Golf

[Nightfall]

So, who else plays this peaceful/maddening, relaxing/infuriating, fun/torturous game? I've just recently started up again, after playing a little bit in my early teens. Getting better, but I've still got a slice that needs work.

Anybody see the WGC today? Tiger Woods and John Daly in a play off, that was fun!

[Paddy]

George Carlin on golf
http://www.evtv1.com/index.asp-itemnum-110

[onions!]

My name is Jeff & I play golf.
I enjoy it immensely(doesn't mean that I'm any good though).
My job is so frustrating at times that,by comparison,my worst slice into the far side of the adjoining fairway is just a longer walk.
It's only when my errant ball flight heads towards a cluster of other golfers that I worry.

That playoff today was a nailbiter!I had my fingers crossed for JD.Actually,I was just happy that Montie didn't win.(whiner boy)

[Unisaw]

I'm just getting ready to start taking lessons.  I have an old set of clubs (15 yrs old) but suspect the instructor will tell me to get some newer clubs.  Is it true that the newer clubs are much easier for the beginner to hit consistently?

[Waitone]

Golf is my other vice.  I've laid off for about 2 years now due to financial trainwrecks.  I play at golf.  Calling me a golfer is to insult the game and vastly over estimate my skills.  I've been hacking at it for multiple decades now and really not got any better.  I do it for business purposes.

If I were to do it over again I'd take lessons from a pro starting with the putter and working back up to the long clubs.  Marketing and advertising directs your attention to the driver.  Money shots are made with short clubs like putters, wedges and nine irons.

[Telperion]

"A golf course is a waste of a perfectly good rifle range"

[Nightfall]

I'm just getting ready to start taking lessons.  I have an old set of clubs (15 yrs old) but suspect the instructor will tell me to get some newer clubs.  Is it true that the newer clubs are much easier for the beginner to hit consistently?

From what I read, driver shafts have gotten longer, and iron lofts have changed (for the worse, concerning us newbies? Dunno). The pros seem to say that custom fitted clubs will definitely improve your game, which is the direction I would go if you decide to spring for new clubs. I know when I decide to spring for the works, that will be my route.

[Guest]

"A golf course is a waste of a perfectly good rifle range"

+1

Back when I was younger, I played. I was out shooting one day, and the Pro was shooting and suggested I take it up, might come in handy for business reasons.  I had a natural swing.  The Pro was a great teacher, so I shared shotgunning for golf instructions.  The Pro would actually take the Woods out of my bag if he saw them in there. Only stayed in -IF - my woods were going to be used by another...

I would not let the Pro use a 12 O/U , he needed to learn Correct Basic Fundamentals with a 1100 in 20 ga. We had an understanding.

Like firearms, I quickly figured out folks were trying to buy scores without actually practicing, getting clubs that fit, or getting proper lessons.

Being a Rebel and all, I quickly started taking clubs out of my bag. "What are you doing?" Asked the Pro.
I replied Plaxco had said Shooting was nothing more than Correct Basic Fundamentals Repeated often.
Pro just looked at me...grinning..."some stuff applies to other disciplines for sure".

I was hell on wheels with a 3, 5, 7 iron and putter.  I played many a short nine with only a putter and 7 iron.

One may get a longer tee shot...but if in the rough and costs you...

Better to keep in the fairway and be a bit short. Putting will make or break a par...learning to get onto the green  real accurate is important. I had this knack of using that 7 iron like a 7 iron down to a wedge. Nothing beats the sound of ball going 'dink' on the flag pin..."that's a gimmee". *grin*

Yeah that was me with a putter , 7 iron, and leather shotshell pouch for extra balls, tee, rag, ...

[onions!]

"A golf course is a waste of a perfectly good rifle range"

LOL!

That depends on what part of this country you're from!

Around here most of the courses close 11/1.Firearms deer season opens on 11/15.Quite a few courses are bordered by farmland(corn fields).There are often straight lines of site of several hundred yards.Regular golfers may be known to the management/owners.A friend of mine has reportedly shot his buck first thing in the A.M.,dressed it out,& then put in a round before lunch.

November 15th,'tis a foine day to be on the links laddie!

[telewinz]

While waiting for the last group to finish, I walked a 100 yards to the nearest gully lined with brush.  I spent half an hour in the jiggers and thorns pulling out about 30 golf balls (I didn't bother taking a 2-Iron with me to assist, BIG mistake).  It seems people don't bother going after their balls as much as they did when I was a kid.  It's not about the money, it's about the hunt!  The (cheap) thrill of victory!  Alas my daughter responded when I emerged with ALL my pockets bulging with golf balls "why did you bother when you have that barrel all filled-up at home?" (I had previously paid $10 for a laundry basket full of minty golf balls).  I thought I had them "hid" from the kids so they wouldn't just help themselves.  She just doesn't understand!

BTW:  Twice today great shots were foiled/modified by hitting a rope!  Figure the odds.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Golf is a great game.  It's an awful lot like competitvie target shooting.

The goal of golf is to accomplish something downright useless: put a strange ball in an strange little hole.
The rules of golf require you to use the most innefective means possible to accomplish that goal:  start from hundreds of yards away, then clobber the ball over and over again with weird sticks until it falls into the hole
Golf is primarily a mental game; physical prowess isn't nearly as important as good concentration.
Competitive golf is played against yourself; the performance of your opponents doesn't affect your own score.

The goal of target shooting is to accomplish something downright useless: punch strange holes in a specific part of a strange piece of paper.
The rules of target shooting require you to use the least effective means to accomplish that goal:  use strange machines to lob chunks of lead at the paper from long distances away.
Target shooting is primarily a mental game; physical prowess isn't nearly as important as good concentration.
Competitive target shooting is played against yourself; the performance of your opponents doesn't affect your own score.

Both are a good opportunity to enjoy the outdoors.  Both are better with good company.  Both are EXPENSIVE!!  Both are infuriating....