The Golf Thread - 2016!

[timlongs]

SpeckledJim said:

IATM said:

SpeckledJim said:

IATM said:

Thanks for your reply. My main concern right now is to find the right set of irons that will help me to learn and not forgive me for my errors.

For example you get the standard JPX800 Irons which are fine but then you get the pro version which are slightly smaller, I guess what I am trying to figure out how much smaller or less forgiving they would be say over the standard jpx800 irons.

If its marginal then of course I will just get the pro's to start me off with but if there is a big difference then I will wait until a set of pings pop up or JPX 800 standard size.

Go for the most forgiving.

The only reason you might want less forgiveness is to go for a club that helps you shape or work the ball. With all due respect, that is a good way into the future for a beginner.

Those clubs punish off-centre strikes heavily. Not a good idea for now.

Go for a well made (once expensive) forgiving cavity back iron. My preferences are for Ping and Mizuno, but there are others.

You want what most of us want. Straight shots with predictable results. Dont make things harder for yourself by choosing a razor blade when what you need is a butter knife.

I cant stress this enough. Most beginners have watched golf on TV. Try to forget every single minute of it, apart from Jean van de Velde. They are playing a completely different game to 98% of weekend golfers.

Learn to hit a 5 wood, 7 iron, wedge and most importantly, a putter. With a solid stroke and sensible head you can play to 18 and be good company on any course in the land. Everything else is garnish.

Try not to play stableford, it makes you rash. In strokeplay every choice and every stroke is precious. That teaches patience and calmness. A proper round of golf is built, stableford points are just gathered.

(But if you are awful, and taking ages, just pick up and go again!)

Thank you very much, that is really really helpful. I might even just mock up my own set and buy a 5 wood, a 6&7 iron and a wedge with a putter myself.

The reason I asked is because I seen these which seem to be the pro version and seemed they might be a good buy

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172222079081?_trksid=p20...

They are a lovely set, but I would recommend the friendliest ones.

Also, they have S300 shafts (relatively stiff), which will suit a faster than normal swing speed. Unless you are pretty athletic, as a beginner, they might not be what you need. If you have a slow or normal swing speed a whippier shaft than an S300 will help a lot.

Ask a pro or someone who knows a bit if that shaft is right for you.

(shafts are actually much more important than clubheads, but everyone gets excited about clubheads, because all shafts look the same.)

Are they? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HitRUPoKiiM

[HaplessBoyLard]

IATM said:

Thank you very much, that is really really helpful. I might even just mock up my own set and buy a 5 wood, a 6&7 iron and a wedge with a putter myself.

The reason I asked is because I seen these which seem to be the pro version and seemed they might be a good buy

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172222079081?_trksid=p20...

Honestly, a set of ping G10 or G15 irons with regular steel shafts will do you proud for the time being. If you're not a stupid size like me (6'5"), then black dot (or close to it. Google ping colour chart) will be fine. Scour eBay or use golfbidder.co.UK.

Lessons will make far more of a difference to your game as a beginner than the minute differences between sets of game improvement irons.

You'll lose very little money when you sell them on, unlike the Wilson irons I had. £300 to buy new. Sold for £60. Great clubs, but they hold little value.

[Rosscow]

Had a great day yesterday, but the course is absolutely brutal at this time of year.

Stray off line with any shot and you are severely punished, the rough is unplayable and finding your ball almost impossible.

Absolutely savage and a very tough test of golf - 27 points and 5 blobs for me. Several 3 off the tee moments!

[bodhi]

Rosscow said:

Had a great day yesterday, but the course is absolutely brutal at this time of year.

Stray off line with any shot and you are severely punished, the rough is unplayable and finding your ball almost impossible.

Absolutely savage and a very tough test of golf - 27 points and 5 blobs for me. Several 3 off the tee moments!

Same here - ours is built on clay soil, so as soon as it starts to dry out like this you've got 2 hopes of stopping the ball on the green, and Bob's no longer with us....

Although that wasn't my excuse for my awful performance in the medal on Saturday - I just cannot get off the tee (still). I scored 3 7's and an 8, all through sending golf balls into the cabbage. No matter what club I have in my hand - Driver, 3 wood, 2 iron, all seem to go the same place.

I have figured out that I'm swinging too flat and my grip is a bit on the strong side - I'm working it out at the range, but come medal day, the old bad swings creep back in.

Still, got up early this morning and went for 9 holes before work - it's properly warm already, and I had the course to myself. Played to my handicap as well, which is nice / infuriating.

[swisstoni]

timlongs said:

SpeckledJim said:

IATM said:

SpeckledJim said:

IATM said:

Thanks for your reply. My main concern right now is to find the right set of irons that will help me to learn and not forgive me for my errors.

For example you get the standard JPX800 Irons which are fine but then you get the pro version which are slightly smaller, I guess what I am trying to figure out how much smaller or less forgiving they would be say over the standard jpx800 irons.

If its marginal then of course I will just get the pro's to start me off with but if there is a big difference then I will wait until a set of pings pop up or JPX 800 standard size.

Go for the most forgiving.

The only reason you might want less forgiveness is to go for a club that helps you shape or work the ball. With all due respect, that is a good way into the future for a beginner.

Those clubs punish off-centre strikes heavily. Not a good idea for now.

Go for a well made (once expensive) forgiving cavity back iron. My preferences are for Ping and Mizuno, but there are others.

You want what most of us want. Straight shots with predictable results. Dont make things harder for yourself by choosing a razor blade when what you need is a butter knife.

I cant stress this enough. Most beginners have watched golf on TV. Try to forget every single minute of it, apart from Jean van de Velde. They are playing a completely different game to 98% of weekend golfers.

Learn to hit a 5 wood, 7 iron, wedge and most importantly, a putter. With a solid stroke and sensible head you can play to 18 and be good company on any course in the land. Everything else is garnish.

Try not to play stableford, it makes you rash. In strokeplay every choice and every stroke is precious. That teaches patience and calmness. A proper round of golf is built, stableford points are just gathered.

(But if you are awful, and taking ages, just pick up and go again!)

Thank you very much, that is really really helpful. I might even just mock up my own set and buy a 5 wood, a 6&7 iron and a wedge with a putter myself.

The reason I asked is because I seen these which seem to be the pro version and seemed they might be a good buy

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172222079081?_trksid=p20...

They are a lovely set, but I would recommend the friendliest ones.

Also, they have S300 shafts (relatively stiff), which will suit a faster than normal swing speed. Unless you are pretty athletic, as a beginner, they might not be what you need. If you have a slow or normal swing speed a whippier shaft than an S300 will help a lot.

Ask a pro or someone who knows a bit if that shaft is right for you.

(shafts are actually much more important than clubheads, but everyone gets excited about clubheads, because all shafts look the same.)

Are they? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HitRUPoKiiM

I have nothing to back this notion up, but I have a feeling stiff shafts require a certain swing speed to fire up. So slow to average swingers are more detrimentally affected by too stiff a shaft than faster swingers.

[FrankAbagnale]

I played a good charity golf day today that raised some money for a worthwhile cause as well as being a lovely day for a round of golf!

It was about 15 teams, best two stableford scores on each hole from a 4 ball.

3rd place - 90 points
2nd place - 91 points
3rd place - 101 points!

Cured my slice by making sure I transfer weight to the front foot when finishing the swing which was a most welcome piece of advice from a 7 handicapper I played with.

[Pete-mojsh]

Got a few tips from a friend who plays off of 8 last week, one thing was to do with my grip to stop the hook on some shots, it felt very odd especially on the take back but I've persisted with it on my last two trips to the range. When I link all the pieces together the results are good, straight hits with a lot more distance but struggling to get my range on the shorter chips. So far the hardest thing is the driver, real mixed efforts with a lot carrying more height than anything, although there have been a few that go straight and clear 200 yards.

I have a one hour lesson on Sunday so hopefully that will help on the irons and the drive, once I can get a bit more consistent I'll get on to a course for some proper practice.

Whether it's realistic or not I would like to be able to get around 100 or less by the end of the year.

[kentlad]

Pete-mojsh said:

Got a few tips from a friend who plays off of 8 last week, one thing was to do with my grip to stop the hook on some shots, it felt very odd especially on the take back but I've persisted with it on my last two trips to the range. When I link all the pieces together the results are good, straight hits with a lot more distance but struggling to get my range on the shorter chips. So far the hardest thing is the driver, real mixed efforts with a lot carrying more height than anything, although there have been a few that go straight and clear 200 yards.

I have a one hour lesson on Sunday so hopefully that will help on the irons and the drive, once I can get a bit more consistent I'll get on to a course for some proper practice.

Whether it's realistic or not I would like to be able to get around 100 or less by the end of the year.

Forget about using your driver and i can almost guarantee you'll hit below 100 by the end of the summer, let alone the end of year (if you play once a week or even once every two)...100% of beginners make the mistake of trying to hit driver as it goes the furthest, it also goes the furthest off line...leave it alone until you're consistently breaking 100. I play off 12 and my best scores have all been when I've limited using my driver to maybe 3/4 times a round. Good luck!

[SpeckledJim]

kentlad said:

Pete-mojsh said:

Got a few tips from a friend who plays off of 8 last week, one thing was to do with my grip to stop the hook on some shots, it felt very odd especially on the take back but I've persisted with it on my last two trips to the range. When I link all the pieces together the results are good, straight hits with a lot more distance but struggling to get my range on the shorter chips. So far the hardest thing is the driver, real mixed efforts with a lot carrying more height than anything, although there have been a few that go straight and clear 200 yards.

I have a one hour lesson on Sunday so hopefully that will help on the irons and the drive, once I can get a bit more consistent I'll get on to a course for some proper practice.

Whether it's realistic or not I would like to be able to get around 100 or less by the end of the year.

Forget about using your driver and i can almost guarantee you'll hit below 100 by the end of the summer, let alone the end of year (if you play once a week or even once every two)...100% of beginners make the mistake of trying to hit driver as it goes the furthest, it also goes the furthest off line...leave it alone until you're consistently breaking 100. I play off 12 and my best scores have all been when I've limited using my driver to maybe 3/4 times a round. Good luck!

Agree with this. Using a driver to break 100 is like trying to get better at Jenga by taking a run-up.

Keep it on the short stuff and play for bogey on every hole longer than 160 yards.

You should regard a par as evidence that you were over-ambitious somewhere between tee and hole, and got lucky. Not as evidence that you are channelling the spirit of Harry Vardon.

Play for bogey, play to bogey, and you've shot 90. Easy game.

Forget that Rory McIlroy exists. Neither his shot-making, nor his shot-selections are available to you (or any of us, really )

[kentlad]

Anyone playing this weekend? Go on, make me jealous. Haven't picked up a club in weeks and it doesn't look like I'm going to in the near future!

[Abbott]

kentlad said:

Anyone playing this weekend? Go on, make me jealous. Haven't picked up a club in weeks and it doesn't look like I'm going to in the near future!

Golf des Yvelines Sunday morning but looks like it might be wet
http://www.opengolfclub.com/fr/golfs/fiche/1/Golf-...

[bodhi]

kentlad said:

Anyone playing this weekend? Go on, make me jealous. Haven't picked up a club in weeks and it doesn't look like I'm going to in the near future!

Yes, got the first round of our Annual Knockout comp on Sunday, was quite concerned as I've struggled to break 90 recently, which is an issue playing off 10, but have spent some time working on things this week and seem to be swinging much better (and more upright), so let's see.

Just having a word with the boss to see if I can go for a knock with a good friend tomorrow morning as well. She is starting to grumble a bit as I'm "always on the golf course" so let's see. Rather than swing tips I may need tips on how to keep a Golf Widow occupied

[Rosscow]

Knock out match on Sunday afternoon, through to the last 16.

Like Bodhi, I'm slightly concerned as my tee shots have been very poor recently. Let's hope I can find some form....

[kentlad]

bodhi said:

Yes, got the first round of our Annual Knockout comp on Sunday, was quite concerned as I've struggled to break 90 recently, which is an issue playing off 10, but have spent some time working on things this week and seem to be swinging much better (and more upright), so let's see.

Just having a word with the boss to see if I can go for a knock with a good friend tomorrow morning as well. She is starting to grumble a bit as I'm "always on the golf course" so let's see. Rather than swing tips I may need tips on how to keep a Golf Widow occupied

Get her a hobby? Or a dog?

[StescoG66]

I had a sneaky round last night at Kings Links in Aberdeen. Quite enjoyable actually and at £8 for a round (I pegged up at 630 in the evening) it was quite spectacular value. Given I was in Aberdeen for work purposes, it sure beats sitting in a hotel room on your own watching telly........

[Pete-mojsh]

The wife is out this evening so nipped to the range after work, I took the advice above and left the driver in the boot of the car. As it turns out it was very sound advice, took about two thirds of a bucket to concentrate on the irons which are slowly getting there with the new grip, only hit the 3 wood off of the tee. Unbelievable how different it is from the driver, I had a lot more consistency and hitting better length than I did on the rare occasions I hit the driver OK.

I think for the medium term I'll follow a similar routine at the range, I may invest in a wedge set for the shorter shots as although I can hit the sand wedge OK it would be good to have some more options.

Looking forward to my lesson on Sunday to get a few more things ironed out and work on. Will hopefully get some more time on a course soon, the range is fine but I don't think there's anything better than playing properly to increase the range of shots and distances I can hit. May join a friend for a round at Luton Hoo soon.

Edited by Pete-mojsh on Friday 10th June 19:33

[Abbott]

kentlad said:

Get her a hobby? Or a dog?

Get her golf lessons then she can beat you by scoring 62 points

[Blackpuddin]

Been playing with a group of guys on Thursday afternoons over the last few weeks. I'm the worst player, going off 25, and been playing so poorly I decided I had to have a lesson. I think playing with better players is not a good idea if you don't remember that you're not as good as they are. I've just realised that I have been forgetting about the difference in handicaps, trying to keep up with guys playing off single figures and getting increasingly frustrated when I can't, and it's all downhill from there.

Anyway, on the first lesson the pro took me to the simulator. I was hitting 7 irons perfectly, a bit like when you take your car into the garage to diagnose an annoying squeak and it won't do it! As soon as I got the driver out it started going wrong, right shoulder coming under apparently, not sure how to change that at my age but think I might go out on my own a couple of times to see if I can concentrate on improving my game as opposed to matching someone else's.

One thing I found interesting was the pro telling me that 'keeping your head down' is no longer preached as an absolute. I honestly thought it was, has anybody else been told this recently?

[HaplessBoyLard]

Blackpuddin said:

Been playing with a group of guys on Thursday afternoons over the last few weeks. I'm the worst player, going off 25, and been playing so poorly I decided I had to have a lesson. I think playing with better players is not a good idea if you don't remember that you're not as good as they are. I've just realised that I have been forgetting about the difference in handicaps, trying to keep up with guys playing off single figures and getting increasingly frustrated when I can't, and it's all downhill from there.

Anyway, on the first lesson the pro took me to the simulator. I was hitting 7 irons perfectly, a bit like when you take your car into the garage to diagnose an annoying squeak and it won't do it! As soon as I got the driver out it started going wrong, right shoulder coming under apparently, not sure how to change that at my age but think I might go out on my own a couple of times to see if I can concentrate on improving my game as opposed to matching someone else's.

One thing I found interesting was the pro telling me that 'keeping your head down' is no longer preached as an absolute. I honestly thought it was, has anybody else been told this recently?

Paying with better players is a good thing. You can learn from them. Just learn to manage your expectations. You get extra shots for a reason, and it lets you compete with guys you'd otherwise be outclassed by.

Keeping your head down certainly isn't the be all and end all of hitting good golf shots. If you watch Dustin Johnson, he often lifts his head loads through impact, and he's pretty good!

A lot of people blame hitting fat or thin shoots on lifting their head, when it's actually a problem with shifting their weight to get the right low point in their swing.

[Rosscow]

Rosscow said:

Knock out match on Sunday afternoon, through to the last 16.

Like Bodhi, I'm slightly concerned as my tee shots have been very poor recently. Let's hope I can find some form....

Well, I couldn't find any form. Low point in my golfing season!