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I also received my order confirmation email earlier today! So excited! The people I’ve dealt with at LAB have been incredible so far! Avid putter coverer here! With this LAB I think I’ll try to find a cover for the cover to keep it in nice shape! I created a spreadsheet to help track my on-course putting in great detail. I’m not sure what to do with it quite yet, but I’ll post it on here when I get back home. I also might steal your spreadsheet, if it’s ok with you, for my practice putting on the Exputt when it arrives!

Awesome call with a lot of great information shared. Thanks Jamie @GolfSpy_APH for getting this arranged. Another large turnout of members too, at one time I saw that there were 29 people on the call.

These were still in play until the last couple months and after hearing rounds, the sm9s may need friends while they are on sale still.

Snuck up to the range this evening for some more work with the QI-10. Over the last few sessions I’ve been working to correct face to path issues that were producing high spinny slices. Progress has been made on that front and I’m starting to see more draws than slices. I had a couple that carried around 250 yards, which for my game is the sweet spot. My feelings on this shaft/head combo are thus: Love the shaft, starting to dig the head. Sorry, @IndyBonzo, you may not be getting this head back Oh, and the mini driver is serviceable off the deck. Which makes for a pretty good insurance policy, if the driver goes south mid-round. The top of the bag is starting to take shape for this season, just need to get some rounds in.

Wtg on the eagle @birdiesandbags !!! Today was a first on many levels for me playing golf... I played a local benefit scramble tournament today and was part of a 4 man team from the PD, just one team of many from work. There were 55 teams total iirc across 8 departments participating. We'll over 200 players. 2 of the guys I work with are newer to golf, and the one is a coworker on my sqaud, they are 25 hcps Avg We started out with birdie birdie, then 1 team mate hit for an eagle. i had 2 natural birdies and a natural eagle!!! 465 yd par 5. Caught the downhill side of what should have been a nasty ob hook, and it kicked right and rolled 30 more yards into the middle of the fairway. 165 to pin, hit a low straight shot with the 4hy, and it rolled 4 feet from the pin. They let me putt for the eagle. We placed 9th overall, but with hcp adjustments took 3rd at the final tally!!! Got my 1st golf trophy too! Since it was a charity event, naturally we bought a few mulligans, and a ton of raffle tickets for bonus things like throw the ball, drop a stroke, etc. We only ended up using 2 mulligans and 3 throw a ball. We had to declare it to the tee Marshall before we teed off on the par 3s ans par 5s. We forgot about the drop a stroke tickets though! One of the guys used a throw a ball ticket after coming up short on a par 3 (186yards) he was 20 feet from the pin, and I came up short too off the drive. He underhand tossed it and it rolled into the cup. While not a technical ACE, on the card it was!!! The DB performed very well, sinking 10 of the 18 holes we played! Overall it was a great day, I'm slightly over heated as it reached 91⁰ out, even though I stayed plenty hydrated. Really didn't have a ton of opportunities for pics. But managed to get a couple in.

I keep a few I find for scramble tourneys or the backyard net and the rest go in the MGA bucket. I trade out those for a few good ones from time to time.

I have 20 ish 18ct egg cartons separated by brands in the garage. Wish someone local would offer a credit like that!

Bummed I missed the call, but had a good reason (will post in the play thread later) Hopefully I will be able to catch a replay later!

All I ever find is range balls on the course Tonight is the NFL draft though!!! (Go Raiders) And looking forward to a weekend tee time. Going a week without hitting the course is starting to make my hands itchy and I have been walking around practice swinging with water bottles all day

I play enough rounds that they prob need to be replaced at least twice a year but that gets expensive quick.

I resemble that remark...

I have spent my fair share of time in the fescue and trees as well!

I know the feeling Josh, My spin milled are 2007 vintage, so they are definitely up for renewal this year, although, they don't appear to be worn out yet...

I don’t either, just have spent too much time in the trees looking for my own ball…unfortunately I’m better at finding other people’s!

Great focus piece for playing on course listening to the details about wedges and the design and finish on them. Great questions and again hearing from a subject matter expert who has forgotten more about his craft than most of us will ever know.

... Cousins must feel like Rodgers when they drafted Love. Just signed a 4 year $180 million contract and they could have taken Odunze to help him out, but they take a QB?

They aren't cheap. I don't play enough for that frequency of replacement but, I should have replaced mine long ago.

Tonight I went to Golftec for a lesson. I haven't been looking forward to these lately, but tonight was really productive... minus an equipment failure. To start the lesson, I told my instructor that I've been suffering with driver lately, pushing and slicing everything right. So, first we warmed up with 9i... which went great! Getting pretty reliable distance and trajectory from T200s right now. We then worked up to the 3i, which had some solid strikes but after a handful I went to rest my weight on the club and start to hear cracking sounds... a little more weight and the head snapped clean off. Welp... down to 12 clubs in the bag (I've reached out to Sub 70 support to see what I can do). With my "fairway finder" out of commission we pulled out the driver and I expected the lesson to go from bad to worse. Then I proceeded to knock my next four drives dead straight with solid distance for me (~270ish) my instructor was laughing at this point and wondering what the problem was. On shot five I "went for it," and finally the slice reared it's ugly head. However, he did a good job identifying how this swing differed from the first four. On this swing I was finishing the swing with my weight on the back of my heels/trail leg and I did this kind of swipe to finish. Identifying that miss paired with the feeling of releasing/throwing the club really seemed to help. We finished the lesson with some sim golf where I was finding fairways and playing about as good as I ever have on that sim setup. Despite losing a club tonight I'm feeling pretty positive! Have another lesson scheduled (outside of Golftec) with a PGA pro for Saturday to continue making progress on driver.

Day 102 (25 Apr 24) - Worked with the Divot Board again today. Set the board up where I had a card just behind the ball to reinforce ball first contact Following are a series of swings (actually 3 in a row) where contact steadily inproved. For DTL visuals, set up the grandson's toy field goal about 10yds out - the goal was to start the ball (hard foam) just right of the posts and have it draw back to the center. Overall, a good drill day.

Turns out I went tonight for a quick 9-hole round and ended up playing a full 18! There wasn’t anybody on the course and my random playing partner and I played in just under 3 hours. Nod bad for an unplanned round after work! I birdied the first hole which HAS to be thanks to the Ronin. Here is a teaser (another post with more info is coming) of the bag out in the wild enjoying its time. *My playing partner must have wondered what in the world was I doing snapping random pictures of my bag every few holes*

Over this past winter I used trackman a ton at work and I had the same issue once I got outside. I think it’s a great tool, but I try to have a good mix of simulator use for numbers and actual practice outside. The last thing I want to become is one those people that can play great on the simulator and awful outside.

Congratulations on the eagle, awesome!

We don’t have a store like that here. I see a lot of people sell them from their houses on golf courses. I don’t live on a course unfortunately.

I walked into my local store with a Tupperware full of old balls…they sell some older ones. The guy behind the counter almost panicked thinking he was going to have to go through them all and sort them to give me a credit. Told him just give me a couple dollars off and we’d be good…he was quite relieved!

I haven’t been posting as much lately, because it seems repetitive to come in every day and say basically the same thing, oh, I shot a 77 today and made some great shots, blah blah blah… so, I did shoot a 77 today, and blah blah, but the point of interest is in how strong my grip has become of late. Just a continuance of the “Hanson Hybrid“ grip development. lots of new faces and names I'm seeing, so welcome newbies… I’m just an old dog popping in to say hello…

6 QBs in first 12 picks!!!! Max 2 of them are actually good. Just crazy.

I played SM5's for about 4+ yrs, replacing them with SM8's, which I bought new in a closeout. After going through a Titleist fitting, I found I was playing the incorrect grinds, which is the only reason I'm replacing the SM8's with SM10's. Now I'm really stoked because the SM10's came in the black finish vs the chrome finish of the SM8.

They make 2 bags: the anyday bag and the weekender bag. We were picked to test the anyday bag which left us with simply which color did we want.

It made no sense given that they are currently trying to win big with Cousins.

Penix at 8 to the Falcons!?!?!? Wow!!!

It just adds up so fast.

Agreed, I had a set of TM wedges around 10 years before I made a poor choice with one of them. They started as a satin finish, but the color wore off the face and were way more shiny than they started (to the point where the sun reflected off at certain angles).

... Pretty impressive watching Hutchinson, Megatron and Sanders come on stage. Having the mascot flatten an obnoxious packers fan was icing on the cake.

I got 12 holes in for the 7th time on course with the Haywoods at Olmos Basin GC in San Antonio, TX. It was windy (15-20 gusting higher) for every hole, so the yardages are impacted with each shot, so I'll try to share wind direction before each. Hole 1: 400ish yard par 4 with the wind coming off the left and maybe slightly into. Piped driver 278 and had 124.7 to a back pin. I decided to hit PW, hoping to hit it to the center of the green to leave an uphill putt as the slope was high past the hole. I thinned it bad and watched as it flew about 40' high max, hit the front of the green and the combination of spin and the slope slowed the ball at the very back of the green. 127 total, but not a good strike. GIR though. Hole 2: Dead into the wind on a 430+ yard par 4. I ripped driver but pulled it into some trees way left. I had 212 yards out and zero shot. I had to play a punch 4I and my goal was to get it under all the trees (including a very large, low hanging oak) and get it into the fairway around 150 out. I successfully did so with a low running 81 yard shot. I had 142.7 to an uphill green with the wind off the left and slightly into. I pulled 7, struck it pure and just overdrew it a bit into the wind. I was just short of pin high but on the far left side of the green. No GIR, but a green hit. Hole 3: 198.6 to a downhill par 3 playing 191.2 with several bunkers right. The wind was off the right. I pulled 4I with the goal of starting it over the bunkers and riding the wind with a baby draw onto the green. I pured it and it started right where I wanted, but I could see the wind visably knock it down while it was in the air. It drew perfectly on line, but landed just short of the green in a wet spot, but managed to creep onto the front. 181 total and a GIR (but a long putt). Hole 4: 380ish yard par 4 with the wind helping off the right. Smoked driver 283 right down the middle leaving 104.7 to a back left pin. I should have hit my 95 yard Edison 53, but wanted to challenge the flag, so I took a PW hoping to play a 3/4 swing draw and ride the wind to the hole. Hit it PURE to perfection, complete with the draw going 104 yards just left of the pin with the ball 3" from the pitch mark. A 13' putt later and BIRDIE Baby! 3 GIR! Hole 5: I thought it would be fun to play the par 5 (into the wind off the left with a more left/hurting wind on the approach shot) by going 4I, 5I, 6I because that should be fun! I PURED the 4I 194 yards with a baby draw into the center of the fairway off the elevated tee box (there was a creek that crosses at the 260 yard mark). The 5I strike was solid (not perfect) but went 171 yards into the wind uphill across the creek onto the left side of the fairway, which unfortunately brought a tree into play on the 3rd shot. I had 156.6 yards to an uphill green and pulled 6I as planned. Thinking back now, I should have played a big draw around the tree into the wind, but at the time I decided going over and fading was the play. I didn't execute, hitting the 6I low and on the toe and watching as the ball missed the tree right and kept going right. It bounded between the bunkers at least. 153 total but missed GIR about 25 yards right. Hole 6: 154.3 playing 149.7 downhill wind off the right helping on this par 3. The pin was in the front behind a bunker I wanted nothing to do with, so I pulled 7I hoping to just hit the middle of the green. I drew it in nicely but the wind helped a bit much and it wound up going 159 total to the center/left of the green. GIR 4 Hole 7: Short par 4 uphill 75-degree dogleg right with the wind coming hard off the left. I tried to go for it and hit a tree on the right side. I was 130-ish out and had no low shot so I had to hit 57 to get over some trees and found a greenside bunker. NO Haywood hit on this hole. Hole 8: 380ish downhill (to the creek at around 300) downwind. I hit driver so well I picked up the tee before it landed. When I couldn't find my ball, I was aghast. We found it. It had gone 303 yards to the edge of the creek. Had to hit 57 to the dreen (missed left). No GIR or Haywood hit on this hole. Hole 9: 485 yard par 5 straight downwind dogleg right. Tried to cut the corner and failed. I wound up in the right trees. Had to hit 2hybrid to punch out and had 136 exactly with the wind off the right helping. I hit 9I and PURED it...in fact...for the first time ever I took a divot like you see on TV! The kind where you have to go get the chunk of turf and actually put it back into your divot and it's all one piece so it fits perfectly. This does not happen on the courses I play here in Texas...I was amazed at the divot. I was also amazed that the turf interaction was so smooth. I shouldn't have been able to take a dollar-sized divot with dirt and grass attached and not have it slow my swing or rattle my hands. It was sooooo cool. Yes, the fairway was wet there, but it was soooooo cool. I hit it 132 total. GIR 5. Hole 10: 400ish yard par 4 wind off the right maybe into slightly. Smoked driver 263. Had 144.4 to the back pin. Hit 8I with the wind off the right. Hit it slightly thin (but again, slightly thin is good) and just a bit right (it did not draw at all, not even with the wind, so I think I faded it by accident or the strike was also with an open face). It carried a bunker, hit the green and rolled out almost pin high about 40' right. 142 yards total. GIR 6. Hole 11: 285 yard par 4 straight downwind. I tried to drive the green...hit a tree and wound up 108.1 yards out to an uphill green. In between the PW and 53 again, but hit the same 3/4 PW shot I did on 4 and had the exact same result. 106 total, 24' short/left of the pin. GIR 7. Hole 12: Conditions wise, this was the toughest wind hole I played. It was 25+ gusts dead into the wind on a 184.7 yard par 3 with water down the entire left side and gaping bunkers left and right short. I pulled 4I and told my friend I was playing with "there's no way this is enough club". I PURED IT and unbelievably stared in awe as the ball rose up and kept going perfectly straight before descending slowly until it softly landed on the very front of the green. It made a pitch mark and stayed in it 166 yards total. Was it near the flag...no, but to hit that green in those conditions with a straight as an arrow 4 iron was truly an awesome shot. GIR 8. 8 of 12 of GIRs. The 7th round in a row with positive strokes gained approach (even if it wasn't high...I blame hole 2 where I had to punch out as I know that was a negative SG shot and hole 7 where I had to lay up over the trees for the reason it was "only" +0.6). Hitting 8 of 12 GIR is well above my average. My proximity to the hole on the GIRs wasn't stellar, but with the wind blowing 15-25, it was tough to get anything really close. I'm really enjoying these practice rounds.

Congrats on the Eagle!

Those look like they've seen a few rounds.

I've been hitting indoors at the home sim with the Qi10 Max and the Tensei AV Blue Limited 60R and the C6 Blue 60S... and my launch monitor is not playing nice (or is being brutally honest and I am really , really bad at driving!). Data below. Launch angle, backspin and distances are truly bad. This is not doing wonders for my self-esteem, but that's the data I have to work on. Have RCT balls on order to see if the spin #'s get back in line with my mid 2000 average and helps with the distances. The head continues to hold up very well and I am looking forward to going out on the golf course to play on real grass! Courses are starting to open here in Ottawa, but it's still in the single digits in Celsius...that's a little too chilly for me still ! EDIT NOTE: the light purple/lilac is mis-labeled. It should read: Tensei with TP5 (NOT TP5x)

Started out at the putting green after the gym today. Spent half hour rolling lag putts, trying to better understand the weight of this new putter. Then 4 hours of meetings, training, and sales pitches. After work, I hit some 30 yard chips in the backyard with the 58. Don't worry, my kids water table was marked safe from this exercise. Grumble. Then, I liked the @Rob Person 7 iron idea so I hit about 30 of em before calling it quits for the day. Golf is awesome. I think I like practicing as much at playing. Wish I were better at it. Cheers, B Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

I almost feel like I need to replace my SM8s after the call today…seems like mine are on the edge of old now!

Forgot to mention, I still have a set of Vokey SM7 wedges that I would probably still be playing if it wasn't for the SnakeBite wedges in my bag. I almost chimed in on this but... Lawn mower.

Desmond Howard on this evening “Game Day” was asked Whois the most NFL ‘ready” player in the draft. JJ McCarthy. Who will be the NFL Offensive Player of the Year? JJ McCarthy. Desmond the highest paid fanboi in America. I am now going to test this website to see if I can laugh at my own post….

Great Vokey call today. I found it really interesting.. Good to hear that there will be no changes to their grinds (I love the grinds) and no full face wedges! At least we know they are making a mint from Wedge Works products that are niche, but they work for a particular subset of golfers.

Thanks to all who were able to join! Was a lot of fun and a great experience for sure. Next week Shot Scope!

Another great call today! Listening to Aaron describe the process and dedication to improvement at Vokey was very revealing. Thank you @GolfSpy_APH for setting this one up. This call has convinced me to stay with Vokey when I replace my wedges later this year...

What a Great Call. Really interesting to learn what goes into the making of Vokey Wedges, including the passion of Bob Vokey. Aaron was great! Thank you!

Agree never really gave the shaft a second thought, the KBS shaft featured in the runner putter looks good and has a grip on one end, the putter head on the other, pretty much job well done. The KBS website has this to say ",,, to ensure stability, and accuracy on the greens. Designed as a high balance performance shaft that results in minimizing deflection bend commonly found in traditional steel putter shafts on longer putts, along with better distance control and ensuring the ball starts on its desired line. KBS GPS Graphite Putter Shaft incorporates a material that produces the unique and superior feel only felt in KBS Golf Shafts. Stiff without adding increased weight, graphite putter shafts can help the face from “turning” when a putt is struck toward the heel/toe. That will increase any putter’s moment of inertia (MOI) making your putting more controlled on mis-hits." Well, okay then, still not sure it's necessary but I've got it, so all's good.

Ended up carding a 45 in my spark league round last night , but made my first eagle WOOH!!! Had a high risk shot behind a tree . But hey make the best of it . Driver,hybrid,putt

Got out for 9 at a new to me course - really nice layout set into some wetlands and woods. Started out ok .. a kind of surprising "easy" par on the first then two good (for me) bogeys. Then #4 .. I dunno... Tee -> slice -> splash. Drop -> chunked. Attempted shot on green -> fluffed, splash. Drop -> barely made it onto the front of the green. Just to make the pain complete? 3 putt... This is the view from the back tees on a Par 3 - 200 from the Blacks, yes basically all carry! Fortunately the Gold and Red were waaay further up, with a clean shot .. no water .. and only about 120 into the wind for me. But yeah still came up short, on the front fringe... Here's another short Par 4 where yep this guy drove it straight down the middle and through the fairway into the rough at the end! (..thank you firm and fast fairway ) And, well, after this things fell apart... Managed a bogey on the next Par 3 .. almost had a miraculous up & down after a terrible awful horrible nasty bad not good attempt at a tee shot. #8 and #9 went double, triple....... Hey guys, did I mention this last time? Work. In. Progress.