After hearing that Hogan tracked his bad shots, I decided that this would be a good thing to start tracking.  Considering that I normally shoot in the upper 80’s and am in no way similar to Ben Hogan, I figured that double the number of bad shots in a round should be a good starting point for me (of course, Hogan’s definition of “bad shot” is probably very different than mine, but its all relative).

The first round that I played after I heard this, I forgot to track my bad shots, but I shot 88 and had 30 putts.  I was happy with only having 30 putts, which is pretty good for me since my average putts per round is 33.8.  In contrast, on my next round I shot 83 and had 35 putts, so my ball-striking that day was pretty good.  In fact, I also calculated that I had 11 “makeable” putts and I missed every one of them (not a good putting day).  During this round, I did keep track of my bad shots and I counted 18 bad shots, which does not include any putts, so depending on how you count, this could have been 29 bad shots.  But I don’t expect to make 100% of my “makeable” putts and I prefer to track these two separately.

This was very surprising to me that I could miss 11 “makeable” putts AND also make 18 bad shots and still shoot what I consider to be a good round (better than my average), which has given me a whole new way to think about my golf rounds.  If I can make 18 bad shots and still shoot a decent score, then I should probably EXPECT to make 18 bad shots per round (or somewhere around there.  I will have a better idea of what it should be as I track this more often).  I have realized that if I set my expectations so that I expect to make that many bad shots per round, then that should take the pressure off.   In other words, realizing that my game doesn’t have to be perfect in order to score well, should eliminate any pressure to be perfect.

I am excited to see how this new realizaton affects my game.  Of course, in the short term, all of this will probably go to my head and I may shoot higher than normal as my excitement about this new outlook rattles around in my head on every shot.  In the long run, I expect that tracking my bad shots and incorporating an expectation for bad shots into my game, will probably improve my scoring.  Come back to find out.

hole 1:  leave it alone.  its a total classic, and sits still a very elusive birdie and not a really a gimme par.  the green is perfectly perched on a mound and nestled in an enclave or foliage that can really cause grief if you end up in it.

hole 2:  add fairway bunkers on left and right at the 260-280 mark from the blues.  extend the right green-side bunker around the front of the green a little more, and also widen that bunker so that there is a penalty for going at the green and missing.

hole 3:  add some sort of hazard on the right rough to penalize a bomb drive that goes right.  left can already be a penalty because those mounds tend to kick further left into the trees, but missing right is virtually unpenalized.  also, make this green a tad smaller since the hole is short and most of the time you will have a wedge into the green if you don’t miss the drive.

hole 4: leave it alone.  this hole is also a pretty decent test.  the bunker at left front of the green is a huge penalty for a miss and the green is large enough that you can have very long putts.

hole 5:  from the blues, nothing needs to be done to this hole off the tee; its hard enough to hit a long drive and keep it in the short grass.  From the whites, there need to be a penalty for long hitters going for the green.  adding a huge bunker of the right front of the green would add some danger for long tee shots from the whites and would also make approach shots for all tees require a little more precision.

hole 6:  leave it alone.  classic hole at muny.  its another very well designed hole that uses the terrain perfectly.  its not long, but still hard to birdie unless you get the perfect tee shot, in which case you deserve birdie.

hole 7:  leave it alone.  the encroaching trees make this a great par 3.  you are required to hit a great tee shot, or you won’t even make par here.

hole 8:  this hole is pretty much a par four with today’s clubs and balls, so making it a long par 4 is an option here.  that would take this hole from one of the easiest to one of the hardest.  I am partial to retaining as much of the original course as possible, so making it a par 4 and not changing much else would be good.  I would, however, deepen and lengthen the fairway bunker on the left of the fairway.  It need to be lengthened because today’s clubs can bomb right over that bunker with ease, so its no longer really a threat.  making this hole a par 4 would also make both the front and the back par 35, which has a certain symmetry that I like.

hole 9:  before this hole was changed from a long straight par four into a dogleg left about 25 years ago to make room for the little league fields, it was truly one of my favorite holes on the course.  that being said, its a pretty good hole now:  its hard to drive the green, but very possible and has a high risk/reward for going for it.  longer rives require advanced players to shape their drive and they are penalized if they mishit, go long, or don’t shape it enough.  because of this, I would not change it.

hole 10:  although this is definitely a classic hole at muny, I would change it because its just too short for a par four, and there is actually room to put the tee boxes just a bit further back.  even moving them back a mere 20 yards would take the hole from being a fairly easy drivable par 4, to a huge risk/reward hole.  But that’s all I’d change.

hole 11:  this is a great hole as-is, but I’d push the tee boxes back just a tad because there is room to do so and there it not much penalty for going for the green even though there are two sentinel trees protecting the green just in front of the green in the right rough.  if you are long enough and capable enough to hit a huge high fade,  you should be rewarded.

hole 12:  this is another par 5 that is just too short for the advancements in technology.  They already have the blue tees as far back as you can possibly go almost in the fairway of number 15, so you can’t make it longer.  I think about the only thing that you can do is make the pond/creek larger or reroute it so hat it is closer to the tee boxes in order to penalize long hitters.  you might also be able to elevate the green even more to make inaccurate approaches riskier (think long 2nd shot approaches).

hole 13:  don’t change a thing.  personally, I love one super-short par 3 on every course.  I hate courses that have all four par 3’s that are 180+.  Variety is the spice of life and this hole is fun as it is.

hole 14:  again, this hole has been left behind as technology has advanced.  I would add one fairway bunker on the left right at about 200-220 and another on the left at about 260-280 (from the blues).  This would require a pinpoint drive. a s it is now, all you have to do is bomb a drive anywhere close to the fairway and you can reach this green in two.  these greens would fix that.  The short bunker on the right would force players to think that they must stay left, which would direct alot of players into the longer bunkers.

hole 15:  I like this hole, but I would add a large bunker on the right front of the green.

hole 16:  because this is famous as “Hogan’s hole” because legend says that he asked where the fairway was when standing on the tee box, and because this is a perfectly designed par 4, I’d leave it alone.  the water keeps 99% of all players from going for it, and the approach requires a good shot.  what more do you want?

hole 17:  I’d leave this hole alone too.  I remember playing muny as a kid and thinking that pond was so huge that it was an infinite horizon of water, like the ocean.  Of course, its not that hard of a hole, but is a good par 3.

hole 18:  more than only other hole, this hole desperately needs length added.  I drive the green on this hole (or go over) virtually every time I play it.  However, I don’t think that there is room to add much length (but I’d have to check to be sure).  If length can be added, it should be done.  In addition to that, I would add a drainage ditch full of rocks running across the fairway about 10 yards in front of the green.  Of course the ditch should be engineered to be fully functional and look elegant with larger decorative rocks.  It can be dry unless there has been rain, the idea is to just to penalize those who go for the green from the tee.  when you ball is sitting on a palate of rocks, that should do the trick.

There you have it.  Its probably a long shot that any of these ideas (or any other modifications) would ever be implemented, but its fun to play the mental gymnastics since I’ve been playing the course for nearly 30 years.  If you have any comments or your own idea, please post them in the comments.

Beginners usually have alot of anxiety about buying their first set of clubs because they want to make sure that they get the “right” set and they have no idea how to tell what “right” is.   Hopefully, this post will help beginners understand how to select their first set of clubs.

 First off, lets understand that your needs will change as you learn more about golf and about the specifics of your game.  Golf equipment is unique in that it is both very personal and also very technical.  As you improve and develop your game, you will very likely end up buying new equipment, so its a good idea not to spend a whole lot on the ultimate clubs.

The Putter
The putter is undoubtedly the most personal club.  It is also the most important club in the bag.  Think about it; if you reach every green in regulation and shoot even par, exactly 50% of your shots (36 shots) will be with your putter.  There is no other club in your bag that will even come close to being used this much.  In comparison, its very likely you won’t even use your driver 15 times per round.

Now that we’ve established the importance of the putter, how should you decide which one is right for you?  There are probably more different kinds of putters than another other club because its such a personal item.  For this reason, I recommend that you try as many different putters as possible.  Find a big golf retailer with an indoor putting surface and dozens of putters available for you to practice with.  Go to the retailer several times and putt for 20 or 30 minutes with 2 or 3 putters.  Try all different kinds.  Try the long putters that you hold at your sternum, try the belly putters, and try traditional length putters.  I’d also try blade putters and mallet putters.  Take your time and when you find a putter that gives you alot of confidence, buy it.  Putting is all about confidence.  If you are not confident in your putter, get one that you have confidence in.  If you want to save some money, find the club you want at your local retailer and check ebay and golfclubexchange.com for a used model.

The Driver
The driver is probably the second most personal club in your bag.  You also need to have confidence in your driver, but more importantly you need to be up on the current technology.  The driver is the club that has benefited the most from recent advances in technology.  If you buy a driver that is just a few years old, it can put you at a distinct disadvantage.  Don’t worry, you can still find drivers that are 2 or 3 years old that have enough of the new technology to keep you in the game.

One aspect of the driver that is often overlooked is the shaft.  In many ways, the shaft is just as important as the head.  Different shafts can create different launch angles.  your swing will have a tendency to produce its own trajectory.  Most amateurs need help getting the ball in the air, so getting a shaft that produces a “high launch” trajectory can help you tremendously.  The only caveat I would suggest is to monitor your drives as your game progresses, and if you tend to produce ultra-high trajectory drives that hang up in the wind and cause a steep descent that doesn’t roll after it lands, then you may want to look at getting a driver with a “low launch” shaft.  But since most beginners have trouble launching the ball in the air, I suggest starting out with the “high launch” shaft for your driver.

As far as brands, pretty much all the major brands have drivers that will compete with today’s technological advancements, including: Ping, Cleveland, Callaway, Cobra, Titleist, Nike, Taylormade.  If you want to save some money by buying a lesser-known brand, that’s perfectly acceptable, but just be sure that the driver incorporates the newer technology.  This may seem trivial, but if you go out to play golf and end up 75 yards behind all your friends on every drive just because your equipment is inferior, you may incorrectly assume that you cannot hit a driver.

Fairway Woods
You will need at least one fairway wood.  Most people carry a 3 wood.  In days past, people used to commonly carry a 5 wood as well.  I’d advise going to your local retailer and ask about hitting several different 3 woods.  If they have used clubs, hit some of those.  if you like one of the used clubs, get it.  If you don’t like hitting a 2 iron or 3 iron, try hitting a 5 wood. If you like it better than hitting the long irons, give it a try.

The Irons
There are basically two theories on irons for beginners.:  (1) Cavity backs and (2) blades.  Blades are the old-style of irons that were used by all the classic pros like Palmer, Nicklaus, Hogan, etc.  Modern pros still play with blades because they provide more feedback.  Some people say that learning on blades will force you to become a better golfer.  One caveat about blades:  THEY ARE HARD TO HIT.  Its easy to be discouraged after hitting shot after shot poorly because the blades are so demanding.

On the other hand, cavity back clubs are designed for amateur golfers and are much more forgiving.  Shots that are not hit perfectly will still travel far and fairly straight.  All but the worst shots will still turn out okay.  In my opinion, beginners should start with cavity back irons because its just more enjoyable.

Shaft Flex
As a beginner, shaft flex is not that important.  You just want to make sure that you don’t get something that’s grossly incorrect for your swing speed.  This is not as important as a beginner, but generally speaking, if you are a young able-bodied male, its likely that you need stiff shafts.  If you are an older male or a woman, regular shafts would probably suit you. 

New vs Used
I am a huge advocate of used clubs.  I have bought lots of clubs off of ebay and craigslist.  If I end up not liking them, I can usually re-sell them on ebay for close to what I paid.  As a beginner, when you may want to try lots of different clubs, he used route can be really helpful.  The advantage of buying new is that the golf retailers and manufacturers have great customer service and usually will bend over backwards to help you.

Balls
As a beginner, just buy the cheapest balls out there until you can tell a difference.  Generally, the softer feeling balls are more expensive.  The ball that is more or less regarded as the best is the Titleist Pro V1, which costs $45 per dozen.  There are lots of decent balls out there for $15 a dozen that are just fine.  As you play, you may develop a taste for certain balls.  Until then, just hit whatever they have on sale.

Good luck!!