Prodigal Duffer

I was in SoCal last weekend and would have to assume that using the balls in the yard is off the table for just about anyone there. If I had to take my balls somewhere to use them, I would probably use them a lot less. Are you making trips to the range often? If so, then the cost of birdie balls versus range buckets might weigh in their favor.

Yesterday, I practiced about 30 minutes with the putter, trying to get the ball through a narrow gate without touching the sides. That got pretty frustrating, as I kept opening or closing the face slightly. Finally got to a point where I felt good and confident with the stroke, and got several through clean. Then, I went outside to work on my irons. As I've posted before, I am very focused on my iron play, particularly the takeaway and coming through with the feeling of swinging right. My first dozen or so were all okay to decent. Then, I had a breakthrough feel/thought and started striping the balls accurately. I also played on Sunday and hit the irons well, so things seem to be going in the right direction. Then, it will be on to short game stuff, where I am bleeding strokes.

Date 04/22/2024 Course Name Oeste Ranch Gross Score 93 Course Handicap 15 Gross Strokes over/under par 22 Net Score to Par 7 Net Score 78 Net Birdies or better Longest Drive Slope/rating 70.0/121 I've been struggling with my irons all year, and for this round, I hit them much better. Game is trending in the right direction. Appreciate you doing the flighting system. Makes the tour feel more inclusive for duffers like me.

Great review, Leaky. I also play an MCC Plus midsize. Your comments about the Tour Star sizing were exactly the insight I sought, as I am extremely interested in replacing my gamers with the Star. How does the texture of the Tour Star compare to the MCC?

Traveled this weekend, with return flight getting in around midnight, so took the day off and played golf! I had three three-putts, and this time, the greens were not to blame. Twice, I hit it too soft causing the ball to break one revolution before the hole. Once, I was just frustrated and didn’t line up the putt. Apparently, the Array can’t fix stupid. Would it be fair to ding the putter a point for that? Lol I left six putts short (which I define as at least two feet short). Of my remaining misses, all were within two feet or were tap-ins. Here’s an example of one of the misses: I also tried two putts from the fringe: Both ended up as tap-ins. So far, I am happy with the putter.

I like the way it looks and feels better than my gamer. I don't have enough playing data with it to say it's staying in the bag.

So, here are the numbers from my accuracy testing. I did this by seeing how many balls (out of ten) I could put through a gate at 3 feet, 5 feet, and 9 feet. I repeated this test ten times over roughly two weeks to get more representative data. Each time I tested, I had my son roll a dice to determine the order of distances and then to determine if I would start with the gamer (Odyssey R-ball) or the Array. Once order and distance were determined, I would putt ten times with each putter at each distance. For the results, I noted whether it was good, neutral, or bad. I used Shot Scope's make rate for 10-15 handicaps as the benchmark, seeing as I am now floating around a 15 index. First conclusion is that I need to work on my putting! Surprisingly, I was very good from 9 feet (Shot Scope puts the make rate at between 38.1-39.6%). I was flat out terrible at 5 feet (84-89%) and okay at 3 feet (84-89%). I was noticeably better with the Array at 5 and 9 feet; my gamer was marginally better at 3 feet. The most significant outlier day was day 10. I had been aerating my lawn all afternoon, and was pretty tired. I think it had a significant impact on my testing. One thing that I noticed through this component of my test was when I would open or close the face. I got better about it the more I did this test, and will focus on that as I start regularly practicing my putting.

Master’s Sunday round for me. Score wise, I had my best 18 of the year. I had seven (!!!) three-putts, greens were in terrible condition: Irons have been my weakness for the last five or six months, and in general, I hit them well today. I felt very encouraged. Good day off the tee, highlight being the first hole, where my tee shot ended up in the green side bunker 329 yards away: Given the number of three putts, which was very atypical for me, I feel like I’m getting a lot closer to where I want to be. But, with my score (91), my index is going up a little. Alas, golf.

Got out to play today, and it was a tale of two nines. Front nine, I had zero three putts and, in general, rolled the ball pretty well. I lost it on the back nine, mostly in my ability to judge speed. In part, this was a contributing factor: Balls were bouncing on the green, and the speed was very inconsistent. First hole, I had this look for birdie: The practice green had been rolling fairly quick, so I putted accordingly. It was not quick. Thankfully, made my par, but this was a preview of the speed struggles I would have the rest of the day. Back nine, I three-putted six times (!!!). A few of those, I had absolutely massive first putts (70ish feet), so I don’t feel too bad about those. I did miss a few short ones where my line was slightly off. I did make some good putts, though, including this five footer to save par: The other thing I was curious about was how the head cover would fit in a cart bag. It does not fit well, but looks great! Shot Scope thinks I missed about 60 percent of my putts short, but I took notes this time (and yes, @cnosil, I am going to adjust it on the dashboard). On the front nine, of my eight missed putts, only two were short. The long ones were typically within a couple of feet. Back nine, was all over the place, but only left a couple short. So far, the Array is meeting the benchmarks I’ve set; strokes gained, not today, but I think that was more me (and the course condition) than anything else. I’ll test that hypothesis on the course hopefully sooner than later!

Another accuracy test today. Pretty interesting results: I was really good with both the Array and the gamer at 3 feet and 9 feet, and stunk it up from 5 feet with both. Array really showed out at 9 feet, making 9 of 10. Felt really good at three feet, too (10 of 10): Happily, my stroke is generally better and more consistent, thanks in part to me practicing through this testing. Great side benefit.

No. It's about 30 yards. Already planned to do so.

Spending on something else is logical (and probably what I'll do). Thought behind the driver is that if I get fit, maybe I can hit it even better. I don't like having a huge gap in my bag, but given how rare I find myself in that distance, it may be something I just live with.

More accuracy testing today (10 balls with gamer and Array through gates at 3’, 5’, and 9’). Tonight, the gamer outperformed the Array at every distance. That is the first time that’s happened. I am running this accuracy test ten total times to help account for outlier performances (I suspect tonight is one of those).

@Parshooter36 my putter did not come with a torque wrench. If I wanted to swap out the weights in mine, would I need to purchase a wrench from Edel, or do you think I could make do with one I already have (or pick up at a hardware store)?

I bought a used Callaway Epic Max driver a few years ago. I hit it pretty well, very good distance (avg around 290) and usually accurate. I did not get fit for that driver. My current bag has a D, 3W, then 5i on down. There is probably a 30 yard gap between my 3W and 5i, but I rarely find myself in a place where I need a club for that distance. So, my question for the forum: should I get fit for a new driver, or for something to fill the gap betwen the 3W and 5i?