OT: Golf courses

[WhereistheDove?]

About 8 years ago I wanted to figure out how to get more length, more consistency and maybe extend my swing (besides the obvious of being skinnier lol). Went for my first lessons ever, bought a 3 lesson deal from a really good pro up here in WesMass. I will put it this way never went back to the 2nd and 3rd. After an hour of him thinking of changing a few things I was very uncomfortable with change. We only worked on a 7 iron for an hour and the big change was the take back target which seemed to me to be too far out of line although I know he is correct. I took a little from that lesson but didn't want any more thoughts because I wasn't ready to shoot a few 90's before getting it right, too much money and bragging on the line with my buddies so I am settling for who I am but wished I had done it earlier. I had played for 35 years or so as a baseball player turned golfer. I can shoot 70-85 not always knowing what swing will show up honestly but I'm good with that rather than begin a swing change at about 52-53 years of age it was too late at that time. But for those who want to improve and bring it to another level it IS the way to go. Patience is a must as they will ask you to do things which seem perplexing but will eventually lead you to being a better ball striker. Go for it and good luck you will get there!! Great game.

Yeah it’s the benefit of being pretty new and not very good. There’s not too much to screw up in the short term. I know I struggle getting my lower body involved and that staying back is leading to too much dynamic loft (along with less swing speed). Now I just need to figure out how to fix it!

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

About 8 years ago I wanted to figure out how to get more length, more consistency and maybe extend my swing (besides the obvious of being skinnier lol). Went for my first lessons ever, bought a 3 lesson deal from a really good pro up here in WesMass. I will put it this way never went back to the 2nd and 3rd. After an hour of him thinking of changing a few things I was very uncomfortable with change. We only worked on a 7 iron for an hour and the big change was the take back target which seemed to me to be too far out of line although I know he is correct. I took a little from that lesson but didn't want any more thoughts because I wasn't ready to shoot a few 90's before getting it right, too much money and bragging on the line with my buddies so I am settling for who I am but wished I had done it earlier. I had played for 35 years or so as a baseball player turned golfer. I can shoot 70-85 not always knowing what swing will show up honestly but I'm good with that rather than begin a swing change at about 52-53 years of age it was too late at that time. But for those who want to improve and bring it to another level it IS the way to go. Patience is a must as they will ask you to do things which seem perplexing but will eventually lead you to being a better ball striker. Go for it and good luck you will get there!! Great game.

Same here. I played baseball and still played baseball in an adult wood bat league up until 2 years ago. I'm 42 and my swing is my swing, I shoot 75-85 on most days. I know what issues I have and can still scrape a decent round when things are off. Had a mini lesson 3 years ago, it messed my swing up for 3 months. Could not hit a driver straight and was hooking my irons terribly, took all the fun away...Never went back. I first started out as a right hand golfer in my teens then switched to my natural lefty side at 20.

 

[storrsroars]

2 wood love it. My buddy had one back in the day and he killed it and could hit it off the deck. (an actually wood). Also I'm pretty sure everyone started with a set of Northwesterns at one time right? LOL

No Northwesterns here. During my age 12-15 years as a caddie (CC Darien that I had to bike 5 miles to, uphill both ways!) I played that course every Monday (caddy day) with a set of stiff steel shaft Wilson Gene Sarazen irons (3/5/7/9/PW) my father gave me and a stolen miniature golf putter. At 15, my best friend's grandfater gave me a ancient driver he was throwing out. I could shoot double bogey with that gear, although I didn't get better than that until I added a 3-wood and SW around age 25. It would be another 4-5 years before I actually bought new balls, and another 2-3 years more before I actually had 14 clubs in my bag.

Never played with a 2-wood. I used to hit a 2-iron though, before hybrids came along. Still have that relic.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

2 wood love it. My buddy had one back in the day and he killed it and could hit it off the deck. (an actually wood). Also I'm pretty sure everyone started with a set of Northwesterns at one time right? LOL

I think the woods were made out of some kind of plastic.

 

[storrsroars]

I'm hoping to get out Wednesday for first time in 50 weeks. Sitting here with an ice pack on my knee after just mowing the front lawn. Still have the back to do. I can't play cart-path-only golf with this bum knee, but looks like it won't rain again till Thursday, so that shouldn't be a problem. If anything happens to me on the course to make this worse, I'm blaming this thread.

 

[DogBoy]

Maybe my favorite clubs ever, these looked great and were when I was playing my best. Just time to change went to the R7XD's but it was tough. Played them for about 10-12 years though.

Ha, I still have them in my bag. They were in my bag when I saw you at your work tourney last fall.

 

[uconnfan68]

I went yesterday. I could hit every club in my bag, and people next to me were as well. Nice spot. Very low key and relaxed. And I just can't hit off mats when there's a grass range in the area.

Maybe they relocated it. It’s been 15-20 years for me there. There was a public road behind the trees at the end of the range.

 

[uconnfan68]

Similarly never had an official lesson. Started going to the range with some buddies like 5 years ago but never played more than 2-3 rounds a year until last year. I need lessons at this point, but this COVID Situation is really making that tough.

You need to find a teacher that you can relate to. My first lessons were from a former tour player. It was on a local Navy course in San Diego. He was terrible. Stopped after 2 lessons.
Next try was at the other base course in town. He was a retired Navy enlisted turned pro. He was great. Took a series of 6 lessons over 3 weeks, he paid for the bucket of balls 3x and I did too. The lessons cost $18 total.
I went from an 18 handicap to a 9 handicap in 10 months.
If I was smart I would have tried more lessons.
Still haven’t broken par for 18, but have for 9 a few times at different places.
Now I’m struggling to break 90 again, but I still pretend I’m 28 on the course.

 

[uconnfan68]

Same here. I played baseball and still played baseball in an adult wood bat league up until 2 years ago. I'm 42 and my swing is my swing, I shoot 75-85 on most days. I know what issues I have and can still scrape a decent round when things are off. Had a mini lesson 3 years ago, it messed my swing up for 3 months. Could not hit a driver straight and was hooking my irons terribly, took all the fun away...Never went back. I first started out as a right hand golfer in my teens then switched to my natural lefty side at 20.

If you’re a natural lefty, you might have been better off staying as a righty in golf... at least that’s what my old teacher would have said. He practiced using only his left hand, and could hit better one-handed better than I ever could with both.

 

[mauconnfan]

Ha, I still have them in my bag. They were in my bag when I saw you at your work tourney last fall.

Great irons aren't they DB? Hope you're well. Looks like Covid hit Kaman too think we're taking a year off after 12 straight outings kinda sucks but the unknown hit many of our vendors who help us pull the event off.

Stay safe my friend!

 

[storrsroars]

Got out today for first time this year and basically 3rd time in 3 years. Me and my knee held it together for 14 holes. Was sitting at 75, hit 9 fairways with my newer inflexible old guy swing, and I was surprised I was playing relatively well given how little I've been out since 2017. Unfortunately the knee started giving out on the last four holes and then my back on the last two. Those went 7/7/8/10* for a 107 total.

The old guy backswing (takeaway barely above my shoulder) allows me to use driver on almost any hole. Sacrificing distance for control, but I can still get it 210-225, which when playing the whites is perfectly fine. And I've given up on playing from blues or tips. Just getting out is great. Surprisingly putting was pretty good too. We got out at 8:10 and the dew was messing me up. 21 putts on front with the dew, 14 on back with dry greens. I can't really complain. If my knee would hold up, I'm confident I could probably get back to around a 15 hdcp and not be an embarrassment.

Knee is swollen like crazy, but it was worth it. Although my phys therapist will have quite the chuckle at tomorrow's appointment.

* two penalty strokes. Par for those four holes is 16.

 

[uconndennis]

With so many golf gurus in here...Im going to throw this out there...

My kid (6) is natural righty..but I've had him swing a baseball bat lefty ever since he could hold one. I'm about to put golf clubs in his hand for the first time....

Do i make him play golf lefty also?
Or make him learn to "swing" righty at this point?

 

[mauconnfan]

With so many golf gurus in here...Im going to throw this out there...

My kid (6) is natural righty..but I've had him swing a baseball bat lefty ever since he could hold one. I'm about to put golf clubs in his hand for the first time....

Do i make him play golf lefty also?
Or make him learn to "swing" righty at this point?

Looks like "68" may have a better clue but my thought is let him figure out which side he's comfortable with. How old is he and how long has he been signing the bat lefty? Probably up to him but maybe someone on here has seen other results from someone or even themselves.

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

With so many golf gurus in here...Im going to throw this out there...

My kid (6) is natural righty..but I've had him swing a baseball bat lefty ever since he could hold one. I'm about to put golf clubs in his hand for the first time....

Do i make him play golf lefty also?
Or make him learn to "swing" righty at this point?

Why have him swing baseball bat lefty is he's a natural righty? What ever his natural swing side is is what he will be better at. I'm left handed, first started out golfing right handed because of baseball and didn't want to mess my swing. When I turned 20, I went to left hand golf since it was more natural for me. It was an easy transition. I continued to putt right handed years after because I was a better putter righty.

 

[uconnfan68]

Looks like "68" may have a better clue but my thought is let him figure out which side he's comfortable with. How old is he and how long has he been signing the bat lefty? Probably up to him but maybe someone on here has seen other results from someone or even themselves.

I have a grandson that was a righty that always batted left. For golf, there are 2 (or more) schools of thought... 1 is that its a lefthanded game, the other is that its a righthanded game. This assumes you’re a righthander. School left says the left hand will dictate where the ball goes. The righthander school is more of a dominant hand/power thing, if I remember. My teacher insisted it was a lefthanded game. He would hit shots using only his left arm. I’ve seen slo-mo on a few pro swings (Vijay Singh for one), where is right hand is off the club as he is following through. I suspect it comes down to personal preference.

 

[XLCenterFan]

With so many golf gurus in here...Im going to throw this out there...

My kid (6) is natural righty..but I've had him swing a baseball bat lefty ever since he could hold one. I'm about to put golf clubs in his hand for the first time....

Do i make him play golf lefty also?
Or make him learn to "swing" righty at this point?

Hand him a club and don’t say anything. See what he does (how he wants to swing it).

 

[Bomber36]

Blackledge in Hebron is a fun course. Just played there on Monday. It’s in great shape.

 

[mauconnfan]

Blackledge in Hebron is a fun course. Just played there on Monday. It’s in great shape.

Did you play Gilead or Anderson?

 

[Bomber36]

Did you play Gilead or Anderson?

Anderson

 

[wheelerdog]

Anyone know if they are letting non residents play in Vermont yet?

 

[uconnfan68]

Anyone know if they are letting non residents play in Vermont yet?

Tried google and nothing new came up...

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I know everyone says golf courses are dying and no one golfs anymore but it’s always jammed packed every time I go was it even worse years ago? Hitting Topstone tomorrow.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Tried google and nothing new came up...

Gotta call and ask. I’m sure every course is different.

 

[XLCenterFan]

I played Cedar Knob and Tallwood last week for the first time. I was impressed. I gotta say that we are spoiled in CT. We have really nice/affordable public courses.

 

[Guapo]

I played Cedar Knob and Tallwood last week for the first time. I was impressed. I gotta say that we are spoiled in CT. We have really nice/affordable public courses.

I like Tallwood. Pretty underrated and cheaper than Blackledge