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2 ball better ball for me on Saturday at home course. Probably had my best striking day for a while, but didn't really hole anything. Leaders were -10 when we went out, thought we had a chance of a prize with a combined better ball of -9, ha ha. Weren't even on the 1st page, 15th when we left the clubhouse. Leaders were -16 off a combined handicap of 24, sigh. And for those following my Mind Games thread, I only had one flare up when I duck hooked my drive off 13.

Ohh hate it about the cracked shaft in the driver--- I can relate I cracked the shaft in my 3 wood yesterday too. We did not do much in the shootout yesterday. I hit some good shots but we could not capatialize and make any putts. My putting woes continue and the greens are not to blame. I knew at the start we had some strong teams and really these days my new team is not that strong. I sorta use it as a personal experiment. I did go at the ball a little harder yesterday and picked up some driver distance even if the course was still wet. But did not go at it hard enough to hurt myself. I think my back as far as structural is healed up and I think I am getting more flexability due to playing at least 3 or 4 9 hole early rounds during the week. Felt ok yesterday not tired at all in fact worked in the shop and replaced the 3 wood shaft and put my Santa Fe back stock length and stock grip and will try that to see this week. I did not have the same shaft to replaced the cracked one in the 3 wood per say so I am trying something else. Also have a sorta jacked 5 wood in mind which is a V-Steel with a Fubuki R-65 at 3 wood length. May work on it after Church today.

Not saying my game has life going into the outing but I went back to my old irons and shot -1 today off the tips at my club. Three birds on the front with on bogie and played the back in 1 over. I think it was a -4.2 to my index for the day so that is a positive I guess.

Went out for a twilight practice round with my instructor and played pretty much as badly as I could possibly play. Well not quite, I was decent off the tee. Mediocre on approach, and god awful on and around the green. I currently have the worst case of the yips I've ever had putting. It's been coming on for a while. It's all speed control and it's all stroke related but I cant' find my feel. (Bad enough that my instructor said leave everything but your putter at home for the next lesson) The good news is that my instructor got to see what my game looks like when I'm struggling and we identified a lot of areas that we can easily save strokes. Also, one of the cool parts about the day was that he invited two young ladies out to play with us. Both of them top ranked Amateurs in southern California, one ranked pretty high nationally. They were both +4's and he told me that he expects to pay attention because these two girls are what tour players look like in high school and early college. He expects that both of them will be playing at LPGA level at some point. It was eye opening and incredible. We are not playing the same game as they are. To any yahoo that thinks a scratch golfer can compete with the ladies, it's a hard no. The level of consistency is unbelievable. I learned a ton just watching them. Pretty fun even though I was terrible.

I played pretty good today. Today was the third day of the club championship so pin positions on some of the greens were testy ones. No birdies today but only one bogey on 15. See my rules thread question to understand. I wasn't playing in the championship, I was playing my normal solo 8 am first one off Sunday ritual. I get to the course and there is a fivesome just about ready to tee off. One was on the range, two putting and two trying to hurry up the other three. Since they were not on the tee box, away I went. I saw them follow right in behind me. It never ceases to amaze me how slowly people can play. To give you a feel for how slow. I was teeing off on 18 (and I played the 17 holes before that!) and they were teeing off on 7. I even had to wait a couple times for the greens mower and a guy moving pin positions. In two hours and 15 minutes they played 7 holes. They didn't even get to any par 5's yet. They were looking at a 6 hour round on an empty course.

It’s south jersey they are easily impressed

Played pretty well today... 76 and it was not one of my better driving days. Shot EVEN par 37 on the front with two birdies and a +4 39 on the back nine. Bogeys on 10, 11, and 12 was somewhat deflating, but started making pars again that included two sandy pars.

One of the airlines recently introduced a special half-fare rate for wives accompanying their husbands on business trips. Anticipating some valuable testimonials, the publicity department of the airline sent out letters to all the wives of businessmen who used the special rates, asking how they enjoyed their trip. Responses are still pouring in asking, "What trip?"

Owen and I played Orchard Valley in Aurora yesterday with our friends Paul and Chris. First time at that course for any of us. Tons of rain Friday and early Saturday letting up roughly half an hour before tee time at 1. Pretty quickly got hot and humid. Strict cart path only due to the rain. Probably should have stayed home but we were excited to try somewhere new. Nice course; would love to go back and play under better circumstances. Lots of water to deal with and overall pretty tight everywhere. On the front nine I shot 53, Paul 55, Owen 51, and Chris 75. By about the sixth or seventh hole, Chris was done. He golfs rarely and it seemed like every shot went to the opposite side from the cart path. We were all pretty off ...I don't think any of us hit a par 3 GIR all day. On the back nine we decided to 2v2 scramble which lit a fire in Owen. Aside from two nice putts from Chris, Owen beat Paul and I singlehandedly by several strokes. His highlight of the day was bending a 3 wood approach shot from behind a tree 200 yards to the apron just shy of the green. Wild shot.

Back-2-back 76's this weekend! Shot the same scores today on front/back as I did yesterday... EVEN/+4... 76. I think I have shot EVEN on the front 9 maybe a total of 5 times in 7 years. I got to EVEN a little differently today. Started with a double on #1... don't ask!, then bogeyed #5. I birdied #7, 8, and 9... all were 8-foot putts. I have NEVER had 3 birdies in a row... ever!

My 16 year old son is with my wife and my girls down in south jersey for a few days. My wife took them to dinner tonight and it was “country night”. My son dressed normally in his boots, Wranglers and cowboy hat along with a sleeveless Brooks and Dunn shirt and Skoal can. He had allegedly done well with the ladies by just being him and brought down the house when he started line dancing. Glad my redneck roots made him a star

77 (36/41) today. Cracked the shaft in my Honma driver. Ugh. No birdies on the day, and started with 11 straight pars. 2 holes killed me. Averaged 302 off the tee, finished in 2 hours and 31 minutes, and thankfully I was allowed to go off before everyone else this morning!!!

With all the YouTube and other social media platforms having content with people finding bargains....what is your best find thrifting or Yard saling? I'll start off...... Found this gem at a thrift store for a measly $2 (Canadian)

That's an awesome find, especially for that price! My best find was a set 2-PW of Wilson Staff Fluid Feel irons I picked up for $18 at a ReStore. I did a bit of cleaning up to them and can't believe how well they turned out.

I jumped on the Club Champion $100 full bag fitting promotion and had my appointment this week. It's sort of a big deal as the closest Club Champion from Key West is in America 150 miles away. To help with speeding up the introduction, I sent my fitter an email outlining my current bag contents, a summary of my game and the expectation that I wasn't in a position to purchase anything that day. I arrived early which gave me adequate time to warm up. I was conscience I could be hitting balls for over three hours, so I took my time and didn't hit too may shots. I told the fitter I wanted to gain about 10+ yards on my driver, look for irons that may be a little longer and a bit more consistent and to remeasure the putter I got from Club Champion about a year prior to ensure it was still what I needed. All things being equal, I was happy with my Callaway and Ping fairway woods and Edison wedges. We started with the driver. As my signature suggests, I have a Ping G400 SFT driver with a $50 senior Matrix MFS 5 shaft made for the Korea market that I purchased on eBay. This would be for my baseline. After several swings, I was surprised by two things: First, my swing speed was a little slower than I thought at roughly 72 mph. What surprised me and the fitter was that my Smash Factor was a consistent 1.48 while hitting the virtual fairway on every shot. My spin rate averaged 2350 rpm, launch angle about 18 degrees and 3 degree attack angle. My measured carry and total yardage were actually longer than the numbers that Trackman estimated. He seemed surprised and so was I! He wanted to see if we could improve on those numbers. Because Ping changed their shaft adapters between the G400 and G425 series drivers, his in-stock demo shafts wouldn't fit my driver. He picked out the updated G425 with four $400 driver shafts to see if we could get some extra yardage. Interestingly enough, each of the shafts had similar numbers and traveled as far or slightly less than my gamer. At that point, the fitter looked at me and said there's nothing I can do for you with the driver! Of all the possible comments I anticipated, I didn't expect that! On to the six iron. I currently use Ping G30's with graphite Fujikura EXS 60i R2-Flex shafts that I bought used six years ago. After about eight shots, we looked at the numbers. My swing speed was expectedly down to 63 mph, but I maintained a respectable smash factor of 1.41. My spin rate was just over 3900, launch angle of 22 degrees (dynamic loft of 26 degrees) and a minus attack angle. He shook his head again and said those were pretty good numbers again outperforming the Trackman projected distances. Plus, my shot dispersion was within less than 10 yards. In an attempt to squeeze out a few extra yards we tried the Cleveland XL Halo irons with upgraded Accura and Baddazz shafts. I was able to get an extra additional 5-6 yards but had a greater shot dispersion. For $1700 for Cleveland XL Halo 5-PW irons with the upgraded shafts, purring and grips, the yardage gained (and lost with a wider dispersion) didn't seem like a good investment. On to the putter. He measured the loft and lie of my Evnroll Outback putter and it was unchanged. To warm up and get a feel of their green I hit about a dozen putts, making about three. With sensor attached and on the SAM Puttlab, I made seven of seven and the resulting numbers that did not disappoint! Again, nothing to change here! The only observation was that I made more putts with the added weight of the sensor, so I will likely try and added temporarily some lead or tungsten weights to the putter to see if it really made a difference. I had time remaining, I hit my 3, 5 and 7 fairway woods and my 5 hybrid to see if their respected distances fell in line. Overall, the resulting distances where they needed to be. One more positive outcome! We finished up our session and the fitter printed up the upgrade Cleveland iron quote. As much as I would like a new set of irons, I don't see myself trading off the slight increase in distance at the expense of a greater shot dispersion. As I was waiting for my ride home, I thanked the fitter, gave him a tip and walked out without buying anything! Though I set the expectation that I wasn't going to purchase anything that day, I declared a morale victory! I realized that through dumb luck, I was able to assemble a set of gamers that worked best with my swing. It was probably the best I've ever felt leaving a golf establishment.

Things really clicked with my swing today. 12 Fairways and 16 greens (one was about 3 feet off and the other was due to a penalty off the tee). Putting was my achilles heel as I had 39 putts (3 3 putts) 39/37:76

PXG 0211 3H with PX Cypher 50g in 5.0 flex .. finding I'm liking lighter, and slightly more flexy, shafts (eg. vs a 60g 5.5). This one has a really nice solid whack when you catch it right, and seems to be pretty easy to hit. Been struggling to reliably hit a FW .. 5W or 7W .. reliably so for now this is my "long" (non-tee) club.

Do I also deserve something new and shiny in the form of golf equipment?

A man walked up to a farmer one day. Pointing to the hound next to him, he asked the farmer, “Do you mind if I talk to your dog?” ”You can try,” the farmer scoffed, “but I doubt he’ll answer back.” The man asked the dog, “Is he your owner?” ”Yep,” the dog said. ”How does he treat you?” The man asked. ”He’s wonderful. I get two meals a day and lots of treats. We go for long walks in the morning and evening, and he let’s me sit by the fire in the winter.” ”That’s amazing!” The farmer said. The man pointed at the stable and asked, “Mind if I talk to your horse?” ”Sure, go ahead. I don’t know what he’d say.” The man walked up to the horse and pointing to the farmer he asked, “Is that guy your owner?” ”Yep.” The horse replied. ”How does he treat you?” The man asked. “He’s a terrific person. I live in a warm stall. I get to graze to my heart’s delight, and we go riding out on the countryside often. It’s a wonderful life.” The farmer was shocked. “That’s incredible!” Then the man pointed toward the field. “Do you mind if I talk to your sheep?” The farmer replied, “That sheep’s a liar!”

Two holes, two different days. Just goes to show that sometimes I do actually know what I'm doing out there on the golf course! What amazes me about my game this year is my putting. I have played 5 different courses here now all with differentish greens and speeds, yet arccos has me gaining between 3-4 strokes a round on the greens. I may have had one 3 putt and had a wonderful cozy 2 putt from 94 feet. Now if I could get my tee game consistent I could truly feel comfortable in reaching my potential.

If you can go into Club Champion, have a fitting, spend only $100, and come out with a good set of clubs for you, thats a complete win. Well done!

Stop the presses. That may have been the shot of that day, but I had the shot of my career yesterday! I played Briar Ridge Country Club in Dyer, IN as a guest of a friend. That course is way above my skill level, but I always have fun playing there. 16th hole that day was 190 yards, OB 20 yards left of the green, and a bunker, 10 yards of rough, and then water on the right. I don't have a 190 yard club, but my 6-iron usually gets me 180, so close enough for me. I hit it well, contact was crisp and it felt good. At least I thought it was good. Started on the right side of the green, and kept drifting right. Oh, did I mention that a maintenance guy was in his Gator, waiting between that bunker and the water. "FORE!!!", I yelled, but he didn't even flinch. I walked over to find my ball and apologize, but when I got there, he thumbed back towards the bed of the Gator, filled with 8" PVC, empty grass seed bags, assorted tools, etc. AND MY BALL! In heavily accented English, he invited my to climb aboard and play the shot from his vehicle. I just told him to keep the ball, and he drove away. I dropped another, without penalty, of course, and finished the hole. Oh, and since I reported my score in the above post, I really should do so here as well. 101.

Today my shot of the day was a 51 foot putt for par. There were witnesses

Saturday nine. 47 had some great drives. Rest of the play was not so good. Glad I now have Shotscope to help guide my practice. had two chances to get on par 5s in two over cooked a 4i on 8 then on 9, somehow pushed my 7i (I haven’t had a push with that club since I got the set). lots of potential in my game once I piece it together

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week’ The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door. Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.’ The cop smiled and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door. Then a politician came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.’ The politician was very happy and left the shop. The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen politicians lined up waiting for a free haircut.

Yup, we all do!!!!

More proof for those who read and think shafts are the magic pill. They just aren’t. Unless a person reacts bad to the feeling of he shaft or how it changes the balance of ten club, shafts aren’t going to add yardage And that upgraded or true aftermarket shafts aren’t automatically better then stock/no upcharge shafts.

This drive. Plus on a short par three, hit a soft PW to 12 ft.

Not a scoring shot but definitely a shot that had me super stoked. I’ve been working on my pre-shot routine a lot over the last few weeks and it’s starting to show. Longest career drive prior to this was 268 with a light tailwind. Today it was dead calm and that ball just launched. Average drive today was 258 which is 18 yards longer than normal.

Oh why not... The best 2 piece golf ball, Titleist Velocity. Are there others are are also about as good? Yes. But if you are going to play a 2 piece ball, that is the one I would recommend. And I'll tell you why! but first, I want to address a few myths on the Ionomer(2 piece) vs Urethane(3 piece +) that I have had the time to test. Myth #1: Urethane balls spin more with driver. Reality #1: False. There are some very high spinning urethane balls(kirkland) but also some very low spinning ones(pro v1). Ionomer balls tend to fall right in the fat part of the ball spin bell curve, and for good reason. The OEMs are trying to get a ball that fits the most people. If you slice a Urethane ball off into the woods... you would have sliced an ionomer ball into the woods. Myth #2: Ionomer balls don't stop on the green Reality #2: Mostly false. With full a swing using an 8i or longer club , there isn't much difference. Testing a Velocity vs a Pro V1 the Velocity launches slightly higher, with less spin, but it lands coming down steeper. The end results are more or less the same. With shots less then that... the lower spin on a ionomer ball becomes more noticeable. Mostly because the slightly higher launch doesn't make up for the difference when the shot doesn't go that high to start with. This is where people are very correct is saying that the roll out on short shots around the greens can play out differently. If you are lofting a 56° wedge in from 15y, they will behave pretty differently. You need to plan accordingly. I joked with @fixyurdivotduring our annual meetup. He was cleaning his wedges after using the range. I know he often puts an ionomer ball into play and I was remarking that there was no reason for him to clean his wedge to get that extra 1k backspin, if he just used a urethane ball he would get an extra 3k.... Joking, but not joking The other really big not discussed difference is performance in the wet. Ionomer covers do not like being wet, at all. A Pro V1 handles being wet shockingly well, without too much change in launch and spin from driver through wedge. But ionomer balls will launch SIGNIFICANTLY higher and with about half the spin. You basically hit a flyer on every shot. The Pro V does better then most other Urethane balls, but every Ionomer I have tested does the same. They become moon rockets. Again, some thing you need to be aware of and play accordingly. As others have mentioned, the $$$ difference is generally pretty minimal. Some of the Vice urethane balls are like $15/dz, Maxfli's are often 26/dz. And others are in that range. All that said, the Velocity is my pick because with driver and with an iron, it performs as good as any good 3 piece (or more) urethane ball out there. It is higher on compression for the 2 piece ionomer ball market, but still on the softer side of the "Tour" balls. You aren't losing distance do to it being soft. The other reason I'd game the Velocity, its a Titleist. No other OEM makes balls as consistently as they do. The same level of QC that goes into the Pro V1 goes into their Ionomer offerings.

It's not like it's fall weather either. It's 88 degrees and humid here today.

PM me your address. I have a few I haven’t used I will send ya to try out/use.

It's wild isn't it. I dont get how people do it. Even when I was a beginner I hated standing around.

ShotScope G3 using the MGS50 deal ... Not for me (have a V3) but a gift for a friend's kid who's other watch I'd given him previously died.

Yes you do!

SWMBO may not agree

I'm jealous of all the good finds I see at Goodwill in Florida. You guys definitely have a better selection than we do.

Putter fitting. Need something that gives me confidence all the time. Worked for 4w (although I just had two rough tee shots with it yesterday) and irons for most part. I was on a hot streak with my current stick but seemed to lose touch or concentration or both.

Outside of FedEx cup playoffs for fantasy now my watching golf is pretty much done. Even FedEx cup I'm unlikely to watch. I love watching golf for heritage and legacy over money... Sadly it just seems to be for money most all the time now.

It's good to see your hard work is paying off. I had to do a double take when I looked at the name of the course, it's early and I'm just now drinking my coffee, but I thought for a second it said "Southern Hills". Great job with the driver, it's amazing how much confidence it gives you when you're hammering it off the tee. That's awesome! Nothing like seeing a long putt disappearing into the bottom of the cup and having witnesses. It reminds me of a shot I made several years ago on the 11th at Falcon Pointe. I was about 70 yards out to the elevated green, hit a good wedge and hearing the guys on the tee box on 12 hooping and hollering that it went in. They asked if that was for bird and I hollered back "bogey", but was still proud of it.

Thanks for the followup!! I also added a SS v3 to my game and have loved it! I barely notice it when playing in VA during 90+ heat, haha.

A lot of truth in this post.

Yes, absolutely. I've read about the method used to establish course rating and slope but many surprise me.

I would have lost money on ever thinking Hedeki would consider this league. In fact a few of those that have joined surprise me.

My son finished up golf camp yesterday. He didn’t feel great after breakfast and had to pick him up early but he had a great week and actually received “the sportsmanship award”. When they gave it to him when I picked him up I thought it was just a standard thing for all the kids but it wasn’t. very proud of him because that’s the name of the game in my eyes. No matter how things go sportsmanship trumps all They went through some great things and came away from the week with some great knowledge and things to work on