Golf

[Butterscup1679666578]

I'm really thinking of getting into golf for real this summer, instead of just playing at the kiddie links occasionally. What is a good way to get started? We have a couple golf courses near by.

 

Go to the driving range, go to a par-three course too. Golf takes time to learn to play well. I would suggest getting a couple of lessons from a local golf pro.

 

and just stick with it. if you go in with no expectations you'll have a lot more fun, and every now and then you'll hit a really good shot in between a bunch of garbage and you'll be like "wow this is awesome"

[TruffleShuffle]

i'm becoming irate listening to people say that mickelson choked. he shot 30 on the front 9 by going for every pin; he went for the pin on 12 and people are ripping on him for not shooting at the center of the green. he didn't get back in contention by playing that way; he rolled the dice again and lost.

 

by the way, tiger woods bogeyed the last two holes. sometimes a guy just has a bad hole or two, it's not always a choke.

 

But he did choke.

 

He shanked two very short puts on 15 and 17 that cost him two strokes and he also had a bogey on 18 after getting a birdie and two pars already in the tournament. That's three strokes. If he just gets a par on 12, that saves two more strokes. All in all, that's five strokes he missed, with four guaranteed if you leave out 18. He finished at -9, which was three back, so if you add in four of those strokes, he's at -13 which wins the tournament. The way he played the front nine was amazing, and that can't be taken away from him. But on 12, he was one back of the leaders with six holes left after that - he didn't need to stick it two feet from the pin. He just needed to get it on the green, and two putt for the par.

 

Tiger finished four back and even if he pars those last two holes, he's two back. He had two pars and a birdie on 17 but just a par and two bogeys on 18 so expecting him to do much more on that hole isn't fair.

 

he didn't know that perry was going to give two strokes back. he birdied 12 and had easy birdies coming up on 13 and 15, you can't play trying to par #12 if you've been firing at the pin all day and are still trailing a guy who is playing well.

 

plus this silly way of thinking is giving him no credit for the good shots and is putting a label on him because of his poor shots. he choked on his putts on 15 and 17, but what about the great drives and great iron shots he hit to put himself in position to make eagle and birdie on those holes? did tiger choke on his shots because he couldn't get as close? tiger also missed some makeable putts in his round and failed to capitalize when he was in good scoring position in the fairway, i think we should add those to his "could've" score.

 

bottom line, if mickelson had shot 63 (to get to -13) it would've been the best round of the tournament by 2 strokes and would've tied the course record that has been reached twice in 75 years. not doing it is not a choke.

[Banedon]

i'm becoming irate listening to people say that mickelson choked. he shot 30 on the front 9 by going for every pin; he went for the pin on 12 and people are ripping on him for not shooting at the center of the green. he didn't get back in contention by playing that way; he rolled the dice again and lost.

 

by the way, tiger woods bogeyed the last two holes. sometimes a guy just has a bad hole or two, it's not always a choke.

 

The problem for me on 12 wasn't that he went for the center of the green, it was club selection. He went with a 9 iron that he had to smash to get it there. He should have gone with less power on more club.

 

The start of that round is what it was. But the tournament is won and lost at the end of the round on Sunday. And nobody went after it. I just would like to see the Champion be someone that played great golf at the end. I don't think any of them played great golf at the end.

[TruffleShuffle]

i'm becoming irate listening to people say that mickelson choked. he shot 30 on the front 9 by going for every pin; he went for the pin on 12 and people are ripping on him for not shooting at the center of the green. he didn't get back in contention by playing that way; he rolled the dice again and lost.

 

by the way, tiger woods bogeyed the last two holes. sometimes a guy just has a bad hole or two, it's not always a choke.

 

The problem for me on 12 wasn't that he went for the center of the green, it was club selection. He went with a 9 iron that he had to smash to get it there. He should have gone with less power on more club.

 

The start of that round is what it was. But the tournament is won and lost at the end of the round on Sunday. And nobody went after it. I just would like to see the Champion be someone that played great golf at the end. I don't think any of them played great golf at the end.

 

oh i agree but that was more the fault of the guys who made the playoff. tiger and phil didn't lose the tourney on sunday, they lost it by not shooting lower scores the previous 3 days. especially on saturday, they needed to make their move but they sorta just ended up treading water.

[Banedon]

i'm becoming irate listening to people say that mickelson choked. he shot 30 on the front 9 by going for every pin; he went for the pin on 12 and people are ripping on him for not shooting at the center of the green. he didn't get back in contention by playing that way; he rolled the dice again and lost.

 

by the way, tiger woods bogeyed the last two holes. sometimes a guy just has a bad hole or two, it's not always a choke.

 

The problem for me on 12 wasn't that he went for the center of the green, it was club selection. He went with a 9 iron that he had to smash to get it there. He should have gone with less power on more club.

 

The start of that round is what it was. But the tournament is won and lost at the end of the round on Sunday. And nobody went after it. I just would like to see the Champion be someone that played great golf at the end. I don't think any of them played great golf at the end.

 

oh i agree but that was more the fault of the guys who made the playoff. tiger and phil didn't lose the tourney on sunday, they lost it by not shooting lower scores the previous 3 days. especially on saturday, they needed to make their move but they sorta just ended up treading water.

 

Agreed. Tiger and Phil both need to start playing better early rounds. Especially Tiger...he's done the late comeback thing a little too often.

[Guest]

i'm becoming irate listening to people say that mickelson choked. he shot 30 on the front 9 by going for every pin; he went for the pin on 12 and people are ripping on him for not shooting at the center of the green. he didn't get back in contention by playing that way; he rolled the dice again and lost.

 

by the way, tiger woods bogeyed the last two holes. sometimes a guy just has a bad hole or two, it's not always a choke.

 

The problem for me on 12 wasn't that he went for the center of the green, it was club selection. He went with a 9 iron that he had to smash to get it there. He should have gone with less power on more club.

 

The start of that round is what it was. But the tournament is won and lost at the end of the round on Sunday. And nobody went after it. I just would like to see the Champion be someone that played great golf at the end. I don't think any of them played great golf at the end.

 

Phil didn't have to crush that 9 iron. He just needed to hit it clean. Phil's 9 iron goes as far as most other people's 8 iron. If he hits an 8 iron there, he's off the back side of the green and in an impossible position to try to get it close to the pin. Phil was only a couple of feet from landing where everyone else in the tournament landed.

 

Phil didn't choke. However, he did play his typical golf. He'll wow you with one shot, and then make you scratch your head on the next one. It's worked for him over the years, because he has a lot of tour victories on his resume, including majors.

[Guest]

I'm really thinking of getting into golf for real this summer, instead of just playing at the kiddie links occasionally. What is a good way to get started? We have a couple golf courses near by.

 

Start young and stick with it. I could just kick myself for taking the first 12 years that I lived in San Diego off from playing golf. Part of it was to start my business. The other part was this assumption that it was ridiculously expensive to golf in San Diego, which it really isn't.

 

Golfnow.com is the way to book your tee times. Bargain rates if you can get rounds in during the week.

[kujay]

I'm really thinking of getting into golf for real this summer, instead of just playing at the kiddie links occasionally. What is a good way to get started? We have a couple golf courses near by.

 

Go to the driving range, go to a par-three course too. Golf takes time to learn to play well. I would suggest getting a couple of lessons from a local golf pro.

 

and just stick with it. if you go in with no expectations you'll have a lot more fun, and every now and then you'll hit a really good shot in between a bunch of garbage and you'll be like "wow this is awesome"

 

Agreed. I'll go out and shoot 110, but I'll only remember the 20-foot putt that dropped in or the approach that landed 6-feet from the cup. That's why I keep going back.

[Banedon]

Agreed. I'll go out and shoot 110, but I'll only remember the 20-foot putt that dropped in or the approach that landed 6-feet from the cup. That's why I keep going back.

 

I need to remember the bad shots more often though so I don't repeat them as often as I unfortunately do. Tiger banging that shot off the tree looked all too familiar.

[kujay]

Agreed. I'll go out and shoot 110, but I'll only remember the 20-foot putt that dropped in or the approach that landed 6-feet from the cup. That's why I keep going back.

 

I need to remember the bad shots more often though so I don't repeat them as often as I unfortunately do. Tiger banging that shot off the tree looked all too familiar.

 

I try to think of it as the routine. When I hit a good shot, I remember what my routine was. Keep head down, front arm straight, don't slow down on follow-through. It's a mind game, but it's more of "do this" than "don't do that."

[Banedon]

Agreed. I'll go out and shoot 110, but I'll only remember the 20-foot putt that dropped in or the approach that landed 6-feet from the cup. That's why I keep going back.

 

I need to remember the bad shots more often though so I don't repeat them as often as I unfortunately do. Tiger banging that shot off the tree looked all too familiar.

 

I try to think of it as the routine. When I hit a good shot, I remember what my routine was. Keep head down, front arm straight, don't slow down on follow-through. It's a mind game, but it's more of "do this" than "don't do that."

 

I wonder what the pros think when they're addressing the ball. Surely they aren't thinking about mechanics.

[Guest]

he didn't know that perry was going to give two strokes back. he birdied 12 and had easy birdies coming up on 13 and 15, you can't play trying to par #12 if you've been firing at the pin all day and are still trailing a guy who is playing well.

 

What reason did Phil have to think Perry was going to birdie those holes? When Phil was on 12 and 15, all Perry had done to that point was par every single hole he'd played on Sunday. Perry was playing conservative golf.

 

plus this silly way of thinking is giving him no credit for the good shots and is putting a label on him because of his poor shots. he choked on his putts on 15 and 17, but what about the great drives and great iron shots he hit to put himself in position to make eagle and birdie on those holes? did tiger choke on his shots because he couldn't get as close? tiger also missed some makeable putts in his round and failed to capitalize when he was in good scoring position in the fairway, i think we should add those to his "could've" score.

 

I gave Phil credit for his good shots and said that his front nine was amazing. Pretty much everything he did on Sunday other than the tee shot on 12 and the two putts on 15 and 17 was great. But if you put yourself into position to do something, like get an eagle or birdie on those holes, and you have easy shots but don't make them, you blew your chance. If a baseball team loads the bases with no outs but doesn't score even though they had the heart of the order up, they blew their chance. Remember the Cubs-Rockies game last year when the Cubs came back from 8-0 and 9-1 down to win? Well, what if in the top of the ninth, the Cubs made a couple weak errors and lost the game. That would be a choke. They would have put themselves in a great position to win and didn't take advantage of it. Just like Phil.

 

I did add Tiger's stuff. Tiger could have finished at a -9 or -10 without screwing up 17 and 18 (though 18 is a stretch because, as I said, he'd carded a bogey twice on this hole already).

 

bottom line, if mickelson had shot 63 (to get to -13) it would've been the best round of the tournament by 2 strokes and would've tied the course record that has been reached twice in 75 years. not doing it is not a choke.

 

You can't look at it that way. Fact was when he stepped to the tee on 12, he was one back of the leaders at -10. What he had already done to that point was in the books and couldn't be taken away from him. The first three days he played holes 12 through 18 at -5 but on Sunday he played them at +1. He put himself into position to win but he choked.

 

Obviously, it wasn't the only or the biggest choke of the tournament, since that one goes to Kenny Perry but still, Phil blew his (very good) chance to win.

[Guest]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

I predict that the best score will be 18 under. I won't predict that my team will be 18 under, but I'll go even farther out on a limb and say there will be a tie at 18 under.

 

It's a really nice course at Sycuan Casino. Unfortunately, I think it's supposed to be closer to 100 degrees than 90 degrees today.

[kujay]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

I predict that the best score will be 18 under. I won't predict that my team will be 18 under, but I'll go even farther out on a limb and say there will be a tie at 18 under.

 

It's a really nice course at Sycuan Casino. Unfortunately, I think it's supposed to be closer to 100 degrees than 90 degrees today.

 

Yikes. I went off last summer one Sunday at about 2:30, and I swear it was 98 degrees here without near the same humidity. I thought I was going to die. I ended up drinking about 100 oz. of Gatorade that afternoon. I got home and went straight to sleep until the next morning. Stupid.

 

And yes, with that type of scramble, I would hope there is a tie for the win at -18.

 

I played 18 three straight days late last month up in Peoria. Really nice and cheap park district courses to play up there. And, of course, I haven't been out since. Not even to the range. Golf is not cheap here and there aren't many practice ranges close to me.

[biittner77]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

.

 

This is a pet peeve of mine. Is there a type of scramble where you don't play the best ball? Why not just say scramble? We'll all know what you mean. Otherwise, why not say "best golf ball scramble of golfing by using the best of the 4 golf shots as a team"!

 

I'm sure at least one team will have already filled out their 18 under card before they've left the 1st tee.

[Guest]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

I predict that the best score will be 18 under. I won't predict that my team will be 18 under, but I'll go even farther out on a limb and say there will be a tie at 18 under.

 

It's a really nice course at Sycuan Casino. Unfortunately, I think it's supposed to be closer to 100 degrees than 90 degrees today.

 

Yikes. I went off last summer one Sunday at about 2:30, and I swear it was 98 degrees here without near the same humidity. I thought I was going to die. I ended up drinking about 100 oz. of Gatorade that afternoon. I got home and went straight to sleep until the next morning. Stupid.

 

And yes, with that type of scramble, I would hope there is a tie for the win at -18.

 

I played 18 three straight days late last month up in Peoria. Really nice and cheap park district courses to play up there. And, of course, I haven't been out since. Not even to the range. Golf is not cheap here and there aren't many practice ranges close to me.

 

Yeah, I've played all of those Peoria courses. I really liked Kellogg. Newman was also really nice. Madison was a dump, and I can't think of the names of the other public courses. I never got a chance to play that private course up off of Grand View Drive, but sure wish I had a chance. On a warm summer day, you can hit a drive for miles on those dry fairways.

 

We did a yearly best ball scramble at a course in Sunnyland (just outside Peoria) for many years. I absolutely loved that course. The name escapes me right now, even though I should remember it better than the names of the public courses in P-Town.

[Guest]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

.

 

This is a pet peeve of mine. Is there a type of scramble where you don't play the best ball? Why not just say scramble? We'll all know what you mean. Otherwise, why not say "best golf ball scramble of golfing by using the best of the 4 golf shots as a team"!

 

I'm sure at least one team will have already filled out their 18 under card before they've left the 1st tee.

 

To relieve your peeve, I'll let you know now that there most certainly is other types of scrambles. Different players hitting where the ball lies is another type of scramble. I tee off, you hit the next shot, etc...

[jersey cubs fan]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

.

 

This is a pet peeve of mine. Is there a type of scramble where you don't play the best ball? Why not just say scramble? We'll all know what you mean. Otherwise, why not say "best golf ball scramble of golfing by using the best of the 4 golf shots as a team"!

 

I'm sure at least one team will have already filled out their 18 under card before they've left the 1st tee.

 

Yeah, that always sounded redundant to me as well. But I don't know much about "games" you can play while golfing. I usually just hit the ball and try to score as low as possible (which isn't low). But just plain old best ball is everybody plays a normal round and the team submits the best score on that hole, right?

[kujay]

Yeah, I've played all of those Peoria courses. I really liked Kellogg. Newman was also really nice. Madison was a dump, and I can't think of the names of the other public courses. I never got a chance to play that private course up off of Grand View Drive, but sure wish I had a chance. On a warm summer day, you can hit a drive for miles on those dry fairways.

 

You sure can. Donovan is another of them. We went to Kellogg, Donovan and Madison. Haven't played Newman. My friend who lives there thinks it's the toughest, and since it was early in the season and we were both rusty we decided to keep it a little easier.

 

Is the private course you are thinking of Weaver Ridge? Haven't been there, but I hear it's really nice. And not cheap.

[Guest]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

.

 

This is a pet peeve of mine. Is there a type of scramble where you don't play the best ball? Why not just say scramble? We'll all know what you mean. Otherwise, why not say "best golf ball scramble of golfing by using the best of the 4 golf shots as a team"!

 

I'm sure at least one team will have already filled out their 18 under card before they've left the 1st tee.

 

Yeah, that always sounded redundant to me as well. But I don't know much about "games" you can play while golfing. I usually just hit the ball and try to score as low as possible (which isn't low). But just plain old best ball is everybody plays a normal round and the team submits the best score on that hole, right?

 

No. Best ball is each player in the foursome hits, and then the 4 man team chooses which of the 4 shots they will all shoot from next, hence "best ball".

[jersey cubs fan]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

.

 

This is a pet peeve of mine. Is there a type of scramble where you don't play the best ball? Why not just say scramble? We'll all know what you mean. Otherwise, why not say "best golf ball scramble of golfing by using the best of the 4 golf shots as a team"!

 

I'm sure at least one team will have already filled out their 18 under card before they've left the 1st tee.

 

To relieve your peeve, I'll let you know now that there most certainly is other types of scrambles. Different players hitting where the ball lies is another type of scramble. I tee off, you hit the next shot, etc...

 

That's not a scramble.

[Guest]

Yeah, I've played all of those Peoria courses. I really liked Kellogg. Newman was also really nice. Madison was a dump, and I can't think of the names of the other public courses. I never got a chance to play that private course up off of Grand View Drive, but sure wish I had a chance. On a warm summer day, you can hit a drive for miles on those dry fairways.

 

You sure can. Donovan is another of them. We went to Kellogg, Donovan and Madison. Haven't played Newman. My friend who lives there thinks it's the toughest, and since it was early in the season and we were both rusty we decided to keep it a little easier.

 

Is the private course you are thinking of Weaver Ridge? Haven't been there, but I hear it's really nice. And not cheap.

 

If it's Weaver Ridge, it wasnt' called that when I was golfing Peoria. But, we're talking over 20 years ago. I'll do a google and see what I come up with. Yeah, I remember playing Donovan as well.

[jersey cubs fan]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

.

 

This is a pet peeve of mine. Is there a type of scramble where you don't play the best ball? Why not just say scramble? We'll all know what you mean. Otherwise, why not say "best golf ball scramble of golfing by using the best of the 4 golf shots as a team"!

 

I'm sure at least one team will have already filled out their 18 under card before they've left the 1st tee.

 

Yeah, that always sounded redundant to me as well. But I don't know much about "games" you can play while golfing. I usually just hit the ball and try to score as low as possible (which isn't low). But just plain old best ball is everybody plays a normal round and the team submits the best score on that hole, right?

 

No. Best ball is each player in the foursome hits, and then the 4 man team chooses which of the 4 shots they will all shoot from next, hence "best ball".

 

No, that is scramble. Best ball involves everybody playing the hole normally and taking the best score.

Here:

http://golf.about.com/cs/golfterms/g/bldef_bestball.htm

 

Definition: Along with the scramble, "best ball" is one of the most popular golf tournament formats.

Best ball can be played using 2-, 3- or 4-person teams. Each player on the team plays his or her own golf ball throughout the round, and on each hole the low score - or "best ball" - of the group serves as the team score. Player A gets a 5, B gets a 4, C gets a 6, D gets a 6, then the team score for that hole is 4, because the low score of the group was B's 4.

http://www.thegolfexpert.com/lingo-b.php

best ball - a type of golf tournament where each player plays his/her own ball for the entire round, while the team records the individual score from the low team member on each hole. The 'best scores' are then totaled for the teams final 18 hole score. There can be two, three or four golfers on each team. Note: a 'best ball' and a 'scramble' are not the same thing.

[Guest]

Yeah, I've played all of those Peoria courses. I really liked Kellogg. Newman was also really nice. Madison was a dump, and I can't think of the names of the other public courses. I never got a chance to play that private course up off of Grand View Drive, but sure wish I had a chance. On a warm summer day, you can hit a drive for miles on those dry fairways.

 

You sure can. Donovan is another of them. We went to Kellogg, Donovan and Madison. Haven't played Newman. My friend who lives there thinks it's the toughest, and since it was early in the season and we were both rusty we decided to keep it a little easier.

 

Is the private course you are thinking of Weaver Ridge? Haven't been there, but I hear it's really nice. And not cheap.

 

Mt. Hawley Country Club is the one I was thinking of.

 

Never heard of Weaver Ridge. I'd like to play Coyote Canyon, which is a fairly new course that's less than 5 minutes from my folks house.

[Guest]

Today is a first for me. I'm playing in a 4 man best ball scramble. That's not actually unusual at all, but that it's on an 18 hole, par 3 course seems a bit strange to me.

 

.

 

This is a pet peeve of mine. Is there a type of scramble where you don't play the best ball? Why not just say scramble? We'll all know what you mean. Otherwise, why not say "best golf ball scramble of golfing by using the best of the 4 golf shots as a team"!

 

I'm sure at least one team will have already filled out their 18 under card before they've left the 1st tee.

 

Yeah, that always sounded redundant to me as well. But I don't know much about "games" you can play while golfing. I usually just hit the ball and try to score as low as possible (which isn't low). But just plain old best ball is everybody plays a normal round and the team submits the best score on that hole, right?

 

No. Best ball is each player in the foursome hits, and then the 4 man team chooses which of the 4 shots they will all shoot from next, hence "best ball".

 

No, that is scramble. Best ball involves everybody playing the hole normally and taking the best score.

Here:

http://golf.about.com/cs/golfterms/g/bldef_bestball.htm

 

Definition: Along with the scramble, "best ball" is one of the most popular golf tournament formats.

Best ball can be played using 2-, 3- or 4-person teams. Each player on the team plays his or her own golf ball throughout the round, and on each hole the low score - or "best ball" - of the group serves as the team score. Player A gets a 5, B gets a 4, C gets a 6, D gets a 6, then the team score for that hole is 4, because the low score of the group was B's 4.

http://www.thegolfexpert.com/lingo-b.php

best ball - a type of golf tournament where each player plays his/her own ball for the entire round, while the team records the individual score from the low team member on each hole. The 'best scores' are then totaled for the teams final 18 hole score. There can be two, three or four golfers on each team. Note: a 'best ball' and a 'scramble' are not the same thing.

 

Hmm. Never really knew there was a difference between your typical scramble and "best ball" scramble. I wonder if I'm competing in a scramble or a best ball scramble today. A best ball scramble would make more sense for an 18 hole course, which would also make me believe that an 18 under will not be the best score.

 

This one is also supposed to be a major drink fest. Already got the designated drivers in place.