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Namsayin?!

Normally I am prepared to talk about another one of my golf trips. Well I just returned earlier today and was sitting down to post about my ordeal. Well I must have been gone a little to long because my middle child from wife # 2 I think, has been hanging out with these kids from school. It seems he must be looking for some attention. I'll have to tell you about my trip next week because there is an urgent need for an intervention. I got home a day early and my son comes walking in the door looking like this. I know I haven't been the best role model. Always on the road and being a little verbose and such. If any responsible parent out there has any advise, I could use all the help I can get. I mean really he isn't even old enough to grow dimples yet and I come home to this! Here I am picking on you guys and this was going on in my own warehouse while I was away.

I'm just chilling out, getting ready to head off to bed and snapped this picture. All I can think is "daddy, does laying like this make my nose look big?".

Finally bought a copy of Lowest Score Wins. I had been debating about a DECADE subscription, but for now I'll start with LSW and see where it goes. I have the free month of DECADE already and that was very good by itself. If I would just execute the "Tiger 5" consistently I'd probably drop three shots off my handicap. Oh, and almost forgot. I also bought a 3D printed leveling stand for the Mevo+.

Had to do it! Honma TR20 460 8.5* driver head.

First round for a couple of weeks due to work and back problems. 20 mph winds from an unusual direction made for an interesting round. Ugly start, first tee shot sailed over the left fence. Followed up by an ugly double and a 3 putt bogey. Not the start I was looking for but thankfully things improved. Played some solid golf with another 3 putt bogey the only blemish in the next 8 holes. Leaked a couple more shots over the last 6 holes but a nice birdie to finish kept me happy. Highlights were a couple of really well struck 3 woods and the best drive I've ever hit on the first hole (playing as 8th on the day due to rebuilding of clubhouse. Perfect line it carried far enough to get catch the downslope. 325 yards left me 70 to the pin and for a change hit a solid shot after a big drive. Finished 3 worse than my handicap (Par format helped, strokeplay would have been much worse) Pretty happy after being 3 down after 3

... After playing a dead straight leading edge on my wedges, I never warmed up to my Cobra 50*. Performance was excellent but the look still bothered me after playing it almost a year so I ordered a MG3 on Dec 13th scheduled to arrive the last week of January. I was surprised when it arrived yesterday! I had some trade ins and TM points so it only cost me $18 but with a Steelfiber shaft the MG3 wedge was $249. Prices are just out of control.

Finally got to play yesterday for the first time in a month. Quit after 14 holes because pace of play had slowed and back was a bit sore - plus I wanted to watch the Packers game with my daughter. I was very rusty - don’t know what I shot because we weren’t keeping score - my goal was to hit the ball solidly as I was really struggling with squirrely shots. Complete success in that regard - thinned my first iron a bit - other than that was in the ball park of the club face the rest of the day and was very consistent with my shot shape and ball flight - alignment and short game not so much but that’s easier to fix than chunks, skulls and heels. Looking forward to getting out a few times next week.

Our Saturday game traveled to Tarpon Springs, playing our sister course, Crescent Oaks, some 300 yards longer. I had 86% FIR, but only 6% GIR combined with 35 putts. That yields a 49/49:98 yesterday. The 3xtra distance killed me on m6 approavhes, plus a mean wind.

I recently moved away from my instructor. Honestly it felt like he had assessed me as a guy who had his own swing, wasn't open to change and was only going to do so much. I don't know if that was true but that's how I felt I was being treated. I went with an online guy - something that I swore I would never do but I figured I would give it a try. I've been very happy although it's certainly taken time to fully click - the biggest issue that I had was grip - somehow my grip had gotten far too week - everything else that I did in my swing was compensating for that - I see draws in my mind so I had lots of funky stuff going on to hit draw with that weak grip. Now that I've gotten used to the stronger grip - and that took a couple of months - things are starting to fall into place for me - of course that's led to an issue with hitting the ball left if I'm not careful but I'm okay with that, it's a miss that I used to always have. I'm hitting a lot more solid shots and can tell that I'm on the way to more consistent ball striking. That was my goal with these lessons. So perhaps its important for a student to have a specific goal in mind?

Broke out my chicken enchiladas verde tonight for dinner. It was accompanied by a quality NEIPA collaboration between Aurora Brewing and Prison City Brewing.

25+ years of golf and have never seen this before. 124 in fairway, pin cut 8 feet from right side. Ball starts 2 feet right of flag and starts coming down right on top of it. Couldn't tell exactly what happened from the fairway but could here the hole/flag was hit in the air, ball bounces about a foot away. Get up to the green and there is no ball mark, no damage to the hole nothing. Pick up the ball and see the scar. The hole was not cut perfectly and the ball flew directly into the side of the cup bounced off the pin and out. Bizarre. P.S. Yes, I made the putt.

IDK, I like your chances. Fournette was really closing the gap last night until that crazy helicopter run in the 3rd. Him and P Fry going down really hurt my chances of cutting into that Kelce lead! Only reason I holding much hope is that Lockett, atm, is not playing which helps DK but Ramsey was cleared yesterday. On the upside for you, Cook will be going against a very depleted Bears DST as they added 6 more to the C19 list yesterday. I didn't even realize we are vying for top score this week! This has been a fun matchup!

A humorous anecdote just read on another golf forum ... "..(poster) played in a Veterans Day tournament (in Florida) and there was a feisty 101 year old vet named Romeo that played all 18 holes! He also won a wine basket in a raffle and announced that he was in the hunt for his 4th marriage (I guess he outlived the first 3) and if any ladies were interested - he just happened to have a huge basket of wine to share!"

I am very fortunate to be in the south where I can still be playing, but it was very wet and cold(for a Texan). I am using these periods of not posting a score, but of ball striking. I have been hitting more greens, and my swing is really starting to produce good shots. I am not the best at calculating distance in the cold, so some come up well short or fly the green. My short game was killer yesterday, several tap ins, and one hit the pin. I am really looking forward to next season, and getting my goals written down.

I think that's most of us!!

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. Y'all made this old man's day brighter.

I feel like I’m a good cook but compared to you I suck lol

Dinner last night was pulled pork with a side of Beet Napolean.

Have a very Happy Birthday Spies!! I'd offer up the usual birthday golf specials (foot wedge in play and free throw and roll), but Tony has those in the bag all the time . And, we all know what @DawgDaddywants for his birthday.

On behalf of the millennials, I am going to tweet my frustrations from this comment. I'm your Huckleberry.

Finally after over a year in the works I have one room nearly all complete. A few more spots to spackle then it’s done. Then on to the bigger room. My dad is having me do the walls first so we can put the heating in on my second floor soon.

Took a few swipes on the SkyTrak today… I’m sidelined for a bit longer. Elbow was not having it.

Just did a full fitting at their HQ in Scottsdale last week. Had some interesting (to me, at least) results... 1. Driver: nice club, loved the sound, feel and looks of it. But as any good GolfSpy knows those three items matter neither a jot nor a tittle when it comes to performance. While the Gen4 driver performed well, it did not outperform the driver I brought with me - the as yet unreleased XXIO X. They were pretty similar, so it made no sense to get one. FYI - that XXIO X is going to be a good driver for the target golfer. Based on the numbers, we didn't even bother with the 0211 driver. 2. FW: I ditched my 3 wood a while ago and decided to go with the Cleveland 18 degree Hy-Wood. It was a good decision, as 3 woods and I are definitely no longer on speaking terms. I have been gaming a Callaway 2-Deep 2-wood - never use it off the deck (low bullets) but it can be a useful weapon off the tee. The fitter made up a Gen 4 2 wood for me - WOW!. The head shape and leading edge means it might - might - be useful off the deck, but off the tee it's a monster. It's going in the bag. 3. Hybrid: I'm on again/off-again with hybrids, and the Cleveland Hy-Wood seems to be the right mix of hybrid ease and fairway wood distance for me. Kevin the fitter set me up with an 18 degree Gen 4 hybrid - another WOW moment. Really liked it. Not sure if it will kick the Cleveland out of the bag, but it will be a fun battle. Distance was spot on and ease of launch was welcome. 3. Irons: Tried both the 0211 and the Gen 4 0311P. Kevin tried like hell to get me into the Gen4 irons, but the difference between them and the 0211s was minor, with the edge actually going to the 0211 irons. We tried different shafts, and I was very surprised the "stock" Elevate 95s performed best for me. I would have liked to have tried the KBS $ Taper LIte, but according to Kevin, no one has those right now. Thanks Supply Chain! Tried the XF version of the Gen4 - those didn't do squat for me. At $77 per club, the 0211 may be the very best buy in golf. 4. Wedges: The next best buy might be the $129 forged wedges. Really liked those as well - I do like the RTZ ZipCore wedges better, but these are a strong second. Liked them much better than the more expensive milled version. And for $129? It's another no-brainer. 5. Putters: Didn't like the 0211 models at all, even though I wanted to. The Battle Ready putters, however, were a different story. We didn't do a full fledged putter fitting, but I immediately took to the Blackbird, the Gunboat and the Closer. The Gunboat was the largest head, and was stupid-stable. The Closer is a "full-bodied" blade and might have been the best feeling, but I was sinking putts like crazy with the Blackbird. I have too many freaking putters as it is, so I don't think another one is in the cards. But if it was, it would probably be the Blackbird. Or the Gunboat. Or maybe the Closer. Or maybe I have a problem. Bottom line, will be pulling the trigger on the irons, FW and hybrid. Not sure on the wedges yet, I have a crap-ton of inventory to get rid of. Anyone want some old irons? No reasonable offer refused

This is really turning out to be a juggernaut matchup. In a weird week of all things. I hate it lol. Dalvin + Monty + 18 vs Kupp + DK Flip that coin, let’s see what it lands on. Winner is the #1 pts this week. Loser goes home.

Not a joke, per se, but kinda humorous to watch these pros play literal speed golf to try to break the Guinness World Record for fastest hole played ... https://m.facebook.com/DPWorldTour/videos/the-fastest-hole-of-golf-individual-guinness-world-records/429111297680436/

Just an unbelievable lightning in a bottle round which (OF COURSE) was only 9 holes since I have young children. But truly a wild ride and, apologies in advance, I am pretty amped about it. I should be clear that I made everything I looked at but overall most everything was clicking. Also, I started using "myRound Pro" app from Taylormade and once I got used to inputting everything I found it to be quite useful. Will do an unofficial review. Anyway, excuse my gloating -- I will be sure to come back and post a s**t round when I have one to balance all this optimism out. I am pretty sure the strokes gained are calculated for 18 holes so I think I cut all these in 1/2. But still, the putting tells the story. I have been gaming my old Seemore for the last few weeks and things have been getting better and better. Also, I roll putts with my Blast golf sensor 4-5 nights a week for about 100 putts each time so it is all clicking. Anyway, look at this rollercoaster score card: I caught fire on #3 which is the hardest hole on the golf course (445 yd par 4). And, honestly, I wasn't really aware of where I was scorewise until I birdied 7 and I was like "well...I think I am getting uncomfortable now..." To birdie 8 and then steer it home on 9 knowing I was cruising under par was a great feeling. All my birdie putts made were between 6-15 feet. The bogey I made on #6 was a great save as well. I hit a drive that was right on the rough line for a really squirrely lie. Hit what I thought was a perfect shot that flew on me and plugged in the back of a bunker. Had to gouge it out to 50 ft and 2 putt from there. Once I did that I felt like the rest of the round was easy. It won't always be this good (or ever again?) so I want to really enjoy this feeling. I have been practicing my short game furiously and this was the culmination of that preparation and practice. Thanks for indulging me!

Funny you say that, I went to high school with someone who is dating one of the people behind the place. I don't partake but from what my craft beer drinking fiancee has told me, it's a good stuff.

I'm a cheap date, I would like the MGS driver headcovers to be in stock again so I can pick one up for my Sub70 driver.

12 years old. Good gracious what talent. It’s not a guarantee that just because one is the child of a top athlete that the child will also be good, but for what he’s showing, he looks to be pretty dang good! As they mentioned, I’d love to see him in Drive-Chip-and-Putt! Tiger’s comments about he’s Charlie’s Dad and not his coach were awesome. Really good stuff this weekend!!!

You can get a pretty good setup for $2,500 if you catch the Mevo+ sales. $1,800 for the Mevo+ leaves you $700 to get your net and hitting mat. That's as bare bones as you can get with quality data indoors and outdoors, I think. And, for an additional $1,000 you'll soon be able to add club head data as well. My one warning about the Mevo+ is that it's very finicky with setup (tilt angle, specifically) and being radar you have to have not only the minimum space, but also ensure the space is interference free (i.e. nothing that will screw with the radar).

You are making it sound not as impressive on your 30+ birdie. I’d say it was 50-60+ footer off the green up and over a hill left to right break with perfect speed falling into the hole. It was a great way to finish the day.

I don't know how much educational learning he could give them, but if they ever wanted to get certified to scuba dive...he'd be perfectly qualified for the job.

Just made the ultimate CHA member move. Pre-ordered the Taylormade Stealth

So, my 7 year old son hands this picture to me this morning. I hope he’s right.

Background: I have been using "GolfShot" which is a GPS app that tracks basic information and such but does not provide shots gained info. I like to do a bit of analysis so previously I was screenshotting each shot so that I could go back and recalculate what happened during the round. Very cumbersome. It gives basic yardages that I have started to ignore as I get closer to the green since I use my rangefinder. I was looking at getting a shotscope V3 to get better tracking but then found the myRound Pro app that is, amazingly, free. I was suspicious so I had to investigate. Purpose: I want a historical record of my rounds, distances and strokes gained. Obviously I could do this with Arccos or Shotscope but to get this available in a free app is ideal. I am fine with some editing as long the user interface is good. First impressions: My first impression with the app was not great. I didn't really understand the interface and some of the shot inputs were not intuitive (especially putting). Major caveat here, I did not read the instructions. I just dove in. So that's my bad. To be honest, after about 3 holes I figured it out. Now it is no problem. You initially setup your bag and then set the handicap you want strokes gained against. For me, I am a 5.0 and so I set it at 5 hdcp but in the future I might move it to a scratch handicap so I know where I need to get better. Let's talk through how it works on a hole: Hole 1: You start with a digitized view of the hole, it doesn't give a ton of context to the golf hole so if it is a new course this won't give you much insight You then hit the "+ Shot" button which means you are initiating a shot. The GPS will place you somewhere but you can tap on the shot and move it to a more accurate spot if needed. (Note: you can do this during the round OR after the round in edit mode) After you hit your drive, you walk up to your next shot and hit "+ shot" which will then tell the app you have arrived at the ball off your first shot and it will mark it again. You can indicate the club to be used on the 2nd shot and the lie. Again, I use a rangefinder as well so if the GPS doesn't have me in the right spot I can move it based on my range finder yardage. You can also move the pin by tapping on the flag icon and sliding it around (you can do this at any time including after you have finished the hole). Once on the green, you can start adding putts. To make sure I get the right distance on putts I walk them off (I have been doing this already to calculate strokes gained putting). You then mark a putt (or putts) like you do shots. See the first picture below where I am moving the pin: The next picture is me marking my first putt. And then finishing the hole: Okay, okay. That was a lot of screenshots. First of all, many of you will look at this and say "jesus that looks cumbersome/takes too much time." You might be right! The first round it was not intuitive to me to mark my shot before taking it but really you are just setting the start of the shot (or the end of the previous shot). By the second round it was pretty seamless and I shot my lowest 9 hole score ever (-3) not necessarily because of this app but more I am trying to show that this app did not "get in the way." I play all my rounds on public courses which are slow and slammed anyway so this gives me something to do instead of getting annoyed standing over my shot. I edit the shots in real time since I don't always remember every yardage I had but I could just as easily do it after. Marking putts is the most sensitive and time consuming part but it's also one that is very important to me. This app also keeps score and, most importantly, keeps strokes gained stats. I played 9 holes yesterday (thus it is averaging out to be a 64 because I shot 3 under which is not normal) and I can look at across an array of stats: I cut off strokes gained so here it is in full: Then your classic stats which are not as relevant anymore: Finally, distances by club which I messed up a little since I hit some punch shots and a few pitch outs which screwed up my distances. The app gives you the option to not assign a club to a particular shot so it won't mess up your averages so I will likely do that in the future. Anyway here are the average distances: So, this app basically does everything I was looking for ShotScope v3 to do but in a more manual and slightly obtrusive manner. Most people will probably not want to do all the editing and manipulating but for me it is an easier process than I had before. I will likely update this review as I gain experience with the app but wanted to put it out there as a FREE option for those who want strokes gained data.

The kid is pretty amazing for a 12 year old, not just his swing mechanics but he doesn’t seem to phased by the crowds or the competition. I am sure Tiger is training him to focus and handle competition and distractions, just as Earl was legendary in that regard. Together they shot a 57 in the scramble today with 1 eagle and 13 birdies including a run of 11 straight. And it wasn’t all Tiger, Charlie stepped up quite a few times. Just a couple examples of Charlie at work https://www.golfdigest.com/story/watch-charlie-woods-pnc-championship-back-nine-approach-shots

Made some spaghetti sauce from scratch as always and decided to fry up some chicken for chicken parm

OK Doc

Depends on what you're looking for. If you're prioritizing aesthetics, you might find the matte finish easier to see. If you're prioritizing performance, it's suggested that moisture significantly impacts spin on a matte ball compared to a glossy one.

Well, my wife needed to take her car in for a service last Friday. I picked her up; they had the car all day, and didn't get to it, so we drove over to pick it up for the weekend and try again next week. We stopped by a pub for dinner on the way home. I pulled into the garage... next morning my car was dead. I mean DEAD. Turns out it was the battery... a "special" battery! I was going to take it into the dealer today, but it snowed last night and it's still snowing. Will try tomorrow. Merry Christmas... pass the Tylenol!! Soooo, I took my truck to the doctor's office at 8am this morning. A couple of weeks ago while walking the back nine (easier of the two nines), I felt a sharp pain in my right knee (left knee is fake), and it affect swings on my followthrough. X-rays showed that I have some bone-on-bone on the inside part of my knee. Looks like I may have another replacement in the future. Forget the Tylenol... make that hydrocodone!!

I've been going through a little trial and error with a few putters the last week or so in the basement on the 4' ruler drill. I've been testing with face balanced and two different toe hang and there is a difference for me in how consistent I am able to get the ball to roll the entire 4' on the ruler. My consistent miss is the ball will roll off the left side at about the 3' mark and this has been happening more with the face balance than the toe hang putters. I've tried standard grip and cross handed and the results are the same between the two grip styles. It has me wondering if I need to switch from my face balanced gamer, the Heppler fetch to a toe hang style. I have realized I am not doing myself any favors by practicing in the backyard with an Anser toe hang and then gaming a face balanced Fetch. I will definitely match styles of putters I practice with and game from now on.

Have you been reading my mind?

I didn’t want to oversell it, as I couldn’t remember it perfectly. I will say it was probably 40%/60% rough/green.

Totally impressed with Charlie's game and composure. Would have Iiked to see him smile more. But I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He was focused and in the zone. That was a tough field and they came in second. Some dam good golf.

I’m ready! My favorite tournament by far!!!

My buddies "borrowed' street signs to cover the holes and then put a floor mat over them to hide the signs. I always had a better car so no floor rot for me.

Played 9 today with the pro at my club in VA and for 4 holes we looked like we were both players at several under par. Won’t talk about the rest of the 9 but it was great company and nice to get some input and insight on the direction of the club. I like the ideas and where we are going as sell as the opportunity to be a big part of it.

Ladies and Gentlemen… I just finished up my last exam with a 98% for my undergraduate degree. Baring a complete failure of the last writing assignment I should end up with an A. This has been a long, tiring, stressful, enjoyable, wonderful, and rewarding experience. Something I thought I would never accomplish in life, but here I am, on the Dean’s list and graduating with a 4.0 GPA. Mora of the story, it’s never too late, and you’re never too old to do things that you have been putting off. Here’s some sparkling apple cider to celebrate.