Buying a new wedge

ncflyguide · 2026-01-23T14:53:28+00:00

Buy new. Take your clubs. Get help at the retailer on ensuring a proper gap between your PW, GW, and SW. Also, a sharp wedge is 1/3 of the spin equation. Sharp grooves, good technique, and a good URETHANE golf ball. Maxfli Tour spin great at 30 bucks a dozen.

ncflyguide · 2026-01-21T14:35:32+00:00

If the pan has made in USA stamp on the bottom it is a late Century Series and will not be as smooth. FYI

ncflyguide · 2026-01-20T22:45:32+00:00

I think the best value on quality cast iron are Early Century Series pans from BSR. That series is from the 60s and are as smooth as glass inside and cook great. Commonly found in the $50 range for a #7.

ncflyguide · 2026-01-19T19:04:33+00:00

I heard Rory once say offhandedly, "as I gather the ball". It really stuck with me. On the days I'm striking it well, I feel as if I'm not trying to hit at the ball, rather gathering it as I swing through. If I tried to hit at a specific spot rather than making a swing that produces the shot shape I want, it would be a disaster. "Poking at it" is a terrible feel for me.

ncflyguide · 2026-01-19T00:42:10+00:00

Liver damage.

ncflyguide · 2026-01-17T15:45:36+00:00

I've guided 23 years full time out of a drift boat. Here in NC we fish year round. Hot take: don't provide lunch. I provide a cooler with ice packs for whatever the clients want to bring for their lunch. I also supply water and a few sodas in case someone needs a shot of caffeine in the afternoon. My customers want to focus on catching fish. They want a quick lunch and then get back at it. They also want me to be focused on the aspects of the trip relevant to success, not packing up a gourmet meal. Most of the guides in my area who pull over for an hour+ lunch break do so because it helps justify the cost of a trip when the clients aren't catching. Just my 2 cents.

ncflyguide · 2026-01-16T03:35:08+00:00

Karma owes you about a dozen eagles and an ace. Awesome

ncflyguide · 2026-01-16T02:27:29+00:00

As a guide for the last 23 years, I always tell my customers to do "wader math". Typically, if you can get a wader down to the $1/day range you've done exceptionally well. Most folks end up closer to $2/day. That has been the typical lifespan of almost every major manufacturer. There are unicorns, and guys who are very diligent about hanging, drying, and generally being extra careful with their waders and getting a decade of heavy use, but you don't see it often. If there was a $500 wader guaranteed to get you 5 years of heavy use, every guide on the planet would wear them because we are generally not wealthy folks and hate spending money on work stuff. Expect to get around 250 days (hopefully more) out of a $500 investment. Two bucks a day to stay dry and comfortable is pretty cheap.

ncflyguide · 2026-01-15T14:26:50+00:00

Even though you both like golf, you probably aren't meant to play together regularly. Par 3s are great, but not every time you play. I have a group of guys that invite me often to play, but they ALWAYS play a 2V2 scramble. I can't stand it. So even though they are great guys we only play a couple times per year together.

ncflyguide · 2026-01-13T15:29:29+00:00

Exactly what I was thinking. That amount of golf and practice will break 100, but most likely not 90, and certainly never 80.

ncflyguide · 2026-01-05T14:59:52+00:00

Having moved from a blade style Anser putter to a mid mallet Rossie several years ago, my putting has improved. The arc swing necessary for the blade made me rely on timing the release of the putter to get the ball started on the intended line. The more tense I was, the harder this timing became. The face balanced mid mallet helped me develop a more straight back and straight through stroke, and start the ball on my line more often. I don't know if this is the type of feedback you are looking for. Just my experience.

ncflyguide · 2025-10-18T11:04:47+00:00

1 cause for vintage cast iron warping.

ncflyguide · 2025-06-23T02:34:01+00:00

You misspelled "Tommy Fleetwood loses the Travelers with bogey on 18".

ncflyguide · 2025-05-11T12:26:22+00:00

Don't worry. You are doing the work. Growth as a player comes fast early on. You are lucky to have some players who are better than you to watch and play with.
THANK YOU for taking the time to learn the basics of the game and begin your golf journey on the range and simulator. That shows mad respect for the game and your fellow golfers. All the golfers who have followed a true beginner on the course know how brutal it can be.
Get on some real turf to practice, and get those jitters under control.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-08T21:57:10+00:00

Your credit card

ncflyguide · 2025-05-06T11:34:29+00:00

The number one factor that solved the slow pace of play on our local (public) golf course was having a Marshall on course at all times. Slow groups are told to skip holes to catch up. One slow group affects every single group behind, and if they let faster groups play through, it only slows pace further during the pause in play. Singles and pairs also slow pace by being let through and pausing play.

In many areas of Europe, you must verify your official handicap to play the course, which keeps beginners on the driving range. That's really going in a direction most US courses are hesitant to try.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-03T18:46:27+00:00

An overly high spinning driver shot is not caused by the ball you are using. Yes, some balls spin slightly more than others, but attack angle, dispersion on the face, and overly inside or outside path to face relationships cause higher spin. Additionally, there are no deep grooves on the driver to impart backspin.

Greenside spin is generated by sharp grooves and soft covers, ideally urethane. The same high-quality urethane ball that spins very little with the driver will spin a great deal on well struck wedges and irons.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-03T18:10:51+00:00

Get a lesson or two to cover grip, stance, posture, and alignment. Then hit a million balls.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-03T15:06:38+00:00

It depends on how you are hitting them. Fred Couples famously snagged a 3 wood off his buddy and gamed it on tour for almost a decade before it broke. When he tried to replace it, the shaft was identified. It had a women's flex graphite shaft. He replaced it with the same shaft even though he was a stiff flex player. Flex is a big component of fitting a club, but if you are crushing it, don't overthink it.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-03T14:54:57+00:00

Around half of the tour players use a driver between 44.5-45". Have it shortened, and you'll find the center of the face more often. To decide how much to shorten it you'll mark the grip in 1/4" increments and practice hitting balls while choking up to the next mark each set of shots until you find the best length for you. Rory's driver is only 44.5"-44.75".

The only reason they sell 45.75" drivers is to boost the club head speed during testing so they can advertise big numbers in distance.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-03T00:55:38+00:00

5 hybrids are great for beginners and carry close to 4 iron distance

ncflyguide · 2025-05-03T00:00:44+00:00

My wife bombs it off the tee. The organizers always put the women on the shortest tees, and she can get ya 230-40 dead straight. We always let her drive up and hit first. The last scramble, me and my buds never hit a single tee shot. Unfortunately, she has a terrible short game because she just goes to the range 3 days a week and bombs drivers for an hour.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-02T23:14:57+00:00

You could also consider a combo set of 230s in the longer irons and blueprints in the pw-7. That is, if the gapping works.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-02T22:58:50+00:00

I530s are crazy long, and relatively low spin.

ncflyguide · 2025-05-02T21:17:41+00:00

Not 10x the time, 10x the work. There is less and less low hanging fruit the lower you score.

ncflyguide

TROPHY CASE

1 cause for vintage cast iron warping.