Oudefart

Scottie is days away from having first child. That’s who will “overthrow” him, look what happened to Spieth & Fowler most recently. I mean it in only the best of ways, but being a father/family changes the dynamic, it has to. From all outward signs, he will excel at that too, but I think it leaves the door open for someone younger like Aberg to be able to devote his time to pursuing the goal of #1. Doesn’t take anything away from Scheffler’s talent.

I have looked everywhere on the MGS site and can no longer find the BST forum or the classifieds. Is it just me? If so, someone please point me in the right direction and I will gladly own my confusion. If I'm not the only one and this is the first time people are hearing of it, I guess it speaks to the effectiveness of the forum/classifieds that until now no one noticed it missing. This is admittedly a bit self-serving as I have a Garage Sale worth of stuff I'd like to hopefully part with. Again, if it's obvious and I'm just confused, my apologies to the land.

Well, as you can imagine, 2 sides to every story. Full disclosure, I've been a fitter for 10 yrs and a big box retail. I'm not trying to be confrontational, just know "we" have experience(s) too. I've seen way more of you than you've see of me. The internet is your friend, but not necessarily mine. It's nice to have informed customers, but don't come in if you think you know more than me and you're going to tell me I'm wrong. That's a waste of both our times. We do have product training from every manufacturer we sell. Like anything else, it's on us to learn it and apply it. At our store, we have NO incentive to push one OEM over the other. We are afforded PUD pricing on product and those purchases are monitored by management, so one can't just buy everything. Someone mentioned a good fit being part lesson. I guess that's true (sort of). However, if you wanted a lesson, presumably you'd be going to a PGA pro and not me. Personally, I've been around many PGA Class A pros and really good players for years, so I have a fair amount of experience. However, any "tip/suggestion" you'd receive from me would have nothing to do with changing any mechanic in you swing. It's really difficult to fit a customer who CAN NOT make a consistent strike or pass at the ball. In addition, realistic expectations and honesty are really helpful. I've lost count of how often I hear, "I just can't hit indoors ...", "I'm just having a bad day ...", "I usually hit it much farther than this ..." From watching your swing, I doubt those things are true. I notice when I read many of these forum posts, I always check the posted index in the bio. More often than not, the higher index people (16 and up) have the most "answers" on topics like this and club choices/comparisons. Hmmm ... After a discussion of your goals, needs, wants and budget, I used the PING chart for static measurement and the Mizuno Swing Analyzer for shaft. It's a great tool and Mizuno carries 85%+ of the shafts other manufacturers also order, so I find it a great place to start. If you're not interested in Mizunos, we never go there from that point on. One quick Mizuno plug, they are they only manufacturer (for us anyway) that has basically no up charge on shafts (SteelFiber excluded). I've been to many many OEM fittings days and because it's a free-for-all, it's kinda on you to get the attention/information you need, even when they do it by appt. at green grass clubs. And again, those "fitters" are usually younger kids, tying to get into the business, with no ties that prevent them from living in there cars as they do it 8 days a week. Doesn't mean they don't know anything, but like before, if they don't love it and live it, that's the quality you receive. We have competitors for sure, some good some not. Inside my store, we have 7-8 employees who's title is fitter. You will undoubtedly get that many variations. Again, how much some mid-20 yr old kid, working through school, or someone more seasoned like myself, retired and immersed in the game knows is widely different. It's on you to do your due diligence. I don't mean to bash anyone, but I do have to say because I see it every day where I work. Club Champion and the shaft pureing. CC owns Pure SST, it's not hard to figure out why they push the extra $$ for a service that at this point is highly debated (check past forums). Lastly, though I do make commission and it's my job to have to leave the store with product and a sale, I repeatedly refuse to sell to you if it's not better. I'd rather make you a customer for an honest experience than feel badly and turn to Yelp to say so. I've even had customers call my manager to complain that I wouldn't sell them a driver. What I did was recommend they spend $500 on lessons first and then come back. Appreciate anyone reading this far.

If you’re shallow, you’re not hitting it fat. everything everyone else has said. For me the main thing about mats is potential for injury. I’m fortunate to have grass whenever I want/need. However within walking distance is a public course with mats., so sometimes. I noticed how much mats on concrete messes up my elbows, wrists and hands. If I go, its for an intentional drill of only 40 balls and I’m finished. Can’t afford the lingering aches and pains of that constant practice. At your current index, spending more time at a grass short game area would probably be more beneficial if improvement vs “grooving you swing” is the true goal.

Seems to me just at looking at these stats alone, the problem is 3/15 greens! Hit more greens in regulation and your won’t have to chip at all.

Well, for me this is an easy one. And perhaps admittedly speaks to my golf mental health. I never play in tournaments or for money (some charity scrambles for the cause). In my experience of 30 yrs, there are just too many of these people around. It’s not why I play or what draws me to the game. I find that if you’re so consumed by saying you won the 14th flight of your club championship and you need to “cheat” to do it, then I don’t need to play with you. I’ve been in rounds where a player in my group is admittedly massaging his index for an upcoming trip with lots of money on the line. When one plays 4-5 rounds a week, it’s pretty easy to move the needle +/- 3-5 points. That’s too much mental hopscotch for me. In fact, I recently figured out how much more I enjoy the game since I stopped posting scores about 4 yrs ago. I know what I shoot and I play for my own personal expectations.