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Posted
22 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

1.) if you stay on the above plan you will improve.  Be patient with yourself the game(swing, results....) is hauntingly mysterious at times.

2.) it won't make a material difference to your progress.  is nice information to have.

3.) yes, but resist the temptation to go beserk.  Look for highly regarded "game improvement" irons.  More forgiving.

4.) Most golfers are extremely welcoming and nice.  Largely you will NOT be given unsolicited advice, most of us are fellow sufferers.   Learn course/play etiquette.   Know when its time to pick up your ball on a hole.  Don't expect people you are paired with to watch you grind out a 15 on a par 4

#3  Get fitted for the clubs.  Be sure they look good to your eye.  I've never been a Callaway guy, the top line was always to thick looking to me.  Some of their new irons are better though

 

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Posted
16 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Thank you. any thoughts on the DTC brands here? Takomo, Stix, Sub70, etc.

I don't have any experience with DTC golf clubs.  I play a decade old set of callaway X somethings I bought off callawaypreowned.com .  Old golf saying:  Its the Indian, not the arrows.  Plenty of good hits left in 5 year old "technology".   I do agree with getting fitted, that gives you clubs that fit your bodies specific measurement.  Basically rack clothes vs tailored.  

You can take the information from a fitting and have someone like Dicks or local club adjust a set, the callaway site above will adjust clubs too.

Posted
1 hour ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

5) When I’m no longer confusing myself with the above, take a lesson focused on hitting from a tee, and work on tee shots with driver and 5 wood at range after warming up with irons. 

I would suggest leaving the driver at home and using a 3 wood for tee shots. The accuracy will more than make up for any distance you lose.

Once your swing is in better shape then you can work on hitting the driver on the practice range and eventually on course.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Thank you. any thoughts on the DTC brands here? Takomo, Stix, Sub70, etc.

I got Sub70 wedges and really love them. Bought during one of their sales for about $80 apiece, find them as good for me as a $170 Vokey.

Posted
2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

As in, not partially or completely missing the ball with the club or hitting the turf 3 inches behind the ball. Literally just putting the club head on the ball.

OK, this is fair and fine.

2 hours ago, WithoutAClue said:

I would suggest leaving the driver at home and using a 3 wood for tee shots. The accuracy will more than make up for any distance you lose.

Once your swing is in better shape then you can work on hitting the driver on the practice range and eventually on course.

With current drivers, most players actually aren't that much more accurate (if any) with the 3 wood. Large forgiving head can be really helpful, esp if it's fit with the right shaft etc. 

Posted
On 7/18/2025 at 12:10 PM, BearSchlong said:

There's no way that's only 38k steps!

Oh wait, LPGA? She probably hits it pretty straight.

I wonder how many clubs she carried?

That's probably the only thing she does "straight".

Posted
On 1/6/2025 at 8:19 AM, nolongerU2horn said:

2025 Intentions:

 

Break 85 (Current 19 hcp/former 12 hcp, shouldn't be that hard)

 

Well, I shot 87 at Sandia Golf Club in Albuquerque on Friday. 

 

48-39!  Easily my best 9 in a long time. Hit every fairway on the back with 2 birdies. Hit a couple into the desert on the front.

 

Sandia was fantastic. One of the best conditioned courses I've ever played and really a bargain at $114 on a Friday morning. That's less than you'll pay at Avery on a weekend. Which is ridiculous.

 

 

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Posted (edited)
On 7/25/2025 at 10:43 AM, babysdaddy said:

I'm going to hurt myself or someone close to me if I can't figure out my putting.  I'm a 1 index and I've had 40 putts and 38 putts in my last 2 rounds.  78 both times.  someone help.  Do I need to become a lab putter guy?  

I got paired with an ex-LPGA professional who retired from pro golf because she had the putting yips. She had 3 putters in her bag. She used 2 of them on the front 9. Only played 9. It's a thing.

She was in the middle of the fairway, hit GIRs. Just couldn't make any birdie putts.

Edited by crash_davis
Posted
5 hours ago, nolongerU2horn said:

Well, I shot 87 at Sandia Golf Club in Albuquerque on Friday. 

 

48-39!  Easily my best 9 in a long time. Hit every fairway on the back with 2 birdies. Hit a couple into the desert on the front.

 

Sandia was fantastic. One of the best conditioned courses I've ever played and really a bargain at $114 on a Friday morning. That's less than you'll pay at Avery on a weekend. Which is ridiculous.

 

 

Sandia is a really fun course.  And Albuquerque is an awesome location for a quick, cheap golf vacation.  Twin Warriors and Paako Ridge are both easily accessible from downtown / the airport.   Paako is pretty spectacular and worth the 45 minute drive.  

About 10 years ago, we did a three day weekend there.  Flew in early Friday morning from Austin.  Landed by 8 AM (gained an hour).  Got 36 in at Sandia.  Gambled at their shitty casino that night.  36 at Paako the next day (27-hole course).  Ate ribs and fajitas at El Pinto that night.  Blakes' green chile burrito followed by 18 at TW early Sunday morning.  Back home to Austin in time for supper Sunday night.  All-in for under $1K.  

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Posted

@Bozo_Casanova we are on the same journey but I’m three months ahead and three years younger.  

Just finished my tenth of ten lessons and they’ve helped tremendously.  I am no longer a hack and just a mediocre player.   I just bought new clubs after my coach did a bit of a fitting.  I wanted TaylorMade but after hitting various types of clubs, it became obvious that I was so much longer and more accurate with Mizuno 925s.  I tried to pretend it was politics and not pay attention to the data in front of me but coach kept directing me back to the stats so I begrudgingly went with them and now I love them (after one whole round with them).

I found no one talks to you about your swing.  And like someone said, pick up a ball if putting group behind pace of play.  No one cares about your score at all, people just care to not slow them down.

Good luck to us newbs.  

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Posted
1 hour ago, Hornbeliever said:

Just finished my tenth of ten lessons and they’ve helped tremendously.  I am no longer a hack and just a mediocre player.   I just bought new clubs after my coach did a bit of a fitting.

This is very encouraging. Are you glad you waited a few months to dial things in before getting new clubs?

1 hour ago, Hornbeliever said:

three years younger

Boy, you are in for a treat. The difference between 51 and 48 is like the difference between 45 and 35.

Enjoy!

Posted (edited)
21 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

This is very encouraging. Are you glad you waited a few months to dial things in before getting new clubs?

Boy, you are in for a treat. The difference between 51 and 48 is like the difference between 45 and 35.

Enjoy!

I am super glad I waited….but I don’t know if that’s just rationalizing my decision or if that was actually the best choice.  I do know this, I’ve knocked down 30-35 shots off my “handicap” which I don’t even know if one has a handicap when you never ever hit a drive on the (correct) fairway.

My irons and putting would likely make me an 80s player bow but my drives are still pulling my score up 5-7 shots I bet.

I only bought a package of ten lessons and my coach devoted 95% of time to finding my swing on irons/chips/putts and 5% on driver.  Well, my game absolutely reflects that prioritization since we ran out of time.

i also practiced the equivalent of what you smartly outlined.  I have spent hours and hours on this new found hobby….obsession.

Taking a break from lessons for a bit and just pounding balls (huh?) every other day for an hour or so. 
 

and yes, getting old sucks!!  I’m in decent shape and have pulled a groin and strained a hamstring in last twelve months….after only pulling one muscle in 48 years of a quite active lifestyle.  It’s one of the reasons I’ve started playing golf and giving up some other choices.


 

Edited by Hornbeliever
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Posted

Played yesterday after work.  I've been feeling like I was SO CLOSE to turning the corner to the point I can start breaking 80 every once in a while.  Consistently 80-84 for the last few months.  So, what do I do? I lay an absolute egg.  It was like I forgot how to play golf.  Started off OK, but had a stretch of bogey-double-triple-triple-triple-bogey on the front 9 for a smooth 48.  Somewhere in there was a 3-iron that went about 40 yards.  A drive that was in another county and a one-putt triple bogey on a par 3 despite being pin high and 6 ft right of the green off the tee.  I recovered somewhat with a 42 on the back, but it was an absolute grind.  Couldn't find a fairway to save my life and irons were just far enough off line to cause issues.  

I hate golf.  Which is why I'm going back out there to walk 9 after work today.

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Posted
1 minute ago, Incredulity said:

pretty sure I have identified the problem.

You're probably right.  But, that 3i has been my go-to fairway finder for years, especially on short par 4s.  It usually nails on long approach shots.  To the point that I'm considering trading in my old Cleveland hybrid for a 2i. 

Posted
4 minutes ago, Spaulding Smails said:

trading in my old Cleveland hybrid for a 2i

Oh No Comedy GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

 

I get it and I'm just being Surly.  Few things in golf beat the feeling of a pure struck low iron.  I'm nothing special at the game, but could always hit low irons pretty damn good(would promptly give away anything I gained around the green).

Posted
10 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Oh No Comedy GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

 

I get it and I'm just being Surly.  Few things in golf beat the feeling of a pure struck low iron.  I'm nothing special at the game, but could always hit low irons pretty damn good(would promptly give away anything I gained around the green).

That's been my golf game the last few months prior to yesterday.  Solid off the tee with good distance.  Decent long irons.  But struggling to capitalize on short approach shots.  Chipping has been suspect.  And putting fell off a cliff.  I was averaging under 30 putts/round last year.  Up to over 33 this year.  Not a lot of three putts, but missing makable putts constantly.  So, for the strokes I've picked up off the tee and from the short grass, I've given them back around the green.  I also have the inevitable 2-3 blow up holes per round.  I feel like I'm a 5-6 hdcp tee to green, but have been a 20 hdcp around the green and putting.  It's all about putting in the work, which I haven't.  

I'm hoping work slows down in the next year so I can try to turn that corner to a consistent single-digit handicap.  

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Posted
3 minutes ago, TXSooner518 said:

Would highly recommend tracking with actual SG data. Number of putts per round is nearly entirely useless, and sometimes there are unexpected nuggets in the data. 

I know what it means obviously but for the other readers, can you elaborate on what SG means in this context?

Posted
7 hours ago, Spaulding Smails said:

...So, what do I do? I lay an absolute egg.  It was like I forgot how to play golf....

Lol I feel seen.  I've been playing okay since picking up the clubs again a few months ago.  Really striking the ball well, but losing a lot of strokes to missed GIRs and bad chipping mistakes.  Overall though, it's been encouraging.  

Walked on at Lions Sunday morning at 0730 and proceeded to card five 7s in row.  Somewhere along the way, I started spraying wedges just blade open wide right.  On 5, I wound up right of the trees, tried to play a mostly conservative pitch out to the fairway, hit a tree and wound up twenty yards backwards.  Next shot, hit another tree.  Third shot, beautiful punch out to 90 yards...

I chalk it up to getting paired with this older dude who had just enough Dad energy to put the thought of my old man in my head, and I always played terribly around him. 

Golf. 

2 hours ago, Hornbeliever said:

I know what it means obviously but for the other readers, can you elaborate on what SG means in this context?

Surly Golf (TM)

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