[SEASON 2 - WEEK 18 MGS Forum Member Weekly Virtual Championship Tour (VCT)]

Date	08/03/2023
Course Name	River Heights
Gross Score	93
Course Handicap	22
Gross Strokes over/under par	21
Net Score to Par	-1
Net Score	71
Net Birdies or better	8
Longest Drive	273

[Share your Shot/Hole Of The Day!]

Hit a really good drive on hole fifteen today and I'd remarked to Owen about how early on in our golf adventures we were thrilled if we were near the pine tree that sticks out into the fairway about 30 or so yards back.  Hit an approach shot that for once actually hit the green and stuck rather than rolled forwards.  I'll take a two-putt on this tricky green all day.

[How'd you play?]

Owen and I went out and played the back nine at River Heights today. 

I'd mentioned yesterday about a tweak or two I wanted to make; those tweaks worked wonders.  The first tweak is how I grip the driver.  First couple of years I had awful slice issues and I'd compensated by going stronger and stronger with my hand placement.  The slice is gone but my miss now is a weak hook.  I'd come to realize that I've been creeping my grip stronger again.  Re-set that and the driver was back in business.

The other change was something that Owen had picked up yesterday after our round.  The idea is to set up normally, then raise the club straight up.  This gave me a better visual of where my leading edge was pointing.  In my case, my club face was closed and I couldn't really pick up on that until I raised the club and saw it as such.  Made a little adjustment and it will take some getting used to; my mind is screaming "the face is open!" but the results say otherwise.  I thinned a couple today and I'm not sure if that's related to the change or not, but time will tell.

I played well; I challenged Owen the entire way and he beat me on the last hole to take both the match play and stroke play.  After coming out of the two par 3's with an overall +3, I went +2 over the next five.  I hit 2/5 fairways in that stretch but one was a foot off and another was on purpose to cut the dogleg.  Hit 4/5 greens which was super impressive for me.  The only miss was a bladed GW (my new 155 yard club, apparently!)

On 17 I hooked my approach shot into the river but still managed a bogey.  I threw away a great drive on 18 with another thinned GW and then a three putt for a double bogey finish.  Wound up shooting a +8 44 and losing to Owen by one stroke.  Putting is still costing me strokes but just about everything else was solid today.  #feelsgoodman

[PXG Gen 6 Driver Challenge]

 

@Hook DeLoft I looked through it a bit, looks like its free to me.  Not sure if I'll be able to find the free time to try it but it sure looks like they're eating the cost in exchange for the extra eyeballs.  

[Share your Shot/Hole Of The Day!]

I hit a weak hook with my driver.  This puts the ball on the fairway on 18 which shortens the hole a bit.  I hit an 8 iron to the back of the green (pin was in the front) and just missed the long birdie putt for a tap in par.  Despite being one of the easiest holes on the course, I have my worst average score on this hole.  Since there's no range here, we usually arrive roughly ten minutes before our tee time so the first (few) hole(s) becomes an adventure.  I'm usually double at best as I work the kinks out.

[How'd you play?]

Owen and I played the front nine at River Heights today.  It was a day that felt frustrating for both of us but could have been worse.  Started promising.  I hit a weak hook with my driver.  This puts the ball on the fairway on 18 which shortens the hole a bit.  I hit an 8 iron to the back of the green (pin was in the front) and just missed the long birdie putt for a tap in par.  

Given my recent driver issues I immediately put the driver away and went with the 3 wood.  As I've gotten comfortable with this club its fast becoming a weapon for me.  I can hit it nearly dead straight and sometimes nearly as long as my driver off the tee.  After a solid drive I pulled my approach about pin high left of the green.  Duffed the chip (story of my round) and wound up three putting for triple bogey.  

Hole three:  poor wedge play again.  Solid putt, though!  Four:  pulled my tee shot OB.  Five was a bogey after putting my tee shot in the river.  Poor wedges on six.  Tee shot on the beach on seven.  Got it out but not on the green, wind up with a double.  Topped my tee shot on eight, then hit my 4H 225 yards uphill before blading my wedge to the back of the green.  On nine I chunked my approach shot but it ran onto the green anyway.  Then I missed the near-gimme birdie putt.

Owen didn't play up to his recent standards but still went +9 while I shot +13.  Owen made an observation afterwards about my iron faces being closed at address and I'm excited about testing his theory tomorrow.

[Do you grip your iron vs the driver differently?]

I grip my driver differently, but I think its an over-reaction and will try gripping it the same as the rest of my clubs.  I'm wildly inconsistent either way.

[What does MGS Forum mean to you?]

1. What does MGS Forum mean to you?

It's a place where I can go and get my golf fix.  There are people of all ages and abilities.  If I want to know something, I can find it here or ask the question myself.

 

2. What has been your favorite thread of 2023?

As a tester, the Cobra Challenge thread was pretty wild.  I really like the How Did You Play and the Share Your Shot/Hole of the Round threads.  I love reading about how others have fared; the more in-depth, the better.

 

3. What testing opportunities have you followed the most?

Cobra Challenge, for obvious reasons.  I otherwise don't follow the testing threads too much in real time, but I do like to go back and revisit testing threads when thinking about something new I might enjoy.

 

4. If you were to explain the MGS Forum to someone who never heard about it what would you say?

There are lots of testing opportunities and the knowledge base is top notch.

 

5. Of the new "features" what have you enjoyed the most (ie: MGS Virtual Tour, Community Calls, Live Q&As, Classifieds)

If it weren't a requirement of the Cobra Challenge thread I probably wouldn't have used it, but It's fun to post my score in the MGS VT.

 

6. What brought you to join the MGS Forum?

The reviews got me here first, and the testing opportunities got me to sign up, but the overall community is what brings me back.

[SEASON 2 - WEEK 18 MGS Forum Member Weekly Virtual Championship Tour (VCT)]

Date	07/31/2023
Course Name	River Heights
Gross Score	94
Course Handicap	22
Gross Strokes over/under par	22
Net Score to Par	0
Net Score	72
Net Birdies or better	6
Longest Drive	256

[Share your Shot/Hole Of The Day!]

My hole of the round was the 13th, and mostly just because of my recovery shot.  I hit a decent 3 wood off the tee that put me just to the right of the big tree, giving me a good look at the green.  I hit a weak hook with my 9 that landed in the tall rough just short of the bunker on the left side.  Took my lob wedge and landed on the front of the elevated green and rolled to just past the hole for the near-tap-in birdie save.

[How'd you play?]

Owen and I played River Heights today with our buddy Evan from work.  Evan is roughly Owen's age and took up golf earlier this year when we convinced him to play our informal work outing.  He's pretty decent already given how long he's been playing; might already have a better iron game than me, lol.

Pace of play was a bit of a bummer; we were waiting pretty much all day.  I had the cart to myself so I spent the time trolling for balls in the rough.  Came home with far more than I started with, including a few that I'd never run across before on a course: a Zero Friction, a Piper, and a Vulcan.

Owen played great and is very close to finally breaking 80.  He was on pace until a blowup on 17 and finished with another 81.  He's gotten pretty good at keeping himself out of trouble, something I still struggle with.

I struggled a bit with driver early on and after three weak drives I put it away and went with 3 wood off the tee.  Worked out great as I hit it consistently about 230-245 and in a pretty good spot every time.  My long approach game was mostly decent but my short approach game was hot garbage.  Couldn't get an iron on target to save my life.

My short game was probably the best it's ever been.  Stopped trying to be cute and mostly stuck with safe shots.  Putted several times from off the green and hit a few more bump and runs.  Didn't hole a putt beyond 3 feet but still had 7 one-putts.  Putting was pretty mediocre otherwise.

I was playing pretty well myself and had a shot to break 90 until it all fell apart on 16, where I hit two trees and a golf cart before three putting on my way to a quad bogey 9.  I finished with a 46/48 94 (+22) and felt pretty good about it.

[SEASON 2 - WEEK 17 MGS Forum Member Weekly Virtual Championship Tour (VCT)]

Date	07/28/2023
Course Name	River Heights
Gross Score	94
Course Handicap	22
Gross Strokes over/under par	22
Net Score to Par	0
Net Score	72
Net Birdies or better	4
Longest Drive	270

[How'd you play?]

Owen and I decided to get out and play a round at River Heights today.  We were hoping that with the temps expected to be high that the course would be pretty empty.  It wasn't but we were able to zip through a few groups and keep moving until near the end.  Luckily there was a pretty stiff breeze which played havoc with a few shots but also kept us relatively cool.

I played one of my better rounds in a while.  Driver was mostly behaving and its generally easier when you keep it playable.  Since that's come around, my wedge game decided to mostly abandon me.  Had a few chunky clunkers and bladed another one.  Irons, hybrids, and woods came to play.  I had a few more par opportunities than usual.  Wound up with ten bogeys and three pars.  Used a Srixon Divide today for the first time and I kinda liked it, especially on the putting green.  Satisfying when I hit it straight and the two sides lined up just right.

Owen played really well, and when we had to sit for a few minutes after our drives on 18, he tallied up our scores.  Par meant a new PB of 80.  He admittedly tightened up a bit and finished with 81.  Had a couple of birdies and overall played really well.  I shot 94 and was pretty happy about it.

[2023 MGS Forum: Cobra 50th Anniversary Special!]

A few final-ish thoughts...

I use Shot Scope as a tracking device and have been looking through some of the data, comparing the Cobras from the last couple months to my gamers from earlier in the year.  Results have been interesting. 

On the left/first (depending on your screen) are what SS calls my Performance Average for my gamers.  For those that don't know, my clubs were mostly an eclectic mix.  My 18° hybrid is actually on a shorter shaft, so I expect it to be shorter than my 21°.  That shorter hybrid took the place of my five iron early in the season, and the six iron...(shrugs).

The other graph shows the Cobra clubs.  First thing that really stands out to me are the distance gains.  I finally have a 3 wood that I can hit consistently, and my new 7 wood does exactly what my old 7 wood did, only further.  And that's mostly the case right down the bag.  Keep in mind that I'm maddeningly inconsistent, and that small sample sizes still apply.  But on the whole, my gapping looks better.  Score one for the "get fitted" crowd.

 

 

The next comparison is my approach accuracy.  There's very little change and that's a little sobering.  I've been telling myself that this was a big improvement, but the numbers aren't quite backing up that theory.  As I pull more and more recent data, though, the numbers do look better.  The initial feeling-out period was rather rough.  I'm certainly not playing great golf; I may be able to hit them farther, but that's only part of the equation!

 

Moving into the short game, this is an area that I do relatively well comparatively.  Getting onto the green is decent, but I need to do better at finishing the job.

 

I've definitely developed some driver yips, and my putting has gotten worse.  Now that the challenge period is over, I'll be able to make a little more time for some comparisons.  I've gotten objectively worse as the year goes on, but I do finally seem to be trending in the right direction.  I've made some big strides with my longer clubs, though that SG-Approach will always be a little haggard because I can't usually reach the green from so far away.  Driver and putter, though...

 

This was always going to be the toughest club to un-seat.  I'd gone through a demo day when I got my Callaway and it's performed pretty well.  I'm getting a little more distance with the Aerojet, but the dispersion is tighter with the Rogue ST.  I suspect a decent amount of that wider dispersion comes from my current driver woes and that anything I hit would produce similar nonsense right now.  

 

Putting...I just suck.  Some of it is physical, but most of it is mental.  I'm just not putting in the focus when it comes time to putt.  I think the stock grip that came with the Stingray is not right for me.  Getting that updated sooner rather than later will help.  Changing putter types and going with a mallet has been a process, too.

 

I know this is a bit of a broken record from both me and the rest of the Cobra Challenge Crew, but I just want to re-iterate how lucky I feel and how thankful I am to have been chosen for this test.  It's been a great ride and I'm happy to have gone through the everything.  I may not be scoring well (both on the course and in the challenge itself) but I've had a blast and I hope I've done a good job being both entertaining and informative.  Big thanks to the mods for putting up with us and thanks to MyGolfSpy and Cobra for the amazing opportunity.

[How'd you play?]

Owen and I played the front nine again at River Heights today.  After some ghastly play the other day, we came out and...mostly continued that ghastly play.  More of the same for me.  I'm really in my head on the tee box, whether its driver or something else.  Not swinging well at all.  Had three decent tee shots.  One with my hybrid where I tried to lay up but hit it so well that it rolled into the river anyway.  One with my driver that went a little too far left and bounced through the dogleg into the cornfield.  And one with my gap wedge that just missed the green, then a putt that just missed the cup, for a tap in par.  He came on strong and finished +9 while I went +17.

We were planning on taking the next couple of days off to clear our heads, but then we got word that our mandatory OT for tomorrow was cancelled.  Since we've got an extra couple of hours, we figured why not??  Supposed to be really hot and humid tomorrow, even more so than today, so the course should be pretty empty again.

[How'd you play?]

Played like a sack of buttcheeks today.  Owen and I got out to the front nine at River Heights and neither of us played all that great.  He was 10 over and I was a whopping 19 over.  My putting was really poor and I also didn't put myself in good positions on the green.  Had birdie putts on two holes and wound up with bogeys on both.  Two triples and two quads...just felt stiff and couldn't get loose.  Tomorrow's another day.

[Share your Shot/Hole Of The Day!]

Shot/hole of the day yesterday was my 3 wood after an atrocious top with my driver.  Hit it out from under some overhanging branches and sent towards the right-side bunker before drawing back and landing on the left side of the green.  Two putts and I was in for par.

[Shot Scope Users Group]

Had an interesting time with the X5 watch this weekend.  Seems the touchscreen is not a fan of rain drops.  I wound up with 37 putts on one hole because of it!!  

[How'd you play?]

Owen and I were invited to join a group of six people for a morning round at River Heights yesterday.  We knew most of them casually and I'd worked with Steve for 15 years before he retired.  He'll be 72 soon and most of his shots go the same distance no matter the club, but they're almost always straight ahead.  He wound up chipping in for the only birdie of the day.  His cart partner, Dan, is a guy that Owen and I played with a few weeks ago.  Both guys are great company.  Super enjoyable round.

I struggled a bit on the front nine, which included a horrific quad bogey on the par five 3rd hole where I just chunked my way down the fairway.  Had a couple birdie looks, including the short par 3 seventh that I managed to 3 putt.  After a three putt double bogey on 12, I really turned myself around.  Three straight pars, two bogeys, then another par on 18 where I nailed a thirty foot putt to finish. 

I went 51/44 (+23) 95.  Owen shot high 80s and Steve and Dan both around 100.  Best part was Steve telling me afterwards that I had come a long way from the last time we'd golfed together.  Feels good, man.  

[2023 MGS Forum: Cobra 50th Anniversary Special!]

So what do I have to do to get this spin that everyone keeps talking about?  I've played Nitros to ProV1s, and Pinemeadows to SM7s and Snakebites.  I don't think I've ever gotten a ball to check up.  I always have to play for the roll out.

[How'd you play?]

Seven of us met up at Marengo Ridge on Saturday for a round.  We split off into Owen and a few buddies from work (the younger ones), and me, Kevin and Tim as the older guys.  

It wasn't a great round for any of the three of us.  I started decent and slowly fell apart while the other two never really got it going.  As we headed to the back nine with our scores all north of 50, the sky started getting dark, and by 13 it started raining.  

By this point the mood had gone sour but we all trudged on.  Wound up with a par on 17 on what by then was a downpour but otherwise we were happy when it was over.  Of course the young guns behind us were having a blast, lol.  Shot a (+33) 105 and was happy for the heated seats for the ride home!

[Share your Shot/Hole Of The Day!]

On Saturday I sliced the heck out of my drive on the second hole (my fairway is to the left of the pond) then pulled my 4 hybrid and got aggressive, landing the ball back in the fairway and just over the first set of bunkers.  Lob wedge got me onto the green for a two putt par, the highlight of an otherwise forgettable round.

[2023 MGS Forum: Cobra 50th Anniversary Special!]

Bag and wedges reviews are up.  Finally found something in the challenge that I still really like but I liked what I already had just a little better.

 

 

[2023 MGS Forum: Cobra 50th Anniversary Special!]

7 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

@JerryB did the best I could! Hope it helps!

Awesome, thanks for the teamup!  Happy you could participate!!

[2023 MGS Forum: Cobra 50th Anniversary Special!]