MONDAY GOLF DAYS

[Suzuki Johnny]

That’s a good thing sarge. Taking a few lessons and a general idea of the rules of the game. If your instructor is worth his other salt they will have you hitting a mid iron to start with. I used to play tournaments with an old pro and he always told me to practice my swing with a 7 iron his reasoning was if I could get hit a 7 iron pretty well I could hit any club in the bag.

[tabasco]

I broke 90 once ... and don't ask what I got on the back nine ... it was for 18 holes heh heh.

But that little windmill almost got me on the last hole.


You shoot a great game with scores like that. Nice.

[Tbeck]

SJ, I took some lessons in the UK from a former tour professional, John Frew. His thoughts were a little different. Basically he recommended swinging whatever iron you hit the best for practice purposes.
His reasoning is that golf is a game of swing consistency and muscle memory. Practicing with a iron you don't swing well reenforces bad habits.
Your guy wasn't wrong, they both have the same idea, but approach it differently. My guy suggests working from a known good swing, and your's to learn to swing a mid iron to develop a good swing.
These two different but similar approaches to golf demonstrate perfectly the nature of the game.

[Suzuki Johnny]

SJ, I took some lessons in the UK from a former tour professional, John Frew. His thoughts were a little different. Basically he recommended swinging whatever iron you hit the best for practice purposes.
His reasoning is that golf is a game of swing consistency and muscle memory. Practicing with a iron you don't swing well reenforces bad habits.
Your guy wasn't wrong, they both have the same idea, but approach it differently. My guy suggests working from a known good swing, and your's to learn to swing a mid iron to develop a good swing.
These two different but similar approaches to golf demonstrate perfectly the nature of the game.

i agree both formulas have their merits.
.......That might be sage advice (and I am saying that respectfully) for someone who has been playing for a while and knows what his favorite clubs are.
But as far as someone who is just beginning to be applying his skills to a set of clubs that he has never used on any golf course that might not be advisable. I think Sarge falls into that category..
I remember in my teen years in high school I was introduced to a local driving range, a small fee for a bucket of 60 balls and an hour or two trying to hit a small 1.68 inches of dimples as far as we could.. With a borrowed wooden Dave Marr driver I could hit it about 280 to 300 yards, the last marker on that range. behind that marker was tall weeds and if you'd see the ball disappear you'd know you've hit it a ton. later on that same driving range built a crude 9 hole course with 5 short par 4's and 4 short par 3's.. Thus putting my driving skills to rest.. and that's when the game became really interesting with a par of 32 I could barely shoot 60 even though the greens were horrible and bumpy.

I hope Sarge gets hooked on the game like I am, it's a great way to exercise and enjoy some time with other folks who like to play some cow pasture pool.

[Suzuki Johnny]

And oh by the way Tim... I tried your suggestion of improving my short game and it seems to have worked, at least when I'm got my head out of my ass
Seems if I look at the flag a few more times It starts to register exactly how far I have to hit the ball..

Thanks, I owe you one!

[Suzuki Johnny]

Got some scores to post

Last Monday at Golden Nugget Casino shot 78 , one under my age

And last Wednesday at Frasch park I managed to salvage a 82

And today's round at the Nugget I posted an hard fought 84

[Suzuki Johnny]

WONDERS NEVER CEASE

We hit the links this morning at 7:30am at the Golden Nugget Casino here in the Lake city with morning temps at 51degrees with a chilly southeast 7 mph wind.

Our usual threesome, Billy, Boo and Moi.
And the golf gods were smiling down on both of us shooting my age again for the umpteen time this year,,
Billy shot his usual under par round 34 / 34 68 and I followed with, for me anyway, a respectable 36 / 42 78.



And I'm adding another putter to my growing collection of flat sticks.
We found this little jewel on the edge of one of the many ponds on the course, it had been there a while since the 7 inches of shaft that was still attached to the putter was rusty..
Cleaned it up a bit and I've ordered a shaft and putter grip.. Thes White Hot flat stick were all the rage when they first come out pre Scotty Camerons.


She'll make a nice addition when I've put it altogether!

[Tbeck]

Ouch someone got angry at their putter .
Those are some respectable rounds you've been putting in, very nice . My thoughts are if you are an experienced golfer and you card in 86 or under, you don't have a thing to complain about.

By the way I am glad that flag drill worked for you. It's amazing how the mind can make the body automatically do something.

As for Sarge? I'm sure that when he gets hooked up with a golf pro through VA he'll be teaching us some techniques.
Worst mistake I ever made golfing was insisting that I needed to be able to consistently hit my driver. I could hit a 3 wood and my irons a country mile but duffed my driver constantly. When I finally perfected my driver, I had screwed up my iron game. Instead of hitting a 9 150 yard's I can only get 110-120 yards. Of course my driver I hit consistently 300+ so guess what I drive with most times? 3 wood

[sgtcall]

If you are a Veteran you should sign up for PGA Hope in the spring. Great classes and even if you already know how to play you can consider it 5 free days at the driving range hitting 200-300 balls a day. Just find a course in your area that offers it. Link below. Plus you get to hang out with other vets in your area and meet new people.

https://www.pgareach.org/services/military/

[Tbeck]

Sarge, totally agree

[Suzuki Johnny]

If you are a Veteran you should sign up for PGA Hope in the spring. Great classes and even if you already know how to play you can consider it 5 free days at the driving range hitting 200-300 balls a day. Just find a course in your area that offers it. Link below. Plus you get to hang out with other vets in your area and meet new people.

https://www.pgareach.org/services/military/

Keep us updated Sarge with your progress and I hope you get "Hooked" on the game.

Best advice for anyone interested in and playing the game for years???

It's just a game, better enjoyed with friends with the same life interests as you.

Although I have made more close friends from riding motorcycles (60+ years)
I've made some real good ami's on the many golf courses over the last 50 years.

[Suzuki Johnny]

Lightning struck again here in the deep south..
We tee'd off this morning at daybreak, 7:30am Central time at the Golden Nugget casino with a cool northeast wind with 25 mph gusts, cool front passed last night with some showers and the course overall was rather wet, temp to start the morning was 60* and when we finished it was 63*
It was cart path only and you can tell by my scorecard that I was faltering on the back nine, my wheels were coming off and they felt like they weighted at least 50 lbs a piece
.
But I managed to shot my age again, barely, with a 38/42 score playing from the senior tees.
I ought to be thankful to be able to still play at my age, most of my golfing buddies have given up the game as it's too stressful for them.
My golfing partner shot his usual sub par round with a kool 67 and I followed up sucking hind titty with an 80.
Overall, a great day to be out and about in mid March

[Tbeck]

80 ain't bad, I would take that score all day. I see it this way; none of us here play golf for a living and if we are lucky we'll get in 3-4 rounds a month. That means we aren't swatting a lot of balls down the fairways. So if 3 out of 4 shots goes fairly close to the intended target, we're actually doing very well. Add in age, physical health to the equation and anything under 90 is pretty good.
Would I be happy with 80+ scores when I was 25? Hell no but we aren't 25

[navigator]

My golf scores and my bowling scores both average in the low hundreds...110 is a good day.