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Moving back to the mainland where I can find long stretches of smooth roads through small southern towns. That’s happiness to me. Oh yeah and retirement isn’t so bad either. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

I seldom talk about my family on forums but after reading PMookie’s post I wanted to brag about my daughter a little. 9 college acceptances to date all coming with the colleges highest level of academic scholarship. Yesterday, she got a letter, from one of her top choices, asking her to apply for a full academic scholarship.

Olympic Club today Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

My son was selected for Louisiana All-State Choir again this year!!! We were in NOLA this weekend for it and had a great time. So proud of him! He went from a school with 320 kids 7-12, to one with over 2100 kids 9-12, and he had a rough few days at the beginning. He loves it now! He also got one of the lead roles in the school’s spring play, which never happens for Freshmen! He told me the other day, when he got the part, that he knew we made the right choice on schools. So cool!!! Proud Dad right here!!!

I'm convinced anyone who rolls under is a psychopath. THIS is the correct way to roll your TP:

Steddygolf..... I’m not overly impressive on the golf course just “Steddy”. Additionally my middle name is Stedman as is my fathers middle name. My mother didn’t call my father Stedman unless she was mad. Most of the time everyone called him by his nickname, Steddy. Moving forward my plan is to open a Golf Academy called SteddyGolf. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

I've now owned my team for a month, and we're clawing back into things with a three-game winning streak!

I would love to be able to play steady, boring golf.

This is a pic of the original patent for toilet paper rolls...if you don't do it this way you're WRONG!

Trade Executed in Truth: Trade Executed in Digest: Fun fact: Fantrax used one of my suggestions in this latest update. On mobile, it wasn't showing the full standings or matchups since our league was bigger than the windows were planned for. Now, the whole thing shows. [emoji1303] I submitted a suggestion for cross-division trading but don't expect that to be available until next season. We can take a vote when the time comes.

Good try ;). It waaaaaassssss Command Sergeant Major and now it’s proudly just Sloan Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Ok- a big pet peeve of mine is toilet roll, over or under? Under just breaks me out in a hot flush- over is the ONLY way

Walked 18 at my course with the guys today. An interesting day to say the least; hit some good drives, hit some just OK drives. Second (and 3rd) shots were not so good. Only shot 82 with 2 birdies. Chipping and putting could have been a highlight reel. I had 26 putts (11 one-putts; 6 two-putts, and 1 three-putt). The 3-putt was on a 50-footer. I also spent the day working on my sand game. Because I had poor approach shots, I was in seven (7) bunkers; I got out of all of them and had 4 sand saves. Decent bunker shots, but great putting. I decided to putt aggressive today; something I haven't been doing very well lately. It was nice seeing the ball race into the hole, but on several of them, it was a good thing the ball hit the hole. I hit one putt so hard that it hit the back of the cup, popped up in the air and dropped in.

Its a funny thing that when you go really low, you still leave some shots out there. Its because you're hitting so many great shots, that when you don't, you get a little miffed. But keep in mind that you might have hit a fantastic recovery shot, or drilled one of those putts you talked about. So it kinda washes out both ways. Regardless, dropping a -2 takes a complete game for the whole way, and also requires a bunch of fantastic shots. Well done there young fellah!

... I am not swayed by Bryce and Rickie's performance, but I am swayed by the fact that Rickie, Bryce and Lexi all put the same new F9 drivers in their bags so fast. That is really pretty unheard of from any OEM. Of course all OEM's signature players do not put new drivers in their bags and those that do, rarely do so immediately. To me that says the F9 is pretty special.

Same here - I could care less what the pros play. I'm more focused on what will help me play better - and oh if it looks great that's an added plus. That driver in yellow just screams 'play me'. Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

New setup from Driver to LW. I'm kinda excited. Driver: Srixon Z785 9.5°, Mitsubishi Tensi CK Pro Orange Stiff FW: Srixon Z785 13.5°, Mitsubishi Tensi CK Pro Orange Stiff UT: Srixon ZU85 #2 & #4, Aerotech Steelfiber 110i CW Irons: Srixon Z785 5-Pw, TTDG TI S400 Wedges: Cleveland RTX4 Raw 50°, 54°, 58° TTDG TI S400

I am the freaking president of that club. I am probably a better than scratch iron player, chipper, and putter but I have 2 or 3 of the "Dumbass" shots off the tee.

WOW...congrats. As someone who has worked in higher ed for many years I have a special appreciation for accomplishments like this. It is incredibly tough to get into schools these days; colleges are becoming much more selective and have an entire global pool to choose from so to be accepted and asked to apply for a scholarship is quite the feat! Way to go dad, you've done very well.

Congratulations - you must be very proud of her. And by the way - they say the 'apple doesn't fall far from the tree'. Keep us posted on where she goes to school.

If I have to tell you then....

Just re-read it, you're right. Interesting you can play the F9 at move the weight to the front if you need to knock some RPMs off potentially? Whereas the F8 (non+) was unable to due to the 2nd weight port being in the heel to help keep things straight. IDK about everyone else but I'm digging the white head way more than the Lambo yellow (matches the MGS bags/headcovers too).

Played the new combo tees at my home course yesterday (Ancil Hoffman). Only knocked about 300 yards off the total (6500->6225), but man was it more fun to play. Having the Par 4 12th go from 421 to 371 made a huge difference. I think I've shot par on that hole twice, and never with two putts to do so. I did feel like I was cheating a bit as I moved up to the white tees when the card said to do so, but I got over that. It was crazy how much more fun the round was. Didn't shoot any lower either. Actually scored two shots lower from the longer tees a few weeks back. I think that the stress of always needing long approach shots just gets tiring. Viva Combo Tees!

Credit card number got stolen. Luckily AMEX was cool when I called them and explained there was no way I could be getting lunch while simultaneously getting my hair cut. They cancelled the charges (both of them) and they're issuing me a new one. Weird that the people who stole my car would make 2 transactions at the same restaurant. Either way, I'm glad I setup Google Pay to alert me every time a charge is made on either one of my CCs. Contemplating now buying a new driver and explaining to SWMBO that it was a fraudulent charge

Jury duty is the other. I have served on jury's a half dozen times and really don't mind. While not typically subject matter that would make our happy thread, I find the process kind of fascinating. As to the rest of your angst, try to keep it in perspective.

Just completed one of my two civic obligations. Now please take down all the damn signs, halt the TV and radio ads, and let's get back to golf

LOL. I've chalked up my wife's incorrect under placement of the TP roll as another lefty anomaly.

A) they are women. Whether society wants to accept biological facts anymore with regards to gender issues, men have always been, and will always be stronger, quicker, and faster than women. B) men (male tour pros versus female tour pros) generate faster clubhead speed at the moment of impact, meaning the ball travels further. That's a direct comparison of course. Now if you had me hit a drive right behind Lexi Thompson on the same hole, I'm quite sure that girl is hitting it about 20-30 yards longer than me, easily. But she's younger, in better shape and swings like a man.

Sweet ride.... but where does the golf bag go? Thanks for your years of service to our country and protecting our freedom. Enjoy the retirement....

A 4 handicapper being pretty humble about his game . SteddyGolf would be a good name for a golf business.

There is no wall or anything for reference, so I would contend this patent actually shows under, but the view is from the wall side so the perforations are seen clearly. That's just my take, as an under "psychopath" according to @GolfSpy STUDque.

Did my workout early today. Never again for me. I’m just not an early morning exercise person. My best times are late morning to mid afternoon! Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

This was a 5-6 year fight with my wife after we moved in together years ago haha. I’m an over and she’s an under. I finally convinced her over was right and all is right in my bathroom again haha

Here's my rant...earlier this year, half of one of the Bradford pears came down onto the back patio and I had to take a day off to clean it up. This morning while eating breakfast we heard several loud cracking noises followed by a big thump...yep, the rest of that bastard came down. Nothing got hit this time and I guess it'll save me the money of having it removed but I really wanted to brew another batch of beer on Monday, not clean up a tree.

my name is Golfer...persevering golfer............Bond fan hence the avatar which is perfect for MGS (Spy and golf together). I havent given up trying to get better.......I've even got a new (to me) moveaway I'm going to try out today in my elusive search to get consistently better.

Arizona Stu March 24th (DOB) NOT my GPA... Rob. [emoji23] Sent from my VS985 4G using MyGolfSpy mobile app

Do Right..so called because of my propensity for being a very exacting flight instructor during my flying days(as in Dudley Do-right) ..then deauxrite because I was living and working around a bunch of Cajuns and they said that I should spell it "correctly". The Avatar is just me hitting on the range one lovely afternoon.

I know you weren't asking me. But I honestly couldn't have gone with those either. Curious if Golfspy_Babajo is still playing around with them. He was a big fan. Even though he has a better game than any of us that were in Ohio. Bridgestone Tour B JGR Driver and HF2 irons Pre Release Testing

Got out for a short 9 on an uncommonly sunny, mild and calm early November afternoon. The Good: hit 3 fairways (just missed 2 others) hit both Par 3 greens plus 1 other GIR wedges from like 30 - 70 yds were all pretty good had 2 bunker shots that i got out (tho one was way short and the other a bit long) had 3 x 1-putts got 2 lucky bounces that gave me 2 of those 3 greens hit! The Not-So-Good: 2 penalties from Tee shots hooked left OB the re-tee'ed shots were both good 2 Triple Bogey 7s 3 x 3-putts one of those was the classic turn 1 putt into 3... no decent second shots ... So I've definitely made some improvements in my game (tho, sadly, not my overall score..!) and have some good stuff to continue to work on over the Winter.

Bridgestone Tour B JGR HF2 Irons – Initial Impressions/Stage 2 This is not a fair fight! My current irons were purchased in the fall of 1996 at a pretty deep discount in preparation for the next model release. Although I have played them well and they are generally one of my strengths (it's all relative, of course), they are old and I am missing out on a lot of technological advances that have been built in to modern clubs to help players like me be more consistent. The irons are PowerBilt TPS “Ellipsoid of Power”, 4 – PW with True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 shafts. My gap wedge is a Mizuno S5 that I received as a Christmas gift nearly 2 years ago which will be tough to displace as it's one of my favorite and better-performing clubs. Ever since I purchased the PowerBilt's, iron play was the primary strength of my game. Since I could not hit a wood to save my life, the 4 iron was my standard club off the tee, no matter the length of the hole. In my younger, in-shape days, it was good for about 230 yards and a PW was my 150 club. I have now reached 50, am out of shape, and have lost quite a bit of swing speed, so my 4 iron is now good for about 190 yards (maybe 200 when I hit it well) and a 7 iron is my “go to” for 150 yards. I get that in these days of jacked lo lofts and hotter faces, I am going to get some distance increases, but I am not necessarily looking for irons to add distance – I know I'll never get it all back and ultimately, it does not matter as long as I know how far each club will go and I have no huge gaps. My current bag has a big gap between my 3H (~220 yards) and 5i (~185) that I have been needing to address. My 4i fills that gap, but it has become so unreliable off the deck that I'm more comfortable choking down the 3H. Adding the Bridgestone 4H appears to have filled that gap nicely. I have had a few occasions to play more modern irons and my observation was that the main “thing” I was missing with my dated clubs was the forgiveness that comes with modern irons. When I mis-hit one of my current irons, I know immediately by feel and sound, and can lose 20-30 yards in distance, if not more. My hope is that the Bridgestone irons, being firmly in the “game improvement” category, will not result in nearly as much loss on mis-hits. During league play this summer, I hit a 7 iron on a par 3 off the toe which missed the green but was still nearly pin high. I understand this is anecdotal at this point, but I hope the trend continues because I would have had a much longer pitch with my old irons and I was still able to chip up and make par. We were given the choice of four different shafts for the irons: True Temper XP95 UST Recoil 680 Nippon Modus3 Tour 105 KBS Tour Ideally, to make a head-to-head comparison, I would have liked to get the same shaft as in my current clubs. Since that was not an option, trying to pick a shaft that made sense, in a short amount of time was necessary and not the easiest of choices. I won't bore anyone with the details, but I ended up choosing the Nippon Modus3 Tour 105's in stiff flex. If anyone is interested in how I came to that decision, I will be more than happy to post it. Being pretty average in stature, I went with standard length and lie. Looks (14 out of 15) In my opinion, these are beautiful irons and much better looking than some of the companies Bridgestone is likely targeting as competition. I would put them right next to JPX900 Forged/Hot Metal in terms of appearance in the GI category. The topline and sole are a little on the thick side, but not terribly so. The badge is very clean looking and I personally like the fact that it is devoid of flashy colors and other busy features. The lone point I would deduct is due to the design/font of the JGR branding. It find it a bit awkward and the “R” has been mistaken for a “B” a couple times already. I don't consider myself overly sensitive to the visual aspect of clubs at address, although I really like them to look pretty sitting in a bag! I've never been offended by the thickness of the top line or if I see mass bulging out the back of a long iron. I understand others can be bothered by these visual cues, but I'm generally not. At address, the HF2's are pretty similar to my old clubs. The topline on the HF2's looks like it may be a little thicker, but that could be an illusion due to the rounded top edge of the PowerBilts. I wish I could find specs on my old clubs to compare offset – on the HF2 7 iron in the photo, the offset is listed at 2.75 mm (0.108”), and it looks like the offset on the PowerBilt 7 iron is larger, but not offensive to me. The sole of the HF2's is a bit wider than the PowerBilts. One final comment related to looks: In my opinion, the appearance of the irons is very important to get the clubs in a potential customer's hands. I frequently browse the local stores and touch, feel, and waggle a lot of different clubs. There are a few brands that are highly regarded and popular that I've never touched because they don't look good to me sitting on the rack. To me they look cheap and/or cheesy. With that bias, I had planned of getting irons later this year or early next year and brands like Mizuno and Srixon are the tops in my book in terms of shelf appeal so were going to be among the first brands I hit. In my opinion, Bridgestone has NAILED IT from an overall visual appeal perspective and are right up there next to Mizuno. Sound and Feel (14 out of 15) Bridgestone has added a polymer layer behind the face to alter the sound/feel characteristics, resulting in a satisfying “click” when the feel when the ball is struck solidly. Off-center hits sound and feel a little different, but not at all bad, and very little of the vibration is transmitted to my hands. For the most part, the only way I can tell a shot was mis-hit is by ball flight. Having mostly played cast irons, I had the notion that a perfect strike on a forged iron would be an almost otherworldly experience. I suspect my expectations were set a bit too high, so I docked the HF2's a very subjective single point for not meeting that expectation, but they still feel very nice to me. Performance on the Range (9 out of 10) There was a recent thread in the forum about adjustment periods with new equipment. The general feeling was that properly fitted equipment should not require a “break-in” period. Since these were not properly fitted, it took me an entire range session and 18+ holes to figure out the irons. I played 36 holes the Sunday after the clubs arrived and during the second round, I started hitting some iron shots that felt and flew amazingly. In subsequent range sessions and rounds, I have been very pleased with the performance. With a few exceptions, ball flight is straight/slight fade and pretty much exactly where I am aiming. The distance gains with the HF2's are still to be determined, although I am not overly concerned with distance. To me, the main benefit to being longer is that I will be using less club for a given shot which should theoretically improve my accuracy. The ball launches high of these clubs, perhaps a little higher than my current gamers, but not by a huge amount. Given my current skillset, it is very rare that I make any effort to work the ball right or left and when I do, it is only when I am in trouble (left-to-right is easy and natural, right-to-left is very hard for me). As such, I cannot comment on the workability of these clubs from a draw/fade perspective. Altering the high/low trajectory, especially with the shorter clubs, is pretty easy and the resulting ball flight is nice. I need to work on distance control in this area since the ball tends to come off the face a bit hotter than with my current clubs. I docked the HF2's a single point in this category for the turf interaction. Due to the ease with which I can take a divot with these, I tend to hit a few more fat shots than may otherwise happen with the TPS's. Some of this may be a result of the amount of rain we have had and the generally damper ground conditions, or I might chalk this up to some of the adjustment period I have experienced. Time will tell. Performance on the Course (39 out of 40) So far, without much data, performance on the course has been outstanding! While adjusting to the distance, I have actually missed more greens of late, mainly because I have been long. I am starting to get used to grabbing 1 or 2 clubs less depending on the situation, so it is getting better. As I suggested above, I feel that most of what I am missing out on by playing older clubs was forgiveness of newer irons. The HF2's do not disappoint. It appears there is very little loss in distance in mishits, perhaps half a club instead of the 1-2 club loss I was experiencing, but I need more data to confirm this. With the high-launch of these irons, I have seen quite a few shots stop quickly, even with longer irons and have hit a couple short irons that "zipped" back nicely. I also feel comfortable trying to lower the flight of the short clubs to bring the ball in low. I need more work in this area so I have a better idea when the ball will stop on a solid strike. My Mizuno gap wedge has become my work-horse around the greens unless the situation calls for something with more loft. As of yet, the HF2 gap wedge is not quite at the same level as the Mizuno. For full swings, I have seen very little difference. The small deduction in this category is all a result of the gap wedge performance. Play It or Trade it (20 out of 20) This is a no-brainer. They will be in my bag for the foreseeable future. I see no real shortcomings across the range of irons that aren't more related to my skill or just getting used to how they will respond. This will be my bag for the foreseeable future.... I would think these irons should definitely appeal to people like me - if you have even marginal ability to get the ball in the air on a regular basis, these clubs will likely help you. Like Rob, I'd suggest these irons are capable of bridging the GI and player's distance space. I think it would be very interesting to see these clubs in the hands of a single digit handicapper. I usually think of myself as a pretty harsh grader, but I can't think of many logical reason to take away points, especially when viewed with the perspective of what I have been playing. Are these clubs perfect? I doubt it, but they might just be as close to perfect for me as one can get. Some of this might be the "newness" of the experience with them, but I honestly find it hard to believe some other company could provide something substantially better than what Bridgestone has provided here. I would have loved to have the opportunity to actually get fitted into the best shaft for me and these heads. I'm strongly considering doing that later in the year just to see if there is any untapped potential to be realized. With the performance I've seen so far, I'm going to guess I'm not missing much and could probably realize more benefit from lessons. Preliminary Score: 94 out of 100 I will be editing this post to include to the most up-to-date information. I'll do my best to make sure the new information is as easy as possible for you guys to find. Thanks again to MGS and Bridgestone for the amazing opportunity. This entire process, from the initial notification to all the interaction with the other testers has been a blast! I look forward to any questions you guys may have!

3 rockers under those chevrons! That's as high as you can go!!

Yeah if you can, find an *amenable* pro with whom you get along .. the right pro can quickly isolate "the thing" for you to work on, and can communicate it to you effectively. If you can find that person it's worth the $$!

That’s awesome!!! Tell her congrats from some Spies you know! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Is anything really ever safe in any of our bags [emoji15] Bridgestone Tour B JGR Driver and HF2 irons Pre Release Testing

Southern California.....the best Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

I worked on hitting some chips yesterday. I have a pretty steep section so I was hitting a bunch of down hill lines and then did some 56° flop shots. Also worked on hitting what would be low shots I to bounce into a bank and then take the speed off after that happened, something Spieth has used a lot. Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

Hate when that happens! If you're into swing training aids, take a look at the DST Compressor 8i .. there are also forum member reviews in The Equipment section.

The shaft choice story is kind of long, but my whole reason for picking the 105's was I wanted the heaviest shaft that felt good to me. I didn't really like the KBS Tour 120's. They just didn't feel right in some demo clubs. Once I got used to the 105's, I really liked how they felt. I hadn't touched my old clubs until I got on the simulator last week and they now feel heavy to me. Long story short - I have grown to like the feel and they seem very stable for being somewhat light. Sent from my BLN-L24 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

So... went to the range last night with my brother in law (first time in a week or two) and probably topped every iron shot or hit on the heel or toe of the club. I’m usually very much dead on with my irons but not now. Tried again today at the range with my son and the same deal... topped shots and all. I really hope this isn’t how I’m gonna end my season [emoji20]

OK boys and girls, I think enough time has passed for my to make a final assessment of these clubs. Looks 15 out of 15 In my humble opinion, Bridgestone nailed it with these irons, They're not busy in the back, nothing outlandish on the sole, just a straight up business like approach, which I like. You don't have to look flash to work and you're not compensating for something. The topline is not razor thin nor is it SGI super thick, it's exactly Baby Bears porridge, just right. Sound and Feel 13 out of 15 Sound I think is a very subjective thing, for example, a lot of people did not, under any circumstances, like the sound of the Wilson Triton driver. They wouldn't even entertain the notion of putting it in their bag even if they hit it better than their current gamer. I hit one and I don't care what noise it made...the same as with any club that I've hit, I do not care about the sound. So, my score reflects the feel only with these clubs. When you hit it flush you just don't feel the ball at all and that's the best "feeling" you can have, IMO. But, I've also hit my share of hand stingers with these clubs as well, you know the one where as soon as you hit it you know it was not a good strike. The clubs will tell you if you hit it well or not. Performance on the Range 8 out of 10 Obviously when I got the clubs I ran down to the range to hit them and was quite happy with what was happening...even the pro, who I've known for about 10 years was impressed with them in my hands. Still can't work the ball but that's me and not the clubs. Performance on the Course 40 out of 40 40 out of 40 you say, that's a big bold score, but I'm in love with these irons...even the 4 and 5 irons, which I don't have in my Maltbys. I had the irons bent 2° weaker than standard to better reflect my other irons and they just flat out went further. I even like the wedges against my SCORs, which, if at the beginning of this test, you'd told me that, I would have laughed at you. I'm hitting these irons higher and further than anything I've played in the past and the averages don't lie. TBJGR 9 iron I'm hitting on average 135 yards compared to the Maltby DBM 120 yards. TBJGR 6 iron 160 yards (with a perfectly struck 181 yards) compared to Maltby 150 yards. TBJGR PW 100 yards to SCOR 48° PW 95 yards. These irons flat out perform for me as a mid to high handicap and I think they'd be even better in the hands of a 10 or even below. Play it or Trade it 20 out of 20 If you think you're taking these clubs out of my bag, you've got another thing coming. I can't, for the time being, go back to the DBMs, just not happening. Bridgestone, in my opinion, have gotten back into the club business with a bang! Total 96 out of 100 Love them or hate them, I think Bridgestone have some winners here.