Question:
NO! All you need is 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch window to put the ball on the green in 2 and make par! 
Actually, Bob, since the rules require golf balls to be at least 1.68 inches in diameter, you’ll need a slightly larger area to shoot for. I figure a 2-inch by 2-inch "window" would work nicely. It even gives you a little room for error. <g
Response:
I swear that next time I will enforce the safe hit to the fairway! NO! All you need is 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch window to put the ball on the green in 2 and make par!
Heh. That about sums it up. A little daylight to aim at is all that’s needed, alright. A pity the club and ball have other ideas about where the exit is! Steve
Response:
NO! All you need is 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch window to put the ball on the green in 2 and make par! Actually, Bob, since the rules require golf balls to be at least 1.68 inches in diameter, you’ll need a slightly larger area to shoot for. I figure a 2-inch by 2-inch "window" would work nicely. It even gives you a little room for error. <g
I didnt see the main message. What is this about?
Response:
NO! All you need is 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch window to put the ball on the green in 2 and make par! Actually, Bob, since the rules require golf balls to be at least 1.68 inches in diameter, you’ll need a slightly larger area to shoot for. I figure a 2-inch by 2-inch "window" would work nicely. It even gives you a little room for error. <g I didnt see the main message. What is this about?
It’s about trying the long shot out of the woods and making a bad shot worse, instead of taking the safer way out (at least safe for someone who can’t predict which way the ball will go with +/- 45 degrees of the intended direction) and simply adding one stroke for a safe short shot. The comment was that a 1.5 x 1.5 inch gap in the trees is a good enough excuse to go for the pin! My luck, or rather, skill in the matter of de-woodsing the ball is reflected in the fact that knowing from experience I will mishit the ball and can’t even clear a log 6" above the ground 5 yards away – yet I insisted on going that way through, costing me 4 strokes to get back on the fairway. It’s in the hoping that the shot you know is going to fail 4 out of 5 times is going to get you out of trouble. Part of this, for me, is not understanding the rules or even knowing them. I’ve tried to get out from under young trees, not realising that course rules insist I move the ball with no penalty. I’ve tried to hit the ball regardless of lie, not realising I can move the ball and take a penalty. Not that knowing any of the above is helping me right now, as I believe my last 9 hole game must’ve been about 70 (I gave up counting) – mainly because I adopted a radical swing technique without practising it. The game is still great fun, and at least I’m progressing in some direction. My current excuse is "ya gotta get worse before ya get better!" Steve
Response:
I went out today and played another 9 holes. I told myself: a ‘line’ towards the whole. I know damn well that I can’t get any height, and sure enough, I try it. That one cost I swear that next time I will enforce the safe hit to the fairway! NO! All you need is 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch window to put the ball on the green in 2 and make par!
Okay, I’m gonna tell one of my favorite stories on The Hubster: He’s playing in the Pro-Am of the LPGA Coca Cola Classic *years* ago and draws Donna Caponi as his pro. She was, from his report, a delight to play with and yada yada yada. At one point, The Hubster has air mailed his ball into a dense stand of trees, but he can see a teeny weeny opening maybe 100 yards thataway, so – being a testosterone driven individual – he hauls out his 3-wood to go for the Miracle Shot. Donna strolls over to him. takes the club out of his hand and says, "If *I* can’t do it, *you* can’t do it." I believe, he went for a 3-iron punch shot… Squeaks To reply via email, please remove the word "botcatcher" from address Proud Alumna of the Dept. of Defense Dependent Schools and an *Overseas Brat* Hand Salute! || Straighten
|| || Up and < || – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – || Fly Right!
Response:
I did a summary of my shots and got the following general profile of my "pattern of play": (9 holes) Duffed Drives: 3 Slice Drives: 4 (always to trees) Fairway Woods: 1 (recovery slice from duff drive into trees:-|) Good Drives: 2 (actually an *excellent* drive Recovery from Trees: 12 (argh – not as bad as I thought)
The one bright spot in my game is that I can hit my 3 iron far enough (220-240) off the tee that I don’t have to face my driver and 3 wood if I don’t feel up to it. Of course, if I start hooking my 3 iron …. -joseph
Response:
I went out today and played another 9 holes. I told myself: "Don’t be stupid and try to make crazy shots out of the trees."
I did a summary of my shots and got the following general profile of my "pattern of play": (9 holes) Duffed Drives: 3 Slice Drives: 4 (always to trees) Fairway Woods: 1 (recovery slice from duff drive into trees:-|) Good Drives: 2 (actually an *excellent* drive Recovery from Trees: 12 (argh – not as bad as I thought) Misses: 1 Tops: 8 Double Bunkers: 2 (4 strokes: in, still in, out) 1 Putts: 0 2 Putts: 6 (12 strokes) 3 Putts: 3 (9 strokes) Remaining Ironwork: 10 Lost Ball: 1 … Or thereabouts, near as dammit. Looking back on other scores, I see a pattern! <g Steve
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I went out today and played another 9 holes. I told myself: "Don’t be stupid and try to make crazy shots out of the trees." And what did I do? The second hole, I’m there and ready to do a sideways shot back onto the fairway. But then I see a ‘line’ towards the whole. I know damn well that I can’t get any height, and sure enough, I try it. That one cost me 4 shots and each of the 4 put me into a worse lie. 9th Hole – my worst ever hack – and I’m in the trees. Same trick, same lie, can’t do the height – and again I smack it into the bush in front of me and find it lying at my feet yet again. That one cost me 3 shots and a lost ball. That irrestable urge to make good on a bad shot must cost me about 15 strokes that nine for a total of 66 – and one of those holes was a 4. I swear that next time I will enforce the safe hit to the fairway!
Steve, I too have suffered the same affliction, many many times. But last week, when I found myself one or two trees into the forest, I chose the safe play back onto the fairway (a lateral shot), the smart decision at the time. I hit a low punch with my 5 iron, a shot I practice regularly for it is often needed after my bending drives. Anyway, the darned ball (no, it wasn’t my swing thank you very little) hit two trees and ended up 10 feet (3 meters) _behind_ me, still a couple of trees from the fairway. Next shot the ball cooperated, but still didn’t leave me a shot to the green (big dogleg) and I had to lay up. Took a nine 
The moral of the story ? Smart shots go bad too (I think this game was invented by an Irishman named Murphy, and I’ve never figured out why the Scottish and Dutch claimed it as their own). dave
Response:
I went out today and played another 9 holes. I told myself: "Don’t be stupid and try to make crazy shots out of the trees." And what did I do? The second hole, I’m there and ready to do a sideways shot back onto the fairway. But then I see a ‘line’ towards the whole. I know damn well that I can’t get any height, and sure enough, I try it. That one cost me 4 shots and each of the 4 put me into a worse lie. 9th Hole – my worst ever hack – and I’m in the trees. Same trick, same lie, can’t do the height – and again I smack it into the bush in front of me and find it lying at my feet yet again. That one cost me 3 shots and a lost ball. That irrestable urge to make good on a bad shot must cost me about 15 strokes that nine for a total of 66 – and one of those holes was a 4. I swear that next time I will enforce the safe hit to the fairway! Steve