Originally Posted By officerminnie <<<<<You must be one heck of a woman Officerminnie>> Not sure what that's supposed to mean ^^>>> <<That is supposed to mean you must be a real physical force being that you use men's clubs. I meant it as a complement, but not sure it came across that way.>> Okay, but please don't think I'm some kind of she-man or anything . I mainly use men's clubs because that's what I inherited after I got tired of my cheapo women's clubs! And they seemed to work for me, so I just keep using them. I think my dad referred to the strength (both physical and emotional) of the women in our family as coming from "good Scandinavian stock". I do swing hard at the ball and tend to be rather competitive though (Maybe that's the Irish/Scottish in me). My brother can hit the ball farther than me with a half-swing, because he knows it's all about tempo/timing. I don't seem to be able to grasp that concept, so I just keep swinging hard. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? And thanks, DVC_dad, for the compliment .
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Well it MAY be about tempo and timing, BUT when Tiger hit a "towering 7 IRON" for 215 yards that landed 10 feet from the pin, well...there was more than just tempo and timing in that shot I assure you. As vbdad begs off and claims that he is not a natural athlete (and I believe that he certainly is) Tiger is obviously a natural athlete. I mean it is a large part of how Tiger has changed the game. Others will tell you, "... I never used to work out or go to the gym before Tiger came along. Now I go at least 3 days a week..." and similar stories. I can attest to this much: When I came back to the game, I realized I had to get my tempo and timing down and SLOW down both my take away and my follow thru in order to find the sweet spot. Now I did just that, however, as I was able to hit the ball consistently, I was able to slowly add on more club head speed while maintaining the tempo and timing. Now (well atleast with my driver and fairway woods), I can pretty much swing as fast, hard, or wildly as I want and hit the ball very true, very straight, and very far 9 out of 10 times. So there is a lot of truth to the statement that you have to slow the club down to hit the ball farther. I watch the pros play and MOST of the time it doesn't even look like they are swinging at all, but the 5 iron goes 250 yards and lands like a feather on the green, and commences to do the tango toward the cup. *sigh* I'll never get to where I am satisfied with my skillz at golf. Satisfied - no, content- umm....maybe.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<<You must be one heck of a woman Officerminnie>>> I guess when you talked about playing with men's clubs, especially since I had to get about a half inch taken off of my standard men's clubs, as I am only 5'9"... I guess I immediately envisioned you as identical twin to Maria Sharapova (who is one of the best athletes in the world and could easily kick my butt in a fist fight) who probably standing flat footed is over 7 feet tall...or so it seems. In all I guess it's a crumby chauvinistic stereotype and I apologize for it. It's just not everyday I hear women say they like to play golf, or much less that they use men's clubs to do so. I mean don't get me wrong, there are as many women as there are men who love golf; it's just that I don't come across them often...or really at all. My loss.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <As vbdad begs off and claims that he is not a natural athlete (and I believe that he certainly is) Tiger is obviously a natural athlete. I mean it is a large part of how Tiger has changed the game. < I prefer to think of myself as a good athlete who works very hard to succeed. Ihave known a couple of naturals, and they are in a class by themselves.
Originally Posted By officerminnie <<<In all I guess it's a crumby chauvinistic stereotype and I apologize for it. >>> *Absolutely* no need to apologize!!! I did not take offense - it is probably my own insecurity from way back in the day. One of the girls I played golf with alot was kind of a "manly" girl and I always felt like people assumed I was just like her. She always played off the men's tees, mainly so no one could say "Oh, you shot an 82 but you played off the women's tees". So I, not wanting to be the wimp, played off the men's tees as well. And then the men's clubs came my way and I hit those pretty well, so I just stuck with them. But I really am a girly girl. I played in a scramble today and our team did not get 2nd place this year, but we did shoot a 62 (par 73) which was 5th place. There were 120 golfers and only about 12 were women. Last year I won women's long drive, but someone beat me this time, darn it! But I did hit my new driver really well, about 240-250 and straight most of the time. The one time I needed to slice it, I did (although not on purpose). My approach shots still stink though. Gotta work on those. Oh, and btw I am only 5'6". I don't know why I can hit men's clubs without shortening them. Must be something with my stance?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 it's not your height that matters as much as the distance from your wrist to the ground.....check this out -- as what matters is where your hands on the club grip are while coming through on your swing... <a href="http://www.ping.com/flash/webfit.html" target="_blank">http://www.ping.com/flash/webf it.html</a>
Originally Posted By DVC_dad How is it possible to shoot a honest, no cheating, no Mulligan, all penalty strokes counted, 44 on the front 9, and a self destructing 58 on the back 9? vbdad I thought you said an 88 golfer will never shoot a 116. Oh I guess that's the point, I am not an 88 golfer...yet. Frustrating.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <vbdad I thought you said an 88 golfer will never shoot a 116. Oh I guess that's the point, I am not an 88 golfer...yet. Frustrating.< unfortunately you answered your own question -- but I still think for the time you have been golfing you are being very hard on yourself. 1. was this at your course or another one ? 2. conditions - any bad weather ? 3. and most important - unless my math is off you shot 102. I know how you got to 116, but do you really think you could have shot another 58 ? Now maybe if you were too down on yourself after the 58 - yeah - you could talk yourself into another one-- golf has a way of doing that. But don't ignore the 44 onthe front either. And at 102 - what if you would have shot 51 and 51. Would that have been as awful ? probably not. Go back and analyze what happened. Was it the putter ? Short game ? but I will stand by my statement, a mid 80's shooter will not shoot 115 or 120....a mid 80's shooter might shoot 75 or might shoot 95 but that would be the range as to me a mid 80's shooter is a mid 80's game on a moderately tough course. a true mid 80's shooter is also more rare than most would have you believe - so give yourself some time-- you are absolutely on the right track.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<<1. was this at your course or another one ? 2. conditions - any bad weather ? 3. and most important - unless my math is off you shot 102. I know how you got to 116, but do you really think you could have shot another 58 ?>>> 1. My course 2. It got really hot after the turn, and the greens got super duper dry, and my putting somehow became awful. 3. Yeah a 51 and a 51 would have been fine. LOL <<<a true mid 80's shooter is also more rare than most would have you believe >>> I am absolutely convinced of this! <<<so give yourself some time-- you are absolutely on the right track.>>> Thanks vbdad, I only want to become the best I can be, while still enjoying the game and I am about to turn 39, so I realize that age will soon become an issue as well. I wonder if the day will come that I reach my pinnacle, and then begin to decline due to age alone.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Thanks vbdad, I only want to become the best I can be, while still enjoying the game and I am about to turn 39, so I realize that age will soon become an issue as well. I wonder if the day will come that I reach my pinnacle, and then begin to decline due to age alone. < Not to worry, I'm 51 and am at least satisfied with my game at this point. I really feel very little different on the course than when I was 35 -- I would say a little loss of flexibility has cost me 10 yards on my irons and really nothing on my woods. You can adjust easily to 10 yards ... you hae lots of time before age affects you- you have already passed the biggest drop off in athletic ability say 30 or so -- I have found it hasn't changed much for me since. Think about this, many golfers play their best golf after 50 -- a number of people train hard in their mid 40's -on to play on the senior tour....which is very competitive...
Originally Posted By Lake Nona Since nothing has been posted in a couple days, I have a link to a Natalie Gulbis photo. Always nice that someone can cook after a hard day on the course. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0608/gallery.gulbis/content.3.html" target="_blank">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c om/multimedia/photo_gallery/0608/gallery.gulbis/content.3.html</a>
Originally Posted By Lake Nona ^^^ No, I don't live in Las Vegas. My wife and I have met Mrs. and Mr. Gulbis during the 2002 US Women's Open. Such a nice couple. Rain will be falling down for the 37th Ryder Cup Matches for all 3 days.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Rain will be falling down for the 37th Ryder Cup Matches for all 3 days.< It's Ireland....my wifes relatives live 25 miles away in Kenmare..
Originally Posted By DVC_dad ^ ^ ^ To tell you the truth, school has started, and one would think that that would give me even MORE time to squeeze golf in. Not so. I am so danged busy I can hardly keep everything straight. I have actually had to start writing stuff down, and I don't mean on a calender weeks ahead. I mean I have to write down which child will be where sometimes for that day. ARG! It's mahem, but it's a good mayhem. I have not played golf in two weeks now and am beginning to think there may actually be something more important than golf... Now that things have settled down, I am going to play more. We got a new golf pro. Our old guy (who I thought was awesome) is now gone. The new pro is a woman and I hate to say this, I really hate to say it because it sounds so stero-typical but the new golf pro is a woman and Holy Hogan is she a beautiful woman at that! I called to schedule a lesson but so far she is booked on the days I can take a lesson. Funny, the old golf pro you could pretty much just walk in for lessons. ROFL ! Now our golf pro AND our tennis pro are both women. It was so overwheming obvoius that a change had been made. I was coming home and you have to pass the practice range when entering the development. I saw two people there, a man obviously getting coached on his swing and another person, obviously teaching, only thing is she had on a LOT of PINK, a PINK hat and a VERY PINK golf bag. I figured one of two things: Either the new pro was a very colorful man to say the least (which is fine by me) or a Pink Panther Lady sort of pro (which is even finer by me) yeah, gotta get back out there, gotta get some lessons, REAL soon! I expect if RoadTrip reads this post, he may want to come down for some lessons too. PS This post is full of sarcasm and humor and is not in the least a reflection on me as a husband or father. While everything contained herein is true, I am happily married and would never stray...at least that is my story for now. I gotta go make a lesson booking. Anyway I will keep you posted.
