I also play professionally and know quite a few of the local mini tour/tour players. Did you catch his name per chance? 

 

To me the real difference between pros and ams is that professionals have a swing they can easily repeat and are money around the greens and never 3 putt.

 

When you have a repeatable swing your confidence is high which allows you to go at more pins but also play fearlessly because you know you can get up and down if you miss your mark.

 

All I got was his first name, John.   If I had his last name, I'm not sure I'd post it here.   I would feel a little queasy about putting someone's name on a message board like that.    I got to talking to him, I learned more about my swing in 5 minutes than I could hitting a hundred buckets of balls by myself.   That impressed me so much I hired an instructor and took my first lesson yesterday.   Just chipping and pitching for 2 hours.   Great, really productive use of time and money. 

 

It was out at Bent Creek. 

---

I am a golf nut, absolutely love the game.  I shoot in the 80's consistently but am looking to lower that to 78-82 range this year.

 

The biggest thing I need to work on is putting.  I will shoot in the low 80's with close to 40 putts, I hate it.  I can read the green well and can lag putt pretty good but I never make any putts unless they are pretty much gimme distance.  Just changed my putting stroke and seem to be hitting them on the line that I want however I am in the process of calibrating the touch now.  It's always something.

 

The other part of my game that I need to work on is getting a repeatable swing.  I have only taken one lesson in my life so am pretty much self taught, just tinkering with different aspects as I go.  Really need to breakdown and take a series of lessons to get a nice repeatable swing down.

 

I usually only play the courses in Clay County and the west side, any suggestions elsewhere around town?  Have recently played North Hampton and loved it, Julington Creek not so much nothing special in my eyes.

 

My bucket list is to play as many courses on the top 100 that I can, in addition to heading to St. Andrews one day and playing the Old Course.  I was able to go to Streamsong in January and Bandon in February, both are unreal.  I could go on for days about courses and golf in general.

---

I am a golf nut, absolutely love the game.  I shoot in the 80's consistently but am looking to lower that to 78-82 range this year.

 

The biggest thing I need to work on is putting.  I will shoot in the low 80's with close to 40 putts, I hate it.  I can read the green well and can lag putt pretty good but I never make any putts unless they are pretty much gimme distance.  Just changed my putting stroke and seem to be hitting them on the line that I want however I am in the process of calibrating the touch now.  It's always something.

 

The other part of my game that I need to work on is getting a repeatable swing.  I have only taken one lesson in my life so am pretty much self taught, just tinkering with different aspects as I go.  Really need to breakdown and take a series of lessons to get a nice repeatable swing down.

 

I usually only play the courses in Clay County and the west side, any suggestions elsewhere around town?  Have recently played North Hampton and loved it, Julington Creek not so much nothing special in my eyes.

 

My bucket list is to play as many courses on the top 100 that I can, in addition to heading to St. Andrews one day and playing the Old Course.  I was able to go to Streamsong in January and Bandon in February, both are unreal.  I could go on for days about courses and golf in general.

 

I was watching a video of Gary Player, and he has played with thousands of amateurs in his life, and he said the one thing they do causes them to putt poorly is head movement.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UDPEcB4u28

 

I used to not be able to make putts in the 3 to 4 foot range, but I started practicing not moving my head, even after I have hit the putt.   I don't even move my eyeballs to follow the ball.   It really helps.   The other part is the alignment of the face of the putter when it hits the ball.  So I tried not "stroking" the short putts, but more "tapping" them, just making sure the face is square when I hit the putt. 

 

I'm in pretty much the same situation as you.   I can shoot in the 80s, mostly upper 80s.   I recently knocked about 10 strokes off my average score by working on my short game.    A couple of weeks ago I had a minor back injury, so all I can do right now is chip and putt.    I played with some old guy a few months ago, and I was outdriving him by 50 yards a hole, but he beat me by 10 strokes by chipping and putting.   It made me realize, only about 30% of my shots are full swings, the rest are pitching, chipping, and putting.   Why was I going to the range and pounding golf balls to the exclusion of chipping and putting?   So I got a chipping lesson from a pro.   The main thing I learned from that chipping lesson was that, just like in my putting, my chipping problems mainly related to head movement.   I was anticipating where the ball was going, and moving my head to follow the ball as it came off the club.   The very next time I played with my usual golf buddies, I noticed how many bad shots they hit because they aren't actually looking at the ball when they hit it.   Practice swing, practice swing, line up to the ball, and chunk the shot, top the ball, or hit it fat, because they're looking at the flagstick when they hit the ball!  

 

I don't have any courses to recommend.  I usually play Hyde Park or Bent Creek.  I played Eagle Harbor recently.  That's a nice course.   I played Fleming Island last year, had a real bad round, lost a bunch of balls.   We used to play all over the place when we were younger.   We used to love to play Fort George, but that was closed a long time ago.  Fernandina is still open, but I haven't played there in years.   They have 27 holes, each 9 having a different character.   I recently played the King and the Bear at the World Golf Village.   That course is way overpriced.   We played because a friend had a discount coupon.   I played a couple of courses in North Carolina last year.   I love mountain golf.   It's very scenic.  

 

Writing this is giving me the fever.   I can't wait for my back soreness to go away so I can play.  

---

Played today at Ironwood GC in Gainesville.  Not the best kept track but the greens were smaller and tricky.  Not a level putt all day long!  Not worth the hour drive from Fleming Island but good course if you're looking for something to change it up.  Shot an 84, missed a 6 foot putt for my first eagle in probably a decade.  Great day to be out there, it was empty. 

---

I gotta work on my windmill hole shot.

 

I play most holes 5 or 6 times because 50% of the time I get stuck behind a family of 6 who decided to make this their big night out and take 3 hours to finish the course.

---

Spieth turns in one heck of a two round set.

---

I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

Spieth turns in one heck of a two round set.

I'm a huge fan of Spieth. I'm really hoping he can continue to play this well on the weekend, but history is not on his side.

---

I play most holes 5 or 6 times because 50% of the time I get stuck behind a family of 6 who decided to make this their big night out and take 3 hours to finish the course.

 

I've learned that if you hit ENOUGH of those shots where you have to yell "fore", there is a good chance they will let you play through them.

 

Of course, there is a chance it could make the situation worse, but that's a chance that you will just have to take.

 

Remember: "FOREEEEEEEEEE"

---

I survived the Gus Bradley Error.

Spieth was incredible.


Nuff said.

---

Spieth was incredible.


Nuff said.

 

Incredible on Thursday & Friday. Consistent on Saturday & Sunday.

 

All in all, a pretty boring Masters.

---

On Saturday, I went to the Heritage in Hilton Head.   That's a real nice tournament for spectators.   You can get pretty close to the golfers.   Anyway, for a while we sat in the stands behind the practice range and watched the players warm up.   Watching a top notch pro golfer hit a golf ball is amazing.   Jordan Spieth was hitting a hybrid to a flag at the far end of the range, waaay out there, and landing within about 10 feet every time.   Kuchar was hitting a fairway wood, loooong and straight.   Furyk was hitting a wedge very high and always to the same spot.   The way the ball just jumps off the club when a pro hits it is really amazing.   The ball jumps off the club and hangs in the air for what seems like forever before it finally starts coming down.  They're hitting the ball 250 yards without even swinging very hard.   And the accuracy is mind boggling. 

 

The really long hitters stay away from that tournament because the course is so tight.  

---

On Saturday, I went to the Heritage in Hilton Head.   That's a real nice tournament for spectators.   You can get pretty close to the golfers.   Anyway, for a while we sat in the stands behind the practice range and watched the players warm up.   Watching a top notch pro golfer hit a golf ball is amazing.   Jordan Spieth was hitting a hybrid to a flag at the far end of the range, waaay out there, and landing within about 10 feet every time.   Kuchar was hitting a fairway wood, loooong and straight.   Furyk was hitting a wedge very high and always to the same spot.   The way the ball just jumps off the club when a pro hits it is really amazing.   The ball jumps off the club and hangs in the air for what seems like forever before it finally starts coming down.  They're hitting the ball 250 yards without even swinging very hard.   And the accuracy is mind boggling. 

 

The really long hitters stay away from that tournament because the course is so tight.  

I really want to play Harbor Towne after watching the tournament this year.  Hearing that it is an older course and a lot of people online don't give it much love, I passed on stopping there on my way up to Myrtle Beach on a recent trip.  From TV the course looks like a lot of fun and definitely need to take strategy on it, not just grip and rip.

 

BTW, if you are local you need to go to The Players.  I went for the first time last year and had a blast.  Such an awesome experience and atmosphere.

---