The official golf thread

Just remember the 9 iron, pending on how you you hold the handle.... turn to the right and it can go down to a complete sand wedge and the further to the left equals more of a pitch wedge. All that matters is how you hold the club and adjust your swing to where you need to be.
Edit... the driver gets you close, the 9 iron gets you closer and the putter gets you home

 

Augusta. Usually not a big golf fan, and even with so many courses around here in SO.CA., I don't even golf. But once a year, something about The Augusta National really draws my attention, if anything, just for the beauty and grandeur of it. Torrey Pines out here and Pebble beach of course are very scenic, but GA in the springtime is something special. This year there is a tight leader group at the top leading to the green jacket tomorrow.

 

Agreed. It's gonna be tough for anyone to contend with Scottie though. Collin has the best chance, not only because he's closest on the scoreboard, but also because he plays a pretty smart game. Åberg and Homa are gonna be fun to watch try and catch the lead though. Dechambeau may be able to do it, but he's too volatile and can easily lose strokes (his round today is a good example, especially #15 where all he had to do was lay up). Should be fun to watch, but I think Scottie is gonna walk away with it now that the weather is better.

**unless Scotties wife goes into labor tonight or tomorrow morning...

 

This aged exactly as I expected it would.

 

Great Golf. Not a real big fan, but this was one of the best Masters Championships I've seen. Congratulations to Scott Scheffler for his outstanding play, and not bad being 27 years old and bringing home a $3.6-million-dollar paycheck.

 

Hello golfers. I played this weekend for the first time ever, after never having been to a driving range, top golf, or any practice anywhere besides put put on vacation.. Needless to say, I sucked. But I loved it.. So, looking for clubs of my own now. Anybody have any tips or resources worth checking out when trying to find a "good" used set? I have no idea which brands to stay away from, what I should expect to spend, and honestly am as new to the sport as new can be. A quick search on Marketplace yields hundreds of results to choose from near me, varying in price, condition, age of clubs, etc. I'll admit my only frame of reference between "good" or "maybe not good" is if they have the little headcovers/socks to protect them. I assume clubs that people want to protect probably are more valuable than those that are not. Any tips on buying used?

 

Welcome to hell!

kidding, but I’m still under 2 years of playing myself and it’s the most enjoyable hobby I’ve ever had.

I don’t have much suggestion on buying clubs, as I was gifted a set, but I would say your best brands are going to be ping, pxg, Taylor made, callaway, titleist, etc. the names you hear on tv really. I’d find a cheap set that had a full range of clubs (driver, 3 wood, irons (3 through 9), wedges (pitching/sand or they’ll be called degrees like 52, 54, 56) and a putter). As long as the faces, the part that makes contact with the ball, the grips, and the shafts aren’t damaged, rusty, broken, then should be good to go.

just don’t spend a lot on clubs because you’ll figure out what you like/need as you play and could upgrade later.

I hope this helps

 

Definitely helps! A friend recommended I try to find some callaway x-series. I've seen a few sets on marketplace, but probably not going to go buy anything by myself. I assume any logical person would know to look for bends in the shaft/chips in the faces/etc, but if there's other things to check for in a used set, I'd have no idea what I'm looking for, so gonna try to recruit some local help when I do get ready to pull the trigger. I'm trying not to look too much right now, because I have no clue how to determine if a club set is from 2024 or 1968 besides the color and condition of the bag usually.

 

I can’t say I could either haha. I definitely rely on my friends that got me into golf for stuff like that. Basically as long as the club is in good shape and the head hasn’t been beat to death then idk what else matters.

 

Well, 2 months later, coming from never swinging a golf club:
-I bought some Ping G400 irons/hybrids
-I bought a Callaway Mavrik driver
-I've gone to 2 practice ranges and hit about 250 balls
-I played a 9-hole par 3 course, and shot 9 over, taking no mulligans, using the same single ball the entire time.

I'm extremely happy and have no reference of if this is really mediocre, normal progress, or outstanding, but I'm having a blast! I'm definitely ready for a real course now and losing some balls swinging driver lol.

 

Thats a great start from zero in only 2 months. Lessons are worth their weight in gold if you are serious about getting better. Enjoy the addiction.

 

Thanks! I seem to surprisingly be fairly consistent with my wedges/irons, and desperately need some help on the putting green. Of the 9 holes, I double-bogey'd (3-putt) the 1st hole, par 2nd hole, and bogey holes 3-9 (2-putts on every single one). It was way more consistent than I could have hoped for. I expect it was beginners luck, and every game after this will be an endless pursuit of just trying to make it back to par, but I guess time will tell!

 

Putting and short game are 50% or more of the shots taken on the golf course. If you focus on nothing else you will improve quickly. Obviously it's not as fun as bombing driver at the range, but it's not boring if you're scoring.

If you want to learn about how to strategize around a course, then the youtube channel "golf sidekick" does zero mechanical instruction, only strategy, and it's been a valuable tool for many people, beginners and experienced golfers alike. There is a massive difference between playing golf and playing golf swing.

 

thanks for the recommendation, I'll check them out! I've noticed the general consensus when listening to pro-level golfers responding to "what would you recommend to new golfers?" type questions, they all typically say something along the lines of "stay off Youtube." I can't tell you how many golf videos I've watched so far where people are contradicting the previous videos I'd just watched as far as golf swing form goes. I've thoroughly enjoyed just watched the channels where people go out and play, vlogging their game, with zero teaching. Thats the only way I was able to pick up what clubs to use and when. I quickly realized a certain club isn't always the go-to based off distance alone, which was what I previously understood. I thought a sand wedge was only for the sand lol. The learning process has been fun so far! I'm looking forward to playing more often for sure.

 

That's why I recommended https://www.youtube.com/@GolfSidekick cuz there is essentially no mechanical instruction, only strategy. He focuses on teaching you how to think your way around a golf course. Not swing a golf club.YMMV.

 

Body mechanics are such a personal thing videos of someone else aren’t much help. It can help to know how it’s supposed to work if you can recognize how changes affect the results but you have to be able to feel your own kinetics to do that without competent instruction. The biggest kick for me is shaping a shot mentally then watching the results fly. I’ll never be great consistently but I can still be great one shot at a time.

 

My biggest self lesson was to just play the game that is comfortable to you. Just because 1 person uses a club and hits it a distance doesn't mean you have to do the same. Took me a while to except that. I don't get nearly as frustrated as I used to.

 

I think it would help many of us accept failure as normal if they showed a bit more of the play that results in not making the cut or the leader board. The best of the best can suck too.

 

Hope you guys are getting to play some! I'm saddened that this thread is essentially dead. Hopefully my beginner-passion will spark some others to come talk golf a little bit! Honestly just typing this post out to track my own progress and hopefully start some convo.

June 2024 - 1st golf experience: borrowed clubs, had never swung a club before, didn't know rules, lingo, etiquette, or anything about golf, aside from beach putt-putt; should've never been out there honestly, but played 9 holes, didn't keep score, dropped a ball every other swing, and had an absolute blast.

July 2024 - bought some used clubs off marketplace, found a putter, driver, and sand wedge to (almost) round out my bag; driver, 4-6 hybrids, 7-GW, 56 degree, and putter. Went to the driving range once or twice.

August 2024 - Went to the driving range a couple more times after playing a 9 hole par3 course and shot +9. Thought I was going to be a natural, as I'm sure we all thought our first few times lol. Throughout this month, played this course a few more times, shooting a +20, +15, and +13. This was a little discouraging to go over double the strokes backwards, losing balls, feeling inconsistent, 2-3 chip shots going back and forth over greens, and sometimes 4-6 putting, after continuously hitting great shots from the tee box.

Sept 2024 - Played (what I consider) my first 18 hole course; well, 16 of the 18 (lesson learned about going with someone who was far worse than even me..); I'd picked up on some etiquette things at this point, and made the executive decision to quit 2 holes early after we had spent entirely too long out there, letting people play through, and nearly becoming a hindrance. Of those 16 holes, I shot roughly 106, (but this included dropping a 2nd, sometimes 3rd ball on many tees after driving a ball OB, so realistically like 130ish..). Did the responsible thing and went back to the driving range a few more times to work only on driver. Felt like I got it figured out, and played that course 2 more times. Played about the same, but didn't drop extra balls and just took the penalty strokes to improve pace of play. Couldn't hit driver to save my life, but approach shots and short game improved a little. Shot roughly 120-125 each time. Went back to driving range, made some changes to my stance and really focused on keeping my eyes locked on the ball/tee through my driver swing and 1 million percent increased my driver ball path, getting it mostly centered every shot. Played a new 18 hole course this last weekend, played with 1 single ball the entire game (thats the biggest win for me honestly), hit decent drives, and scored a true 110.

 

Was able to get out to a local executive course and played some this month for the first time in years. Shot 4 over for nine which was a pleasant surprise.