Another Steve

//gonna rant a little so feel free to skip the first paragraph - or all of it for that matter// For quite some time the Olympics have been all about graft, bribery, & making obscene amounts of money. Sport is way down on the list….. they used to give them these big-ass medals made of gold, silver, and bronze that had monetary value in and of itself. Most recently they look more like crystal art works. I have no issues with Pros playing - that horse is not only outa the barn, it escaped the paddock. That being acknowledged, it is well past time to PAY commensurate with their result. Let’s say for each individual medal the IOC PAYS $1m gold, $500k for silver, $250k bronze. Each team medal pays $100k gold, $50k silver, and $25k bronze - fully tax free since they are representing their county, right? //end rant// Now to my thoughts on Olympic golf and how I would like to see it done: Each “qualified*” country should be permitted to enter ONE male and ONE female (and I do not care how a country decides who they send) for individual competition and one additional male and female as alternates or designated as the 2 player mixed team. Male and female individual competition … Day one play 18 holes stroke play. The men and women should play concurrently 2 male and 2 female per four some (separate m/f tees as needed but have them play some holes from the same tees (but not necessarily same par values). Do not group team mates together. NO CADDIES. The top 24 Of each gender moving on to play match play day 2 until there are 3 men and 3 women left. Medal round follows in the afternoon of day two. The three survivors of each gender play the three toughest holes(for their gender) stroke play for the medals. Ties move on to play the NEXT three toughest holes sudden death. I would love to see the last hole being a par 3. For the mixed team I would seed them based on the average placement from both players from the individual medals. Play match play, alternate shot from the mens tees. Teams must alternate tee shots by designating which player will tee off on all even or all odd numbered holes. This will force some additional strategy to the team event. Or I could pour two fingers of bourbon into a rocks glass and just watch the women's beach volleyball! * - changed from entered to qualified because I believe that there should be a limited number of spots that each country must qualify for through placement in international competition

Tip from the firearms world, after you clean them just wipe them down with Ballistol or Barricade. Or you can just let them develop a natural patina.

Late to the party here, but fully believe that I enjoy the game a lot more walking…. To the point that when my father in law was still around we would split time between walking and riding. When he would take a cart I would walk most of the time and let him & the cart haul my clubs around. Agree with most, right front pocket 2 tees, divot tool, coin/marker, two balls. Back right pocket scorecard wallet with card, notepad and pen. Whether pushcart or carry, i jettison extra gear…. No wind or rain then the pants, jacket, and umbrella get pulled. Range stuff like foot spray and old shafts for alignment get pulled. Sometimes pull clubs that I don’t see a high probability of needing. Dump watch, wallet, keys, other pocket clutter and wedding ring into the fur lined pocket and make sure it’s zipped closed. Routine/rythm. Tee to green I as I walk I get a feel for the distance, conditions, and type of shot needed as I approach my ball. At ball I make my final decision on club and shot type. Pick line and aim points from several feet behind the ball. Take one or two practice swings from behind the ball then step up and send it. Clean club as needed, go find my ball rinse and repeat. Write score and any notes while walking to my ball or from green to tee. Putting, i try to get a basic feel for what the green does while walking up the fairway. Have my initial read by the time I step onto the green. Maybe make a lap of the green to confirm thoughts on speed and break. Make final decision from behind the ball. Take stance and one or two practice strokes while looking at the hole. Verify alignment and send it in its way. Edited to add, I have a laser rangefinder…. Tried it on the course and it really doesn’t help me much and probably slows me down. It now lives in the case on the belt of my archery quiver.

Wish I had a picture of it, but one time i wore a long sleeve dress shirt, bow tie, vest, and plus fours….. wonder whatever happened to my plus fours!?!? Not that i could squeeze any part of my fat self into them….

Been a while since i ordered from Matlby’s. You kinda got me interested in that putter. May need to order some grips so I might add it on….

Guest-O quoted you for the JD picture….. frigging love it! At one point in my life I would go out and specifically purchase loud, miss matched clothing like this specifically to poke fun at some particularly stuffy courses ~ala~ JD or Rodney Dangerfield vs Bushwood cc. I just made sure that it met the minimum requirements…

When that day comes, they can whip it outa their mankini to pee on the spot my wife dumped my ashes and I wouldn’t give a rip! //edited to add a note for those that don’t get my dry sarcastic humor - that was a joke folks….. //

First, thank you for your service. Three uncles and several cousins were Air force - all Strategic Air Command, one uncle was killed when his B47 crashed on takeoff Christmas 1958. Now… i think you may have done a bit of assuming on my behalf. The only assumption that I was making was that we have been talking about playing courses (any courses -public/private/muni) with dress codes in place and part of that discussion implied “should someone need to acquire certain clothing to play (because of a course’s dress code)”. I didn’t establish diddly squat as far as dress code…. The discussion did. Variations of dress codes were already stated in the thread and the common requirement seemed to be a collared shirt/polo and non-denim shorts (sometimes not cargo). Golf is not cheap - that is something we pretty much all agree on. I supplied an example of how one could cheaply acquire the needed clothing if you really wanted to play that course. Simple question of choices, priorities, and fiscal responsibility…..….. Had nothing to do with ME PERSONALLY wanting to exclude them or being elitist…... I really couldn't care less what someone wears to golf or shop at walmart or wherever. No skin off my ass…. If you want to golf naked, have at it and be comfortable in your skin - but don’t put words in my mouth or call me elitist and exclusionary when you don’t know me and have never met me.

I would really like you to elaborate on why you feel my opinion is elitist and exclusionary.

That was not meant to be a joke, nor was it meant to be elitist…… just a simple observation…. Read second post for more context. And yes, I do tend to be blunt, saying it as I see it. If that makes someone not want to share a round with me so be it.

There is a difference between not wanting to meet an established dress code and not being able to afford it. My comment shows that if a person can AFFORD to play golf they can ALSO AFFORD at least one set of clothing that that meets the usual dress code. If they cannot afford to invest what amounts to the price one 18 hole round to purchase acceptable clothing then they need to re-think their priorities. If you don’t wanna meet the dress code that a course sets, there are plenty of other courses that have a more “relaxed” dress code. Rob, I too have shopped thrift and goodwill stores… only it was out of necessity…. Whats your point? As for your hypothetical new/young golfer…… IIt has nothing to do with whether they emulate some style or not. We were discussing dress codes….. a courses dress code, not mine. If it were a matter of them just not being able to play somewhere because their chosen style of dress is unacceptable according to the courses dress code …. Well that’s a tough life lesson…. Life ain’t fair and you don’t always get what you want/earn/deserve….. Now, if that same youngster wasn’t an arrogant ass and couldn’t afford a couple shirts and pairs of pants I might just arrange for them to get what they need to help facilitate what might be their big break.

If you can’t afford to go to walmart and spend $50 on a polo, and a pair of shorts or a pair of pants to play in then you got no business spending $25-50 to play a round of golf in the first place. REPLY

Cannot see joining the military just to access golf courses……. And just to add perspective, when I was at Ohio State late 1980’s we had a foursome that played 18 holes twice a week as long as it was 45* and no rain at tee time. Played OSU Scarlet or Grey courses as well as a handful of public courses around Columbus. We could still afford pizza, wings, and alcohol. Now, I doubt we would be able to do it…..

I’ve played Dauphin. Nice course. Any chance you could get the league to move there? Your prices sound about average for 9 holes on a lot of the public/municipal courses here in SW Pa….

Even later to join in… I wear 2xl gloves and maybe should wear 3xl. Past 25 years I’ve played mid size GP tour wraps with 3 layers of tape. Been thinking of going a little bigger but don’t want to pull grips at this point. So, I’m going to add a layer or two of bat or tennis racket grip tape for testing purposes then measure and match what feels/works best. Who knows….. I could easily end up just taping the whole set if I like it. For those older souls…. Anyone remember Tacki-Mak grips? For a while back around 1990 I played Tacki-Mak tour wrap jumbos but went smaller when I got new irons as they felt too big at the time. I did love the feel of those grips.

Just looked at Callaway pre owned and they currently have a bunch of drivers in your price range. Like everything in life, the sweet spot is just a little more than what we want to spend and you have a bunch between $150 & $200. Didn’t look at loft or shaft specs.

Rob, i assume that you don’t have a shaft sitting there that you want to use …. Any idea what you are looking for… brand/models/shaft flex or specific shafts? My local Play-it-again store has a crap load of used drivers. Think a 10’x10’ area of golf bags full of drivers…… various conditions, ages, prices. I bought a my daughter’s girlfriend a nice Callaway driver last fall for $150. I can take a look for ya.

Haven’t swung my clubs in about 6 months. Went out yesterday to play a local short 9 hole course to open the season up. It was very wet and squishy. Could almost claim casual water anywhere between tee and green…. carry only, little or no roll out. Greens were relatively hard and unreceptive… a 56* sw from 80 yards left no ball mark and rolled out 15 feet. They needed cut but rolled ok and were pretty quick. This Course is perfect for working on stuff cuz you can play it with just your irons, or maybe tee off with a 3/5 wood if you must. 6 par 4’s 260 - 356 yards and 3 par 3’s 100-210 yards. Well, I had a case of the lefts going….. any club that was not a wedge was either pulled left or was a draw with a few fugly hooks tossed in. Was about what I expected…… I need to stretch and get sime range time.

Long, but humorous… at least I can laugh about it now. The valve in the shower faucet to regulate the hot/cold water mix died, so only hot or only cold. Went to replace it and determined that the shut-off valves for the shower were stuck half way open. Now I gotta shut the main water supply off in the basement. Locate the valve and as luck would have it whomever installed the valve and water meter 30 or more years ago put the valve on the house side of the meter and not inbound before the meter. (remember this for future reference) So I buy the replacement water mix valve, two ball valves and various adapters and compression fittings to make the repairs. Shut the water off and make the repairs. When I turn the water back on the bottom of the water meter blows out. Now Wy-Lee Coyote from Acme plumbing services directs you to recall the previous statement that THE SHUT OFF VALVE IS ON THE HOUSE SIDE OF THE WATER METER! It is 7:50pm on a Saturday night and my basement has a river running through it. Mutha-@&$?@$!!!!! So I call the Municipal Water Authority emergency line and sit through an unavoidable 5 minute recording of how to pay you bill online in two languages before getting the option of choosing 2 to continue in English and then 2 for residential, then 2 for emergency (why always 2?), then another unavoidable “use our automated system to pay your bill” monologue, then press 1 to continue in English, then press 1 to report an emergency, then press 2 for residential, then press 1 to request emergency shut -off! Took at least 10 minutes to reach a human to request the shut-off. She Took my info and said their on call service tech would call me to schedule a shut-off. An hour later I get the call… hallelujah! ……. they will be there in 30 minutes! At least the river in the basement is flowing pretty much directly to the floor drain. so…. Water off at curb, show a picture of water spewing out the bottom of the meter….. she says “I can replace that for you”. (Finally something going our way). Meter is behind clothes washer so shut water geed valves and disconnect hoses before moving it for better access. 30 minutes later the new meter is in. We slowly turn the water back on at the curb and then open the valve up to the house. Success you say????? Not so fast Mr Coyote…. Reconnect the water feeds to the clothes washer and the cold water feed valve is now squirting a stream of water out from around the valve stem! Muta-@&$&&@!!!! Close cold water valve again. At least it doesn’t leak when fully shut off…… we will do our laundry in hot water for the near future. You see, I have a few more localized shut-off valve replacement jobs to do and figure that I will do them all at once. As a result of the stuck valves in the shower I checked all of the sinks and toilets and found a couple others that were no longer working….. I love my old house!

When I was younger, I used to get really, really, really hot after a bad shot… shaft snapping and helicoptered driver type hot. when playing hockey I was able to channel the anger from mistakes back into the game….. cannot really do that with golf. After getting an “attitude adjustment” from my mentor I adopted a more zen like attitude and resigned from “club throwers of america”….. I embraced the challenge of developing creative recovery shots. As long as I didn’t solely focus on score I enjoyed the round while learning to make creative shots. Didn’t matter that I slopped out a 92…. I did run a 100 yard 4 iron punch shot under the trees and onto the green to help save par. I successfully hit the hero flop shot over the tree onto the green, or played an intentional 5 wood bananna ball slice around the dogleg after unsuccessfully trying to cut the dogleg and having it bounce out of the trees to the edge of the fairway directly back towards the tee and on the inside of the dogleg…… yes, there were shots where I took my medicine and just chipped out to the fairway. It made rounds that were not competitive really fun. Drove my mentor nuts though cuz he was always all about “just limit the damage and take your medicine”. Ironically he would be pizzed and on a slow burn the rest of the day if he had a bad round where I could leave it at the course On the range, there is no bad shot, just data… If the ball doesn’t do what I am expecting I step back and replay the shot in my mind to determine why. Then I hit it again.

Been pondering grip size lately and thinking about going bigger. Glove is a 2x and i’ve played midsize + 3 wraps forever. Think I’ll get some raquet tape and put a wrap over top of my Golf Pride tour wraps…

How about this little gem? Luke’s links

Actually, no it’s not. Put an obvious conformance mark on the ball visible from several feet and add a line item rule that at any time any official can ask the player and caddie to empty all pockets and allow empty/ search of the bag… first offense is DQ second is suspension.

On a side note, I would love to play a 9hole 1500 yard par 3 course. Maybe throw in some ultra short par 2 (chip/pitch n putt?) holes? But imagine how long it would take to play given the backups that occur on par 3 holes now!

Oh definitely agree with you on damage to the greens done by metal spikes - and inconsiderate/inattentive soft spike wearer for that matter. I still remember what greens looked like late in the day on a weekend after a crowded day of play. Really fun putting…. Do not miss that. As for traction spikes vs spikeless… I was definitely a power player when spikes were allowed with normal driver swing speed at 120 and measured at 125+ for an all out as hard as I could swing. With new spikes I HAD to lift and reset my feet if I wanted to adjust them on the tee box. There ain’t no way you will anchor that much with spikeless - period.