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Question for golfers |
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#326 |
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Brackley, UK
Posts: 16,657
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Quote:
I'd say trying to hit more than 100 yards out of any sort of rough that's higher than the ball. If it's 6 inches or more than I might as well not bother and just drop.
But the number one rule in that situation has to be: Just get to the fairway. Even if you have to hit back toward the tee-box. It is usually more trouble than it's worth to try and continue making progress. Just get back to safety
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#327 |
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 14,234
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Quote:
But the number one rule in that situation has to be: Just get to the fairway. Even if you have to hit back toward the tee-box. It is usually more trouble than it's worth to try and continue making progress. Just get back to safety
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#328 |
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 21,753
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Quote:
What is the one shot that everyone fears?
i just seemed to have this mental block about playing a shot that you were actually meant to not hit the ball clean it was always a bit surreal as my short pitching in general was one of the strongest parts of my game, give me a tight lie and having to play a flop shot over a bunker and i had no issue with that, put me in the bunker and all that i was thinking about was just getting it out. if you listen to coaches and pundits the shot over the bunker would be considered the much harder shot to play as well |
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#329 |
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: South
Posts: 10,848
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Quote:
What club do you use? If the ball isn't sat up on the grass I won't use anything longer than a seven. I don't particularly try to hit down in those situations but the higher the loft the easier it is to get out.
But the number one rule in that situation has to be: Just get to the fairway. Even if you have to hit back toward the tee-box. It is usually more trouble than it's worth to try and continue making progress. Just get back to safety ![]() I understand that you're suppose to just knock back on, but when you've got 250 yards to go then it's mentally so tempting to try to get enough distance so you take a 7/8 iron on the next shot. That's usually followed by a 15 yard duff! But then I managed to duff the ball 20 yards with a 5 recovery from the fairway - twice - when I played 9 on Wednesday. I'm just so massively inconsistent. |
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#330 |
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Brackley, UK
Posts: 16,657
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Quote:
just greenside bunkers
i just seemed to have this mental block about playing a shot that you were actually meant to not hit the ball clean 1. Step up to ball, with ball an inch more forward then normal. 2. Open stance (rotate so as to move leading foot back). 3. Compensate for (2) by allowing the club face to fall open (don't turn wrists, loosen grip then let it fall open then regrip) 4. Stare at sand behind ball. 5. Remind myself that if I don't want to lose golf balls I shouldn't play golf. 6. Do a full swing being particularly mindful of the follow through. This seems to work nearly all the time for me. The only bunkers I fear are truly deep ones. There's two on 17th at my home course that are horrendous. One of them when I stand in it I can't see the flag if it's more than a yard from the fringe. The lip on that must be over 1.8 metres high because it's above my eye level
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#331 |
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 21,753
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Quote:
Yah, I used to have that. But now my set up routine seems to work.
1. Step up to ball, with ball an inch more forward then normal. 2. Open stance (rotate so as to move leading foot back). 3. Compensate for (2) by allowing the club face to fall open (don't turn wrists, loosen grip then let it fall open then regrip) 4. Stare at sand behind ball. 5. Remind myself that if I don't want to lose golf balls I shouldn't play golf. 6. Do a full swing being particularly mindful of the follow through. |
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#332 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,306
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Quote:
just greenside bunkers
i just seemed to have this mental block about playing a shot that you were actually meant to not hit the ball clean it was always a bit surreal as my short pitching in general was one of the strongest parts of my game, give me a tight lie and having to play a flop shot over a bunker and i had no issue with that, put me in the bunker and all that i was thinking about was just getting it out. if you listen to coaches and pundits the shot over the bunker would be considered the much harder shot to play as well Plugged lies used to always give me bother but I guess that's the case with a lot of people. I was out the other day and filmed a couple of plugged lie bunker shots from an old practice bunker just to have a look at the transition of weight on my lower half as I was making contact. - https://youtu.be/3Um588eBr-c |
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#333 |
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Brackley, UK
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Damn.
My tee and fairway work was good today, even in the face of 20mph gusts. But my putting was awful. Three putted most holes. Eventually got around Rye in 93 but it felt ugly. If my putting had been on form I'd have gone round in the low 80s. But what're ya gonna do? |
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#334 |
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: South
Posts: 10,848
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Quote:
Damn.
My tee and fairway work was good today, even in the face of 20mph gusts. But my putting was awful. Three putted most holes. Eventually got around Rye in 93 but it felt ugly. If my putting had been on form I'd have gone round in the low 80s. But what're ya gonna do? My putting was awful as well - so that's an obvious thing to concentrate on now. |
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#335 |
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Brackley, UK
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Quote:
My putting was awful as well - so that's an obvious thing to concentrate on now.
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#336 |
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: South
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Quote:
My problem was the speed of the greens. I just couldn't keep my speed down. I had one excellent putt but that was from the fringe so clearly the longer grass helped to slow my ball down :-/
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#337 |
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,306
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Tried out a new sand iron tonight, hit around 50 bunker shots with it, filmed the last few just for a look at my swing. Glad I did as I spotted something wrong straight away. - https://youtu.be/2lnbjRsNzL4
Hopefully get back out tomorrow and work on it a bit more.
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#338 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9,208
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Quote:
My problem was the speed of the greens. I just couldn't keep my speed down. I had one excellent putt but that was from the fringe so clearly the longer grass helped to slow my ball down :-/
However, the speeds change constantly due to our classic weather conditions - hot and dry followed by rain and wind etc. - and how they've been maintained/cut that week. At a dinner on Friday for one of our Pro's leaving to become head Pro at another club a few of us had a long chat with our greenkeeper. That was a very interesting conversation. He told us a lot about which greens will always be fast and which will change rapidly according to weather conditions. You can putt to perfection on the practice greens and find that certain course greens just do not match those conditions. How many of us practice "monster" putts on the practice green which we hardly experience in a match? My Pro told me to practice six footers regularly. There's nothing worse than putting 20/30 feet within the "dustbin lid" then missing the short follow up. |
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#339 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 21,753
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Quote:
The greens at our club are excellent and visitors always complement them.
However, the speeds change constantly due to our classic weather conditions - hot and dry followed by rain and wind etc. - and how they've been maintained/cut that week. At a dinner on Friday for one of our Pro's leaving to become head Pro at another club a few of us had a long chat with our greenkeeper. That was a very interesting conversation. He told us a lot about which greens will always be fast and which will change rapidly according to weather conditions. You can putt to perfection on the practice greens and find that certain course greens just do not match those conditions. How many of us practice "monster" putts on the practice green which we hardly experience in a match? My Pro told me to practice six footers regularly. There's nothing worse than putting 20/30 feet within the "dustbin lid" then missing the short follow up. |
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#340 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9,208
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Quote:
Tried out a new sand iron tonight, hit around 50 bunker shots with it, filmed the last few just for a look at my swing. Glad I did as I spotted something wrong straight away. - https://youtu.be/2lnbjRsNzL4
Hopefully get back out tomorrow and work on it a bit more. ![]() The problem is the huge diversity of the quality and maintenance of bunkers on each course. It's almost a joy to see your ball in a freshly raked and "fluffed" bunker when other days they're baked and crusted and you hit clay just under the surface. I was watching a Masters tournament when Jack Nicklaus commented on a bunker shot by saying "That's actually the toughest type of sand you can get out of". I thought "Come and play with us Jack - that's bloody talcum powder not wet builder' sand!" Having said that, the bunker was so large you could have parked a Motorhome alongside and spent a week's holiday with the family in it. |
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#341 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9,208
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Quote:
my practice putting routine was always drop 10 balls roughly in a circle about 3-4 feet away and then rinse and repeat moving a couple of feet farther away each time until i got to about 9-10 feet
The cameras actually cut to his practice whilst the tournament was underway. |
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#342 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,306
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Quote:
"Well out!" as they say.
The problem is the huge diversity of the quality and maintenance of bunkers on each course. It's almost a joy to see your ball in a freshly raked and "fluffed" bunker when other days they're baked and crusted and you hit clay just under the surface. I was watching a Masters tournament when Jack Nicklaus commented on a bunker shot by saying "That's actually the toughest type of sand you can get out of". I thought "Come and play with us Jack - that's bloody talcum powder not wet builder' sand!" Having said that, the bunker was so large you could have parked a Motorhome alongside and spent a week's holiday with the family in it. I'm lucky enough to have played a lot of top courses and your right, the variations in sand is massive. I have 3 courses with a mile or so from me and the bunkers all play completely different. A good reason I suppose to have a practice round before playing in a competition at a course you dont know well. |
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#343 |
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: South
Posts: 10,848
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I'm thinking of buying something like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...=AV66YXQU7XCPB A bit pricey but looks like it would come in handy. |
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#344 |
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9,208
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Homebase near me are selling good size squares of artificial grass for about £7 - excellent for practicing chipping with foam balls or with real balls out in the garden.
I got bored with my putting mat because of the lack of variety - straight shots all the time. All the greens on our course have individual speeds, slopes etc. Some are dead straight though and I suppose it would help you develop a consistent action. |
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#345 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: South
Posts: 10,848
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Quote:
Homebase near me are selling good size squares of artificial grass for about £7 - excellent for practicing chipping with foam balls or with real balls out in the garden.
I got bored with my putting mat because of the lack of variety - straight shots all the time. All the greens on our course have individual speeds, slopes etc. Some are dead straight though and I suppose it would help you develop a consistent action. |
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#346 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Brackley, UK
Posts: 16,657
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Quote:
Homebase near me are selling good size squares of artificial grass for about £7 - excellent for practicing chipping with foam balls or with real balls out in the garden.
![]() I've actually got a special foam mat I bought a while ago I think it's the 'Birdie ball' one. I don't use it though as it's a pain to unroll indoors and doesn't sit well on the lawn. I keep telling myself I should build a folding platform for it but so far haven't got around to it. Something this but I'm thinking I'd rather not glue the matt down. |
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#347 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 14,234
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Quote:
I'm thinking of buying something like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...=AV66YXQU7XCPB A bit pricey but looks like it would come in handy. |
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#348 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Brackley, UK
Posts: 16,657
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A bit of rain and my putting is back on form. Greens felt a lot safer tonight which is probably why I went round in 86. Had a couple of blow up holes but that was fine as I was experimenting a bit.
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#349 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9,208
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Quote:
That sounds interesting. If I laid one on my back lawn I'd be able to practice breaks. Only problem is that my lawn is quite lumpy so I'm not sure how well it'd sit. If my feet sink into it it won't be realistic putting
![]() I've actually got a special foam mat I bought a while ago I think it's the 'Birdie ball' one. I don't use it though as it's a pain to unroll indoors and doesn't sit well on the lawn. I keep telling emyself I should build a folding platform for it but so far haven't got around to it. Something this but I'm thinking I'd rather not glue the matt down. They're no use for putting as they're lawn length grass so okay for chipping off. I've used it in my hallway (with foam practice balls) and on the patio. I bought a doormat size piece for £5+ but the £7 pieces are big enough to stand on with the ball as well. |
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#350 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,306
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Do many on here practice their putting often? It can be boring but can account for 30%-50% of your shots in a round so a massive part of the game.
I was a very good putter 15-20 years ago. I took a break from the game for a while and since I went back it's been the weakest part of my game. It's soul destroying when you are hitting the ball really well and rarely ever taking advantage. A wee while back I played 9 holes on a tough championship course and had a birdie putt on every hole, many of them good birdie chances yet I shot +2.
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