B_R_A_D_Y

Absolutely … It was all my fault. This was intended as a lesson in forgetfulness. I saw a plugged ball and forgot I was in a hazard. I was so happy to be out of the rain, I forgot about recording my penalty. I’m only 65. I’m worried about how bad will my memory might be in 5 years. The local rule I want changed is relief from tree roots. Local emergency room Doc says he sees too many golfers every year with wrist injuries caused by hitting roots. This could be a career ending injury for me.

On the tee box for the club championship yesterday … I was playing for senior, net score … the pro filled us in on local rules that were in effect. Lots of rain creating very wet conditions allowed for lift & clean in the fairway. Plugged balls were even being allowed to be lifted & dropped in both rough and bunkers. So then as fate would have it, on that first hole, my drive plugged in the opposite bank of a creek, marked by yellow stakes. Fresh off that rules talk, I automatically popped my ball out of it’s hole, and played it from within the hazard, without a second thought, and sank a 30 footer for bogey. I marked a 5, without a penalty … with the group’s mistaken approval, and we played on. I did however, text the pro back in the club house, to get his opinion. But it was too distracting to continue texting the narrative while playing, so I told him I would explain it in person. And we played on. A few holes later, a player in our group realized and pointed out that what I had actually done, was to improve my lie within a hazard. I agreed, but was uncertain whether the penalty was 1 or 2 strokes. Since I had already told the pro that I was looking for him, I left the card uncorrected. After a 30 min wait on the 15th tee, pouring rain finally drove us into the clubhouse, where I found the pro and brought up the issue. The pro thought it was a 2 stroke penalty, but said he would double check. In the mean time however, he informed us that we needed to go back out into the pouring rain and finish our round. While we had been stuck behind slow play all day, the group ahead of us had finished their round in the rain, and with another hour of rain predicted, we needed to finish, too. So with the final decision still pending in my mind, I once again did not correct the card. We finished in miserable conditions … by this time there was standing water on greens, tees, bunkers and fairways … I finished par, bogey, birdie, double, for a net one over. Not a bad place to be with another day to go. The pro was waiting for us, and offered to tally the card while I got my wet gear out of the cart. The entire issue of my penalty was not on my mind, and the pro did not know that I had not corrected the card yet. Excited to know the tally and where I stood in the rankings, my penalty issues were the furthest thing from my mind … so I left contented that I was in contention. It did not occur to me until much later that night that I never did correct the card … I turned in an incorrect low score on the first hole. So I reluctantly texted the pro at home, and informed him that my actions, or lack thereof, had caused my disqualification. I actually had originally considered dropping back across the creek, before I convinced myself to play out of the hazard. I wish I had gone with that first impulse. I’m writing this as the final round of the tournament concludes, so the pain is still fresh. But I am prepared to hear everyone’s opinions. Fire when ready.

I currently play Cobra RadSpeed OL and while I love them, I really miss playing a blade. Several times a round, while I set the club behind the ball, I think wow, the head looks chunky … it has a thick top line. I don’t want my first thought when setting up to be about the club head. I love the look and feel and sound of a forged blade. An added benefit of the new Forged Tec irons is that they are more forgiving than a stock blade. I didn’t just change to RadSpeed OL for the length, I also went with it because of the forgiving design. But if I could get back to blades with some added forgiveness, I’d be thrilled. I’ve only been playing the RadSpeed OL irons for 6 months (I bought them used) and my handicap has already gone from 22 to 16. I’m hoping these blades could get me back to <10. Brady Peery, Marietta, Ohio Cobra RadSpeed OL 16 I post here and have been a reviewer, so I have no problem writing about or answering questions for these clubs.

Been screwing around with golf ball carving. Got a long way to go. Looking for comments. The insides are original. I believe the white center is a BOMB ball (might be wrong), the pink center is inside a Callaway Warbird with a yellow "V" ... don't know exactly cuz I traded it for more balls to cut up. And last one is an AVX I made for our Pro "Rocket" to put on his desk ... he provided the personalized ball.

Buttons and any shaft steps can affect ur reading. But u can usually move it around and get pretty close.

It's called iMetalBox and it has 12 tools, of which protractor in one. U get some functions free, but for the protractor I had to pay $.99 to get it to provide readout in degrees ... instead of the free version which reads Radians.

I need to measure the lie angle of my putter but there isn't a shop in the valley with a loft & lie machine. What do y'all think about this method?

Seen too many guys with skin cancer on tops of their ears cuz baseball cap doesn’t cover them. I used to wear Hogan / Kangol style hats, but ear skin cancer changed my mind & love my Ping bucket. I like the look of the Titleist bucket too.

Seems I always begin my posts with, “back in my day” … there were a few articles written about methods for not thinking about hitting the ball, which entailed covering the ball with a styrofoam cup. The theory went that if you didn’t see the ball, you could then focus ur attention on the intended target. Then upon impact, the ball would shoot out the other side of the cup directly on target. I must admit I never attempted this trick, tho I can remember seeing photos of it. A Google search failed to yield any info. I can remember thinking at the time that it would not work for me, because unlike a dog, I know the ball is still under the cup, and would then be thinking about hitting the ball “out of the cup” defeating its purpose altogether.

https://golf.com/instruction/rules/

Ahhh. I think there are a few that are unnecessary. Rules Guy wrote abt not being able to move an OB stake that interferes with ur swing. But I shan’t start a rules debate, cuz like politics, religion, and veganism, you aren’t going to change someone’s mind once it’s made up.

Thanks guys.

I agree. It amazes me how many people want to be in a competition and yet think playing by the the rules ruins the fun. … … … Not that some rules aren’t nuts.

I play 3 skins games a week, and the Saturday morning group is a long standing group that is invitation only, It is a $10 mandatory buy in, plus an additional $1 for a carryover hole that can only be won with a 3/2 … it’s the hardest hole on the course so everyone has a stroke and that pot can easily build to $100 before it’s won. The group averages 60/40 low to high handicappers in a group of up to 24 golfers … with 18 as the max handicap allowed. In years past evidently, there wasn’t a handicap limit, and a guy with 26 strokes was winning too many skins, so they lowered it. Over the years the approx recurring breakdown on winning skins is that some low handicapper will be hot and win 3-4 skins that day, while 4-6 high handicappers will win 1-2 each … so the bulk of the winnings seem to go to high handicappers. There are several mid-to-low handicappers who haven’t won a skin in years, while several of us higher players seem to win several times a season. So things came to a head at the start of this season, when it was announced that any straight birdie, would now cancel a stroke birdie. Since this is kind of a private group with a small core who control it … they made the decision and if u disagree then piss off. This is only my 2nd year at the club, so my opinion doesn’t matter, but I pointed out that the high handicappers were not being penalized. It was the skin winners of the day who would be splitting their winnings with someone who would otherwise have pushed the hole. There have been few grumblings, but like I said, everyone knows that if u don’t like it, leave. Using myself as an example, I’m 64, have an 18 handicap, and a very bad back … but I am capable of shooting par on 4-6 holes, (not every week) … then I get into a lot of trouble and will have several 6s & 7s, which keeps my handicap up. I hate to say it, but I shot 98 Thursday and won 2, 4/3 holes … my back was so tight. I completely understand the stink eye I feel if I win a skin several weeks in a row. And when you consider that there are 5 or 6 other high handicappers capable of playing just like me, it really looks like the handicap system is not fair and stacked against low handicap golfers. We all turn in scores every round. No one has been accused of sandbagging. But I see it. I understand their feelings. But that’s the system we have. It’s worth $10 to me just to be a part of the group every week. But it’s a shame to see someone claim that they deserve a skin and you don’t count. What do y’all think?

Our men’s association has 32 2-man teams, split into 2 divisions. The problem is, in our league, you have a wide range of expectations … half the guys are there for fun & socialization, and others are there to compete. Therefore on the first tee, you gotta ask the other team what rules they want to follow. Some want to bump everywhere, some don’t want stroke & distance on lost balls, some give puts inside the leather and others give 3-4 ft puts. The rationalization, which I disagree with, is that it should not matter what the rules are, as long as both teams are playing the same rules. It’s head to head handicapped stroke play with each hole worth 1pt & a 1pt bonus for taking most points. So which is more important? Competition or socialization?

I was a monthly donor last season and wondered why the donor badge never popped up.

We had a Dr who used to spend way too much time looking for balls at every creek & pond on the course. His buddies got him back during their yearly golf trip to Myrtle Beach. They saved cut surlyn golf balls all year, then the front group at Myrtle seeded every waterway with cut balls. Thrilled to find a ball then pissed to discover it was cut, they said he cussed his head off the entire trip. No one ever told him.

Old golf joke: This course was so tough I lost 3 balls in the ball washers. Only a person who loses lots of balls appreciates that old joke. When I get home from a round my wife doesn’t ask me how I did. Instead she asks, “how many balls did you lose.” That’s no joke, she does. I played a tournament when I was a young man with a wicked banana slice, and I lost 6 balls in the third flight of the final round. At the end of that round the guy I was playing against said to me, “The way you dress, I thought you were a much better golfer.” I hardly hit the banana ball anymore, but what aggravates me more is losing a ball in the rough. I can accept hitting it deep in the woods or in the water, but knowing it’s right there, somewhere in the tall grass, really gets to me. And in the fall, when the sun is low, leaves are on the ground, and the grounds crew has slowed their mowing schedule, I tend to lose more balls per round … but I also find more, too, Last year I tied my old 6 lost balls in a round record, but I found 7 balls as well. Of course, I never find balls as desirable to me as the ones I lose. So that’s my record: 6 lost / 7 found, in the same round. Although I also had a day last year with 5 lost / 4 found. She was still pissed.

I’ll be 65 this year. My goal is to live to 85 so I can shoot my age. Then if I don’t, I’ll re-evaluate how much longer I need to hang on.

After a 14yr layoff, I made a big mistake cuz I needed clubs and had to have them right away, so I bought as if I would have 20yrs ago. I bought straight Titleist TSi3 products … cuz i loved my old Titleist Titanium woods and T100 lites. I bought TSi3 built to old specs, not fitted: Driver, 3 & 5 woods, plus 3H & 4H and guessed at shaft based on comparisons I read. Now though, I wish I would have had them fitted … maybe even mixed TSi products. I did get a new shaft fitted for my driver. But, if push comes to shove, I like my Callaway ApexPro 19 hybrids, more than the TSi3s … just feel like I get them up easier … no distance differences. So my loyalty has waned. King Cobra One Length irons, Taylormade Spider putter, Callaway PM grind wedges. And I still look at friends hitting Callaway or Ping drivers wondering whether I might like them as well. I think maybe wanting the next best thing is a disease ... or club envy maybe.

Yes. I left that part out of my reply.

Thanks y’all. Injured my hip at the end of Oct. Fell trying to keep up with young guns in Pickleball, and spent 3 months in PT … then in Feb had first cold in 2yrs that went into 3 week, massive sinus infection, THEN had a reaction to Cap’n Crunch Berries that made my hands and feet swell & break out in itching blisters for a week … . So just now starting to miss this place. Gotta say tho, I just split a gifted, large bakery M&M cookie with my wife. I ate my half in 2 bites … heard my wife yelling from across the house … don’t eat that cookie! She walked in and showed me the entire bottom was green with thick mold. So I might be dead in 24hrs. In any case, wish I had replied to ur bday wishes in a more timely manner … I greatly appreciate it. I promise to let y’all kno if I end up in ICU with a food born illness. JK. The end will probably be instantaneous.

I’m thinking abt regripping mine as well. I cancelled my Arccos subscription because of too many dropped shots last year, plus I want a large or mid size grip. I never hear anyone talking abt SW anymore. They don’t even bring it up during a fitting. Although I’ve only had a driver fitting. Back in the old days I kept my clubs at D2-D4 … can’t remember. I tried blowing the grips off so I could add 3-4 wraps of tape, but couldn’t get it to work. 3-4 wraps should have altered SW. So am I out of touch with reality?

I purchased a used set of 4H, 5-G irons at the end of last summer. I still haven’t learned my distances yet, but I love them. I went with one length because I was looking for back relief on short irons. I’ve grown attached to my 4H, but I still laugh at the length of it … looks like a Jr club. I hit it just as far as my standard length 4H. I like it so much I’m ordering a 3 and am toying with the idea of a 5.

Good friend won a 60* wedge in the men’s association, he’s a 12 handicap with back issues who should be 7-8, and he hates the club. But he never practices with it. Only pulls it out close to the green when he’s between an A and a bump-n-run 8 iron. He pops it up. I still believe it’s a club you have to learn … listen to me, ha! I still catch that front edge 20% of the time . I’m no expert, but I love mine.