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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/18/2022 in Posts

  1. ... I am probably in the minority but I generally don't care about testing/giveaways. I do really enjoy reading non professional reviews from everyday golfers of every level and sure if something is offered I am interested in, I will throw my hat in the ring and be thrilled if I am selected, but it has nothing to do with why I am here or why I stay. I am here for the camaraderie of fellow golf nuts that love the game, the equipment, the courses and the fun. I also enjoy departing some of the knowledge I have gained though the years to others and I am not too experienced to learn from anyone. I seem to learn something every day. ... My only suggestion is maintain tight control over content and posts. I have been a member of other forums that went downhill when allowing just a little latitude for aggressive posters that turned into an avalanche. I have quite a few on ignore and others I take lightly, skimming posts as they love to challenge others for no reason either than confrontation for anyone that does not share their views. You Mods do an awesome job and there is a core group of people I would consider online friends here and hope to play golf with all of them someday.
    13 points
  2. Joined initially for the huge contest/giveaway MGS ran to kick off the forum. I stayed because it was a small group of people that were passionate about golf and we had some incredible conversations. I've litterally made life long friends just from this forum. I've been on both sides of the house here as a member and former forum mod/director (and yes I'm still around and active). For the vast majority of the time on this forum it has been almost a completely separate entity from the main MGS site. Personally I feel like that worked pretty well. I'm not crazy about the direction MGS has taken as they've grown the main site. It seems very antagonistic toward the majority of OEM's. Almost like they decided that's going to be their hook/angle and they go out of their way to try and pick on the major OEM's. I've loved the forum side of things because it seems like we worked in a firendlier manner with the OEM's. Just the way it feels from outside (and then inside) and then back outside looking in. I can for the giveaways, I stayed for the community. Member testing has always been huge part of our community and without it I don't think we'd be a tenth of the size we are. It's really a numbers game, bring in a few thousand new members with a testing opportunity and we are bound to have a handful stick around and become wonderful contributing members of the forum. Without those opportunities I worry we will become stagnant. At the end of the day though this has always been a place for people who love golf to come together and talk about golf (and many other things in life) I don't see that part changing and that's a good thing. I feel it's our core competency and overall should remain the focus.
    13 points
  3. One of my friends from work had mentioned the other morning he was thinking about taking up the game. He said that his brother had a driver and he had gotten out with it and hit some balls, videoed his swing, and is interested in going to the range. Since he only had that club, he was discussing buying irons and trying them out. I came to work the next morning with one of my spare sets and brought them out for him and told him to use these so he could see if he thought he might enjoy playing without spending the money on irons. Fast forward to the next morning. We were walking in and he told me that his wife asked him why he was carrying them into the house and he explained the situation to her. She said "basically, Jason brought you a bouquet of golf clubs". I told my wife this and she laughed and responded, without hesitation, " so now you're his sugar caddy?".
    13 points
  4. Why do people come to any of the major golf sites: 1. Testing opportunities 2. Early pics of to-be-released equipment 3. Info on newly-released equipment 4. Reviews on newly released equipment to gauge whether one feels it might be a club, or clubs, they should try 5. Online banter in forums on information one seeks to gain related to golf 6. Selling equipment Pretty much the top ones I can think of. Why did I come here, specifically? And what kept me here? 1. Another forum’s owner is a douche, and their HQ had their hands on everything. (WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!) Our owner isn’t a douche, by any means, Adam is great, but HQ intervening here when they never have before hasn’t been good for the forum… 2. I ALWAYS came to MGS to see Spy Pics!!! I rarely posted or participated, I just wanted to see the new equipment. 3. Forum testing opportunities with a smaller group of potential candidates. I knew with the smaller number of folks here at the time over 10 years ago I’d have a better chance of getting selected to test. I think Srixon MTB was my first opportunity. 4. Small numbers, great forum interaction. Because we weren’t so big, forum interaction was better than where I had been. More tightly knit group of guys, more of a friendly atmosphere that didn’t feel like HQ would butt-in and start intervening. 5. Developed a good reputation over time because of the small community. I come to MGS multiple times a day. I may not always post, but it’s where I go and have made good friendships that moved from virtual to real-life. I haven’t been selected for a club review in over four years. Never a major OEM too, but I’m still here and participate because of this tight-knit group, my friends, and the banter. I’m one of the ones that’s been here from the start and it has been a great place for me, I just hope the quest for “numbers” slows at some point. ”New members” due to advertising testing opportunities aren’t REALLY new members… Members are folks who come to the forum, participate, and stay. The relationship of members who stay and testing opportunities, I would agree, is very important! If folks see there aren’t testing opportunities long-run, they’ll leave. HQ needs to step-back and let the mods run things again if they want REAL membership numbers to increase, and our mods need to continue to be honest with us as well. Can’t hide behind the computer screen. Gotta give the good with the bad, and listen… It’s what GREAT companies/people do. Thanks for trying to help this be a better place for another 10+ years for me!!!
    12 points
  5. It’s two things for me that’s kept me here. Testing and the general dialogue amongst the membership. I’ve been around for 5 years now and the opportunities are not what they were. I’ve also noticed that other forums like THP and WRX have had some tests that we were not offered to MGS. I can only assume there is a lot more to this and politics / recruiting can be a dirty game. For years there was an anticipatory PING and Callaway driver test, a Titleist driver test, an annual PING iron test a lot of putters. Keeping a competitive edge in the forums and managing not just recruitment but retention does rely heavily upon testing. If the opportunities aren’t there, people are going to start asking questions and looking elsewhere. I wanted to add this. You’d asked what is the core identity of MGS? From this side of the screen, it’s about finding the best gear for you regardless of whose name is on the sole.
    12 points
  6. Well I thought I would have been home by now. Delta had other thoughts and canceled my flight. Now I can't get out until 5:45 tomorrow night. What's a guy to do! Oh thats right, go play golf tomorrow. Turning a negative into a positive.
    12 points
  7. I find that this is a good community of like minded people here. Sure, there are a couple of aggressive and argumentative individuals, but for the most part, the group is respectful of one another. I like that I feel as if the members here are golf buddies that I might actually play a round with. Having said that, the best thing the mods can do is to maintain this respectful community, snuffing out the trouble makers without being overly controlling of everyone. I got my hand slapped once for calling out a trouble maker and, although I thought the penalty a bit harsh, it was my bad to get frustrated with the person who prompted my uncalled for remark. I really do enjoy the reviews by the members. I've been fortunate enough to test a couple of items and have appreciated the opportunity to do so. Even if this aspect were to go away for whatever reason, I would likely remain a member here because of the online friends that I have come to know. Other forums that I've tried have heavy handed admin that is an immediate turn-off. One forum that I won't mention by name has an admin that is so rude and obnoxious (Mr Know it All attitude) that I quit visiting the forum, even though there was a lot of good content in the discussions. So, admin --- take that too heart --- Firm but fair oversight, like you've been doing in the past, will go a long way to retain the core group.
    11 points
  8. Ironically, I arrived here because I enjoyed listening to NPG and after I started lurking the forums I decided that I liked what I saw. Good people with interesting and funny conversations. I no longer listen to NPG because it is such a turnoff. Absolute snooze fest lately, hard to listen to. I’ll skim through the MGS ball and equipment tests but I don’t put a lot of weight into them for me. Still love coming to the forum everyday to see what everyone has been up to. Some of it is inspiring in my quest to get better. Some of it is educational in my quest to get better. A lot of it is just plan fun to read. Most of the testing doesn’t appeal to me in terms of me being a tester. I appreciate being able to read about other’s opinions and make my conclusions from there.
    11 points
  9. Other members brought me to this forum. Because to be blunt, I wanted nothing to do with MGS for quite some time after some not-so-great interactions with some staff writers online. They came off as giant jerks and I figured the forum was the same. But I saw a number of posters who I used to see on other sites, members who always provided good content and solid info, and I decided to create an account. I was reassured that the forum was completely separate from the MGS site and there was a wealth of knowledge here, and that turned out to be true. I was lucky enough to be selected for a testing opportunity my first year here, which was awesome. Since I joined 4+ years ago, I've been able to take part in two testing opportunities. I won't lie - the aspect of being able to get brand new gear and be someone who can be relied on by potentially thousands of others to provide honest feedback is very cool, and a huge draw to the MGS forum. I liked that there was no fealty to certain OEMs and you were encouraged to be brutally honest about gear, whether it was an official member review or not. For a long time, that's what kept me actively engaged here - honest, no BS talk about golf gear. There was very little OT garbage and mods did an awesome job of keeping this place from turning into WRX. Sadly, I no longer feel that's the case. In my opinion there seems to be a much more antagonistic feel here than before. Mods no longer seem to jump in and keep things going on the right track, aside from Jamie from what I've observed (and I want to be clear that maybe there's a lot more going on that I and other posters don't see. But my impression is that there's one, maybe 2 mods actively engaged in being mods). My ignore list has grown drastically the last 6 months or so, long before the LIV crap started so it's not a recency thing. Traffic as a whole seems to be down. The fact that major OEMs aren't going to be involved in testing is a huge red flag to me about the site as a whole. Did MGS push things too far at some point? Did someone on staff piss off too many people? Was the honesty shown by forum testing TOO honest in pointing out flaws in gear and brand image? I don't know. It's great that smaller OEMs are being focused on to being attention to their gear, but when all of the major OEMs are absent here while they have multiple tests going on at other places... yeah something's not right. It doesn't help that other MGS outlets don't actively support the forum either. NPG is a shell of what it was. Tweets are more click-bait than anything else. I also personally find it interesting that former mods pretty much disappear as soon as their time is done. Not sure if it's burnout or what, but the fact that now former mods are almost never seen is another red flag to me. I wish I had better answers on how to grow the forum engagement, aside from having more info from OEMs, opportunities for gear testing, and just generally promoting the site & the forum in a positive way.
    11 points
  10. Really don’t have much to add to what these guys summed up perfectly. The one thing for me that I love is helping other people understand equipment and how it could help their game. I used to be a guy that thought switching shafts could drop my spin 1500 rpms. Through many years of asking questions and listening to people much smarter than me I feel that I have gained a ton of knowledge that I want to help transfer to others. The main two avenues for that are general discussion and forum testing.
    11 points
  11. I have nothing else to add. I came to the forum to test I will stay because I enjoy the dialogue. Some of the folks on here I hope and cannot wait to get a round in with God willing. i love golf and this forum provides me a little itch relief every day.
    10 points
  12. I joined long before there were any tests. Initially asking for advice on some shaft + head combo and numbers. The answers I got were friendly and encouraging for a beginner, so I decided to stay. Sadly, a lot of those members are no longer active, but if you ask me personally, the quality (technical knowledge of equipment) has increased it's just that sometimes the way of expressing it can be... unwelcoming for newbies. Now, like most of the responses above, tests are definitely a big attraction. Not having those would certainly have a negative impact on growing the forum. So the question would be why??? Declining quality of reviews? Disagreement with the OEMs? Now, @GolfSpy_APH mentioned what website sponsors might be coming up for testing, but none of those belong to the big boys. While I applaud the approach of not letting big OEMs buy reviewers, you can't deny they still supply 95% of the golf market and MGS needs to accept that if they want to stay relevant.
    10 points
  13. I really like the thought of that, even though I'd have to imagine that could be a nightmare to try to organize. If it's possible I'd love that. Even just a Cobra Connect-like event that wasn't tied to that review specifically could be really cool, if there was a way to do it without making the mods all go grey(er ) I tried participating, I believe there were some hiccups with the app that made it kind of buggy. @GolfSpy_APH to answer your questions, I originally was introduced through a combination of contests/test opportunities and was also just looking for a source of better golf knowledge, as I was a later adopter of the game and at the time didn't have anyone in my immediate life that golfed. I've been fortunate enough to do a few tests since being a forum member, but if I never tested again I wouldn't change my participation. I enjoy the community and golf banter, because I don't really have a place in my personal life to do so. I enjoy hearing about other people's successes and failures, how they work through slumps in their game, and hearing people's live-ish reactions to some of the Tour events. Through the forum I have met & become friends with @edingc, learned a ton about the game from folks like @chisag, @cnosil and others, entered into a competitive event I otherwise wouldn't have, and learned more about club building, general equipment, the golf swing, and shot tracking & other technologies.
    9 points
  14. It’s like MGS HQ thinks the louder and more Golf WOKE they are, the more people will listen to them. Frankly it’s a niche that I don’t want to be a part of. Generally I’d rather get information from people that are wise and humble then wise and arrogant. MGS HQ and their respective social accounts are much more the latter and it’s a huge turnoff. But I’m sure it all comes down to $ and the bottom line. Rather than take ad dollars from OEMs they’d rather put intrusive ads in the forum, use click bait social media posts and take money from small/non-major OEM golf companies and then overly promote their products.
    9 points
  15. This. So much this. I finally had to mute the MGS twitter account because it had just become so sophomoric and full of click bait. It feels like a high school aged wannabe social media influencer is running the account.
    9 points
  16. Pretty sure I know the forum you're referring too and, if not, then there is at least two of them . That was my first golf forum and, after stumbling into MGS, dumped that link. So that's what brought me to the forum (finding it via research on new irons). I had never heard of MGS before. What made me stay was, in order, the community of members and really insightful discussions from lots of folks, the testing opportunities, and finally the Buy/Sell. Okay, the mods know where I'm coming from on this comment but where I see an improvement opportunity is better support from HQ. My perception is that they really don't see the forum as a significant benefit to MGS - maybe we're not? If that's the case, I think they're missing an opportunity. If testing becomes more limited, I do think retaining (and certainly building) forum members will be challenging. I think the core group will remain but with all the various SM feeds, it just dilutes available time. It's pretty clear that testing opportunities bring in tons of folks who rarely participate in the forum. No idea what the stats are, but maybe 2-3% actually stick around after the tester selection has been made and they weren't chosen. Whatever the numbers are, I really cannot think of a more powerful recruitment tool. Rob's "Major Pool Contests" and what we are trying to prop up on the weekly "PGA Events" threads help (and would be better with HQ's help... ahem), but still not anywhere near as big a honeypot as product tests. Not sure about further growth on social media. If you're thinking about that as a mean of advertisement that MGS exists, maybe. But, as I stated, dilution becomes an issue. I mean just look at the FTx chat that would otherwise be taking place on the forum... which might spurn new threads and posts...which might grab someone's attention and into the forum. I would say MGS's Forum Identity is the connection to MGS's Annual Ball, Club, and Accessories Testing. The forum creates tons of chatter about these tests and that helps keep it relevant and serves as a sort of advertisement. Again, this is where I think HQ is missing the importance of the forum. And, on that note, what I'd love to hear is Adams take of the forum and where it fits into the entire business model.
    9 points
  17. Shankster

    Random Thread

    Pretty sure your wife just won…. Like everything.
    9 points
  18. I personally would prefer less social media interaction. I found MGS after a long layoff from golf, looking for information on the RBZ Tour irons. I didn’t even know there was a forum for months, and when I did find it I didn’t immediately join. The Glide 2.0 test is what got me to sign up. I was looking for new wedges. The way I see it, if people stick around in a low period, thank you. If you leave because there are not as many testing ops… well, then that is on you. the thing that irks me the most, is the fly by night people that come sign up for the giveaways and then win the things without ever interacting with the group… and it should be frowned upon at all levels.
    8 points
  19. As was stated in another thread, testing has taken on a bit of change this season, with it hopefully gaining traction in the latter half of the year. With that, as a mod and member of the community, I have my concerns, but truly want to see the better side of things even if we are at a bit of a crossroads. In the past we have done focus groups, but I think this can be used as a larger focus group from the community. I still want to see membership grow, I still want to see testing opportunities happen as well as this community thrive and prosper. I know testing is a backbone in getting new members in the door. The numbers back that up in that when we have a test week our registrations double to triple. In the case of larger tests we see that number increase by 9 or 10 times. So what is the basis of this thread? I want to reach out to you the community to help us mods figure out the direction and future of MGS Forum with the current structure. We are after all as mods, still members of the community. Some of these questions I've asked before in other threads, but feel this is deserving of its own dedicated thread. What brought you to the forum? What made you stay? If testing is more limited in the future (again hopefully not, but if) how would you suggest we grow the forum? Would growth on Social Media help? If yes, what accounts should we look at for the Forum? What do other forums have which we can use or bring over the MGS Forum which will help grow a productive membership? This could be features, contests, activities or anything. What is the core identity of MGS Forum in your opinion? We have done a fair bit so far this season in bringing new features to the forum some of which include - Community Map - Course Reviews in Community Map - Beta Testing for Member Review (Link will only work if you have asked for beta tag permission) - New Stock Up/Stock Down from our Content Hunter - Themes (Beta users have access to all themes) - Chatbox feature - underused at the moment - Messenger Live system also available and may be introduced soon - Major Pools by Titleist - and more Thanks all for reading and hope to keep this discussion in a productive manner as to help us best improve the forum now and for the future.
    7 points
  20. I do have one critique. I much prefer the old way of doing reviews, where each tester had 3 posts made at the top of the thread. Much easier to navigate, and feels more organized that way.
    7 points
  21. Shankster

    Random Thread

    Well @tommc23 we finally are under contract on a house that I am confident will meet my expectations during the inspection… So to celebrate I went to hit some pitch shots in the yard. The first one went Alaning it’s way into the salt marsh. So I guess that means we are getting the house.
    7 points
  22. I am not sure that it is possible… The forum is what we have all made it into over the years. Mayhe somehow getting more interaction on the testing threads, because I will be honest, I never even looked at the Nippon Shafts Thread that I can recall. MGS has been very gracious to me over the years, which I cannot begin to express how grateful I am. So, as far as complaining goes on that end, I can’t because I have nothing to complain about… besides thing I already mentioned. If you are not active, you should be disqualified from the Titleist events, or anything like that in the future.
    7 points
  23. Again i feel it necessary to reiterate that the goal is not anything with HQ or their SM platforms. It is how do be build on what we have existing and make it better? What features have you liked that have been introduced? What other features on other sites have you seen that were catchy or ones which could be brought here? If this just turns into complaining about various things I'll shut it down. There is enough of that sort of stuff in the LIV thread. I don't need that here. For reference (on my end) ads are way better then they have been and I don't see them often or notice them. No pop up ads and compared to WRX way less annoying. So a win there in my books. So moving forward in this thread, what do we do to bring meaningful membership and help the forum grow as a whole. Finally for what it's worth my idea for forum identify is community and testing. Both a great engaged community and awesome tests both official and non where golfers can go and get good honest reviews.
    7 points
  24. Previous posts by those more eloquent than I have expressed much of how I feel about the forum. I found the forums via the MGS website. I started following to read reviews from average golfers. I also didn’t have a lot of faith in the reviews from the major publications but Golf Magazine did capture my attention when they started using “average” golfers to test equipment and offered a bio on each tester. I love seeing new products as they come out. I’m very much an equipment junkie. I used to look forward to new editions of Golf Equipment magazine. I have been fortunate enough to have been selected as a tester and am most appreciative of the opportunity. I have noticed what I’d call a decline equipment that has been made available for testing and have wondered what has led to that as I don’t fully understand what drives what equipment gets made available. I do appreciate the extensive thread on the Tester Selection Process. Maybe a Thread that outlines how equipment becomes available for testing. If this exists I’d love to see it. But a big reason I like the forum is the banter. Just pop over to the Random Thread and you will see why. I try to find humor in things and in this game we all love there are a lot of opportunities to find it. I tend to look for the positives in things. I have discovered “online” friends here, the list is growing, that I look forward to checking in with, multiple times a day. Why am I here? In a word, COMMUNITY.
    7 points
  25. Micah T

    How'd you play?

    75 today at the Siena club: I’m beginning to realize I’m good for about 5-6 bogeys a round, and it’s only a matter of if I’ll get any birdies to balance those out. Chip-in eagle and a birdie on the back 9 gave me a 39/36. Only 9/18 Gir but 9/14 Fir… got up and down like a boss today 6/9. Plus my wife shot her new personal best of 80!
    7 points
  26. Hard Rock Challenge. As in like Top Flite XL 50000
    6 points
  27. If this is the case, I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t take ad $ and operate in the same manner. I’ll get dragged for this but for the longest time, I’ve thought sub70 was getting a lot of mileage around here…more than most companies seemed to earn… It didn’t change the product, how it was tested or how it was received, it only made it a more prominent company on the forum. At the end of the day, the folks making the decisions have to trust the people who are reviewing and testing product. If you believe that somehow taking $ from some vendors but not all would corrupt your method then the method is already corrupt.
    6 points
  28. GolfSpy_SHARK

    Happy thread

    Well got out for a fishing trip with brothers, dad, son and nephew. awsome day catching some small stuff until @Sean-Shank Redemption hooked the catch of the day with 45 minutes to go. We eating’ fish tonight
    6 points
  29. We took pops out striper fishing for Father’s Day and had a good day. Pulled this honker out and made it a GREAT day!
    6 points
  30. fozcycle

    How'd you play?

    Our greens were punched this week so we decided to go 20 miles op the road to Hernando Oaks. I shot 93 Tuesday then 89 Thursday. Beautiful layout….Boys liked it so much we are going back this Tuesday.
    6 points
  31. BIG STU

    Random Thread

    Remember the old saying "Delta is ready when you are"----- evidently not in your case---- Growing up we listened to the Atlanta Braves ( when they could not beat a little league team) and Delta Airlines sponsored the broadcasts and had that catchy little slogan. Evidently things change
    6 points
  32. I played 18 today with a friend from work, his son, and one of his friends. They wanted to come up and play Flagstone (formerly known as Chatata Valley) and they were booked until 2. So we decided to play at Falcon Pointe (formerly known as Waterville, and in my mind after hearing the name they chose...all I hear is Eagle Fang). It was a fun, beautiful day to be out after a bunch of days with the heat index being over 105. Today was 88 and windy, making for a great day to be chasing a ball all over the place. I had a very up and down round. My driver continues to be a weapon, my iron play was suspect, but I'll not complain because I only had two shanks, my wedges were meh, and my putter was atrocious. I think the greens were stimpimg at about a 4 and I had at least 14 3 putts. Shot 56/65 121. It was just a day I couldn't string anything together. I hit my shot of the day on the par five 8th hole after being 263 yards out with my drive I peppered a hybrid downhill, down wind to 51 yards. I proceeded to duff the next shot into the creek and then 3 putted. I nearly killed a guy on the 17th when I pull hooked a 5 wood toward the tee box on 18 and hit the windshield of their cart. I honestly didn't see them as it's downhill from where I hit. Fortunately, one of my partners yelled as soon as the ball came off my club. I pulled up to apologize and saw a guy doubled over and nearly had a heart attack. He wasn't the person I nearly hit, I'm pretty sure he was pouring water on his head to cool off. It was fun playing with a couple of young guys and I enjoyed watching them rip a few drivers. They're both new to the game and once they figure things out, they're going to be good.
    5 points
  33. ParFore74x

    How'd you play?

    Played better than I thought today. I’ve been getting closer to my goal of breaking 90. Keeping all of my rounds in the 90s has definitely been an eye opener for me. I tell myself that, for me, smart golf is better than aggressive golf. Today was going pretty well on the front with one par and two doubles through eight. Nine is a 505 yard par 5 that I have been shooting par on as of late so I was pretty stoked teeing off there. Tee shot in the fairway, second shot into the fairway, wedge onto the green with less than a 3’ putt. Oh boy. Drained the putt for a bird to make me happy with a 44 on the front. Back felt about the same with two pars and no bad, for me, holes through 16 and sitting comfortable. I felt that I did a really good job of keeping the score out of my head which allowed me to relax and make smarter shots. That changed on 17 where a couple of bad shots and a three putt left me with a triple bogey. No big deal. 18th tee shot went left behind trees which forced me to punch out sideways to the fairway. 200 yards to the green for my third shot and this is where the smart golf went out the window. Went with 4 iron which covers the distance but it went left of the green and left me with an uphill shot and another tree. 60° over the tree to the green and then two putts to finish with a double. Check me score for the back……48. 92 total with a triple and a double to finish. Ahhhhhhhh! So close. Still happy with where I’m at and confident that I am on the right track. I love and hate this game at the same time.
    5 points
  34. What about some virtual team events? Could make teams, play courses at certain distances, use handicaps or not, and have some fun? Sort course length to be played by handicap or age, or both, have a period of time to get the round in, and then post attested scores. There has to be an app where we can play live…
    5 points
  35. cksurfdude

    Random Thread

    Hey so none other than George Clooney is a fan of and user of The Flowbee!! (..read it in a magazine)
    5 points
  36. Play MORE Break on your putts ... A short and hopefully sweet tip. Another teachable moment I wanted to share as I played with a high index poor putter that really struggled with mid range and long lag putts resulting in several 3/4 putts and discouragement. While admittedly he could improve on his speed he constantly played way too little break and finally on the 16th green I stopped for a putting lesson since the course was empty in the heat after he asked if I had any putting advice. The 16th green has a lot of slope so I picked out a spot and asked him to stand 6 feet right of the hole and I hit a 40 footer right at him that rolled about a foot below the hole. I asked him to now stand 2 feet right of the hole and putted right at him again and the putt rolled about 5 feet below the hole. Then I told him to stand about 8 feet right of the hole and he said "OK I know the break now so this has no chance of going in" and I putted right at him again and this time the ball rolled about 1 foot above the hole. Every putt had about 7 feet of break. ... Looking at the balls on the green I asked him which two were the best putts and he said obviously either of the two balls near the hole. I told him the first putt was what I considered to be the correct break and it left me a basic tap in. The last putt I knew was more break than needed but it still left me a tap in. The worst putt left a 5 footer that I had him try and he missed but made both tap ins. I told him if he was absolutely sure of the break he should play that line, but if he had any doubt play more break than he thinks because the ball will always be rolling toward the hole and under reading the break means the ball will be rolling away from the hole. ... This is the big mistake I see so many poor putters make. Under reading the break leads to 3 putts while over reading the break leads to a missed putt but ends up closer to the hole for easier finishing putts. This is not concerning shorter and what you think you should make putts, but mid range and longer lag putts you want to get close. So if you struggle with 3 putts, lag putts or unsure of the break or just want to experiment, play more break and see if it improves your putting.
    5 points
  37. Excellent points!
    4 points
  38. PMookie

    How'd you play?

    Got to play again today and kept score. Shot 80 (41/39). I had three bad holes, and didn’t putt worth a dang, missing three birdie putts from inside 10’, one just 4’ away. Ugh. My driver, Stealth 9* with GD AD-XC 7X, was an absolute BEAST today. I hit four drives over 325, and hit 64% of fairways. It was hot as hades, but I really enjoyed getting out again. Z Star was money, so I’m headed to Dick’s to pick up 3 dozen, using a $50 gift card.
    4 points
  39. I think Grint hosted something like this... but never knew what became of it...
    4 points
  40. Maybe it should be stated as how can we as mods make things better that are within our control. The testing discussion is valid, but we have been trying to work with it for literally months. We have done all that we can and in the end that isn't in our hands. We have other ideas which can aid it and will disclose when we actually have something. So again what can we as mods to help improve this community that is in our control.
    4 points
  41. Rickp

    Happy thread

    Great wife, fantastic compromise
    4 points
  42. Shankster

    Happy thread

    So, I’m gonna have an extra 5 days from closing till we can occupy. I had to compromise, but the Wife (best ever I may add) is going to let me go play Bandon. I only get 1 day, but looking to book (hopefully) 2 different courses. Haven’t checked yet, hopefully there’s space when I can get there. In return, all she wants is to go to our old stomping grounds in Bellingham for a few days.
    4 points
  43. There is no paid membership to MGS. The only giveaway that requires you to donate is the donor raffle. The giveaways being referred to in this post are the ones that require you to enter your name and email address. I do know of an instance where there was a winner of one of the giveaways that said he didn't enter and thought he was being contacted by a fake MGS account so they moved on to another person. While I have not seen a list of winners, I do know they give away the equipment.
    4 points
  44. The what happened to major OEM test thread will go into how stuff becomes available for testing. Short version in 2022: HQ searches, asks, requests and leverages for tests. Most come from sponsors of the blog.
    4 points
  45. What brought you to the forum? Saw testing opportunities on social media which caused me to become a member. What made you stay? Being selected as a tester made me loyal to the forum and then once I spent more time here it became all about the people who are here. While I still peruse a few other forums now and then the bulk of my onilne golf time is spent here. I think the people here are more mature, myself excluded, who can carry on a conversation and discuss alternative points of view without name calling or bullying. In another golf forum they go out of their way to say that bullying is not allowed, but the owner is the biggest bully on the board! If testing is more limited in the future (again hopefully not, but if) how would you suggest we grow the forum? IMHO, to attract and maintain new members without testing, the site is going to have to be seen as more of an expert resource. HQ is seen as an expert resource, but the forum is not as compared to other forums. Perhaps identify members who are experts, or want to become experts on certain topics, to post on a regular basis and be there to answer questions about said expertise. For example DIY Golf Stuff and Club Building are two of my favorite sections and if each had an expert that posted a project once a month and then was available to answer questions I think that would draw more eyes on a regular basis. Would growth on Social Media help? If yes, what accounts should we look at for the Forum? Social Media is how I and many others found this forum so it only makes sense to continue there. However, the social media interaction has to be both a push and pull of content. My experience with the current MGS Twitter is that it is simply a push mechanism. If you want people to follow you need to be seen as being responsive. I've interacted multiple times with MGS on Twitter, but have never received any response or even a like to my response. There was a post recently where they said something like "I'm really interested in your thoughts on X, but I did not see where they recognized people that took the time to respond to their response. "If you're really interested" in their thoughts show them by simply throwing them a like, it's not rocket science. What do other forums have which we can use or bring over the MGS Forum which will help grow a productive membership? This could be features, contests, activities or anything. I would have to spend more time on other forums to answer this question. But as the famous philosopher Charles Barkley once said- "If you try to change to get the 50% of people that don't like you you're going to alienate the 50% that already do!" What is the core identity of MGS Forum in your opinion? A golf testing site comprised of mature people who are passionate about golf and want to talk to other like minded people in a respectful manner.
    4 points
  46. I gotta give Stacy Lewis credit on that one---- What ever tournament she won that year she gave her entire winnings for flood relief for Houston Texas I believe it was
    4 points
  47. Happy Birthday to Tom the Golf Nut
    4 points
  48. I really need to stop going ot the North Hollywood Roger Dunn. Someone over there is a club ***** that regularly trades in mint condition Mizunos and today I couldn't say no. Lightly used MP60 5/PW for $90. I could not say no. All of them look like this.
    4 points
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