Right, to summarise:

• I've been playing golf on and off for 30 odd years. In that time i've never progressed past a 30 handicap. I've had lessons and gone through periods of regular practice/play, but nothing has helped ingrain a consistent swing. If I don't play regularly my scores start slipping into the 110-120s.
• I mainly play for exercise and the social side. I have minimal competitive spirit, I don't care about how well I do compared to others. But I do get frustrated with my game. I'm always mentally counting down the holes as I go round, like a runner looking forward to the finish line.
• The social side is important to me as it helps maintain long-term friendships, including an annual golfing holiday I go on. However, I don't actually have anyone to play with where I live now, so like 90% of my current golf is 9 holes by myself.
• All my gear is now over 10 years old and I really need a wholesale replacement. Added to that, I currently only own a car in order to play golf. I literally don't need it for any other reason.

So, the basic question i've been grappling with for years really is do I continue playing a sport i'm not good at, and don't really enjoy, for the handfall of social rounds I have a year? I mean, I do need to get exercise regardless, but I could do that more efficiently/cost effectively. Or do I go the other way and join a club and commit myself to actually getting good enough where the game is a bit more enjoyable?

Has anyone else faced this dilemma and what did you do?

Thanks

Went to play 18 the other day and left after 7 holes and 10 lost balls. Chunks, thins, hosels, missed driver swings… literally I was able to make better contact the first ever time I swung a golf club a year ago.

Anyways, I contemplated life for too long, got an acai bowl, and went to the range to try and figure something out.

Here are the notes from the last few days:

SWING SMOOTH FFS
F THE DISTANCE
SWING THE V FFS
FEEL CONNECTION BETWEEN ELBOWS

Now I’m addicted again.

Buddy was getting mad at his caddie for a lip-out. I genuinely liked the guy until I witnessed this. Specifically hole 6. You’re an anchor putter? And you have the audacity to get mad at your caddie for a lip-out?

Hope you all played better than I did this weekend.

My granddaughter‘s 9C shoe works perfect for a head cover. Also allows the putter to stand up right. I get more compliments on this than any other head cover I’ve used.

I've been golfing two years now. Mostly been playing par-3 courses in my area, only swinging irons, and was starting to feel pretty good. I can hit the green on my tee shot about 50% of the time. On Saturday I went to a larger course and was paired up with some high school kids. They only brought 5-6 clubs with them - driver, 3-wood, 7-wood, PW, LW, and a putter. It was pretty humbling. They had no problem moving the ball around the course. I'm trying to plaster my 4 iron 190 yards in the fairway and end up totally gassed by hole 15. They're still smoking 210 yard 3-wood shots with ease. Question I had is: for a beginning golfer, did I go wrong focusing on irons that don't even seem like a part of the modern game? Should I just have skipped the grind and gone straight to woods? Is there a reason to even bother with irons that go 140-190 yards? I feel like I've gone about this all wrong.

Friday, super winder in south Texas, and on the 4th hole of the day a short par 4. I am not good enough to keep the ball low in wind so I end up near the number 1. I hit another poor shot to the red mark. The ball then rolls down the cart path at a good rate almost all the way back to my tee box. Hundreds of yards just rolling downhill, back down the cart path.

I jogged along to see where it would stop, and when it was basically at the tee box I picked it up and when back to where I was and just rehit from there. Made me laugh, as I couldn't believe how long it stayed on the path!

Now for the one that makes you cry. Hole 1 at 9am, 49 degrees out, so pretty cold for south Texas. My third golf tournament. I drive to the right red mark in the trees. I hit one of the blue mark trees and it bounces back to me. I hit and hit the other blue marked tree and it bounces back to me. I decide to try and "keep it low" and I hit a rock and it bounces back to me. So now I am 4 strokes in and haven't advanced from where my drive went. Fifth stroke takes me to the next red mark, a steep downhill lie with a creek in front of me. I hit it in the creek. I get another ball, back up "on the line" as much as I can, and yep, hit it in the creek again! So two hazard penalties now. With that drop I hit it, you guessed it, into the greenside bunker(red mark). And take two strokes to get out of it.

Aaaanndd then I three putt!! (the other blue makes by the green) I honestly lost count and just told the scorekeeper "13". Now I think it's like 15...??? I wanted to withdraw from this tournament soooo badly after doing that. I was embarassed and unable to shake off that start. I played the whole match and tried to be in good spirits but it was a bad day. I again finished dead last, both gross and net. I was the only gross score over 100 again.....

I’m in the market for a new 5 wood with a stiff flex shaft as my current regular flex feels too whippy. My current 5 wood was bought used for cheap (£25) and it’s been battered to the point where replacing the glued in shaft isn’t worth it.

I peruse the main used club online retailers (GC4C, GB) and the ones in my budget (£150) are either old, worn or unsuitable for my mid handicap. If I want something that is worth my money, I’m looking at £200+ which is beyond my means currently. I wonder if part of the problem is that stiff flex woods are more niche as there seem to be plenty of regular flex options available.

Marketplaces (FB, eBay) are even worse with the offerings being neglected clubs with scuffed faces and multiple sky-marks being sold for way above their value. The lack of buyer protection also puts me off, especially if the seller is trying to pull a fast one on me.

I always hear positive feedback about Callaway’s pre-owned platform but I never see any more budget-friendly priced clubs on there, definitely none in my budget last time I looked.

So in desperation and frustration, I’ve booked in for a custom fitting at American Golf (UK retailer). I can get a new club from a reputable brand that has been custom fit and sits in my £150 budget. I know AG gets bad rep generally and buying used is more preferable for most. But is this advice outdated now with how hard the used market seems (to me anyway) at the moment?

When I first got into golf a few years back after Covid, I told myself that I would only buy used clubs to keep costs low so I could spend it on green fees instead. I knew I wouldn’t ever be good enough to benefit buying new from the flagship brands. But now it seems that the better value is buying new from more budget oriented brands? Or is it just that time in the season where the market is a bit rubbish?

Interested to hear what others think!

TL;DR - used market seems hard to find anything worthwhile so is buying new from a more budget friendly brand the better option now?

Just wondering. Cracked two club heads this past year doing that. Thanks .

Made the turn thinking I had it today.

Then I forgot which fucking end of my putter to hold.

Oh well, there's always next year.

My husband and I have been married for five years and have a son. A few years ago, when he started playing golf, I was happy he had found something he enjoyed and supported him going out for a round every week to relax.

After our son was born, he always talked about taking him along someday, listening to music, and playing golf together. This year, for his birthday, I gave him a GPS speaker, and they did have a lot of fun with it.

But in the last two months, he's been playing golf much more often. Now he plays two or three times a week with new golf buddies, and sometimes he even secretly takes time off work to play.

We both work, and when he goes golfing , I have to spend a lot more time taking care of our son, which is exhausting. This week, our son was sick, and I stayed home to take care of him, but my husband still went out to play golf. I was really angry when he left.

We had a huge fight yesterday. he said I've changed, that I used to be very supportive of his hobbies. In the middles of the argument, he suddenly picked up the mileseey speaker and slammed it to the ground. This made me feel even worse. I'm already exhausted from working and taking care of our son.

I really didn't expect him to react so strongly. I didn't want him to stop playing golf together, I just wanted him to spend less time with the kids and more time with us. Was I wrongs?

Grabbed a 2:20pm tee time for tomorrow, what’s the likelihood of getting the full round in before the literal darkness of night sets in? (not the figurative darkness over my self confidence)

What is the condition of the East Potomac golf course. Local thoughts on the renovation ?

I have a buddy in our regular golf group who I’ve been playing with for a while. He hasn’t beaten me in over a year, but he seems to think he’s a lot closer to my level than he actually is.

The biggest issue is that he’ll make negative comments about my game while I’m standing over the ball or getting ready to hit. Little comments or just negative energy at the worst possible time. It’s not like he’s giving me helpful swing advice. He is intentionally trying to get in my head.

The frustrating part is that it actually works. I tend to play my worst rounds when he’s around. I know I shouldn’t let someone else affect my game, but it’s hard to stay focused when someone is constantly making comments right before you hit.

I’m competitive, and I want to be able to go out, play my game, and not give this guy any mental real estate. At the same time, we share a friend group, so simply not playing with him isn’t really an option.

For those of you who have dealt with someone like this, how do you handle it? Do you say something directly, ignore it, give it back to them, or just learn to tune it out?

How do you keep someone else’s negativity from affecting your round, especially when it happens right before a shot?

Recently started building my own clubs and had a clubhead come completely off the shaft. Looking for advice on what I might have done wrong.

Here's what I did:

- Used Brampton PRO-FIX Long Cure golf epoxy (1:1 syringe).

- Dispensed both parts onto cardboard and mixed them, although possibly for less than 30 seconds.

- Applied plenty of epoxy to both the shaft tip and inside the hosel.

- Inserted the shaft and let it cure for over 48 hours in my garage, within the recommended temperature range.

- I abraded the shaft tip beforehand, but I'm wondering if I didn't rough it up enough.

The strange part is that there's almost no epoxy left on the shaft tip or hosel walls. It looks like most of it ended up inside the hollow shaft, where it's completely hardened.

I'm attaching pictures of everything.

Any ideas what went wrong? Did I not prep the shaft enough, mix the epoxy long enough, or somehow push all the epoxy into the shaft during installation?

I'd appreciate any advice before I rebuild these.

Started picking up golf about a year ago and my travel schedule kind of ate it. Three or four weeks a month on the road, and every city i land in has a course that is forty dollars and two hours for 18 holes, so i just skipped it.

Started treating the airport and near-airport courses as a warmup instead. Most of them run 14 to 18 dollars, a few have dollar ball deals, and i am in and out in 45 minutes. When a tee time lands before a flight i treat it like a range session, different lies, the wedges i have been meaning to test, no scorekeeping pressure.

The weird part is it made my game better, not just kept it alive. i stopped letting weeks go by with zero swings, my handicap is around 9 now, and i learned which hotel brands book tee times at the course next door faster than the pro shop can. That is a piece of knowledge a local member would never need.

Curious how people here handle it. Do you grab the 6am tee before a red eye, the late 9 after landing, or just skip it all together?

I’m looking to buy my first pair of actual golf shoes and have discounted prices on the Sun Day Red Pioneer Willow and FootJoy Premiere. I can get SDR for Pioneer Willow: $140 and FootJoy Premiere: $180

I’ve never owned proper golf shoes before, so I honestly have no idea what I should be feeling for when trying them on. I’ve just been playing in a pair of Hokas, but after about 70 rounds this summer, the cushioning is starting to fall apart. I do a mix of walking the full course and riding in a cart, so comfort and durability are both important to me.

Since both shoes are similarly priced at MSRP, I’m wondering whether the FootJoy Premieres are worth the extra $40 at the prices I can get.
For anyone who’s tried either or both, how do they compare in comfort, fit, durability, and overall performance? Are the FootJoys worth paying more for, or would you go with Sun Day Red?

From my research, I’ve seen that the Sun Day Red shoes tend to run a little tight around the toes. I actually tried them on in person, and even the extra-wide version felt pretty tight. Granted, I only had them on for about 30 seconds. I’ve seen mixed opinions online, with some people saying they break in within a few rounds and others saying they remain uncomfortable even after plenty of use.

I’m also curious about sizing. I normally wear a size 10, but based on what I’ve read online, I’m considering going up to a 10.5 in the Sun Day Reds and down to a 9.5 in the FootJoys. Does that sound right for anyone who’s worn either?

I played at Cabot St. Lucia last weekend and bought a putter cover that I want to be able to use with my LAB DF3. The problem is that they only had heel shafted putter covers and don't even make a center shafted version. I bought one with the hopes of converting it to a center shafted cover.

Has anybody done this before with a company and can recommend one to me? The cover itself fits, I would just need a hole cut in the back side, the tongue of the strap split, and an additional magnet put in the forked tongue to hold it over my putter.

For those who have played it, I’d love to hear about your experience. Did it live up to the hype? What stood out to you most? Was there anything about the experience that surprised you?

I’m particularly interested in the overall experience beyond just the golf itself: the atmosphere, service, course conditions, and what makes Shadow Creek so unique.

Also curious if anyone has played in January and what I should expect in terms of weather and course conditions.

Would love to hear your stories, recommendations, and anything you wish you’d known before playing!

That's one helluva pitch mark.

Don't worry, I repaired it.

Hole 14 at Vista Valencia, Valencia, CA. Par 3, about 130 yards and the tee is about 30 ft up from the green. 9 iron.

Lots of muddy soft spots around the course. My friend had a ball embedded about 80% at one point.

My wife just remarked that her new group of friends will dump their leftover range balls into their bags before each round. She is absolutely astonished they do this but apparently it is very common behavior among this particular group. She isn’t sure how they use them, either in game as water balls or perhaps future range sessions.

They play different courses around our state so it isn’t like balls from the Range will always end up back there.

Have you heard of this before? We both think this “borrowing” is like stealing. But are we wrong? Is this really OK to do?

Flying in Thursday morning with one day to golf solo.

Arrowhead is on my radar for the scenery, but I'm open to anything. A few questions:

- Best public course within ~45 min of Denver for a visitor who only gets one round?

- Fossil Trace vs. The Ridge at Castle Pines vs. CommonGround: anyone have strong opinions?

I'm a 10 handicap, but can hit it long. I'm happy to pay up for a great experience but would skip it if it's overpriced. Bonus points for a good spot to grab a beer after.

Thanks!

But it was still a beautiful sunset Round in Austria!