1. Hitting the ball straight doesn’t mean you have a good swing – Getting that new driver and setting up the weights to straighten out your slice sounds like a great idea but what about later in your career when you want to work the ball for a certain shot shape. The flaw that causes your slice might make that impossible. I would rather know my swing is sound than wonder whether my new driver is going to perform the same as the old one.
2. Tiger wouldn’t be Tiger without sound fundamentals – Without understanding what makes a good swing Woods wouldn’t be able to make the small tweaks necessary on each of his shots. For example changing his spin rate or ball flight. His flawless basic swing makes all of that possible.
3. No substitute for good execution – This basically sums up the first two reasons. If you can put the ball where you want to without all the technology, you’ll be able to get every last shot shaving advantage out of the new technology on the market.

I’m not trying to say that anyone who is just out to have fun on the course shouldn’t buy equipment that allows them to shoot better and have a better time. I am just trying to say that if you take the sport seriously you might be better off not buying into equipment hype and working on your own physical abilities. The price tag might include limiting your abilities later on when old habits are much harder to break. Let me know what you think, leave some comments!

I know that personally I lose almost all of my strokes by hitting poor wedge shots around the green that result in long putts or are so bad that I need to hit another shot with my wedge. Many of us spend hours on the practice green with lag putts and making sure that we have speed control but how many spend the same time with a 20 yard pitch or bump and run. I know that part of my weekly practice routine will be at least an hour doing just that.

I also know quite a few golfers, especially beginners that have no problem dropping a couple hundered on the latest driver but scoff and paying more than $40 for a sand wedge. I have recently upgraded from one of these bargain bin clubs to a Fourteen M3 and can say that from getting spin on my shots from the tuff to getting the club head through the sand this club is a 100% improvement. Sure it was more than double the price of my previous club but it still didn’t rival the price of a new driver.

I have also been toying with the idea of custom grinds on wedges and how much of an affect that would have on my game. I don’t have access to Bob Vokey and I wouldn’t dream of taking my wedge to a grinder myself so what is a lowly 20 handicap supposed to do? The guys over at Scratch Golf have 18 grinds to choose from as well as an online fitting tool to see which one suits you the best. This article from MyGolfSpy.com highlights the choices. They are also a really good resource and one of the site that I check out daily.

Next time you check your score card and you have 40 putts think about whether you were missing makable putts or were you so far out you couldn’t do anything but three putt. Spending practice time with your wedges will not only lower your overall score, it will have a direct impact on your putt total as well.

The Essentials

1. Water/Energy Drink – This the number one pirece of scoring equipment in my bag. No one can perform their best while dehydrated. I have a Callaway bag with a cooler pocket with drainage holes where I can put two big bottles and some ice. Never Leave Home Without It!!
2. Fruit/Snack – Almost as important is a little snack like a piece of fruit. This little push at the turn can keep your mind focused and your stomach happy.
3. Enough Balls & Tees – Notice I said enough. I can’t tell you how many times I spent the day bumming tees off of a buddy. It get annoying for both parties. Even more annoying is having to ask for a ball or rummaging through the woods trying to keep your day from ending early. Not fun.
4. Golf Glove – If you use one and forget it can cause problems. Since your hand(s) are not used to swinging a club without one you can get blisters that will end your fun quickly.
5. Rain Gear/Umbrella – If there is even the slightest chance of rain make sure they are in your bag. I was caught out last year on the hole farthest from the club house and it was no fun riding back in my polo shirt and khakis. That also reminds me – you also may want to bring a change of clothes and leave them in the car also.

With the essentials out of the way there are still some items that I would prefer to not live without. They just make a day on the course a lot more comfortable and enjoyable.

Helpful Afterthoughts

1. Golf Towel – I hate standing over the ball with a dirty club head. It distracts me and all I think about it how will the dirt affect the shot I am about to hit. The answer is probably not as much as my crappy swing but nevertheless I still don’t want to think about it. I keep the distraction to a minimum by cleaning my clubs after each shot before they go back in the bag with the towel clipped to it.
2. Ball Markers – Even if it is some loose change, having something to mark the ball with is important. Especially if you are playing with some people that you haven’t met before because you are never sure how serious they are.
3. Divot Tool – I think one of the most disrespectful things is not repairing any damage you might do to the green. While you can just use a tee it is so much easier to use a nice metal divot tool.  My favorite one is from Odyssey and it includes a magnetic ball marker taking care of item #2 at the same time.

Final Thoughts

If you use a GPS that would also be very important and if you are like me and don’t wear your spikes to the course make sure those make it into the car. I have played more than one round without my golf shoes and really don’t like it. Sunglasses are also a major part of a players equipment that should be accounted for if necessary. The list of possibilities could go on forever, the moral of the story is just make sure you have everything because you never know when the need will arrise.

Then in the latest issue of Golf Digest (April 2009) the Frugal Golfer highlighted all the places on the internet that are selling only used golf balls I realized that there must be some serious demand and that many other golfers must be doing the same thing I am. I decided to check out some of the forums online to see if I could find out what other people thought about the new vs. used debate.

I came accross a republished Golf Digest article on the effects of water submerssion on golf balls.  The results – a six yard loss of distance after eight days, a 12-yard loss after three months and a 15-yard loss after six months. I guess  I have a new excuse the next time my GPS measures  a well hit drive only 205 yards. Even with that info out there it seems like people are flocking to sites like lostgolfballs.com, aaausedgolfballs.com and golfballnut.com.  Most every site also has listings on eBay in the Used Golf Balls category so you are able to compare the listings all in one place which makes it my go to place for ball shopping.

Any Real Concensus?

It doesn’t seem like any one really cares about any possible drawbacks of playing used golf balls. Maybe it’s the state of the economy or maybe the average or even above average player just isn’t able to tell the difference.  I wonder if you gave a tour player on the highest grade balls and didn’t tell them would they know the difference? The very few people that did voice any concern over the used balls seemed to be tournament players and some others that came off sounding a bit pretentious. If I could afford to lose the equivalent of a new club every 8 – 10 rounds I would use brand new Pro V1 balls but since I can’t I think that I can break 100 using some quality used balls.