Back in NC, played a course about 20 miles north of Pinehurst yesterday which was one of the few public/semiprivate courses down here with tee times between 7-8am. The standing threesome of old coots which was supposed to tee off before me flipped times with me so I could be first off at 0730, and it was a gorgeous 73 degrees.

Nice course but too narrow for me to really enjoy without a playing partner to watch my tee shots. (I'm really working on keeping my eyes down through the shot and not pulling up to track the ball and ending up misfitting.). I shot a 53 on the front, which is my best 9 this season.

Then on the back which got narrower with more forced carries, I practiced different things like dropping two balls at the 200 and hitting 7-wood or 3hybrid, then dropping two at 25 yards and hitting a bump with my PW, then putting out. I had a couple of things to work on from the PEI trip in terms of hand position and increasing my swing speed, so it was good to not worry about score.

I was off the corner in two and a half hours, which combined with the hour-long drive to and from the course meant that I was still better off than playing any of the urban courses near me.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I do have a group of friends that plays pretty regularly, a couple of my neighbors go a couple times a month as well. I plan on hitting the range once a week this winter to hopefully keep whatever progress I’m making more ingrained.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Have fun.

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Elections have consequences.

My kid is doing that one. It doesn't have to be for beginners. That's just the gamification of what is ironically, a game. Levels. Different colors. Achievements. It's basically Candy Crush but golf.

To make it more difficult, the good golfers still play normally from the tee. However, you pick up the ball closer to the hole and put it 25 yards out. Then, depending on your skill level, you do either 24, 26, or 30. It's actually more fun than scoring from the tee I think. I'm not very good though so maybe if you are good golf is actually fun.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

For a guy like rogue who is a beginner, the best thing he can do is try to hit the ball straight, and focus on 100 yards and in which obviously includes putting. That is the best way for MANY to improve scores straight away. Tbone and perhaps Franky are the only good enough golfers here to worry about spin rate on the greens.

Rogue can go out and play today and even if he's all over the place tee to green, if he's getting up and down and/or one and two putting every green he can still shoot in the 90s.

After a couple of mildly successful rounds, my game once again fell off and I'm not sure its ever been worse. Its very frustrating and downright depressing since I love golf but can't even enjoy right now. It really sucks standing over a ball and legitimately have no idea where it will end up once you swing. Its been so long that the bad swing habits almost feel natural and the good habits feel wrong. I plan to keep the sticks in the garage for at least a couple three weeks in hopes that I maybe "forget" some of the bad nonsense.

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The proper focus should be on the dispersion pattern for 95% of golfers.

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That's essentially what I'm doing on the back 9s when I play alone. Play the front 9 straight except for any forced carries over 125 yards (drop those on the other side and call it two shots to get there), and then on the back maybe hit drive, and then a couple of 7w/3h or 4i/7i, and then drop and focus on pitch/chip/putt with two balls. Ignoring sand for now.

That way I still get the feedback on the front 9, and then work on deficiencies more carefully on the back 9.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Weather looking pretty nice this weekend in SE Wisconsin so the golf should be glorious. Hoping the weather holds out through Labor Day weekend as well since I have 4 days scheduled. Hope some of you cretins can get out and play or maybe just hit some balls.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

My neighbor got fitted by the guy I am going to get to and that’s essentially what he said he focused on. After they pulled up the data on all the clubs he hit it was pretty obvious which ones he hit the best based on the dispersion pattern . They were the Taylor Made Stealths. I forget what driver they recommended.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Sometimes I feel that a fitter should not be tied to a manufacturer or just one I guess. It’s not practical because they have to have one or two to keep them in business. Being able to fit and choose the best brand without ties would be big.

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Elections have consequences.

doesn’t that defeat the purpose of going to get fitted if they only have one or two manufactures available? I was under the impression you just hit a bunch of different clubs , different shafts, weights , etc from several companies and then start narrowing it down with the only emphasis being on the ones you hit best , feel best based on the data . no way would I buy based on the fitters recommendations because hes in bed with company X if the data didnt support it

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

As far as I know they usually support 1-3 brands. Say, one has Taylormade, PXG and something cheaper. The other will have Callaway, Ping and cheap. It’s weird if you do not study up you might make a bad choice for you before you even know.

Maybe the all clubs place exists I just haven’t seen it. An example is my friend who is club pro at a club. They switched their contract from Callaway to TM. Now I have a boatload of Callaway swag they aren’t allowed to sell anymore.

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Elections have consequences.

It certainly depends where you go, but there are MANY places that offer the full array of brands.

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Club Champion has them all . Id imagine there a few more just for competition sake .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

We've focused on how important it is to work on 100 and in, but there's also something to be said for being able to get off the tee consistently. I wouldn't neglect the driver especially as a beginner. Makes your life a lot easier if you can poke it out there in the fairway somewhat consistently. Or at least get to the point where all your misses go one way which is really the key to getting off the tee consistently.

woods, hybrids and long irons I would definitely put last on the priority list by a hefty margin.

Work on 50 yards and in, but also work on the driver. Game is so much easier when you get competent in those two areas.

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Right. I said "hit the ball straight" which meant being in play off the tee.


Rogue, you may want to check out https://www.golfsub70.com/

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Up until the last 15 minutes of my last lesson ( which means i had taken 2 hours 15 minutes of lessons up until then) we never even brought the driver out of the bag . Its all been 7 irons and higher doing exactly what you guys have said , quarter , half , full swings with the high irons focusing on contact point , ball flight and swing fundamentals, targeting 125 yards or so and in . I still chunk some but not nearly as many as before . The driver was a disaster lol. Its a Big Bertha which as it turns out is way too big for me ( my father in law was 6”2) and my instructor had me choking way down on the grip . During the week I went looking for another driver in the 4 bags of clubs I have that were his and pulled one out to take to the range this week . I ended up hitting the shit out of it ( well for me anyway) a lot more solid contact , very few topped drives , not nearly as slicey and going probably 200-225 with roll. Turned out to be a womans driver . Im going to bring it to my fitting and see what the comparable mens driver is to it . Ill check out that link , thanks .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Women's clubs/balls are meant for slower swing speeds so it might not be a bad thing to use for the time being.

Fall and winter is a great time to look at a new (to you) club because people always want to get the newest and 'best' club so you can often find a deal on great club that just happens to be a model that is a year or two old.

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never in a million years would I have picked Brogue as most likely to go tranny. Brogue showing up to the first tee with his ladies driver, wearing Michael Scott's ladies suit and shotgunning a Bud Lite.

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If it prevents me from laying 3 40 yards off the tee cuz I shanked my drive o/b or topped it , Ill golf 18 with Dylan Mulvaney and jerk him off every hole .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Spoken like someone who is starting to enjoy the game!

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it's so true. I can't think of too many degrading emasculating things I would turn down if it meant shaving even half a stroke off my score.

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My mother is in town for her annual trip starting tonight. Golf lined up Friday thru Monday mornings. I took last Sunday off as I was just exhausted from a busy 3 weeks of travel. Time to ground and pound in the quest for over 60 rounds this year. I'll have 49 by end of Monday if all goes well so that goal seems promising at this point. I've called off 3 days this year and we have had some good weather after the spring weather broke. Only played in significant rain once.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Have golf tomorrow after a plant tour of a supplier of mine. Haven't had one of these in a long long time due to some factors and of course Covid. Time for they appreciate me day. Mystery course but had an email yesterday asking me what ball I use. Suspenseful I guess I should think about not slicing.

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Elections have consequences.

Playing really well. Probably my best 3 straight rounds this year. Most interesting for me is I’ve been 7/7 in sand saves the last three rounds. Really struggled with the sand the first half of the year.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

71-69 last two days. I’m getting drunk today.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Nice!!! You deserve it.

My team won our Labor Day event and I won a skin. Nice $200 win today.

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That’s awesome Franky

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

my summer of barely playing seems to be paying off at least on the scorecard. Played my 6th round of the summer (2 of those were scrambles) at Heritage Oaks Sunday. Shot an 82 and definitely left some shots on the course. Started with a couple 6s, but then was throwing darts on my approaches and ended up with 4 straight birdie putts, 3 of which were inside 12 feet. Missed them all.

On the back couldn't get off the bogey train and then my driver left me the last 4 holes or so, but grinded my way to that 82.


As a reward i was laid up with severe back pain for the rest of Sunday, all day Monday and still feeling it this morning.

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