I live in a suburb of Toronto at the south end of the city and the closest course to me that isn't a shitty muni is about 35 minutes drive with no traffic, closer to 50 minutes in traffic. The closest practice area is also a 40 to 50 minute drive away. I absolutely hate it and will definitely consider proximity to courses when I move.

We play same course & same tees every time. 8 & 12 is our course HC.

Seems like consensus is eight 1/2 strokes is advantage over four strokes in match play.

I was leaning other way because I lose the four HC holes < 10%, maybe even < 5%. Very hard for the 8 HC to win those holes outright. But can see how getting eight 1/2 strokes could be more advantageous.

Living on the course has been key for my handicap drop obviously. An emergency 9 at the end of the day is nice. Taking the cart over to the range for lunchtime practice is good too.

Since I have not been on the road for work the emergency 18 has been happening to start the day every Tuesday and Thursday

The wife still wants a beach condo though. I guess she can just go live there herself because I'm not moving.

This is such great advice from Spieth:

https://flip.it/oDFWIg

It rang true with me. I got back into the game about 3 years ago I think and back then I just enjoyed playing. I got my wife into it and we had a great time. We never kept score and couldn't care less. If we wanted to hit another ball we did and if I was behind a tree and wanted to hit a shot from the fairway I would throw it in the fairway. Just didn't care. Then I got new irons. Then I got new woods. Then a new putter and now new wedges. Everything's brand new. Then I started getting more serious. Like, I spent so much money I better start taking this more seriously. Well, why?

We started keeping score so she can get an idea of where she was and I've noticed the last couple times have not been very fun. I might shoot an 82 or I might shoot a 93. My mood tends to swing with the score. Anyone else like that?

Why am I keeping score anyway? I don't keep the cards (unless it's a really nice course). I don't show anyone. I never look at it again. Before we kept score I felt the same at the end of a round regardless of how great I played or how many balls I lost. I still remembered those handful of really good shots and that's what keeps You coming back.

I think we aren't going to keep score anymore. Thanks Jordan. Golf should be fun. That's why we play. If you're frustrated about your score or your game, stop keeping score for awhile. As long as you aren't holding anybody up, hit another ball if you want. What's the big deal? Improve your lie. Practice out there. Have fun.

End of rant.

Very nice. You figured out for free what many paid me to tell them.

I asked many a student, what’s the most important thing in golf? Very few answered correctly.

HAVE FUN

Otherwise, why play? And if you aren’t having fun, you won’t play well.

So simple yet so difficult.

This is what I been doing all these years, if nobody behind just hit some extra balls , never a score card, just some good golf and lots of fun

I'm personally an ex-athlete that craves the competition. The beauty of golf is I can compete against myself. I'm an awful golfer but I have a huge goal of breaking 100 this summer. I'm competing solely against myself. Trying to workout what I'm doing wrong, what I can do better. Watching others, trying to pick up any little thing I can. Same thing I did playing basketball.

My brother in low shoots in the low to mid 90s consistently and his friends are around there too. It's fun when you're out there with them and the banter is going. It's the next level to strive towards.

To me thats what sports are. The competition. I love golf to be able to walk (I'm done taking carts) around in nature and take in the beauty of it all. The peace. That's a huge reason why I play. But the competition is in my veins and always will be and pushes me to get better and keep playing.

Get a few lessons and you'll get there before you know it. Figuring things out on your own is way too hard, at least it always has been for me.

LFC - do you and your group play any games for money during your rounds to add a little more competition to the mix? one group of guys i play with always have a game going. the stakes are usually pretty small (the most you can lose is $20 and it is extremely rare that happens). winners buy the losers the first drink after the round, so you're really playing more for bragging rights than the money.

two man teams within the foursome, usually grouped by HC so the teams are as balanced as possible. the goal is to win as many 'points' as you can, which are worth $0.50. if strokes are given to a team on a particular hole, they are only applied to the high score. we call it high-low.

how do you win points?
-compare the best low score from each team, the better one wins a point, ties are a push
-compare the best high score from each team, the better one wins a point, ties are a push
-birdies are worth a point
-eagles are worth two points
-albatrosses and aces are worth five points.
-chip-ins (any shot from off the green that goes in, even if for bogey) are worth a point.
-closest to the pin on Par 3s are worth a point, but you have to be on the green and make par or better.

points are additive, so if you chip in from off the green (1) for an eagle (2) and win the low (1) you get four points. there are other ways to expand the game and add more point opportunities, but i won't go in to that here.

No golf today what the ****. Guess I need a rest day. Played 13 out of 14 days lol, including the last 12 days in a row. Playing 7k yard par 71 course tomorrow, but will not be playing from the tips. Course has a lol 603 yard par 5 as well as a 590 yard and 595 yard par 5s. Looks quite challenging on satellite images so I took the time to note yardage and trouble. There will be forced carries off the tee of 150 yards and 200 yards on 330 yard par 4 8th and 386 yard par 4 18th respectively. The par 3s look really fun with yardages of 200, 171, 161, and 188 with lots of trouble around the greens.

Didn’t see much water on the map but I’m sure I’ll be able to find some.

Might add a Used Vokey 58 degree wedge that I saw at the pro shop the other day to play in the sand boxes, which look to be plentiful on this course.

I’m not sure if I should prioritize getting my lies adjusted or find a decent used driver 3 wood and 5 wood combo. Hopefully I can do all that before the end of the season.

I used to have an incredible titleist f80 3 wood with strong lie that I could really hit well but my now ex girlfriend bent the head and it was never the same. So I’m now a bit partial to titleist because I know how a well struck shot feels with these clubs. Small sample size ldo.

I’m also debating whether I should get a new putter and what style head to get. I always played the old fashioned style and never a mallet style. I don’t think it really matters because putting is such a mind game. Pros, cons, idklolwtf?

Playing heritage country club in Massachusetts today. It’s labeled as a championship course. Here are the specs:

Black: 72.3/124
Gold: 69.3/118
Blue: 67.3/111
White: 70.3/114

I got a golf app for my phone and it has detailed green maps. Looks like it would be quite a challenge even from the front tee boxes. My playing partner is just coming to get away from home for a while, so I wouldn’t insist on playing the back tees. However I’ve been looking forward to hitting some drivers as the course I’ve been playing doesn’t have many driver holes for me. So either the white or gold should work, unless I can convince him to play the back tees.

I hit a small bucket last night and I finally started getting good straight shots With the driver and I’m pretty excited. Maybe trip report incoming soon.

I'm fine with funky swings but for some reason Daniel Berger's tilts me to no end.

Heritage country club is basically hiking and golfing at the same time. I don’t think there’s an even lie on the course except on the tee box and greens. Tees forces us to shape most shots from the blues, which were much shorter than I expected due to the many very downhill tee shots. If it wasn’t very downhill, it was just as uphill.

Managed to make at least one par and a handful of bogeys.

At first I was absolutely mesmerized by the colors and elevation changes, as well as the large bunkers lining the fairways that made the whole experience like playing golf in the land of oz at the emerald country club.

https://imgur.com/a/KwUsMCI

Long par 5. A true 3 shot hole for me as there’s a pond to the left that feeds a shallow gully that crosses the fairway at 250. Steep downhill tee shot and then back up the other side of the valley about 200 more yards before turning right for a 100 yard out layup.

I took an hour to review the course.

Front nine:

First tee gave me a bit of vertigo. Steep drop to the fairway. Uphill second shot to a deep green.

Second hole is a tee shot over the valley to uphill second shot. Good driver can get past the right hand bunker. Decent birdie hole.

Third hole is a downhill par 3 over water. Short left is ok on the bank.

Fourth hole is an uphill tee shot to a fairway that slopes left to right. Far right is dead. Good drive makes it decent birdie hole.

Fifth hole is an uphill tee shot. If you can find the top of the hill where the lie is flattest it becomes a decent birdie hole unless they put the pin on the back right, which is a few feet lower than the rest of the green, which creates an optical illusion from the fairway. The green looks tiny from the fairway but it’s significantly larger than it appears.

Sixth hole is a par 5. From the tee you can see something that looks like an apparition at the top of the hill about 300 yards away. As you make your way up the hill the specter becomes an American flag that is just behind the green. The downhill second shot is receptive to a running shot for the long hitters. In retrospect the flag shows the shortest distance from tee to green is a drive up the left side. There is a decent layup spot where the hill isn’t so severe around 100 to 130 yards out.

Seventh hole is a forgiving downhill par 3 that is receptive to a fat and or short shot.

Eighth hole is a 5 wood to the top of the hill for me. The green is receptive to a run up shot. Decent birdie hole.

Ninth hole is a downhill tee shot to a fairway that slopes from left to right. Very difficult approach downhill over junk and very deep bunkers front left. Missing on the right hand bank isn’t a bad miss.

Sounds like quite a course. Which tees did you end up playing?

Woke at 5 to play at 7:15. I don't even get up before 8 during the week, but it was going to be in the 90s. I REALLY love these Vokey wedges. I can hit shots around the green that I couldn't ever hit before. It has only been 2 rounds with them and the difference is huge. I can play a whole lot of fun shots. I was in tall rough about 2 feet off the green without much green to with with, so I took out the 58°, popped it up and then made the short putt. So much fun.

I thought the front was tough. Lol. Little did I know what the back had in store for me. The back nine at heritage country club does not disappoint in both golf terms and the physical test was quite real.

Tenth hole is a relatively flat tee shot that turns hard left, that forces a draw or a layup short of the right hand fairway bunker for me. Slightly downhill approach, but this hole is the calm before the storm.

Eleven is an uphill tee shot to a wider fairway that slopes slightly left to right. The farthest drives get the benefit of a less severe uphill approach towards the clubhouse.

If the first hole gave you vertigo, take a few breaths and compose yourself as you walk past the lively clubhouse, because the twelfth tee would be a decent skiing spot in a different world. There is a pond to the left that feeds a gully that crosses the fairway somewhere between 250 and 325 depending on which tee you choose. I couldn’t tell how far it was from the tee, so I hit 5 iron and made it within 50 yards of the gully. So driver definitely brings in the ditch for me from the blues. This hole is a must layup because the fairway turns right about 100 yards away from the green. The second half of this hole is directly up the other side of the valley, essentially connecting two opposing high points about 600 yards apart from the tips. Very intimidating hole.

Thirteenth hole is an uphill par 3 about 140 from the blues. This is perhaps competing with the seventh hole for best birdie opportunity on the course.

I think I blocked out all memories of the fourteenth hole.

The fifteenth hole is an uphill tee shot to a downhill approach dogleg right. Right is dead here as you are now secluded deep into the woods. There is no run up opportunity on this hole because of the steep bank in front of the green, which causes short approaches to roll down to a forced flop onto the green from 8 feet below the green.

The sixteenth hole is about 150 to 160 to the middle of the rhomboid green that looks like an emerald from the tee. The deepest part of the green is back left, as if to point the way back home. This hole benefits a right handed cut. I hit my seven iron to the back fringe to the left of the pin as I seem unable to hit a cut with these irons because of the upright lie angles.

Seventeen. This is a long downhill par 5 that turns slowly left to right, with a fairway that slopes from left to right, approaching the crest of a steep drop. A bomb off the tee could potentially reach the downslope and gain many yards. The green is receptive to a run up shot at the bottom of the hill.

The eighteenth hole features a tee shot over water to a steep hike back to the clubhouse. There’s a fairway bunker for nearly every golfer here. Second shot is essentially blind uphill. With no local knowledge, and taking the steepest of uphill golf shots I’ve taken, I chose to come up short left away from the huge bunker front right that is several feet below the green. The green turned out to be quite deep with a nice backstop, which makes the second shot quite forgiving for a confident shot up the hill with the clubhouse directly behind the green at the very top of the hill.

A+ course imo. Some small blemishes with grassless patches like any course I’ve ever played, but this course was humbling.

Played the blues. Didn’t break 100. Lost 7 balls.

A buddy gave me a Taylor Made R15 (from 2015 or 2016) head last week. My local golf store and our state's big golf store aren't doing any re-shafting. I have an older Taylor Made Burner (from like 2011). It would be an upgrade. I reached out to Taylor Made on Twitter (crickets). I also reached out to a local private club who would just send it over to another less local private club.

1. What's a good shaft for a 7 HDCP who swings hard at it? I'd need it to be stiff.
2. About what should the total reshaft cost? If a good shaft is $80 retail, what should the cost with labor come out to?
3. At what point does it become not worth the reshaft?

So one thing I realized watching golf on TV is that these guys take amazing divots with their irons. I see the chunk of grass fly 25 yards ahead of them after they swing.

I have never taken a divot in my life, always sweep the ball off the turf. Any time I've tried to take a divot, I just slam the club into the turf and it's a disaster. I've watched some YouTube vids on this topic but they all say the same thing (bottom club just past the ball). But I am not able to do it. And, based on my experience playing with random partners, at least 95% of recreational players can't do it either.

So for those of you who consistently take that nice slice of grass and send it flying like the pros... what's your secret or swing thought?

If your normal swing bottoms out at your usual ball position, trying to take a divot with the same ball position will cause fat shots. Thus your ball position must be slightly more towards your back foot. This will cause ball first contact and then the bottom of the swing will be in front of the ball.

For how much you want to spend on a new shaft I saw just spend $100 - $150 more and upgrade a bit.

If you go the new shaft route look for a Project X EvenFlow Blue. They were stock shafts on a lot of the recent driver releases and you can probably pick one up fairly cheap as people throw their own shafts into them.

Would I be able to do that on my own? I prefer to save money. Just got an email quote of $110 from the local club. Seems steep. If I can do my own, I'd way prefer that.

Imy swing thought was developed when I was younger and taught to me by my dad. I don't think about it anymore, But I still remember what he said. Ball first and then the grass.

Greg Chalmers ripping one hard here.

It wasn't Chalmers, it was Poulter playing with him.

Chalmers just joined my club, I'll ask him about it.