I was going to start a thread, but this seems like the place.  Yesterday I played my matchplay match at my local club.  My opponent is a notorious sandbagger by reputation.  The pro once pulled his tournament rounds from the past several years and said that it is impossible his tournament rounds are legit based on his handicap. here is what happened last night.  I am getting 4 shots from him.  His current handicap index is 15.3 i shot 45 on the front.   Was down 4 after nine, he had three birdies and shot even par. I was closed out on thirteen, we halved with a bo ..read more

Hi everybody!  I am new to the golf game. I have taken some lessons and got fitted for clubs a couple of months ago. I usually score between 110-120 for 18 holes.  I bought a Stealth driver last year and have been hitting consistently with it 210-230 yds on the simulator. But when I take it out on the course, every drive is a severe slice!  I played 18 holes yesterday at the club where I belong. I removed the driver from my bag and used the 5 iron to drive with. I hit straight 16 out of 18 drives, 180 - 200 yds. I used the 5i - putter for the rest of my game.  I ended the d ..read more

A bit of background. The Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) runs an annual event known as "Team Play." It is a wildly popular match play competition where Men's Clubs across the region put together teams of 20+ golfers together to compete against other clubs in a 16 vs. 16 match. In any given year, approximately 80-100 clubs will participate. Each club is grouped into "pods" of 4, and will play 6 total matches - one home and one away match against the other 3 clubs. The winning club from each pod advances to the Team Play Playoffs - a single elimination format - until a winner is crow ..read more

Woods are made of metal and irons have not been made of iron for a very long time. Is it time for a change, or is it that golf values tradition ..read more

This is the first time I have played in this league but here is an interesting local rule they use. You are allowed to move your ball one score card length in either direction to improve your lie. Scorecard has to be in the folded position though. I love beachside golf. The other rule is you got to walk unless you have a handicap placard.  ..read more

I’m looking for pictures from the ground from the now-closed Center Valley Golf Course taken while it was open. If anyone has any pictures or video I would be grateful for anything I can get. I develop golf courses for the GSPRO golf simulator software and I’m currently building Center Valley Golf Course. I’m excited to bring it back to life and imagery from the course helps quite a bit to make sure I capture details that cannot be seen from current and historical satellite imagery. Also, if anyone happens to have contact with the family of the famous Center Valley golf starter Joe Candia, I w ..read more

Someone was complaining that his index was developed playing at elevations such as 4,500 feet. He felt that while he can drive the ball 275-280 yards at his elevated course, his index is too low when he plays at sea level and can only hit a drive 255 yards. All things being equal (6,500 yard course, 130 slope), wouldn’t the course rating reflect the difference a scratch golfer can hit driver and other clubs? A mile high course might be 70.2 versus a sea level course with 71.4?   A few of you are involved in course rating. What do you know?   ..read more

Yesterday I came up with a game we could play where it was competitive without being quite so head-to-head. You can play it net or gross, of course, or 50% handicap net, or whatever you think is fair… On the first hole, spin a tee and assign holes 1-3 or holes 1-4 to everyone in your group. If Natalie is hole 1, Erik is hole 2, and Pete is hole 3… and the order repeats throughout the round (so Natalie is 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, and 16). Those are your "scoring" holes. If you have a foursome, the last two holes are set aside as "free-for-all" holes. On your scoring holes… Eagle - 4 points Birdie - 2 ..read more

This is a loooooong winded narrative so if you don't like long stories, move on. ? Our senior club typically gets about 25 new members each year. We lose about 25 members each year for various reasons (moved to FL/AZ, disabled, dead, too expensive). Of the new members, usually 20 have an active GHIN handicap. About 5 each year do not have a GHIN handicap. When they join our club, we give each member a state association membership that includes GHIN handicapping services. We play a series of handicapped tournaments over the summer. When we sign up a new member who does not have a GHIN hand ..read more

How do other clubs do it for tournaments?  My club has various 2 man and 4 man events and the way they do it is to pay both gross and net per flight.  They take the 36 teams, split them into three groups of 12 based on handicaps. Half the money paid out to both gross and net in each flight.    My thought is paying out gross is simply not fair.  A couple of 5 handicappers get thrown into A-flight and forced to play straight up against a couple of plus handicaps for half the prize money.  Or if the two 5 handicaps fall into B-flight, then a 10 and 12 cap team is for ..read more