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20 years in the US Navy today. Grateful!

In my recent iron fitting I also looked at what to have in the bag between driver and 4 iron. Going with just my Exotics EX-9 Long set at 15* as it hits the gap below driver just right. There’s really no need to have anything between the Z585 4 iron and the Exotics, so this is the set-up starting 2020. I’m going with the Flash SZ set at 9*, up from 8*, because my spin on Trackman was showing to be 1700-1900, and that’s too low. I’m going to see if setting it at 9* keeps my launch ok, and spin just over 2000. Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero 9*, Graphite Design AD-IZ 70 X, 45.25” Tour Edge Exotics EX-9 Long 13* set at 15*, Xphlexxx Agera 70X, 43.5” Srixon Z585 4/5, Nippon Modus 120X, +1”, std lie/loft Srixon Z785 6-PW, Nippon Modus 120X, +1”, std lie/loft Vega VC-06 50/54/58, True Temper DG X100, +1”, 1* flat SeeMore M5 HT, 36.5” Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Maybe I should have started a thread for our golf trip to Palm Springs, but I'll continue to post my rounds here since I started them here. Well today we didn't play. Took the day off. We drove down to the Salton Sea to see what we could see of the sea... it's about 340 square miles; twice as salty as the Pacific Ocean, and 234 feet lower according to my iPhone altimeter. On the other side of the Salton Sea is a road that goes to San Diego. We drove up into the desert past a crap ton of ORV riders and campers. It's a recreational park!! Think 5th wheel and motorhome campers with dirt bike and 4wheel vehicles running all over the desert!! I guess that's why the local gas station was selling 111 octane racing gas for $8.99/gallon. About halfway between Palm Springs and San Diego... out in the middle of nowhere... is Borrego Springs. I never knew it was there. There are several golf courses; 9 and 18 holes. We stopped for lunch at Rams Hill GC, a Tom Fazio out and back course (no turn at the clubhouse) that looks beautiful. Rates are $105 during the week and $130 on the weekends. Go figure!!! My wife knows one of the marshals!! He's 80 years old and worked with her family when they owned a lumber company in north Idaho. Here's a picture from the patio where we ate, looking back down #18. I'm not sure I want to drive up there again this trip, but now that I know it's there... maybe next time.

Gnarly windy today, struggled to a 79, but was hitting a lot of good shots. Dropped a big curving downhill putt for a birds on 18- so I’m thrilled with the round and can’t wait till the next one haha this game...

Just played my first 18 with the Tour BX and after the initial "chip" testing and data seen above from yesterday. I did not have my best stuff today, I was cold most of the afternoon and just could not swing well enough to give the ball it's just do. To many wipey shots with lack of compression. I got no surprises from the ball but did not have any wow moments either, mostly just played like I'd expect from my Srixon XV's. Shot a +6 78 just couldn't get anything in gear today or to really go my way for me and the ball (not the balls fault at all) I will say though, for the person who asked about durability, I thought it held up VERY well as it relates to the cover. I played one ball from hole 1 through 12, where it finally was lost, carrying some water and then spinning back into the water hazard. Up until then it looked pretty great, played the next ball from 13-18 looked flawless but dirty. I gave a playing partner one of the Tour BX's to play today, he played it from hole 2 through 18 and we examinded it after the round and were both pleased in the covers look of durability.

A disaster round today. 46/44 ... not one aspect of my game was working today. Drives were short, approach shots came up short, even taking the colder temps into account. Chipping was poor and putting was worse. I could not wait for the round to be over. Ball striking, in general, was really lackluster. Started the round with the temperature about 35 or 36 and foggy -- foggy enough that my rangefinder was rendered useless. Sun didn't show until hole 17 and then the temps began to get into the low 40's. I'd like to blame my poor play on the weather, but it was all me.

Nah, going to do one more tour and retire at 23!

In August we ended up buying a new house with ample room in the basement. I got permission from my better half to build an indoor putting green in the basement. Here is how it's going so far. I picked up all the matirials for the frame this morning. It took me about 2 hours to fully get the bottom frame put together. In total it is 12ft by 8ft. I plan on having a putting surface of 8x10 and using the other 2 feet for storage of clubs and equipment. I haven't decided the number of holes yet, but I was thinking 5. I plan on getting the plywood this week and my "turf" attached next week. Ps. Forgive the blandness of the basement. It hasn't been our focus on furnishing the house until recent weeks. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Happy freaking Monday, y’all! My package of goodness arrived today, and I am legitimately excited to start testing. As it turns out, @yungkoryand I are playing 18 this afternoon so I’ll post some initial thoughts after the round. FINALLY, THE TOUR B TRAIN HAS ARRIVED IN HAWAII!

Maybe you can start a thread called "Nifty's Good Ole Days" and just post all your rants in one place?

This is so true - I do it so much that i rarely know what my score is until I finish. It especially includes shots out of trouble. My last round I hit what looked like a beautiful drive but the wind got it and then it kicked left to boot - went down a hill into a hazard but I could get it and play it. Rather than dwelling on the bad break and doing something stupid I hacked it out to a good yardage, hit my wedge to 15 feet. Even though I missed the par putt I was satisfied that I hit three good shots in a row - four really, the drive was a good shot that the wind got and the putt was a good roll, it just didn’t drop. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Try Florida in “Bird Season”! All you can see is Headless Cars with 2 hands on the steering wheel [emoji33] Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Had another lesson on Friday and am very happy with where my swing is heading. We made a few tweaks to my takeaway, which means a few new swing thoughts to juggle for me, but the results were pretty staggering. When I started in November my path was very left, it's now 2-4 degrees right with a 7 iron. Toward the end of the lesson I was even hitting a bunch of baby draws right on the target line with a face-to-path of about -1.5. Pretty cool! Anyway, we've had a ton of snow dumped on us this weekend, so I couldn't get to the range to work more on the changes, but I took the time today to spend about an hour hitting foam balls in my 38 degree garage while on camera. I had so-so success, but by the end I was lining everything up correctly. Getting the change to feel natural is going to take some time, hopefully I can get out to the range again next weekend. The weather seems to always get worse over the weekends!

Ohhhh when did you move to the Grand Strand area of South Carolina? Sounds like around here

Yes. And believe it or not, they aren't using these anymore. I know you're offended by ths news

With 54 holes in, it's still very early in the evaluation, but I did hit a handful of choke down lob wedge shots from < 80 yards, and got some unwanted backspin on them. As in, I hit them onto the front of the green, and the ball spun back into the fairway. I was playing a provisional on one par 3 towards the end of the day today, from the drop zone, and had about 75 yards into the pin, and hit my lob wedge into what I thought was a good shot on the green, and watched the ball spin back off of the front of the green, down into the ravine never to be seen again. But honestly, beyond these lob wedge shots, where I know I am producing serious backspin with my 58 degree Vokey wedge the rest of the overall shots all look the same to me, both in distance and launch angle, etc. I'd say the cost is the differentiator between the Srixon Z Star and this ball, but I can typically find the Srixon for $29.99 or less, and this Bridgestone ball apparently retails for $29.99. I'm gonna keep playing them and keep testing them, and we'll see where we are in a few weeks. Side note on conditions. Yesterday's round was played in overcast skies around 60 degrees with a healthy 20 mph wind and it had rained prior to the round, so it was a bit wet. Today's round was a brisk 45 degrees with sunshine, and that same 20 mph wind. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I played a round of golf without a 20+ mph wind blowing on me constantly. I'm so used to wind at this point that I won't know what to do if I ever get a calm day for golf again. I'll be shaping shots, expecting the wind to take it and there will be no wind to take it and screw me up.

UPDATE as to my Chipping Test (from last Saturday, as seen on pg 6 of thread for reference.) **As said previously, 54 degree wedge, I wanted to get a larger data sample, so performed the same chipping process greenside again today. Again trying to land the ball around a 15 yd carry mark that resulted in balls rolling out to around 20yd in total. This update now representing a total sample size of 39 chip shots for each ball (78 collectively). The larger sample size did help close the average spin gap to some degree, but still not yet allowed the Bridgestone Tour BX yet to overtake in average spin, but getting closer to "minimal" difference. I think nearly 40 with each will conclude this portion of my chipping tests. Srixon Z-Star XV- Average spin of 7172, High of 8300, Low of 5390. Of those 39 chips, 22 of those all being in the 7400-7500 each. (*Note, all subject to strike but looking for any trends). Average carry distance measured at 15.30 yds Bridgestone Tour BX- Average spin of 7076, High of 8700, Low of 5514. Of those 39 chips, 19 of those all being in the 7400-7500 each. (*Note, all subject to strike but looking for any trends). Average carry distance measured at 15.02 yds 40 YARD PITCH SHOTS (58 degree wedge) *Very limited sample size here today so I'd say take these with a grain of salt, only 12 shots with each ball. Srixon Z-Star XV- Average Carry 37.16 yards, Average spin of 7484 rpm, High of 10,005, Low of 5840. (*Note, all subject to strike but looking for any trends). Bridgestone Tour BX- Average Carry 38.75 yards, Average spin of 7207 rpm, High of 9664, Low of 5931. (*Note, all subject to strike but looking for any trends). Overall, in chipping and pitching it is in my observation difficult or impossible for me to discern one of these balls from the other. Feels and performance (and expectations). Things may change when I move on to full shots and direct numbers comparisons there........but as of playing 18 holes yesterday with the Tour BX I'd say if you told me I was still playing my Srixon XV I'd say "yup," b/c it just seemed to fall right in to where and what I would ask/expect. But thats "observational" only, I'd like to back with data

To answer the OP question........ NONE! for the first time in a decades I am 'almost' content with my bag from a playing perspective. Caveat is if something very sexy or more consistent came along it would be rude not to try it

I should report this here - I'm certain that using the radar again forced me to swing much faster. I had not experienced any sort of pain from my first couple of weeks of workouts when I didn't use the monitor. I did a workout on Saturday and certainly am feeling it still today. I'm glad I'm just doing a Tuesday afternoon, Saturday morning cycle this time around. I'm also not intending to do any more than 3 swings of any one drill. I had lots of little nagging aches and pains when I followed the program full bore last year. I'm trying to a avoid that this time around while notching the speed back up. I'm also adding in some workouts to help strengthen my legs and core.

I am very impressed by the offerings this year. I do not think the Cobra feels hard, yes it is on the firmer side but I enjoyed the feedback. The SIM is a ball speed monster but I feel it is a bit more fickle and needs more fine tuning. It is also very low spin so, loft up. The Maverik is almost too muted for my taste, but I am someone that didn't mind the epic flash so.. Shape wise, the cobra is more angular to my eyes, the SIM is pear shaped and the Mav is like a cannonball. Something for everyone out there.

T400, G710, P790Ti, 0211 XF, Gen3 )311 XP......that's all!

Here we go!! looking forward to tomorrow to see who I end up with to fill out my team!!

Uh oh.... “I like my putter. I like my putter... I like my putter...” right?

@fixyurdivot One thing I found helpful is to follow your players on SM. That's usually the first place you'll see news that they've committed, pulled out of a tournament, or newly qualified for something.

I'm willing to believe it. I know deep down that spiked shoes give you better traction, but I have yet to find a pair that do not leave my feet looking like ground beef when I walk a round in them. After the NPG segment, I am willing to buy a pair strictly for cart rounds. I've also toyed with the idea of buying a pair of really stiff trail running shoes for casual walking rounds.

I would say that's pretty accurate. Make sure you sink your screws in the plywood and then cover the screws with spackle or wood putty so you can smooth out any bumps. The carpet is pretty thin so you'd notice bumps if you don't take the time to get rid of them before applying the carpet

Funny you should say that...that is exactly the same "turf I'm using. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Loving the Michigan headcover!

Today was my first time out with my shortened driver. Hit it pretty well, probably going to play with adding some head weight to see if I can get a little more control of the club throughout the swing.

Ok, here are the shoes I played almost all of 2019 in. I started this year saying I could only play in "Golf Shoes". But I decided to try something else early on and they worked! Better than expected. My game didn't suffer one bit. In fact I played some of my best golf in these shoes. Now, I'll also say that these aren't for everyone. They're not water-proof and do not provide much in the way of lateral movement support. So if you play where you seem to find yourself on uneven - sloping ground you will probably not like these shoes. I play in a dry climate and the terrain is fairly flat. Comfort? Excellent. Cool in the summer? Yes. Damage to greens? None! Expensive? No.

I grew-up in Michigan, but SO glad I don’t have to do that anymore! Yuck!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Played a course in Indio that I had never played before. I had heard good things about it 2 years ago, and I met a guy on Thursday that just played it and said it was great. So today my wife and I decided to give it a try... Eagle Falls GC at Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino. It's just down the street from where we are staying at Terra Lago. Shot 84 which is better than my two previous rounds down here in the sun; even had a birdie!. The course is 24 feet below sea level according to my iPhone altimeter. Shortest drives I have ever had!! I added 2 extra clubs for the distance just to get close to the green!! I played better because the "everything breaks towards Indio" mantra doesn't apply when you are in Indio. My putts were more online but I struggled a little with speed. The greens were the slowest i have played on the past two days; rolled nice, just a little slow. The round didn't start out very well... the starter was an a-hole; worst starter I have ever met on the road. Apparently, he is a woman-hater, because he was a complete jerk to my wife. Everyone else was very nice, including the marshal. There were 3 foursomes of guys in front of us that were very slow; some party, I guess. The round took 4 hours and 50 minutes. Terrible after our 3:40 round on Thursday. I wished we were in front of them. Eagle Falls is a nice layout, but the fairways are undulating. Being a short hitter at that altitude, landing into an upslope meant no roll in the fairway. I hit mostly FW and hybrids for approach shots even though there were many short par 4's. Nice waterfall on #18.

What did you hit never had any meaning except to those with an ego. The guys I play with on a regular who are all retired now only ask what myself or one other guy hit because we don’t play full swings all the time and they like to know the club we played and type of shot plus they like reminiscence about their younger days. Anyone with a good understanding of the game has multiple shots with the same club depending on green conditions, pin location, wind, etc. most of the good players I’ve played with never hit a full club especially with scoring irons and wedges. The great thing about golf is there are tons of options and those who don’t like jacked lofts don’t have to play them and those who like some helpful with getting and keeping the ball in the air and getting some distance can enjoy the game with the game improvement clubs.

About a decade ago, at a swanky member-guest, I was put into some really comfy and cool looking Nike air max something or other. I strapped them on for the first round and the super built up heel significantly impacted my weight transition. With my weight favoring the balls of my feet, everything below my waist was naturally encouraged to move toward the ball. I say naturally now, but on that day believed something very unnatural was going on when my lazy draw suddenly presented as an unshakable push fade. In those days, my golf swing was a known variable. But despite feeling like I was putting the exact same swing on it the day before, having a thick wedge underheel was totally changing my weight transfer. We got a bunch of rain that night between rounds and I went back to my old shoes for the muddy second round. My shot pattern returned to normal and I didn’t recognize any correlation until a week later when I pulled the Nikes out for a range session and the push fade popped up immediately. After that I started looking into “heel drop” theory and True Linkswear was (at the time) the only company actively funneling R&D in that area. I spent the next 10 years enjoying the benefits of a TRUE zero drop platform while simultaneously being consistently disappointed with the quality on anything outside their top tier products. Did they make the most comfortable shoe? No, but it was high in the running for lightest and as someone who follows a “from the ground up” approach to swing theory, the difference in True Linkswear vs everything else was tangible enough for me to prioritize scorecard before comfort. I still have (2) fresh pairs of True Classixs in the closet to wear out before I need to go shopping but their newly released Major line may prove too tempting. Bottom line and back to the point, zero drop-vs-wedge heel makes a difference in my game. Depending on your specific swing tendencies, I’m comfortable suggesting that employing a different heel configuration in your shoes can be an easy and effective option to change your swing from the ground up.

Ball flight with my two favorite shoes: True Linkswear: Most of the time, a straight ball but a pull/draw will find it's way in because the zero drop allows weight to be shifted to the heel. However, my best putting days are in my True Knits. Nike Lunar Control: Baby fades because the heel is higher and my weight during the swing is more on the balls of the feet. Putting suffers a bit (I find I push the ball more) but the ball flight is consistent and the draw is no where to be found.

I have not! Didn't even know that was thing so I will definitely look it up. Thanks!

PING is hiding a blacked out version of the IBlade 2.0, Forged 2.0, and Blueprint in the vault... right?

You'll want to listen to this (very short) part of a discussion with Paul Wood of PING that came out a few weeks ago: Skip ahead to almost the end, about 31:21.

I would say they improved the looks right off the bat, and from reading the blog peice on it, the finish and sound have been improved. So these could be a real winner!

Depends. The faster you swing the larger your gaps are going to be. The key is knowing your game, knowing how good you are at hitting partial shots and determining where your weaknesses are. Generally 10-15 yards is the rule of them for scouring clubs but those gaps could get slightly bigger the more you move towards the driver. For example, I'm right around 12-14 yards from my 4 iron down through my sand wedge. I'm about 17 yards from my 4 iron to 3 hybrid and about 20 yards of the carrying from my 3h to my 3w.

Thank you for the tips, I'm going to give this a try this week! Enjoy the testing

Played 36 holes over 2 days with the B RXS and the ball held up really well. At this point I can't tell the difference between this ball and the Srixon Z Star, but who knows at this point.

I shared my thoughts on wedge heel -vs- zero-drop in this thread awhile back but have a new subject to run past errrbody. It sounded like somewhat of a generalization and I’m sure there are caveats related to individual swing tendencies, but on an episode of NPG awhile back, Tony referenced some data suggesting that golfers are sacrificing ~5 yards off the tee in a spikeless sole compared to soft spikes. What do my fellow Spies think of that general assertion?

This is the situation that has been discussed previously but if you don’t have 4 guys playing in the event you can either pick up someone else that is in the tourney or roll with who you have. This is where the strategy of do you drop a player for someone else knowing that it is possible somebody else may pick him up. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

We flew through season 2...now we’re stuck waiting for season 3!

I can see how people like that, it's just not for me. I like a little softer because it feels hotter to me when you get a little "spring" feel? Hard to put into words. Driver looks amazing at address tho, sits a little open to my eye which always helps ease my mind into thinking I'm protected from going too far left. Yeah, I'm a fan of the crack sound it was making, reminds me of a baseball bat. It's a great driver and I'm sure it'll be a lot of people's cup of tea, just not mine.

I presume were talking about the TSW wedges correct? I'm pulling the trigger on a set of 3 as soon as they're released! 50° 54° 58°. I already know they'll strongly compete with any wedge on the market and for less than the price of 1 Vokey, I can get a whole set.. it's a no contest win. Some of the best looking in the market IMO. Another fun fact about playing Maltbys is they have everything that a premium club has, including their own unique designs and always get double takes, questions, and compliments on the course. the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..

... Changing your behavior is a learned skill. I was lucky because at an early age I played Qb and when I threw an interception I could let it fester or forget it and move on. Festering was counter productive and it did not take me long to learn that, so when I threw a pick I learned from it and moved on. Next possession it was already forgotten and I was concentrating on the play that was just called. Nothing else. Same thing for acting and auditions. Once I finished an audition, I let it go completely because it was out of my control. The more I did it, the easier it got until quite often the next day another actor would ask if I had an audition yesterday and I would reply yes, but don't remember what it was because my mind was on the audition I was about to have right now. ... Golf is exactly the same. As much of a cliche as it sounds, you can only play one stroke at a time and that stroke is the only one that matters. When you do that, thinking you need 5 more pars to break 80 will not be an option because if you are only concentrating in the shot you have right now, you will have no idea what you need to break par. The only time I am aware of my score is when I have all pars because that is hard to ignore, but once I have a bogie, birdie or eagle I lose lost track because I'm only thinking about the shot I am about to have. Nothing else is important. Same thing for hitting a ball in the water and thinking "I need to hit a couple of great shot to save bogie". If you hit it in the water, take your drop and only concentrate on what is the best shot to attempt right now. This will improve your focus and your execution. ... Facing a long putt, entertaining the thought that this is a 3 putt just waiting too happen is the same thing. That's 2 more shots ahead of the shot you are playing. Look at the putt and only focus on your speed and line and hit the very best putt you can. The rest will take care of itself. By thinking positive about the only shot you have control over, you give yourself your best chance of making it a good one. And repeating myself, but the same thing happens if that first putt rolls 6 feet past or comes up 6 feet short. Forget the putt you just made and only concentrate on making the putt you are now facing. By now I hope you can see every single shot is a singular challenge and as a competitor you want to embrace every challenge with your best effort. ... I know some of you are thinking this is pretty much impossible, especially after playing many years, but it really isn't. If you are serious about breaking 100, 90, 80 or 70 play golf and only focus on the shot you have to make right now. I think you might be surprised at your score when the round is over. It is also much more fun and relaxing to hit your the shot to the best of your ability giving it your best effort, then shift your focus to your partners or enjoy your surroundings and only get back to the golf when preparing for your next shot. Remember, this is a learned behavior so if thoughts creep in about future holes or what's needed to break 80, just recognize it and then keep doing the best you can with concentrating on one shot only and you will get better and better at it!

I could have sworn I did this when the thread was originally posted, maybe I deleted for evidence sake But I'll give it a shot, my memory is a year older, so I'm sure I'll forgot a few sets. Bridgestone JGR-H2 Callaway Fusion Callaway XHot Callaway CF16 Callaway Big Bertha 18’ Cleveland TA5 Cleveland TA7 Cleveland CG2 Cleveland CG4 Cleveland CGRed Mizuno-MP60 Mizuno-JPX900 Hot Metal Mizuno JPX919 Forged PING G2 PING G10 PING G20 PING I5 PING G410 PING G700 Srixon 565/765 Srixon 585 TaylorMade Firesole TaylorMade RAC TaylorMade R9 TaylorMade RocketBladez TaylorMade TourPrefered CB Titleist Model 100 Titleist DCI Black Titleist Tour Model 95 Titleist 735 cb Titleist 716 AP1 Titleist 718 AP1 Titleist 718 AP2 Titleist T300 Wilson Staff D300 Wilson Staff C300 Wilson Staff V6 This post will self destruct in 24 hours

I wore FJ sandals constantly a few years ago - but abandoned them after they got loose and filled with sand that accumulated under my soles. Guess I spent too much time in the bunkers. I still occasionally drag them out on really hot humid days. Glad they work for you.