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I had to buy this headcover in respect for my son who is serving our country.

Shot 38-38 76 very happy with that and there’s still plenty of room for improvement Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Today was the opposite of yesterday’s 40/52......today it was 52/41....@ a different course, Plantation Palms. Just could not get anything going until going until the back nine. 9/14 FIR’s with 237 the longest drive. Still gaming my F8’s and putting with my Bellum-Winsmore. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

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Round Recap - April 6th Best weather of the year thus far in New Jersey on Saturday. Temps hit the low 60s, it was sunny and there was no wind. Perfect day to get out and play 18 with the G410 I played with my brother in law, who is a former assistant pro and we hit our clubs similar distances. On the first hole, BIL teed it up first. We were playing from the blues and it was a short Par 4 playing 337. He hit a beautiful baby draw right down the middle. Put the pressure right on me. I followed his up with a baby draw of my own. The drives looked similar from the tee, but when we got up to the balls they were definitely different - I was 25 yards passed him! My first drive ended up going 307 yards (GPS measured). The Ping G410 made its presence known early. As the round continued I was continuously impressed with the G410. What really stood out to me was performance on low-face hits. There were a few that I didn't quite catch, but ended up much further than I expected. Another thing that really stood out was the fact that I didn't miss the left once all day. I pulled the G410 10 times and I hit the fairway 5 times. The times that I did miss the fairway I actually missed the fairway right! Some of this was me being used to over draws and aiming right to compensate. I had the G410 set to fade and in the flat position so it is set up to be anti-left and things definitely played out that way. If things continue like this over the next few rounds, I might have to move to a slightly more neutral setup to see how that changes things. As I mentioned in my shaft testing post above, I would have no problem gaming the Ping Tour shaft as my full time shaft. I was long, I was hitting fairways, and my misses where always in fantastic shape. It is nice when a driver gives you confidence like this. That being said, I cannot wait to game the G410 Plus with the Accra TZ5. Based on what I saw in my fitting, it the shaft really is an ideal fit for me and will fully unlock the performance of the G410 Plus.

Played a ho hum round on Friday for an 83, but then played the back nine again at -3, and just missed two other putts. I was on fire!

Overall happy with my round today. Shot 81, hit 12 fairways and 12 greens and my pitching and chipping was pretty good. Problem was the 3 balls that ended up in the water and the 3 three putts.

First full loop of the year is in the books. I’ve been helping my work buddy with his game all week and we decided to sign up for a Saturday afternoon beating at Heritage Todd Creek Golf Club. He’s a 6 rounds a year (why we talking bout practice?) kind of golfer but was a D1 soccer star and has loads of athleticism. Todd Creek has some of the most challenging greens complexes (my opinion) in the Denver metro and with that in mind we decided the blue tees (6589/72; 70.6/123) would be an appropriate test for Pat. He put on a tee ball clinic and made a 10 footer on 18 to break 100 (99) for the first time. I really enjoyed watching him play the round of his life on a very tough track. My stats: *12/14 fairways, 14/18 greens, *29 putts, 5 birdies against 3 bogeys (-2) *Ping OG400 LST update - still chalk line straight after the Winter lay-off *Bettinardi SS38 Armlock Review Easter Egg (first loop)

It wasn't easy keeping these under wraps. Saw them when I was in Texas last year. We have a blog post on these going live tomorrow. These are replacing the old PTx - which are about three years old. The differences appear to be very slight, with the aesthetics being the biggest upgrade. You'll be seeing more of this kid of stuff from Hogan as the weeks go by....

I've got some time this morning so I'll go ahead and share some thoughts on the wedges thus far... The first time I got the clubs out on the range I was struggling with a toe strike on nearly all my clubs which revealed something rather interesting I think. Unfortunately for Bridgestone, the XW-1 still has a very "clicky" sound when struck towards the toe - though heel strikes are muted and much more in line with what I'd expect to hear and feel. Curiously, the SM5 sounded better when struck on the toe and was really quite consistent across all parts of the face. This surprised me because Vokey wedges are cast carbon steel whereas the Bridgestones are forged. Having been told for years and years that cast clubs should sound and feel noticeably different from their forged counterparts, it seems clear that Titleist has some magic up their sleeve. Regardless, we don't typically play shots from the toe of the club so apart from raising an eyebrow, this distinction between wedges doesn't carry much weight. When hit well the Bridgestones do have an improved sound over the SM5's - though not markedly so - and feel is better too. Ball flight is very predictable and hits my flight window just fine. Unfortunately, I've not yet placed myself in a good scenario to get a feel for actual distance on full shots. I've basically been operating off known yardages for the Vokeys and made adjustments in my head based on the difference in loft. It's worked well enough so far, but I haven't checked to see how the 50-degree fills the gap between my wedge set and my iron set. In theory, it should work just fine, but that's just a theory and you never know until you test - something I'll have to do very soon. As for spin, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was at least somewhat worried I'd be ripping the covers off of golf balls and spinning shots off the green based on how the SM5's with worn grooves perform. I'm happy to report that is not the case and these wedges are very playable for me - so far spin seems to be very similar. I'm anxious to get on a launch monitor and verify this, but it seems as though these would be good wedges for someone who has concerns about creating too much spin. Overall, the XW-1 seems like a pretty good candidate to supersede the SM5's I've been playing for a while.

April 5th - Shaft Testing at Club Champion The only other non-upcharge option Ping had to offer was the Evenflow Black and I know after demoing the shaft multiple times that nothing in the Evenflow range agrees with my swing. Evenflow is designed for someone with a smooth tempo and that is not me, so it was pretty much already decided going into my fitting for testing that the Ping Tour was going to be the shaft I was going to get. On Friday I spent the morning at Club Champion where I was able to get some numbers with my new setup, as well us test some aftermarket shafts to see how they faired in the G410 Plus compared to the Ping Tour shaft. I had the flu and a bad cold for most of March so my speed and strength were down a bit, but I went to the range a few times prior to going to Club Champion and I felt that my swing was in a good enough place for me to do some comparisons. On the day I was swinging around 110MPH when my usual speed is 112-115MPH. I got to test all of the fun new shafts. Fujikura Ventus, Speeder TR and Pro 2.0. Tested the Fuji Atmos Black (which I was fit into with the TS2 head 2 months ago. I also tried the new Diamana DF+, VA Raijin, Accra RPG and a few others. Of all of these shafts, the Fujikura Ventus felt the best by far, but it really didn't give me any performance benefits over the Ping Tour shaft. Kudos to Ping on putting together a great shaft - our own @Tony Covey MGS informed me on twitter that the Ping Tour shaft has a similar profile to the Aldila Tour Green which is a solid low launch/low spin shaft that I gamed before in a hybrid. I was prepared to go home happy as a clam knowing that I had the best shaft in the G410 Plus that was available. That was, until, my buddy popped the new Accra TZ5 in the head. (Once I found the right shaft, I altered every two shots between the Ping Tour and the Accra to get a sample of data). My longest hits were almost equal - but the Accra TZ5 definitely gave me about 4-6 yards carry more on my longest hits. Overall I averaged 261 yards of carry with the Ping Tour shaft (and had similar numbers with the Fujikura Ventus). With the Accra TZ5 those numbers jumped to 271. 10 Yards of carry is huge. I had a few touch 280+ carry! I was swinging about 1MPH faster with the Accra (just fits better for me), but the ball speeds with the Accra were consistently in the low to mid 160s, while my ballspeed with the Ping Tour Shaft bounced from the high 150s and every once in awhile touched 160 or so. Unfortunately the fitting was on Trackman, so I didn't have any strike location data, but based on what I was feeling my strike point with the Accra was much more consistent than with the Ping Tour shaft. Does this mean the Ping Tour shaft is lower quality? Absolutely NOT! It held it's ground with a number of $300+ shafts. The truth of the matter is that there is just another shaft that meshes better with my swing. I am sure the Ping Tour shaft will fit a ton of golfers! And if I didn't have a little money saved up on my paypal account to buy the Accra, I would have absolutely no issues gaming the G410 driver with the Ping Tour shaft. Needless to say, I have an Accra TZ5 65 M5 with Ping adapter on the way. Hoping to have it in time for Masters weekend! Let me know if you have any questions!

I choked and then I choked again. One of the best ball striking rounds I have ever had. Standing on 15 tee and was -5. Problem was that I didn't realize I was that deep. Saw it on Arccos as I was entering putts, proceeded to bogey 3 of last 4 holes. 71 33 38 9/14 FW 12/18 GIR. 29 putts.

Not golf, but still sharing it anyway. Had a rare opportunity to ski the Swiss Alps and had my breath taken away. I've only skied in the DC area and probably 5 or so total times in my life so this was my first experience doing big boy skiing. Wow! I was not ready but had an awesome time. Tourist selfie. View down a bunny slope across the valley to my all-day backdrop Gondola ride up to the almost-peak. Didn't have the skill to get down from the peak so I just admired from afar. Standing on the almost peak about to drop into the medium runs that I wasn't quite ready for. View from the post skiing pizzeria. Yeah, this doesn't suck. There's also some great Go Pro footage that we captured. Gotta wait for my coworker to edit and splice when we get back.

Well written Plaid. I guess the SLDR is just the club you can groove, and no matter what the OEM’s say there is no way their technological advanced design can beat any club that you have complete confidence in. I am rooting for Tour Edge though. I liked reading Barbajo’s post on his visit there and love seeing the little guy make it. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

... Wouldn't it be nice if you could bottle that and bring it out for the next round?

Today was a major letdown after last week's 85. Went 50/46 to finish with a +24 96 on what is probably going to become my home course. Walked all 18 holes in beautiful spring weather. Positive outcomes from today's round: Epic Flash feels fantastic. Getting a little more forward bend at address really helped with my takeaway. As a result my ballstriking was better today, the results were "Eh," however. Hit more fairways than before. Not-so-positives: Only mustered two pars and no GIRs (yikes!). Hit a ton of trees. Chipping wasn't great. Putting was terrible. Lots of three putts. This course was purchased by a new owner about three years ago. He has made a lot of improvements, but it is still in dire need of help. Several tee boxes were dirt, moles ravaged others and everything needed a good roll to smooth it out. Didn't have many good lies today. Still early in the season (they just opened) and greens were in good shape, albeit slow. Back to the range for more practice!

Here I go again.... Friday on my way home from the office I decided to stop by a local golf shop and visit with my friend the owner. I also wanted to see if they had any Tour Edge EXS 10.5* drivers. I had recently read Chris Nickels' article A Closer Look which was very good BTW. Then later I watched the YouTube guys at TXG doing an initial test of the club. I was still interested. While I wasn't planning to buy anything I noticed they had only one 10.5* TE driver left in stock so I decided.... what the heck. It's only $299.99 and looks fantastic! Actually the rack of Tour Edge woods - drivers, fairways, etc.looked picked over as there weren't that many selections left of any of their clubs. The 2019 MGS Most Wanted Driver stats had looked acceptable to me too so I grabbed it and took it home. It was the last 10.5 in stock. The next morning I took my SLDR and the EXS back to the shop and hit a number of shots on the GCQ. Sorry all you data guys but I didn't make any notes of the data. I can only say the numbers were good-encouraging and the driver felt great. The EXS was comparing closely to my SLDR in most categories including distance. However, my SLDR was producing a tighter dispersion** pattern. The EXS has a stock MCA Tensei CK Blue 60-S shaft. Again, the driver felt great and the LM numbers told me to take the driver outdoors to actually see what I can see. The eyes don't lie. During this spring I have lightly tested a few drivers out on the range at my club. Wilson Cortex, Cobra F9, Titleist TS2, Callaway Flash, and a Ping G400. Only the TS2 seemed like it might be a good fit for further testing. But I haven't. I'd have to say that the Flash was slightly longer than the EXS and the others. The TS2 seemed to me to be more like my SLDR and I liked it a lot. These initial tests were all visual and feel based and on the range. No LM data except the Ping which much to my surprise was a non-starter. Probably wrong shaft and settings and I recall I wasn't prepared to give it a better examination. Distance is always good in this game and at 64 I need all I can hang on too. However, I'm willing to give up a few yards for accuracy and over the past 5 years my SLDR has been a fairway machine. It's going to be hard for the EXS to match it. I'm optimistic. Before I left the shop with the EXS I had the shaft cut to 45" from 45.75". I also put on a GP CP2 wrap grip to match all my other clubs. Also, during my EXS LM session I lofted-up the EXS to the ++ setting (12*) to more closely match my SLDR. ** My SLDR has a Shotmaker insert in the shaft. If I go further and decide to place it in my bag I'll buy another Shotmaker for the EXS. I honestly believe it makes a difference.

Alright, I played 9 holes yesterday using the e12 Speed (that's the one I'm testing), the e12 Soft, the e6 Speed, and one of my usual gamer Snell MTB-Black (not pictured). Let me start off by saying that I didn't have the opportunity to hit 4 balls off of every tee. Also, I would love to say that Driving is my strong suit, but I'd lying. However, I did get a hold of one that went 290, with the e12 Speed...so this ball can really fly and run forever. The Soft is a lot softer than the Speed, which I'm sure you could've guessed that by the obvious, so going into the green I had better success with the Soft. In this picture the e12 Speed is closer to the hole than the e6 Speed, but they both pretty much had the same roll-out, I just landed them in different spots. This was about a 30 yd chip shot to the hole. When I'm about 50-60 yds out, I like to hit my 52 degree very low with a lot of backspin and the ball usually stops after one very small hop. That is the shot I used in the picture below. Here you'll see the e12 Soft (left) hopped a couple times and rolled-out about 5 feet, and the e12 Speed (closest to the pin) landed close to the fringe and rolled-out about 20 feet right up to the hole. I had another opportunity later in the round to try the same shot from the fairway, with both Speed balls and the MTB-Black. On that hole (not pictured) I was able to get the MTB-Black to stop (although, not as quickly as the MTB-Red usually does), but the e12 Speed and the e6 Speed both rolled-out to the back of the green, about 30 feet past the MTB-Black. I'm looking forward to more testing when I get back out there and I will keep you guys posted.

I always love the one word posts on this thread. They speak volumes. :) Next weekend is a new round. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

... Awesome! Great round. Out of your comfort zone can be pretty catastrophic. Maybe 20 years ago when I was around a 10, I went out for a practice round with a friend. Birdied the first hole with 3 really good shots. Hit 2 good shots on the next par 5 but then pitched in for an eagle, but it really was a lucky shot for my skill level and I certainly wasn't thinking of holing it. Hit 3 really good shots on the next hole for a 2 footer but I was shaking when I made it. Next hole stuffed an iron on a par 3 to about 10 inches and my hands were shaking so badly I almost missed it. -5 after 4 holes and standing on the next tee that was another a par 5, I was so radically out of my comfort zone I topped a drive off the toe so far I almost missed the ball completely and it dribbled into a creek. Topped the next shot into the creek again. After several average shots I carded a 10 and all -5 strokes were gone in one hole. At least I was calm again and proceeded to play normally for the rest of the 9.

I don’t get these. A “ Pro” model with a bigger footprint and more offset? [emoji848]

There is a great book called, Why I Suck at Golf. You can find it on Amazon and there is a digital version. The book provides a humorous look at 50 common mistakes made by many of us every time we go out. Correcting all or even a percentage of these will most certainly lead to better or at least more enjoyable golf. I love this one, “you play with people you don’t like”. I once played in a club tournament in Maui. Going into the last round I was 8 shots ahead of the nearest competitor. The night before I was very relaxed and confidant. I really felt there was no one in the field who could beat me by 9 strokes over 18 holes. When I showed up the next morning I discovered I was paired with D. D was one of those guys who felt the world belonged to him and everyone else was just leasing his land. He was also an incredibly average golfer who reacted to every shot as if his talent should place him on the PGA tour. He yelled, he screamed, he threw clubs and he drank (a lot). Teeing off in the last group of 16 total Golfers ranging from scratch to 22 handicap not only did I have to play with and ride in a Golf cart with a guy I didn’t enjoy I was also destined to do it for 6 long hours. Long story short I shot 6 over my handicap thus making the tournament a lot closer than it needed to be. If I’m honest “D” is a great guy. A really good man in all facets of life. However, it’s painful to play Golf with him and he always makes the outing less enjoyable for me. Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

Horrifically.

Well, I got my 54 holes in this weekend (though not quite as expected - I'll explain in a bit). While they still have their faults, these Bridgestone wedges are an absolute pleasure to play with!!! My swing finally broke loose of all the off-season rust and I was really able to give the clubs a decent test out on the course - I even pulled my SM5's out of the bag for my club's season opener on Saturday just to test my comfort level with them! There's not a shot I can hit with my SM5's that I can't hit with these. I started out on Friday morning with a one hour drive to Springfield to see my preferred fitter and have him verify loft and lie were still good on my irons and wedges - I also had him check the Bridgestones to verify the OEM's ability to deliver on specs. Everything checked out okay and in fact - it went so fast that we really didn't need to get me on the launch monitor for anything. After I was done at the fitter, it was off to Windmill Ridge located in Monett, MO. It's a fun course that I've only played once before and was on the way home. Conditions were very soft after receiving rain a day or two before, but I played well minus a few hiccups and having to take a few penalty strokes for lost balls. I was still struggling a little with my swing so contact was literally hit or miss until I pulled out the 54 on #6. I was playing through a foursome in front of me and had the misfortune of spraying my drive into the trees down the right side of the fairway. After punching out with my 4i, I had just 74 yards left to the hole. This seemed to be about the perfect distance for a flighted 3/4 wedge and it was the best I had clipped any of these wedges up to that point. The ball traveled exactly pin high and hopped left - probably from the punched greens - then I proceeded to drain the ensuing 8-10 footer for par! That shot was monumental in transforming the way I feel about these XW-1 wedges. The contact was just so pure and soft, and the sound was so muted. From then on I hit a lot more quality wedges (and irons) and had myself a good time. Next up, I decided to go play the municipal course in Neosho, MO - still on the way home. I called ahead just to be sure they weren't closed or busy with an event or something and the girl on the phone told me to come on out. It wasn't until I got there and had given her my payment for the round that she informed me holes 12 thru 16 were all closed because they had just been punched that morning and I soon discovered the remaining holes had a heavy layer of top-dressing that made things nearly unplayable. Soon enough, pace became a real issue - it was cart path only for all holes - and I opted to quit after 9-holes. Upon requesting a rain-check, the girl at the desk said she was handing out several. Clearly, I was not the only person unhappy with course conditions. I went home and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Saturday, I got up early and drove off to my home course in Carthage, MO for our club's season opening scramble. We started with a free breakfast and rules discussion at a local church before driving to the course for the event. It's a fun tournament as they (somewhat) randomly select the teams based on handicap or known ability. I had never met any of the guys on my team before and I think two of them had only just joined for the first time this year. We had a lot of fun and shot -6 on the front 9 before losing steam and posting a mere -2 on the back. Again, I was able to hit some quality wedge shots - and some quality iron shots as well. We wound up using my approach shot on 6 holes which wasn't bad at all considering I was listed as a "C" player. After the tournament was over and results posted, I hung around and worked with the wedges in the short-game practice area for a bit. I had a buddy of mine who's a scratch golfer (or close to it) come out and take a look at the wedges as well. He pretty much had a very similar opinion of the wedges as I did in my Stage One - just going off of looks. I let him hit a couple shots and he remarked about how soft they felt as well. Eventually, I went out and played another 9-holes at my home track to try and ingrain some of what I had worked on in the short game area and continue testing the clubs. Minus a series of flubs on #4 that had me score a +3 for the hole, I struck the ball really well and wound up being +6 for the 9. Considering half of those strokes lost to par came on one hole, I didn't think it was bad at all. While I'd love to say the highlight of the day was one of the many wedge shots I hit - some very good wedges shots among them - I have to give credit where credit is due. On Saturday, that credit belonged to my hybrid which came within 1-1/2"-2" of giving me my very first hole-in-one! I couldn't believe just how close it was - and with 6 of my buddies on the next tee box to witness! Needless to say, I had a very fun weekend. I have plenty of comments to add about the wedges themselves and how they performed, but consider this my (very long) teaser for what lies ahead. I'll be back on at some point tomorrow to talk a bit more about versatility, sound and feel, distance, spin, and trajectory. Goodnight Spies!

The snow stopped us from opening the year last weekend. But we have begun this weekend! Gorgeous day, about 65° today. I’m not sure if I should be happy I hit 15 GIR or missed 15 birdie putts It’s a promising start, though.

I played yesterday on a course I shot 93 on last week. Got there and a couple of guys asked if I wanted to play in with them, as I was solo. I told them that I wasn't very good, but did anyway. Boy, did I live up to my billing. They wanted to play from the tips, which none of us should have. Shot 112 with 46 putts. Couldn't hit a straight drive to save my life, the best part it was cart path only and I got a LOT of exercise crossing the fairway. It's days like that where I question my sanity. Sent from my SM-G955U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

16 at my club separates the men from the boys. Go right and you have a relatively benign shot of 150 to a large 2 tiered green - bogey is still possible but double or other is out of the equation unless you really skank one. Go to the bridge side and you have what you see in the second picture 160-210 over that. We went left - 162 to the front pin which meant 155 yard carry over the junk - you can barely see the front of the green over it, hit 6 iron saw it land just by the pin, went to the tier and rolled back to 10 feet behind the pin. Shot of the day, birdied 17, 3 putt bogey on 18 but no harm 38-38 76 from a set of tees that’s 73.8, 137 slope. I’m continuing the come back. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

This has been a horrible weekend. After yesterday's unlikely 86 with not a good shot to be found, today was just the opposite. I hit pretty good shots tee to green considering the wind played havoc with shots most of the day. I apparently left my short game home. Shot 91. If I had yesterday's short game, my score would have been low 80's. On a positive side my wife shot 14 shots better today than yesterday, but she was still 10 shots above her "normal" round. I'm ready for warmer weather.

I was thinking about that as well. I should have bought a PowerBall ticket! I can’t wait to go through the Cobra fitting. I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll need new shafts after the speed increases I’ve seen.

Well, I wish Barbajo would have spilled the beans, but I woke up this morning to find an email from the Ben Hogan Golf Co. in my inbox touting these https://benhogangolf.com/products/ptx-pro-irons The update to the Ben Hogan PTx irons, the PTX Pro. Slightly larger, slightly more offset compared to the original PTx and easily a much more modern look. A beautiful forged design. I can’t wait to find out more about these. As a Hoganista that’s played everything from 1954 Precision’s to 2015 Ft. Worth’s, if these perform as good as they look, Hogan has a winner on their hands. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don't know if many of you follow Tony (@GolfSpyT) on twitter but he's been blowing it up with the golf ball test. Needless to say, this test is going to really help in golf ball selection and prove that there are some SIGNIFICANT differences in golf balls out there. I, for one, find this test more useful for my game than the most wanted putter or driver. Look at the iron test...this is average carry and dispersion (sorry, I'm trying to figure out how to embed his charts on twitter): https://twitter.com/GolfSpyT/status/1114139033238736897 You have one golf ball carrying 189...and another 203.5!! 14 yard difference...that's an entire club! In other tweets, he mentions: The fastest golf ball off the driver (115mph swing speed) is the Snell MTB X. There's also a 5.5mph difference in golf balls among fast driver speeds (115mph)...that's a huge difference in carry yardage given all the other launch variables are consistent. Some of the golf balls are flying 40yds offline off the driver...and this is a robot swinging the club. Even with a perfect swing, your golf ball could cause you to miss the fairway...tell me if that doesn't mess with your head. Also, he's mentioned a lot about playing just one ball and sticking to it. While I never really thought about it, after seeing the charts he's posted, I'm ready to make a 6 dozen purchase of whatever ball fits my game and play it only from here on out. Case in point: I used to switch from TP5X in the spring/summer/fall months to a Snell MTB Black in the winter time but then when I would switch back to the TP5X, all my approach shots were flying the green. All my carry yardages, especially on the irons, had to be retrained. Thanks MGS...and thanks Tony for posting these snippets on twitter.

I was able to try the new Snell MTB X (yellow) golf ball Saturday and it is a very good ball, however, it does not suit my game. I didn’t like it from the tee, the irons were ok, and putting it was really good. Compared to last years MTB red model it is different. The X model has Much less spin on all clubs. I found that around the greens I could produce very little spin compared to the “red” model which had almost too much spin. Overall the the X model ball is more consistent from tee to green, but it lacked the spin around the greens that I was hoping for. I will be switching back to the MTB black (yellow version) it seems to have the characteristics of ball that I prefer.

I am happy to say that I have broken out of my plateau. I knew something good yesterday when I played with someone who always outdrives me. I was blowing it by him on several holes. It was wet and I got zero roll. I was getting yardages on the fly that I normally get with carry and roll. Today...I broke multiple personal records. I had 107 with red stick on regular swing and I hit 124 with left handed step change swing.

I finally can contribute back to this thread. As I posted in late February, I cracked the LCD screen on the radar with an errant swing. After some back and forth with the company (they are great, just a small operation), my replacement LCD screen arrived Saturday afternoon. I hadn't really been consistent with my workouts because, frankly, it's not a whole lot of fun without the radar. I did finish the introduction protocol and had been intermittently completing level one, but I haven't been terribly consistent since wrecking the radar. This afternoon I went through the introductory protocol once again to re-establish my baselines. I'm very happy with the numbers, and these were after my normal Monday morning lifting and about 50 range balls at lunchtime. I'm going to go through the introductory protocol twice more this week and then move on to level one next week. I did register one driver at 102 MPH during my lunch session. I have a lot of swing things to work on (most notably a backswing inside takeaway/sway/cast sequence), so I'm hoping that number goes up as I work to correct those issues.

Harbour Pointe GC in Mukilteo, WA Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

As a recent retiree with lots of time coupled with beautiful SC weather, I’ve had lots of time to put these wedges through their paces. The bottom line up front is I like the Callaway Mack Daddy Wedges much better than the Bridgestone. Good Stuff- they are long and high providing me with a very step approach into the greens. I’ve gained about 10 yards on my current gamers. The Bad - Bridgestone must have an endorsement contract with Shankapotamus. Lots of miss hits I’m not use too. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

- so I went to a demo day to do the Wilson challenge at an indoor golf shop and they had other fitters there too so while I was there I decided to try out a couple things. I brought my 7 iron with me for the challenge so I had it on hand. I play a Sterling single length set made by Tom Wishon; those that know clubmaking know Tom as he's been around a long time but I wouldn't expect everyone to know him. I asked if the Mizuno rep was there and told him I wanted to try the shaft optimizer. He saw that I was holding a club and asked if it was mine and I said yes.....said what is it....told him what it was and that it was a single length club and he says "why'd you do that?"....what?....get those clubs?.... told him I didn't get a chance to practice much back then and wanted to try it to see if it made the game easier....he proceeds to poo-poo the clubs and says that was a weird fad and it won't catch on .... or something to that effect. This was a younger kid - probably mid twenties - and, honestly, all I wanted to do was smash him in his stupid face. First he was condescending ... Second he acted like I was bothering him... (had no other customers) Third he put me in a bay with no LM so I couldn't even see what the ball was doing with the shaft he put me in... Four he acted like I was asking for the keys to fort Knox when I asked what the 3 shafts the optimizer chose... I handed him the club back and he says that seems like a good combo for you (with the inevitable next step of filling out a purchase order)...I said yeah, thanks. It's too bad really because I did a demo day the weekend before in RI with a diff Mizuno rep and he couldn't have been nicer.

great job guys on the on going commnentary. Exactly what we are looking for in reviews this year!!

Silly me, I thought it was because of my habit of having a perpetually open clubface with my driver.

M-I-L is the nicest lady in the world...she's a member of Costco (I am not) and remembered me telling her about the golf balls; she ordered me 2 dozen as a gift and unfortunately it was AFTER the redesign....asked me last week if I wanted more of the golf balls and I explained the situation but told her I'd be happy for a 5 pack of kirkland gloves! She, of course, obliged and they should be here very soon. Hopefully they haven't violated another patent....

True. Getting ahead of myself like usual. “It’s my golf swing and I WANT IT NOW” Could be a great infomercial. [emoji23][emoji23]

For some assistance in my review of the Epic Flash (if Callaway ever sends the correct shaft) and just to get some measurable data about my game. Sent from my Pixel 3 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

Seems nuts but people seem to be buying. Im just a working man.When I buy news its a couple years old.

hahaha You say that now, but when the weather turns, you will be scoring a PB in no time. You can't tell how you will play in a month by what's happening now.

Played my first round of the season today. A quick 9-hole round at Bungay Brook in Bellingham. It’s a nice WIDE open course to open the year with. The putter felt great, and I recorded 3 one putts and 6 two putts for 15 total putts. I was quite happy! Ended up even par 36 with one bogey and one birdie. Distance control felt awesome, and the 3 to 4 footers were nice and smooth with the added stability I felt in my hands. If this round was anything like what the rest of the year will be, I can’t recommend going for a putter fitting enough! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

New Ewa Beach Golf Club #1

Well this is an interesting thread (just for info my shoulders getiing a bit better) i dont want bore you ,but heres my twopenneth worth i like golf i loved watching it as a kid in the late 60`s and 70`s (well until late 70`s when girls ...........well you know) But wasn`t until 1998 when I played first in the USA visiting family . So to cut a long story short i buy clubs , i try to play......... air shots galore ........... you know the story...... i have a free lesson then i pay for a few lesson but i work shifts so no practice But also ......... no natural ability ..............i was no good at any sport at school, so i think it becomes harder . So i pack up and sell everything just over a year passes and i try again but its not happening . I was going to try again........... no shifts now, more time to practice, find a swing for me , have lessons, join a club (thats a laugh) So yes i really do suck at golf ......... but so what The only way i can drive a ball straight is put in on the passenger seat in my car.......ok i tried to make a joke !!!! When my shoulders fully fit, i will go to my local 9 holes .......its cheap and cheerful and i will go to the local pitch and putt which is very good ,no slow issues there lol ............and i will pretend i can play Take care all ,enjoy yourselves and everyone can have a bad day at the office.

Had a fitting for the cobra connect challenge today that turned out to be both a fitting and a mini lesson. The instruction was so simple and effective from this guy that I really feel like I understand where my inconsistencies come from now. For starters my current off the rack clubs are about a full inch short. So I've been compensated by getting my legs too far apart and losing my mobility. He had me get tighter and grabbed me a longer club with a different shaft profile and it felt so much better to be able to stand tall over the ball. I had so much mobility. He made the game sound simple. Showed me how to hit draws just by dropping my right shoulder. Fixed my setup on my driver to get more loft and better delivery. The biggest takeaway was that I was swinging too hard to compensate for having the wrong shaft in my clubs. He gave me a better shaft profile for me and basically told me to let the club work and be easy and it felt really good. I'm excited about the new clubs and I think I found an instructor I'll be using in the future. He made alot more sense to me than the first guy and I got so much more out of it than I did my other lesson.

Hey! Get out of our thread talking about that other driver! Just kidding of course How about a test-v-test drive off once you guys go live??? You flash boys are going DOWN!

Wrapped up the trip today withca round at Troon North. What an experience. One of the most beautiful courses ive ever played. Heres a few pics that I also posted in another thread.