OT: Nats, Wiz, O's, Ravens, Terps, Navy, Gtown, Mystics, Golf, Fall 2020-Spring 2021

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I wonder if they’re keeping Scott Brooks at this point to help the unintentional tank?

 

[Corby78]

I wonder if they’re keeping Scott Brooks at this point to help the unintentional tank?

Is it still unintentional than?

 

[Ridley Simon]

My short game tip...

I think I got this from Jack Nicklaus Lesson Tee book, which is actually a cartoon drawn instruction manual, its terrific. It basically says you have 10-11 different lofted clubs for a reason, so you can have one swing, one tempo, consistently and let the difference in club do the work of adjusting for loft and distance.. makes sense, but while most people use it for the long game, when it comes to the short game people tend to have 5 or 6 different swing techniques or speeds or swing lengths that they use with the pitching wedge - basically using the PW from 120 yards out to the fringe and varying the swing speed or backswing length. Jack says this is wrong, and instead to practice 3 swings - the full swing at full tempo, a half swing at normal tempo, and basically what amounts to a putting stroke with the wedge through longer irons. @Ridley Simon mentions using a full swing with a 64 and that's what I'm referring to. Use a full swing, dial up the loft, when you are less than a pitching wedge out but too long for a chip. Once you get to chipping range, use ONE chip swing with a range of clubs, not a variable speed/backswing approach with the PW. It will build consistency in the short game by mastering one pitch swing.

When you get around the green, especially within 5-10 feet of it, the object is to land the ball on the green as soon as possible and let it roll to the hole the rest of the way. But you want to use the same stroke for all these shots regardless of the distance from the fringe to the pin and that motion should be a putting swing. So when you are say 5 feet off the green, and the pin is 5 feet from the fringe, use a putting motion with a high lofted club like a SW or 60 or 64, you want to loft it 6 feet then roll 4 feet to the pin. But if you are 5 feet off and the pin is 20 feet from the fringe, use the same motion with a 7 or 8 iron. The ball will land inside the fringe and roll the remaining 15 feet. If the pin is on the opposite end of the green, say 40-50 feet, use the same putting motion and a 3-5 iron. The ball will loft 5 feet then roll the remaining 40 feet. Practice this same putting style stroke with lofted irons and low irons from around the fringe to get a feel for your loft/roll ratios. It helps sooooo much to use one consistent swing whenever possible, I found this shaved strokes off my game as much as anything. People would see me take a 5 iron from the fringe and roll it to within 1 putt range, while they take a pitching wedge and try to finesse some quarter swing they've never practiced, then chunk or skull it and end up just adding strokes.

Obviously there are variables like slope of the green, grain direction and your ball's lie - using a putting motion only works with a good clean lie. But the point Jack makes is, don't make up a new swing on the course. Use a full swing, a half swing and a putting motion, and that will cover every shot you may ever need, if you select the right club. And using a 4 iron from 4 feet off the green is a perfectly fine selection if the pin is 60 feet away. Much much more consistent than trying to chip the ball to the pin in the air most of the way.

Anyway, worked well for me.

Yeah. Using the putting stroke when very near the green has worked well for me as well. 100% w it. To your point, you need to be close (and NOT in the sand!), but it’s very accurate. Simply use the same power you would for a put, but with the lofted club. Even opened up a bit of you really need to get the ball up in the air fast.

excellent points, sir.

 

[g00n]

My tour outings:

2008 AT&T National at Congressional
2011 US Open at Congressional
2018 Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm

and

2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews

Don't have that many cool golf stories, unfortunately. Following the Tiger swarm, even when he wasn't in contention at Avenel Farm was pretty special. Just a groundswell of energy. Troy Merritt gave my kid a ball at Avenel Farm. That was cool. I also randomly got putting advice on a college football recruiting message board from Lucas Glover.

It's been a very lean 18 months for me with the sticks. Went from playing weekly, including 2 tournaments a month on a DC area Amateur Tour in 2019 to getting an elbow infection in the OBX that knocked me off the course for 2 months to being too spooked by COVID to even go to the range.

Same thing over the last year and a half. Haven't been on a course since 2019. Eventually thought things were stable enough to hit the range now and then but even that was spotty.

The place I go to has shop employees who are "nosers", which bothers me. I'm sometimes the only one on the range wearing a mask, sometimes not. I use hand sanitizer a lot, especially after touching a doorknob or the range basket. Not taking too many chances, just enough to get out and hit some which delays the eventual insanity from cabin fever. I've gone months without going outside except for mail and trash. It suuuuuucccckkkssss.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Guys who take all day over the ball kill me. I'm a fast player. Maybe too fast. I can walk 18 in like 2-2.5hrs depending on the course. So someone with an achingly Smails-like preshot drives me bananas.

We had a senior in one regular group who was an all-American multi-sport athlete in his heyday, but couldn't master golf to save his life. His preshot was soooooooooo slooooooow you could practically hear the checklist being ticked off while watching the leaves turn color.

But the worst ever was some rando we linked up with at a muni. His name was Bruce and I've never seen anyone go through so much shit or take so long over the ball. From then on we called taking too long "Brucing it up".

At the same course we met "Kang", who was an older Korean guy sporting a bag full of nothing but 6 irons. Every time he hit a shot he'd fall backwards and yell "SHIT GODDAMN!!"

We got some mileage out of that, too.

100% about speed. Same as @CapitalsCupReality stated — if your gonna be bad. Be bad fast. There is literally nothing worse than slow bad golfers. Playing with them is one thing. Playing behind them is a WHOLE OTHER thing. Nothing ruins my mental state worse than standing over my next shot and waiting and waiting and waiting for the donkeys on the green to get off the damned green.

I want to scream “your 3 footer is for a f***ing NINE, who cares what happens!!!”

And I often do scream it — just only in my head.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Clearly a number of you really like golf. Why not start a dedicated thread? I dont mind the golf talk in this thread, just seems with such enthusiasm a dedicated thread is in order.

Actually not a bad idea....but it may Peter out over time.

 

[g00n]

Actually not a bad idea....but it may Peter out over time.

This is the concern. It's why we have bulk threads like this. We've already been kicked out of one club (the gen OT thread). Time to dig in!

 

[g00n]

100% about speed. Same as @CapitalsCupReality stated — if your gonna be bad. Be bad fast. There is literally nothing worse than slow bad golfers. Playing with them is one thing. Playing behind them is a WHOLE OTHER thing. Nothing ruins my mental state worse than standing over my next shot and waiting and waiting and waiting for the donkeys on the green to get off the damned green.

I want to scream “your 3 footer is for a f***ing NINE, who cares what happens!!!”

And I often do scream it — just only in my head.

Uuuuuuuuuuggghhhh.

• The guy who waits for his buddy to hit before even starting to plan his shot.
• The guy who sits in the cart while his buddy hits, waits for his buddy to finish, THEN they drive 20 yards to the other ball.
• The guy who takes one club to his ball when it's cart path only, changes his mind, and walks all the way back for the new club.
• The guy who lines up every...f***ing....putt...from...all....sides....like it's the US Open.
• The same guy above inevitably takes forever with a set number of practice strokes, regardless of the shot/putt, that obviously do no good.
• The guy who insists on taking 5 (now 3) minutes to search for his ball in a meaningless round.
• The guy who drives all over the hole, forwards and backwards, as though he's spreading seed
• The guy who searches all over for a sprinkler or other yardage marker to get and EXACT distance even though there's a 95% chance he'll just lay sod
• Groups who are clearly slow and have open holes ahead but won't even look at you to allow you through
• Groups BEHIND you that can see you're waiting for a slow group, or who know the course is packed, but keep hitting into you

There have been confrontations.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Uuuuuuuuuuggghhhh.

• The guy who waits for his buddy to hit before even starting to plan his shot.
• The guy who sits in the cart while his buddy hits, waits for his buddy to finish, THEN they drive 20 yards to the other ball.
• The guy who takes one club to his ball when it's cart path only, changes his mind, and walks all the way back for the new club.
• The guy who lines up every...f***ing....putt...from...all....sides....like it's the US Open.
• The same guy above inevitably takes forever with a set number of practice strokes, regardless of the shot/putt, that obviously do no good.
• The guy who insists on taking 5 (now 3) minutes to search for his ball in a meaningless round.
• The guy who drives all over the hole, forwards and backwards, as though he's spreading seed
• The guy who searches all over for a sprinkler or other yardage marker to get and EXACT distance even though there's a 95% chance he'll just lay sod
• Groups who are clearly slow and have open holes ahead but won't even look at you to allow you through
• Groups BEHIND you that can see you're waiting for a slow group, or who know the course is packed, but keep hitting into you

There have been confrontations.

I honestly just drive through bad, slow golfers at this point. I'll sacrifice not playing one hole if it means I get to enjoy the other 17. I have driven right through people playing and have had a few verbal confrontations but when I tell them they're on track to finish the course in 5-6 hours and it might get dark before we finish they normally shut up.

 

[g00n]

I would not be opposed to a Golf Talk thread of some kind and moving all this over there if the thread were pinned so it didn't get lost. But there area lot of pinned threads already. fwiw

 

[g00n]

I honestly just drive through bad, slow golfers at this point. I'll sacrifice not playing one hole if it means I get to enjoy the other 17. I have driven right through people playing and have had a few verbal confrontations but when I tell them they're on track to finish the course in 5-6 hours and it might get dark before we finish they normally shut up.

I've done this a lot. If I'm out with others it has to be a group decision, especially if we've paid quite a bit to try and relax for a round on the weekend.

But when I was working at golf clubs there was no way I'd just sit there. Maybe a quick word to check as I drive through if they're not being dicks about it. Otherwise if I know a path around to a different hole then off I go.

If I'm a single or we're a 2some behind a bunch of 4somes on the weekend, that's just tough luck, though. Can't expect everyone to play in 2-3hrs. But if you're creeping past 4.5hrs and you have holes open you become fair game, imo.

But playing through is a potential scorecard wrecker if you're having a good round, especially if you're walking. The tendency is to rush everything on that hole and the start of the next one.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I've done this a lot. If I'm out with others it has to be a group decision, especially if we've paid quite a bit to try and relax for a round on the weekend.

But when I was working at golf clubs there was no way I'd just sit there. Maybe a quick word to check as I drive through if they're not being dicks about it. Otherwise if I know a path around to a different hole then off I go.

If I'm a single or we're a 2some behind a bunch of 4somes on the weekend, that's just tough luck, though. Can't expect everyone to play in 2-3hrs. But if you're creeping past 4.5hrs and you have holes open you become fair game, imo.

But playing through is a potential scorecard wrecker if you're having a good round, especially if you're walking. The tendency is to rush everything on that hole and the start of the next one.

How many drinks I've had also figures into the equation of when I say "f*** it" and burn through

 

[kicksavedave]

Actually not a bad idea....but it may Peter out over time.

Yeah, I'm already out of tips, and good stories, but if we make a new thread, I'll make up some stories

 

[John Price]

Tiger used to have a tournament every year at TPC Avanel around Bethesda

Back before Tiger took it over it used to be known as the Kemper Open and was played at TPC Avanel off Falls Road / Bradley Blvd in that part of Potomac

The road signs used to be all over the traffic lights growing up. My lone regret was never attending. One year Rory dominated Congressional and I never saw it in person.

 

[g00n]

Was just chipping at the local spot and some rando Boomer shows up with one of those fancy, self-dispensing shag bags.

He starts taking over the place--shooting at every stick, even changing pin positions (I guess he knows better than the Superintendent)-- and rather than get into a pissing match I move to the other side of the practice area, away from his line.

As usual I've got earbuds in, and I'm zoning into a GWAR song I haven't heard in 30 years when all of a sudden THWACK! I look up and he's sheepishly waving at me from clear on the other side of the green. Guy was spraying balls all over the yard and one of them nailed me square on the club shaft. If I hadn't been at address it would've nailed me in a different shaft.

I considered getting in his ass about it but he seemed chastened. Plus I like that golf club and you never know who you could be paired with in the future. Also don't shit where you eat.

 

[kicksavedave]

Was just chipping at the local spot and some rando Boomer shows up with one of those fancy, self-dispensing shag bags.

He starts taking over the place--shooting at every stick, even changing pin positions (I guess he knows better than the Superintendent)-- and rather than get into a pissing match I move to the other side of the practice area, away from his line.

As usual I've got earbuds in, and I'm zoning into a GWAR song I haven't heard in 30 years when all of a sudden THWACK! I look up and he's sheepishly waving at me from clear on the other side of the green. Guy was spraying balls all over the yard and one of them nailed me square on the club shaft. If I hadn't been at address it would've nailed me in a different shaft.

I considered getting in his ass about it but he seemed chastened. Plus I like that golf club and you never know who you could be paired with in the future. Also don't shit where you eat.

Heh, at least once I've politely told some dudes who were spraying all over the practice green that "the polite etiquette is to grab one hole and shoot at it from multiple areas, so he doesn't disturb other players". One time the guy was genuinely apologetic, he had no idea he was disturbing people by putting right through their line. Another time the guy was just like "oh, sorry" and he picked up and left. Either way problem solved.

 

[g00n]

Heh, at least once I've politely told some dudes who were spraying all over the practice green that "the polite etiquette is to grab one hole and shoot at it from multiple areas, so he doesn't disturb other players". One time the guy was genuinely apologetic, he had no idea he was disturbing people by putting right through their line. Another time the guy was just like "oh, sorry" and he picked up and left. Either way problem solved.

Thing is I wasn't even on his line. Not even close. And when I looked up I saw TWO WORSE SHOTS nearby. So he apparently almost hit me a few times and kept going.

After that I watched him a bit to see if maybe he did it on purpose. Nah.

 

[Calicaps]

Spring 2021-TBD