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Shall we have a partner appreciation thread? My good lady - Hannah, 9 years my junior, manages to run an international aviation based company and keep the house afloat whilst being a fantastic mother to our girls and doing a lot of work in the local church. As the saying goes, I'm definitely punching above my weight!

Finally got my new Mizunos Pro 225 irons.. can't wait to test them out on the course.. And some Paige for company

saw this comment in my feed legit thought it was spam... lol

Who could refuse a large beverage holder! I have my eye on a country club near me. The good news is I don't see any massive hills and elevation changes that I am used to dealing with. R2-D2 will surely see more course time and I won't be gasping for air. I just checked and Google Maps puts me 2 hr and 8 min away from you.

Just got my G425 Max head back from PING and I put the tipped Evenflow 40 gram on with the stock 26 gram weight and it’s at D1- how serendipitous! Can’t wait to hit it- could be the high MOI head with the 26 gram weight with an Otto Phlex effect- maybe the best of both worlds. I’ll update when I can.

All electric cars have rapid acceleration - the bigger question is how can you really go, especially in North America since we don't have an Autobahn. We're going to have to buy a new car in 2023 but I think we'll opt for a hybrid vs. electric primarily based on initial cost and charge availability.

And I will give my best Navy salute to you--- You did a great job on moderating it---

I for one got tired of it after a couple of weeks

I have cash in my wallet for anyone that can put a driver in my hands that beats my driver by 20 yards. I opened my wallet last month and moths flew out.

It's not for everyone, but it works for me. I've been using heads up putting for 8 years. Maybe it works because I was a lousy putter before I tried it, and any change would have been good... IDK. The upside is that I have good speed control, if I play the same course all the time... which I do mostly. When I travel to another course, I need considerable time to adjust my "calibration". Having good speed control, I get more putts to the hole and rarely 3-putt. I am not a "die-in-the-hole" putter; except for long-ish putts, I leave the ball behind the hole. Most misses are do to green reading and not poor strikes. I do have to align the ball to my target line and I have an alignment line on my putter. I use two alignments; I mark my ball with a "T" where the stem is the normal ball alignment line and add another line perpendicular to the alignment line. The line on my putter is aligned with the ball alignment line, and the putter face is square with the top of the T. Now I know that when I strike the ball, it's going on my intended line. Contrary to what many think about mishits, they don't happen very often if you have a very repeatable stroke. I work on that all the time. They do happen, but it's typically such a short stroke that it's not a concern for me. I had many more mishits when I looked at the ball because I had a tendency to move my head early. It takes quite awhile to "get used to" not looking at the ball, which is why people trying heads up quit early because they don't commit to it. It's one thing to try it in your basement or on the putting green with short putts; I could still see my ball out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't feel comfortable on putts over 8 feet for maybe a month or so. I will say that if you commit to heads up putting and do it as long as I have, you will find it just as difficult to go back to looking at the ball. I tried it once; spent a month only looking at the ball. Felt weird, and the summary of my results... I left many putts short that I always got to the hole. If you are going to give this a try, best of luck!!

... OK, a few thoughts since you asked. In the minus column, a Free Throw has the ball in direct contact with your hands. A putt happens at the end of a 33-35" stick that your hands touch. Huge difference. Making solid contact is essential to great putting and I have to think there will be miss hits looking at the hole. In the positive column I am a firm believer in confidence and whatever works. If you have been unhappy with your putting "normally" and heads up gives you confidence, it is certainly worth trying. ... I would also add those that make a living with a putter in their hands, rarely resort to heads up and even then it is because they have been struggling. If it were a viable way of putting, more would be doing it. Your goal is to help the ball go where you want it to go with the speed you want it to travel. The best way to do that is looking at it. But again, I am all for trying things to see if they work for you. The only downside I see is practicing all winter in the basement and then finding out slope, green speed, wind and the fact that every putt counts on the course, ends up producing worse results. Up side is it works!

Just saw on the MGS Instagram feed that driver testing starts in a little over 14 days. Excited to see and try all the new drivers and get back to swinging clubs on a regular basis.

It probably has to do with conspiring to show the play a line or how a putt breaks. Example, two buddies are playing and their putts are on basically the same line. The player closer to the hole is out of contention so they both agree to let the player closer to the hole play first which gives the player farther away an advantage. I am guessing that that the "agreement in place" is something that has to be interpreted by the rules committee to understand what was said and how the play proceeeded.

It already locked up most hidden or deleted posts along with most annoying to moderate.

There have been some estimates: Ludicrous mode is 1600 amps at 400 volts or 400x1600=640,000 watts for say 11 seconds. A p100d+ battery is 100kw so at a rate of 640kw the pack would be at 0 percent in roughly 9.37 minutes.

A Tesla S Plaid purchase comes with a free Platinum Twitter account . All the GT500's, Hellcats, and ZR1's won't even hear it coming as it whizzes past. When they can get what sounds like a German guy totally stoked about acceleration... well, that's saying something. One of my former co-workers just purchased a like new 2021 and says "the acceleration is just bonkers".

We’ll see. I’ve “loved” a bunch of putters after fittings or when rolling them in stores. The problem is when it’s crunch time I love having that Yes! Tracy in my hands. I’m like you… I love a blade putter, and a face balanced one like the Tracy is a unicorn type putter for a lefty. @MattF you rolled one for a long time also, right?

I'm speculating here.. but I'm guessing that a brand like TXG probably doesn't benefit much from pushing $50 shafts

My Yes! Tracy putter has a challenger on the way. I did something today I never would have done without trading two clubs in on a 90 day playability. I traded back my Launcher XL 21* and Rogue ST 23* hybrids (the Launcher is a great club, my TSi2 just gaps better, the Rogue 5H is meh.. my 5i is just as good) and got back $449 in credit. I blew just about the entire wad on a Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 putter with a custom Matador mid size grip (I’m not a fan of the Pistelero). The sucker came to $429, which makes it the most expensive putter I’ve ever bought. This was a move I’ve been wanting to make for a while… every time I roll the 5.5 I love it more. I think I finally found a mallet I like.

That is One of the things that you have to take into consideration when doing heads up putting. How you turn your head influences setup and typically opens the shoulders which can cause the player to start a little out to in with the path and a little coaling of the face. Kind of forces you to be right side dominant with the stroke.

Definitely match my swing right now!

I have now tried both my PLB shafts. A and L flex. Both at 47 inches and at SW D3.1. I have tried lighter (C8.4) but I could not feel the head. I have some more weights now, so will try to tune it closer to D0-1. Several sessions with the A flex and this outperforms my regular stiff shaft in CHS. Some of it must be longer shaft length, about an inch, but not all of it. I have some previous posts with numbers. Got to test the L flex last session on trackman, and it felt very whippy. I lost almost all the balls to the right and had no "control". The feel of the shaft was way more extreme than the A flex. It might be a testament to going down 2 flexes thing. But then again flex is not a good measure. I think we just have to try and find what fits best. I think I have to go down in length to find the better part of the clubface more often, but then again I had an experiment last year with a 48 inch stiff shaft in a ping head that worked well at the time. D1.6 but overall head and shaft weight is 38 grams more. Tried that again too, but could not get the speed up. Lighter shaft (and head) is definitely better for speed. I don't think we should get lost in getting the swing weight correct without thinking about overall weight too. It is more mass in your hands (even more if counterweighted) that needs to be moved. My experiments will continue. Hope to hear from more of you!

Yeah, you'll still be allowed to use these putters, you just cannot set them in place and walk away. This is consistent with the prohibition on setting anything down to assist in lining up your shot. I can still see players walking away from the putter on the practice green, training themselves to align it properly, and then using the same putter "correctly" during play. You can still use green-reading material on the green, as long as it fits the size and scale and other requirements listed in Clarification 4.3a/1. You could conceivably use larger or larger-scale green maps from elsewhere on the course, but who would really do that? I certainly wouldn't bring two different sets of greens maps with me, for fear I'd bring out the "fairway map" when I'm on the green, and have to penalize myself. Assuming you put a ball into play, not on the Putting Green, under Rule 14, whether you place it or drop it, and it comes to rest. Later, it moves, due to natural forces. You play it as it lies, UNLESS it moves to a different "Area of the Course" or OB. I'm sure you know this, there are only 5 Areas: The Teeing Area (for the hole you're on), the Putting Green (for the hole you're on), Bunkers, Penalty Areas, and the General Area (everything else). So if your (placed or dropped) ball is moved by Natural Forces from the rough (General Area) to a Penalty Area, you replace it. If it rolls from the rough into a bush, you play it from the bush. And if a ball won't remain in place, you find the nearest location where the ball WILL remain at rest in the same Area of the Course, Rule 14.2e. For this refer to Clarification 10.2b(3)/1. You are still allowed to set your club behind the ball, even align it from behind the ball and then walk around to take your stance. 8.1b is (I believe) completely unchanged, it allows you to "Ground the club lightly right in front of or right behind the ball." Edit to add, I enjoy trying to explain the Rules when questions arise. Not only that, but this is great practice for me, in two days time I'll be taking the USGA 100-question Rules Exam, trying to better my scores from this past Spring.

Still a mess since I haven’t played or hit balls in a while. But, most wanted testing is about the people and my bad swing could represent the masses

Yes you are mate. Me, I married a cougar. Thinking about trading her in on two 29 year olds...that's 58 isn't it?

Managed to find a pair of older Mizuno headcovers to go with my cart bag. Should be a great match with carbon effect:

In the spirit of the "Lower Scores" portion of this thread: I'm seriously considering using my offseason to get comfortable with it on my basement putting green, and going all in on making the switch to heads up putting. I should maybe be a little more scientific about it, but my make rate when practicing in the basement climbs substantially when I go to it. And, the logic of it really resonates with me. I mean, think about it...imagine watching a basketball game and every shooter at the free throw line was looking at the ball rather than the rim. Crazy right? Seems to me that making putting more reactionary and athletic is a good thing. Any thoughts? Fools errand or good idea?

I like to spend more time on the course working on my game than at the range, however I seem to be at the range a bit more in the past 2-3 years, anyway today I was practicing R&B, rhythm and balance.... always something to work on eh?

This happens to be one of my Dad's favorite stories to tell at Christmas. "Have I ever told you about the year Tim got a living room carpet for Christmas?" This was after I got a "little steep" with my PW at my parents house...

Or thread most wish would disappear

Distance sells new golf equipment

no I'm not cutting them in half. but I did test them with a wedge, iron and driver and had a 0 HC and a Plus HC test them

... Most know I absolutely LOVE the Maxfli Tour. Just bought a new Box of 4 dozen with the $20 off $100 deal and $40 in rewards. The only thing I don't like is the CG alignment lines as it makes them look like range balls. My two home courses have ranges right next to #1 and #18 so looking at 10 balls in the fairway it can be difficult to find mine. Pretty minor annoyance but I don't like alignment lines to begin with. The *NEW* Tour balls have a much better CG marking with no lines:

The other two are nice and oh crap. Some of these sound like the names of the shots that I visualize my opponents hitting.

Yep! It does take practice to keep the putter on line through the stroke. I don't have an issue with turning my head and shoulders together. My tendency is to rotate my hips. I work on that... and yes, I am very right side dominant with the stroke. Before every round I set up with 4-6 footers and putt with right hand only; I put my left hand on my left hip to feel if I'm keeping my lower body still.

Well well well.. This was just posted by TXG. And this was just posted by someone in the comments..

What me and quite a few have found interesting is that 45-46" seems to be the sweet spot where all of the stars align.. at least with the PLB. For a while there's been the theory of the shorter shaft = better contact = more accuracy.. but not really any distance gains. The PLB setup at 45" for me has resulted in a good noticeable mix of confidence to hit, accuracy, AND easy distance.. it also happened to be that 45" helped get the SW right where I want it. I think that the Ping players seem to have the most tinkering on their hands due to the higher starting head weight and the need to bring that static weight portion of the club down some. Playing a 45" - 46" shaft might be the more natural way to get the SW in that range. And you're right about maintaining focus on overall weight, but I think that still needs to be balanced with the SW in mind. In theory, we could add 10 lb weights to both ends and maintain a D1 but that just wouldn't be practical and would probably snap the shaft in half a long with flexing the face all sorts of directions. I think the trick here is to find the SW in the most natural way possible without adding too much weight to either end. Somewhere in this haystack, I posted the head weight of my 0311 for a reference point for anybody looking for D0-1 while playing 45". I know that handle weight also plays a part so I also posted the shaft weight along with grip wrapping and weight. From there, you can kind of figure the math for longer options. Don't let up on dialing it in. For most of us it just clicks when everything falls into place. Keep us posted!

The only thing I added to the bag this year was a change in drivers. I went from a Ping G400 at 12 degrees in SR flex to a Titleist TSi1 at 10 degrees in stiff flex. Now keep in mind I was fitted for both, but the TSi 1 is the clear winner. I gained swing speed from the ultra-light weight shaft and head, some carry yardage and additional yardage from roll out and tightened up dispersion some from the flex change.

I have a couple, one is a "dammit", then there's the "not again!", and the tried and true "what the hell?!"... I have other "names" for shots but those are best left imagined rather than expressed.

Basically, I have three. Up, up and away. That is for a drive that I want to go high to cut a corner and go over trees (Tee up higher and swing up). The other two are nice and oh crap.

We just got snow in NJ- never lasts though… I will be getting on my friend’s simulator to get some baseline numbers for my irons because I was lucky enough to be picked to review the Nippon 850’s, so I should have some numbers on the tipped Evenflow 40 gram and the Ping Distanza 40 gram shaft.

No nominations for the LIV thread...I'm shocked...

That's because it's only Tiger and not HIM...

Haha! I just re-gripped a set of Ping Eye 2 BeCus this week and am planning on using them this winter. So "technically" I am replacing my current irons but at no cost since we have had that set sitting in a closet for the last 30 years!

So what are you getting SWMBO for Christmas? Poor Frank. Frank died a few days later under mysterious circumstances

There are pros keeping irons for years and they seem to do just fine.

I play 150+ rounds per yr, plus I'm very active at the range. For players who practice frequently, the range is responsible for the majority of wear and tear on clubs. So it's not about how many rounds. I'm playing 2-yr old Bridgestone Tour B HF2 forged irons with with 4-yr old Cleveland RTX-4 54° and 60°. Both wedges have been re-sharpened with a handheld sharpening tool multiple times. And yeah, these tools really work to extend the life of a wedge. I haven't touched my irons - grooves still look great. Plenty of spin. 2 new Cleveland RTX Zipcore 54° and 60° wedges are in my basement ready for next year. Recently, I hit both old gamers and new at the range side-by-side. NEW wedges generate far more spin than SHARPENED wedges. New rips the paint off a ball and leaves white deposits in the grooves. But sharpened wedges are far better than dull wedges. USGA should allow hand sharpened wedges as they cannot exceed as "factory new" sharpness condition or performance.

I was roasting for the past 3 years and then we made a move to a townhouse near the golf course and sold the roaster when we sold the house in June 22. Looking for the next roasting location and a bigger roaster?

The 2019 Rule "rebuild" did a great job of making the rules more consistent and less complicated. The 2023 rules have relatively few changes, but they plug some of the weak points in the previous edition. There has always been consistent logic within the rules, but the language and the structure made it a lot more difficult to discern.

Maybe 2%. I play with a couple of guys that bet between themselves and we occasionally get into rules discussions and in my golf league we occasionally do to make sure everyone is playing in accordance with the leagues local rules.