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Golfers are suckers....

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by JR, Aug 17, 2008.

  1. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    I got my clubs and my first kid the same summer - 1983. Both have held up well. They have some cracks where I've hit them but their performance has been pretty consistent. I'm looking into upgrades. The clubs are easy to find. Not much market for a used kid.
     
  2. TwoGloves

    TwoGloves Well-Known Member

    The clubs, not the kids, right?
     
  3. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

  4. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    All the money can't help your golf game if you don't swing and grip the club properly.

    I haven't played in 18 months - life happens - but when I did, it was with a set of McGregor irons that are now 25 years old. I did buy a nice putter, but with playing not on the horizon, I got some decent money for it and a poor guy who had his clubs swiped was better able to re-stock his bag.

    I did get a Callaway Steelhead as a major driver upgrade a few years back, but the only other mallet-headed club in the bad is a Taylor Made Cleek ... also 25 years old. I rarely use it because distance isn't the problem is my game - it's not going on the hike of a lifetime finding the ball I just bombed over two fairways and a grove of trees.

    And Moddy ... sure there's no market for a used kid? It's amazing what one can sell on eBay ...
     
  5. kleeda

    kleeda Active Member

    I use Lynx Black Cats circa '99. They are a great perimeter weighted club and usually sell for under $100 these days. Added bonus of grips designed for use without a glove. Never could do the glove.
     
  6. Birdscribe

    Birdscribe Active Member

    Angola, that's easily remediable, something I found out when I took lessons.

    The pro I took lessons from 5 years ago wasted little time pointing out that your body frame goes a long way in dictating what kind of swing you have. That was one of the reasons why of the three pros I took lessons from, he was by far the best, because he worked with your swing and body type.

    Someone with your build isn't going to swing like Craig Stadler. You're going to be more upright, like Davis Love III. I had that problem: I was too hunched over for my frame. I'm 6-feet, with long arms and legs, so I have to swing upright to hit the ball squarely. It's a big reason why I hit my 6-iron better than my PW.

    The important thing is you have clubs that are 2 degrees or so upright. If you have a flat lie, or even a neutral lie, you won't be able to hit the ball well at all.
     
  7. bydesign77

    bydesign77 Active Member

    This couldn't be more true.

    After losing more than 40 pounds working with Delta, my swing was all out of whack. My hands were coming way inside on every swing, clearing too early and I was snap hooking a lot.

    There is no perfect swing. None. Just look at Furyk.

    The key is a easily repeatable swing. Every time. And learning to play your shot. If you hit the ball left to right, play left to right. Aim down the left of side of the fairway from the right side of the tee box. Trying to constantly force the ball where you want it to go versus where you're going to naturally hit it is silly.
     
  8. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    I disagree with your theory - and so do most pros.
    If you can hit the ball deep, you're better off trying to hit an 80 yard shot than a 150 yard shot. You have to assess the situation on the tee box. You assume you're going to hook or slice a shot, figure out what you would have to do from there and if it would be easier to hit that shot from that distance as opposed from a longer shot from the fairway. I'll take my chances with driver-sand wedge than 5 iron-5 iron.

    I play in a league where booze is the foremost concern, but we have this tiny 300-yard (allegedly) hole. I can rip a 3-wood to the green (which I why I said the distance is alleged - it's probably closer to 275) or I can snipe hook it or dead block it. If I go left or right, I'm still only like 40 yards out - and I'd rather have that shot than hitting a six iron off the tee, then trying to guess my distance and hit an iron.

    Fitted clubs make a huge difference, regardless of handicap and I don't care what your handicap is - if you play a softer ball, you will immediately notice around the greens.

    The biggest thing is course management. We could all shave a ton of shots off our rounds if we stopped trying to hit low cut shots from the trees or tried to attack a pin that's tucked behind a bunker. When you're 225 yards out and in the rough don't try to hit a glory shot.
     
  9. bydesign77

    bydesign77 Active Member

    Rhody, you're right. A shorter distance in is key. But depending on the course, you can get in a lot of trouble by being errant. My home course is carved out of the gerogia pines. Believe me, in the woods is usually a stroke penalty.

    Also, better equipment will improve a game, but only so much. And a 20 handicapper would be better served not buying Pro Vs and sticking to a medium build ball, callaway hx or something. losing a dozen balls a four a pop is tough.
     
  10. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    Great theory if you're playing a relatively flat golf course with rough that isn't too penalizing. Unfortunately, I've lived most of my life in western Pennsylvania, where a shot sliced 20 yards left of the fringe takes you down a hill into the adjacent fairway. I don't care what some pro says, in my opinion, being in short grass and 40 yards further away is always better than 40 yards closer and in weeds, or trees or some poor bastard's above-ground swimming pool.

    I have a buddy that's management now in pharmaceuticals and he plays the "bomb it and take it from there" style of golf whereas I've been playing a little longer more frequently than him and have a better sense of what I can and can not do. It never fails. I tee up a 3-wood and take my tee shot about 180 and somewhat near the fairway. He tees up his bought-it-for-$400-and-ain't-it-fuckin-SWEET Nike Sumo and puts his tee shot somewhere near the township municipal building.

    So he's 50 yards off of the fairway and about 200 from the flag, so it makes complete sense to try and ride a 3-iron out, right? *thwack* ball goes 10 yards. *thwack* ball goes another 10 yards. *thwack* finally we're on the fairway again...and about 150 from the hole still.

    This goes on for the ENTIRE round. Every hole we see more of the forest than that Ted Nugent hunting show on the Outdoor Life channel. Every hole he's scratching down a 7 or 8 or 9. And I can't even get pissed because I WAS him four years ago until I sat down with a pen and paper and sick "I'm sick of this" and jotted down some strategies to improve my game. Number one: know how you hit each club. If you slice 60-percent of your drives and you come across a par-four with a parking lot, 17 acres of trees and razor wire on the right, don't pull your Goddam driver.
     
  11. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    To clarify, I rarely use my fairway metal, which was designed as a combination wood/trouble club. Perhaps my original post should have had an editor.

    I'll pull driver out on even short par-4s. At one course in my home county, there were at least two driveable par-4s. That drove my playing partners nuts because they couldn't entertain that option.

    All I meant was I don't see the point in carrying multiple woods in my case given that distance - as a whole - isn't an issue with my game. If I were to play regularly again (I haven't exactly been working with lots of extra time or money of late) I would be MUCH better served with an extra wedge or two as opposed to a 4- or 5-wood or maybe a 2-iron. My 3-iron is pretty much a designated snake killer in my bag as I can hit a 4-iron about 200 yards, the fairway metal further ... and since I don't play 7,000-plus yard courses, distance isn't a premium with me.

    Like you, I'd rather be closer with rare exception rather than trying to outsmart myself and my meager game by teeing off with 5-irons and such. Those same playing partners would do that on one of two severe par-4 doglegs we'd play on a particular course. Me? Pull out the driver, aim over the grove of trees and bomb.

    Sometimes it even worked. ;)
     
  12. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    I don't own clubs, thus I don't play and am totally out of my element on this thread. But I do have a driver in my back seat that I take to the range whenever I get the urge to smack around a bucket of balls. Or at least I did ... until this weekend. I was about halfway through a medium bucket when I took a swing and the head of the driver snapped off. It flew about 50 yards into the middle of the range and, needless to say, ended my day at the range. :D

    Thing cost me $44 at Play It Again Sports about five years ago (even still had the price tag on it), and was the first lefty driver I'd seen in a store in a long time. I'll probably go out and get another soon, because I do like hitting the range from time to time. I wouldn't mind playing more, but that's about all I'm willing to spend on a club since I never play in the first place.
     
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