Played in a tournament today honoring a good friend and internationally known amateur who died last summer.

Brag - On the long drive hole pounded one ~310 into a slightly hurting wind to win the prize.

Beat - Carded a snowman on the same hole. Oops.

I did donate the long drive prize back to my friend's charity.

BO

I turned in 3 really solid rounds last week 80, 79, 80 and my handicap didn't budge, wtf. I was expecting it to drop a few points after those rounds. I guess the slope was too low on the course I played, hence the good rounds.

I want to pick up a pair of golf-friendly sunglasses for father's day. Any recommendations?

I highly recommend Smith Optics Interchange series. They are incredibly light, a great price and come with interchangeable lense options. They come with three lenses out of the box and you can purchase separate colours if needed; there are quite a few options to help with contrast on the golf course.

http://www.smithoptics.com/Performan...0.html?fl=true


I really like the Threshold Slider, they are my sunglasses of choice atm. In fact, I got my first pair stolen last year and insta-replaced them without hesitation.
http://www.smithoptics.com/Threshold....html?fl=flase

Lense options for Sliders
http://www.smithoptics.com/Threshold....html?fl=flase

The company only ships to the states, but you can use these guys if you live elsewhere. (I purchased from these guys twice and they deliver quick)
http://www.sunglassesgiant.com/

Equipment question. So i played in a tournament this weekend and a very good player took a look at my driver and said hitting that is like hitting a popsicle stick for someone with my swing. I play the 2009 taylormade burner. He said it being a 50gram shaft was the biggest problem, and the fact that it had a very low kickpoint were costing me probably 30 yards off the tee.

FYI, i am a 4 handicap and i don't know my swing speed, but i would guess it's faster than your average "good" player. He told me i don't hit my driver "in line" with how i hit my irons. I am a feel player, and have never really paid too much attention too equipment. I hit my driver 260ish, but it doesn't really have a penetrating ball flight, i have a very high ball flight.

Thanks for any opinions

anyone hit the new TM ghost putter?

also why aren't they going to sell the CG15 wedges after this year if they are A: great and B: legal

First off, just because somebody is a good player doesn't mean they know crap about equipment and fitting. Good players can be clueless, bad players could know a lot. Chances are decent he has a clue, but just wanted to point out that it's not a given.

The 50 gram shaft is probably not a problem, but the kick point certainly could be. If it doesn't fit your swing, the ball flight could be too high or too low. The simplest solution would be to visit a reputable place to get fitted and at least know your specs. Any advice even the best of us here would be able to give would be very speculative.

For the record, if your driver launches high that's not terrible. But if it launches somewhat correctly and then balloons up before appearing to fall straight down, that's quite bad, but fixable.

BO

It's because of the weird USGA ruling on grooves. None of the manufacturers are allowed to make clubs using the old grooves after 12/31/10, even though clubs with those grooves will be allowed for most players for years to come. I believe the ban also extends to sales.

I don't think the ban extends to sales. I talked to the manager of a golf store and he said they were stockpiling 2010 wedges so they could sell them for the next few years.

I tried it out the other day (indoors). It felt really good to me and very stable. I am seriously considering purchasing.

Chris Baker from my hometown won an event on the Challenge Tour Sunday, he has a couple wins on the Tarheel Tour and a Hooters win tour... .... his gf is on the new big break show... living the life

I should have been more clear - I meant sales by Cleveland (to retailers or wholesalers).

Per the USGA site: "Manufacturers are allowed to produce existing clubs and exhaust inventory until the end of 2010"

hello chaps,

i have just been informed by my coach that i need the lie angle on my irons adjusted but it looks as though it's not going to be possible on them (Nicklaus polartity have weights on the heel which cause a problem with adjustment apparently)

Any advice on a new set of irons? i am going to not be an idiot and get these ones fitted.

ty ty

P.S. great forum btw

Depends how good you are, if you have style preferences (blades vs cavity backs, etc) and your budget. Lots of great options out there.

Yeah, looking back I should have clued in to what you meant. Obviously the USGA doesn't have hold over all the retailers.

I have a question and I don't really know how to explain it. But hoping someone has an idea or experienced this before.

Basically I've been hitting irons good all year. But I have a miss with my driver sometimes that seems to be the same re-occouring miss. It's a straight pull to the left25% of the time.

I'm taking the club back on the same plane that I do when I have a good driver swing. And I imagine it is an outside to inside swing that is occouring with a closed clubface (or square to actual trajectory).

Any ideas of what would make this happen when the backswing is on plane? I'm thinking maybe I'm turning my shoulders to early in the downswing before my hips causing the club to be outside the plane. So possibly a tempo issue of sinking (sp?) up my hips and shoulders?

I dunno I'm looking for opinions on the matter

I went back to my instructor for advice last year after pulling 70% of my drives for a few weeks and he diagnosed my issue as an alignment correction. I thought I was aimed square to a little-right (I setup for a draw), when in reality I was aiming about 20 yards further right than I thought. This was causing my body to subconsciously adjust so I didn't slice balls out of right-field.
take it fwiw

That could potentially have something to do with it I suppose. Whenever I go out with my dad he says often that I'm not aiming where I think I'm aiming when setting up with the driver. Doesn't seem to be an issue with any other clubs.

Also maybe I'm trying to swing out of my shoes a bit more with the driver, where other clubs I just club up if I need more distance.

Im looking to get some Titleist headcovers, can anyone recommend anywhere online?

Departing for a golf trip tomorrow morning - round on Thursday, two on Friday, two on Saturday, last one on Sunday before heading back. Can't wait.

Tomorrow's round is Chambers Bay in University Place, WA. As I eluded to earlier ITT, site of the '15 US Open. Woohoo, can't wait! I can imagine in 5 years time looking back while watching coverage of it and saying "oh, here's where I made quad, good times."

I haven't been paying attention to golf for long enough to speak with authority, but this article is basically ignorant, right?

Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?

Starts off essentially saying the entire field at the Open just played bad all week (i.e. McDowell just lost at Pebble the slowest), and ends with some nonsensical ramblings about the age of Tiger.

eBay

what is your consensus on the advice "dont lift your head up"?

RANT-
I have an uncle who would tell me every shot that I would hit badly was because I lifted my head up. He shoots in the low 80's/occasionally high 70's and says those 5 words nonstop to explain bad shots. He even gives the advice to other people. It became frustrating because I would really focus on not lifting my head up but then i would still slice it and he would say I came out of my swing and lifted up. This frustrated me to no end. Because I kept hearing the same advice and never made any progress. I remember one time I kept hitting a few bad shots on the range and my uncle goes- "are you doing this to piss me off, stop lifting your head up". After getting a lesson and working on what the actual pro told me- I realized it had to do with my grip and my 2 hands fighting over control.

People say that when they don't know what else to say.
Your uncle did you 0 good and >0 harm.

We've hashed this out in this forum before, but imo the worst two things a new golfer can hear,
"keep your head down"
"keep your left arm straight"

I didn't see anything overly objectionable for an opinion piece. Many of the points are spot on.

Good to see Nick Faldo back in action!