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This is my first time posting in the Good Morning Thread! Hi everyone I have Mondays off, so my mornings are always an early round somewhere in the Los Angeles area. This was a view of the 18th green of the Wilson course at Griffith Park Golf Club. 7:00am and a brisk 46*. Happy Monday, and I hope you all have a great week ahead! ✌

Welcome to the asylum, uh, the GMT!

Hey fur therapy is a real thing!! According to an analysis by the NIH of other studies... "The BP lowering effect is especially evident during direct contact with the pet." And this from Harvard Medical School... "Several studies show that blood pressure goes down when a person pets a dog." .. gotta love science!!

So glad to see you and @GolfSpy_BEN find some good results in the swap! Excellent work all around to this set of testers!!!

And now the news likely no one was waiting for. (Ha.) The final review is posted! Please shoot me (and the other testers) any questions you have. Huge thanks to MGS and TaylorMade!!!!

Welcome…. FREE audio/visual Golf Therapy Sessions (a.k.a The Community Call ) offered every Thursday afternoon..

Welcome to the thread! Nice pics!

Welcome! And beautiful shot!

My balls arrived and I will be working my assessment of them. Thank you to My Spy and Bridgestone.

My final review is a tad delayed, but I have a good reason! See below. (And the final review will be up today in short order.) Let's Talk about the Swap I apologize in advance for this long post, but the truth is in the details here. I am addressing a new and different Qi10 model for the first time. So I am going to try to go all the way down the rabbit hole. If you, dear reader, have followed this thread, you already know that @GolfSpy_BEN is a very gracious dude, that I struggle to contain driver spin historically, and that he and I last week, at the very end of our review period, executed a swap of my tester "standard" Qi10 model for his Qi10 LS model. Yesterday I embraced the chance to hit the LS model on the range very briefly, and then play the LS model in a round of 18 at Eagle Creek Golf Course on Indy's west side. I played the Qi10 LS at a loft sleeve setting of 7.5* and -300 RPM, at 44" of length on the (wonderful) ACCRA FX 3.0 140 M2 shaft. I weighted the driver at D4, which required some (or a lot of) lead tape . . . . . . and played the Bridgestone Tour RBX MindSet golf ball as part of the multi-member review here on the forum. (Many thanks to Bridgestone and MGS for that testing opportunity also!) The result? In two words: Performance and Potential For me and my particular swing, the Qi10 LS performed significantly better! The weather was warm and sunny, but the wind increased steadily throughout our round, finally landing at a consistent 20-30 mph wind during the back nine. Indy received more than 3 inches of rain in the days preceding the round. The results will show that. Here are the specifics on the 9 driver holes: Hole 2 - Par 4 365 yards This was a strong start. It is important on this hole to hit fairway left (which I seem to never, ever do) or carry the right bunker and avoid getting into or behind the trees on the right. The Qi10 LS delivered a strong drive into a gusty crosswind that carried the bunker and came to rest at 258 yards. I was very pleased. Hole 5 - Par 4 428 yards User error, as I hit far into the heel-side of the clubface. That cost me distance, but look at that straight drive that found the middle of the fairway. The Qi10 LS's forgiveness helped me a great deal here. Hole 6 -- Par 5 543 yards This drive confused me, as I felt like it was good contact and in the middle(ish), but I did not feel the compression or hear that confirmation on strike. Still, I found fairway, if not the distance I expected. I suspect I hit it too low. Hole 7 -- Par 4 408 yards Here comes the wind! Straight at us, 20 mph+. And now the Qi10 LS delivers, with a pretty good piercing of the gusts, landing at 232 yards in the fairway. This is the shot I will recall a long time, as this was the first time I heard the Qi10 LS deliver more of a "bang" at contact rather than a clicky/ish (Stealthy?) pop. It felt great; the compression of the ball was evident. Everyone in my group commented. "That sounded and looked different!" Remember the wet conditions - there was no roll-out at all. Into that wind, I'll gladly accept the 232 yards fairway middle result. Hole 9 -- Par 5 528 yards Remember user error? Yuck. This was my classic brain fade/unfinished swing/high slicey fade balloon ball. But it still went 213 yards into that wind and remained playable. This was definitely not the driver's fault. Hole 10 -- Par 5 469 yards This hole is easy. If you don't take too long in the clubhouse, get stiff, forget everything you ever knew about golf, or hit into a hurricane. I did all that. Shots 2 and 3 on this hole were worse. Did I mention the tee box is elevated and aimed directly into God's own oscillating fan (cranked to 11)? But it went straight!?!? Again, not the driver's fault. Hole 13 -- Par 4 372 yards Finally a hole where the wind helps a bit, as it still crossed the fairway but pushed a little too. I hit a bomb (by my standards), that rolled maybe (only) 10 yards on the wet turf, for a very playable 263 yard result. (Pay no attention to the idiot chunking his gap wedge on shot 2.) Hole 16 -- Par 4 370 yards More crazy wind, and a unique crazy pull by the author. I blame the wind. You, dear reader, should blame me. Hole 17 -- Par 5 433 yards Yes - more nutty wind in our faces. But I was glad to hit a ball that carried 238 yards, and nestled in at 243 yards (wet!), on this short par 5. This set up the solid hybrid shot 2, and boo-yah! wedge shot 3, that yielded a tap-in putt and, unusually, the only birdie our group could muster on this day. Summary I give the Qi10 LS very high marks for its first post-swap round. For me and my swing, I found the face to be more lively than the standard model, distance was better as a result, and with the lower spin forgiveness was just as good if not better for me. I think it has great potential, and I look forward to getting to know it better and updating this thread with additional results. I will post my final review of the standard Qi10 very soon. But like every Star Wars movie or series or novel or cartoon or whatever (except that rogue one), this will not be the end.

Take a look at this adjustment chart, it is from the SIM, but it works the same way for all TM drivers using that adapter: You'll notice that all of the "higher" side of the adapter will close the face. Looking forward to reading the rest of your complete review!

I feel like I hit the ball hard enough but maximizing my green side spin is really my bigger need.

Now I’m wondering if I should have gone with X instead of the XS.

The recent edition to the family.

Good evening spies….. If you listen intently, you might be able to hear the whimpering outrage of an old man on the Tex-Mex border. Work wise there was not much theft or damage on the work site. Nothing belonging to “ Those People “ was misappropriated or damaged. However as I was preparing to return to the “ Dark Kingdom “; you-know-who sent me a text including the following pictures. The “ Princess of Pain “ informed me that since I couldn’t play golf and might not be able to ever play as often as I had; she was reallocating and reassigning some of my retired golf gear to other functions. The would be “Empress of Everybody”; stated she was starting with this bag that hadn’t seen sunlight since the start of the last millennium. She stated that it will make a nice little yard tool carry-all. The woman has NO clue where we keep or what kind of yard tools we even have. Instead of going directly back to the serfdom of husband hood, I might meander around looking for a Cartel recruitment center and see if the elderly can enlist. Enjoy the rest of your evening my spies. You might want to at least consider hiding your golf gear. You know; just in case

Just got my first pair of Adidas with BOA; have only had them out for one round so far. Likes... Easy on, super quick and easy off Quick and easy adjustment mid-round Dislikes... Usually.. with laces .. I like to keep the forefoot looser than the arch and heel Might be just first time break-in but these kept loosening on me as I was playing (but otoh just a quick twist to adjust) On this particular model - nothing to do with the BOA mechanism - but the tongue could be wider .. it kept slipping out from under the sneaker itself and I could feel the edge pushing on the top of my arch (again otoh easy to adjust and fix). So whether this is first & last, or first of many more, for me is TBD

If it helps I just purchased another pair of Puma’s with the BOA system. Sometime the want is greater than the need.

Real enjoyed the review Indy. I think we need to see that boat oar trick on video with the spin data to confirm Can't wait to hear how the LS treats you on the course and if the Octopus will be living in new waters!

Maybe! Not joking. For once. Go check it out!

Kenny, I tend to suffer from white coat syndrome whenever I get my pressure taken, I was sitting in the waiting room at the clinic for at least 20 minutes and I'm the room for another 10 and it still came back as high. It's currently sitting at 131/85 as I'm sitting here with the dogs on my lap. I'm glad to hear it doesn't go up much for you when you're exercising, I was told it would raise it quite a bit and I'm really wanting to get out and start walking or something to get some exercise. I mean, we have a pretty big golf trip coming up and it's bad enough y'all are going to see my limping around after getting off my feet for a while. I want to be in decent enough shape to not be breathing to heavily walking up hills.

So I forgot to mention that I did end up receiving a box of the Bridgestone Mindset RX balls last week and today I was able to roll some putts with them. I will preface this by saying that I am not the biggest alignment aid fan as most of the time I do forget to even use them, but today I made an effort to. Using a sleeve of 3, I rolled putts from various distances and actually saw success with the line on my putts Unfortunately the speed was hard to gauge as the greens have been punched recently. Still, the fact that my line was where I wanted says a lot for the mindsets. This was a quick hour long putting session as I was a bit tired from the range (They had actually had a grass range!!!!) but I consider day one a success and will continue sampling these on the course.

I don't think any of us in the full Shot Scope/Bridgestone test have received them yet. @GolfSpy_APH got them order a week ago today so we probably have at least a few more days before they arrive.

Bad news first. My golf cart Phone caddy broke and my phone dissappeared somewhere on the course after the 2nd hole. I didn't notice until the 4th hole. Called the clubhouse on another person's phone and told them what happened and to BOLO for it please. This also means no video or photos from today's round. The good news! This was the 4th round with the same ball. It had minimal wear signs other than a few very minute scuffs here and there. I also decided to play the forward tees today, (more on that in the Play thread later) I shot a 39 on the front, and a 41 on the back. This not only a personal best, but the ball was just on absolute fire for me today! I put it up against the triple track (last years model) and they performed almost identically, except the Bridgestone had alot more drop and stop power, where as the TT would check and roll a bit. Best shot of the day was from the 3rd hole. Ended up 135 out, 3/4 9i, and stuck the pin at 6", rolled back to 2 feet. Putted for eagle. More bad news. Hole 17. Caught the blind cart path. Ball bounced to the right, and dissappeared into the woods. I don't mind losing a ball or a stroke, but I really wanted to see the condition of the cover!!! Oh, and my phone was waiting at rhe clubhouse!

You got it @Indy_Oz - trying to prevent my right misses, along with increasing swing weight. It seemed to work! Thank you Ben!!

Played 9 yesterday (so far have 3 x 9 hole rounds plus 3 x 9 practice rounds) and am happy to report there's been some progress - overall scoring still high but trending down (well at least for now ) - 52, 51, 48. Got off the tee ok (Par 4s and 5s) .. with the help of two lucky tree saves that dropped the ball in a playable position on 8 and 9... .. and short game was ok - starting to get a little less tentative on chipping & pitching, and starting to get a little better distance control on the first putts. But, except for one solid 6i where I hit the green from 150 (yay!), almost everything else in-between tee to green was messy (boo!) and needs a lot more work... Chunked, thinned or topped a lot of second and third shots, including the Par 3s...

Lol it happens! My first round out I shot an 84 in a hurricane, then followed it up with a 51 9-hole outing and cool even 100 the following week on a perfect day. Only had 3 penalty strokes and three three-putts across both poor outings, I just couldn't get anywhere close with my irons (normally one of the stronger parts of my game). As Joe Dirt once said, "You just gotta keep on keepin' on!"

Nice work. Seems to have worked pretty well for you! I guess the added lead tape gives you a little more anti-fade MOI with where it's positioned? Eagle Creek is a fun testing ground! I was at Purgatory this afternoon with new driver and the Bridgestone Tour BX Mindset ball to continue testing.

My deepest sympathies for you! Maybe use the argument that it already carries lawn tools…irons and wedges do wonders to remove weeds!

What....at least it's a decent water logo. It doesn't deserve lawn tools.

Missed that part in the post, got it now! Can’t wait to see if the LS continues to work for you and earns the coveted Octopus!

Went to the range after work today, but they had stopped selling range balls at 5:30 and I got there at 6. So I went to the end of the firing line, set up my Rypradar and had a Rypstick workout. When I got to the baseline swings at the end, four of my five swings were clocked at 89 mph. My previous best was 84, and two years ago I was in the low 70s according to my fitter. So maybe the Rypstick is working. I'm still a little dubious of the numbers I get from those gadgets until they're supported by longer drives with real balls, but if I am truly in the high 80s, I should start to get carry distances of 215-220 with total distance in the 230s. Which would bring down my handicap all by itself.

I think that white coat syndrome is what I have. I’ve never really had much of a problem before my heart attack; my primary care visits were always around 130/80. It was high while I was in the hospital, and it never really came down to pre-hospital levels. My heart doc is still trying to find a suitable cocktail. My BP is 120/75 in the morning when I get up and when I go to bed. Mid-morning it goes up to a high of 140/90. Getting out and walking after meals is the best time for BP and blood sugar. I hear you about getting in shape; well, better shape… round is a shape, but not the one I prefer. Lost a bunch of weight a couple of years ago, but I have plateaued and can’t seem to get the rest off me! Don’t wait!! It gets harder the longer you put it off and older you get. I need to change up a few things before our trip to Kingsmill. Not sure if I’ll survive hot and humid; I like hot and dry!!

Hope you get it worked out Jason. My BP is high every time I go to Cadiac Rehab therapy. They don’t let anyone participate if BP is 170 or higher. I take my BP at home before I go to therapy… normal-ish. Get there, sit waiting for 20 minutes and it’s 170+. So I have to sit for 10 minutes; they retake my BP and it’s 151. During the cardio exercise, it goes up to 162; after the cardio and cool-down stretching, it’s 120. Funny… it never gets above 145 until my next Rehab visit, and we go through the same routine all over again. Doc put me on another heart med… amlodipine. I’m already on COREG.

Most wanted testing day today so I got in a little practice time. Pitching/chipping seems to be coming along but full swing is not great. Not sure if it is just rust or compensations and/or apprehension to avoid potentially hurting myself. Thinking I need to take a couple of lessons to work on some fundamentals.

Today I practice my Mental Game. I recently listened to the Podcast Joseph Parent did with Erik Anders Lang (RGC) and decided to pick it up. With my first year playing tournaments I know it'll be very challenging on the mental side of things. Hopefully this book can help with that! Has anyone else read this?

The amount of times I check this forum only to end up on a retail site is alarming and dangerous. I JUST got new shoes but somehow I need a BOA pair immediately.

Nice to see some good early results with the LS after the swap! Hopefully @GolfSpy_BEN sees similar success with the standard!

Per usual on non-golf days. I practiced my indoor putting drills, Dr Kown's rope drill, and hit into my strike bag.

Back from my fitting at TXG (Tour Experience Golf – Club Champion Canada) with the man himself, Ian Fraser. All I can say is what an awesome and thoroughly fun experience. He really knows his stuff. Incredibly knowledgeable. I learned so much. Best fitting experience I've had so far. It didn't just meet expectations, it far exceeded them. A few observations, in Canada, Tour Experience Golf (TXG), is now rebranded as Club Champion Canada. While the name on the door has changed, everything else from the staff, Foresight launch monitors, Quintic putting monitor, shaft matrix, build shop all remain the same. Ian Fraser is the GM of the Canadian operations. Mike Martysiewicz is the Director of Club building and fitting. Ian and the quality and excellence of his staff remain consistently superb. I know exactly what to expect and what I’m getting when I come to them. A very very happy customer.

First round of the season took place yesterday. A beautiful day, if it weren't for cart path only. Upside, almost 9000 steps. Downside, I was exhausted by rounds end. Plus the course was still pretty squishy in many places. Overall, it could have been a far worse day. Only lost 1 ball, and that was on 17 after a fat shot off the toe into an empty lot covered in leaves. I did have 2 other penalties. 1 flubbed 50* that trickled into a pond. Luckily I was able to retrieve it. The other was a step past the white stakes. Ugh. Obviously, as I'm working on my swing with a coach I wasn't expecting a ton of miracles in the first round out. I haven't really hit any balls on the range or in the garage outside of 2 lessons last month. So there is much to do. Some stats from Sunday: Compared to 2023: I was super happy with my consistency off the tee, granted I use a 2w instead of a driver at this point. I definitely noticed some really good iron shots during the round. I used my 5i once, and really flushed it, which isn't something I do often. My short game was a mess, but coming out of hibernation, anything that's more feel oriented is going to suffer. Plus, my putter is brand new and I've had no time with it. 3x 3-putts didn't help my putting stats. Everything was coming up short as I get the know the putter. Plus the greens were really slow with lots of little "natural debris" scattered on them. I just never adjusted for whatever reason. I shot a 99 - 51/48. I was happy to see the back actually get better by a few strokes. Lots of positives to take away, and lots of room for improvement. I did get 3 pars, so I can check those off my Par/Birdie all 90 holes in my community spreadsheet. Now let's get to the grind!

Hard not to get discouraged when you play some really good golf that results in a 92 ... two triples - two 3-putts - two birdies - 4 pars ... but had three different shots that were executed to perfection, a really good driving day overall that is reflecting the gains from speed training and the gym, and just a lot of positives overall. Especially when the two triples happened within the first three holes. I really need to work on getting my tempo back to where it's always been and being more disciplined with my pre-shot routines ... I'm rushing everything.

Went to the range yesterday. I’m in between clubs so April is the month where I’m a member at both Bayou and Seminole Lake. It was hosting a women’s conference championship. It perfectly illustrates why I’m leaving. While it didn’t impact me I never received a communication from the club about a 3 day event that effectively took over our course. I played there Friday and have no idea how a tournament where you had to play by the rules of golf could be held there - way too many bare patches in the fairways to mark all of them, the traps are inconsistent and the greens were pinched two weeks ago and are still healing. However the course layout is great, it’s hosted PGA tour events, mini tour events, is the home course for a DI college team and home club to a lot of very strong players. It’s a great club for a younger person because it has tiered pricing for young professionals. I’m not playing enough to justify the monthly full fee of $650 and they aren’t showing enough commitment to the course to justify sticking around for when I retire in a couple of years - I don’t trust that anything will improve. Bayou does have great practice facilities and since the tournament chased the membership away I had the range to myself yesterday afternoon. I really struggled with my swing Friday and wanted to sort that out. Also I was playing after a funeral that had around 600 people in attendance. I think that was a factor in my play. There really wasn’t much sorting to do. I was hitting the ball fine. I finally decided to pit my Wilson D7 forged 9 iron verses my Srixon ZX 5 9 iron. I had a clear view of a pin that was 135 for me - a little long for 9 iron but I had a bit of a helping breeze and the balls on that range are excellent - they should be for what we pay - at any rate - I could not reach the pin with the D7 forged but I was very consistent and my PLM and eyes told me they were getting on the front of the green, 128 avg carry, 131 with the run out, nice dispersion. The first couple of Srixons were pulled - that’s my miss with those. After that though the results were eye opening, 133 yard average carry and 136 yards with the run out, higher launch, a bit less spin - I’m not a high spin player and range balls are not urethane although they should be for what we pay - yeah that’s a sore point for me. Interestingly the lofts through the bag are the same on both irons except for the pitching wedge which is a degree weaker in the Srixon and the A wedge was is 2 degrees weaker - Shafts are supposed to be the same the recoils in the Srixon’s are an iteration newer. By site the Srixon’s have a bit more offset but a slightly smaller platform. Swing weights are quite different though - Wilson’s are D2 and Srixons are C9. I prefer the feel of the heavier weight for certain. But the difference in results were convincing yesterday at least. I will try it again and also will try to play an evening round where the course is empty and I can try done head to head shoots with my gamer ball into a real green. But for now the Srixons are in and the Wilson’s are out. Best range session in a long time - hit 6 hybrid to a flag that was 169 and was flying it 171 dead straight - thats crazy long for me.

Maybe……..

We had some exciting weather this afternoon....the putting green will need some attention from the leaf blower. VID_20240415_160343864.mp4

I'm definitely going to keep an eye on it, it was hovering in the 135/80 range the last few times I've gone to the doctor and it seems like an abnormality to be as high as it is, so I know there is a chance of it dropping. We have a monitor at the house and I've been keeping an eye on it and will continue to. Thanks Chris!

Keep monitoring you BP, if it is really caused by something else you don’t want it to go too low.

I managed another 18 yesterday and the Runner continued to perform well The greens have been scarified twice today, seeded and top dressed so this is bound to have an effect on the putting for the next week or two. Will have to see how much of a difference this makes for the Runner

Double the rounds, double the fun! Spent the weekend hitting the links, but with only the front 9 open, it was like déjà vu on the fairways. Admittedly, the excitement got the best of me, swinging like a pro on overdrive. Nova Scotia's wet terrain didn't make it easy – a few fat irons were the price of enthusiasm. Still, every swing was worth it for those moments of pure golfing joy.

Good morning spies! I managed to pass out pretty early last night after a long day of watching the Masters and drinking cocktails. But of course even though I got 9 hours of sleep I'm still pretty exhausted. I'd like to propose making Monday after the Masters a national holiday as well @TJ Hall! Back to reality today. Work week hopefully shouldn't be too crazy. Hoping to sneak out to the sim or the driving range after work at least a couple times. Weather should be decent to start the week, but looks like it might get colder towards the weekend. Maybe I'll get lucky and that'll change so I can play next weekend. Sad that the Masters is over, but we already have another signature event this week at the RBC Heritage. Before we know it, the PGA Championship will be here! I hope everyone has a great start to their week!