2019 Golf Thread

Zomp

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Aug 28, 2006
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The Slums of Shaolin
When I played Pebble I had a caddy. It wasn't a cool as I thought it would be. He was younger and clearly new, which is fine, but I think if you're a caddy who is caddying for someone that you've never seen play, you need to give them accurate yardages, sight lines, and assist in reading greens. That should be it.

On the first few holes he was trying to club me. It was kind of uncomfortable.
 

bostonbeerbelly

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Apr 26, 2008
2,224
San Fran
I just came in to stop by and say I have found a magic club for my bag. I picked up a Titleist 2Iron - Driving Iron. After hitting 6 different clubs at the PGA Superstore, this was the one for me, and woah is it a great club. Off the tee, straight and 240 carry. Just what I need as I head to Ireland next Monday.

And on the caddy subject, I will have my favorite Irish caddie for 5 days, he is amazing and probably saves me 2-3 shots minimum a round.
 

Doug Beerabelli

Killer Threads
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I played in a shotgun start tourney on Saturday at my club, and one of playour ing partners (younger member about 26 years old) was hitting a 1 iron. Hit it pretty well, too - mostly off the tee. Didn't like to hit his driver. He borrowed it from his father, who I'm guessing doesn't want it back.

So God and Tyler have something in common.

I'd like to share that my 14 year old son played with us in the event, as I was able to convince the club to let him do so for non plaque tourney. It was a benefit for the Asst. Pros, one of who has been his primary golf coach and mentor. The boy has been active in the junior program for awhile, and he's good enough at the etiquette and skill stuff that he can go out there alone (but not usually Saturday mornings per club rules). He rode on the cart with the 1 iron guy, while the old farts myself and a friend who's in early 50s walked. I prefer to walk when I can - it gives me some reward for my efforts regardless of how bad I play. It was pretty cool to see how he comfortably dealt with playing with someone he hadn't met before, sharing a cart all day, and how the did etiquette wise. Apparently they talked a lot of fantasy football, which was perfect. The boy had a real good golf summer - he participated in the CT section PGA junior tour, which is a run of up to 9 tournaments throughout the state where the kids can earn points based upon their results. You're not obligated to play all of them, so this didn't impact family vacations etc. He overall had a solid year, and got an introduction and familiarity with playing tournament stroke play golf with different kids. Had a couple bad rounds, but shot in the 80s 4 out of 6 events, with a low of 81 (from white tees, about 6200 yds for most places). It was a bumpy ride at times, as he'll often do some 14 year old boy things when playing with mom and dad, and also occassionally goes on a little tilt during some bad stretches. But that's all part of the learning process. What's great is he's emerged from the summer with a desire to focus on golf, and seems to have a pretty strong passion about it.

I've got to continue improve on "pulling off the gas" on critiquing him or giving advice when we play, and really carefully pick my spots, which I generally am keeping to etiquette stuff. I got better by the end of the summer, and on Saturday only got on him briefly when he miscounted a score. He's a HS freshman this year, and will give the HS team a go in the spring, maybe try to get some varsity time as they are pretty thin after graduating 4 seniors. He'll do indoor lessons over the winter, and get a new set of clubs, as he already outgrew the clubs we got last year - a used set cut down an inch. He's also been doing travel baseball for the last 7 years, but this past summer will be his last of doing that. Not the greatest set up to do both baseball and golf at same time, and do both well. He's had his fill of baseball.

It's a been a joy to see his development in the sport over the past few years, and also to have develop an activity that the entire family participates in--my college freshman daughter also plays a bit--and can do so long into the future.
 
If I'm being honest, though, when dropping £250 for a round at Muirfield (not to mention the ~£100 caddy fee and tip) that I've been planning for the better part of a year, I'm expecting a caddy with intimate, everyday course knowledge. And frankly, a Scottish accent.
FWIW, the caddy fee at Muirfield is £50, same as it is at Gullane; I've been tipped anywhere from £0 to £50 in my time caddying here, and I have to say...not to be snotty, but Gullane #1 is not an easy walking course, and as much as I enjoy playing it, four-and-a-half hours of hard walking for £50 wasn't my favorite golfing day in Scotland ever.

As to the rest of your comment, while I don't have everyday course knowledge or a Scottish accent, the other three caddies in our group all fit that description. And when someone made a Lee Trevino reference on the 17th hole and we started talking about the 1972 Open, I'm the guy who described Trevino's chip-in for par from over the back of the 71st hole - pointing out exactly where the hole location was and where Trevino was when he chipped it - as well as Tony Jackin's three-putt bogey from 15 feet. So it's not as though I didn't have anything to bring to the table in that regard.
When I played Pebble I had a caddy. It wasn't a cool as I thought it would be. He was younger and clearly new, which is fine, but I think if you're a caddy who is caddying for someone that you've never seen play, you need to give them accurate yardages, sight lines, and assist in reading greens. That should be it.

On the first few holes he was trying to club me. It was kind of uncomfortable.
Complete agreed on this - I can't imagine trying to tell someone what club to hit when being on a golf course with him for the first time, and it's very awkward to be asked "What club should I hit?" by your golfer in those circumstances as well. To be fair, though, it wouldn't surprise me - knowing the clientele at Pebble - that this caddy of yours had had a previous client who did ask to be clubbed on every shot, and that he thought he was doing for you what he was supposed to be doing for everyone.
 
It's a been a joy to see his development in the sport over the past few years, and also to have develop an activity that the entire family participates in--my college freshman daughter also plays a bit--and can do so long into the future.
Great story. One of my great regrets is that my 11-year-old son loves to play absolutely every sport *except* golf - I can only hope that changes at some point in the future before I'm old, gray and immobile.
 

The Needler

New Member
Dec 7, 2016
1,803
FWIW, the caddy fee at Muirfield is £50, same as it is at Gullane; I've been tipped anywhere from £0 to £50 in my time caddying here, and I have to say...not to be snotty, but Gullane #1 is not an easy walking course, and as much as I enjoy playing it, four-and-a-half hours of hard walking for £50 wasn't my favorite golfing day in Scotland ever.
Yeah, I meant £100 combined. I never tipped my caddy less than £40 for a round. I don't know whether that was generous or normal, but the last thing I wanted to do was nickel and dime a looper on a trip that was already pricy enough. Also, agree that Gullane #1 was a much tougher walk.
 

Eagle3

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 26, 2004
574
I played in a shotgun start tourney on Saturday at my club, and one of playour ing partners (younger member about 26 years old) was hitting a 1 iron. Hit it pretty well, too - mostly off the tee. Didn't like to hit his driver. He borrowed it from his father, who I'm guessing doesn't want it back.

So God and Tyler have something in common.

I'd like to share that my 14 year old son played with us in the event, as I was able to convince the club to let him do so for non plaque tourney. It was a benefit for the Asst. Pros, one of who has been his primary golf coach and mentor. The boy has been active in the junior program for awhile, and he's good enough at the etiquette and skill stuff that he can go out there alone (but not usually Saturday mornings per club rules). He rode on the cart with the 1 iron guy, while the old farts myself and a friend who's in early 50s walked. I prefer to walk when I can - it gives me some reward for my efforts regardless of how bad I play. It was pretty cool to see how he comfortably dealt with playing with someone he hadn't met before, sharing a cart all day, and how the did etiquette wise. Apparently they talked a lot of fantasy football, which was perfect. The boy had a real good golf summer - he participated in the CT section PGA junior tour, which is a run of up to 9 tournaments throughout the state where the kids can earn points based upon their results. You're not obligated to play all of them, so this didn't impact family vacations etc. He overall had a solid year, and got an introduction and familiarity with playing tournament stroke play golf with different kids. Had a couple bad rounds, but shot in the 80s 4 out of 6 events, with a low of 81 (from white tees, about 6200 yds for most places). It was a bumpy ride at times, as he'll often do some 14 year old boy things when playing with mom and dad, and also occassionally goes on a little tilt during some bad stretches. But that's all part of the learning process. What's great is he's emerged from the summer with a desire to focus on golf, and seems to have a pretty strong passion about it.

I've got to continue improve on "pulling off the gas" on critiquing him or giving advice when we play, and really carefully pick my spots, which I generally am keeping to etiquette stuff. I got better by the end of the summer, and on Saturday only got on him briefly when he miscounted a score. He's a HS freshman this year, and will give the HS team a go in the spring, maybe try to get some varsity time as they are pretty thin after graduating 4 seniors. He'll do indoor lessons over the winter, and get a new set of clubs, as he already outgrew the clubs we got last year - a used set cut down an inch. He's also been doing travel baseball for the last 7 years, but this past summer will be his last of doing that. Not the greatest set up to do both baseball and golf at same time, and do both well. He's had his fill of baseball.

It's a been a joy to see his development in the sport over the past few years, and also to have develop an activity that the entire family participates in--my college freshman daughter also plays a bit--and can do so long into the future.
This is a bit of a side note, but I grew up in CT and still live there, and it drives me crazy that the High School golf season is in the spring instead of Fall like Mass and other surrounding states. The course conditions suck in the spring, the weather sucks, and the kids start the season having not played in 5 months. I could have played baseball and golf in HS but had to choose because they are the same season. I chose golf. My son was in the same boat. He chose baseball. I know a guy who's heavily involved in the CIAC (basically the governing body of CT HS sports) and they actually discussed changing golf to a fall sport a few years ago but the Athletic Directors voted it down.
 

Eagle3

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Feb 26, 2004
574
Eagle3,

I hear rumblings of the CIAC looking to switch it, might happen in 2020. But I'll believe it when I see it.
Would love to see it, but too late for me. My son graduated in June. The good news is now that he's done with baseball he's focusing more on golf, which is fun for me. He chirps about how far by me he hits it, but he cant beat me. Yet.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
I played Granite Link in Quincy yesterday. Great view of Boston and the bay from the top of the hill there.

We played the Milton 9 first which was superb and in great shape. It was tight in places but it was a fair track. Loved it and would play it again anytime. Again, the views are impressive at the top of the hill. Two thumbs up.

Granite 9 was second and I didn’t like it nearly as much. The 1st hole didn’t help—it’s a carnival hole that snakes down a steep hill. Punch an iron off the tee into a collection area, punch an iron down into another weirdly shaped landing area, drop another iron 50 yards left of the green and watch it bound down a slope bounce on...
 

4 6 3 DP

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Oct 24, 2001
2,370
Granite Links is a very hit and miss course. I live and golf around there and most of my friends who play will only do it for fun in scrambles. It's target golf at its finest. As you say the views are what make it worth the visit.
 

TFP

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Dec 10, 2007
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So the Myrtle Beach trip was awesome. The courses more than lived up to expectations, the weather was beautiful (but hot), the accomodations were decent enough in a perfect location, and nothing material went wrong which was a miracle. Everyone made their flights, everyone made their tee times, no big arguments or controversies, etc. All in all a super successful and fun trip that I was stressing about hardcore leading up to it. Unfortunately we lost the Ryder Cup again, but other than that I wouldn't have changed anything.

Course recaps

  • TPC Myrtle - this was our warmup round, had 11 of the 20 guys playing. 6 others played Kiahwah, 3 came down Thurs night. It was a good warmup, in very good but not amazing shape, interesting holes, good variety, etc. Unfortunately we had been up since 4am traveling all day and it was SCORCHING hot, so it turned into more of a grind than we expected. But I enjoyed it, and for $95 we got the round, lunch (which was delicious) and 2 beers, so the value was amazing. I played so so, shot 84 but took a bunch of money in our informal match so that helped. Finished with a gorgeous 9 iron on 18 to pretty much put the match away.
  • Heritage - A traditional plantation style course that we started the competition off on Friday am. Front 9 was 2 man best ball, back 9 was 2 man alt shot. I liked the course, it was in excellent shape and difficult but fair. It was the perfect start to the competition too. I played well in stretches but bad team golf on both 9s to lose both my matches. Not a great start, we were down 4-1 after 9 and 7-3 after 18. Not looking good.
  • True Blue - This was Friday afternoon 18 hole 2 man scramble, we had to basically rush from Heritage to there and were still late to our tee time (they were cool about it). I think we were the last groups out so it didn't matter. This was my favorite course and frankly one of the most unique I've every played. Ridiculously wide fairways, waste bunks everywhere (which doubled as cart paths), huge undulating greens, unique holes and views at every turn. I played awesome most of the day while my partner really struggled, it was basically me vs the other 2 guys for half the match. My partner woke up for the last 3 holes to help us put away the win when I ran out of steam from exhaustion and drunkenness. Our team won this 3.5 - 1.5 to bring it to 8.5 - 6.5 after day 1, which was still in striking distance.
  • Caledonia - What a track for singles matches. While I like True Blue better, a lot of guys had this as their fave. Just an excellent route through the plantation fields, all types of holes, excellent conditioning, etc. Perfect for singles match play too with a lot of risk reward holes. I could barely get off the tee but I grinded my ass off and hit some awesome iron shots down the stretch in both matches to win each one. Sticking my approach to 12 feet on 18 (a really hard shot over water) to effectively end the match (he needed to win the hole and I now had par in the bag) was my highlight of the weekend, and one of my proudest golfing moments ever. I ended up going 42-42-84 with my C+ game but played my best under pressure down the stretch of each match. In the last 3 holes of each match combined I was even par with both coming down to the last hole. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and we tied singles day 10-10 but lost by 2. Watching the last matches come in on the veranda and drinking on the green as the sun went down was a perfect cap to the weekend.

Highly recommend all 3 courses, they're all within 2 mins of each other and super easy to get to. Service at each was impeccable as well.

I'm ready for a break from competitive golf for a bit now. I'm super happy with how I played and the progress I've made over the past year compared to the last 2 years where I could barely hit the ball in singles matches. Time for just some casual fun fall golf.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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Did you take advantage of the Breakfast/Lunch/Golf package at Heritage? I played Heritage, as well as Parkland and Heathland, all part of the Legends group.
 

TFP

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Did you take advantage of the Breakfast/Lunch/Golf package at Heritage? I played Heritage, as well as Parkland and Heathland, all part of the Legends group.
We did, but didn't know we had it. So we got there too late for breakfast and had to rush through lunch before going to True Blue.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
So anyway, after losing most of August to a lower back strain of some sort (ow) I probably played my best round of the year on Saturday. 79 (36-43), with a kind of unfortunate stumble of bogey-double-double on 16-18. The wheels didn’t really come off but I had a couple less than great lies in a row and just couldn’t recover. I hit a bunch of fairways though and that’s always the difference for me. Backed it up with a more standard mid-80s round on Sunday, but I’ll remember the Saturday front 9–I was clicking. As was the case last year, I feel like I’m ready to hit a new plateau just in time for the season to end...
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
41,947
I played in a shotgun start tourney on Saturday at my club, and one of playour ing partners (younger member about 26 years old) was hitting a 1 iron. Hit it pretty well, too - mostly off the tee. Didn't like to hit his driver. He borrowed it from his father, who I'm guessing doesn't want it back.

So God and Tyler have something in common.

I'd like to share that my 14 year old son played with us in the event, as I was able to convince the club to let him do so for non plaque tourney. It was a benefit for the Asst. Pros, one of who has been his primary golf coach and mentor. The boy has been active in the junior program for awhile, and he's good enough at the etiquette and skill stuff that he can go out there alone (but not usually Saturday mornings per club rules). He rode on the cart with the 1 iron guy, while the old farts myself and a friend who's in early 50s walked. I prefer to walk when I can - it gives me some reward for my efforts regardless of how bad I play. It was pretty cool to see how he comfortably dealt with playing with someone he hadn't met before, sharing a cart all day, and how the did etiquette wise. Apparently they talked a lot of fantasy football, which was perfect. The boy had a real good golf summer - he participated in the CT section PGA junior tour, which is a run of up to 9 tournaments throughout the state where the kids can earn points based upon their results. You're not obligated to play all of them, so this didn't impact family vacations etc. He overall had a solid year, and got an introduction and familiarity with playing tournament stroke play golf with different kids. Had a couple bad rounds, but shot in the 80s 4 out of 6 events, with a low of 81 (from white tees, about 6200 yds for most places). It was a bumpy ride at times, as he'll often do some 14 year old boy things when playing with mom and dad, and also occassionally goes on a little tilt during some bad stretches. But that's all part of the learning process. What's great is he's emerged from the summer with a desire to focus on golf, and seems to have a pretty strong passion about it.

I've got to continue improve on "pulling off the gas" on critiquing him or giving advice when we play, and really carefully pick my spots, which I generally am keeping to etiquette stuff. I got better by the end of the summer, and on Saturday only got on him briefly when he miscounted a score. He's a HS freshman this year, and will give the HS team a go in the spring, maybe try to get some varsity time as they are pretty thin after graduating 4 seniors. He'll do indoor lessons over the winter, and get a new set of clubs, as he already outgrew the clubs we got last year - a used set cut down an inch. He's also been doing travel baseball for the last 7 years, but this past summer will be his last of doing that. Not the greatest set up to do both baseball and golf at same time, and do both well. He's had his fill of baseball.

It's a been a joy to see his development in the sport over the past few years, and also to have develop an activity that the entire family participates in--my college freshman daughter also plays a bit--and can do so long into the future.
It's funny I saw this post today. I literally just hung up with the owner of Andover CC and told her I want to come back next year, and I want to get a junior membership for my son, who will turn 12 in February. He's been swinging clubs, going to the range, going to a couple short camps for years now, and he's got a good swing, but he doesn't know the "game" yet, the etiquette, etc., so I'll be spending next summer teaching him that. The pro there now is really young, and spends a significant amount of time teaching the junior members, so I'll have him getting regular lessons, so he learns the right way (as opposed to how I learned, which was hold it like a baseball bat and swing)....

Unfortunately, our high school team is pretty ludicrous. Once you make the team, you're on the team, so this past year, they only had like 2 JV spots open up, and 75 kids tried out. They were cutting scratch golfers from the JV team, even though there are kids playing as high as an 8 handicap on the varsity team. We'll see how that progresses over the years, once he gets there, but it's gotten to the point where I can't imagine any kid who isn't scratch or better playing at the high school level here about 5 years from now. They are starting younger and younger. Our club champ two years ago was a 15 year old, who didn't go passed the 14th hole with anyone in the field in match play. The following year, they wouldn't let him play because technically you're supposed to be a full member, and he decided to leave and join Renaissance. Some crazy, crazy good young golfers in this area.
 

Over Guapo Grande

panty merchant
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Nov 29, 2005
4,459
Worcester
We did, but didn't know we had it. So we got there too late for breakfast and had to rush through lunch before going to True Blue.
D'oh... Stoked about going down in October (apart from the fact that it will be during high-season). I'll probably play a few times with OGG Sr. He likes the Witch/Wizard, so we'll play there once. I do want to talk him into a round at the Legends group (probably Parkland). Then maybe a round from the Glens Group (Glen Dornach would be my vote).

For those with kids.. most places have a kid <16 play free with a paying adult (one kid per adult). My brother went down in August and was able to go out in 3's with his 2 sons for the price of 2. Played TPC Myrtle, World Tour, Heritage... and maybe one other.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
Our club champ two years ago was a 15 year old, who didn't go passed the 14th hole with anyone in the field in match play. The following year, they wouldn't let him play because technically you're supposed to be a full member, and he decided to leave and join Renaissance. Some crazy, crazy good young golfers in this area.
Oh man, you just know someone complained. I bet they complain about everything up there.
 

Phragle

wild card bitches
SoSH Member
Jan 1, 2009
13,154
Carmine's closet
So anyway, after losing most of August to a lower back strain of some sort (ow) I probably played my best round of the year on Saturday. 79 (36-43), with a kind of unfortunate stumble of bogey-double-double on 16-18. The wheels didn’t really come off but I had a couple less than great lies in a row and just couldn’t recover. I hit a bunch of fairways though and that’s always the difference for me. Backed it up with a more standard mid-80s round on Sunday, but I’ll remember the Saturday front 9–I was clicking. As was the case last year, I feel like I’m ready to hit a new plateau just in time for the season to end...
Congrats!
 

Zomp

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Aug 28, 2006
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75 kids tried out? How big is the school? When I was on the golf team there was 8 of us for 5 spots. Pretty frustrating when 2 of us would shoot i the 30s for 9 and then our 3-5 guys shot 56, 62, and 68.
 

Doug Beerabelli

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Oh man, you just know someone complained. I bet they complain about everything up there.
Indeed! We lost a member family a decade ago because the women wouldn’t let their teenage daughter, who was a single digit handicap, play in the women’s tournaments and weekend mornings. They left to play somewhere that did. And the club loses some good marketing via a successful junior golfer being a member. Seems when you can play should be dictated by how you play, not necessarily age.

75 kids trying out? That’s crazy! We will likely have about 10-15 max.
 

TFP

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Dec 10, 2007
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So anyway, after losing most of August to a lower back strain of some sort (ow) I probably played my best round of the year on Saturday. 79 (36-43), with a kind of unfortunate stumble of bogey-double-double on 16-18. The wheels didn’t really come off but I had a couple less than great lies in a row and just couldn’t recover. I hit a bunch of fairways though and that’s always the difference for me. Backed it up with a more standard mid-80s round on Sunday, but I’ll remember the Saturday front 9–I was clicking. As was the case last year, I feel like I’m ready to hit a new plateau just in time for the season to end...
That's awesome man, congrats. I broke 80 for the first time this year too and it's an awesome feeling.
 
Last edited:

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
41,947
Oh man, you just know someone complained. I bet they complain about everything up there.
No, the members didn't care, but we had a big turnover on the management. The "owner" of the club is in his 90's, so his daughter is running the show, new pro, new GM, etc. and they decided to follow the rules. To be fair, a lot of guys were taking advantage using non-full time memberships and playing in tournaments, etc., so it was a matter of time before they put their foot down and stopped it.
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
41,947
Indeed! We lost a member family a decade ago because the women wouldn’t let their teenage daughter, who was a single digit handicap, play in the women’s tournaments and weekend mornings. They left to play somewhere that did. And the club loses some good marketing via a successful junior golfer being a member. Seems when you can play should be dictated by how you play, not necessarily age.

75 kids trying out? That’s crazy! We will likely have about 10-15 max.
For us, it's a money thing. They just don't want kids who are playing on junior memberships which cost next to nothing playing in the full-member tournaments. We have a junior club championship, which is frankly, more competitive than the main one at this point, because there are literally a dozen kids shooting par or better on a regular basis.

About 2,000 kids in the high school, but it's a fairly wealthy area with about a half dozen country clubs within probably 10 miles (Andover, Indian Ridge, Renaissance, Haverhill, Fern Croft, etc.) and there are a ton of kids who have started playing at really young ages in the past 10 or so years.
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
41,947
DoTB - that makes sense. We don’t have junior memberships, just family ones, so it’s not a money issue.
Yeah, most of the kids who play at a high level don't even have parents that are members. They just have junior memberships. The club used to be the home course for the high school for many, many years until recently, so they've always encouraged kids to join, even if they don't have parents or family members there. However, they can't play before 3:30 during the week, can't play before noon or so on weekends (they basically let them out once all of the tee times have gone off), they can't have carts unless they are 16, etc. They really shouldn't be playing in tournaments with the full members if they aren't paying the full dues. Likewise, we have other memberships where people can only play during the week, and they get discounts, but they aren't allowed to play in the tournaments, which are basically every weekend. They got pretty lax with the rules for a while, and it became a free for all, leading to the 15 year old winning the club championship, and then they put an end to it.
 

Doug Beerabelli

Killer Threads
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
It's funny I saw this post today. I literally just hung up with the owner of Andover CC and told her I want to come back next year, and I want to get a junior membership for my son, who will turn 12 in February. He's been swinging clubs, going to the range, going to a couple short camps for years now, and he's got a good swing, but he doesn't know the "game" yet, the etiquette, etc., so I'll be spending next summer teaching him that. The pro there now is really young, and spends a significant amount of time teaching the junior members, so I'll have him getting regular lessons, so he learns the right way (as opposed to how I learned, which was hold it like a baseball bat and swing)....

Unfortunately, our high school team is pretty ludicrous. Once you make the team, you're on the team, so this past year, they only had like 2 JV spots open up, and 75 kids tried out. They were cutting scratch golfers from the JV team, even though there are kids playing as high as an 8 handicap on the varsity team. We'll see how that progresses over the years, once he gets there, but it's gotten to the point where I can't imagine any kid who isn't scratch or better playing at the high school level here about 5 years from now. They are starting younger and younger. Our club champ two years ago was a 15 year old, who didn't go passed the 14th hole with anyone in the field in match play. The following year, they wouldn't let him play because technically you're supposed to be a full member, and he decided to leave and join Renaissance. Some crazy, crazy good young golfers in this area.
DoTB - I strongly suggest he look into participating in the PGA Jr League, if there's a team at your club or nearby (assuming he hasn't done this already). It's like LL for golf. Scramble format with a partner (usually teams of 3, and each player plays two 3-hole matches, and then tends the flag/reads putts etc when not playing), so take the pressure off a bit. Great way to learn etiquette - I've found that really is emphasized. I think you age out after 13, although they also have a U17 division, which so far has less participation than the main one.
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
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Thanks Doug. I just checked out their website. Looks like the only real local options are Chelmsford and Woburn, but either would be feasible depending on scheduling conflicts (my son is a competitive swimmer, with practice 5 days a week, 2 hours a day year round, and he also plays baseball from April-November). I'm definitely going to look into it for next spring though. Fortunately, we're so close to the course that we can literally run out and play 5 holes or 9 holes, etc. pretty much any time he's around and I'm home, but committing him to being somewhere a half hour away for a couple hours to play a match will be pretty tough. We figure he may quit baseball after next year (he'll be 12, so that will be his last season on the small diamond) and if he does, it'll open up things quite a bit when he's 13. Of course, he just struck out 9 kids in 3 innings the other day and loves baseball again, so who knows.
 

TFP

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I’ve played New Seabury Dunes 7 years ago when my best friend got married there. I loved it, what an awesome course and club and everything but wasn’t nearly good enough at golf to truly appreciate it. The Ocean course is supposed to be better but I enjoyed the Dunes. Impeccable conditions.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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Nov 29, 2005
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I am finally moving (back) to +1" clubs. So should I plan on a 10 yard increase?

I am traditionally verrrrry short with my irons. 7I = 145- 150. If I can turn that into 8i range, I will be more than happy. I am not trying to make it on any tour.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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Feb 22, 2004
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The Paris of the 80s
An extra inch should up your clubhead speed with all else the same. 10 yards seems like a lot without plus clubhead speed though.

What's the loft on your 7i? That matters a ton. If you're playing traditional lofts they can be a club or more weaker than some sets being made now. Plus, it doesn't really matter how far you hit your irons (within reason), you can always just grab more club. It's about dialing them in.
 

The Needler

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Dec 7, 2016
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Not only that, but 145-150 is not "verrrrry short" for a 7-iron. Most people think they hit much farther than they do. The last data from the USGA and R&A had the average male golfer at like 135 with a 7-iron, and even single-digit handicappers at around 150.
 

Zomp

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Someone posted an article here I think a few years ago but basically it said that extra length on a club doesn't matter as much as lofts.

I'm only 5'10'' but I have +1" clubs because that was my first set and what I grew up playing. I choke down a lot though. But my buddy's irons are +1/2" because he's 6'2" and the distances are identical with both sets when I hit them.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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Ok, I guess I was overthinking things. I figured that if I choke down an inch or so normally to take off yardage, then adding an inch would go in the opposite direction.
 
Plus, it doesn't really matter how far you hit your irons (within reason), you can always just grab more club. It's about dialing them in.
Just adding on, but this is the correct answer. Distance only really matters with your woods; being able to say you hit a 7-iron instead of a 6-iron into a particular green is just about ego, and ego can very easily get in the way of actually boosting your score, if you're afraid that hitting a certain club from a certain distance will make you seem or feel weak and short.
 

Phragle

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Jan 1, 2009
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Ok, I guess I was overthinking things. I figured that if I choke down an inch or so normally to take off yardage, then adding an inch would go in the opposite direction.
You want longer irons for the extra distance or because your hands are far off the ground and cant play standard length clubs?
 

RedOctober3829

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Absolutely loved playing Pocasset on Friday. I thought it was better than New Seabury Dunes course which I played Thursday to be honest. Greens roll extremely fast. Highlight of the day for me was birdie on #8 which is the toughest hole on the course.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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Both, actually.
You want longer irons for the extra distance or because your hands are far off the ground and cant play standard length clubs?
Both... I think I am getting ... jammed, for the search of a better term, by using clubs too short for me.
And... the +1" clubs are a sunk cost. I got them 15 or so years ago. I decided to move to more "grown up" clubs and moved to Apex Edges, which I love the feel of.
 
I played in my first Weekday Medal of the year at Dunbar this morning - what a lovely day for early October, a bit cool but with only 5-10 mph winds (getting a bit stronger as the day went on), and the course is in amazing shape. The greens are rolling as well as I think I've ever seen them; I've seen them faster, but never truer. I managed to start par-par-birdie, then fell off the wagon for a while, but after making my second birdie of the day on #14 I was only +3 and had a real chance of getting my handicap cut possibly for the first time all year. Alas, I bogeyed three of the last four; on the par-4 18th, I steered so clear of the OB wall on the right that I went across and through the 1st fairway, then thinned my second into juicy rough fully 90 yards short of the green. Somehow I hacked a sand wedge high into the air which landed on the front half of the green and rolled up to within four feet of the hole...and then I missed the par putt. Ugh. As things stand, that was the difference between being the leader in the clubhouse (gross) and having my handicap cut by 0.1, and being tied for 3rd and my handicap remaining at 4.9. Still, I was pretty pleased for not having played the course for more than a month.

I played with a guy who lives in my street, a few doors down, who is in his 60s now but still plays off 6 - I learned today that he very briefly held the amateur course record at Muirfield, when he played in the Scottish Amateur Strokeplay Championship (I think around 1970 or 1971, shortly after the course had been changed to invalidate previous course records) and shot a 69, only for a guy to come in two groups later with a 67. I also learned from him that Colin Montgomerie won this same tournament at Dunbar when he was just a young whippersnapper, which is kinda cool. It was generally a fascinating round, great to pick the brain of a wizened old Scot who has almost certainly forgotten more about links golf than I'll ever know.
 

Zomp

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So yesterday my buddy went to Titleist headquarters in Acushnet, MA to get fit. They told him he could bring someone with him if he wanted, so I tagged along for the 4 hour experience.

Driving into Manchester Lane is pretty wild. It's just a side street like any other line with your typical blue collar houses before the road ends and you end up at a security shack. Once you drive through, to your right there is a 270 yard par 4 and a 10,000 square foot green that they use to test out their golf balls. Beyond the green there is another long fairway. In the back of the property there is a 120 yd long fairway that leads to a green with a few different kinds of bunkers. This is the vokey wedge testing area.

We went in and had a tour of the facility. The offices, players lounge, incubators for golf balls, robots that hit the balls, etc... Obviously everything is second to none in quality. They gave us both Team Titleist hats and joked that we couldn't wear our nike ones out on the range.

The club fitting was not unlike any other I've seen done, except this one used Trackman and obviously had every combination of club head and shaft in the Titleist universe.

My buddy, Christian, is a good player. A 4 handicap who gets worse as the club gets shorter in his hands. His fitter was Chris O'Rourke. He was a club pro at a few different clubs before settling in at a club in Dallas for a few years before Titleist offered him his dream job.

The driving range tee is 13,000 sq ft and there are a few different targets to line up to. On the range there are mini golf bags of Pro V1s and Pro V1x. Christian plays the Pro V1.

My buddy is a high ball hitter who can draw and fade it, so Chris had him warm up with his current set to use as a baseline number. To end the warm up, Christian hit a bunch of 7 irons and a few drivers.

Christian's current set up with irons are Ping i200's that are a half inch over stock and standard loft with a modus stiff shaft in them (the exact shaft name escapes me). He was fitted into them a few years ago. So right away Chris says that we have to lower the spin rate coming off of his 7 iron. His 7 iron spin RPM was around 8400. He was carrying it around 160 which was a little short for him yesterday (though it was chilly out). Chris told us that a quick and dirty way of measuring spin rate with irons should be for every iron multiply by 1000 for ideal spin rate. So for Christian's 7 iron his spin rate should be around 7000 RPM. The first thing he wanted to try was getting Christian into standard length irons, as he felt he didn't need the extra half inch and thought it was causing him to dig a little too much and spin the ball. Christian tried 4 or 5 different shafts before Chris put him back in the 1/2" over because, frankly, he was hitting the irons like shit.

Christian tried a bunch of shaft/iron combos and the 2 combinations that worked the best were the KBS S-Tapered 6.5 flex shaft with the T100 and T200 heads. The T100 head Christian was carrying about 165 but still had the 8400 RPM spin. The T200 he was carrying about 170 with 7400 RPM spin, but he didn't like the look of the head. Because he was hitting both straight, Chris said he could go with either, and for every degree of loft that is on a club, you add 500 RPM of spin. So Christian settled with the T100 with the KBS Shafts with 2 degrees of loft taking off. So 7 iron was going 175 carry or so with around 7400 RPM of spin when all said and done.

Next he moved on to the driver. Christian currently has the 917 D2 at 10.5 degree. I forget the shaft he has in it. I said it at the beginning of this post, but his best club is his driver. He hits it long and straight. Carries it about 270 or so. IF there is a criticism about the way he hits it, its that sometimes he hits it too high and I feel it lands too soft.

I forget all of the shafts and combos that he hit, but I do remember that the baseline of his ball speed was about 154 and his carry distance yesterday was about 265. The driver head and shaft combo that he hit the best was the TS3 8.5 degree with the Hazardous Smoke 6.5 shaft. Ball speed got up to 160 and he was carrying it 280. The ball flight was a lot lower and definitely more penetrating in the air.

He was actually fitted into the same shaft in the ts3 3-wood (13.5 degree) and hybrid (18 degree) and carried them 260 and 235 yards.

For wedges, I forget the grind but he was given a 50, 54, and 58 degree to help with gapping the distances. The grinds were put to the test at the short game area hitting a bunch of different shots and scenarios.

At the end we were both given Team Titleist T shirts. Christian also got a gift bag with a dozen Pro V1's, a ball marker, and a divot repair tool.

The cost is steep. It's $600. If you figured the swag that they give you is about $100, you're paying $500 for the fitting with no discounts on clubs. After seeing it done I would definitely do it once as a bucket list item, but then again I am a titleist fan boy. I'm not sure if its worth it for others.
 

TFP

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That sounds awesome. I'd love to do that myself but it's not worth the $.

I need to get fitted for new wedges this winter, possibly a new driver too.
 

The Needler

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That sounds awesome. I'd love to do that myself but it's not worth the $.

I need to get fitted for new wedges this winter, possibly a new driver too.
True Spec is doing free full bag fittings (normally about $500) in all of their locations except NYC and Columbus through 10/31. There is no catch, you just need to mention the deal when booking. They've got a location in Waltham.
 

TFP

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Is that documented anywhere? Or do you just have to ask for it when scheduling?
 

The Needler

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Is that documented anywhere? Or do you just have to ask for it when scheduling?
As I said, just mention when booking.

They are not publicly advertising it; just more word of mouth style advertising on social media platforms.

 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
A more thorough fitting like that makes a lot of sense for a better player. Low single digits, they’re consistent enough that there can be some gains to trying to dial in specs.

I didn’t get too crazy when getting fit for my irons. I’d basically settled on the g400s after spending a while player with my brother’s set, and really just spent an hour or so swapping shafts and fiddling with lie angle and length at the range with my pro. He put a couple other irons in my hands (i200, g700) but they didn’t mesh as well for me. But, I tend to shoot in the mid-80 (slightly better than bogey golf) so going too crazy trying to find an equipment edge isn’t going to help me much. Having had the irons for a year now I could probably tweak them a smidge given my gapping—e.g., 5 iron a degree stronger—but I wouldn’t have known that when getting fit.

I’m not sure I’d want to do an indoor fitting for wedges—which appears to be how TrueSpec does it? Wedges are too dependent on turf conditions. I kind of think you need to experiment a lot there and find what works for you.