LinksgolfFever

33 before this weeks golf starts, 37 by Sunday. I have 3 rounds plus a Matchplay tournament this week. So far even with the inclement weather I’m getting 10+ rounds per month.

Shot scope and mindset balls have arrived. super excited to get the V5 & Mindset going. 4 rounds are on tap for this week, including a 4ball match play tourney on Sunday. I am very interested to see how the numbers for this week coming compare against my shot-scope history. not entirely germane to this test but as a side note, my V3 got 3 years of use and 250+ rounds before it needed retirement. While I was outside the warranty window shot-scope was really great about troubleshooting my V3 and getting me a great discount on the V5. 1st round is Wednesday, look for my 1st course impressions then. Cheers,

I have yet to find a course that doesn't contain a hole per side that seems to make me crazy. Regardless of how well I've been playing that day, I can almost assuredly just pre mark my card with a bogey or a double. Hole 14 (par 3) at Del Monte Golf course in Monterey (CA). Usually plays 210-220 into the wind or a right to left hurt. I think I have hit the green twice. It is a weird distance for me 4-iron or 3/4 5-wood. No real trouble to speak of, it just doesn't fit my eye and I have convinced myself it is not for me to score well. Laguna Seca also in Monterey par 5 15th hole. Roughly 500 yards and preferred shots require 2 carries over water. Again the set up just doesn't fit my play choice/style. To carry the 1st water you'd need to carry 300-320 off the tee. the 2nd water hazard (a continuation of 1st) covers the front of the green and partial right side of the green. A steep face up from the hazard rolls to the apron, so anything short of the green will most likely get wet. I LOVE GOLF.....

Waiting for the balls to arrive, and as luck would have it, my Shotscope is dead, I am upgrading to the V5 and it is on the way. It should arrive by early next week. In the interim a little about me. About Me: I am from Santa Cruz, CA and my family has been here since 1910. I grew up playing everything but golf. I never saw the allure of golf. After high school I enlisted in the Army and that was my plan. After a traumatic knee injury cut my service time short, I returned to Santa Cruz and was looking for my next life story. A couple of weeks later my Grandfather was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and was not expected to make it 6 months. He asked me to go out and play golf with him, my dad and uncles. Of course I said yes, but wasn’t expecting to enjoy the golf just my time with him… Totally not the case. I WAS HOOKED! I got a job a local course in the cart shed and started playing as much as I could. Two years later ,I was playing on the golf team at college. Playing competitively for the next few years. Then it was time to get a real job, got married and life happened, not very much time for golf. Fast forward to 2015 and while on vacation in Maui, my love for golf was rekindled. More life changes and my wife Anna and I met. We have two boys at home with us and for the next 2 months they are the same age. (9 months difference between them). Anna and I got married last year and for our honeymoon we went to Ireland and Scotland. She is totally supportive of my golf, so much so that when I broached the idea of taking my clubs on our honeymoon she didn’t even pause when she said “you should absolutely do that.” While in Scotland we stayed at Carnoustie and I played three rounds there. She came out and walked with me and kept remarking how beautiful it was and even recognized some of the course from seeing the Open championship. I am playing 2-3 days a week currently with 1-2 days of practice. I play competitively whenever possible, aside from club tournaments and club match play, I am playing in the NCGA match play and 4 ball match play events this year.

I would have to say if you are in the market for a replacement, make the replacement count. Find the Manufacturer your swing works best with, get a new driver. In my experience the stock shafts that are offered are good/great shafts. My concern with a shaft replacement is all of what was mentioned above, no promise for improvement and you'll most likely be at least half in for a new driver. Go to a fitting day, hit a bunch of balls and find one you like. Cheers,

I don't think that there is anything wrong with courses that have a dress code. I have yet to see a course with branding in their dress code. Asking for someone to wear a collared shirt and pants is not obtrusive. Restaurants/Schools and other businesses have dress codes, golf courses are not unique in that respect. I would like to see more courses spend time on enforcing etiquette for play, fix your ball marks/divots. If someone wants to play in sweats or a tank top, they can do so on a course that doesn't mind that type of attire. My 2 pennies.... Cheers

Date 03/17/2024 Course Name Del Monte GC Gross Score 78 Course Handicap 8 Gross Strokes over/under par 6 Net Score to Par -2 Net Score 70 Net Birdies or better Longest Drive SIM Round? 1st round of NCGA Matchplay. It was the round of all over the place. OB tee shot on 1, but rolled a 45 foot putt to save bogey….1 gross birdie on the day and some solid shots. Getting back into the swing

9 Iron, 42º "old" loft style. This is when I need 150y, not a yard more (without a more than aggressive swing)....but depending on the day (wind, elevation, etc.) it can be a PW down to a 6iron....

This looks like a very interesting opportunity....Especially considering I was having a very similar conversation with my coach regarding the amount of thought (or too much) on the course which has plagued my scoring as of late.

I want to love them (BOA), but I am just not completely sold. I just got a new pair of the FJ premiere dry joys, my only complaint is that the ratchet is on the heel. I'd like to see it on the outside edge of the shoe. Flat laces can tighten anything.....

Date 03/01/2024 Course Name Del Monte GC Gross Score 81 Course Handicap 9 Gross Strokes over/under par 9 Net Score to Par 0 Net Score 72 Net Birdies or better 4 Longest Drive 292 SIM Round? The day where good strikes happened just hardly ever in sequence. Great tee shot, followed by a poor approach….. the round stated and ended well but pretty much everything in between was less than stellar. The one shining moment was on 12, got my long drive followed with a great 5 wood and stuffed my approach to about 4 feet, and made my birdie putt. With my longest putt of the day falling on 13. 48 feet, for bogey…. That’s golf I guess

I agree wi the all of the above, with the following distinction; a playable bomb is better than short in the fairway, however, if I have to club down to avoid hitting from potential “jail” I will. It’s logical to assume and is supported by data, the closer your approach shot is to the green, the closer your approach will be. For me it comes down to course management and knowing where I can be aggressive or where I need to be more conservative. cheers,

This is a funny/not funny story that is very similar to a round I had about 2 weeks ago. I was walking, another single walking and a pair in the cart. The other single, not social, not unfriendly, just very quiet. He was not a 7 or 8 handicap, he sprayed balls all over the course but when he got to his ball, he would hit again regardless of where the balance of the group was. By the 4th hole he was walking to the green while one of the players in the cart had to wait for him to be clear in order to hit his approach. Everyone gave him the chance to say something....crickets. On the 5th tee I mentioned he was creating an issue by getting in front of players trying to hit, which was making us slower not faster... He finished after 9 and the rest of the round was calm....

I have two equally tied at the top of the annoyance chart. 1. Slow play/not playing ready golf. I understand that people regardless of ability play at different paces. Sometimes you lose a ball, need some time to try and find it, but there is a limit to that time. If you are unable to stay ahead of the group behind you and there is room in front of you, let the faster group(s) play through. 2. Have a divot repair tool and USE IT!! I find it perplexing when I get up to my putt and have to spend time fixing or re-fixing divots from someone else. Whatever happened to fixing your divot/ball mark and another one on the green. Happy Wednesday....

All of the time should be ready golf unless you are playing in a tournament. The regular groups I play with will get 18 holes in 3 hours to 3:45. A real mixed group handicaps between 5 and 20, but everyone moves. Everyone has time to look over putts and set up shots, but no lolly gagging. Also why I prefer to play early morning, so I don’t get the crazy guy who doesn’t know golf ediquite, or the players who take 20 minutes a hole….

Callaway apex MB or apex pro. The 2020-2022 version can be had for a good price and they are solid Irons. No 37 degree 9 irons or anything like that, the 2024 version are a nice update to the older model as well.

My goals for 2024 are: Handicap at or below 5 by EOY. Last year started as a 15 got down to 8. Working on all aspects of my game to make this a real possibility Better course management: less hero shots, more accepting bad shots and not compounding them with bad follow-up shots. Make it to match play semi-finals or finals in NCGA tournament. Single elimination tournament last years field was 256, I got as far as round of 16, played terrible that day and my opponent was lights out!!! 120 rounds played, and get in some new courses. I have a trip planned this summer to Jamaica, and am planning to get in 3 or 4 rounds there.

I Love Tiger, has provided many years of great golf to watch. But I have no interest in the clothing line, nor buying what I am sure will be another money grab with over priced/over valued products. The logo looks like a minimalist version of LaCoste take out the alligator and replace it with a tiger.... Not a big fan of the celebrity/athlete/star haberdashery movement. Glad to see people branch out and do new things, but I prefer to buy clothes that don't have a 500% markup because it has someone's name on it, or sponsored by them. Save money, play more golf....

By the end of the week I'll have 20 rounds in for the year. All of these have been played with the X1 and still no complaints (other than a sleeves worth of balls that haven't made it off the course-plugged in the fairway and most likely still there) . The dozen balls from the review period (December '23-early January) have now been transitioned to the shag bag. The dozen I ordered in January are still in the bag, most likely up for the shag bag next month. I will be placing another order in a week or two. These are quality balls, I have found the biggest impact on my game with the X1 has been around the green. Looking forward to the next ODIN shindig @Jordan ODIN Golf maybe one in Nor Cal in the near future???? Cheers,

West coast for sure (for me, anyhow). So many courses and course styles. I am partial to Northern CA. A 90 minute circle from my house Harden Park (90 min) and Pebble Beach(30 min) and a bunch of great but less known tracks in between the two. But don’t get me wrong, tell me there’s golf to be had somewhere and I’m there to play.

For me, I have really tried to expand my short game to include any of the 4 wedges I carry and in some cases down to my 8 iron. I carry 46, 50, 54, and 58 degree wedges. I am looking at lie, position relative to the pin, where I am rough, apron, sand trap, waste area, etc. then I’m trying to determine what the green is doing between my ball and the pin. Is it sloping towards me, away, undulating, etc. last what is the best chance of hitting the shot closest to the pin. Risk/Reward to play a low/high, bump and run, flop, etc. An example would be my 58 degree I will use inside 10 yards, but if the lie is tight and the green is sloping away from me @10 yards I’ll use my 50 degree, lower bounce. Same distance and lie with the green sloping toward me I’ll use my 46 degree(pw). When I go to practice I will pick some distance between 10-60 yards trying to hit that mark with at least 4 clubs. Club release through impact is huge on getting the ball up quicker and landing soft, soft hands to let the butt of the club come back toward your hip or your belt buckle just after impact promotes the landing soft.

Taking the family to Jamaica in June for 10 days. There are four courses near the hotel I’m planning on playing; Cinnamon Hills, White witch, Half Moon and the Tryall club course. Looking forward to playing in the sunshine

Congratulations to the testers that got selected....Looking forward to reading some great reviews!!!

Date 02/08/2024 Course Name Del Monte GC Gross Score 79 Course Handicap 9 Gross Strokes over/under par 7 Net Score to Par -2 Net Score 70 Net Birdies or better 5 Longest Drive 280 SIM Round? Early morning round, playing from the blue tees (given all of the rain, probably not the best choice…). The course is pretty narrow and the greens are on the small side but probably the best greens to put on anywhere near me. Started slow with a bogey on 1 and missed the green on 2, 3, and 6. Green side bunker on those 3 holes but got up and down on all 3. 5 over on the front. Played more consistent on the back 3 bogeys, 5 pars and a birdie on 17 which was my long drive hole as well. Driver/ 3 wood to the front of the green, nearly made my chip for eagle…. not much rain expected this week so hopefu

count me in!!! Rain or shine this sounds like a lot of fun!