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Official OGBoards Golf Thread

freakadeac said:
I practiced with a belly putter (left hand low) a little bit yesterday...distance control is bad but at least I'm putting the ball on the line I want.

How can I improve my irons?
I've had Calloway Steelhead X-14 irons (steel staft) for 10 years. Very forgiving. I took lessons and now I am pinching the ball well and hitting it farther (9 iron goes 150+). For whatever reason I tend to hit the ball thin. My main issue is that by learning to move my wrists in front of the ball and pinch, I'm either flipping my wrists at impact (lower ball flight, hips turn quickly and belt buckle faces target, ball starts at the target but trickles left with a draw), or I'm blocking it to the right (high ball flight, hips 'slide' as opposed to turn). I'm not even sure I can fade/slice the ball if I tried. Any drills I can practice on the range? I'd rather not purchase new irons/shafts but if you think this will significantly help my game then I'm all ears.
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To practice trying to slice the ball, you can open your stance and place the ball slightly forward in your stance, and swing along the plane of your feet/shoulders. The clubface should naturally open and create a slice.

In terms of your normal swing, it's hard to say. Definitely make sure your alignment is correct, and place a club down aimed at your target to make sure of this.

Personally, I don't like Callaway irons (though I haven't hit the new forged), and would advsie you to find some that look less like shovels. They will feel much more solid and you'll be able to work the ball more right and left when you want.
 
tigerswood said:
I'm almost positive I'm 2 degrees up as well. Maybe just one on my newer irons. I'm 6'1". I was actually talking about the club face rather than the shaft in terms of added distance. I might have to tinker with the lie angle on some of the new ones to see how much that helps, but I was just talking about the hotness of the face itself.
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I'm also 6-1 and have my wedges through 6 iron 3 degrees up and the 3,4,5 iron 1.5 degrees up.

There really is nothing wrong with a high ball flight caused by a steep angle of attack. I play much the same way and I only find it to be problematic in high wind and I tend to get more flyer out of the rough than other people. The 7 iron going 200 type of flyer.
 
Liquid Karma said:
I'm also 6-1 and have my wedges through 6 iron 3 degrees up and the 3,4,5 iron 1.5 degrees up.

There really is nothing wrong with a high ball flight caused by a steep angle of attack. I play much the same way and I only find it to be problematic in high wind and I tend to get more flyer out of the rough than other people. The 7 iron going 200 type of flyer.
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Oh dear yes. I was trying to hit a high soft 3 wood out of bermuda rough on Saturday and flew it probably 265-70 and was lucky to not go out of bounds.

I find that the very high ball flight makes wedges/low irons more difficult to judge and control, and would much prefer a lower, more boring flight. Although, it is fun to wow people with high, soft 4 irons.
 
tigerswood said:
Oh dear yes. I was trying to hit a high soft 3 wood out of bermuda rough on Saturday and flew it probably 265-70 and was lucky to not go out of bounds.

I find that the very high ball flight makes wedges/low irons more difficult to judge and control, and would much prefer a lower, more boring flight. Although, it is fun to wow people with high, soft 4 irons.
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My pro has been working with me on just that. Trying to take the wrists and hands out of wedge shots. When it works, I see the results and love the lower flight, but it's so hard to undo a decade of launching every wedge straight up in the air. I know some better players who can deadhand a 9 iron from 115 yards and stop it with one hop. That's a level of skill I can't even attain in my dreams.
 
freakadeac said:
I practiced with a belly putter (left hand low) a little bit yesterday...distance control is bad but at least I'm putting the ball on the line I want.

How can I improve my irons?
I've had Calloway Steelhead X-14 irons (steel staft) for 10 years. Very forgiving. I took lessons and now I am pinching the ball well and hitting it farther (9 iron goes 150+). For whatever reason I tend to hit the ball thin. My main issue is that by learning to move my wrists in front of the ball and pinch, I'm either flipping my wrists at impact (lower ball flight, hips turn quickly and belt buckle faces target, ball starts at the target but trickles left with a draw), or I'm blocking it to the right (high ball flight, hips 'slide' as opposed to turn). I'm not even sure I can fade/slice the ball if I tried. Any drills I can practice on the range? I'd rather not purchase new irons/shafts but if you think this will significantly help my game then I'm all ears.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm. 150 yard 9 iron and you're hitting down on it well but catching it thin?

Try to hit some irons finishing like this guy:



Normal turn away from the ball, strong at impact, but finish with a straight left arm, high and abbreviated. This should get you focusing on impact (not so thin) and shortening your finish should make it easier to hit a little fade. It'll feel like you're swinging three-quarters or something, but at contact go at it full. You should only see a small drop in distance but your accuracy should improve.

It's a great drill and a great shot to have when you're facing trouble on the left.
 
Liquid Karma said:
My pro has been working with me on just that. Trying to take the wrists and hands out of wedge shots. When it works, I see the results and love the lower flight, but it's so hard to undo a decade of launching every wedge straight up in the air. I know some better players who can deadhand a 9 iron from 115 yards and stop it with one hop. That's a level of skill I can't even attain in my dreams.
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The thing is, for my first couple years of high school golf, I could do that on most low iron/wedge shot from the fairway. I don't understand how my swing has changed so much given that I used to be able to hit a full 60 degree wedge lower than I can now hit a full 6 iron. I used to love the 1/2 wedge that skipped twice and just zipped on a dime. Now I just make craters on the greens.
 
Think the weather in Winston will be okay tomorrow for a late afternoon round? I sure hope so
 
Damn, I think I've reverted to a swing I had about a year and a half ago while trying to fix other issues. I'm pushing my hands out too far and my backswing is way too high, so when I swing down I'm cutting across the ball and slicing it, though admittedly not as badly as I used to. My gf recorded me so I could check it out, and it doesn't look very pretty. I'll have to work on that at the range, but at least I know what I need to do (same thing as before, flatten out my swing!).
 
So what's the final round of qualifying like? I have a friend who shot a 68 Sunday and is now advancing to the final round.
 
My friend missed by a couple of strokes yesterday. Course was playing so difficult that par qualified for Sectionals.

I can't imagine how difficult sectionals must be. It's like a combination of older PGA stars and young guns who haven't won enough to get a free spot yet.

Just look at the Columbus results last year:

1. Chez Reavie
1. Brandt Jobe
3. Robert Garrigus
4. Adam Long
4. Justin Hicks
4. Nick O’Hern
4. Patrick Cantlay (a)
8. Chris Wilson
8. Marc Turnesa
8. John Senden
8. D.A. Points
8. Marc Leishman
8. Kevin Chappell

Six for three playoff at seven-under:

14. Tim Petrovic
15. Scott Hend
16. Webb Simpson


Think that's a tough field??? Unreal.
 
Yea my buddy made it to the Columbus qualifying last season.

Edit: My buddy actually made it to sectional qualifying in 2010 and went to the Columbus sectional because it has the most spots and he was a 1st alternate, thus most likely to get a chance to play there. He obviously didn't make it all the way to the US Open but he did get to play in the Sectional and his 2 day score was only 3 worse than Ricky Fowler. Knowing him and playing HS Golf with him in a small ass town like Pilot Mtn it's pretty crazy for me to wrap my head around.
 
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Using the Ohio region as an example is a little misleading, since that field is always stocked with Tour Pros since the Tour is at Muirfield Village the week of qualifying.

But your point is still valid. Taking a look at the list of people that had to (or failed to) qualify last year is filled with familiar names. Kirk Triplett, Ty Tryon, Fred Funk, Freddy Jac, Sergio, Chad Campbell, Lee Janzen, Rich Beem, DiMarco, Jason Dufner, Todd Hamilton, Justin Leonard, etc. I imagine it is itimitading for a high school or college player to play with former Major Champs.
 
tau06 said:
Yea my buddy made it to the Columbus qualifying last season. I don't know why in the world he decided to go to Columbus instead of playing one down in Florida where he was living/playing at the time. He's not always been known as the brightest bulb in the world so I don't really expect him to make good decisions but I'd have certainly advised him not to go there.
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A lot of times you don't get your top choice for sectionals and pretty much have to go where the USGA tells you to go. Not sure if this is the case. Also, one of my best friends from HS just made it through last week and said he wants to be in Columbus. There are always far more spots available, so he feels like that gives him a better shot, despite the quality of competition.
 
tigerswood said:
A lot of times you don't get your top choice for sectionals and pretty much have to go where the USGA tells you to go. Not sure if this is the case. Also, one of my best friends from HS just made it through last week and said he wants to be in Columbus. There are always far more spots available, so he feels like that gives him a better shot, despite the quality of competition.
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Yea I just edited my post above but he was actually a 1st alternate and went to Columbus because since there were the most spots, he had the best chance of getting a shot to play (which worked out well for him). Looks like I have to take back my comment about him not always being the smartest guy in the world haha.
 
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