Jonny_Crash

So a bit of an update. Had a wonderful summer playing golf this year. Didn't really do what I needed to do in order to improve significantly, but did drop my HC down about 4-5 strokes. No complaints there. However, I just tore my ACL playing soccer, so I'm looking at some time off from golf this winter/spring. Hopefully it will recover okay and I can get back to playing soon, but for now I'm on the shelf... again.

Hands down the easiest ball to find I have ever played!

I bought a dozen of the black ones.... absolutely impossible to find in the rough. They are shiny, so if you can get the sun on them they are easy to find. I do like to use them on par 3s and also putting. They are novel and fun. IMHO, the Vice Shade balls are the absolute best for novelty and visibility. They are so easy to pick up in the air and find in the grass. Highly recommend!

We excluded hybrids from our round, but all decided that would be the ultimate club to have

It was really fun to try and think through the strategy! Highly recommend it!

That's an awesome story!

Over the past two weeks my friends and I played a couple of 9 hole rounds using only 3 clubs each. It's a short course (2682), so we excluded woods/hybrids from the discussion. We had a blast. The first round was pick any three Irons/wedges/putter and the second we all played 6-9-putter. The choose your own clubs round was great and we all ended up with different combinations. I played 3-9-54* and shot a 45. I struggled with the 3 off the turf, but it was great off the tee. I oddly putted better with the wedge than my putter (time for a change there!). Anyway, it was a blast, have any of you done the same? What did you pick?

I'm new to the Ping game as I just got a G425 LST, but if I were to switch it would probably be to the Titleist line. The reason being some additional distance at the cost of some forgiveness. Ping is no the longest typically, but the increased accuracy and forgiveness is more important for me at the moment. As my swing consistency improves I may make that switch.

Thanks, I'm a year and a half out from it and seem to be no worse for wear. I skied most of the winter and am back to playing soccer and trail running. So far so good, it sure was a crappy injury though! Definitely one to avoid if at all possible. Cheers!

I guess I should note that I rarely play more than 9 holes at a time... so the "breaking 90" is a bit of misnomer. Since I don't play 18... I don't really every have a chance to break 90. That being said, I've got seven rounds this summer that are sub 45 for 9 holes and one 45. I'm hoping to get a couple 18 hole rounds during the late summer/early fall. So hopefully I can break 90 and get that box checked off!

I've been playing a lot and working hard on my swing. It has settled into a pretty solid groove at the moment. I still have the occasional bad shot (shank, top, chunk...) but for the most part I'm hitting it pretty well. In particular I've been getting the driver in play and eliminating many of the driving penalties (played some wide open courses as well). The good news is my HC has dropped from 20 to 16. I've made progress on every aspect of my game. My goal is to get down to a 10 HC and I'm currently about 9 stokes-gained off that pace. My short game continues to be my best area and I'm playing at a 10 HC level there (0.0 SG). Approach and putting are holding me back (-3.8 SG each). I have noticed some weird things using Arccos. For example on today's round I hit a 3W off the tee and while it landed just in the first cut, my approach was blocked by a tree. I tried to pop it under the tree and came up short. This counts as a bad approach, but was dictated by the bad drive. So Arccos isn't perfect, but I really like it and the data available is improving. There is some interesting data starting to show up after 1,373 shots and 27 rounds of golf using Arccos. Here are some of my observations: I hit pretty long(ish) so I end up with a lot of shorter approach shots. My driver is averaging 264. This has resulted in a lot of bomb and gouge(ish). Consequently, I rarely use my 6-9 irons (all less than 30 shots this summer). I've become a huge fan of my 54 degree wedge and use that for everything inside 100 yards. It has been used 155 times this summer and I'm hitting 56% GIR with it. Oddly my second best club for GIR is my 6i, which I hit the green with 45% of the time. The 8i is my worst for hitting the green (17%) and I really need to work on those approaches from 150-200 yards (-2.1 SG). As is typical for most golfers it seems, I leave about 47% of approaches short of the green. (compared to 9% left, 29% GIR, 12% right and 3% long). Some of this is blocked shots from tee balls, some is just chunky shots. Overall, its a big area from improvement and I've started to club up and swing a bit easier (finally...) Putting, while improved, has been a problem. I particularly struggle with 6-9ft putts (-2.2 SG). From this distance I'm only making 7% of putts. This simply has to improve and I'm exploring some lessons/putter fittings in this area. I don't really have a club that is causing me problems. I am around -0.2 to 0.0 on SG for most clubs. So its a general issue, which I guess is nice haha. I have pretty good gapping between my clubs. All in all, it's been a great summer and I have played a ton of golf! I love getting better and I feel like I'm in a bit of a groove lately (I'm sure it will end ... cause... golf), but I'm enjoying it while it lasts! Thanks for reading

I think a pertinent question is what happens if you go long? If its safe back there, I'd probably hit a 3W or 3U and try to take the bunkers out of play.

It looks like around 330 to carry the ravine with the elevation drop. I'd say the landing area (for a flat-ish lie) is about 40 yards wide. For some more marginal sidehill/partial blocked shots you are looking about 60 yards.

This one has been giving me fits lately. It is hole 18 at Bonneville Golf Course in Salt Lake (link) It is a very steeply downhill par 4 (454 on the scorecard). I've played it four times this summer and am a cumulative +10. It just eats me up. The red box is about 300 yards, but plays about 270 downhill. If you land in the red box, you have a relatively flat lie and around 130 -150 into the green. Everything to the right (on the picture) is severely sloped downhill and makes for a tough shot over a ravine from 160 plus. Right and left leave you with side hills and/or partially blocked shots. I've typically been taking my 3U off the tee. Well struck and I end up in the box, a push leaves me 180ish with a downhill lie over the ravine. It is so hard to get a longer iron in the air from a downhill lie. So I usually end up pitching to the box area and then hoping to make a bogey.

I know you just bought a driver.... but you might try the G425 Max with the weight in the draw position. I can't remember where I read it, but apparently moving the weight can have a 10-20 yard correction. It really does seem to work and take half of the course out of play (unless it is just a bad swing...)

I bought these for soccer, but ended up wearing them one day on the course. I have to say I really like them. Super comfortable and the grip has been great. They also don't leave marks on the greens.

I have to say after playing with a dozen of the shade balls... it is now my favorite color (pattern?). I have never played with a ball that is easier to see or to find in the rough. Something about the contrasting color makes them stick out. I hope they keep making them as I plan on playing them going forward. (That being said, I understand it isn't for everyone).

Got out and played 9 this morning. We played the back nine at Bonneville. I had a shaky first hole and a bad last hole, but in between I played some of the best golf I have all summer. I finished with a 43 (+7) and with a couple of breaks could have been so much better. I had one driving penalty that was about 6" into the woods and had two putts that were 360 degree lip-outs. It was really encouraging. The biggest thing for me has been less grip pressure and then swinging around myself a bit more. I have a tendency to grip hard and lash at the ball. This predictably leads to big pushes (push slices) and inconsistent low points. When this happens my ball striking is all over the place. Today I was able to get into a groove and was hitting some great approach shots and keeping drives in play. Strokes Gained for the round were as follows (compared to a 10 HCP): The improved approach play led to 4 GIR (and a couple of nGIR). I had 18 putts and it was one of my better putting rounds in a long time. A key with putting has been checking my alignment. I noticed I have been a little open when lining up, so getting that synced up has helped. As noted, I lipped out two putts and left a couple others at tap-in distance. So it seems to be working. Driver was also firing and keeping things in play really helps. I hit 43% fairways and the misses were usually first cut (I did get lucky with one that kicked off some trees into the first cut). My drives were: 230, 280, 253, 291, and 262. Overall, a very encouraging round.. now to back it up. IMG_0854.jpg 107 KB

Pulling for the plucky Utah Utes. Expectations are crazy high around these parts. Utah's getting a lot of pre-season top 10 rankings and it's honestly sort of unnerving. Hope they can play well as a favorite! We will learn a lot about the Utes after they open in Gainesville on Sep 3rd!

I've been quite on here lately (took a wonderful trip to Switzerland for two weeks and then tore my palm open on a nail, which required 18 stitches). I've slowly been getting back out there and playing. It's been typically inconsistent. I've had some good rounds (45) and some really bad rounds (55 this morning). I sort of lost my golf swing in late June early July and its still not quite back. As a result I'm struggling with my iron play. It's costing me a lot of strokes when I leave one short or shank one off the hosel. Compared to a 10 HC, I'm losing strokes as follows: A lot of "approach" issues stem from driving issues (and course management). For example, today I hit a drive 260 into the left rough. It landed right behind a tree, which I then proceeded to hit. This knocked the ball straight down. I thought I could hit a wedge into the green from there, but it popped up and hit another branch landing about 15 yards ahead. This shows up as a bad approach (which it was), but it stemmed from my poor decision and the tee shot being blocked by a tree. Putting remains an issue. I've been working on my alignment (I was a bit right aligned) and tempo, which has helped. Still not quite there yet, but I am improving (today's disaster aside). All in all, I'm having a blast... but not really making strides like I'd hoped. The reality is I still need a lesson to get some eyes on my swing. I'm sure there are some easy things that I can do to eliminate the push that has been plaguing me (for example not gripping as tight has helped). Such a fun game and I have a blast every time I get out there!

sexy!

I played this same hole again on Sunday. The wind was just howling and the same 3U off the tee ended up an astonishing 301 yards down the fairway. I also had a 5i travel 289. The wind was insane... regrettably heading back up canyon into the wind was absolutely miserable and lead to a number of sub-200 yd tee shots.

I played with the black pro plus balls today. They look great and I love them.... unless you hit into the rough. They were near impossible to find in the deeper stuff. The best bet was to get some reflection off of them, but I ended up losing two just by not being able to find them in the areas where I hit them. Guess I just need to hit the fairway more often

Got a round in before work today. Played pretty middling round. I felt like I putted terribly, lots of burned edges led to 21 putts. I also had some just strange holes today. On the first hole, I duck hooked a driver, then topped 2 5i's before hitting another 5i 202 into the green (3 putted). The 5th hole I hit a tree and had to punch out from under it for my 3rd. The 6th I short sided myself and ended up pitching on and then off the green. I felt like I was hitting pretty well, but ended up in bad spots on a couple shots. Coupled with 4 three putts I carded a 48. Two best shots were tee shots on 2 and 3. I used my 3U and hit 243 and 250 respectively. The second shot was a beautiful draw with the shape of the hole and felt amazing. Naturally, I didn't pick that club up again the rest of the round haha. I should have stuck with the hot club as most of my Driver and 3W tee shots were shorter than the 3U. My short game has been the strong part of my game and according to strokes gained vs a 10 HC I'm as follows over the past 10 rounds: Keys to improving seem to be keeping the ball in play off the tee (no penalties), smoothing out approach shots and working on the putting. Approach shots, I have consistently been leaving myself short of the green (common problem). I've been working on smoothing and slowing down my tempo, which leads to better ball striking, but a small loss in distance. I'm going to club up and swing easy for a while and see if that helps out. Putting is a funny thing for me. I putted great for the prior 4 rounds(around -1.0 SG, but this one was a bit of a doozy. I'll keep working on short putts and making sure I'm hitting my marks. This is the place where I'll see the most improvement in my scores, so it will be a focus moving forward. Edited to Add: I did roll in a 35ft double breaker on the 9th to end the round.

I think you will find them to be more or less equivalent.