[artfulgolfer]

Thanks cypressperch, you bring up very good points about club preference, proper fitting and lessons.

I didn't intend to minimize the importance of club selection. But once you purchase clubs with proper lie angle, shaft flex, feel, etc., those clubs should serve your needs for a number of years. Just because a new "square" driver or "three-ball" putter comes out a year later doesn't mean it will improve your score. Saving your money for green fees might be better investment.

I totally agree with you about the value of good instruction when you begin playing. It's not entirely fair to say I've never taken lessons, when so many golfers I've played with (who have had lessons) freely give me good advice and tips. Instead of learning these important techniques gradually from others and from self-coaching, I may have benefited even more from some good instruction up front. Also, although I just started playing on a regular basis 2 years ago, I've tried taking up golf a few other times, but never lasted more than a few months due to lack of time and/or money.

However, I was referring more to the established players who I've witnessed becoming dependent on instructors to fix this or fix that, instead of learning to figure it out on their own. Although I sometimes see them improve for a short time, they always seem to revert to their old scores.

Lastly, I'm totally finding out that you are right about the law of diminishing returns. For now, I've hit a wall at 4. Although I still think I can eventually get down a hair more, it's a lot harder to cut 4 in half than it was to cut 16 in half! Effective practice and an improved mental game really helps get the fluff out of your game, but it's quite a challenge to keep that level of focus for 18 holes and get even lower. Obviously, at some point, you can't keep getting better anyway... Most importantly, I'm trying to keep having fun and keep learning.