The 15 yard quest.

[Eidolon]

Something to ponder upon as winter drags by. It is nuts how many guys come into my shop and spend so much good money after bad. 15 yards? 45 feet...1 club length...1/2 a club and a good putt, not much really. But they all chase it to no end.

I have all the shots but one. I do not have the 270+ yard drive. Basically I live in the 240-250 world. 45 feet further will not change my average score one bit. As long as I keep it between the trees, the wedge and putter determine my score.

The surperb classy pro( who you all know) that taught me how to "play golf", had a line he drummed into my head. When planning a shot, " don't let your expatations excede your abilities".

I do not have and never will have the 270 yard drive. It is not required to play well! Stop chasing the fantasy and enjoy the game. Most of us here know this, but for those that do not..i'm just an old pro trying to help some friends have a better day. I had the overpowering need to give a golf lesson today, if this helps just one person i'm good with it. Mike

I realize this kinda rambles, sorry it's late and i am tired. :)

['53 Precision]

Would that be "The Old Man" or his protege...

[BIG STU]

LOL do not feel alone and out in the cold I live in that 250 world too now. The wedges and putter were always the basis of my game when I was younger. Back then I was a fairly long knocker but could not find a fairway with both hands and a flashlight! I have gotten older and my SS went down and I got accurate with the driver. I thought for a while it may be the modern equipment but found out I was wrong. I now hit my persimmon woods straighter than ever but short as crap about 235 or so at Sea Level with a modern low compression ball.
Like Dirty Harry said "Man has to know his limitations" Took me a while to figure that one out I will admit. You also know the line about being "older and wiser" Took me almost 52 years to figure that one out too!

[John L.]

[quote name='Eidolon' timestamp='1451789948' post='12794360']
Something to ponder upon as winter drags by. It is nuts how many guys come into my shop and spend so much good money after bad. 15 yards? 45 feet...1 club length...1/2 a club and a good putt, not much really. But they all chase it to no end.
I have all the shots but one. I do not have the 270+ yard drive. Basically I live in the 240-250 world. 45 feet further will not change my average score one bit. As long as I keep it between the trees, the wedge and putter determine my score.
The surperb classy pro( who you all know) that taught me how to "play golf", had a line he drummed into my head. When planning a shot, " don't let your expatations excede your abilities".
I do not have and never will have the 270 yard drive. It is not required to play well! Stop chasing the fantasy and enjoy the game. Most of us here know this, but for those that do not..i'm just an old pro trying to help some friends have a better day. I had the overpowering need to give a golf lesson today, if this helps just one person i'm good with it. Mike
I realize this kinda rambles, sorry it's late and i am tired.
[/quote]


It seems that whenever I stop by the clubhouse to "BS" with the usual hooligans, one of them will be showing off their ([b]newest - best ever - longest - milled face - super shafted)..................[/b][color=#ff0000] [size=4][b]Whatchamacallit![/b][/size][/color]

[size=4][color=#000000]Lovem all to death, but they are about the smartest & dumbest bunch....... when it comes to buying a game.[/color][/size]

[BIG STU]

[quote name='John L.' timestamp='1451823013' post='12795342']
[quote name='Eidolon' timestamp='1451789948' post='12794360']
Something to ponder upon as winter drags by. It is nuts how many guys come into my shop and spend so much good money after bad. 15 yards? 45 feet...1 club length...1/2 a club and a good putt, not much really. But they all chase it to no end.
I have all the shots but one. I do not have the 270+ yard drive. Basically I live in the 240-250 world. 45 feet further will not change my average score one bit. As long as I keep it between the trees, the wedge and putter determine my score.
The surperb classy pro( who you all know) that taught me how to "play golf", had a line he drummed into my head. When planning a shot, " don't let your expatations excede your abilities".
I do not have and never will have the 270 yard drive. It is not required to play well! Stop chasing the fantasy and enjoy the game. Most of us here know this, but for those that do not..i'm just an old pro trying to help some friends have a better day. I had the overpowering need to give a golf lesson today, if this helps just one person i'm good with it. Mike
I realize this kinda rambles, sorry it's late and i am tired.
[/quote]


It seems that whenever I stop by the clubhouse to "BS" with the usual hooligans, one of them will be showing off their ([b]newest - best ever - longest - milled face - super shafted)..................[/b][color=#ff0000] [b]Whatchamacallit![/b][/color]

[color=#000000]Lovem all to death, but they are about the smartest & dumbest bunch....... when it comes to buying a game.[/color]
[/quote]OH MAN you have deflated me I absolutely thought you could buy a game. No No tell me it aint so that all those club companies have lied to me

[scomac2002]

[quote name='BIG STU' timestamp='1451847477' post='12796552']
[quote name='John L.' timestamp='1451823013' post='12795342']


It seems that whenever I stop by the clubhouse to "BS" with the usual hooligans, one of them will be showing off their ([b]newest - best ever - longest - milled face - super shafted)..................[/b][color=#ff0000] [b]Whatchamacallit![/b][/color]

[color=#000000]Lovem all to death, but they are about the smartest & dumbest bunch....... when it comes to buying a game.[/color]
[/quote]OH MAN you have deflated me I absolutely thought you could buy a game. No No tell me it aint so that all those club companies have lied to me
[/quote]

Oh, but you can Stu. Go buy a set of forged blades and persimmons (or small headed metal woods) and put in the work. There; you've bought yourself a game!

Oops! Wrong guy; you've already done it!

[birly-shirly]

15 yards? I'll take 20! I'm happy to try and earn them though, rather than buy them off the shelf. In fact, I think you now have to - as i believe that the modern driver is close to maxed out.

 

Earning some extra clubhead speed is this winter's project - I have a range regime that involves a heavy driver for strength, a lightweight driver for speed and a standard driver that I intend to continue playing - but hopefully hitting it a bit further when spring comes round.

 

Might be a fool's errand - we'll see. But I can see the benefits of hitting wedges to more greens and bringing more par 5s within reach of 2 shots.

[BIG STU]

15 yards? I'll take 20! I'm happy to try and earn them though, rather than buy them off the shelf. In fact, I think you now have to - as i believe that the modern driver is close to maxed out.

 

Earning some extra clubhead speed is this winter's project - I have a range regime that involves a heavy driver for strength, a lightweight driver for speed and a standard driver that I intend to continue playing - but hopefully hitting it a bit further when spring comes round.

 

Might be a fool's errand - we'll see. But I can see the benefits of hitting wedges to more greens and bringing more par 5s within reach of 2 shots.

As far as MOI and all the USGA conforming stuff they have been maxed out for years. All they are doing now is stuff that us and others way before us did jacking with shaft flex,lofts and weight placement

[Eidolon]

15 yards? I'll take 20! I'm happy to try and earn them though, rather than buy them off the shelf. In fact, I think you now have to - as i believe that the modern driver is close to maxed out.

 

Earning some extra clubhead speed is this winter's project - I have a range regime that involves a heavy driver for strength, a lightweight driver for speed and a standard driver that I intend to continue playing - but hopefully hitting it a bit further when spring comes round.

 

Might be a fool's errand - we'll see. But I can see the benefits of hitting wedges to more greens and bringing more par 5s within reach of 2 shots.

[Eidolon]

Sounds like alot of work for 30 damn feet! Move up 1 tee box or learn to putt is my "anser". :)

[stevemcgee99]

What kind of fool spends thousands on clubs then suffers from the back tees? And what kind of groundskeeper / golf course CFO wants to stretch out the holes?

 

The purchase I made that 'bought my game' was Lexol for $5.99.

[birly-shirly]

Sounds like alot of work for 30 damn feet! Move up 1 tee box or learn to putt is my "anser". :)

 

Why is moving up a tee box an answer? Apart from the fact that it's not an option where I play, I want to improve, not flatter myself by playing an easier course.

 

As for the work side of it - what I'm doing is less of a chore than re-reading the Pelz Putting Bible.

[W C Franco]

A much simpler solution would be to build a training club using a cut down shaft with a 4 pound weight on the end,grip as normal and go through the swing stages in very slow motion which will have the effect of building both muscle memory and hand and wrist strength and can be used indoors.

If you have a garage the old Henry Cotton tyre drill is also very good for developing hand action.

 

[flog2]

All Driver manufacturers claim more distance................every pigging year!! I should be striping it 350yds with all their claims by now.

 

 

At my range I cant reach the back green, just landing approx 20yds short with old driver. Got a new Titleist 915 fitted and back to the range, guess what...........20yds short of the back green.

 

I went out and bought an old 910 head, stuck on the 915 shaft and hey, guess what, same distance.

 

I still chase the big drives, who doesn't! but will get it with technique and some body strenghtening even though I'm very old now lol

[Shallowface]

Something to ponder upon as winter drags by. It is nuts how many guys come into my shop and spend so much good money after bad. 15 yards? 45 feet...1 club length...1/2 a club and a good putt, not much really. But they all chase it to no end.

I have all the shots but one. I do not have the 270+ yard drive. Basically I live in the 240-250 world. 45 feet further will not change my average score one bit. As long as I keep it between the trees, the wedge and putter determine my score.

The surperb classy pro( who you all know) that taught me how to "play golf", had a line he drummed into my head. When planning a shot, " don't let your expatations excede your abilities".

I do not have and never will have the 270 yard drive. It is not required to play well! Stop chasing the fantasy and enjoy the game. Most of us here know this, but for those that do not..i'm just an old pro trying to help some friends have a better day. I had the overpowering need to give a golf lesson today, if this helps just one person i'm good with it. Mike

I realize this kinda rambles, sorry it's late and i am tired. :)

 

Those guys aren't looking to improve their games.

 

They are looking to outdrive their friends.

 

They are looking to hit a club with a higher number (notice I didn't say shorter club) than their friends on the par 3s.

 

Or they are looking for something to hold under someone else's nose.

 

Golfers don't hold the exclusive rights to this disease. it extends to other things such as the biggest TV on the block, sports cars, or green and yellow lawn tractors.

 

For those afflicted, it produces a very fleeting form of short-term satisfaction. It also produces long-term debt.

 

It often starts in the young. Massive student loan debt in order to acquire a degree that will lead to a sentence of life without parole in a cubicle. Many of them would be better served learning to drive a truck.

 

As with most everything, these are hard lessons learned through experience.

[scomac2002]

We may only be four days in, but the above is the Post of the Year, Shallowface!

 

:good:

[billh17]

Something to ponder upon as winter drags by. It is nuts how many guys come into my shop and spend so much good money after bad. 15 yards? 45 feet...1 club length...1/2 a club and a good putt, not much really. But they all chase it to no end.

I have all the shots but one. I do not have the 270+ yard drive. Basically I live in the 240-250 world. 45 feet further will not change my average score one bit. As long as I keep it between the trees, the wedge and putter determine my score.

The surperb classy pro( who you all know) that taught me how to "play golf", had a line he drummed into my head. When planning a shot, " don't let your expatations excede your abilities".

I do not have and never will have the 270 yard drive. It is not required to play well! Stop chasing the fantasy and enjoy the game. Most of us here know this, but for those that do not..i'm just an old pro trying to help some friends have a better day. I had the overpowering need to give a golf lesson today, if this helps just one person i'm good with it. Mike

I realize this kinda rambles, sorry it's late and i am tired. :)

 

Feel free to ramble ! You are speaking the sane and realistic way to approach this game . And it is a method I have followed for many years.

The OEM's marketing is sad at best,and the newer clubs,for the most part, aren't any better than one from many years ago.

Its a good way to play the game and thanks for the post.

[billh17]

15 yards? I'll take 20! I'm happy to try and earn them though, rather than buy them off the shelf. In fact, I think you now have to - as i believe that the modern driver is close to maxed out.

 

Earning some extra clubhead speed is this winter's project - I have a range regime that involves a heavy driver for strength, a lightweight driver for speed and a standard driver that I intend to continue playing - but hopefully hitting it a bit further when spring comes round.

 

Might be a fool's errand - we'll see. But I can see the benefits of hitting wedges to more greens and bringing more par 5s within reach of 2 shots.

 

Sounds like you have a program planned out...i would be interested to know how it works for you !

Good luck !

[billh17]

Something to ponder upon as winter drags by. It is nuts how many guys come into my shop and spend so much good money after bad. 15 yards? 45 feet...1 club length...1/2 a club and a good putt, not much really. But they all chase it to no end.

I have all the shots but one. I do not have the 270+ yard drive. Basically I live in the 240-250 world. 45 feet further will not change my average score one bit. As long as I keep it between the trees, the wedge and putter determine my score.

The surperb classy pro( who you all know) that taught me how to "play golf", had a line he drummed into my head. When planning a shot, " don't let your expatations excede your abilities".

I do not have and never will have the 270 yard drive. It is not required to play well! Stop chasing the fantasy and enjoy the game. Most of us here know this, but for those that do not..i'm just an old pro trying to help some friends have a better day. I had the overpowering need to give a golf lesson today, if this helps just one person i'm good with it. Mike

I realize this kinda rambles, sorry it's late and i am tired. :)

 

Those guys aren't looking to improve their games.

 

They are looking to outdrive their friends.

 

They are looking to hit a club with a higher number (notice I didn't say shorter club) than their friends on the par 3s.

 

Or they are looking for something to hold under someone else's nose.

 

Golfers don't hold the exclusive rights to this disease. it extends to other things such as the biggest TV on the block, sports cars, or green and yellow lawn tractors.

 

For those afflicted, it produces a very fleeting form of short-term satisfaction. It also produces long-term debt.

 

It often starts in the young. Massive student loan debt in order to acquire a degree that will lead to a sentence of life without parole in a cubicle. Many of them would be better served learning to drive a truck.

 

As with most everything, these are hard lessons learned through experience.

 

Well said sir. Very well said.

[Eidolon]

Sounds like alot of work for 30 damn feet! Move up 1 tee box or learn to putt is my "anser". :)

 

Why is moving up a tee box an answer? Apart from the fact that it's not an option where I play, I want to improve, not flatter myself by playing an easier course.

 

As for the work side of it - what I'm doing is less of a chore than re-reading the Pelz Putting Bible.

[Eidolon]

I was not being negitave towards you my friend, just tring to add some light humor. I guess it came across wrong. Good luck with your plan. Sorry to have ruffed your feathers. Mike

[jonnygrouville]

If you are using vintage kit, you might have to live with it, but I think there are some things you can do to get more distance with more modern equipment.

 

The ball is a big deal. Balls that go a long way are not the rocks they used to be, and even the lowest spinning one on the market stops enough for me (but I do hit it high)... but would cave in the face of your favourite old driver.

 

A lot of distance is about swinging faster. If you're setting up your stall to do this, buy a cheap swing-speed doo-da and do whatever you need to do to increase that clubhead speed. To do that, get a lighter driver. Will feel horrible, but your speed will increase.

 

Technique-wise, that is a very individual thing. If I am going for a bigger drive, I set more weight on my right side, stay way behind the ball and just chuck the arms at it trying to get them going as fast as possible.

 

May also hang the little finger of my left hand off the end of the grip. This is good for a bit more clubhead speed using any club, regardless of vintage.

[Fellaheen51]

I would consider investing in a $500 driver if it came with a money back guarantee of getting to 270+ yards driving distance. But then I would have no $ left over for expenditures on a minty set of Redlines, or VIP's, or 693's, or some yet to be discovered classic clubs (like maybe Hickories?) that I could play my exceptionally mediocre golf with.

 

But am guilty of "flashing" an iron occasionally. Especially when I pure a shot and feel the need to show the buds whatever old(er) club was used for the near flawless execution.

 

One must have their priorities in order.

 

Edit Note: JG, all of what you mention ^ regarding methods to increase clubhead speed has merit Problem is that now I'm hitting three after a drop because I just hit the ball 230 yards into the woods. My solution to driving distance is to play courses that are > 5800 yards.

[jonnygrouville]

Oh yes. Very likely to hit it f***ing everywhere.

 

I don't know how far I hit it, or did hit it with modern kit, but would chop down drivers and add weight as I could still hit it past most people and liked being in the fairway.

 

Steel-shafts, still play off the whites, so 6,800 yards or so. Hitting lots of iron into a lot of par fours, and getting on par fives in two occasionally... like everyone used to before par fives turned into a drive and an iron for everyone.

 

Hickories, will play off our green boxes, normally used by seniors. Not proud.

 

Something always surprised me about distance. I'd play with lots of people professing to hit it the magical three hundred yards. I would then hit it past them and, all of a sudden, I also hit it three hundred yards. I don't hit it three hundred yards. I can hit it three hundred yards. I have hit it three hundred yards. I never regularly hit it three hundred yards. Not playing at altitude, normally cold, probably raining, so not exactly long-hitting conditions, but not something I would ever regularly do. It is like some mad mental disease.

 

But don't know what to say! Hitting it twenty yards past people who are saying "That must have gone three hundred yards", but I know I probably haven't hit it 270, maybe 260 tops on a flat fairway, no helping wind. Sorry mate, but you hit that expensive driver about 240 yards and you ripped it. Now there are true 300 yard hitters out there, but really not that many.

[Splitter]

I want *that* shot.... But longer...

 

Until someone can turn that thought off in all our lizard brains........

[Fellaheen51]

........."That must have gone three hundred yards", but I know I probably haven't hit it 270, maybe 260 tops on a flat fairway, no helping wind. Sorry mate, but you hit that expensive driver about 240 yards and you ripped it. Now there are true 300 yard hitters out there, but really not that many.

 

Funny how that works JG. They are all about GPS'ing in their next shot distance, but doing the math to determine how far they "really" scorched the drive, not so much. The truth is hard to swallow for some folks.

[pdgolferman]

 

I want *that* shot.... But longer...

 

 

Need to crank it up a notch when it comes to bragging rites??

Just times the distance by three…wedges go 300 and drives 700.….…feet.

[stevemcgee99]

Seems to me if your typical drive plus the longest iron shot you can make can't reach the green EVER you should play forward tees.

 

Why have a handicap and subtract numbers from your real score? Play forward, swing slower, hit more accurately and enjoy par for real.

[Shallowface]

I believe most people would be quite delighted if they could shoot 85 or better.

 

The key to that is eliminating double bogeys or worse. If you have no doubles and manage to eke out just five pars you've shot 85.

 

And most doubles come from bad tee shots, either out of play or dubbed off the tee. Which usually come from swinging too hard. Which is encouraged by 46 inch, 460cc featherweight drivers.

 

Which is why modern equipment has not only done nothing to improve golfers games, but the failed promises have actually driven people from the game.

 

A solid tee shot in play, an approach somewhere around the green, a conservative pitch and two putts is an easy bogey.

 

And with that sort of approach, you can eke out three, four, five or more pars. And from there you improve and hit greens in regulation and make some birdies and pretty soon you're breaking 80 on a regular basis.

 

But the key is not to press. Don't play more course than you can handle, and move back as you improve if you want to. Too many these days want to start at the tips, and the inevitable failure drives them from the game.

[W C Franco]

jonnygrouville is dead right....there are many who don't have a clue about distance or yardages and all think they hit it further than they do.It's not so long ago that playing in a regular weekday game I 'smoked'a drive on a 400 yard par 4,one of the guys came over and said 'That must be a 300 yard drive!',giving him my best Ben Hogan impression I asked him what the stake was on the edge of the fairway just about level with my ball,prompt answer 'The 150 yard marker',it dawned on him then what yardages were involved.

Now in my mid 60's I'm not bothered about trying to reach par 5's in two,quite happy to play short and in the fairway for my second and leave a good length and line for a pitch into the green which is how we all used to play par 5 holes all those years ago,three shots and two putts for par.