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Shot half a$$ed today... too much in a hurry to get done before football. some good shots, some not so good...

Tale of two days... Yesterday, I started off with a lost ball off the tee box and a resulting double and ended the round with a hit the wrong ball 2 stroke penalty triple, along with 2 more doubles and another triple for an 86. Today, had nothing but pars and bogies for a 79. After the new year, when weather permits, I'm going to spend some time with the pro figuring out how I can improve getting off the tee box. It's killing me!

Now we are talking! I'll be gone the whole day anyway. I may even play 18 that day. What I do is order about 95% of my gifts on-line and have them come to my office. Then I turn around and tell my family I have to buy for them so I disappear for the day and they don't ask questions because they think I am loading up on gifts for them. If when I return I am still annoyed I go back out the following day because "I forgot one thing". I can usually milk this for 2 hours unless I get stuck taking a kid with me then it costs me more money because I actually have to buy something. These skills have been honed for 19 years and they travel well if anyone else needs to use this method.

Maybe we can all help you out by sending you our shopping lists and PayPal you the money. We could keep you out the whole day

Man you guys have way more handicap difficulties than I have ever experienced and I thought I had been around - Connecticut, New York, Indiana, Wisconsin and now Florida and very little of that time at private clubs. There has been the occasional outlying clear sand bagger who gets expelled but its always been the guy playing the best golf wins and that normal gets spread out over time (just as it should.) Under those circumstances handicaps will sort things out. Of course there are going to be examples of 70 year olds who driving it past 40 year olds the exception does not prove the rule. I'm 63 and not particularly long and yet there are 20 something whom I out drive. That's hardly the entire game. My suggestion to the Op is that his group consult the State Golf Association which will have guidelines for its championship play and then adjust accordingly. Generally speaking the divisions for Amateurs differ from touring pros (for obvious reasons.) It's usually Senior 55-64, Super Senior 65 and up - You may wish to create an additional group of your own from 75 to 100 or something like that depending on the tee configuration at your course. Regardless you will find that it gets tougher as your reach the upper limits of each age bracket because you are unable to hit the ball as far or as consistently as you could at the lower end. It really doesn't matter whom I'm longer than right now - I'm not longer than or as consistent as the 55 year old RevKev and for those reasons I can't compete with him - my handicap reflects that however so I could compete with him so long as both of us used our handicaps. Since I'm less consistent he might accuse me (or I myself) of being a sandbagger when I throw in a nice 71 or 72 and get 7 strokes - he will have forgotten the 84's that I strong together for the two months prior and all the money he took from me there in with his 74's and 75's when he makes that accusation. I hope this helps - all of us - to put things in perspective rather than trying to prove rules and norms by exceptions. Either that or we should run for congress - they make a living out of it.

There's a coon hound at the shelter I'm thinking about.

A lot of playoff spots and playoff bye weeks are going to be decided a certain way because people didn't set their lineups. Pretty disappointing gents.

Where is your passion? I wouldn’t presume to “vote” but if you were a congregant seeking advice between two good choices that’s what I would ask. Where is your passion and what are your goals for it. If they are as you suggest, to excel, it’s pretty hard to have two passions. Best wishes and you know that you have our support regardless. Great job on the weight loss. I’m so sorry that I waited until 60 to change that part of my lifestyle. But I’m glad that I finally did it. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

YEAH! Thanks to @GolfSub70 and especially their fearless leader Jason. I have to wait until the thumb heals but I can't wait to hit this one. I asked that they not put a grip on because of my obsession with Pure grips, so they sent me a hat instead. As well as some tees and a nice personal note. And I was very happy to see that I could get an Even Flow Blue shaft for a $20 upgrade.

Not sure if you’ve seen all of the sites offering Pro V1, Pro V1X, AVX, etc for $39.99, including personalization!!! Great deal! https://www.tgw.com/titleist-special-holiday-offer-2019?SITE_ID=W0011&LNK=H1&CID=EMC-112419Pro&trk_msg=L4ASKVF5G9V4PB0BIN2J71O8J8&trk_contact=F70VU1RTEG3SO0PRJVQNU25LN0&trk_sid=4BDG6OQEJEIVP6R46FPNSHAM9S&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=TITLEIST+SPECIAL+HOLIDAY+OFFER&utm_campaign=%2439.99+Titleist+Pro+V1!+-+Special+Holiday+Offer https://www.rockbottomgolf.com/search.php?search_query=prov1holidaypage&trk_msg=KLAP1HBTRAM439ARNSV5LOAIVK&trk_contact=F70VU1RTEG3SO0PRJVQNU25LN0&trk_sid=ND1OIQINADNIMN9HONCLTR3QSO&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.rockbottomgolf.com%2fsearch.php%3fsearch_query%3dprov1holidaypage&utm_campaign=%3f%3f+Pro+V1+Balls+ONLY+%2439.99!+This+Special+Holiday+Offer+STARTS+NOW! https://www.globalgolf.com/golf-balls/titleist/?eid=470008&tag=365&utm_medium=email&utm_source=bm23&utm_campaign=7342-0-The%201%20Gift%20in%20Golf%20%20Pro%20V1%203999&utm_term=5 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

And yet they still don't return my calls about Forum Testing. But I don't ever give up!!

And THAT is why they invented bars!

Come on guys...suck it up and get out there. I am going to Walmart to save $15 on Apple Airpods. Is it worth $15 to go to Walmart on Black Friday? No! It is worth $15 to get away from 48 straight hours of in-laws however.

In theory, underscore in theory, I agree. Honest handicaps applied to an effective or adequate system should produce results where tee position materially do not or should not matter. Unfortunately, personally, that does not seem to be the case. Typically, handicaps at most courses, my index reflects a one to two stroke difference in handicap between the regular tees and the senior tees. However, again typically, I shoot anywhere from three to four shot better from the senior tees (its all about distance or my lack thereof). Accordingly, when I post scores from the regular tees, I feel like I am creating an inappropriate handicap for use in senior outings and events. Conversely, if I do not post regular tee scores: one, I would not be posting all my scores as required, and two, creating an inadequate handicap for team events from the regular tees that would impact my partners. Therefore, I no longer play in any outings, leagues or tournaments mandating regular tee play. I limit my play to senior events and casual play with my buds. As an aside, I'm in my old office today with computer access, so let me say HI to all my Spy buds. I really do miss you.

Any of them. There's a lot of discussion regarding re-gripping in the forum. Try a search on Goggle (better than searching here in most cases) and you'll find a link to many MGS forum posts relating to re-gripping. With air or without.

I can tell you about my team today. I played the regular tees beside a guy not quite 40 and another in his 50's. The guy 2 years older than me qualified to play the senior tees. I was the short knocker ALL DAY long! On average, the two younger guys were 75 yards ahead of me, and in some cases even more. A humbling day

Local shop finally got two of these in, and I snapped a comparison to my Spider Tour. Pretty near a straight copy to my eyes. I didn't roll them because they were too long for me, but they look nice in black.

I talked to our Super about this a couple weeks ago. He has heard of some small executive type courses doing it. But said he cant imagine any regular course would ever do so. The size of greens (and 18 of them not 9) would be very expensive. once they are done they arent maintenance free. They would need to be cleaned/brushed/vacuumed regularly . creating and changing holes could present quality challenges. Eventually the turf will wear out and need replaced. damage can be tough to repair vs grass. Where the turf meets grass on the fringes could create some awkward rolls/lies plus he said probably a myriad of other things he hadn’t thought of Think about it. All other synthetic fields are generally 1 large area that arent 18 individual 3,000 SQ Feet fields of their own.

I feel the same about the F9s and my brother is a convert as well

I think I was just tired from 36 holes the previous day. I think my biggest takeaway from this round is to not try and do too much. 1 double bogey in a round is too much, let alone three. I will say that the wind was blowing all day long so it made club selection a challenge. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Golf can wait. Did love my karate before time got away with family and work. If you go away, I’m sure we’ll be here to welcome you back

some of the most friendly, welcoming and genuinely empathic people I know are in the mixed martial arts community. They talk gently and ooze confidence but not arrogance. They can also handle themselves extremely well if a situation spirals the wrong way.

Like you in my younger days I found myself spread thin on hobbies, then came along kids and life responsibilities. I cut back on hobbies, quitting some completely, to my regret golf was one that was cut from my life. I returned to golf a few years and over time the many hobbies have narrowed down to 2. Sounds to me like you have 2 that are your hearts passion, I would offer that perhaps there's a balance in there somewhere that will allow you to pursue both hobbies along with the demands of life. But then that's where the difficulty comes in, how to balance all that, and the only one that can answer that is you. But I wouldn't give up one for the other. Good luck..... Chris

All the talk of vintage clubs got me to scouring eBay and come home with a set of MacGregor VIP Foil 1025 MC irons. They should be here by Saturday - the eBay pix show about what you'd expect from a set of irons at least 15 years old, but I can't wait to hit them. But the whole thing made me look for an article online that I had read a year or so ago while doing some research for an article, and I wanted to share it with you. It was originally published in the Nov 28th, 2009 issue of GolfWeek Magazine, and is an interesting read, especially now that Golfsmith is also dead and buried.... MacGregor: Demise of an American classic This story originally ran in the Nov. 28 issue of Golfweek ALBANY, Ga. – Jack Nicklaus can't forget the sweet sound of persimmon. For years, whenever he opened a golf course, he hit his ceremonial tee shot with a persimmon driver, autographed the club's crown and had it mounted in the clubhouse. The gesture showed his sentimental side for when woods were made of wood and the expression “hitting it on the screws” meant something. And it harkened back to his MacGregor days when he underscored the company's slogan, “The greatest name in golf.” His weapon of choice: the MacGregor Tommy Armour 945. Remember when woods clinked rather than clanked? Whether they had a warm chestnut, antique cherry or dark pecan finish, wood drivers caused golfers to gush in a way they never would about titanium. Listen to John Cook rhapsodize about his MacGregor M-85 driver: “She was blond, shallow-faced, with a keyhole insert. The grain was so tight on her. She had a knot right on the tip. That's how you could tell she was a solid piece of wood.” MacGregor Golf, which began making clubs in 1897, pioneered many of the advances in golf equipment. Lest anyone forget MacGregor's prowess as a maker of forged blades, the company passed down from one generation of its heralded craftsmen to the next the proper technique for grinding irons. Starting as a round billet of soft carbon steel, a raw forged iron head went through nearly 50 stages of sculpting before it was crowned with the MacGregor stamp. There was a time when the MacGregor name carried clout. It said, Byron Nelson once won 11 tournaments in a row with me. It said, Johnny Miller shot a U.S. Open-record 63 with me. It said, 59 major championships were won with me. Its place as part of the very foundation of the sport in this country seemed to be drawn in indelible ink. Yet golf's second-oldest brand in the U.S. – after Spalding – is gone as we've known it. A year ago, MacGregor mothballed plans to reintroduce a line of VIP irons, began a fire sale of its inventory and sold its intellectual property to Golfsmith in May for $1.75 million. A retail chain buying MacGregor? Not too long ago, such a notion would have been as preposterous as Radio Shack acquiring Sony. How could MacGregor be reduced to a store's house brand? Sometimes, success is lost in transition. The brand changed hands many times, with each new owner switching strategies so often that, before long, the innovator became the imposter. A book could be written on what allowed upstarts Ping, TaylorMade and Callaway to usurp MacGregor's market share. But before its demise, the company created a legacy that forever would be cherished. • • • First, some perspective: MacGregor had the most-played irons and woods on the pro circuit for decades. Think back to the 1975 Masters, when the last four players on the course – Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf and Tom Watson – all carried the Kelly green-and-white MacGregor staff bag. So did Ben Crenshaw, David Graham and later Curtis Strange. “Forget about my era,” says Weiskopf, who signed with the company in 1964 for $1,500. “Think about the era before us. To be part of that tradition meant you were special.” It's a tradition that descends from Armour, The Silver Scot, who stamped the soles of his personal MacGregor woods “L.F.F.,” an abbreviation of his motto: “Let the f—er fly.” MacGregor signed the fabled trio of Jimmy Demaret, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan for a combined $5,000, arguably the best bargain in golf history. Demaret joined at the 1937 U.S. Open. On June 1, 1939, Nelson agreed to a handshake deal and grabbed a new set of MacGregors off the rack in Armour's pro shop. Two weeks later, Nelson won the U.S. Open. The then-unheralded Hogan was the best investment of all. “He was nearly broke and needed to get to Pinehurst for the (1940) North & South,” Toney Penna recalled years later in the company's unpublished history, “MacGregor: The First 100 Years.” “I had $500 on me but offered him $250 in case he wanted more. He took the $250 and won the North & South.” It was Penna, a Tour winner known as “the sweet swinger,” who recruited the greatest names in golf to play under the MacGregor banner. The advisory staff also included future Hall of Fame members Jack Burke Jr., Craig Wood and Louise Suggs. By the 1950s, Penna had risen to chief designer. He was taught the basics; the rest he invented. His creations such as the Eye-O-Matic, a two-colored fiber insert that pointed out the club's sweet spot, and the four-way roll face helped the average golfer hit the ball better. Some of his innovations became industry standards. For instance, Penna's MT irons from 1950 were compact blades with an unusually wide top line that were shallow from top to bottom. Penna lowered the center of gravity and put 1 degree less loft on each club, predating by some 30 years what would become common practice. The MT's wild popularity spurred MacGregor to shelve its tennis business to create more space for club production. Business flourished in the 1940s and '50s. Some observers point to MacGregor's sale in 1958 to bowling behemoth Brunswick Corp. – whose golf-crazed president decided to diversify the company's holdings – as the beginning of the end for MacGregor. The best move made during Brunswick's decadelong ownership of MacGregor was signing Nicklaus after a heated bidding war. First Flight Golf, an upstart company, offered Nicklaus a then-unheard-of $100,000 contract. “Don't lose him,” MacGregor's president ordered, matching the offer. But the signing of Nicklaus, the face of the company for more than three decades, only masked MacGregor's long slide into oblivion. • • • On any given day Jack Wullkotte locks himself in his Lake Park, Fla.-workshop, where he sanded the persimmon woods that he made for Nicklaus' ceremonial shots. Wullkotte, who turned 80 last month, is one of the oldest living links to MacGregor's heyday. He was there 60 years ago when they wheeled Hogan around the plant after his car accident. Wullkotte joined MacGregor in 1947 and is part of an illustrious lineage of precision club shapers. They had to be; they were working for a finicky and demanding bunch, the kind who could discern a single-layer difference of masking tape under their grips. “There was always this DNA on how to make an iron going all the way back to the beginning of the company,” says Jim Bode, MacGregor's former vice president of research and design and a 25-year company employee. Wullkotte has served as Nicklaus' personal clubmaker and repairman since the day Nicklaus broke a 6-iron at the 1963 Greater Jacksonville Open. Their pairing now is a part of lore: Nicklaus' pilot flew the club to MacGregor's custom shop in Cincinnati for emergency surgery, but it was closed for the week. Wullkotte was the only employee who hadn't yet left for vacation, and he negotiated a full day's pay for an hour's worth of work. His next paycheck bulged with an extra $32. “That's what I got, $4 an hour,” Wullkotte says. “It was a coup for me.” In 1967, Wullkotte left MacGregor after 20 years to join Penna, who had begun his own equipment company with the financial backing of Perry Como, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. At the '64 Masters, MacGregor gave Penna a proper send-off, hailing his achievements and presenting him a golf club engraved with a number: 17,936,732. It signified the quantity of clubs made during his tenure. Without Penna's ingenuity and the loss of much of its skilled labor – resulting from the company's move to Albany, Ga. – MacGregor began suffering from a noticeable decline in product quality. No one was more distressed by the slide than Nicklaus. In 1974, Nicklaus personally employed Wullkotte to oversee MacGregor's operations. Wullkotte remembers Nicklaus reading the riot act to the staff: “Nicklaus said, ‘You people are building the worst golf clubs. I'm embarrassed to go into pro shops and see my name on this stuff.' ” From that day forward, every club had to pass Wullkotte's inspection. Nicklaus also hired Tour player David Graham as his chief designer. Graham followed Armour and Penna in the company's tradition of “player-craftsman.” With a sense of awe undiminished with passing years, Weiskopf maintains he never met a pro who knew more about club design than Graham. “He could bend your clubs in a doorjamb,” Weiskopf says. If Graham's success as a player is overlooked, his abilities as a club designer largely have been forgotten. He and Nicklaus co-designed the VIP irons, which Graham used in winning the 1979 PGA Championship. The tandem also created the Jack Nicklaus Limited Edition irons, which Graham used in his 1981 U.S. Open victory. (Nicklaus won the 1980 U.S. Open and PGA with prototypes of the Limited Edition.) There may never be another major winner who designs his own clubs. Throughout the company's history, MacGregor's custom shop housed the best grinders such as Will Sime, John Huggins and Ernest Airy, who crafted clubs for Hogan, Nelson and Demaret. But none compared with Art Emerson. “He could grind a club and never make sparks,” Graham says. MacGregor wooed Emerson back from Penna's shop in 1971 to open a custom-design department in Albany. Upon his return to the company, Emerson sat in the lobby filling out paperwork with another new hire, a 20-year-old dressed in a polka-dot shirt who didn't know a golf club from a hood ornament. Emerson quickly recognized that the young man had a gift, a touch that couldn't be taught. Emerson embraced “polka dot” as his apprentice, staying after hours to pass along all that he knew. The pupil soon surpassed the teacher. “Polka dot” is Don White, now 58, the last in the line of MacGregor craftsmen. The world's best players traveled to see him in the sleepy Southern town of Albany – self-proclaimed quail hunting capital of the world – and White answered their every request. Chi Chi Rodriguez regularly flew his jet there from Puerto Rico and once sent his pilot solo to pick up a completed set. Ray Floyd asked for a slight rocker at the heel and toe. Weiskopf requested zero bounce on his irons. Crenshaw simply wanted “the Nicklaus grind.” White would grind irons used to win 13 majors. “I do it by eyesight,” White says. It's an explanation that Rodriguez insists grossly understates White's talent. Observing him at work, Rodriguez says, “was like watching Leonardo da Vinci paint the Sistine Chapel, or Hogan practice. “They are artists.” When Rodriguez left MacGregor in 1993 to join Callaway, he told White, “Come with me,” and offered personally to pay him a salary of $100,000. But White, a confirmed son of the South, declined. • • • All the craftsmen in the world, however, couldn't have saved MacGregor. But with their help, the company kept pace with its rivals into the early 1980s, when a staff of more than 400 worked at The MacGregor Center, a 300,000-square-foot mill house on Slappey Boulevard. It ran at full tilt – three shifts per day, six days per week – making persimmon woods and forged irons. But by the late '90s, a seismic shift in the marketplace had a profound impact on MacGregor. Club production had moved to Asia in an effort to drive down labor costs. The result? MacGregor scaled back to a site one-tenth the size of its previous headquarters. The industry's move overseas was preceded by three of the most important golf-club innovations of the past 40 years: the advent of investment-cast irons, metal drivers and oversized titanium drivers. MacGregor fumbled all three. Cast irons did away with the need for forging or expert grinding. MacGregor resisted the new production method because it was bent on retaining tradition in design and materials. It took MacGregor until 1974 to finally introduce a cast set, five years after Ping debuted its K-1 irons and after every other major company had produced a cast model. Likewise, MacGregor refused to acknowledge the metalwoods revolution. In 1988, metal drivers outnumbered persimmon woods for the first time on the PGA Tour, ending MacGregor's stranglehold on the driver count. During a nine-month span in 1989, MacGregor's woods production plummeted from 1,200 per day to 50 per week. Soon after, one of its core products became extinct. Even when MacGregor moved swiftly to capitalize on the coming titanium trend, it suffered a demoralizing defeat. In 1992, MacGregor released the T-920, America's first cast titanium-headed driver, but it never made inroads against Callaway's stainless-steel Big Bertha, which ruled the day. Fast-forward to 1995 when Callaway followed with the launch of its Great Big Bertha titanium driver. It sold more than 250,000 units in its first year. In contrast, the T-920 sold 2,500. “Callaway signed an exclusive deal with Ruger (foundry) and bought all the raw titanium they could get in the country,” says Bode, the former MacGregor VP. “Next thing you know, Callaway has invented titanium drivers. What do you do? You just grin and bear it.” MacGregor scored its final hit in 1986 with the ZT Response, an unconventional, oversized putter designed by Clay Long, which became an overnight sensation when Nicklaus used it to win the Masters that year. The company took 5,000 orders for it the Monday morning after his victory and sold 350,000 units before discontinuing the model. Nicklaus, who gained a controlling stake in the company in 1979, sold 80 percent of his interest for a reported $30 million in 1986. Frustrated with the company's direction, he dumped the rest in 1992 and formed his own equipment company under the Nicklaus name. Longtime company insiders believe Nicklaus was the last owner to net a profit out of MacGregor. Nicklaus, who began playing the company's clubs when he was 11-years-old, says of MacGregor's demise: “It's a shame in many ways. MacGregor was a name and a company that was at the head of the industry for 40 or 50 years. Then things changed.” In the years that followed, MacGregor chased dollars by selling clubs more suited for value-priced retailers, relinquishing its premium-brand stature. In 1998, the company reversed course yet again under new owner Barry Schneider. A business maverick who transformed his family's flooring-installation company into a $300 million business, Schneider decided there was only one way to stop the erosion of MacGregor's reputation. He closed 98 percent of the company's distribution, mostly low-end retailers, forfeiting millions in revenue. Schneider tried to rebuild MacGregor by returning it to its forged-blade roots. At the time, he said repeatedly: “I don't want to be the biggest, just the best.” One believer in the reclamation was Greg Norman, who went from paid endorser to paying the bills. (Norman long had an affinity for the brand. Even when he was a Cobra spokesman in the '90s, he had White grind irons for him that were stamped with the Cobra name, White said. The clubs were nicknamed Mac-Cobras.) “This is by far the biggest business deal I have ever made,” Norman said when he purchased an undisclosed stake in MacGregor in November 2006. But the audience for classic blades kept shrinking, and Schneider grew impatient. Seduced by the success of MacGregor's high-tech metalwoods, designed exclusively for Japanese golfers, Schneider introduced the same product in the U.S. The MacTec woods featured “the high-octane supreme of titanium alloys” and an ultra-thin crown. But it flopped. By 2008, Schneider was gone, ousted in a company reorganization. Recalling what amounted to be his quixotic effort, he says, “I under-estimated the strength of the existing brands in a consolidating industry.” Norman assumed the title of board chairman. Employees supported the move, noting Norman's business track record surpassed his Sunday performances at the majors. “Everything he touched turned to gold,” White says. “I thought we were going to come back the way we did (under Nicklaus) in the '80s.” MacGregor jettisoned MacTec, revived the MT irons and intended to resurrect the VIP line in '09. Then the economy tanked. The company halted its plans and cut sales jobs. In the clearest signal that Norman had realized the futility of his quest, he signed an endorsement deal with TaylorMade in March. “The survivors in this game right now . . . are Wall Street brands,” Norman said. “We got out while we could.” White's lathe stopped spinning May 29. No one was retained when MacGregor was sold, leaving White two weeks shy of his 38th anniversary at the company. Banished to early retirement, he has fixed his house, fished, and played golf with a handmade set of forged irons engraved “Don O Mite.” With grace and good humor, White has endured MacGregor's slow, sorrowful fall. But sometimes he forgets that the clubs he made have been reduced to collectors' items. The Albany facility where once they were tested is overgrown and unkempt. On occasion, White still drives to the one constant in his life, the office, for no reason at all. Some habits are hard to break. Editor's note: The MacGregor name, however faded, will live on in a new line of golf equipment to be released from its latest owner, retailer Golfsmith International. The thought of MacGregor being relegated to a so-called “house brand” is bound to distress loyalists, who fret MacGregor will become a low-cost alternative. Typically, retailers don't invest as much in R&D as equipment makers and rely heavily on Asian foundries for manufacturing. David Lowe, a Golfsmith vice president and a former MacGregor ambassador, confirms MacGregor clubs will be made overseas, but adds “it will be much more than people expect.” He remembers as an assistant golf professional in the early 1980s receiving his first MacGregor staff bag embroidered with his name. “It was one of the best days of my career,” he says. Golfsmith acquired MacGregor to serve as its flagship brand. It will be sold exclusively in the chain's 74 stores and Golfsmith's Web site and catalogs. In Europe, MacGregor will be distributed through various retailers. Golfsmith is reviving some of MacGregor's storied products: The VIP will be its premium forged offering ($799 steel); the Tourney, a mid-priced cast iron ($599 steel, $699 graphite). Golfsmith plans to unveil the MacGregor brand with bags, balls and accessories this holiday season. The clubs officially will debut in March.

52 years is solid work! Congratulations! I am continually surprised mine has put with me for 35

@cnosil is right on the money with the grip removal tool. I bought one from golfworks for basically the cost of one putter grip. Super easy to use and pays for itself with the first use.

Try and get some grip solvent under the grip. It will loosen the grip and you should be able to pull it off without damage. You could also get a grip removal tool.

83. Didn’t count fairways or total putts. No three putts, hit my irons better, 3 doubles with no penalty strokes. Gotta stop the costly mistakes especially on pitch shots.... mostly a concentration issue.

Finished up phase one of the off-season training on Saturday morning and just completed the first workout of phase two. I'm also now up to two miles of jogging in addition, though we'll see how long my knees can keep that up. After hovering around 172 all summer, I'm down to 162 since starting the program. My clothing is much more loose. The biggest difference I noticed, however, is that I am now able to create a lot more separation between my upper and lower body. At the beginning of training, I could barely rotate my hips without my upper body rotating, now that's pretty easy! Club head speeds have stayed somewhat steady at 2-3 MPH above where I started with the shorter irons, I think I'll see some more improvement there from lessons and not necessarily the workouts. At least not until I get back into SuperSpeed in February or so.

Can't wait to hear more about and get my hands on the 2020 Bridgestone tour B X

Look who's back! I got excited for a moment thinking you had figured out the Ipad or laptop configuration, then I read the last line, that you're in your old office today. Well however or whatever it took to get you on line, so glad to see you drop in. Come out and see me sometime, I can't play for another 5 weeks or so, but we can sit around and talk about how good we would play if we went out....ha

At most courses, the course computer will reflect the tee handicaps when one enters their index. This is where, typically, I find the one to two stroke variance between the regular and senior tees. My assumption is that the rating and slope factors used reflects distance and other factors. Again, that is my assumption, I could be wrong.

Maybe they listened to us! We who tested all loved the shaft tech, but said the insert was pretty bad.

Sounds like you better get your daughter something really nice too for helping you out! Happy anniversary!

Picked up 3 dozen since this is basically the same price our "connection" can get them for, with the bonus that I get my favorite number. It's nice that TGW offers free shipping to Hawaii!!

You're forgetting seams. Artificial turf fields aren't one giant piece of fake turf, there are dozens of seems all throughout the turf. Imagine dealing with a seam on a putting green. Oof

Wet, windy, and cart path only. Only real problem with leaves was if you missed the fairway. Course was very playable and we made it around in good time. Was nice to play there again it has been a while.

Off mats for testing; and I don;t think you are being difficult. Pretty difficult to do that testing outdoors and off real turf. Lots of approaches to practice and I think you need to mix things up as well as doing block practice. One of the things I would like to do with a launch monitor is use the mode that randomizes distances and then you have to hit that distance. Also saw a drill where you hit the ball past your intended distance, then short, and then hit your specific distance. Each has its own purpose in teaching.

Kinda know about the Senior Tee controversy. We are all Seniors here our particular group right now ranges 67 to 78 with me at 73. I still play from the white tees and only one guy from the forward tees. Our oldest was 84 and he moved back to CT. We let the guys play where they want, there’s no real money involved and actually we’re all happy to just be out there and hit the ball around no matter had bad it is sometimes. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

This is such a great thread, and one I fall victim to quite often. As someone who has played golf for years but had only begun to take it seriously, I'm still working out a few kinks in my swing. I struggle with ball contact something horrible, hence my screen name. Days like we've had recently (lots of rain) have me scouring YouTube for tips on better iron play. I've recently come across a couple of tips on better shoulder turn in the follow through and weight shift. So far, I think I've found the magic tip! Ball striking has improved and I'm seeing better consistency. I should destroy my buddies the next time I play. I know this is just a fleeting moment of golf nirvana and it'll eventually fade, but I'm hoping that it'll become a piece of my swing going forward that will lead to incremental improvement in the long run. Sent from my SM-N975U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

Was just trying to offer you a different perspective that might help you enjoy the shanks as much as the aces. I’ll always remember the people and places over the performance. This comes from a guy who shot a 63 this summer. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

I’m from the east coast and played Cabot a handful of times. the golf is unreal. Spa items for your wife are not there but the beach for the family is right off the courses and they can actually watch you play from certain points of you on the course. Speaking from experience they took photos of me and waved to me while I played a handful of holes while they played. Pretty cool experience. Small town charm will capture you also!

It’s not the destination that is important, it’s the journey that brings lasting joy. If you really think about it your most enjoyable golf experiences have very little to do with the score card. What you remember most is the total experience highlighted by the people and the place. While I do play what I consider handicap rounds, for the most part I don’t even keep score. Yes, after a round I could probably count up my strokes from each hole but honestly what is the purpose. If Golf brings you joy then it’s the Golf not the score that does so. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

All this coming out lately on cheating has floored me. Maybe I lived in a shell most of my life. My old man who was a pro taught me integrity and always remain above reproach in golf as well as life. He also taught me to "square my actions" before doing anything with my opponents especially in big money matches. Really I have never seen the opportunity to call a penalty on an opponent during my Mini Tour days. Everyone I played with was straight up as far as I saw. As far as the Sergio deal at Bethpage I sided with Sergio on that one. The fans were simply rude to him and were an embarrassment to the State of NY as well as America. Had I been in his position I would have told those guys. After this round see me and we will find an open course and play for 100 grand a hole and how many do you need up a side? Further more at the time had I been in charge no pro golf events would have been played in NY state for at least 5 years or how ever much time it took to get people under control. Of course sadly to say worse than that goes on at events everywhere now days. Ryder Cup events I have trouble getting geared up for. I mean I am an American true blue but I like and respect players on both sides after all I am a golf fan. On that hand I always stood up for Colin Montgomerie for some reason liked and respected him. Met him in real life a few years ago in Florida. Told him I was one American that stood up for him and I would be honored to buy him a Johnnie Walker Scotch. He took me up on that. found him to be a likable guy. As usual in his form he proposed a toast to " the only American who likes me" Got to chat with him some 15 minutes or so. For some reason I have always stood up for the person everyone picks on

I've learned that: I'm an awful driver of the golf ball. On days I can hit driver and keep it on the golf course, I can play pretty well and challenge my personal best. I hit my 4 iron and 5 iron the same distance. Except when I hit my 4 iron shorter. I intended the HL4 18* to replace the 4 iron, but I have a big gap between it and the 5i, so I think there's another HL4 in my future. My iron game could use some work, but it's not terrible. I'm a pretty good putter.

Played my last round up at the Monterey Peninsula at a little muni track called Pacific Grove. Talk about a hidden gem... shot well as I had a great ball striking week up here, so I won’t bore you with any details, but rather a few pics of a track that charged me $59 with the cart...

I should add that I'm also pretty thicc, so I don't know that I can criticize my golf clubs for being oversized.

I suppose that without knowing much about me or my past, you really don't have much to go on and these comments could be justified. Just to be clear, my family is my #1 priority and always will be, no questions. @chisag can probably attest that just as the golf community can be very family oriented, the same can be said for BJJ. It's a sport that families can participate in and something that I would love to see my 2 kids be a part of should they decide it's something they want to be involved with. Prior to getting married and starting a family, I probably could have been considered as an excessive hobbyist. Besides BJJ and Muay Thai, I also golfed, played competitive volleyball, snowboarded, rode moto cross and quad cross, surfed, skateboarded, wakeboarded, played guitar, bass, and drums in 3 different bands at once (not all at the same time of course). These were all my passions and I was rather good at them all. This isn't in any way a brag as it's not my character. When I made the decision to start a family, I was also deciding that I was ready to give the majority of these things up as they just weren't sustainable if I wanted to have a successful family life. It was another crossroads that when I reached, I never looked back or had any regrets.. and I have a truck load of memories from them. I don't have any issues holding on to 1 passion for myself and becoming as much of an expert at it as I can. Everything else in my life is dedicated to my family. We have formed many traditions, and have our own hobbies that we do together that I wouldn't trade for anything.

As Cnosil said. Whatever he limit you set for the white/gold break someone is going to be feel disadvantaged. I paly in an annual tournament that takes a unique approach and I have not heard of one complaint in many years. The standard tee is the white. But they have a "Rule of 70". If your age plus your handicap =70 or higher you may move up one tee box. So me I'm past years as a 55 year old and 20 handicap didn't have to hit from the longer trees. Same for say a 65 year old 5 handicap. He may not have the distance to compete from the longer tees. But has a fair chance now. You could also institute a rule of 80 or 85 for those super seniors or very high cap 65 year old. An added bonus was, pace of play dramatically improved as well.

Had my 4 month skin check last week, very happy to say it was all good, no biopsy required, let alone anything cut out. I'm on a 4 month schedule as I've had two Melanomas removed this year. Thankfully both were fully contained within the dermis and no further follow up was required. I was fully expecting to have another biopsy and removal, very pleased that wasn't the case. Two more clear checks and I can go back to yearly checks. Melanoma is a national curse here in Australia, the environment isn't well suited to pasty pale people like me, curse those Anglo-Celtic genes.