DownNDirtyTN
Well-Known Member
- Apr 8, 2009
- 7
- 0
Just found this forum while surfing the net and thought I'd register.
I started playing this wonderful game with my dad when I was about 9 years old. In his day he was one of the best golfers around here. He won countless local tournaments and was a heck of a golfer. If it wasn't for his bad neck and back he would still be very good - he can still go out about once a year with no practice and shoot under a 90. Unfortunately, his golf genes wasn't passed on to me. He is a natural and I have to really work at it.
Like I said he would take me out some when I was young but I would only get to go with him a couple of times a year. I played like that until I was about 17 then quit until last summer. A friend of mine wanted me to start playing golf with him so I started back up. We generally play 3-4 times a month as that's all us poor guys can afford - especially now that BOTH of us have our first children on the way later in the summer.
I've always had to work at golf but I am improving greatly over what I started out with last year. Last year when we started we would hit our local "park" course here which is nothing more than a glorified driving range. But it wasn't crowded, was pretty cheap, and a good learning tool. Its a 9 hole course that is pretty ran down for the most part but still gave us practice with different types of shots. When we first started out last summer I was shooting close to 110 (awful) and he was shooting 120 (worse).
I've always been able to bomb a drive when I don't slice it too bad. I have that under control "mostly" now and I average about 280 with my Driver but can rip them up to 320 if I really get a hold of one. At 6'2 315 I would hope I would have the speed and force to be able to hit fairly long. Now I would say the majority of my tee drives with the driver have a slight fade to them to a bit of a slice. Sometimes it will go straight as a laser. Less often I will slice the bejeeezus out of one. I'm down to only 1-2 of them a round anymore and they usually come when I swing harder than I should. So I have cut down on the hard swings unless I'm going for a green on a shorter par 4.
I'm not 100% sure on my other club distances. I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination and don't know how to really do some of these things. I know round about what I hit most of the time but it fluctuates. I guess I need to go to a driving range and buy several big buckets of balls and hit all my clubs and write the distances down to have a better idea. From what I gather at the moment here are my other club lengths:
3W - avg 265
5W - avg 250
Hybrid 3I - avg 220
Hybrid 4I - avg 200
5I - avg 185
6I - avg 175
7I - avg 160
8I - avg 145
9I - avg 130
PW - avg 120
So we start out at the park course last year and then get a little braver and move to a little nicer course - the Baileyton Golf Course. Its an 18 hole course that has good greens but alot of parallel fairways and not much diversity for the most part.
Moved from there eventually to what we call our "home" golf course which is Andrew Johnson Golf Course here in Greeneville. We can get a rate online to play it for a ridiculously cheap amount so we play there often because its a nice course for us.
Also last year got the chance to play at the old Rivertrace course here which is now called Nolichuckey Bluffs. Its a step up and more challenging as well.
Then to cap the year last year we went to Graysburg Hills. Its an immaculate course and it was very fun to play. They have 27 holes so we need to go back sometime to try the other 9. I loved this course and it gets rave reviews around here as one of the top courses.
Anyway, we started back about a month ago and I was worried to death that all of my improvements would be shot from last year. Surprisingly we both played well for us right out of the gate. I just broke 90 for the first time last week shooting an 89 and I was pretty happy with that. Because, the fact is that if I could just putt better I could trim that down considerably right now. I have birdie putts about half the time anymore and more often than not wind up 3 or (shudders) 4 putting. Not to say I don't skull a ball or two or top some balls out on the course and hit some bad shots otherwise. I'm not where I would like to be by any stretch but I can tell a huge difference from last year. I just feel more confident in my swing and its translated pretty well for the most part. I don't overthink my swing mechanics and just go up to the ball and hit it.
The biggest issues I have right now are I am still slicing too much for my liking - I have an outside to inside swing I know. Also, on the par 3's I am all too often doing what I call "pulling" balls. Sometimes it can even be severe. Its not a hook at all its like I hit it dead straight but its straight 30 yards left of where I was aiming. I still haven't figured that out completely except that I believe that I am turning my body somehow during the swing or my arms are turning before I make contact with the ball. I don't do it all the time just sometimes.
We are going to attempt to play some new courses this year. I am playing at Twin Creeks in Chuckey tomorrow. Its not a great course from what I've heard but I've never played there and its right here in town.
Next week we are going to attempt to play at Baneberry just outside of Dandridge, TN. I've heard great things about this course and was told to play it ASAP that I would like it.
Also on the radar for us in the coming weeks is Millstone in Morristown. I've heard conflicting things about this course but it looks very nice on their website.
Another is Woodlake in Tazewell, TN. I haven't found anyone to talk to that's ever played there so far.
I think playing different courses in theory should make me better. Having to learn how to hit different shots and playing on better courses makes me want to play better too.
Right now I don't have the $$ but I'm hoping for my birthday in June that my wife can help me upgrade my current clubs. I'm playing with some off brand Wal-Mart $90 specials. I know the clubs aren't everything. I've seen some awesome golf played with some really crappy clubs but it couldn't hurt to have something at least a "bit" better than what I'm playing with right now. They have been good practice clubs but I would like something a little more serious. I was at a race in Concord, NC a couple of weeks ago and went to the Sports Authority and they were having some good sales (I guess) on golf equipment. I saw a set of Ram G-Force clubs (which looks alot nicer than mine but still the cheapest they had for a full set) for right at $100 on sale. I don't know what the best thing would be for me to do. To get a full set like that or build up and mix and match clubs. I mean I could get a set of irons and then get a driver down the road. I think for what I'm able to do now though that a full set of the clubs might be my best bet. I could always save up and get something a little nicer though I suppose. I know you "get what you pay for" but I'd rather at this time have generic clubs and get to play more than to get some better clubs but have to sit out 2 months in order to buy them.
Well, I guess for now that's all for my introduction novel. Hope to learn some things and meet some good people on these boards
I started playing this wonderful game with my dad when I was about 9 years old. In his day he was one of the best golfers around here. He won countless local tournaments and was a heck of a golfer. If it wasn't for his bad neck and back he would still be very good - he can still go out about once a year with no practice and shoot under a 90. Unfortunately, his golf genes wasn't passed on to me. He is a natural and I have to really work at it.
Like I said he would take me out some when I was young but I would only get to go with him a couple of times a year. I played like that until I was about 17 then quit until last summer. A friend of mine wanted me to start playing golf with him so I started back up. We generally play 3-4 times a month as that's all us poor guys can afford - especially now that BOTH of us have our first children on the way later in the summer.
I've always had to work at golf but I am improving greatly over what I started out with last year. Last year when we started we would hit our local "park" course here which is nothing more than a glorified driving range. But it wasn't crowded, was pretty cheap, and a good learning tool. Its a 9 hole course that is pretty ran down for the most part but still gave us practice with different types of shots. When we first started out last summer I was shooting close to 110 (awful) and he was shooting 120 (worse).
I've always been able to bomb a drive when I don't slice it too bad. I have that under control "mostly" now and I average about 280 with my Driver but can rip them up to 320 if I really get a hold of one. At 6'2 315 I would hope I would have the speed and force to be able to hit fairly long. Now I would say the majority of my tee drives with the driver have a slight fade to them to a bit of a slice. Sometimes it will go straight as a laser. Less often I will slice the bejeeezus out of one. I'm down to only 1-2 of them a round anymore and they usually come when I swing harder than I should. So I have cut down on the hard swings unless I'm going for a green on a shorter par 4.
I'm not 100% sure on my other club distances. I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination and don't know how to really do some of these things. I know round about what I hit most of the time but it fluctuates. I guess I need to go to a driving range and buy several big buckets of balls and hit all my clubs and write the distances down to have a better idea. From what I gather at the moment here are my other club lengths:
3W - avg 265
5W - avg 250
Hybrid 3I - avg 220
Hybrid 4I - avg 200
5I - avg 185
6I - avg 175
7I - avg 160
8I - avg 145
9I - avg 130
PW - avg 120
So we start out at the park course last year and then get a little braver and move to a little nicer course - the Baileyton Golf Course. Its an 18 hole course that has good greens but alot of parallel fairways and not much diversity for the most part.
Moved from there eventually to what we call our "home" golf course which is Andrew Johnson Golf Course here in Greeneville. We can get a rate online to play it for a ridiculously cheap amount so we play there often because its a nice course for us.
Also last year got the chance to play at the old Rivertrace course here which is now called Nolichuckey Bluffs. Its a step up and more challenging as well.
Then to cap the year last year we went to Graysburg Hills. Its an immaculate course and it was very fun to play. They have 27 holes so we need to go back sometime to try the other 9. I loved this course and it gets rave reviews around here as one of the top courses.
Anyway, we started back about a month ago and I was worried to death that all of my improvements would be shot from last year. Surprisingly we both played well for us right out of the gate. I just broke 90 for the first time last week shooting an 89 and I was pretty happy with that. Because, the fact is that if I could just putt better I could trim that down considerably right now. I have birdie putts about half the time anymore and more often than not wind up 3 or (shudders) 4 putting. Not to say I don't skull a ball or two or top some balls out on the course and hit some bad shots otherwise. I'm not where I would like to be by any stretch but I can tell a huge difference from last year. I just feel more confident in my swing and its translated pretty well for the most part. I don't overthink my swing mechanics and just go up to the ball and hit it.
The biggest issues I have right now are I am still slicing too much for my liking - I have an outside to inside swing I know. Also, on the par 3's I am all too often doing what I call "pulling" balls. Sometimes it can even be severe. Its not a hook at all its like I hit it dead straight but its straight 30 yards left of where I was aiming. I still haven't figured that out completely except that I believe that I am turning my body somehow during the swing or my arms are turning before I make contact with the ball. I don't do it all the time just sometimes.
We are going to attempt to play some new courses this year. I am playing at Twin Creeks in Chuckey tomorrow. Its not a great course from what I've heard but I've never played there and its right here in town.
Next week we are going to attempt to play at Baneberry just outside of Dandridge, TN. I've heard great things about this course and was told to play it ASAP that I would like it.
Also on the radar for us in the coming weeks is Millstone in Morristown. I've heard conflicting things about this course but it looks very nice on their website.
Another is Woodlake in Tazewell, TN. I haven't found anyone to talk to that's ever played there so far.
I think playing different courses in theory should make me better. Having to learn how to hit different shots and playing on better courses makes me want to play better too.
Right now I don't have the $$ but I'm hoping for my birthday in June that my wife can help me upgrade my current clubs. I'm playing with some off brand Wal-Mart $90 specials. I know the clubs aren't everything. I've seen some awesome golf played with some really crappy clubs but it couldn't hurt to have something at least a "bit" better than what I'm playing with right now. They have been good practice clubs but I would like something a little more serious. I was at a race in Concord, NC a couple of weeks ago and went to the Sports Authority and they were having some good sales (I guess) on golf equipment. I saw a set of Ram G-Force clubs (which looks alot nicer than mine but still the cheapest they had for a full set) for right at $100 on sale. I don't know what the best thing would be for me to do. To get a full set like that or build up and mix and match clubs. I mean I could get a set of irons and then get a driver down the road. I think for what I'm able to do now though that a full set of the clubs might be my best bet. I could always save up and get something a little nicer though I suppose. I know you "get what you pay for" but I'd rather at this time have generic clubs and get to play more than to get some better clubs but have to sit out 2 months in order to buy them.
Well, I guess for now that's all for my introduction novel. Hope to learn some things and meet some good people on these boards
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