Whenever Eman agrees to do a double loop for both of you.

Many 63's including one 2-3 months ago. The best was in the first round of a mini-tour event in 2002 where par was 72. Played holes 10-16 in 7-under. Shot 64(-7) in the last round of a mini-tour event in Harlingen, TX (I think JTrout was there) which was low round by 2 that day. Even made 3 bogeys.

In college I made 7 over a span of 2 rounds. Recently did 5 consecutive in one round for the first time, and then for good measure did it again the very next day!

Hmmm... Many courses in the midwest have absolutely perfect greens. Places high on the list I can think of I played 20 years ago. St. Louis C.C., Jefferson City C.C., Hickory Hills C.C. (where Payne Stewart grew up).

BO

A. How did you progress to shooting low scores?

No matter how well I play, it seems I invariably just straight up waste like 6-7 shots per round. I also shoot the same scores at easy courses that I do on harder courses. I ask this question b/c last year in a tournament I hit the ball about the same as 2 of my playing partners and shot 80 when they shot 71 and 74 respectively. I wasn't really very impressed with their games, but they just never screwed up. I always just leave a putt 6 feet short, duff a chip, never make a 15-20 footer....I just never put it all together for a whole round. They each rolled in 3 or 4 15-20 footers, got up and down from terrible places, and just maxed out their round. I almost never max out a round.

I guess how do you stop thinking about your score and just play each shot by itself?

B. Have you ever had a mental block of any kind, like missing 2 footers/full swing yips/chip yips? I went to practice today and chipped about 100 balls to a foot and left. On the course I don't do this.

C. How important do you think course management is? Aggressive or conservative? I've seen some of the top players at my home course and they just pull out driver and bomb it on every hole and play super aggressive. I've started to try and leave myself 70-100 yards more often instead of "going for it" and ending up with big numbers. I am making less double bogeys but a lot more bogeys.

Good thread

1.I've heard that for many guys that are just shy of really making it as a tour pro, it is just one small thing. Maybe putting better by 10%, bunker play, driver, tempo under pressure, etc.

Is this the case for you? Could you say if you did_____ x% better, you'd make it.


2. Do you think most people really understand how close the 75th rank player in the world is to the 400th ranked player, talent wise.


3. Is it a curse to be too good to stop trying for the show, but not good enough to make it? This must be a tough spot to be in for many people. Thoughts?

Do you ever wish you had amateur status? (All but one of the best golfers I've known were either amateurs or able to reinstate their amateur status.)

How is it that you know you can shoot 64 but come to terms with not being good enough day in day out-- and is that realization in itself a bad thing?

slight hijack: i hate the amateur status reinstatement thing. I saw a former pga tour pro winning a club championship the other day and was just like OK GREAT. And there is a woman golfer who runs around and wins every thing in my state and plays in all of the amateur events and has done very well in lots of them who used to play on the LPGA tour.

It totally cheapens the amateur status thing and is just unfair. If you can't hack it with the pros, DONT TURN PRO.

I think there are obviously some circumstances where pros can get their amateur status back, but it is way too simple and easy to do.

Make more birdies? I don't know. It's really no different than any other improvement cycle, it just happens.

Pros just don't get in much trouble for the most part. If they miss a green it's in a good place for a routine up and down for par. Throw in a couple of 10 footers for birdie and a couple of birdies on par 5's and instant 68.

The bad shots just don't hurt near as much as a 10 handicap. You see an amateur miss a green in a spot where Phil couldn't get up and down.

But nobody ever maxes out a round. The key is to make you f ups not hurt too badly.

Every golfer still has issues with this at times. You just have to learn how to do it, some never do. But it's certainly not easy. You just have to accept whatever happens before you strike the ball.

Yep, with putting mostly. Just have to stay out of your own head and play the game like you would in practice or by yourself. Can you approach a chip shot on the course and pretend it's the practice area?

The lesser player will benefit greatly from proper course management because they don't have the talent to escape jail like a better player does. One of the reasons why the bomb and gouge is so popular now is because purses are so top heavy. If you win one week and miss the cut 9 weeks, that's still a pretty successful 10 tournament span.

But amateurs should not attempt this. Just play to your strengths and the scores should take care of themselves.

BO

Well, my chipping has always been top notch. In my 2 days with Bob Rotella he commented that my short game was tour quality without question. But the long game needs work.


Probably no difference in talent level, perhaps a slightly better short game. But the main difference is between the ears. At that level the mind is infinitely important.


How could it be a curse to be really good at something? Right now I'm not good enough to be on Tour, but I'm still better than 99.99% of the golfers on the planet. That means something.

Gotta focus on the positives, not the negatives.

BO

Nope. Only possible reason in my mind would be to win the U.S. Mid Am and the exemption into the Masters that goes with it.

I could get my amateur status back if I wanted to, it would just take 1-2 years.

See answer above.

BO

wats ur handicap? When you were in hs what did you shoot? how far u hit your 7 iron?

Since I'm a pro I have no reason to maintain a handicap. But fooling around with online handicap calculators this summer my index has been between +2.9 and +4.2.

Lowest round in HS was 66, stroke average my senior year would have been about 71.

Stock carry with my 7i is 170.

BO

great thread. sorry that i suggested it and haven't given any good questions yet

on a fairly routine green, how often would you expect to 2 putt or better from 50 feet??

might have been asked but what clubs do you carry i.e. longer clubs, wedges etc? and what would you suggest for higher handicap?

i think i asked this a few years ago and got some interesting answers, and you may not be able to answer this as you probably haven't been a high handicapper for 30 years..... but is there a progression of necessary skills from high handicapper to tour pro? everyone says short game is so key, but for higher handicappers it seems like getting the ball in play, avoiding penalty strokes and totally wasted shots is key. i.e. every shot doesn't have to be excellent but from 160 yards put in near the green. from 380 yard tee, put it so you can swing for green on next shot

When you're playing an unfamiliar course, which do you find more challenging on the greens, getting the speed down or reading the breaks?

Followup to that, how do you get yourself acclimated to unfamiliar greens?

If you could start over again, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

BO,

i see you're using a long putter, is that a recent development? have you sworn off the traditional short putter? what other alternative putting methods have you tried?

signed,

someone who HammYs

Well, I went to the University of Missouri to play golf. I passed up a chance to attend MIT and double major in math and computer science.

But you know, I do believe most everything happens for a reason.

As far as golf goes, I'd have to think about that for a bit. No easy answer.

BO

Have used one off and on for 10 years and after recent developments have no plans to return to the shorty unless the USGA changes the rule on anchored clubs.

I've putted conventional with various grips, cross-handed, split handed, left handed, claw, and belly. And depending on the day I can make everything with all those methods, but no consistency whatsoever.

BO

who's swing on tour is your favorite? if you can't just knock it as close to the green as possible, what distance do you like to lay up to?

can you hit that knock down pitch shot that doesn't get more than 20 ft off the ground and bites like crazy? if so, how do you do it?

Every time. Why would I expect to 3 putt?

My clubs are given above. For a higher handicap I would insist on a large perimeter weighted iron and shafts on all clubs should not be too stiff.

Well, very few people have the skill set that would enable them to be a pro. And then on top of that one has to almost dedicate himself totally. So basically I'd say that anyone who's been a high handicapper for more than a few months is basically unable to achieve pro talent.

Now of course everybody can improve, but the high handicapper certainly has a ceiling on what is feasible. Most pros these days started when they were kids so they never really were high handicappers. A old school guy like Larry Nelson who started when he was 21 got down to scratch inside of a year. The fact remains that not everyone is cut out to be a single digit handicapper. Just like not everyone is cut out to be a good basketball player.

BO

Best tournament win?

With thinner blades of grasses these days, I don't find either particularly difficult. Back in the day of common bermuda you really had to pay attention to the grain to even come close to making putts.

There are the standard tricks to reading greens, all things being equal, a putt will tend to break towards a nearby water hazard. On a mountain course a putt will tend to break away from the highest mountain. On grainy greens a putt will tend to break towards the west because that's the general direction a blade of bermuda grass leans.

And I guess part of it is I've been doing it so long I just take everything I see into the equation and am able to pick a good line fairly instinctively.

BO

Kenny Perry's is way up there. I've got a swing similar to his where I set my wrists very early and turn the club into great position at the top much better than my stock swing. Fond of Geoff Ogilvy's as well, so much shoulder turn with barely any hip turn. Great rhythm and power.

If I'm on with my wedges I really don't care how close I am to the green because when I'm in that mode I can just dial up almost any number I want on command. But I tend to like an 80 yard shot, with that number I can make a fairly aggressive move through the ball with my 60* but still choke down a bit for that feeling of control.

Yep. It's easier for me than some people because I have a strong grip. Just don't open the blade too much on the takeaway and hold that angle all the way through while taking a very thin (if any) divot. To do this the ball can't be too far back in your stance, if it is the angle of attack is too steep and the ball kind of squirts.

BO

Only won one pro event, a little piece of crap 18 hole mini-tour event in Plano.

I beat everybody in a Monday Nationwide qualifier some years back, but that certainly doesn't count as it got me the exact same prize as the last qualifier that day.

BO

Damn your good. Do you have a vid of your swing on here?

Nope. Still stuck in the dark ages with a VCR and an analog video camera.

BO

Could you map out your progression as you lowered your handicap? for example a 20 handicap @ age "x", 15 handicap @ age "y" etc... Basically wondering how long it took for improvments. And if your remember how much you were playing/practicing during those stretches.