The MM Golf Thread

[ScottyB]

i've always enjoyed it except i have a small problem - i'm terrible :lol:

it all comes down to time, i just don't have it to go out to the range and get my swing down. i recently played this may and once i got my swing i started really enjoying myself. all of my equipment is second-hand or the-year-before-lasts closeouts but it keeps me from feeling guilty about not using them so often and work fine for my skill level anyway.

my brother in law let me use some of his nike brush-tees and they were really nice on the drives. might have to pick some up a few years from now when they're 1/8 price

i'm definitely an iron guy too. i can't drive anything with less than a Happy Gilmore sized club face but once I'm on the green i do pretty well with a 5 through 8 iron.

[WRXtranceformed]

The quest for low 80s continues! My front 9 score before a lightning storm chased us off today:

[WRXtranceformed]

Shot an 89 yesterday from the tips yesterday at Ballantyne CC which is one of the nicer public courses in the area. My score would have been probably a lot lower except that I didn't warm up at all before our tee time. I'm finding that if I don't at least hit a couple of my clubs 10-12 times before teeing off that my front 9 score suffers. I shot a 48 on the front yesterday (bad) and a 41 on the back.

[Steve85]

Nice Lee! Yardage from the tips.. it looks like about 6400-6500? Do you usually play from the tips?

I haven't made it out for a round lately but I've been going to the range with the wife and kids. Helping them has made me focus on the basics again and I'm hitting it pretty well. They have a smallish grass section and I have been working on not moving my head on shots under 120. I have this real tendency to move my head and blade the wedge 20 yards over the green.

And wifey found this little gem for me at Winchester Golf Center

[WRXtranceformed]

Nice Lee! Yardage from the tips.. it looks like about 6400-6500? Do you usually play from the tips?

I haven't made it out for a round lately but I've been going to the range with the wife and kids. Helping them has made me focus on the basics again and I'm hitting it pretty well. They have a smallish grass section and I have been working on not moving my head on shots under 120. I have this real tendency to move my head and blade the wedge 20 yards over the green.

And wifey found this little gem for me at Winchester Golf Center

Thanks Steve! It's 6710 from the tips according to the score card. We don't usually play from the tips, but one of the guys I'm playing with is trying out for the ReMax Long Drive Challenge so we usually end up playing from the pro tee box any time we play with him. He ended up with an 83, but he can also outdrive me by 50-110 yards haha. I love that hat, that's awesome!! I still represent with a purple JMU golf towel I picked up at the book store a few years ago :thumbup:

[Steve85]

Thanks Steve! It's 6710 from the tips according to the score card.

haha..I'm so used to gold being senior tees I didn't even really look at that yardage :oops: I like doing that sometimes on a homecourse because it forces 3-4-5 iron approaches.

Played Rock Harbor today with wife and my parents. They are in the middle of an expansion and are a few holes short of the second 18. We played a make-shift course (Boulder) which requires you to play 7 holes twice to different pin positions. This is not something I would enjoy but since all but 1 were new holes it was nice to learn and then get the chance to play it for real an hour later.

I have really come a long way with not sliding my hips and hitting the ball with more fade than slice now. However, I shot 48 going out...drive, approach, chip, chip, chip putt, putt :twisted: and a couple penalties just not knowing where some water hazards were. it was so frustrating, drives were long and straight but I could not for the life of me score .Hmm..golf is a lot like being a fat teenager.

Coming in shot a 39!! I stayed out of the water and just generally put the ball in better position off the tee on the new holes. It was interesting to replay the holes in such short time span and see if you could duplicate success or execute what you learned. had two eagle putts on the day but couldn't drop them. I'll take all the two put birdies I can get though!!

So great day all in all. Wifey really came alive in the second nine also with a little stance adjustment. Playing with her and trying to teach really makes me focus on the basics and not over think what I'm doing.

[WRXtranceformed]

Nice Steve!! That's an awesome comeback. Honestly that's all it takes sometimes is one round through or just 9 holes to get warmed up and get a feel for the course. One of my favorite (and often frustrating) things about golf courses is that no course is exactly the same. It forces you to require a lot more thought, skill and mental focus to score well consistently across different courses.

My brother, our friend and I played at Seascapes Golf Links in Kitty Hawk this past week while we were on vacation at the Outer Banks. Price was a little steep for the reviews I read ($75/18) but the course was actually in great shape. It was really narrow and really odd. The back had two par 3s in a row and only 1 par 5. Anyway we played a best ball round because neither of them had ever actually played a full round before and we wanted to keep our pace of play up. We ended up with a 78 which I thought was pretty good considering their experience level! I got the closest I've ever gotten to a hole in one too, hit the freakin pin, spun and landed about an inch from the hole. Par 3, 134 yards downhill, hit a pitching wedge.



Yes, that is my divot! :oops:

Hopefully I'll nail one someday!

[Steve85]

One of my favorite (and often frustrating) things about golf courses is that no course is exactly the same. It forces you to require a lot more thought, skill and mental focus to score well consistently across different courses.

+1.
The only time I get sort of upset is when the new course your playing is FULL of blind shots. You spend an enourmous amount of time and mental energy looking for balls that should be in the fairway, or driving up and back to see where the dangers are, and so on. The Lake course in Morgantown, WV is one of the worst in that regard. You literally need a rally driver navigator like log book. I think it would be nice if courses like that offered yardage books free to first time players.

Nice shot! Did you make the putt?

I got my hole-in-one out of the way about 8-9 years ago. Pissed off my dad, he'd been playing for like 20 years and still didn't have one.

Your pic reminds of this day on a course in Hilton Head. These were back to back holes...

What the golf gods giveth...


they taketh away...


I hope I can keep my shit together for a little while. My dad hosts a 3 day 72 hole tournament every year in September. It's 60-64 players, you are a 4some team. 2some team, and playing for individual net and gross. The morning is 18 holes you play your own ball all the way and the afternoon is a 9 hole scramble. The morning also has ways to win cash on "junk". Birdes, greeenies, and sandies all pay you .10 from each player, but you also have to pay .10 for everyone elses. The challenge is to make enough to be on the plus side.

[Sijray21]

My brother, our friend and I played at Seascapes Golf Links in Kitty Hawk this past week while we were on vacation at the Outer Banks.

That's awesome! I've never hit one, but that's closer than i've ever gotten to a hole-in-one. my closest was about 6".

I played at that exact course about 3 weeks ago when i was there for a wedding. It was about 105* at the time and no one was on the course. It was pretty difficult if you couldn't keep it in the fairway. The bushes near the rough on a lot of the holes made it almost impossible to find the ball. The best shots for me on that course came when I chipped in on 13 (par 3) and 14 (par 4) for a birdie/par combo. I played with a couple buddies and it was my first time golfing this year (...sad...no time and the money has been going to other hobbies).

There's also an annual JMU ISAT golf tournament. If you're interested i can send you the info. My team tied for 1st and lost the tie-breaker last year and placed 3rd the year before. Not sure i'll even be able to make the date this year, but i'm hoping i can (i still don't know when it is, but it's typically the 2nd or 3rd weekend in October).

[WRXtranceformed]

Having a hard time finishing strong on the back 9s lately. Truthfully I probably don't get to play as much as I need to get really good. I shot a 90 the other day, but I shot 43 on the front 9. I'm either getting tired, drunk or both. Even if I don't drink, my score suffers on the back. I am noticing that I'm starting to select my shots a little more carefully. Where I would use to just always go for the pin...attack attack...now often I'll lay up or aim for a safer spot and that seems to have helped cut 1-2 strokes off of my game in general. I still really suck at putting. That's what is really hurting my game. I need to just get out whenever I can and practice....maybe get some strictly putting lessons to help with my stroke.

[Apoc]

Having a hard time finishing strong

[WRXtranceformed]

Shot a new best 88 yesterday. Again it came down to my putting though. I 3-putted on at least 3 holes, where I would have been putting for par or birdie. Realistically if I can get my putting down I should be able to hit the mid-low 80s. The greens were in slightly better shape, but there were still a lot of irregularities and "muddy" spots that were making it hard to read the speed from green to green. If I was willing to pay twice as much to play on a nicer course it would probably bring my score down a bit, but you can't beat $36 a round for an otherwise decent course.

[DierwulfBL]

Shot a 48 (-6) a couple weeks ago, 7 Birdies and a Bogey.


Oh wait this is ball golf, I play disc golf (all par 3s)

If you enjoy golf but don't enjoy the high price to play I suggest you pick up disc golf it's tons of fun. Harrisonburg has a pretty nice course at Westover Park if you're in that area.

[WRXtranceformed]

Impulse bought this putter tonight after sinking 5 straight putts on the astro turf green in Dick's.

Odyssey White Hot XG 2.0 #1



Phenomenal feel, excellent grip, plenty of feedback which is odd for me. My Taylormade Rossa putter just doesn't have that, there's no rewarding feel when you strike the ball correctly. The Rossa also has a flat "tail" that seems to get hung up on the green sometimes. I'm sure some of it is my technique, but the thin head putter seems to really help me get the proper swing out of the club with less weight and interference. Pretty good deal at $99 too.

I hate to blame my putting woes completely on a putter, but when I switched to a new driver it really helped me out and I'm hoping this does the same

[WRXtranceformed]

Well we braved the 45+ degree temps here and played a round today...glad that I did I shot the best round of my life of an 85!!

2 birdies and a bunch of pars helped. I only lost one ball on an errant drive, if I had made one other putt on another hole and kept that ball in the fairway I probably would have been closer to an 83. Still pretty happy!

My new job gives me $400 every year as a "wellness reimbursement" so I bought a bunch of golf lessons with it. I really need to work on my short game.

[WRXtranceformed]

Finally got my first golf lesson in. The pro figured out pretty much instantly why I was hitting the ball slightly right on each shot. He changed up my grip, stance and ball placement and it pretty much fixed everything. It's going to take a ton of practice for me to feel comfortable with this grip, but when I make solid contact it is a perfect shot!

Here is a video clip of one of my swing analyses. This is from the Dana Rader School in Ballantyne (south Charlotte). It's kind of cool to see how slight changes can make a huge impact on your shot.

Dana Rader Golf Schools Online Academy Player

[HAULN-SS]

Went to the range yesterday for the first time in years. Used to play quite a bit in HS and some after that, but havent in a good while. Gotta play in charleston this weekend with some guys so I thought I'd get some of the rust out. Surprisingly, I was able to hit about 75% of my shots straight. Just about all of the irons I could hit straight, but my driver had a slice every once in a while. Not sure what introduces that just some of the time. Could be my feet positioning?

Also, i am using old King Cobra knock-offs that are at least 10 years old (from my HS days), but damn it seemed like every iron i hit from 9 - 4 was within about 40 yards of each other. I dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing.

[WRXtranceformed]

If you're slicing you may need to:
1) move the ball a little further toward the inside of your front foot
2) check your grip to make sure you are hitting the club face square and turning over your wrists
3) keep your back elbow in toward your body on your backswing (don't let it bow out)

As far as hitting your irons, that's close. Each club down from 4 should be 10-15 yards less.
So my 9 iron is a 130yd club for me, 8 is 140, 7 is 150, etc.

[Btothefnrock]

I need to head out and play! I bought a set of Taylor Made R7 CGB Max irons last year to replace my King Cobras
(which I have for sale if someone wants a nice set for cheap!)


Now I need a new driver- currently using a TM R5 12deg..... wayyyy too much loft for me, but got it as a hand-me-down from the grandpa, so couldn't pass up the price... haha

[Steve85]

Played Shenvalee in New Market this weekend with my dad and his fellow geriatrics. Played the Miller and Creek 9s, they have another 9 called Olde. All 3 nines are pretty old so they are not long and have tiny greens. I decided to just play with the group and played more forward tees than I would normally play. This worked against against me at times as I played two 300yd par 4's in a total of 5 over trying to drive the greens. One tee shot in the water and the other went hard left, "dick out" distance.

I shot an 86 and I'm happy with that, well, sort of, dad shot 84 but his ass plays 5 days a week year round. The course has small greens so making GIRs is an accomplishment and I was probably 12/18. My putting was horrendous though. I've never played the course before and was reading too much break and never settled my speed either. I was pretty disappointed in that part of my game. It's fine if it happens for the first few holes, but when you don't make the adjustments is frustrating.

My two swing thoughts that have improved my ball striking are "stay down" and "stay behind it". When I tell myself "stay down" I think in terms of spine angle not head position.. The stay behind it refers to shifting weight to the front foot but NOT sliding my hips (and whole upper body) forward. It's improved my outside-inside swing path some and even helped with rhythm coming to real balanced finish. I still have a outside-in swing but not as bad. I will either do a lesson or two or grab some video and try to self diagnose. I'd like to call my ball flight a high-fade but it borders on a slice.

My wife is hitting the ball pretty well, her team took second at the ladies tournament at Bryce this weekend, the boys just got new clubs from grandma and grandpa and head to Bryce for a week of golf camp so I think this summer should see a rebirth of my once pretty good golf game. I am really looking forward to late afternoon 9 holers with the family.