total novice

[time_vans]

as you can imagine i have millions of questions. went on a golf day for my lads 21st and fell in love with the game only wish i had started years ago. so just a few to get me going. should i use my driving range just for driving as i feel hitting off a mat with irons is affecting my ability to strike down on the ball(in fear of jarring my wrists on the solid mat)hence i have been 'topping' a lot. secondly at what point does a ball moving from left to right become a slice? one of the lad's mates sends his out in a massive 'c' shape he hit the lowest score but found it hit the trees on the left at some holes surely this isn't right. also what distance should i be getting with a driver? i can hit the ball fairly straight upto around the 200 yd marker but if i try to put more effort in it usually goes way right.and finally in terms of equipment(i will be buying 2nd hand at this stage) what is my minimum requirements to progress and play 18 holes regularly. many thanks and best wishes to all.

 

[brendy]

Welcome aboard skipper!
Driving ranges are fine for most clubs matey, most clubs have practice grounds also which are free for members to use, so a basic (house or 5 day) membership package will get you a handicap, access to the clubhouse/bar and also free access to the practice grounds. In the long run this might actually save you money as the cost of practice balls at the range are getting silly.
For a ball to move left to right, id say more than half of a fairway witdh would be a slice, less would be a cut or fade depending on club used, ie a driver would be a fade, a 6 iron would be a cut.
Your driver should be getting you anything from 200 yds to 250 for a learner, it all depends on technique, if you sway (lean to your right on the backsqing) rather than turn (actually rotate your midriff to the right on backswing)then you are losing a lot of distance as you arnt utilizing your bottom half of your body and shifting weight properly.
The saying goes "the ball only gets in the way of a swing" in other words you are not trying to hit the ball, rather make a good swing and the ball will react to what you do in your swing.
For a relatively new golfer, Id suggest a set of callaway irons, any of the x series second hand are pretty affordable (again relatively!, £150-300 for a set of x-12, x-14's or maybe even x-16's)
The first and foremost task a golfer needs to achieve is to get the ball into the air, callaways are designed to hit a high ball. If you cant hit a callaway, standard cavity backs and blades will be ten times harder to you.
Drivers and putters are personal, However I would suggest learning how to hit a 3 or 5 wood first as the driver is definately the hardest club in the bag to hit (bar the 1,2,3 irons which I wouldnt recommend to anyone over an 8 handicap)
Some people jun the 3 and 4 iron in theor set for a hybrid club which is an evolution of an iron heading towards a wood shaped club, the atter sole and head charateristics help get the ball out of the grass and into the air while giving decent distance also, pretty much the same as a 4 iron, depending on its loft. Try different sand wedges, do not be afraid to use one that isnt part of your normal iron set, ive yet to find a decent callaway wedge so even when I owned a set years ago, I still stuck to a titleist 56 degree sandwedge. DO NOT buy a lob/60 degree wedge, they are no use to high handicappers whatsoever, if faced with a shot that requires a silly amount of loft, forget it and play out sideways and use your handicap to recoup any lost shots.
Finally, PHEW!, play the game as simply as possible, at every shot, think percentages ie 'how many times out of ten will I pull this type of shot off?' and if there is no hazards in front of your 50 yard shot, why not try an 8 iron instead of the wedge and bounce it slightly short and watch it run up onto the green/flag, a mishit wedge doesnt go forwards once it lands, where a lower degree iron will still get a bit of run.
Don't be afraid to get lessons from a pro, its like most things in life, you have to learn somewhere, so why not get the right instruction first time instead of trial and error.

 

[time_vans]

many thanks brendy for that reply if you type as slow as i do it would have taken you ages!! great info thanks one thing i am strugglimg to get my head round is yardage not only how you tell on the fairway the distance to the flag but also what distance i should reasonably expect off each club. is there a guide out their on distances for each club so i can gauge how i am doing.i have a cheap pitching wedge and sand wedge so what distance should i pick these up for. i also have a benross v5 driver and 20 degree utility i think i need something in between but when do you use a utility instead of a wood and vice versa. cheers

 

[RGuk]

is there a guide out their on distances for each club so i can gauge how i am doing.i have a cheap pitching wedge and sand wedge so what distance should i pick these up for.

If I may be so bold, there isn't a readily available guide for distances but I have seen a number of books that have a general guide for average swing speeds. The average distance between clubs is approx. 10-12 yards.
Here's a possible scenario
PW - 105
9I - 120
8I - 130
7I - 140
6I - 150
5I - 160
4I - 170
3I - 180

The distance of your SW will depend on the loft. My PW goes 105, but my SW only 82-84 average (over many, many shots!!)

What tends to happen is that as you get to lower (5,4,3I) clubs, the increase in distance is less than 10 yrds because they get harder to hit nicely.

You will notice that on "my chart" the distance between PW and 9I is the biggest gap....this is quite normal (from what I have noticed) and might explain why a few companies offer custom choice wedges to fill this gap with 3 wedges not two.

Many players like a Lob wedge (LW), these are good for short range, but not ideal on full shots i.m.o. you might get 60-70 yds with a lob, but better to learn to hit full, 3/4 and 1/2 PWs for different distances.

You might like to try these distances at the range, unless you have already got good club-speed through the shot....this shouldn't be too far off.

It's normal for most players to "club up" when faced with an in-between distance. eg. If I get to a 145 yd par 3, I'll go with a 6I, unless the flag is right at the front. If I play a par 4 and have 125 left to go, I will almost certainly hit an 8I. That sort of thing.

Good luck

Dave

 

[Toad]

Hi Tim.
Distance with clubs is different for everyone, while one person may hit a Sand Wedge 80 yards another may only hit it 70.
As for distances to the hole when playing, have a look around you as most courses have yardage markers placed around 150 yards from the green to give you a guide.
If you are playing an unfamilier course you will find most produce a stroke saver which is a booklet that will give you details of the holes and yardages from certain areas to assist you.
But you can't beat experiance so get out and play as much as possible.

 

[RGuk]

PS - if you have a driver and a 20 degree utility, I'd look into either a 3 wood or 5 wood or both. For a new player, the 5 would be the first choice, as this will be useful off tee and fairway. 3 wood off the fairway is a tough (ish) shot, what you will need is a good "distance covering" club to get you near the greens on the long holes. I have a 3 utility and 5 wood, there is a clear plan in my mind for which one to use when. On a par 5 I'll choose the one most likely to leave me exactly 105 or 120 yds. If accuracy is more important than distance (on a hard/long par 4) the 3H will be the choice. If I play a big par 4 and don't hit a good driver, I will often find myself with over 200 to go, then it'll be the 3 wood. Otherwise, the 3 is off the tee for the medium or short par 4s.

Dave

 

[RGuk]

Toad is right....99% of courses will have a yardage booklet you can buy (£2-4) or have the "old skool" mini yardage chart on the back of the scorecard. Many courses do not have 150 markers on the course. I used to get really stressed about the distances, it does get easier with experience. The "scoring" distance is everything from 100-150 where an exact reading will really help. Learn to read the stroke saver and get good at pacing out forward or backwards from a sure reading.

 

[brendy]

On flat ground no wind, These are my distances but are not the be all and end all, as I can hit my 6 iron 120yards or 190 depending how I need to play the shot, full tit or easy into the wind.
sw bang on 100 yds
pw 120
9 135
8 140-145
7 160
6 175
5 185
4 190
3 200 though prefer not to use this for reliability reasons.
5w 190-230
4w 200-240
Driver, not going to willy wangle.

 

[viscount17]

http://golf.about.com/od/beginners/l/blclubdistance.htm - have a look here for distances but don't expect to hit even the minimums consistently straight out of the bag. It takes an age (at least for me) to learn the distances you will hit with each club, and they will change as your swing evolves.

try before you buy - make sure the clubs feel right. have a word with the club pro, he may be able to 'tune' a set for you. Get Lessons.

a slice is an uncontrolled arc to the right, you could end up half a fairway off on a 'straight' shot because of alignment/swing errors.

as a fellow late starter - welcome to the world!

 

[RGuk]

Well found Viscount!

Worth noting that my suggestion was very close to the adult male medium distances.

Dave

 

[time_vans]

great source of info guys. many thanks. looking at the table i reckon i am coming up a bit short at the moment but guess that will increase as my confidence on hitting the ball increases as my swing gets better. i've booked in for a round on friday with two other mates at the same course i made my 'debut'on so hoping to reduce my 140 score considerably.bearing in mind i never hit a ball before that day back in late october i have had a bit of tuition off a three handicapper and about 10 sessions on the range paying particular attention to my irons as this was my achilles heal last time. just two further questions for now what is getting on the green 'in regulation' mean and on my score card after the par there is a si number whats that refer to ?? thanks again all

 

[brendy]

in regulation means getting to a green in the allocated amount of shots, ie every hole the par consists of at least a tee shot and two putts so for example,
par 3 - tee shot should end up on the green (on the green in regulation) and two putts for a par 3.
par 4 - tee shot, second shor onto green (in regulation) and again 2 putts for a par 4.
par 5 - tee shot, second shot, approach shot onto the green (in regulation) and 2 putts for a par 5.
~Not getting onto a par 4 green in two shots means a missed regulation hole, this doesnt affect your score though.
The SI means Stroke Index, basically all 18 holes are given a rating in difficulty, no two holes can share the same difficulty. To calculate the difficulty, the club uses the previous years scores and takes them and works out how everyone fared on each hole, so say the first hole was found to be the highest scoring hole, it would receive S.I. 1 while the easiest hole gets S.I. 18 This means that everyone playing of a handicap of at least 1 receives a shot on the SI 1 hole, but only people playing of at least 18 hanicap get a shot at the SI 18 under stableford competitions or matchplay (if they are entitled to a shot from their competitor)

 

[RGuk]

Green in regulation (GIR) is when you hit the green in two shots under the par (leaving two putts for par) or, put another way, the amount of shots you would expect to hit to reach the green. Par 3 GIR means you hit the green with your tee shot. Par 4 GIR means hitting the green with your 2nd shot, 3rd shot for a par 5.
SI stands for "Stroke Index". Every course keeps a tally of scores on each hole to establish which hole is the most difficult. SI 1 is the hardest hole, SI 18 the easiest.
It's fairly immaterial, when you start out BUT when you play matchplay, you get given shots (against your opponent) starting with the hardest holes. If I play someone who is not quite as good, I will give him/her a shot on how ever many holes the rules require. ALSO, in certain game formats (Stableford would be the most common) you get points for how well you play the hole. An 18 handicap gets a shot on every hole, therefore if you score 4 on a par 3, you get the points (2) for making a "nett" par.
For a player like me (off 12) I am looking to try and make par on a few holes, it's often useful to look at the stroke index and say to myself "well, this is the hardest hole on the course (SI 1) so a bogey (one over the par) is OK."

I'm sure you'll get better explanations.

Dave

 

[time_vans]

cheers brendy that clears it up. i think i'll go to the driving range tommorow in preperation for friday and we will see if i've improved at all. cant wait getting quite excited!!

 

[muttleee]

Just one point about stroke index - it's not as simple as saying that the hardest hole is index 1 and the easiest is 18. There are certain rules that clubs are supposed to follow when allocating the index to each hole. You can read them here.

For example, you will see that all the odd numbered stroke indices are on one nine and all the even numbered ones are on the other. This isn't just a coincidence! Also, the index 1 and index 2 holes are usually to be found in the middle of each nine.

 

[brendy]

Dont scare and confuse the poor fella, I think we might have him hooked into golf.

 

[shanker]

Just one point about stroke index - it's not as simple as saying that the hardest hole is index 1 and the easiest is 18. There are certain rules that clubs are supposed to follow when allocating the index to each hole. You can read them here.

For example, you will see that all the odd numbered stroke indices are on one nine and all the even numbered ones are on the other. This isn't just a coincidence! Also, the index 1 and index 2 holes are usually to be found in the middle of each nine.

Yes, of course. And the higher handicapper who is receiving strokes doesn't want them all in a row. Not much good having strokes on 14,15,16 if the better player has already won 6 and 5.

 

[time_vans]

yes i think i am!! just been down the driving range and recorded my yardageas something like;
sw 65
pw 85
9 100
8 120
7 140
6 150
5 155
4 160
h 175
5w 180
d 200 just
i should say ish because i am judging in relation to the markers. so it seems i am roughly where a novice should be however did notice i was hitting the ball more consistent with the shorter irons and struggled as the length increased
which everyone hinted at would happen. i felt very tense today and felt cramp coming in to my left thigh i suppose the(long)walks between each shot will cure that. i did struggle today with my driving which is normally ok but rollon tomorrow when it counts.many thanks again for all the advice and i think i will let my brain get round si and stableford in due course

 

[brendy]

Heres a link that will really help all golfers on here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXpfsUt5vh4&feature=related

 

[viscount17]

timevans, bear this in mind; at the range you will be almost certainly be using range balls; these are deliberately not as efficient as those you will (should) be using on the course. at my range they use 70% balls as they don't want the balls through the office windows (again!)
a bit of tuition from a fellow golfer is fine, as far as it goes, and every one has something to offer (most even knowing what they're talking about) but by taking lessons I mean from a pro. a good one will have come through a pga course, and will know how and what to teach at each stage. lessons are not necessarily cheap but are worth every penny.