club choice, and others chuckles

[Nikonut]

On the Course, my favorite shots to watch are:

the guy using a some sort of fairway wood or a 3wood, for a 160-170 yard Par 3. Almost always it goes over, slices or dribbles.

The ones where by golly they are going to hit over the pond or else.
Yea, else. That happend a few days ago, I told the golf newbie to hit a 7i to the left and set himself up for the green. NOOOO, he insists on a water ball. The Reality of this hole, is the pond is big, and gives you only about 35 yards of fairway at one point. you are either safe or you are not. nothing in between.

Same guy, on a dog left left, I advised him to hit a 6 or 7 and just put it in the fairway. thats what I do, too many lost-ball woods on the right.
NOooooo. 4 balls lost in the woods. I step up with a 6i, put it in the fairway. on the green before he is halfway done

Next Hole, big wide ,deep creek 70 yards ahead. Lost-ball-woods to the right. Again, advised to use an iron get it over the creek I tell him.
NOPE. 1st ball into the creek. 2nd ball into the creek. 3rd ball into the woods....
On that hole is when I put the petal to the metal, skipped him, his slow buddies, 2 holes and actually got to play golf. hehehehe

I may sux at golf, but I pride myself on course managment and quick play (ok I learned that the hard way)

 

[mddubya]

I hear ya Nik, I actually enjoy playing a round with, and helping a newb. But if they insist on playing boneheaded and hitting 3-5 balls per hole, I say adios.

 

[Nikonut]

Indeed. Just recently I got a Co-worker back into golf. I enjoy helping what little I can. dont mind letting half the course players play through...

I try advice from others, have nothing to lose

 

[Nikonut]

Another thing I notice a fair amount of is clubs that dont fit or being held wrong?

Drivers with lies that point the toe up 45 degrees.
Putters with the same toe-way-up lie.

 

[mddubya]

Yep, I played with a newb a couple of weeks ago. He actually wasn't doing bad until we'd get to the green. His putting stance was bent so far over, with his knees knocked inward that he was actually using a standard length putter as a belly putter but he was still gripping it on the handle. So his elbows were flared way out to his sides. Naturally he couldn't sink a putt to save his life. I showed him the proper way to stand and hold the putter and he sank several putts in practice and on the next couple of holes. But by the 5th hole he was right back to his previous stance and stroke, :bang:

 

[Clugnut]

Figuring this out is just part of golf and getting better. I played on Friday, and the course has one hole that is just hard. Its a par 5, really tight with OB on both sides. The fairway is about 25-30 yards wide, but that's about it. No place to bail. It is only 480 from the back tees, where I was, which means it might be 440-450 from the whites. I saw 8 guys ahead of me hit driver, all OB. The 2 fella's behind me, both driver, both OB. Personally, I hit a 22 hybrid for my first and second shots, and was almost pin high from the down hill and some hard bounces.


Course management is something you have to learn, and only after you decide you want to play this game to score as well as possible. A number of the guys I saw might just be dreaming of having a mid iron into a par 5, or a shot at hitting a par 5 in 2, an eagle, a birdie, whatever. I really am in love with par, and if I could play a round with 18 of them, I'd be happy as a pig in shit.

 

[Bignose]

Another thing I notice a fair amount of is clubs that dont fit or being held wrong?

Drivers with lies that point the toe up 45 degrees.
Putters with the same toe-way-up lie.

Physically, neither of those really matter. Both a driver and a putter have so little loft that the error from a wrong lie is very, very minimal.

Now, if they are holding their wedge that way, then there will be serious off-line errors. The higher the loft, the more critical it is to have the lie adjusted correctly.

Of course, having the lie angles that far off on each is probably highly indicative of poor setup and swing, but the physics show that for the two clubs you mentioned, the lie isn't as important as it is for other clubs.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

On the Course, my favorite shots to watch are:

the guy using a some sort of fairway wood or a 3wood, for a 160-170 yard Par 3. Almost always it goes over, slices or dribbles.

Kinda confused for lack of information on the others on whether they are the right choice, as Hindsight is 20/20. Have played with guys that tell me I played the wrong club on a reachable par 4, where I put 4 balls in the crap that given day, although birdied the hole 5 of the last 6 times I played by hitting 7w. As they hit driver shorter than I normally do, and found themselves just off the green only to finish with par. Still confident they were wrong, as they do not walk in my shoes and could probably not wear my size 13's. Will put my 5-6 birdie layups up against their par any day.

Will comment on the first one though. If a 3w is their 160-170 club for a par 3, what was your suggestion?? That they lay up??? Actually to me, someone who occasionally hits the ball over the green is one that is probably more in touch with their clubs, as the more common mistake is leaving it short the majority of the time.

Myself, I am not a great ball striker and I play the odds. The 2-3 times I pure a ball, I may end with less than ideal results over a green. The other 7-8 shots I will end up on the green on a less than ideal shot. All a matter of perspective, and coming from someone who does not carry a 3w, and would likely play a 5i from that distance on a straight away hole. Did I make the wrong choice because my good shot flew the green?? I don''t think so. Although if I normally "slice or dribbled" a 3w as I often would, if that was the club I hit from 160-170 yards, hitting it over the green as opposed to maybe laying up with a PW is not necessarily a bad choice IMO.

As far as hitting an iron off the tee on a par 4, I will do it on occasion, but this depends on the circumstances. I probably hit my Driver or FW's as reliable as many hit their 6i, even though many may hit their 6i longer than I hit my FW. So which is the wiser choice??

Personally I am not good enough to judge how people play a hole, outside of offering distances and let them play their game. I have also played with guys, and played with one today that hits their driver 270-280 yards with more consistency than I hit my 6i 150.

Not sure I would tell them they made a bad choice the one time they hit their driver into the woods simply because it would not have been my choice.

To me the key to course management is knowing how it relates to my game, regardless of how it relates to others. Otherwise I would be hitting a 7i off a 160 yard par 3 and hitting it 20 yards short, simply because the other 3 people in my foresome hit 7i and found the green.

 

[Nikonut]

On this Par 3, a Lay up is the smart thing to do.

a bit elevated green surronded on 3 sides by steep sides and a wildflower-no entry hazard to the right. Pond on the left. A low/mid flight that hits the green will roll past it and give you an uphill shot , as will everything that does not lie directly in front
This hole demands loft ! (imho) of course

btw, I am not trying to be presumptous and puffed up just have observed this a lot. Its all good

 

[MIKE1218]

I don't think you can judge unskilled/beginner golfers that use a 3 wood on a 170 par 3. They knock it over, good; they just hit a solid shot. My father hits 3 wood about 175 and he breaks 90 about 60% of the time. His course management is this: hit the longest club he is comfortable hitting until he reaches the green. Maybe not perfect, but he beats the snot out of the majority of golfers.

I think course management is one of the most important aspects of the game, though. Yesterday I treated my 13 yo cousin to a round; he has been very enthusiastic about the game this year, playing probably three times the rounds I have. His best score was 99, and I decided to help him learn some better course management to try to break it. On the range prior to the round I discovered he hits 5 iron and 8 iron very well, better than any other club. 5 iron he hit around 160.
I advised him which iron to hit, usually going up one club from what I thought his distance was, to great effect. When he was going to hit 3 wood, I advised 5 iron. Lay up and hit a wedge from there. etc, etc, etc. He shot 91, breaking his best ever by 8 shots. He plays golf too, not the game similar to golf that many "golfers" play, the one that includes foot wedges and no penalties. Very refreshing to see a kid get a good, legitimate start.

 

[Nikonut]

oh, I dont know, not so much the judging the person, and besides I have only been at it less that a year. Who doesn't do something that elicits a good chuckle once in a while.

didnt meant to start a fracas