I purchased a SkyCaddie last year for $219.00 and it has been worth every penny.

I was trying to use the thing yesterday and I wasn't confident in the yardages. As I looked through it I couldn't hold it still. I'm going to have to practice with it I guess.

That's where the SkyCaddie has its advantages. No holding steady required. Just walk up to your ball and it shows you the distance to the hole and the hazards around you.

Played The Oaks at Tan-Tara yesterday. It's an ok course.

Okay, I went back to the golf grip and continued my quest to hit down on the ball. The results were better. I hit my irons very well. This grip trends to force the club face on the driver open at contact, so I sliced several drives. The result was an 86 including four triple bogeys. Three were on the front nine. I played really well on the back nine finishing 13/18 with: par, birdie, par, par, grrr triple. Had I not blown 18 all to hell I would have finished the back in 39. Never been under 40 on nine. Ever.

So, I'm encourage, but could use some advice on how to cure the slice off the tee.

Also, my 8th grade son is ready to play again. I can find cheap clubs but need to get him fitted. Any suggestions in or around the KC area would be great.

Bubba shot the juke box and he leads the Masters.

I had a couple of terrible shanks today

Hit a roof ROFL

Early in the season still lol

If he's ready to play and is more like a beginner you'd be better off just getting him a used set of clubs fit to his height with the softest shafts he can control. He's going to be growing significantly, and if he plays a lot, his swing will likely change somewhat too as he becomes more skilled. Fitting a beginner is a great theory in concept, but somewhat overrated.

Regarding your slice: Make sure that you are finishing your swing with almost all of your weight on your front foot. If you still notice that the balls are leaking, try to ingrain a feeling of shaking hands with your dominant hand past impact. Those should stop you from hanging back and leaving the face open.

My early season golf is just awful. Think I'll pound a bunch of balls tomorrow. The only pound of the year. I'm to old to pound much more at this point. It hurts!

Should go without saying, but if you get the chance to go to Augusta National - even for a Monday practice round - do it.

Wednesday was just an incredible experience. Walked the course in the AM and had a front row seat on the ropes of #1 tee for the Par 3 Contest.

http://i61.tinypic.com/289gbxk.jpg

Awesome dude.

It's really worth it to go. I was shocked at how hilly it is, tv doesn't do it justice. If you lay up on 15, it's like hitting of a mountain.

Also, did you notice once you get inside, things are extremely cheap (food, beverages etc)?

Awesome!

I was prepared for the elevation changes, as my BIL and some friends have been before. The things that stood out to me were how big/deep a lot of the bunkers were - especially on 2 fairway, 10 fairway and 18 green.

Also, 12 looks nothing like it looks on TV. If anything, it's a bit uphill.

Green complexes are amazing. 7 is just diabolical.

And yeah, prices are very friendly. I think the most expensive thing on the menu was an import beer at $4.

And the places where Phil hit that 4-iron from the pine straw on 13 and Bubba with the monster hook on 10 were incredible to see. Amazing shots.

Yeah the greens are amazing. 13 fairway stood out to me.

It's a massive sideslope

I hate 7 just from playing Tiger Woods. Uphill shot into a green that slopes that severely back to front with cavernous bunkers in front. Tuck that pin on the right side and it's just a one who sucks the penis of a hole.

Isn't that the location tiger holed out on a few years ago?

Play the slope bro!

Yeah. He and Adam Scott within an hour of each other in the final round of 2010.

So I've changed my posture a bit this year. I've moved back a little off my toes towards my heels an tried to get a little more knee flex. It's really helped me get it on plane coming down a lot easier as I don't take it back outside ad fight to get it back inside like I was recently.


With my old posture, stance etc, I would tend to get stuck on the way down as my body was in the way and I really had to spin out of it to get out of the way and it was hell on my lower back.

So far this year, big improvement.

Also to any of you guys who hit a lot of balls practice a lot etc, invest in some tour sticks (or use clubs) for alignment.

When practicing, take that element out of the equation so you can wok on other things.

Just use driveway markers or clubs. Going out of your way to buy tour sticks is just pissing money away.

Wow. Woodland was seven under through 10, then bogeyed 11 and doubled 12.

Probably.

I got mine for 50 cents, but mainly I like them cause their bright colored and easy to see. Plus you can stick them in the ground

Hamas, forgive me for seeming obtuse, but I'm having a hard time visualizing this. Give me a picture of what this is supposed to look like.

Sorry for the awkward phrasing, but I wrote that thinking you were a lefty but not being entirely sure.

Assuming you are:

in your follow through you should have the feeling of almost all your weight being on your lead foot (your right), and you should feel as though your left arm (your dominant side) is reaching forward to shake hands with someone just out of your grasp.

If you prefer a tennis analogy, assume you are trying to hit a topspin forehand. Your weight must be forward and your dominant hand must overtake your weak hand

Look at the seventh panel in this swing sequence:

http://www.golfdigest.com/images/gol...r13_swings.jpg


Now, consider the difference with this:

http://www.rotaryswing.com/golf-less...cken-wing2.jpg

Notice how open the face is here. In order to hit the ball straight this guy has to flip his hands at impact and hope for perfect timing.

One way you can work on this is the Gary Player drill.

Hit balls with a 7-iron and on your follow through take a step towards the target. Eventually you'll feel what it's like to finish with your weight in front and shake hands with the target.

Freddie Couples is only four back. Given the resume of the guys in front of him, if he can shoot 68 tomorrow, he might win the damn thing.

Spieth has been amazing on and around the greens in his first Masters.

It's so firm out there that a lot of the traditional local knowledge isn't as helpful, as the shots are running out far past their traditional collection spots.

As odd as it sounds, if Augusta is unusually firm it lessens the disadvantage faced by n00bs.

Hamas, thanks for the visual. That really helped me understand. I enjoy working on this stuff on the range. Can't wait to try it tomorrow morning.

Bubba has gotten all flippy with the putter.

He's got great hands, but he also uses small muscles to manipulate the club face. Gets tough under pressure.

That's why he's going to fall apart in his early 40s. He'll lose that fine motor control and fade into Bolivian.

Probably so.

When you look at the guys with the most longevity (playing great in their 40s) for te most part, they don't have a lot of moving parts in their swing.

The list of major winners in their 40s is slim anyway.

I don't know. Most of the guys who have played well as they have aged have had an upright swing (Vijay, Nicklaus, Phil, Kenny Perry, Tom Watson). Bubba has that, but he also has the worst balance of any tour-level player ever. Phil's balance is comparatively really bad for a tour pro too, but his short game is so good that he's always been able to get away with it. Vijay didn't have great balance either, but he hit 10000 balls a day.

Where Bubba will get in trouble is his putting. He's among the best on the tour in longer putting because that is a much more feel-driven stroke, but he's one of the worst players from 5-15 feet because he doesn't have enough time to square the face. He's also a pretty mediocre iron player if you look at his GIR %s based on distance.

He's definitely unique. He probably has one of the five best sets of hands ever, so maybe he can stave that decline off longer than most.

It doesn't just mean winning majors. There were a lot of good players into their 40s who didn't win majors, but still played at a high level.

It basically boils down to timing and how it's accomplished. Bubba can be off at times, but his hands are so great he can save himself. He basically survives with distance. He's not a great iron player, ball striker, putter (he's obviously not bad, he's a damn major winning tour pro) in terms of others on tour.

I don't think upright vs flat will bother longevity as much as other things. Usually the upright guys are better iron players and can struggle with driver, but he's unique in that regard.

I'm taller so I'm more partial to upright swings tho so there is that

For me, the whole "he's a great player because he won a major" argument is a lot like the qb an Super Bowl wins thing.

I don't see the comparison because in golf you rely solely upon yourself. If all QBs had identical teams and then took the field in the SB it would be much closer.

There is a lot of variance and luck involved in majors. Someone like Greg Norman got legit hosed out of 3-4 majors, while Ernie Els was outright handed two of his four majors. They aren't a perfect metric for measuring a golfer's ability, but they're still the best one available.

If you are discerning in your evaluation, it's easy to see why someone like Sergio Garcia or Lee Westwood is a far better golfer than Shaun Micheel or Todd Hamilton even though they haven't won majors.

A fair analysis requires a number of data points.

Rich Beem plays out of his mind for a week and wins a major.
Fred Couples battles through years of injury, wins a major, and several other tour titles.
Angel Cabrera shows up once every other year and competes in the US Open or at Augusta and ends up winning two
Westwood grinds around Europe for years, wins a ton of tournaments, contends in a lot of majors, yet routinely shits his pants.

If I'm ranking them as golfers I go:

Couples
Westwood
Cabrera
Beem

You do rely on yourself, but like you said, that's not the only factor in winning vs losing.

Same as matchups in football, course selection or the course being played plays a factor and some guys (like beem or the Asian that beat tiger at the PGA who's name eludes me) can get hot and win.

My assumption basically stops there. I don't think winning a major, by itself as a measuring point, is a good way to go.

After Scott, Watson is probably the second best golfer in the world right now. The top is as weak as I've ever seen it, maybe 1995 or so right before Tiger arrived. This leader board is really weak. If McIlroy doesn't revert to his prior form then you'll be seeing some serious no names (Shaun Micheel style) eke these future majors out.

Three of the players tied or within a shot of the lead are in the top 13 in the world, so I don't quite get the weak leaderboard talk (Spieth is also going to end up being a consistent top 5 player in his career in all likelihood). I've certainly seen worse.

There's just a changing of the guard going in at the top of golf right now. The guys from the Tiger era are declining (even though he himself remains #1 for now) while younger guys are overtaking them (Scott, Day, McIlroy, D. Johnson, Spieth, etc.).

I've always thought this course would be good for Woodland's game. Just needs to hit his putts and keep his nerve. He's in tough this week after that back 9, but maybe he can post a great score and hope.

Rickie Fowler, masters champion

The Masters will always have a "strong" leaderboard given that it's by far the smallest major of the year, and many of the players teeing it up are ceremonial--amateurs or aged past champions. That doesn't mean that it has a strong leaderboard compared to its normal leaderboards.

That's what people are bemoaning.

Compared to normal Masters leaderboards, maybe. Although that's mostly because Tiger and Phil are at or near the top 5 in most years. You do often see worse than this in the other majors.

Of course, because the fields are 156, not 90. A larger field opens up the possibilities for a rando getting hot.

In 1963, Jack Nicklaus became the youngest Masters winner.

17 years later, Seve broke the record.

17 years after that, Tiger broke the record.

17 years after Tiger?

http://cdn.dejanseo.com.au/wp-conten...12/11/whoa.jpg

jordan speith...get used to his name. In the past year he's been paired up with some great golfers...he beat woods by 9, rory by 11, and beat Scott by 6 strokes. He appears to be some kind of undertaker.

This isn't the major with the toughest field. That Major is played in August....as you know.

I have to root for the old Spaniard. It would be frickin' epic for a 50 year old, pony-tailed, wine drinking cigar smoker that never practices, restores one-off Ferraris, and has the most interesting warm-up in sports to win the Masters.

As Hamas said earlier just get some driveway markers. You can find them at Home Depot around the mail boxes.

Really the only guy I'm not rooting for is Bubba. One, he's a ****ing whiner and treats his caddy like ass - but two, I'd like to see someone who has never won one before.

I'd love for Freddie to make a run, I'd be cool with MAJ, Rickie, Furyk, Westwood, Spieth or even Kucher.

Should be a fun day.

I think mine were 5 bucks when I bought 'em from RockBottomGolf.com.

The game needs Watson, Fowler or Spieth to win to create a story. America needs an American to win in Augusta because we have short attention spans, and because our two HOFers aren't around this weekend (and frankly, are close to disappearing as major threats anyway). Nobody wants to see the old Spaniard porn-star wannabe win. Or Blixt, or frankly Kuchar.


Have no idea why you'd root for Furyk. Dude is older than dirt and nobody outside of the golf world even knows who he is. He won a major anyway.

I'd like to see Spieth win this.

I bought some just last week at Academy Sports with the cost being minimal. Yeah get yourself some.

I have no desire to see Kuchar, Watson, or Furyk win. Bubba is a ****ing bitch, and I hate Kuchar's swing. Furyk winning is a pretty long shot because he's a professional choke artist and he usually plays like a guy who would rather finish top five than take the chances to win.

I like Kuchar a lot, but I don't think he's got the mental game to win.

Fowler for me

You're in Springfield right?

I'm in the process of buying a practice down there and moving back here in a few months. Thinking about joining out at Highland (it's pretty cheap compared to Hickory which is closer to our house but I'm not payin that much) you'll have to come join me for a round.

Perhaps you become a pt or something and we can call it a business expense :)

You lucky bastard. Bet that was amazing.

Now, let's go Spieth. I wanna see the kid from Dallas win it all today.

Watsons game is fun to watch. Casual golf fans are intrigued by him because e crushes the driver. People want to see sports where guys do things we cannot. Nobody is intrigued watching Kuchar or Furyk or Zach Johnson navigate a course by hitting spots and laying up.

So many of the greats brought personality. That's what the sport needs now. Not Jonas Blixt (although its cool to know I saw him play Lionsgate a couple years ago)

I guess for the casual fan that doesn't really follow golf that's true.

I love watching guys plot their way around a course. There's an art to it

Freddy just had a nice bird to go -3

fowler now done

****ing putter. I thought he was gonna tie for the lead :facepalm:

lot of tourney left but that ****ing hurt

Spieth lips one in for the lead on the 2nd hole. Now we'll really see what he's made of.

Kuchar off to a good start

Couples had a nice par save from distance... keeps him in the game.

All the guys at 3 under are absolutely still in it though. Just get to the back within 4 and it's anyone's game

SPIETH!

HOLED OUT FROM THE BUNKER

This kid is unbelievable!
Let's see what happens at amen corner though.

They're birdieing some really hard holes.

Spieth delivers again. Nice putt. Now up 2 on Watson and 4 on Kuchar.

hopefully he is too young to realize it's the masters

Incredible start for Spieth. -3 on the toughest stretch on the course.

Not sure about hitting 3 wood there

Golf Win Probs ‏@kenpomgolf 1m
Masters win chances (R4 4:11pm): Spieth(7) 65%, Watson 24%, Kuchar 6%, Fowler 2%, Blixt 2%, Others 1%

KenPom for golf. It's a 2 man race.

First sign the kid might crack.

Did he bogey 8?

Yes, and Bubba birdied it.

And now he hit a bad approach shot.

Wow, it can just change that fast around here. Bubba is hitting some big time shots/putts.

There is no algorithm on Earth sophisticated enough to quantify what is going to happen with 3/4 of a round left on Sunday in a major championship.