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Shoot! @ncwoz beat me to the thread. I had the pleasure of competing alongside (but still socially-distanced from) Nate this morning for the #CobraConnect alternate shot challenge. Neither Nate or I had ever played the alternate shot format, which truly puts a lot of pressure on your shots because you're responsible for your partner's next opportunity! Nate had the "luxury" of about 10 minutes and 12-15 range balls worth of practice with the Cobra clubs and off we went this morning just after sunrise. Before I cover the round, let me just say @ncwoz can smack the cover off the ball. I'm not short or slow by most measurements, but I fully realized how fast he swings in comparison by hole No. 2. After I hit a good 7 iron from the tee to about 162 yards from pin, I told Nate this would be a pretty full 8 iron or even a soft, choked up 7 iron to the green for me. He proceeded to pull the SpeedZone 9 iron and hit one of the highest, most towering iron shots I've ever seen, ending up pin high left of the green. Jaw dropping... So we got off to a great start, rolling three straight pars to open the round behind three pretty good tee shots from myself and some great short game and putting from Nate. We were feeling really good after No. 3, after a fantastic drive from me and a booming 6 iron from Nate led to par (I chipped up with the 58 and we two putted - obviously Arccos is not very accurate when we're socially distanced and using different putters). And then we just couldn't replicate that magic over the next 15 holes. A few balls were lost, and few trees were hit. We walked the course, but had we been in a cart I imagine it would have looked something like this: I appreciate Nate's willingness to do whatever it took to complete this challenge, even pulling off an impressive left-handed Tiger-esque punch out from some bushes that I found by pulling my 5 iron off No. 6 tee so far left that I was over No. 7 tee box. The scorecard with all of the gory details: I'll draw attention to the putting because I absolutely murdered the round with my awful distance control today. The only hope we would have had for scoring better would for me to have not needed to putt at all. I left poor Nate so many bad second putts, as evidenced by the staggering number of 3 (gulp, and 4) putts. So while Nate might say it's his fault, I'm not so sure. This was my worst putting round of the year by far, I could have probably used a wedge to putt more effectively today. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting/playing a round with another Spy in real life (small world, by the third hole Nate and I realized that we lived less than a quarter mile apart for the past two years), and it was fun to see Nate give the SpeedZones a shot. They certainly weren't a great fit for him, he's probably in the 60TX/70X driver shaft category, but I'd be curious to see if he has any thoughts to add. As for me, aside from the putting I actually put together a reasonably good ball striking round and still feel pretty good about all of the clubs, but especially the driver and wedges.

Here's team #cuetheduckboats preparing for the big game... and here they are on the way to the course... and in the club house post round....

Even though I know we left some strokes out there, I really enjoyed the round! Always like playing over at Western Greens, and it was a nice to change to play with someone else who really cares about the game like @edingc does. And apparently we used to be neighbors! As far as the clubs were concerned, I will say it's a lot harder than I was anticipating to play with a totally new/not-fit-to-you set. Cody has his irons and wedges bent flat, and it was hard for me to trust the fade-ball flight I was seeing, because I'm used to draw most of mine. And (needless to say) there's a big difference between these 2020 Cobra King Speedzone irons and my ~30 year old Ping Eye 2's. I think if I had a few range sessions to get more used to the clubs, our score would have been a whole different story. A few big take aways for me: 1) The MIM wedges are really something. If you're in the market for new wedges, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to give these a serious look. 2) The Speedzone Extreme driver is really nice, and really forgiving (just not when you put atrocious swings on it). On the range, I hit across the face pretty judiciously and it kept giving really stable ball flights. On the course, I didn't actually get a chance to use it until the 10th, and hit a bomb; unfortunately I had lined up like I was hitting my own driver with my typical ~15yd draw, and this sucker went dead straight. I think if I'd have trusted the straight flight I was seeing on the range and lined up accordingly, Cody would have been putting for Eagle pretty easily. The other 2 tee shots I used it for, I just had terrible swings. No club I know of fixes that! 3) The irons really weren't as big or as much offset as I thought they would be. Don't get me wrong, they're not blades, but I was pleasantly surprised with the look of the irons at address. I also didn't give the carbon fiber top line a single thought throughout the entire round. 4) Alternate ball rounds are really hard! Just because of how things shook out stroke-wise, I didn't use the driver until the 10th hole. If I remember correctly Cody didn't even putt past 3 or 4 feet until the 5th. It's a lot harder to get into a rhythm, and I'll have much more of an appreciation for the format when I'm watching alternate shot set-ups in the future. 5) The MGS community is pretty freakin' awesome. Even though it wasn't either of @edingc's or my best days, it was a pleasure and privilege to be able to participate in the CobraConnect Challenge with Cody! It was also pretty cool to meet and play with a fellow spy (finally!), and a great guy at that. I wish I'd put together some better swings for ya, but really grateful to be able to compete on team #TeamCalvesLikePhil!

Two days of PT this week and daily at home exercises and I was pretty sore, but the throbbing has subsided and hopefully on the road to recovery. Thanks for checking in on me!

Round in progress...

The two man alternate shot challenge this week I found to be the most difficult yet the most enjoyable of the #COBRACONNECT4 Playing golf we are usually task with the sole responsibility of success or failure squarely on our own shoulders. We compete against other golfers, the course, and the elements. In this week's challenge I believe I now understand why it means so much to the professionals to play in the Ryder cup and the President's cup events. The comradery of these team events are a relief for the golfer who is always perched on an island against all other competitors in tournament play. Randy and I spent the day cooperating on strategy formulation for each hole and each shot. We cheered each other on, picked each other up after a poor shot, celebrated good shots, and high fived with each made putt! In spite of the blistering heat that we have been enduring the last month I think I can speak for both of us...we had a great time Thursday. We both hit some really poor shots but we both made up for it with many timely well executed shots as well. The round started out really rough, triple bogey 1st and double bogey 2nd ouch! We started grinding out pars and bogeys the rest of the day. By the end of the round Randy was hitting the SpeedZone driver better than I do! On the backside Randy saved us several times with full shots and chips with the sand wedge. I made several timely putts. More importantly it was a team effort and was very rewarding for both of us. #TeamCobraONE #TeamONELength I'm encouraging Randy to post a short review on his impressions of the SpeedZoneONE clubs. Spoiler alert... he's already thinking about buying a set. We played at Bay Forest Golf Course our home course which both of us are extremely familiar which gave us the best chance for success. We played the white tees. I had every intention of taking numerous pictures but with the constant discussion about strategy, conditions, clubs, etc,... It never even entered my mind I was so in to the moment during the round. Though we were two guys playing one ball our pace of play was very deliberate and we never pushed the threesome in front of us. After the round Randy wanted to play some more so we played a few more holes each playing our own ball and that gave Randy opportunity to play more shots with the Cobra clubs he seemed to be falling in love with! Then we headed to a EL TORO restaurant for some great Margaritas and Mexican food. A restaurant my wife and Randy have frequented since they were kids growing up together. Hand it to my wife she had the presence of mind to meet us at EL TORO and take our picture. I love my wife #TeamCobraONE

Man... @edingc I done did you dirty Just wanted to set the record straight before you had a chance to be all humble and say it was your fault too, cuz I think we can comfortably blame this one on me haha.

I thought getting ready might look more like this... and your devastating loss will not go down well....

Shot a 10 over 83 from the tips today, with a triple and double included. Very happy with how my game is travelling at the moment...

It's not all about the score. You guys have now bonded and you may golf together more often, that's a win in my book!

This swag would look great in NZ!!

Going to let @B.Boston sum our round up. All I am going to say is: 1) that was a blast! 2) thoroughly enjoyed being able to get both our thoughts on a swing/putt/where to play the ball 3) review coming later #cuetheduckboats

D7s are going the distance....and (will be) going for speed.

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] That ain’t bad....

It’s more like: Getting ready for the match: on the way: and when we win:

Today was my second day using the tincture. Yesterday I took 1/2 a dosage when I got to work at 7:00. By around 8:00 I felt a little different. The best way for me to describe it is a clear head a little more focused and upbeat. I dread talking on the phone for longer than a minute or two, but yesterday conversation seemed less forced. The noticeable energy and focus seemed to taper off around 5pm. Today I took the same 1/2 dosage in the morning then added another 1/2 dosage on the way to the driving range. Although the initial feels are focus and energy at the range I felt calm and focused able to shake off bad shots and move on to the next. Part of the reason I wanted to try another tincture dosage this evening was to try and replace my usual afternoon/evening drink that I use to take the edge off. I come home to 4 kids under the age of 5 so things are often chaotic in the evenings. Im glad to say I felt very relaxed this evening, and settled for a straight ginger ale. I will hopefully have some sleep and recovery data by the end of the weekend as I iron out a routine. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

4 hybrid 44 yards! I'd love to say I've never done that, but that would be a lie.

I've been using the Skittles tincture before bed every night this week. My sleep quality has been good, but one thing that is very noticeable is that I've had very crazy vivid dreams. I wouldn't consider myself a consistent dreamer, so it's been different having dreams every night, sometimes multiple times a night. Curious if any other testers have had this experience? I have used another tincture, at 10mg instead of 12.5mg, before bed for a while and wasn't dreaming like this. I'll be interested to see if this pattern is consistent. I've got a couple runs this weekend. A short one today and my weekly long run tomorrow. I'm going to take tincture before the run today and gummy tomorrow. I'll report if there is any noticeable difference. Also, sports cream after. I'm really digging that stuff. Earlier this week at work I took a bike out of my workstand and didn't realize the kickstand was down. I dropped bike to floor and the kickstand went straight to the top of my foot. It hurt like crazy. I thought it was going to bruise and it was sore the rest of the day. I applied the sports cream twice that night and hardly noticed any soreness the next day. I'm all in on that C.R.E.A.M.

Weather update - about perfect golf weather

I had someone put a Recoil in an old Mizuno 18* FliHi that I have. This is gonna be fun.

The weather down here has been incredibly hot, (about 110 index) all week, and the last two days were the worst. I'm not posting here to complain about that, instead I wanted to just say how incredibly fortunate we all are to be able to play this game, and enjoy some of the beautiful courses where we live. I think most golfers on a forum like this have either been, or want to visit the Myrtle Beach area, because it's known around the world has a premiere golf destination. I'm fortunate enough to have a place down here, and this week made me realize how nice it is to say that. Long Island is where my family is, and even after 9 years down here I still call it "home". but man, I really love it down here also. I played 3 times this week, at 3 of the top courses on the Grand Strand. Monday: The Dye Course at Barefoot. Thursday: True Blue. Today: Pine Lakes. Those of you familiar with the area know what kind of tracks these are, and yet I had almost become jaded to playing them at the greatly reduced rates I do. Driving home after my round this afternoon, I realized how grateful I should be. I know this is a "How'd You Play thread", so I'll quickly mention my 3 scores were 84, 87 and 83 in the order I mentioned them. I played okay, about the way I should at my level. What stands out though were the good times I had, and playing in league competitions with really good friends (and we survived the heat!!).

I first found the forum here looking at the reviews of the Callaway Steelhead irons a couple of years ago. You guys did a great job, btw. While I like watching YouTube reviews of clubs, seeing how those of us that aren't golf professionals hit clubs really appeals to me. I admire the honesty and critique from the folks here. It's also refreshing to see the different approach and writing styles here. I think journalistic reviews follow a basic pattern and stick to the same template. It gets boring, to be honest. Humor sprinkled with a little self depreciation, tales of woe and glory really catch my attention. Plus the golf knowledge of our members is off the chart. I know I can read something here and know I'm getting an honest, no b.s. take on equipment.

Video here YouTube, you need to be a subscriber then Enter here Best of luck everyone

Wow, it takes a bigger man than me to play these sticks . I am officially going on record saying these are among the top 3 worst looking irons ever... the golf club equivalent of what a Chevy Vega/AMC Pacer/Ford Pinto offspring would look like . Man, we've had some seriously great iron tests this season and it will be real interesting to see how these rate among the testers. Like the P790's, I'm still not completely sold on the "speed slot", aesthetically, and Wilson has lots of them. That said, our very own Hit Squad rated them #1 in the PD category and that is saying something when you consider the competition. Chris (@Thin2win) is currently gaming two of my top contenders in the PD group (i210 & i500) and I'll be particularly interested in his review.

SHNK? Oh No! Glad it didn't haunt you the rest of the round like it does me.

So poorly - I was one over in the middle of the fairway on 6, 110 yards, not much breeze, smooth wedge that I shanked into a pond - triple. Parred 7 and then hit a perfect 5 wood off the tee on 8 to leave, you guessed it, 111 yards, pitching wedge. I wasn’t shanking this one but instead hit the preferred topped ground ball into thick rough and a delightful down hill lie over a trap that I skulled to the back of the green from whence I three pitted for double, 42. It didn’t get better on the back either except that I grabbed a beer at the turn and another from my buddy’s garage fridge walking up 15 so it was much more fun and I had no more shanks!!! I did hit another ball in the water on 17 though. I can’t remember the last time I lost two balls in a round. On a positive note the pro that I play with a lot gave me a great bunker tip who I had ample opportunity to employ - quite successfully. Just one of those days. :( Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Damnit your humor is just A1 my friend

You are very observant [emoji41] Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

I feel it was a little fat when I hit it so, the strike seems a couple grooves too high. The club has 10* of bounce and a .900" sole width which helps keep me from digging craters. However, I feel I get better performance when I hit the club a little lower in the face. I can usually hit this 54* about 100 ish on the range but on the course that seems to fall to 90 ish yards which I can only attribute to the forgiveness of hitting off mats.

Update September 2020 -- I love em and I'm within a gnat's arse of selling the Callaway Rogue X irons. Either sell the Callys or keep em as a backup set because the TA MAX irons are keepers. I've never gamed a iron that wants to go so straight. I have tried really hard to think of some negatives to share with you all however these irons keeping performing to the max (get it ). If you are having trouble elevating your irons off the ground or tee, you need to head over to Dick's and get on their machine. I guess hitting a nice high ball that lands like a butterfly with sore feet might not appeal to some however I love em like a good ole peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Hmmmmm good Aunt Bee! A question some might have is can I flight them down for shots that need more of boring trajectory? Yes sir buddy! Slide that ball back a bit and shorten that swing for a nice little knock down shot. The only thing I changed were the grips to midsize. I love the graphite recoil shafts and the iron heads are very comforting to me. These irons set up behind the ball begging you to allow them to whack the heck out of em.

Thanks! Starting the day out right with a 9am tee time.

Different wedges have different sweet spots... higher, lower, closer to the toe, to the heel, etc... If feel, distance and spin are spot on, what exactly are you looking to change?

I can definitely agree with them about the choco mint. Zero hemp flavor to it.

I originally ordered the Skittles flavor and noted in my initial impression that the Skittles flavor is subtle at most and I could barely taste anything other than the hemp flavor. After receiving the green light to reach out to Kanibi directly, I reached out and asked if they would be willing to exchange. I received a prompt reply saying that all their products come with a satisfaction guarantee and they are able to exchange for a different flavor within 90 days of your purchase so +1 on their customer service. You pay for the return shipping but they will ship the exchanged product at no additional cost to you. The service rep also mentioned that their flavors are pretty mild and recommended I get the choco mint if the flavor of the hemp was bothering me. So I am expecting a choco mint replacement of the oil in the next few days. So far Kanibi customer service has been excellent. Interesting you mentioned the lack of heat after the initial application. I also noticed that after the first application of the cream, there was less heat with the second application which was about a day after the initial. I will put some cream on my back and knees tonight and let you know if that trend continues.

I've known Monte for a few years, he contacted me a few years back when he began doing the clinics about hosting his Maryland/DC one at my course. He loves it here with our big practice facility. He has been each year in October until this year. It fills up each time. This year he didn't book as many and didn't make it out here. Hopefully he'll be back in 2021. We should get a MGS group clinic with him together here Two years ago, he nicely offered t work with me at the end of one day, and I wasn't able to stick around for it. I sure wish I had put off whatever it was. I have peaked in a few times on his clinics when he's here, and he does some really great stuff.

I've found through my own personal experience that better players tend to be more welcoming of newbies and those at a lower skill level (especially if they can keep pace) and I'm the same way. I don't care how "good" you are as long as you can keep pace and are enjoyable to be around.

Appreciate the insight and follow-up @Berg Ryman You are a very fine commish. Just want to reiterate.... this is for F-U-N ... no money involved. Please keep that in mind if you don't get 'your guys'. If you want to play competitively there are loads and loads and loads of options; we've been doing it on here for years and guys always have fun doing it. If you're not that type, that's fine; no hard feelings. We're using this to continue to bring the community together - especially as winter sets in and golfing opportunities for some of us are harder to come by. Now - let's have some fun and get after it!

This years team name is my best by far. I feel bad that whoever I am replacing had a less than desirable experience with the FF draft. Please do not let that discourage you from participating in the forums, we still appreciate your contribution. Without further ado, The ReShankments will be going 16-0.

very nice @Headhammer

@HardcoreLooper@ballplayer002003 @BMart519 @dlow206 Alright here is the final tally of my 31 days of swinging something 100+ times per day. 1st of august, I did 50 swings in the morning, 25 with different clubs and 25 with the Skiz gold flex.Played 18, shot an 86, it was a par 60 course, so it does not count on the breaking 90 category. Did another 50 practice swings in the afternoon, 20 with the gold flex, 30 with different irons and wedges. 2nd of august - 50 swings with the gold flex in the morning. 25 with the heavy 8 iron and 25 with the wedges in the afternoon. 3rd of August - 10 driver swings, 10 4 iron swings, 10 5 iron swings, 10 6 iron swings and 10 gold flex in the morning. 20 gold flex, 10 7 iron, 10 8 iron and 10 9 iron in the afternoon. 4th of August, 25 gold flex and 25 heavy 8 iron swings in the morning, 10 Driver, 10 3 wood, 10 3 iron, 10 4 iron and 10 5 iron swings in the afternoon 5th of August, 50 gold flex swings, both morning and Afternoon. 6th of August, my birthday. 20 heavy 8 iron swings, 80 gold flex swings this morning. 7th of August 100 Gold flex swings in the afternoon. 8th of August, 20 driver swings 10 3 wood swings, 10 3 iron and 10 4 iron in the morning. 20 PW, 10 9 iron 10 8 iron 10 7 iron and 10 6 iron in the afternoon. 9th of August, 20 Gold flex warm up swings pre round, played shot an 85. 30 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 10th of August 50 Gold flex in the morning and another 50 gold flex in the afternoon 11th of August 50 heavy 8 iron swings in the morning, 50 gold flex in the afternoon. 12th of August 10 Driver, 10 3 Wood, 10 3 Iron, 10 4 iron and 10 5 Iron swings in the morning, 50 gold flex in the afternoon. 13th of August 50 Gold flex swings in the morning, 50 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 14th of August 50 Gold flex swings in the morning, 50 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 15th of August 50 Gold flex swings in the morning, Played, shot a 95, 50 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 16th of August 50 Gold flex swings in the morning, 50 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 17th of August 50 Gold flex swings in the morning, 50 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 18th of August 50 Gold flex swings in the morning, 50 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 19th of August 50 Gold flex swings in the morning, 50 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 20th of August - 10 driver swings, 10 4 iron swings, 10 5 iron swings, 10 6 iron swings and 10 gold flex in the morning. 20 gold flex, 10 7 iron, 10 8 iron and 10 9 iron in the afternoon. played and shot an 81 2st of August, 25 gold flex and 25 heavy 8 iron swings in the morning, 10 Driver, 10 3 wood, 10 3 iron, 10 4 iron and 10 5 iron swings in the afternoon 22nd of August, 50 gold flex swings, both morning and Afternoon. 23rd of August, 20 heavy 8 iron swings, 80 gold flex swings this morning. 24th of August 100 Gold flex swings in the afternoon. 25th of August, 20 driver swings 10 3 wood swings, 10 3 iron and 10 4 iron in the morning. 20 PW, 10 9 iron 10 8 iron 10 7 iron and 10 6 iron in the afternoon. 26th of August 50 Gold flex in the morning and another 50 gold flex in the afternoon 27th of August, 20 Gold flex warm up swings pre round, played shot an 81. 30 gold flex swings in the afternoon. 28th of August 50 Gold flex in the morning and another 50 gold flex in the afternoon 29th of August 50 heavy 8 iron swings in the morning, 50 gold flex in the afternoon. 30th of August 10 Driver, 10 3 Wood, 10 3 Iron, 10 4 iron and 10 5 Iron swings in the morning, 50 gold flex in the afternoon. 31st of August 50 Gold flex swings in the morning, 50 gold flex swings in the afternoon. Overall during this experiment I played the best golf I have played in a long time. I had a great ball strike, my scores for the month of august I realize that the scores don't tell the whole story, I felt that I hit the normal full swing shots way better than before, I also felt that I started getting more confident specially with the wedges. What worked: I got much more flexibility, I felt that I gain yardage specially off the tee. My shot path and plain felt much more consistent. Things that didn't change: I was not able to pull off shots that I did had on me from before. It did not help me make better shot decisions, I still made pretty bad mistakes, I should have broken 80 on the later rounds, but I choose to "go for it" and failed miserably with shots I had no business trying. My putting felt a little more sloppy than before. I think the next part of this experiment is to get my self a home simulator, where I can get instant feedback on a controlled environment and I am able to try different shots. I still found great value of this experiment.

Classic? I was gaming one till 2018. Take Dead Aim

Unfortunately, I’ve not had any AHA moments with my Cobra’s like my fellow competitors. That said, I’m in the middle of a swing “rebuild” and I’m starting to see signs of improvement. So I’m very hopeful for the future. The bright spot the last few weeks has definitely been the 3 wood off the deck. I have a lot more confidence going into par 5s now!

You mean all 16 of my other Instagram followers?

As someone who plays about 99% of my rounds on a single, quirky course, I'm convinced it matters a lot. So not only do we have tiny greens (that's going to skew my putting and approach numbers), but we have a bunch of dogleg holes, several of which are full 90° holes. Consider the 2nd hole, a short par 4: At under 270 yards, this is a tiny hole. But it is heavily forested on every side; cutting the corner isn't a real option (it's sometimes done for fun in scrambles, but you're lofting an iron over tall trees completely blind). So you end up hitting a wedge into the corner (didn't quite catch my PW properly on this swing). I have to assume that every single time I play this hole, Arccos marks me down has having lost strokes driving, because I'm (at best) looking for a 130 yard "drive" here.

Since I'm not competing in the 2-man alternate shot this week I thought I would hold a contest to giveaway half of my TEAM HAMMER swag. For a chance to win find the post on my Instagram @Hammerh69 and follow me and Cobra Golf. https://www.instagram.com/hammerh69/

Yep, @golfingbrock's reply is something I was going to say in reply to @THEZIPR23. My "no long" miss pattern is very common among the high-to-mid handicap crowd, because we all (hand raised) have a tendency to pick clubs based on "if I hit this properly." I'm not even here talking about the guy who chooses his clubs based on "that one time when I was downwind of a cyclone on a fairway as baked out as Willie Nelson" distance. But it's very clear that I don't center my dispersion pattern over my target, which would lead to better scores.

Yes, I know, it still seems odd that when they came back with Big Bertha in 2014, it was a HUGE launch, and a big deal about the history of BB. Then, a couple years later, another big launch of the newest version of the GBB driver. Again, heritage of the name, going back to the roots, pulling on people’s memory of the name and performance. When they shifted it to Game Improvement a few years back, it made no sense to me, and it still doesn’t. Use “Flash” for GI. It will be here and gone... Keep BB for the heritage, and make it the top group like it used to be.