Golf2Much

I have to agree with you on that one! What you can't see is a Meatloaf guitar pick and ticket stubs for the six plus times we saw him. Included is his March, 1978 concert at Susquehanna University that my wife went. At that concert Meatloaf ripped his pants wide open doing splits on stage during Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. He wasn't wearing underwear at the time.

I received my two dozen of Bridgestone Tour B RX Mindset balls today. So, starting next Thursday (my next round) and the month of May, I'll be dedicated to utilizing the Mindset principles (prompted by the graphic) to see what impact (if any) they have on my overall performance. Above, you'll see I played four rounds with a Tour B RX to see how it stacked up against my current go-to ball Maxfli Tour S. The numbers suggest that both balls performed equally as well with the same distance, accuracy and score-wise. That should remove any significant performance number impact by switching balls leaving me to focus on the impact of following the Mindset philosophy. Packaging seemed consistent with every other dozen golf balls packages I've gotten in the past with the exception of the enclosed Mindset card. The 4"x6" card outlined the Mindset general process steps and gave a QR code for applying the principles. Given the previous feedback that participants found some defects, I decided to inspect all 24 golf balls under a pretty intense (and unforgiving) LED light. There was some static attracted debris which was likely cardboard that easily brushed or blown away. Of the 24 balls, I did find two that had a very small nick between three adjacent dimples. I likely would not have seen the very small surface imperfections without the intense light and looking very close to the balls' surface. The nicks were so small, that I couldn't catch the edges with my thumb or fingernail. Given they were difficult to see and feel, I can't imagine they would have a noticeable impact on any of the performance metrics. I found all the Bridgestone printing and Mindset graphics clean, crisp and without defect. Now it's time for a Mindset refresher, find ways to incorporate it into my existing pre-shot routine and head out on the golf course to see what happens.

Date 04/25/2024 Course Name Key West Golf Club Gross Score 81 Course Handicap 10 Gross Strokes over/under par 11 Net Score to Par 1 Net Score 71 Net Birdies or better Longest Drive I continue to play the golf tees: rating: 67.7, slope: 124. This is an 81 week! Not only did I shoot the same score twice, I also shot the same on the front (43) and back (38) on both days. Lately, I've been on a good run of chipping and putting which has helped my scoring immensely (given my 175-yard drives are not going to overpower the golf course). I hit 79% of the fairways (about typical for me) but 22% greens in regulation (about double for me). The five up and downs for par were good, but the three up and down for bogey also were critical for keeping my score reasonable. A long bunker shot sandy par also helped as well. 28 putts (with no three putts) rounded out a good round. When I look at my last several rounds, I seem to be either more consistent and/or a streaky player in that I've been on runs of pars. In my last four rounds, I've had runs off 2 three straight pars in a row (on the same nine), 1 four straight pars and 2 five straight par runs. It's interesting that all the big streaks have been on our back nine. Due to various volunteer commitments, my golfing will be limited over the next two weeks. I'm torn because I typically play three times a week and good to take some time off (as I did last week for a family trip) versus wanting to play to see if I can keep my decent scoring up. Hopefully, I'm finding a groove!

Count me in for those who use GPS and laser rangefinder. In my case, I've used the Shot Scope LX+ which has the LX rangefinder and the H4 GPS/shot tracking system for two years. I use the H4 for getting general distance to the greens, helping calculate layup distances and (with the included RF tags) collecting data on my golf game. The big advantage is there's no additional fee (annual or otherwise) to access the data and analysis. I tend to use the rangefinder for a specific distance to the pin when I'm close and for accurate distances to hazards. The original LX+ (LX rangefinder, H4 GPS unit and club tags) is roughly $300 while the updated version that has a cart magnet and updated stabilization is roughly $370. The LX rangefinder has stabilization, target lock vibration, adaptive slope technology and 900 yard/7X optics. The H4 is a full functioning GPS unit and shot tracker for less than the annual fee for some shot tracking systems. Individually, the LX runs about $300 and the H4 at $150 (but I've seen it as low as $129). So, the bundle is a good deal.

Living at the southernmost end of US 1 in Key West, I'm in what many would view as a monopoly situation. On one hand, we are lucky to have a good golf course. It's the only 18-hole course within 150 miles. The downside is that we only have one golf course within 150 miles and they can basically set the price they choose. Throw in we're a resort location and it's the southernmost golf course gives the owners even more leverage. Just before COVID, we saw the start of the continuous rise in fees accompanied with elimination of some member benefits. Visitor fees (golf and mandatory cart) in season is now approaching $200. Annual membership fees are increasing $100-$200 per year. Bag storage fees have doubled in the last four or five years. Members used to be able to walk the back nine before 8:30 am and after 2:00 as part of their membership fees. Now, if you want to walk, it an additional $500 on top of your annual membership fee. For all of us who live here full time, we realize we have no options but to either greatly curtail (or eliminate) the game we love or pay the price no matter what. I remember the first time I ever paid $100 to play golf. It was at a conference in the summer of 1993 at The Bear in Traverse City, Michigan. When I finished, my wife asked me how it was? My response was "If I lived here, it would be cheaper to be addicted to cocaine!" With my annual cart fees exceeding my membership fee (I play three times a week, 52 weeks a year), I feel like I'm approaching that financial threshold in real life that I once joked about.

Yesterday's round was full of ups and downs. I pared six of the first seven holes on the back (up) and doubled two of the first four holes on the front (down). It would have been doubling three of the first four holes if it wasn't for an uncharacteristic great bunker shot on our par five third hole. I was lying three in front of the green hoping to up and down after doubling the previous hole. The green is about 60 feet deep and slopes dramatically back to front and right to left with a sever "bounce" into water on the left. It was a front left pin placement and I felt comfortable making the shot as I'm typically in this situation on this hole. I pulled my sand wedge and proceeded to blade it into the back trap! Not noted as a great (or even decent) bunker player, I was facing my second double in a row. To add to my concern, my playing partner who was in the exact same situation, hit first and his ball rolled past the pin and 40 yards back down the fairway. I opened my sand wedge, aimed way left into the hill and gave it a go. The ball popped up, landed softly and took a sharp right turn. It took the dramatic slope, just missed the hole and rolled 14 feet past the pin. I shocked even myself! Since I already made one miraculous shot, I might as well make it two by sinking a 14-foot dramatically uphill putt for a bogie saving a Stapleford point for the team. I stepped up and sank the putt for the best bogie of the day!

I received a dozen of the Bridgestone Mindset golf balls as part of the initial MGS offering and was selected later to be in the formal Mindset/Shot Scope review. The "official" Bridgestone/Shot Scope balls have been ordered and I wanted to save my review of the Mindset methodology until I get the balls for that portion of the assessment. Our charter was to use our Shot Scope performance data to assess the impact (if any) of the Bridgestone Mindset identify, visualize and focus principles. As part of that assessment, we submitted data from at least 10 rounds with our "go to" gamer ball as a performance baseline. The intent is to compare those results with ten rounds using the Mindset philosophy to see if there's indeed improved performance. With my go to ball is a Maxfli Tour S, I felt any performance improvement or decline with the Bridgestone Mindset principles may also be influenced by changing to the Bridgestone Tour B RX ball (touted for slower swing speeds looking for more distance). So, I set out to attempt to take that variable out of the equation. I put the initial box of Bridgestone Mindset Tour B RX balls in play for four rounds but did not use to Mindset cues to assess if just changing balls had a significant effect on my personal performance number. Here's what I found: Looking at the Shot Scope performance data, both balls seem to perform equally as well. There is some variability in performance distance between the Maxfli and Bridgestone balls, but not enough to get too excited. The Bridgestone data is only over four rounds while the Maxfli data represents thirty-three rounds. There are similar numbers with club performance, tee shots and approach shots for both balls with a slight improvement in short game and putting seen with the Bridgestone. Looking at the overall average scoring, the Bridgestone Tour B RX did show about a two stroke lower average scores. However, the lower scoring is likely more due to a few good chipping and putting days and less due to the Bridgestone's ball performance. Getting up and down more often and eliminating three putts can go a long way to explain the two-stroke improvement. I would expect this gap to close with additional Bridgestone Tour B RX rounds and data points. I will continue to play Bridgestone Tour B RX without the Mindset philosophy until the official Bridgestone/Shot Scope ball arrive to see if there's any significant changes in the above numbers. Once the official balls arrive, I'll be totally dedicated to the assessment of the Mindset philosophies. Overall, I can feel fairly confident in my situation that both balls perform very similar to one another. So, any improvement I see in the next phase can most likely be attributed to the application of Mindset principles. I can't wait to see what happens!

Some people saw and the added the necessary information. Bonus points for that!?

Date 04/23/2024 Course Name Key West Golf Club Gross Score 81 Course Handicap 10 Gross Strokes over/under par 11 Net Score to Par 1 Net Score 71 Net Birdies or better Longest Drive I've been off for a week visiting family in Rochester and Cooperstown, New York. It was in the 30's at times, so it's great to be back in the Key West "heat." It was a stark reminder of the environment I was born, raised and had my career in! Given my lack of distance, I've migrated to the gold tees over the last several months which have a rating of 67.7 and slope of 124. Between the men's white and senior gold tees, it's just over 500 yards difference. I probably shoot a couple of strokes better from the golds but enjoy the game significantly more. For today's round, I had a great day getting up and down! I hit 86% of my fairways, 17% of my greens in regulation (up one for me) and a solid six up and downs (on was a chip in for par). As usual, my short game saved me. Six up and downs for par (which included a sandy par and a no putt chip in from the fringe) and four up and down bogies (which could have been a lot worse without that one putt). My two doubles were well deserved: bad fairway wood into the trees from the middle of the fairway and pitching the ball short into a trap. After a week off, I guess I can't complain!

I found the yardage books make a great gift for a golfer that typically has everything! I had a Club OnCore membership last year and PuttView is one of their partners. They offered 50% off for books. So, I bought my golf friend who has just about everything one for his home course and a leather cover off eBay. I figured he could either use it or keep it on his desk as a personal memento. Luckily, he didn't have one and cherished it. I liked it so much; I bought a set for my home course.

Great format @GolfSpy_BEN! Your modifications and updates should just add to a really fun online competition. Looking back on season one, it’s easy to see the impact of those involved in VCT’s overall maturity and growth. Looking forward to participate and watch this season unfold.

It was reported that Sunday's Master viewership was down 20% and was the lowest in 30 years (not counting the COVID years). In general, PGA Tour event viewership is down around 20% as well. Listening to some of the players, they seem to imply that the feud between the PGA and LIV tours and players are turning off viewers which in turn is driving the lower numbers. Rory is quoted to say, "I just think with the fighting and everything that's gone on over the past couple of years, people are just getting fatigued, and it's turning people off men's professional golf, and that's not a good thing for anyone." When I read that and other quotes, I found it interesting that many focused on themselves. Somehow, that doesn't surprise me that the multimillionaire golfers and their multibillion-dollar game would think it's about them. I think it's more likely due to having too many other entertainment options and changing viewing habits. In a recent report, the PGA Tour is the 16th most watched live sport on television capturing only 10% of viewers. To put it in some perspective, in the same report had NASCAR had 24% viewership, NHL hockey is 20%, and the women's WNBA had 12% viewership. So, PGA golf is starting from behind already. Today, streaming services account for over one-third of all television viewership opening up more options to a greater population. There's a growing portion of the population dedicated (and even addicted) to online gaming, especially with younger people. Too many options and not enough time. I have a feeling that even if the PGA Tour and LIV kissed, made up and were integrated together, after a short term bounce viewership would be on a downward trend again.

Your strategies are sound and I'm sure you'll have a great time. A golf friend and our spouses went to Scotland in July, 2022. We spent three days in Edinburgh and two in St. Andrews. We wanted to play while we were there, so we set up tee times at Gullane Number 2 and 3 on one of the days in Edinburgh. After walking 24,000 steps through the hilly street of Edinburgh, 36 holes of golf and another 27,000 steps on three consecutive days we were off to St. Andrews. We made plans for the guided tour of the Old Course. After the tour, my buddy went to the starter and asked if they had any tee times available (the Old Course was shut down for The Open which was the following week). The starter said yes on the New Course. He returned and asked if I wanted to play? I looked at him in my most pathetic look I could muster and told him my feet were so sore I couldn't! He said he was glad because he didn't want to be the one to say no! So, getting steps in before getting there is the right thing to do!

When each of us worked to establish our Callaway Paradym test iron specifications, needed to pick from their stock shaft options. The Aldila was their only senior graphite shaft available, so it made the decision easy. If you look at the Paradym X specifications, they have lower lofts when compared to other comparable irons. Before the Paradym X's I played Ping G30's. Here's the comparable lofts: When I look at the performance distances (as measure with my Shot Scope data), the Paradym X 7 iron loft and distance was similar to the Ping G30 6 iron loft and distance. The same relationship continued down the whole set of irons. Overall, I tended to hit these irons on a much lower trajectory than the comparably lofted Ping G30. If I remember correctly, the other testers found they got a desired higher overall trajectory. I was the odd one out. My home course in an old-style Rees Jones design which includes small greens, false fronts and generally requiring higher trajectory iron shots to get the ball to hold. For me, with my low 60's seven iron swing speed, I had trouble creating the height and spin to get the balls to stay on the green. So, I started looking for a replacement set of irons which included the Srixon ZX4 MkII's. For my Srixon iron testing, I tried the Helium F2 (at the demo days at my home course), UST Recoil and KBS Max 45 (at Golf Galaxy). For me, I found the KBS Max 45 shaft (with some length and lie adjustments) gave me more consistent dispersion, slightly higher launch and better overall feel.

The stock Aldila Ascent PL Blue 50 light shaft.