Official OGBoards Golf Thread

[DCDeac]

I've had 1 very bad tournament meltdown and I'm not sure I've ever recovered from it.

The PGA Tour is full of guys that didnt mature as players until well into high school or college. Webb is definitely the exception, along with Tiger, Mickelson, CH3, Mahan and a few others. Not many dominate early junior golf, high school/amateur, college and then become very good pros. The arc is just too long and difficult.

Then you see guys like John Huh and Keegan Bradley. Keegan played at St Johns, I didnt even know they have a golf program.

Give me a kid with a major chip on his shoulder, a strong belief in himself, and make him about age 20 and I'll take him every day of the week over the kid who has played AJGA events since age 10.

Not sure I follow. Keegan is an example of a late bloomer? He was the son of a head pro, grew up playing country club golf, dominated high school golf and a state championship, won 9 collegiate tournaments, spent a couple years on the Nationwide Tour, finally earned his card via the money list and broke through to win.

I'm not talking about AJGA - I'm talking about the fact that in general pros picked up the game, typically at a young age, and were immediately blessed with talent to be good at it. Sure, some guys started later and AJGA is rampant with spoiled brats who will never amount to anything, but high school and college are legit determining factors. Can you rattle off guys who took up golf in the late 20's for the first time and are tearing it up on the PGA Tour? Guys that took 5 years to break 80 and went on to earn money as a touring pro?

[Liquid Karma]

Then you see guys like John Huh and Keegan Bradley. Keegan played at St Johns, I didnt even know they have a golf program.

Give me a kid with a major chip on his shoulder, a strong belief in himself, and make him about age 20 and I'll take him every day of the week over the kid who has played AJGA events since age 10.

What John Huh has done is absolutely amazing. No real high level tournament experience to speak of and he's contending on the PGA Tour at age 22.

We have a member at our club who's son is 18 and probably a 4 or 5 handicap who is pretty new to the game. He decided about a year ago that he really wanted to play college golf even though he was struggling to break 80 at the time. He put in some work on his game and hired a consultant to help put him in touch with coaches and landed at Catawba for this year. His scores weren't all that great, but he gained valuable experience. I played with him this weekend and while his score wasn't great, the quality of his play had clearly increased and his swing had improved by leaps and bounds. He is on the upward part of the learning curve and will start to put it all together as he gains experience. The thing he lacked most before he left for college was length, and he's gained a solid 20 yards and can move it out there about 285 now. Not long enough to scare anyone, but long enough to be competitive on medium length courses.

Some of our members scoffed at the notion that this kid was going to play college golf. I've tried to point out to them that he's highly motivated and has 20+ hours a week to do nothing but work on his game in a competitive environment, and he'll probably be kicking all of our asses by the time he's 22.

He's got the chip on his shoulder and I'm rooting like crazy for him.

[Liquid Karma]

I guess that's out of necessity. You leave these kids with their swing coaches, caddies and parents to their own devices and you're looking at 6 hour rounds.

The pace of play issues start after the kids get out of the AJGA. College pace of play is a damn crime.

[Tin Cup]

Yea, Keegan is a late bloomer in the sense he wasn't recruited by GT, OK St, Florida, UGA, WFU etc etc. He may have had success to that point, but not on the big stage.

And I dont think I mentioned anything about late 20s.

My point was that I would rather have a guy who starts to bloom or peak by the middle of college rather than a kid who is dominating as a junior player. The best 2 players in the nation the year I graduated high school were Matt Rosenfeld and James Vargars. Matt went to Texas and James to UF. By the time college was over, they werent really being heard from.

[Caturday]

The pace of play issues start after the kids get out of the AJGA. College pace of play is a damn crime.

In my experience with the AJGA and IJGT 10+ years ago, rounds weren't exactly flying. I'm a fast player and it was damn frustrating.

[Caturday]

Yea, Keegan is a late bloomer in the sense he wasn't recruited by GT, OK St, Florida, UGA, WFU etc etc. He may have had success to that point, but not on the big stage.

And I dont think I mentioned anything about late 20s.

My point was that I would rather have a guy who starts to bloom or peak by the middle of college rather than a kid who is dominating as a junior player. The best 2 players in the nation the year I graduated high school were Matt Rosenfeld and James Vargars. Matt went to Texas and James to UF. By the time college was over, they werent really being heard from.

Haha, I remember those names. Golf is so fickle I don't get why anyone with the ability to play high major golf doesn't go to Stanford, Wake, Duke, etc. so they have a good degree to fall back on if golf fails.

[Liquid Karma]

In my experience with the AJGA and IJGT 10+ years ago, rounds weren't exactly flying. I'm a fast player and it was damn frustrating.

It's a new policy I've seen the last few years. I volunteer as a rules official for some of the state level junior events and they are using it now too.

Get rid of parents caddying and things would be perfect.

[Liquid Karma]

The 2 biggest late bloomers I can think of both played at the same college (Florida Southern): Lee Janzen and Rocco Mediate.

Tom Lehman and Fred Funk are 2 others.

Among current tour players, Keegan Bradley was one who jumped out at me as not having a very distinguished junior or college career. Robert Garrigus, KJ Choi, Boo Weekley, Gary Woodland would all be late bloomers.

[tau06]

I can't even imagine how the AJGA is now, when I played on it years ago it was full of primadonnas and asshole parents. They put so much pressure on their kids it was disgusting.

I think they put a cap on how many events you can play a year as well, spreading it out so it's not the same kids every single event because their parents are loaded and just take them to all of them.

The stuff about tourney golf is so true, and with qualifying for different stages it gets even more compounded with multiple rounds a day. I caddied for my bro in the NC amateur qualifier and he's just playing fantastic going into the tourney. Shoots 33 or something like that on the front and is in the thick of things. Then makes like a 8 on #11 of whatever course the qualifier is on and he goes on to shoot like 78-84 when he was shooting 73-75 on bad days going into it. Just a whole different animal. A lot of people just don't have "it." I had a couple of guys on my HS team who would shoot even about every practice and then couldn't break 40 in a match, and HS matches aren't even that stressful. Just so many elements in the game.

[Liquid Karma]

I think they put a cap on how many events you can play a year as well, spreading it out so it's not the same kids every single event because their parents are loaded and just take them to all of them.

The stuff about tourney golf is so true, and with qualifying for different stages it gets even more compounded with multiple rounds a day. I caddied for my bro in the NC amateur qualifier and he's just playing fantastic going into the tourney. Shoots 33 or something like that on the front and is in the thick of things. Then makes like a 8 on #11 of whatever course the qualifier is on and he goes on to shoot like 78-84 when he was shooting 73-75 on bad days going into it. Just a whole different animal. A lot of people just don't have "it." I had a couple of guys on my HS team who would shoot even about every practice and then couldn't break 40 in a match, and HS matches aren't even that stressful. Just so many elements in the game.

Keeping score becomes a lot harder when you have a pencil in your hand.

[dartsndeacs]

Also, it's been mentioned in other random threads before, but I used to do club fitting and repairs at Golf Smith in Raleigh - if anyone has random questions about anything like that, feel free to ask here or pm, either way

Long time ago I refitted my clubs with those thicker handles. I imagine this is bad for my game but I don't know why, and have had them for 5+ yrs now.

[Caturday]

Long time ago I refitted my clubs with those thicker handles. I imagine this is bad for my game but I don't know why, and have had them for 5+ yrs now.

Thicker grips? Depends on your hand size, ball flight, etc.

[dartsndeacs]

Thicker grips? Depends on your hand size, ball flight, etc.

That's what I meant, I got the old man grips on my clubs. I don't necessarily have giant hands or anything.

[dartsndeacs]

Obviously one of my baller toys that I hope to have when I'm in my 40's is one of those virtual reality golf machines that are in some golf shops. But when researching them online there's very little information on which ones are better than others, as all claim to have the best and most awesome tecnology. Anyone else want to get one of these bad boys in their house and done any research?

[ABCDeac]

The 2 biggest late bloomers I can think of both played at the same college (Florida Southern): Lee Janzen and Rocco Mediate.

Tom Lehman and Fred Funk are 2 others.

Among current tour players, Keegan Bradley was one who jumped out at me as not having a very distinguished junior or college career. Robert Garrigus, KJ Choi, Boo Weekley, Gary Woodland would all be late bloomers.

YE Yang started playing at 19. By age 27 he was staring down Tiger and winning the PGA. That is a late bloomer.

[wolfdeac]

Long time ago I refitted my clubs with those thicker handles. I imagine this is bad for my game but I don't know why, and have had them for 5+ yrs now.

yeah it entirely matters how big your hands are... at least where I worked, there was a hand sizing chart. I'm sure you could probably google it... Or I could be nice and do it for you.






Even though that particular chart says that grip size is subjective, you don't want a grip that is too small or chances are you'll end up over compensating and gripping too tightly, and may turn your hands over more than you should. Conversely, if the grip is too big you may have trouble turning your hands over.

[wolfdeac]

Obviously one of my baller toys that I hope to have when I'm in my 40's is one of those virtual reality golf machines that are in some golf shops. But when researching them online there's very little information on which ones are better than others, as all claim to have the best and most awesome tecnology. Anyone else want to get one of these bad boys in their house and done any research?

Also, what you're talking about is a Vector. We used these: https://store.accusport.com/ProductD...e=HW-VECTORPRO

Pretty accurate, all you really need is somewhere you can hit a ball indoors, a mat to hit off of, and a computer. These are what Golfsmith uses, and I believe Golf Galaxy as well although I may be mistaken on that count since I didn't work for them. They work very well once you have them set up correctly but can be somewhat of a bitch to get situated right. They're also a little ornery sometimes and have to be recalibrated. These, however, are the best on the market.

[mebanedeac]

The 2 biggest late bloomers I can think of both played at the same college (Florida Southern): Lee Janzen and Rocco Mediate.

Tom Lehman and Fred Funk are 2 others.

Among current tour players, Keegan Bradley was one who jumped out at me as not having a very distinguished junior or college career. Robert Garrigus, KJ Choi, Boo Weekley, Gary Woodland would all be late bloomers.

Didn't Larry Nelson take up the game after he turned 21? Probably the best late comer I can recall.

[vtwhat etc]

I think I'll be a regular on this thread moving forward... I apologize in advance, but I want to start off with a rant.

I am coming off of what was basically a 5-year hiatus from the game (played no more than 2-3 rounds/year during that stretch).

I've gotten set up with a pretty sweet connection in Richmond & have been able to play 12 different tracks (some more than once) in the past month. As awesome as its been getting back out on the course, there is an absurdly annoying trend that's developed in my absence from golf & I can honestly say at this point that the odds are better than 1:1 that I'll snap by the end of this season & be paying for somebody's cellphone/golf-gps device after I unload it into a lake or interstate while screaming like a crazy person.

Long story short... My first round up here this year took over 6 and a half hours with a foursome (who got around the course pretty well scoring-wise). I was a little confused by the pace of play since we were never held up behind another group. I knew a couple of the guys were hitting second shots here and there, but nothing to explain the 2-hour slowdown.

I paid a bit more attention after my 2nd and 3rd rounds (with different partners) were almost equally as slow...

Then, three Tuesdays ago, it happened.

Royal New Kent. 7 hours and 58 minutes. The whole day we saw one twosome on the course, we didn't eat lunch at the turn, and everyone in the group broke 100.

Most of the courses up here have developed free apps for smartphones that incorporate GPS & yardage finders into the program. With the exception of 2 or 3 guys, everybody I've played with this year is using this new 'technology'.

Every damn shot. 45 yards away? Better check the phone. Oh, it needs to recalibrate the GPS. It says we're 2,230 yards from the green. That can't be right. Oh, 1,700... Getting closer. 3 minutes later, we've picked a club for the pitch shot. 4 practice swings and one good hack later, we're 15 feet by the hole. Mother f'er, that can't be right. Let me hold this thing up to the sky for another second or two. Oh good, I hit the right shot. It just updated again, we were really just 40 yards away. Damn phone.

What really grinds my gears is watching 3 guys in my group holding up their devices on a tee box that has a yardage marker within 2 yards of where the tees are placed.

Granted, I played 5 years of varsity golf without ever looking at or asking for a yardage... so I'm likely a bit biased but holy hell, this may be the downfall of our sport.

I played Royal New Kent again last week with the same group from the epic round (I insisted we play captains choice so we beat darkness w/ our 11 a.m. tee-time)... These guys know that course by now; but again, every hole... every shot that's not putt-able... lets see what this thing says.

The most disturbing thing is that a couple of our rounds have been on crowded courses... and we're not holding anyone up... You look ahead and see 4 hackers holding up 4 different pieces of technology... you look behind and see the same thing. Its a damn disease.

TL;DR: If you see me on the golf course... hide your smartphone.

[Deacfreak07]

I love my GPS app. It improves my play and tracks my statistics. Golfshot FTW. I don't play too slow though. Never taken more than 4.5 hours on 18. Usually 4 or less, and I'm a terrible golfer.