted widely for very good reasons. A novelty.

[cheddar]

SpeckledJim said:

:beers:

All in good sport, boys.

I hope nobody is reading into my words anything other than a collegiate spirit and an earnest desire to enjoy the game it its uniquely honest form.

Re stableford, I know it speeds things up, and god knows that is a good thing.

But it perverts one of the great essential tests of the game: patience.

It excuses rashness. It pardons the foolhardy. It encourages Big Dog strategy. If you can call that a strategy.

I am torn - I can absolutely see what you mean. But I disagree, and I never play Stableford. It is to golf what 20:20 is to cricket. And I know I have opened an argumentative trapdoor there, because 20:20 is likely to save cricket!

I like reading your stuff, it's insightful, thought provoking and comes from a place where golf was played by golfers not taxi drivers

Not sure if you've said this but....
The better you get at golf the more you get penalised, at our biggest annual tournament the winner came home with 47 points and walked away with £1000 worth of prizes, the best gross was a 69, shot by a lad playing off of a 1 handicap, he came equal 17th on points and got sausages

[SpeckledJim]

cheddar said:

I like reading your stuff, it's insightful, thought provoking and comes from a place where golf was played by golfers not taxi drivers

Not sure if you've said this but....
The better you get at golf the more you get penalised, at our biggest annual tournament the winner came home with 47 points and walked away with £1000 worth of prizes, the best gross was a 69, shot by a lad playing off of a 1 handicap, he came equal 17th on points and got sausages

Thanks, that's appreciated.

I agree with you. Go to a squash club and the season's winners will be the lads who have put the most in, worked the hardest, improved the most, and deserved to win their respective mini-leagues.

Next season they will be in the league above, and the hard work starts again.

Golf tournaments are largely won by honest duffers for whom a bad day is +25 and a good day is -12, by guys everyone knows are massaging, or by guys who nobody knows at all because they only turn up every six months.

Performance on the day versus handicap counts for almost everything, and the guys who worked bloody hard to actually get any good at this infernal pastime are basically dismissed as lucky 'naturals'.

That winds me up. Is there an amateur sporting community less respectful of practice, mental discipline and hard work as the one we all encounter in golf?

I put myself on the low side of the hole, and someone I am playing with (against) calls it lucky, because they are facing a banana putt across the side of an alp.

It is not sodding lucky - it is where I decided to put the ball, using the information that was available to both of us, whilst you were lasering in on a pin you should have ignored. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I'm ranting now. Ignore me

[DuncanM]

Some really F'ing brilliant posts on this last page!

All great points, and I think we all tend to agree overall .

Cheddar:
"My thoughts on the first tee are to be confident and to HAVE FUN."

That's my golf mantra nowadays! Why I take lob wedge instead of putter, even if only just off the green

I F'ing love this game, nothing else comes close when catching up with friends. Best sport in the world for camaraderie.

Bryson.

I love what Bryson is doing in golf, but when it comes to putting, anything other than a classic putting stroke, is an admittance of not being able to putt.

Don't believe me? Name a great putter with a weird swing/grip, they don't exist!

And on the same topic, great to see Tiger with a Scotty back in his hand

[HaplessBoyLard]

DuncanM said:

Some really F'ing brilliant posts on this last page!

All great points, and I think we all tend to agree overall .

Cheddar:
"My thoughts on the first tee are to be confident and to HAVE FUN."

That's my golf mantra nowadays! Why I take lob wedge instead of putter, even if only just off the green

I F'ing love this game, nothing else comes close when catching up with friends. Best sport in the world for camaraderie.

Bryson.

I love what Bryson is doing in golf, but when it comes to putting, anything other than a classic putting stroke, is an admittance of not being able to putt.

Don't believe me? Name a great putter with a weird swing/grip, they don't exist!

And on the same topic, great to see Tiger with a Scotty back in his hand

Agreed. Some great points, and interesting reading.

Whether it's to combat banditry or not, I'm not sure, but my club does actually divide us in comps by hcp. Only two divisions with the dividing line at 14/15, but it seems to work. Once you get to low teens or single figures I tend to find it's a bit more honest. People have found their level and plateaued. Obviously there are still improvers who shoot under net par, but its rare that someone wins the comp at lower handicaps with an outrageous points total. 39 or 40 and you're probably winning. Quite often its 36 or 37.

The higher cappers still have someone with 43/44 taking it most weeks.


Putting....

Depends what you mean by a weird grip. Spieth isn't conventional in the truest sense, but you wouldn't say it's odd.

Players like Sergio and Phil mess around with grips because their putting ability doesn't tally up with the incredible skill they display in other areas. Its got to be mental though. I can't accept that players with that much ability with other clubs can't hold together a solid putting technique.

I'd love to know if Sergio has ever tried any sports psychologist sessions, or something similar.

Bryson....

If it was anyone else I'd dismiss it as similar to the others, but you can bet your life that he's got reams of evidence that says he's a better putter using a different technique. It will be measured and analysed to death. Whether it holds up in competition will be interesting to see, but he certainly won't have done it based on anything other than numbers.

[bridgdav]

I think you'll find Langer has mastered the long putter...

Just look at his achievements on the Champions Tour. Whether it's anchored or not, he still churns out sub-par rounds and holes the putts.

[DuncanM]

bridgdav said:

I think you'll find Langer has mastered the long putter...

Just look at his achievements on the Champions Tour. Whether it's anchored or not, he still churns out sub-par rounds and holes the putts.

Langer is a boss, but a great putter?

I'm not saying people can't putt well, just that all the great putters, have stuck to a classic stroke.

[JamesNotJim]

DuncanM said:

Bryson.

I love what Bryson is doing in golf, but when it comes to putting, anything other than a classic putting stroke, is an admittance of not being able to putt.

Don't believe me? Name a great putter with a weird swing/grip, they don't exist!

Brandt Sneaker & Matt Kuchar are the stand out one's. Niether stroke would be taught, but they make it work very well. Other mentions, Ryan Moore & Billy Horschel. Both quirky setups but fairly tradition strokes.

[Skii]

bridgdav said:

I think you'll find Langer has mastered the long putter...

Just look at his achievements on the Champions Tour. Whether it's anchored or not, he still churns out sub-par rounds and holes the putts.

He's a legend, but totally unwatchable for me. He makes continental drift look fast.

[SpeckledJim]

DuncanM said:

bridgdav said:

I think you'll find Langer has mastered the long putter...

Just look at his achievements on the Champions Tour. Whether it's anchored or not, he still churns out sub-par rounds and holes the putts.

Langer is a boss, but a great putter?

I'm not saying people can't putt well, just that all the great putters, have stuck to a classic stroke.

I think it's only those who aren't great natural putters who are motivated/impelled/forced to try something else.

And then the something else won't make an iffy putter into a great one, but it might make a crucial difference.

Great putting is between the ears, not between the hands, IMO.

God I wish I could putt.

[Rosscow]

Picked up the new clubs last night (3 wood I'm not allowed to use until after Christmas as it's my present from the kids!).

I literally had time to hit 1 ball.

So I took the wrapper off the 5 hybrid, stuck the ball down on the grass and hit a beautiful 200 yard shot with a slight draw!

I think this could be a good decision...

Went for Ping yellow corded grips with my usual 3 wraps of tape, felt lovely.

Looking forward to Sunday!

[cheddar]

Rosscow said:

Picked up the new clubs last night (3 wood I'm not allowed to use until after Christmas as it's my present from the kids!).

I literally had time to hit 1 ball.

So I took the wrapper off the 5 hybrid, stuck the ball down on the grass and hit a beautiful 200 yard shot!

Sounds like a game changer, hope it works out great

[Rosscow]

cheddar said:

Sounds like a game changer, hope it works out great

Here's hoping!

[bodhi]

Rosscow said:

Picked up the new clubs last night (3 wood I'm not allowed to use until after Christmas as it's my present from the kids!).

I literally had time to hit 1 ball.

So I took the wrapper off the 5 hybrid, stuck the ball down on the grass and hit a beautiful 200 yard shot with a slight draw!

I think this could be a good decision...

Went for Ping yellow corded grips with my usual 3 wraps of tape, felt lovely.

Looking forward to Sunday!

Congrats on the new shiny, but I gotta say, 200 yards with a 5 Hybrid?? That's obscene and only about 10 yards short of my 5 Wood, what sort of loft is it running?

[Rosscow]

bodhi said:

Congrats on the new shiny, but I gotta say, 200 yards with a 5 Hybrid?? That's obscene and only about 10 yards short of my 5 Wood, what sort of loft is it running?

26 degrees. It was on the range, but pitched just before the 200 yard flag. So maybe 190? Having said that I'm quite a long hitter.

I would normally hit my 5 iron around 185 so I wouldn't be surprised if it was longer.

I'll let you know when I play some proper shots.