Consider the following situation in your golf talk. You and three friends are on the course and have made your way towards a long narrow green. Two of you are on the green, far from the hole. One is in the rough just off the green and one is in a greenside bunker. What is the order of play? Does the player that is off the green always play first?

The simple answer is, not always. A player on the green might be the next player in the group to play before a player off the green. But this is only the case if the player on the green is farther from the hole. It’s considered common golf etiquette that the player farthest from the hole plays first.

If you didn’t already know, golf balls are constructed with a few different types of inner cores. There are two piece, three piece, and four piece golf balls, each with their own different specialties. Today we will be discussing the differences between each of these types of golf balls, so you understand which one is best for you. Enjoy!

Two Piece Golf Balls

Starting with the most simple version, the two piece golf balls, they simply have a solid rubber core and a firm outer layer. What makes these balls special is the fact that they are designed to spin less than the three or four piece golf balls, but it does help them fly straighter. So two piece golf balls actually tend to give players the most distance off of the tee

The term “offset” means the hosel is bent to set the club face behind the shaft. The main purpose of an offset club head is to help players that suffer from a weak fade or the dreaded slice. It does so by naturally putting hands in front of the clubhead, which angles the clubhead back.

With a traditional swing with an iron, the hands lead the clubhead through the ball and impact. The offset irons provide a significantly better angle approaching the ball, promoting an impact with the hands properly ahead of the club head.

Besides the putter, the irons are the most frequently used clubs in a golfer’s bag. Having the proper set of iron is very important to getting the most out of your game. One decision that must be made it whether to use forged irons or cast irons. What is the difference and what are the benefits of each type?

Golf talk: Cast Irons

In the casting process, a mold is made of the club head. The metal is heated into a liquid and poured into the mold. After it’s set, the head is removed, finished and shaft added to finish the club.This process can quickly produce large quantities of clubheads.

Hybrid golf clubs have been around for two decades, yet some players are still hesitant to add hybrids to their bag. For those that are still unfamiliar with hybrids, let’s take a look these clubs and how carrying these can improve your game.

Golf Talk: History

Introduced at the turn of the century, only seven percent of players on the PGA Tour carried a hybrid four years later. However, that grew by more than four times to 30 percent by 2007 and now nearly 2/3 of all golfers carry hybrids.

Knowledgeable golfers are aware of loft and lie angles of their clubs. But golf talk is also about wedges, where there is a third angle that is often overlooked. That is called the “bounce”. What is the bounce and how does it affect your shots?

The bounce angle is that between the ground and leading edge of the club as the sole is rested on the turf. It’s basically the part of the wedge that hits the ground on the swing. If proper contact is made, the spin and control of wedge shots can be ideal. If you look at several wedges, you can tell which has more bounce by how far the leading edge is above the ground.

There is an ongoing debate in the golf world whether graphite or steel shafts are better. Many professionals use steel shafts because there is less twisting. Amateurs and beginning players typically do better with graphite shafts. There is no definite answer which to use because there are pros and cons to each.

Graphite shafts are much lighter in weight than steel shafts, which increases swing speed and distance. In fact, many players will see an increase of at least five yards with every club in the bag. Mishits are less pronounced in both sound and feel. These shafts benefit players with slower swing speeds.

Gone are the days when needing extra launch meant buying another driver with extra loft. With modern technology, the majority of drivers on the market today are equipped with forms of adjustability. Customized weighting and adjustable hosels are ways that technology can improve your game off the tee.

But what is an adjustable driver? It’s simply a driver that you can adjust loft, lie angle, center of gravity and more with the use of an adjustable hosels or varying, movable weights.