Golfing 2012

I'm pretty sure that there's others out there that "play" golf, most probably better than me. I thought we could run a thread with courses played and scores, tips, and the like. I don't generally travel the country to play golf, but I'd love to know good courses to try from different parts of the country, if the chance arises. Maybe it will just be me posting, but I thought I'd give it a try. Oh, and btw, I'm a TERRIBLE golfer! Now that I've finally gotten clubs that are long enough for me, I have to completely rebuild my swing and maybe I'll be a "crappy" golfer some day.

For those of you that do play on a regular basis, I'm not sure how you track your scores but I use OobGolf (oobgolf.com) and the YourGolf app (available for both Android and iPhone). I like this combo because I can enter shot by shot scores on the app and then upload them to OobGolf, which can track handicap, average score, and tons of other stats. If anyone else has any other good sites and/or apps, please share. My OobGolf handle is DeadSockPuppet, if anyone joins and wants to see how terrible I am.

I play golf but don't do the app thing. Just had all my clubs re-gripped and ready for the season. I play in a league that plays 9 holes on Mondays starting in a couple of weeks. for 9 holes I usually shoot anywhere from a 39-45. Mid 80's on 18. I play with Mizuno MP 53 Irons, Cleavland wedges, King Cobra Speed fairway woods and a Ping G10 driver

I golf pretty often. Shoot the exact same as charles. Upper 30's to Low 40's on 9, low/mid 80's on 18 (with the occasional 79/78).

Buffalo Hills is where I golf up here. Pretty varied course that's difficult but not too hard. It's got a good mix of hills and flats. Lots of trees, fairly forgiving rough (unless you get too far off) and quite a bit of sand. That's where I play in my league and base my scores off of. They actually finally finished redoing the "Cameron 9" which is seperate from the 18. So it's a full 27 hole course.

Village Greens (in Evergreen), very easy course. I golf here with noob friends and can fairly consistently hit upper 70's. Also, almost 0 trees here.

Northern Pines (has been renamed Whitefish Resort Golf Club or something stupid) is extremely spendy, very very difficult, and not very pretty. Only play here for the occasional tournament but basically you spend more money because you'll be hitting the ball more than usual.

Eagle Bend. Decent course, nothing too special. I only go if a friend golfs there.

Polson Golf Course (it has a different name). Is completely on a hillside right by Flathead Lake. Very Open fairways and forgiving rough. A lot of tourists golf here to see the lake.

Living in "scenic, big sky Montana" there are a whole lot of courses. These are the ones most people go to. The only other notable one is Iron Hills. But unless you buy a house up there or time out playing in a tournament there's no golfing there.

Good deal guys. When I said I'm terrible, I'm not lying. I posted a 65 for 9 holes today. For like the first 3 holes one of the grounds crew was dicking around us and trying to cut the fringe of the fairway and it kept messing with my shots. Usually I shoot right around 60 for 9 holes.

The course I played today is The Mines. It used to be an old mine and so there's a wide range of holes over the 18 hole course From some tees you're hitting down into fairways that are like 200-300yds wide. Others are narrow and lined with trees and bunkers. There's no water hazards and the course isn't too difficult, but the holes that are open tend to be super breezy when there's a good wind (like today) and they can get a little dried out and baked on really hot weeks. All in all, the course is well maintained and fun to play. There's also a driving range that's really not too impressive, but it's someplace to practice your swing if you need it. The clubhouse is very basic (if you need balls, tees, or a small snack).

The course I play the most is Maple Hill. This is another 18 hole course that has mostly water and trees for hazards (there might be like 1 bunker). If I remember right, the course is open all year (as long as there's no snow). The course is fairly easy and well maintained. They have a huge, heated outdoor driving range that hits out onto the 18th fairway for those that still want to practice outside in the winter and there's a really nice in-season range that has various yard markers and a mix of turf and grass stations to practice from.
My biggest draw to Maple Hill is that they have a huge clubhouse and pro shop that includes club fittings, simulators, and many other services. Many times throughout the summer they have demo days and will have reps for most of the major brands to come out and help sell their products and answer questions. Basically Maple Hill was a golf shop that had some land to build a golf course.

A course that I just started playing last year is Scotts Lake. This started off as a 9 hole course (I think) and over the years they've added two more sets of 9 holes, bringing its total to 27 holes. The nice thing about this course is that you can mix up the order of the nine holes so it plays like 6 different courses in one. This course is probably one of the more challenging ones for me but it's very scenic and worth the money to play. They have a smaller clubhouse that has a spot to eat and a decent mix of balls, gloves, hats, etc.

There's a couple other courses that I've played in the last couple of years but these are the ones that I go to most often. For the most part, the courses are like $25-30 for 18 with a cart during the week (I rarely play on the weekend). Most of them have online deals that make the rates better or they're part of the Entertainment coupon books that get you like BOGO greens fees and the like.

Anyone shooting in the 80's is really good. Heck, under 100 for 18 is good for a casual golfer.

~mrmiller

I usually shoot around 100 on 18 holes. I'm still using a Rawlings starter set I bought a couple of years ago when I started golfing. I have really been wanting to get all new clubs but don't quite have the cash flow for all that. I have been keeping my eye on craigslist for drivers and woods incase something pops up at a good price and will probably buy a new set of irons next year.

I played for a short while a few years back, looking to get back into it soon, especially since I'll have a brand new Audi to sit in the clubhouse car park, lol. The sales guy (and company director) for where I work is always golfing and going to golf corporates, so, I'm also hoping to use it to further my career...

Going to be a pay packet or two before I have enough for the full compliment of clubs though. I'll probably get the irons first and then just hit the range on the way home from work, adding more clubs as my wages roll in.

I could get some cheaper clubs but that's not how I roll...

Currently I'm using a TaylorMade 2009 Burner driver, TaylorMade Burner Plus irons, and an Odyssey White Hot XG 2-ball putter. I still need to pick up a couple of fairway woods, since I'm still using my 3 wood from my starter set (which is a little short). I also have a hybrid 1 iron and a 2-way chipper that I picked up piecemeal. I'll probably drop the hybrid when I get some quality fairway woods and once I get better with my wedges I'll either drop the 2-way for another lower iron (right now I run 4-9) or I might buy a better quality one. Currently, this is what's in my bag: driver, 3 wood, hybrid 1 iron, 4-9 iron, pitching wedge, attack wedge, sand wedge, 2-way chipper, putter.

Until I get better I pretty much try to buy cheap balls that are either neon orange or yellow so that I can find them when they're not on the greens and fairways (which is almost always). I know that having balls that are a little more forgiving can help with your shots, but I currently can't justify spending a ton of money on balls and then lose them all after like a round or two. Realistically, I tend to lose only about a sleeve of balls (on average) per round. The more water there is on a course, the more I lose because I seem to like to watch my balls skip and then sink in ponds.

I tend to not be too loyal when it comes to gloves because I've pretty much determined that if it fits and feels comfortable, that's the glove you should use. I haven't noticed any difference in performance or anything so I just buy whichever glove is comfortable after I wear one out. At some point I should probably get some cleats, but again, I don't think my game is to the point where this is an issue. However, that being said, I think that I might try to get some this year so that I can get used to using them and make that change to my stance so that I won't have something else to change once I get my swing back on track. I'd hate to get my swing set and find out that because I wasn't using cleats that my feet were slipping or something and that was part of my problem.

S7 mrmiller wrote:Anyone shooting in the 80's is really good. Heck, under 100 for 18 is good for a casual golfer.

~mrmiller

That's the beauty of golf. No matter what you're shooting, you could be shooting better. I used to be happy when I hit the low 90's, then upper 80's. Now I get excited for upper 70's. It never ends.

PS: I should note that these are my 'non-drinking' scores. Playing by standard beer-per-hole rules 100's are just fine for me.

Yeah, my game is so rough that when I'm playing by the beer a hole rule I don't play any worse. However, I do care less that I'm playing terrible.

Yes...never take it too serious unless you're playing for money. I'm like Atrum...I'm happy if I break 90.... ecstatic if I break 80

The best thing about the game is that I can keep screwing around with it until I become a store manager and/or retire (when I can play more regularly) and then play this until they put me in the pine box. We used to visit my great grand parents in Florida and my great grandpa would take us out to play the 4 or 5 holes their retirement community had and he was in his early to mid 70's. He played almost everyday until he died and we'd walk too.

That's how we got my dad into golf, he came and played with us one summer and hasn't stopped playing since. There's two seasons for my dad, hunting and golf. He pours all his money and free time into those two things, which I wish I could be lucky enough to do.

I love golf - I shoot in the 90s usually, very rarely in the 80s. I don't keep track from one outing to the next but kinda remember if I'm doing better or worse than last time. Great excuse to be outside with friends doing nothing useful

Initiated phase one of my gear replacement today and purchased my new 3 wood.

http://www.direct-golf.co.uk/fairway_woods/taylormade/rocketballz_rbz_fairway_wood_fairway_woods/p13627.aspx

The thing carries like a friggin' driver! It's ridiculously good...unlike my swing. I have some major slice-reduction to do =/

S7 Epic wrote:I have some major slice-reduction to do =/

dont we all....


I actually haven't played in a couple years... Back in college I took advanced golf which was the greatest thing ever... They had us playing 3 times a week with both range and course time... we were playing like 36+ holes a week... The "professor" for the class was actually a former pro... REALLY good teacher... He took almost 20 strokes off my game in like 6 weeks...

I was by no means "good" but I went from shooting 110-115s to low 90s... sadly I'm NOWHERE near that good now...


However... I made it my goal this year to get back out there and playing at least a couple times... (once my swing isn't AS embarrassing)...

S7 Wiggles78 wrote:

S7 Epic wrote:I have some major slice-reduction to do =/

dont we all....


I actually haven't played in a couple years... Back in college I took advanced golf which was the greatest thing ever... They had us playing 3 times a week with both range and course time... we were playing like 36+ holes a week... The "professor" for the class was actually a former pro... REALLY good teacher... He took almost 20 strokes off my game in like 6 weeks...

I was by no means "good" but I went from shooting 110-115s to low 90s... sadly I'm NOWHERE near that good now...


However... I made it my goal this year to get back out there and playing at least a couple times... (once my swing isn't AS embarrassing)...

Well, my drives with that 3 wood were as wide as they were long...and they were pretty d@mn long...

My slice got soooooo bad at one point I was teeing off with a 5 wood... thats the only club I had with enough loft to correct my slice enough to keep in play consistently....

It killed my distance and my EVERY hole play really long

Yeah, once I get my drives straightened out and consistent, I'm going to be a menace to my friends because I have been known to hit a curving drive of like 250-260 yards, something that would probably be like 20-30 yards longer if it was straight. Also, since I'm such a tall guy, just by smoothly and cleanly swinging the club I generate a ton of speed on the head of the club that can be translated into some good distance, if I can control it.

Back in High school I use to golf but the driver I had was to weak. The shaft was a very flex graphite shaft and when I swing the club by the time the head got down to the ball the face of the club was wide open and the ball would slice something mean. Check and make sure this is not happening to you.

I'll check on that but I'm pretty sure what happens is that about half the time I roll my wrists as I come thru on me swing and depending upon which way I roll them, I either slice or hook the ball.

S7 SockPuppet wrote:I'll check on that but I'm pretty sure what happens is that about half the time I roll my wrists as I come thru on me swing and depending upon which way I roll them, I either slice or hook the ball.

You're slicing and hooking at times? Interesting. If it were me I'd spend some pretty good time at the range until I was hitting consistently. It's a lot easier to fix a consistent hook than an erratic swing.

I think my problem is the grip. I've been messing around with the whole 'v pointing towards your right shoulder' thing and that seems to help get the clubhead square. Now just need to work on getting a consistent in-to-in swing...

AtrumX wrote:

S7 SockPuppet wrote:I'll check on that but I'm pretty sure what happens is that about half the time I roll my wrists as I come thru on me swing and depending upon which way I roll them, I either slice or hook the ball.

You're slicing and hooking at times? Interesting. If it were me I'd spend some pretty good time at the range until I was hitting consistently. It's a lot easier to fix a consistent hook than an erratic swing.

This is very true and I do need to work on that. I'm also still getting used to having clubs that are the right length. 2 years ago I got my Burner driver and last year I got my Burner irons so I finally have clubs that have longer shafts for a taller guy like me. I'm trying to completely rebuild my stance and swing to "unlearn" the bad habits that I used to use my old, shorter clubs.

That will probably be rough for a while. One of my friends played baseball his whole life AND had clubs that were too short so his swing was painful. Finally got new clubs and his main issue was swinging 'correctly' made his scores worse for a while.

That's what I'm expecting. I don't play baseball but I had a buddy that used to golf with me but he stopped playing because he became one of those softball nuts that plays on tons of teams and didn't want his golf swing to screw up his softball swing.