Going off of this, have you been properly fitted for clubs as that is the most likely reason for lack of distance at your height.

DD- did you join a club out in AZ or just getting around to a lot of courses in the valley?

it's certainly possible. It could easily be from tire damage (golf cart routinely drops off bottles of water [SO POSH]) on that hole. But I don't think you get relief from tire damage. Also, could be an animal, I have no idea how they would rule this in a tournament. I guess my feeling is that whenever you can't get at the back of the ball and you aren't in a hazard or in trees, it's a little bit unfair and it seems like relief should be given...kind of like when your ball gets plugged. But whatever, I played 2 balls and took the bogey. UNLESS SOMEONE SAYS OTHERWISE?!??!?!!

Father in law after par on 18: "That's only my fifth par today." My response: "Yeah well, that's only my 4th par". His response "And I thought I was playing bad".

82 v. 89 pops.

Shot 69 last weekend, first time breaking 70 since before university. Even though it was on a 6200 yard course, still feel like a boss.

Getting around (though not quite so much w our newborn here now). I ended up taking lessons w a guy where I pay a set amount a month for 8 hours of lessons / playing lessons, so thats sort of taking the place of club dues for the time being

Several reasons for it, really. For one, I play Ping Eye2s from the very early 90s. Weak lofts. That accounts for about one club difference.

Also, I'm old and not terribly flexible. In my younger years my stock 8 iron was as long as 155, more recently it's been 135 and this year all my short irons go 100.

I haven't had much of a swing this year and my iron distance is quite inconsistent. I've mostly been playing more club to try and make up for the poor contact, but it's not a perfect fix.

Really, lack of distance isn't all that much of a problem. I can't remember the last time I played a course at over 7,000 yards. I usually play 6500 or so, and the course I play most is super tight so accuracy is >>>>>>>>>>>>>> (x one million) more important than distance.

The clubs were fitted for me - me 20 years ago. I'm pretty sure they're 1" over standard and 2* upright. Until this year I've been an above average ball striker with the irons, with a propensity to hook the driver and no short game. This year it's like I'm bizzaro me.

Went out tonight even though it was almost 100*. Played pretty much like ass, I think I shot 44 (par 35) with no birdies and two doubles coming home.

88 and 84 this week (72 and 71 pars). 3rd and 4th times ever breaking 90, and only my 4th and 5th rounds of the year after not playing for five years. It's amazing what some lessons and practice will do. Not to mention finally getting fitted (I'm 6'5").

I need to get better off the tee. 3 penalty strokes in the 84 round and some other close calls. Only 2/13 fairways, but 8/18 greens. Other than one tilty hole with a couple duffed pitches, my short game was by far the best it's ever been. Apparently I need to be that guy at the range that bangs drivers and 3-woods the whole time :-/

39-39-78. 2 birdies, no doubles. 6/13 fairways, 5/18 greens, 28 putts.

Played white tees today. Pretty good round mostly due to fairly good putting. If I hadn't gotten screwed on 16 and 17 the putt total would have been seriously low. Ball striking was better on the back.

#1 (4, 360): Pulled 4w into trees. Chip out banks off a tree but ends up safely in fairway. 5h from 155 to 12', good lag, tap in. 5.

#2 (3, 140): 7i pin high but 25' right. Lag to 2', tap in. 3.

#3 (5, 520): Good 4w in fairway. 3h to 135. 7i to 4', make. 4.

#4 (4, 355): Good 4w in fairway. Push 5h a hair, catches overhanging branches and falls in fairway. Pitch from 40 yards to 5', make. 4.

#5 (3, 185): Solid 3h just long and right. Lob to short side pin ends up on fringe, 12' short. Putter from fringe too hard 3' past, make. 4.

#6 (4, 380): Driver pushed a bit, tried to draw back in but it didn't come far enough, ends up in right rough in awkward lie. Half topped 3h punch out to 125, 8i flies right over the top of the stick, rolls 20' past. Terrible leave, double breaking uphill then downhill putt. Lag misses 4' right, make. 5.

#7 (4, 360): Attempt to draw driver fails, goes straight, ends up in waste area on dogleg left. Punch out to 90 yards. PW to front of the green, pin is back. Bleah. Lag from 30' to 3', make it. 5.

#8 (3, 135): 8i comes up just short. Putter from off green past cup 4', twisty left to right putt burns edge, tap in. 4.

#9 (5, 455): Good drive to 205 on left side of fairway. 4w to front right bunker. Awful lie in bunker, chunk one out and it just runs past hole to fringe. Putter off fringe from 10' stops 6 inches short, tap in. 5.

39 (par 35).

#10 (4, 375): Slight tweak to the swing for the back nine. Excellent drive in right side of fairway. 8i from 125 draws just a bit to 18'. Lag misses left to 3', make. 4.

#11 (5, 460): Good drive to left side of fairway. 8i for position. Clunky 8i to 20'. Lag to 2', make. 5.

#12 (4, 345): Toed 3h to right rough. 4h comes up just short and right. Lob wedge to tough pin checks up. Putt from 7' misses low, tap in. 5.

#13 (3, 140): Knock down 6i into the breeze pin high left, about 1 foot into the rough. Putter from there (about 20'), make. 2.

#14 (5, 460): Good drive to right side of fairway. Awful smother hooked 4w, banks off trees and stays in rough. PW from 80 just rolls over. Putter off the fringe from 12', misread to 3', make. 5.

#15 (5, 485): Drive pushed into right rough. Good 3h to 140. 7i a little thin to 12', big breaking putt sweeps across the front of the hole, tap in. 5.

#16 (3, 175): 4h just short of pin high in right rough. LW checks up, 7'. Putt rolls right up and is in the center one ball from the cup, misses left. Unbelievable. I guess it needed more speed to avoid the tiny ridge around the cup. Jeez. 4.

#17 (4, 385): Solid drive draws a bit and takes a big kick left. 4h from rough comes up just left of green. Putter from off the green too hard to 4' past. Comebacker does exactly the same thing that just happened on 16. Tap in. 5. FML.

#18 (4, 380): Solid drive runs through dogleg. Poor 3h catches an overhanging limb to 110. 9i to 10', make it. 4.

39 (par 37), 78.

79 today. I'm getting where my "default" shot is very good so it seems like I have a ton of room to play with to break 80. In the past, it seemed like I had to putt really well or hit it awesome to break 80, now I have a 3 putt, a short miss, a few misclubs, a bogey on a 293 yard par 4, and 4 penalty shots, including a double bogey on a hole where I had to hit 4 iron from 130 yards (into the water) because the wind went from 0-50 and the temperature dropped 12 degrees in 5 minutes and still break 80 from the back tees.

shot 88 today after a season best 73 last time out FML and im a 4. oh well at least im playing tommorow

Only played 9 today at a local course. Par 36, played relatively poorly for me. Still can't drive nicely and have.a wicked slice. Irons are solid, chip/pitch game still weak. Putter is brutal.

Shot 50 which is about my 7th best 9 of the year.

On another note, I've really played much more golf this year than any year past. I usually hover around 100 strokes in a round, but I have been improving most of my shots each time out. I look forward to posting in this forum more.

Can't drive or putt, though.

42-41-83. No birdies, 2 doubles. 8/13 fairways, 9/18 greens, 37 putts.

A waste of a pretty good ball striking day. Hit the first five fairways and 7 of the first 8 greens and was +2 after eight. There were some difficult pin placements but nothing went in. Got tired on the second nine and lost focus leading to a slew of sloppy bogeys.

42 (par 37). Perfect 76 degree evening, I got in 11 holes before dark and did not see a single other golfer on the course (!). It's sure going to be a bummer when the days are too short to get an evening round in. Good ball striking, so-so chipping, just plain bad putting. Tried something different after I finished, seemed to fix some of my aiming issues, hope it works tomorrow.

i'm jealous, solo rounds with no one anywhere on the course are the best

need to get a lesson, have completely given up on hitting any woods. went to the range to fix it and on maybe 25% of the swings I even got the ball in the air, some sort of mental block I think as I am hitting all my irons well by my thrilled-to-break-90 standards.

Saw a guy working on his driver at the range and he somehow heel'd a ball so hard it bounced back and hit him in the chest.

The course I play at is $10 to walk all day. 9 hole course with 2 different tee boxes. It's not uncommon to be the only one out there, esp. when it's 100 degrees out. It's in very good shape, too, b/c it's subsidized by the community college so it's actually somehow in better (much) condition than the city muni in which that college resides. And half the cost. A lot of people there are older single guys (hayyyyyy) so they're just there to play golf and if you catch up with them or vice versa it's always pretty chill. Not a lot of douchers out there. Except me I guess. If you can't spot the tard within thirty minutes you may be him!

Loretta, are you talking about tee'd driver shots also? Or just fairway wood shots?

Wally, wear a cup.

When I was in St. Andrews the first thing I did was go to the range to get a feel for the rental clubs I had. Worked my way up from the shortest clubs to the longest; everything was fine until I got to the driver and I guess it was teed up a little too high because I popped it up and it crashed into the overhanging roof, then bounced off the floor before I even had a chance to duck. Fortunately it didn't hit me or anyone else.

Do you (or anyone) have any experience flying clubs around? I'll likely buy a plastic case, but what about costs and is it worth it?

There was a bit of discussion in this thread: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/93...clubs-1163616/

If I did it again, I'd rent again. Only way I'd fly somewhere with my own clubs is if it were solely a golf trip and I had a rental car the whole time.

both

although i'm slightly better off the deck with my 3 wood and 5 woods, i can usually get it in the air enough to hit a 20 to 30 yard slice that goes about as far as a solid 4 or 5 iron, so i've retired them all.

its bizarre because i have a slight draw with my irons.

I have never, ever been able to hit my 3 wood off of the deck. 5 wood I can, but 3 is out of the question.

42-41=83, albeit from one of the forward tee boxes (in between reds and whites). Driver was behaving for the most part, and I managed to one-putt five of the first six holes. Highlight was sinking a 50-60 footer with about four feet of break for birdie on 14.

Walked it solo, managed to finish in 3:15. I was frustrated as I got to 10 and saw a pair that wasn't in front of me at all on the front 9, hacking it down to the green and taking 2-3 minutes to look for their ball on every shot. I was grumbling at the starter for sending these guys out on 10, but on the long walk to 11 I saw them walking off the 2nd tee. Thank God, they thought 10 was 1 by mistake!

39 (par 37). If it's Tuesday it must be an easy setup. Really should have been a 37, I yipped a 2 footer on the first hole and missed a 3.5 footer a couple holes later. Got it sorted out after that and putted fine the rest of the way.

Shot 89 yesterday with a lot of wasted shots. However, I holed out from 82 yards for an eagle 2. That was the longest shot I have ever holed. I hit almost a full lob wedge from the rough and caught it clean. It bounced once short of the hole and hit the stick and disappeared... was such an awesome feeling!