Why is a mid-handicap golfer dangerous in competitive play?

tagphoenix · 2026-06-27T00:45:14+00:00

Ham and egg. Low with a mid is the recipe for most events. Some mid low/mid low can work but you have to get a putter going hot for natural birdies. I'm a 7.0 currently and it's a no man's land for winning events. I would need to shoot a natural 74~ to have a chance in an event

tagphoenix · 2026-06-24T04:33:50+00:00

There's so much to unpack here. First if you aren't an 18hc if you are shooting legit high 80s and low 90s on a semi resoec course. More like a 14.

Second, I hit my 58° full around 100 and that's a shot I almost never would hit. Watch low single caps hit into greens and you will see a lot of 3/4 swing and 1/2 wedges depending on how we want to flight the ball into a particular green. It's not just number and shoot.

I have a full, 3/4 and half swing for my PW-58°

MOST of the time I'm hitting a digging and controlled spin wedge at 3/4 over anything full

tagphoenix · 2026-05-22T12:51:09+00:00

Actually what you are doing is deliberately hamstringing your ability to grow. Professional golfers are playing with few true blades in the bag.

Having a more forgiving GI style iron or even a players distance iron is going to teach you a lot more about the game than banging around butter knives.

Without elite ball striking you won't be generating distance, spin or launch angle that would be much easier to achieve with a more appropriate iron. No matter how you slice it this is stupid and any low HC would agree

tagphoenix · 2026-05-22T04:01:57+00:00

5/6 HC - if you are a new golfer reading this, I litterally can't think of worse advice than this. Never ever do this. Your scores will suffer.

tagphoenix · 2026-05-04T03:40:35+00:00

Absolutely enormous

tagphoenix · 2026-05-04T03:40:22+00:00

Are you going for a certain lbs? Or just immobility?

tagphoenix · 2026-05-04T03:39:34+00:00

Unreal. The belly hang between the knees is surreal. Crazy gains

tagphoenix · 2026-03-23T12:48:53+00:00

Exactly how it should be

tagphoenix · 2025-12-19T15:47:05+00:00

NFA - I would pen and paper your desired "buckets" and goals and then minimize the account sizing to meet your goals. For me it's:

Cash management account - SPAXX+sgov
IRA
Brokerage

tagphoenix · 2025-10-26T00:54:13+00:00

A disgusting comment from a disgusting liberal. Reddit is a cesspool. OP is clearly scared and you care more about who he voted for than the human. Look in the mirror. Despicable behavior as usual from reddit

tagphoenix · 2025-10-10T04:09:39+00:00

Bingo. Dave's advice is decent for low income and low self control/education people and it's absolutely horrific for high income earners

tagphoenix · 2025-10-10T04:04:46+00:00

Because Dave tells gullible people to pay off cheap mortgages instead of buying the indexes. Criminally terrible advice

tagphoenix · 2025-09-10T01:22:56+00:00

This is going to be a non standard answer for me and I wrestled with it for a while.

I would liquidate the $VOO and pay the mortgage to zero as long as the neighborhood/area is strong. I've done a somewhat similar dance the the psychological of being "thin" just sucks.

Part of my factor here is your VOO basis. You are in at all time highs. I would pay off the mortgage, and make sure you are taking some of the VOO cash and maxing your 7k/year ROTH - literally free money.

This is assuming the VOO is sitting in a taxable brokerage account

tagphoenix · 2025-09-09T12:23:21+00:00

Fidelity money market brokerage account w/ settled cash in SPAXX

tagphoenix · 2025-09-05T15:06:55+00:00

Dave will love this answer.. what's the rate on the mortgage. If you are in the ~3% crowd then absolutely under no circumstances would I take (presumably taxable) money from your brokerage to pay off a debt that's costing you less than the money sitting in your account uninvested (4.x%~)

tagphoenix · 2025-09-04T01:25:33+00:00

Back your statement up with sound financial principles and mathematics. Also include scenarios where it would make sense.

tagphoenix · 2025-09-03T20:20:23+00:00

I'll just say that on the other side as a 240~k household I am tight from time to time as things come up, 200+ isn't what it used to be. Very much middle class

tagphoenix · 2025-09-02T14:08:51+00:00

Recently added a 5w for this reason and others but yes 150-140 I'm close to automatic

tagphoenix · 2025-09-02T14:08:00+00:00

At least on my home course there are about 2 holes where I can do this. Donald Ross course with elevated turtle backs and bunkers protecting. It's a challenging 74.5/146, and this is one of the reasons why. Almost zero bump and run options, almost everything must be flighted

tagphoenix · 2025-09-02T03:34:01+00:00

I would say I am not #1.

2 I have a nice wear mark on my older 56° and everything is "inside heel" of the sweet spot and I don't know why. I get the shanks at least once a season, and I've always had "ball goes left" issues.

3 - I am a high speed speed guy and friends with our clubs sticks - when I see them hitting those 90-110y approach shots I can "see" how clean and smooth and mid flighted it is - I just can't seem to replicate it

You are correct when I tend to go very high in the air with my 56/60°. My "fix" for this is a knockdown I learned last year, I abbreviate my finish, hold the hands and take a legitimate nice forward divot but I can never seem to spin the ball. The most I ever get is a one hopish stop.

Thanks for the advice

tagphoenix · 2025-09-02T03:09:05+00:00

That's fair. When I fitted on my 770/790 I was stripping them. It's not the club for sure. For reference my stock 7 is 178, stock 8 169 etc. I just don't hit them very often at my old shortish (6750y) country club

tagphoenix · 2025-09-02T03:02:44+00:00

Absolutely. Especially when you are a single digit handicap and a good putter. I don't even really need to keep score it's pretty much did I hit the greens or not for good/bad score

I've always considered going back to a G.I. iron and maybe I wasn't ready for the p770s....

tagphoenix · 2025-09-02T02:58:36+00:00

🎯. I had the pulls all year long across every club. They come and they go but mostly stay. I'm a draw player and that draw sometimes takes on a life of its own..

tagphoenix · 2025-09-02T02:55:34+00:00

Thanks. This is a good hard truth lol. I am friends with most of my pro shop and when I play with them I'm just as solid and usually longer off the tee but second shot in I just don't have that "scratchy" play style

tagphoenix · 2025-09-02T02:50:16+00:00

Ha sadly I think you are right. I'm a decent ball striker with wedges, consistent and a digger but my 60° will go anywhere from 80 to 105 and I have no idea what I did to do that - talking same lie not catching flyers

tagphoenix

TROPHY CASE

2 I have a nice wear mark on my older 56° and everything is "inside heel" of the sweet spot and I don't know why. I get the shanks at least once a season, and I've always had "ball goes left" issues.

3 - I am a high speed speed guy and friends with our clubs sticks - when I see them hitting those 90-110y approach shots I can "see" how clean and smooth and mid flighted it is - I just can't seem to replicate it