BobBC78

As I mentioned the other day in the "What Did You Practice..." thread, on Tuesday I did some short game practice at the North Kingstown practice green. Shown below is my "Scoring Method" practice scorecard covering short putts (the so called 1-Putt circle), lag putts (2-Putt circle) and chipping. Being that this review is for the Argolf Pendragon XL, I'll focus on the putting pieces. 1-Putt circle - For my initial effort with the Pendragon XL, I set the 1-Putt circle at 3' and sinking 9/10 putts, I moved out to 4' for this test. As you can see, I was not quite so successful sinking just 6/10. However, the first putt just lipped out, ending 6" from the hole, whereas the others were mis-reads (the breaks on our practice green are subtle). I'll keep it at 4' for my next practice, but up the goal to 8/10. 2-Putt circle - This is where the big improvement happened. Based on only getting 4/10 within the 1-Putt circle on my first try, I kept the 2-putt circle at 15' to 30' this time around. While there is no question that it is easier to get within a 4' radius circle than a 3' radius circle, my results this time around were 8/10. Importantly to note, of the 8 which were successful, all but one were 2' or less to the hole, bringing to mind something L.A.B. CEO Sam Hahn mentioned in one of the broomstick putting videos he has done, that L.A.B.s experience is that those using broomsticks get better at lag putting faster than short putting. While this observation seems counter intuitive, my results so far seem to agree. Next time out, I go to 36'! My 9-hole league starts tomorrow evening, which will be my first round using the Pendragon XL!

Today I did about an hour at the NKGC practice green: Putting with the Pendragon XL broomstick putter: Did the "star" drill with 5-tees set at 4' each around a hole (1-putt circle), went twice around going through my entire routine each on each putt and ended up sinking 6/10, with two of the misses lip outs. I'll stay at 4' until my makes are at least 8/10. Using the tees set at 4' as a target, I then hit ten lag putts, again using my full routine, from 15' to 30' (2-putt circle), with the goal being to get into the 1-putt circle. On this test I got 8/10 within 4' of the hole. Next time I do this drill, I'll move out to 36'. Chipping: I hit 10 chips of varying distances from the fringe of the practice green with the Smart Sole 4 C and CBX4 50* and 58* wedges. My goal was to get at least 6 of these chips within 4-yards of the hole; results were inside 4-yards 9/10 times so next time I go to 3-yards from the hole

Full swing - S4I Drill 1 with a 5W, slow motion LH, RH then both hands, ten reps each Chipping - Worked on distance control and technique today. Set targets at 5-yards and 10-yards, chipped with 58* (20 balls), 50* (20 balls) then "C" (10 balls) alternating between landing each ball on or near each target and half-way between them.

Today I went to a nearby range which also has a pitch and putt course. At the range I worked on wedges, 9i, 7H, 5W and Driver. I was able to video (DTL only) each club, which I will study over the weekend and forward to Kirk Junge for comment. I also used my PRGR launch monitor to check carry distances with each club. It was the first time I hit the 7H, so it was really useful to learn its carry distance (110 to 115 yards) as I expect it to be useful for 125 +/- approach shots. As anticipated, the trajectory of my 7H is much higher than that of my 7i, so it should hold the green better. The pitch and putt is really more of a short game practice area with several target greens (which were in really poor condition, BTW) and a practice bunker, than a golf course. I did some chipping, followed by pitches from 25, 40 and 50 yards from the green. Of the 22 shots from 40 to 50 yards, 17 hit the green and stayed, three hit the green, but rolled off the back and 2 came up short. All-in-all, it was a really worthwhile practice session!

First choice would be "Geezergolf with Tony" for a playing lesson with Tony Griffin (one of Kirk Junge's teachers) on the "Setup4impact" method. Second would be "Golf Mates" for a round with Old Man Pat. These are two guys who are a couple of years older than me, but play FAR better!

Overcast day today, with some rain predicted for a little later so practice at home. Chipping: Practiced chipping motion with my 50* then 58*. My basic chip shot is similar to Derek Deminsky's "low shot" and Dan Grieves "release 1" started with an open stance and trying to keep the arc consistent. I hit about 10 3-5 yard carry shots with each club, focusing on technique; i.e. block practice. Putting: Broomstick method with the Pendragon XL; did the PuttOUT gauntlet (best score yet of 13/20) and ten putts through a putting gate set at 18" in front of the ball (9/10).

Question for other Shot Scope users. I broke the screw off my putter sensor late last season, after which I used manual putting (SS was out of stock on the putter sensors at the time). Do I recall correctly hearing that the X5 watch will read V3 sensors? If so, is there any reason I couldn't use my V3 putter sensor as a replacement?

I have had the Pendragon XL for one week as of today and really like the way it works. While this review is intended to be primarily of the putter itself, it can't help including the technique which is quite different than that for conventional putting. A couple of points which were clear from my research were (i) mastering the technique and distance control can take some time and (ii) fit is critical. Regarding the second point, several days practicing with this putter at the 46" length for which @GolfSpy_BEN was fit, I came to the conclusion that it was too long for me based on how I felt most comfortable addressing the ball and so I have shortened it to 44". It was not so much that I couldn't get the putter to work at 46", but that given the way I naturally stood with the putter, it felt awkward at 46" and the end of the grip sat close enough to my sternum that inadvertently anchoring it was a real possibility. The start line control is so good that I have moved the gate to 18" in front of the ball (from 12") which in one of his YT videos, Phil Kenyon suggests represents a 0.5* error. I was able to get 9/10 through the gate without hitting the side.

Continuing the theme of this being short game week, today was chipping practice in the yard with my 3 primary chipping clubs: 42* Smart Sole "C" and 50* and 58* CBX4s. I set a "target" (my shag bag) at 5-yards and worked on carrying the ball to that distance, using the same body-driven, no hands swing with each club. What is interesting, to me at least, is that a swing of approximately 7:00 to 5:00 with each of these clubs results in the same 5-yard +/- carry. Until my home course allows chipping to the practice green so I can determine the exact rollout, working on carry will have to do.

Putting practice today at the NKGC practice green, in which they finally cut holes, as opposed to having flags only, making for better practice. The object today was to compare my gamer (counterweighted original 2-Ball) with the Argolf Pendragon XL broomstick which I am testing, as well as getting some practice on short and long putting. Today's training session involved (i) setting 5-tees around a hole at 3', today's 1-putt circle, and putting twice around the circle (goal is make 9/10 putts) followed by (ii) lag putting from 15' to 30', today's 2-putt circle, (goal of getting 6/10 anywhere in the 3' radius circle around the hole). With my gamer I was a mediocre 6/10 from the 1-putt circle and 5/10 from the 2-putt circle, whereas with the Pendragon XL I was 9/10 from the 1-putt circle and 4/10 from the 2-putt circle. Today was my first opportunity to putt with the Pendragon on grass and my first ever putts ever with it from longer than 6'. I was extremely pleased with the short putt results and not too disappointed with the lag putt results in view of my lack of experience with the broomstick method on grass and the fact that 3 of the 10 putts missed being in the circle by 1-3"! Because I made the "1-putt circle" goal with the Pendragon, the next time I do this drill, I'll move to 4'.

Congratulations to all of the testers! I'm looking forward to reading what you all learn about the new L.A.B. offering.

Worked on broomstick putting technique on my PuttOUT mat, followed by Junge Drill 1 (a 2' long body driven swing through the impact area using a ball). ten each with 9i and 5W. Also did practice full swings with the 5W looking to brush the ground through the impact area.

Aside from the putting drills which I mentioned in the Argolf testing thread, I did Kirk Junge's Drill 1 (basically a short swing through the impact area) with my 7H.

I have had the Pendragon XL for a couple of days now, during which time I have played around with the setup and grip, as well as working on making a pendulum type swing using the big muscles. I'm starting to feel comfortable with this method and so today did a trial run of my two primary tests, with the following results: Gate drill - Putt 10 balls through a 5.5 cm wide gate set 1' in front of the ball. Goal is to get 10/10 cleanly through the gate w/o touching the sides. My score today was 7/10. PuttOUT Gauntlet - Two balls each at 1' intervals from 2' to 6'; Score - Miss = 0 pts, Make=1pt, Perfect Putt = 2 pts. Today I got 12 pts with 2 perfect putts, both from 4'. I will track both the Pendragon and my gamer for the next week or so at which time I will report back with aggregate results for both methods. In case you're wondering, yes the result pictured below is real and not a setup (or AI trickery) .

Worked on Phil Kenyon's gate drill, broomstick style today.

Echoing @Jim Shaw , yesterday I likewise had a frustrating day on the course. Deciding to be smart and warmup first, I went to the range and hit a small (32-ball) bucket, then walked 9-holes. Perhaps not the best idea to do both this early in the season as I was out of gas by the end of the round! My round included a mix of poor ball striking (including topping a 5W tee shot into a hazard, shanking a 7i and fatting two 9i shots) and three putting, not once but 3 times (poor distance control and missing a short putt). It didn't help that after a rainy March (over 12") and first week of April, the course was pretty wet (soggy fairways, some bunkers with standing water), but weaknesses were exposed. After spending some time to evaluate the round this morning, I have set my practice plan for the next 2-weeks.

Yes, I have done this as well. We were out on Block Island (a small island off RI between Long Island, NY and Martha's Vinyard, MA) several years ago I looked at the northern end of the island and thought it would be a great place for a links course!

@MissionMan - Thanks for doing this thorough review! Your lessons learned section was particularly helpful and, like others, I will be interested to read your "later learnings" as you continue to develop on the long stick (pun intended).

Always a great time of year when The Masters happens. While its hard to bet against Scheffler, a lot can happen which is why the tournament is so fun to watch.!

Practiced hitting short chip and pitch shots with my 50* wedge to different targets in the yard. I'm hoping to play on Tuesday!

Full Swing - Did Kirk Junge's Drill-1 today, 10 each with lead hand and trail hand only (no ball), then 20 with both hands and a ball, Chipping - chips with 52* wedge.

Great post! My primary care doc, a good golfer, has a wife and two preteen kids. At my appointment earlier this year he told me that the four of them went to the Topgolf in Cranston on NY Eve (early) to do some Topgolf and have some dinner. Although they apparently had fun, he let me know that as a golfer he found the experience disappointing and also at about $300.00 for the four of them, expensive. I have not been to TG and at this point have no plans to do so.

Although rain is forecast for today thru Friday, it will not be starting until later, so I was able to get to the range this morning. I am working with Kirk Junge through his online Setup4Impact program to change to a single plane swing. His feedback based on a video from Friday is that I take the club too far inside on the backswing, resulting in my downswing path being too in-to-out necessitating me closing the face in order to prevent a push. Based on my experience from last season and Trackman data, this observation is dead on. In order to create a straighter path, Kirk recommended that I focus on getting the feeling that I am moving the club somewhat outside during the backswing, particularly during drills. Toward that aim, I used an alignment rod and focused on keeping the club outside the rode for as long as possible. Using this station, I hit 9-to-3 shots with my 6H, working into full shots, followed by 5W, PW and Driver in that order. A small bucket (about 30 balls) took approximately an hour and was productive. Also practiced some bunker shots (the practice bunker was basically mud), chipping and a little putting.

Putting: Kenyon putting gate drill - got 10/10 through the gate, but it took two tries. Full swing: Did Kirk Junge Drill 1 with an 8i (10 balls), followed by Junge Drill 2 (basically 9 to 3 swings) 20 balls. Rain is predicted for the until at least Friday, so unfortunately it will be indoors for me.

Happy Easter Sunday all!