Fore67

Played lots of winter golf in Palm Springs, but never had the opportunity to play in 100+ temps. I expect my stretching routine would be quite different if my body was warm all the time. I don't mind sweating if I'm working out, but sweating in 100+ heat would mean I probably wouldn't want to be too early to the course to endure that for more time than necessary! Maybe I move south for 6 months (less a day) a year to enjoy what you are speaking about!! FORE! Mike

It is one of the times I get to really relish! I follow the greens crew (and I know them all, they know I'm there so they do a nice job). I see the sunrise, I smell the cut grass, I get the newly cut holes and newly mown greens! I also usually get to play in around 3 hours! I'm home before my girl has her first cup of coffee! I get in my own rythym! I know I have to wait until the greens crew finishes work in front of me so I get to work on slowing myself down, pre-shot routine and breathing. If I catch the guys mowing fairways, I like to challenge myself to NOT hit it to the side of the fairway that hasn't been cut yet (so my co-worker doesn't have to get out of his machine to move my ball or to stop doing a pass just to wait for me). It truly is a wonderful time of day. Every once in a while I get to tee off before the first time of the day. Play as a single and get a head start on the rest of the tee sheet. Working on the crew does have a few advantages!! FORE! Mike

Particularly generous! Must be great to be a member of the teams at your course. Nice bonuses at the end of the season! FORE! Mike

When I'm on holiday and playing a course where you are forced to ride, usually the guys will clean my clubs at the end of the round. I always tip them $2-5, depending on what cash I have in my pocket. Always tip the bar/beer cart people! I work at a public golf course in Vancouver, Canada. Because the staff that work in the restaurant are city employees, the credit/debit machine is set up NOT to allow tips (as they would be getting paid more than other city employees making the same wage). I tip those people at various times of the year, $5/10/20 depending on how much I've used the clubhouse in a month. I've gotten to know all the staff over the years and they treat me like they appreciate my actions. I love where I work and play. I want everybody to be as happy as I am while on the property. FORE! Mike

I'm one who likes to be the first one out of the blocks too! Unfortunately, I'm too old to go out without stretching at least! Even for a 6:00AM time, I still have to be in the parking lot for around 5:15 latest, to properly prepare for the game. When starting work at 5, I'm up for about 3:50 (nuts, I know), but getting up at 4:30 to tee off by 6 feels like sleeping in. Crazy heh? FORE! Mike

There are two extremes for me. The best one is where I have plenty of time before hand and I get to the course at least an hour ahead of tee time. I do a complete stretch, get to hit a warm-up bucket (30 balls) and spend a good deal of time on the putting and chipping greens to get a good feel for how my game is going to go. The other is when I finish my work shift and am on the tee within a half hour. That 30 minutes is action packed, change clothes, get my clubs organized, head to the proshop to pay and check in, then possibly to the restaurant to grab a sandwich and a road pop for the first tee. I get a few quick stretches, a few practice swings, maybe a few putts and hit the first hole after getting up at 4:30 and putting in 6 or 7 hours on the maintenance crew. My best results are when I get the time to properly prepare, but I have had a number of games under par coming from the second situation. I do find that, I usually run out of gas on the 3 or 4 closing holes of a very long day. The days I don't are usually memorable. FORE! Mike

Love the pic of the Stooges! I used to have this in my games room (in another earlier version of me). Always brings a smile to my face!! Cheers + FORE! Mike

Congratulations Testers! Have a great start to summer with your new Callaway babies!! Jealous! FORE! Mike

The course is always a good place to work on the lies that you don't get at the range, but repetition of technique is harder because you are never hitting the same shot twice in a row. I often lament that I have to play more, but without any practice, playing just copies bad errors that could be fixed at the range. It's a difficult balance to achieve. If you only have time to play once a week, it's a shame to have to switch it out for range time. I often say that I have to play my way out of playing poorly. It doesn't work as well now that I'm a senior. It used to work quite well even into my 50's, but now I need to be on the range to work on tempo and ball striking. GOLF, what a fickle game. When you've got it, you hang on for as long as you can. When you don't got it, you try desperately to get it back. THAT IS OUR QUEST!! FORE! Mike

Well, I managed to beat the reigning Senior Club Champion today with a little better ball striking day, but a little poorer putting performance. Shot 75 again, hit 10/13 fairways (2 more in the first cut). Hit 11 GIR, 31 putts. Off my worst drive of the day, on #2, I holed out from 109 yds, no bounce, flew in the hole! My first eagle of the year. Made birdie on #9 to finish the front even. Made a sloppy double on 13, and 2 more bogeys no birdies on the back. Coulda, shoulda, woulda... starting to hit it much better, still need to clean up some sloppy short game work. The chipping green at the course is still not open (soon) so looking forward to being able to get some reps in there. FORE! Mike

Update. Was an absolutely stunning morning. Started at 6 degrees but quickly warmed so that I took layers off. Hit 8/13 Fairways, missing 2 others by a couple feet. Hit 9 Greens, missing 3 others on the fringe. 28 putts, no 3-putts. Shot 75. Small incremental improvement. Need to work on my short game, though not off by much. Need some reps to get sharper. I tee it up with the defending Senior Club Champion this Sunday. Will be fun to see how our games match up. He's definitely in my sights for later this summer! Here's to better days! FORE! Mike

Haven't had a chance to hit balls very much this past month. After playing so well and practicing so much in January, I got sick in March and had a really tough time getting rid of a cough. That being said, I went from palying some of the best golf in my life, to a month of playing some of the worst. Played once a week for the past 6 weeks and have been really frustrated. Getting in my own way mostly making many mental errors that I can't remember making for a long time. Not swinging consistently either and not committing to the shots. I chalk this up to really not feeling well and being on medication, a steroid and antibiotics for most of the month. I was up at 4:30 today, worked from 5:45am - 1:00pm and had a chance to hit a 30 ball bucket at the range after work. Simply working on contact and firing my hips. Hit 5, 8 & A irons. Had a good stretching session before striking a ball. Finally a beautiful afternoon, with full warm sun hitting me square in the face! Results were decent. I'm teeing it up first thing in the morning, 6:30 (first group of the day), so I wanted to get some swings in before going out cold. The range most certainly won't be open that early tomorrow. Need to get up around the same time and do an even more comprehensive stretch and use the seat warmer in the car to make sure I arrive ready to play. Should only be about 6 degrees Celcius in the morning, so will have to layer up. Course is 10 days post-punch so I'm not expecting anything for a score, just going to concentrate on hitting fairways and greens and see how it comes out. FORE! Mike

Hard to bet against Scottie at the moment, though birth of first child pending, that in itself is enough to provide the ice! Spieth and Rory are the most significant players to have been cooled by children. Depends how much you commit to being a dad. Tiger didn't slow down much while having kids, but I won't go in to what I think about Tiger and his early parenting skills. Look for Aberg to insert himself into the conversation. OWGR is only getting started for Ludvig. I still think Rory can close the gap, but that's just my wishful thinking. So much has to happen for Rory to get him back to his glory days. It's been a long time since a major victory. Let a couple slip away, the Cam Smith Open, the Wyndham Clark US Open ... Just my thoughts, FORE! Mike

I joined MGS after I learned about their golf ball testing. I used to pick up any ball that was in my bag, or any decent ball that was on sale. Rarely played the Titleist Pro V1 or V1X because I told myself I couldn't afford them. I work on the grounds of a golf course where I find so many balls. Most of them are on a catch and release program, I give particular brands to guys I work and play with. I keep all the pristine Pro V1's and V1X's for myself. After the MGS continued ball testing and the fact that Titleist is the most consistent, high performance ball, I will play nothing else ever again. Now that I've been on the forums, I've found like minded people and the opportunity to provide some of my perspective to others who have questions or comments. I have put my name in for many product tests now and over time, as I build my own post and + numbers, maybe that will happen for me. For now, I chime in when there is something that interests me. FORE! Mike

Well, things have really taken a 180 degree turn. Caught some form of bug on March 11th and have been fighting a cough and sinusitis for the past month. Haven’t been able to play much because of how I’ve been feeling, medications I’ve been on and weather. Sad to say, my handicap has gone from +1.2 to 0.2. My lowest score in a month has been 74. The game leaves you far faster than the time it takes to make incremental gains. I am confident that I will get It back. Feeling much better and have lots of golf planned for end of April and May!! FORE! Mike