IndyBonzo

Good morning Spies! Wrapping up our trip today, and driving back to Indy in just a bit, on the heels of two trips to the airport to drop my parents (5 am) and brother and family (7 am) for their flights. All good and looking forward to a relaxing drive and home/beds tonight. @Coachbutt I send you good wishes and hope your recovery continues and is complete. The holidays are almost over. It’s time for spring. Right? RIGHT? I wish you all great days.

I have bought two pairs of shoes, a putting mat, and a putting trainer thingy. All are good/great - esp the shoes which are true to size and super comfortable.

Great job @azstu324! Good vid too. Looking forward to the next one!

That is a very good deal! And FWIW, I also put an Iomic grip on that shaft, and the responsiveness is top notch. Fingers crossed for both of us!

So sorry @Vernon! You can justify waiting until I get some more testing done, if you like. That will take me a few weeks to be sure, if not longer. Early returns are awfully promising however . . .

Good morning Spies! We are enjoying some family time away from home this week. Yesterday was pretty great, as we spent a ton of time hanging out and listening to music on Broadway in Nashville, and also purchased some cowboy boots for 4/5 family members! (This was an unusual extravagance, but one that was promised when we planned the trip.) It was a good day and today holds similar promise. I am of course still the only person out of bed, and have been enjoying the youtube fireplace on the ABNB tv, some good coffee, and quiet time to get work done on my day off. (There really are no days off, it seems, but that's ok.) I hope you all have great days!

I have sustained curiosity about the Axiom iron shafts, and would be interested in that review. Also, I hope the forum keeps up the good work in exploring lower cost options in the launch monitor/home sim space. Those have been very interesting and the tech keeps getting better/prices keep getting lower.

OK that's pretty cool. Also, nice distance and dispersion @GolfSpy_BEN!

I would say the majority here have thought the PLB-A and MP5-L (tough to find - discontinued) have been the best options. Others - feel free to disagree if you feel I have that wrong! That said, my first round with the Accra FX 3.0 140 M0 shaft was nothing short of incredible. I am not ready to say that it is definitely going to kick out my MP5, or that it is certainly better than the PLB, but if it continues to perform similarly it will become *my* gamer for certain. It was really long, and incredibly accurate. I have much more testing to do after the holidays and will report back. I am very excited about it, if you cannot tell. Ha. Maybe it will join the GOAT list?

This is interesting to me that sound impacts feel for so many. That has not been my experience. While sound has never been a big factor for me with driver, I have enjoyed very much the muted sound of the Paradym TD, while also finding that it has the best feel of any driver I have hit - I always know where I struck the ball on the face (perhaps bc I hit the center too rarely, but anyway). Query how much the shaft impacts sound too, if at all? This is purely anecdotal, but in my last round with a new shaft I thought my driver sounded even more muted than usual. This had no impact on feel for me at all. And to be clear, I am not saying others are wrong, it’s just interesting the different importance folks place on different things.

Date 12/24/2023 Course Name Bluff Creek Gross Score 77 Course Handicap 8 Gross Strokes over/under par 5 Net Score to Par -3 Net Score 69 Net Birdies or better 6 Longest Drive 284 SIM Round? *Personal Best* 77

Thank you for the very kind sentiment, Jason @sirchunksalot! You are so right - what a great place and great year. We had a fun-filled day with three separate celebrations with family and friends. Lots of fond memories. Tomorrow we head to Nashville TN with all three daughters for a few days with my parents and only sibling’s family. They are meeting us halfway (sorta) as they travel from Florida. Although we do see each other frequently, it’s been too long since we have all been together at once, and it will only get tougher as the next generation finishes up school and starts families of their own. With daughters aged 21, 20, and 17 it will likely be here within the decade. It promises to be a very fun week. I hope all the Spies had a very special day.

Merry Christmas Spies! we have had a quiet morning before gatherings with family and friends starts in a few minutes. It will be a fun-filled day! Hope you all have the best days!

Thanks @Josh Parker! Hope the rain stops and you can get out soon!

Had a great time today in the unseasonably warm weather. Played one of the few open public courses, Bluff Creek south of Indy, for the first time. The tees were winter tees, meaning we hit in front of the normal tee boxes, so the course played shorter. I will report more in the Otto-Phlex thread, but my Christmas present driver shaft was money for me today, both in terms of length but even more importantly accuracy. 57% FH is very high for me, and the misses were in the short cuts so very playable. Putting came around once I adjusted to the longer winter grass on the greens. 33 putts is not bad. Irons were solid all day too. And I got to join up with another single for the back nine, and we hit it off well. All in all, it was a very fun time. The score was 39-38-77 (+5). That would be a PB for me, but I hesitate to count it given the somewhat shorter hole lengths. But I will take it and smile all through Christmas! Happy holidays to all you Spies!

Good morning, Spies! I have missed the forum lately quite a bit. The pre-holiday craziness at work was amazingly productive and fruitful. It has finally subsided (until Tuesday at least). We wrapped up every current loose end yesterday afternoon. This almost never happens, especially at year-end, and it is an awesome feeling heading into the holidays. Early to bed last night hoping to catch up on some rest, and I suppose I did some, but after 6 hours my brain rebelled in shock and horror at my laziness and tossed me back into waking reality. So here I am, before heading out to the garage to regrip, cut, and assemble a couple driver shafts for winter testing. Today shows some real promise. Santa has asked for some assistance this morning that necessitates an early trip to the box stores at opening time. Then . . . dare I dream? It's supposed to be 60 degrees, clear, and calm in Indy this afternoon, and the golf green light was given last night by FABWIFE. Fingers crossed, Spies. We may have a Christmas Miracle golf round this afternoon. I wish you all a Super Sunday and the very best of holidays!! P.S. Made it to the box store shortly after opening. I saw this, panicked, and left. Escaped!

Happy Holidays all! And thanks for all you do here!

@Ding-dong I have gotten accurate results with the online swing weight algorithms (and also with the iPhone app) without having to invest in a swingweight scale. Far be it from me to discourage someone from getting more golf gear, but . . ..

Another vote here for the Good Morning Thread, which is what really made me feel like part of this community. I am grateful. The Otto Phlex thread brought me here in early 2023, however, and it is still active and super interesting. Thread 1A for me. Finally, the Show Us Your Maltby is a super fun corner of the forum. Go there, be encouraged to spend your money on what feels like savings (just like I did)! To all MGS staff and mods: Thanks for this great place.

OK, Christmas is nutso. Santa has been extremely good to me, and I have the ProForce V2, Accra FX 3.0, and another MP5 (which I intend to tip trim 1/2" and maybe again to 1" depending on testing) all for this little OP experiment against my current (non-tip-trimmed) MP5, the GWX, and likely also my neighbor's PLB A-flex I built for him. This should be a fun winter. I am crazy excited to test these and report back. It will take a while . . . Man I wish adapters were not so expensive!

I really like my driver! A lot! But ... darnit. If anyone compares the KE4 Tour against the Paradym TD, please report in here! EDIT: Anyone try hitting the Pro off the deck?

Good morning, Spies! The weather in Indy is confused. Cold today. No golf in the near future. Maybe Friday or over the weekend we can bundle up and get a round in! A full week of work ahead for me, and then lots of family time between Christmas and NYE. I have to do some shopping in there somewhere! Looking forward to it! I wish you all a smooth week as we slide into the heart of the holidays!

Good morning, Spies! Congrats on the milestone @EasyPutter! Jason - @sirchunksalot so sorry about the storage unit and other difficult happenings. Hang in there! More work craziness here. Normal, and not as awful as it could be since I really appreciate and respect my co-workers. I am playing a little hooky later today as FABWIFE, I, and longtime friends are headed to Louisville to see the band Dirty Honey. This will be my 5th DH show I think, and second on this tour. Their shows are so full of energy - very, very highly recommend. https://www.dirtyhoney.com/ I wish you all super days!!!

FABWIFE and I too! We are enjoying Lawmen: Bass Reeves. I was saddened by the death of amazing actor Andre Braugher this week. It has inspired me to start watching Homicide: Life on the Streets very soon.

OK, so . . . I happily stumbled into a nice deal on the Accra shaft via another forum. That settles the Christmas question I suppose. I will test it against my MP5 and let you all know how it goes. That may be after the holidays. It's the Accra FX 3.0 140, M0 (like L flex), 48g and 5.5 TQ. Worst case, it has a good resale value right now.