retailmenot.com has a few active coupons from there, one actually is for a certain rangefinder.

http://www.retailmenot.com/view/tgw.com

Finally broke a good bogey-free streak today. Before making bogey on #12 had gone 73 holes without anything worse than par. Completely butchered the hole and had a 50-footer for par that I left a foot short. Oh well.

Only 13 birdies and 1 eagle in the mix though, so that's not good at all. Perhaps was subconsciously playing for pars rather than being aggressive at appropriate times. Only once did I have a par putt longer than 4 feet during the streak.

BO

I am digging Feherty's show so far.

I dont know if I'd ever even want to play golf without my putter.

Haven't touched a club in 3 weeks and am playing 18 holes this Saturday morning. Should be interesting. I set the line at 80.

Hi guys, just picking up the game and have been reading your forum. I've been taking lessons and practicing at the range and am going to go out to a course for my first round (minus a work outing) this Friday. I bought a set of irons which is all I have been hitting so far and will just play with them and rent a putter. I had a couple of questions:

1) For my first time out (and just playing with the irons) should I hit from the closest tees, or should I hit from the standard distances?

2) Since it is likely I will have trouble at times and need a lot of strokes or lose my ball, is there a standard time that it is considered good etiquette to finish each hole in (eg 5 min/hole) or does it just depend on if the group behind me is waiting? I'm not playing as part of a foursome or anything.

Tiger has been hired to be spokesman for a heat rub product in Japan. I mean, come on, a heat rub? You're making it way too easy for us there el tigre

A lot of this will depend on how busy the course is and if you are playing by yourself, with a group of people, etc...

1. I'd just start at the 200 yard plate on each hole and tee the ball up. In general it's less embarrassing for a man to do this than to play for the closest (women's) tees.

2. The biggest thing you want to do is make sure you finish each hole. This does not mean taking 20 shots to do so, let's say if you're not on the green after 5 shots to drop a ball somewhere on the putting surface and get the ball in the hole. In general I'd tell people to stop after they make double the par of the hole (i.e. an 8 on a Par 4) but I think there's something to be said for actually finishing each hole.

string - Standard time per hole is about 14 minutes, even if you are losing a lot of balls/duffing shots you should be able to cover this playing alone. Try to stay just behind the group ahead of you and not just ahead of the group behind you.

Thanks guys. Spenda, do you mean on a hole like a par 4 just going out onto the fairway and hitting my tee shot?

yea if you're playing alone it won't be much of an issue

you could always tee off, but if you just have irons it's not completely necessary to play from the tee. You could always tee off from the box and then just go straight to the 200 or 150 yard marker.

There should be 2 keys

1. Have a good time
2. get the ball in the hole

Accomplish these two and you're ahead of half the golfers on the course today

This standard time per hole takes into account the time it takes to walk from green to tee box, write your score down, and tee up your ball I am assuming.

It takes into account everything, plus it varies par 5s and par 3s, im not sure that is the point though

I think it would be more fun if you hit a tee shot(only one) at the shortest men tee. If it's a good shot(i.e. travel 150+ and in the fairway) then continue to play that ball. If not.. then retrieve your ball and hit your 2nd shot from the 200 or 150 marker. Obviously let your playing partners know you are new.. as long as you dont slow them down too much they should be okay. Set a limit for yourself.. i.e par 5, if you are not on the green after your 7th shot then just pick up and drop your ball from a desired distance on the green and putt it in.

To add to what Spenda is recomending.

How about just hit your tee shot and if you aren't inside the 200 (or even 150) marker then move the ball to that marker and finish the hole.

When I first went to a course with my dad this is what he had me do (except I would place the ball at the 100 yard marker if I wasnt inside of it after my tee shot).

bunkers gonna kill me

What's the single best advice you can give for greenside bunkers shots ?

Hit good ones.

But seriously. I notice with most golf shots (full shots, half shots, puts, bunker, chips, ect...) the most important thing is to commit to the shot.

For bunkers you need to know if it is hard sand or soft sand. If it is soft sand open the club face up aim a little left and take a pretty good swing (trying to hit 2" behind the ball).

If it is hard I dont think I can help you with that. **** hard bunkers.

Make sure you accelerate through the golf ball and hit sand, not ball.

Make sure you finish your swing facing the flag. In other words having your torso pointing towards the flag. Don't know how to explain this so maybe it's unclear what I mean, sorry if that's the case.

I think the biggest error I see in peoples bunker game is making contact with the sand with the leading edge instead of the bounce and that makes the club dig. Then they get over cautious and blade it from not wanting to chunk it. I always tell buddies that are struggling that they need to really understand how bounce works. It is designed to not let the club dig into the sand, but with the proper acceleration you will slide right under the ball and pop it out. This picture from twitter @shoot63 - http://yfrog.com/h4gzdfyj - is of a 52 degree, but you can see how the bounce is exposed when you lay the club open. Pick a spot about 3 inches behind the ball and try to make the bounce on the bottom of the club impact the sand right there. You want the bounce to be the first thing to make contact with the sand, not the leading edge like you would on a normal iron shot. That will keep it from digging and will also ensure you don’t blade it because your angle of attack will put the club in the sand correctly and behind the ball.

Make sense?

So my grip and stance was all wrong, and hour well spent with the pro. In other news played 36 holes today, and about 200 balls on the driving range.

Played Softball yesterday and a guy brings a new bat so I give it a go... I wear gloves and all but **** my hand hurt after I hit the ball and now I am seriously worried about my golf swing.

I have no real strength in it right now (cant even close my COC trainer gripper and I usually do it no problem) and I grabbed a club in my house and took a swing and its okish but if I catch it fat its gonna suck I think...

...who knows maybe it will make me be more focused, and I had hoped to play 3 rounds this weekend.

thx guys.
thx ship, if only it was as easy as it sounds

US Amateur Public Links Championship broadcast live on the Golf Channel every afternoon through Sunday from Bandon Dunes. Men are playing Old MacDonald, and two Oregon Ducks are going to advance to the Round of 8.

<3 <3 <3 Old Mac.