Golfers of RedsZone (aka War Stories from the Rough)

[Redhook]

Originally Posted by Homer Bailey

Now that he's fully arrived, its time for me to look for my next obsession. (Previous ones include Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland).

How about some Jason Kokrak? Xavier alum. Harris English could be another option. 2 more bombers to add to your collection.

[bucksfan2]

With an unusually warm spring in Cincy I have gotten quite few bonus rounds in. Got a new toy, a Callaway Diablo 3 wood, 13 degrees, that is fantastic. The course I play in the summer I don't really need a 3 wood, but it sure is nice to have when the ground is wet and I need a more reliable club off the tee.

[Buckeye33]

Figured I would bring this back up. How is everyone's golf games going this spring? Have a buddy who works at Dick's and gets a really nice discount on Taylormade stuff and we split a RBZ 3 wood and man is it a nice club.

Still need to find someplace to take some lessons here in CBus.

[Redhook]

Originally Posted by Buckeye33

Still need to find someplace to take some lessons here in CBus.

Go see Paul Hobart, Golftec, or Don Sargent, Scioto. I imagine Don will cost a pretty penny. Both have been named Southern Ohio teacher of the year.

[BearcatShane]

I recently just started playing golf. I've played 18 holes four times so far this year and my scores have gone like this: 122(!), 108, 97 and 94. Trending upward so thats a good thing. Anyways, what are some of the better public courses around Cincy? What do you usually shoot? Got a cool golf story? Share it!

[Razor Shines]

http://www.redszone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2051702

Surprised at how far down it fell.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SunDeck]

Just got back from vacation- played two rounds with my dad at River Club in Pawleys Island. Had not played in some time, mainly because my priorities have changed, and not being able to really devote practice time to the game, I knew the rustiness would make it too frustrating. At some point in the last decade I realized the only way to get under 80 would be to play at least a couple times a week AND practice. It really frustrated me believing my game could probably go there, but that age, commitments, etc. would not allow me to make it. After that, something snapped and I really lost interest.

Anyway, so my dad asked me to play at his club and I jumped at the chance. River Club is a beautiful course with tricky, yet not insanely difficult greens and lots of fun risk/reward choices. For instance, the par 5 18th has two routes- one with a 225 yard carry over water and the other around a dog leg with two bunkers at the bend. First day, the tee was up a little and there was a slight following breeze, so I carried the water. The next day, the wind was right in my teeth and the tee was back so I had to challenge the bunkers. Bogeyed the hole on day one after a terrible third shot, then parred it after hitting the green from 170 on the second day. Best five iron I ever hit and I nearly birdied it with a nice, right to left putt.

Of course, my game was terribly inconsistent, except for putting and wedges, which are the part of the game I always worked on the most. Drove well the first day, but by the second round, I put away the driver and stuck with a three wood. Ended up shooting a 94, which is about 7-8 more strokes than I usually would have been happy with there a few years ago. Had a great time though. When you're down in South Carolina golfing, there is no such thing as a bad day.

[Homer Bailey]

Got to play at Whistling Straits yesterday. Awesome, awesome, awesome track. I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed playing Pebble Beach. Never seen such a difficult yet fun golf course. I took it back to the tippy tips, and it was about 7,800 yards. Insane. I started out one under through three, but things spiraled out of control for me at the fifth. I ended up shooting 90. I could only handle so many 500 yard par 4's into the wind.

The views were absolutely spectacular. The golf course was fair. It really punishes your bad shots, but it rewards good ones equally. The holes I got off the tee well, I had great looks at birdies. Miss the fairway, you're in some serious trouble.

Here are a few pictures.

This one I did a little work with an iPhone app. Pretty cool.



Tee at #16



Tee at #18



Rolling in a birdie at #2

[bucksfan2]

I played Whistling Straights about 10 years ago, before some of those tees were set all the way back. I think we played the furthest back tees they had and it played close to 7000 but not quite there. Its a tough course but it isn't nearly as tough as Black Wolf Run's River course. That is by far the toughest, and maybe most unfair course, I have ever played. Its within 10-15 minutes for Whistling and is a mighty challenge.

[gonelong]

Originally Posted by Homer Bailey

Got to play at Whistling Straits yesterday. Awesome, awesome, awesome track. I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed playing Pebble Beach. Never seen such a difficult yet fun golf course. I took it back to the tippy tips, and it was about 7,800 yards. Insane. I started out one under through three, but things spiraled out of control for me at the fifth. I ended up shooting 90. I could only handle so many 500 yard par 4's into the wind.

The views were absolutely spectacular. The golf course was fair. It really punishes your bad shots, but it rewards good ones equally. The holes I got off the tee well, I had great looks at birdies. Miss the fairway, you're in some serious trouble.

Here are a few pictures.

This one I did a little work with an iPhone app. Pretty cool.

That picture is seriously cool. I'd be trying to find a way to get that blown up to poster size.

I hope you took a few minutes to drink in the scenary. Just beautiful.

GL

[MWM]

Nice to see another good golfer with a swing plane as flat as mine. I keep trying to make it less flat and wind up struggling. Every time I go back to the extreme flat plane, my games gets much better.

[Homer Bailey]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

I played Whistling Straights about 10 years ago, before some of those tees were set all the way back. I think we played the furthest back tees they had and it played close to 7000 but not quite there. Its a tough course but it isn't nearly as tough as Black Wolf Run's River course. That is by far the toughest, and maybe most unfair course, I have ever played. Its within 10-15 minutes for Whistling and is a mighty challenge.

With the new tees, the Straits course is rated much more difficult.

Originally Posted by gonelong

That picture is seriously cool. I'd be trying to find a way to get that blown up to poster size.

I hope you took a few minutes to drink in the scenary. Just beautiful.

GL

Thanks, GL. The picture is very cool, but unfortunately the larger you make it, the more blurry it gets, and doesn't look nearly as cool.

I was sure to take in the scenery every chance I got. We had an absolutely perfect day. Just gorgeous. Pictures don't really do that scenery justice, as ridiculous as that sounds.

[SunDeck]

Going flat allowed me to eliminate the slice and learn to draw the ball. It all clicked when I figured out that the swing is just an arc.

[Homer Bailey]

I'm in my June swoon again this year. The club that has betrayed me the most has been the putter, which is usually one of my best clubs in the bag.

I'm thinking it's finally time for me to start making some equipment changes. I've been playing Taylor Made RAC's for about 8 years now, and they may have run their course.

Accuracy with my irons has gotten to the point that it's just embarassing. The only greens I hit are when I drive it 300+ and have a wedge in. I'm sure most of it is mental, but I've attempted to get away with a swing that is way across the line at the top for many years now, and it's starting to catch up with me. My handicap has gone from scratch to 2.3, and it's only going to continue to rise it would appear. I'm thinking about finally breaking down and getting a lesson. I've only had about 3 my whole life, and haven't had one for over 9 years.

[MWM]

If you're not hitting many greens, but are still at a 2.3, I doubt your putter is much the issue as you'd have to have a stellar short game. The right equipment makes a big difference though, but it's more the fitting than the "quality". I've become pretty well read on the different equipment specs and have a decent handle on things, and it's helped me to learn to reshaft my own clubs and know where to buy things inexpensively online.

For example, after reading a lot of people's experience with drivers, I thought a different setup would work well for me. I always used a 10.5* driver with a mid to high launching shaft. I never seemed to get that higher launch that would optimize distance given my swing speed. I followed what others had done and went to a 12* driver, but a low spinning shaft (Aldila Voo Doo SVS6). I bought the head and shaft separately and saved a lot of money doing it. I had also previously experimented with different club lengths with my driver as most come these days entirely too long for the vast majority of golfers. I play a 44.5" driver and have even considered going down to 44".

This driver setup has totally changed my game. Without changing my swing, I added 15 yards distance and the higher loft has led to more control. I hit a nice somewhat high ball flight without a lot of spin. The ball never balloons on me like it used to. But it was all a result of getting the right combination of launch angle, club length, shaft flex, torque, and spin profile to fit my swing and swing speed. And this shaft felt so great, I went and got one for my fairways woods (just a little heavier) and now hit them much better. That shaft just works for me.

Just by looking at that picture, your driver looks pretty long. If you hit it consistently straight, then no need to consider a change. But if you don't, you may be surprised what a difference cutting it down would make. If you look at the majority of tour pros, they play their drivers much shorter than standard. Very few are going to play drivers over 45" in length and most off the rack drivers these days are coming at 45.5" or even 45.75". Tiger has used as short as a 43" driver but played with a 43.5" most of his career (although current rumor is he's playing with a 44.75"), and I've read the average length for drivers on tour is 44.5". There's a reason few tour pros play drivers over 45"...because they can't control them well enough. Interestingly enough, Rory McIlroy is one of the few plays a longer driver. I've read it's either 45" or 45.5". Fowler is the other guy who plays longer shafts than most.

You may want to consider this. You won't lose much distance, and some people even gain distance as they can take a more aggressive swing because they have so much more control of the club. If you decide to look into this, just make sure you keep the swing weight where you like it, which is just a matter of adding a small amount of weight to the clubhead.

One of the other equipment changes I made a few years back that made a big difference was going to KBS shafts on my irons. They feel so much smoother than the Rifles or Dynamic Golds that come with most off the rack clubs. I couldn't believe how much better they felt. It led to a little higher ball flight for me, but it did so without additional spin netting me a few more yards for each club. Being a flat plane swinger myself with my misses (up until recently at least) all being left, I had my clubs bent 1* flat, which made a difference as well.

Getting the right fit will make a difference, even without changing your swing.