lloydj67

Today was a windy day, so I practiced keeping the back below the wind and shaping low fades. I did the same with Driver so I have some options off the tee. 

Today was a windy day, so I practiced keeping the back below the wind and shaping low fades. I did the same with Driver so I have some options off the tee. 

Good morning spies! Off to the zoo with the family. Supposed to be a beautiful day in NC.  Watch some masters on the phone on the way home. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

G’day golfers,

It’s finally here (almost)
The wait is over (almost)
THE FIRST ROUND OF THE MASTERS IS MOMENTS AWAY (almost)
Every year it feels like an eternity from the start of the season until The Masters arrives, and just like every year, all of a sudden it is here. Despite all of the hype and focus, The Masters has a way of sneaking up on you.
It’s comforting to know that, while golf is currently controversially fractured, the focus can still be narrowed a few times a year to celebrate the sport as a unit and host a tournament to find THE BEST player of that moment in time.
Although, that might not be different this year as Taylor Gooch is not in the field.
Let’s take a drive down Magnolia Lane and dig into The Masters 2024

 
The Masters is played at Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta Georgia and is a 7,555 yard, par-72 course and arguably one of the most famous golf courses in the world along side St Andrews Old Course and Pebble Beach’s Stadium Course.
Each year, Augusta tweaks and changes the course to keep it challenging for the ever improving crop of talent. Generally the changes are pushing the tee boxes back to lengthen or add a new angle to the fairway or green.
This years change is a minor one; they have pushed back the par-5 2nd hole back a whole 10 yards. This might not seem like a lot, but ifor some it could new the difference between a long iron and a wood into the green, and I know I’d much rather have an iron in my hand than a wood.

One thing I love about Augusta National is the names for each of the holes have become so synonymous that each one seems to perfectly capture the its unique layout and personality.
·         Hole 1 – 445-yard, par 4 – Tea Olive
·         Hole 2 – 585-yard, par 5 – Pink Dogwood
·         Hole 3 – 350-yard, par 4 – Flowering Peach
·         Hole 4 – 240-yard, par 3 – Flowering Crab Apple
·         Hole 5 – 495-yard, par 4 – Magnolia
·         Hole 6 – 180-yard, par 3 – Juniper
·         Hole 7 – 450-yard, par 4 – Pampas
·         Hole 8 – 570-yard, par 5 – Yellow Jasmine
·         Hole 9 – 460-yard, par 4 – Carolina Cherry
·         Hole 10 – 495-yard, par 4 – Camellia
·         Hole 11 – 520-yard, par 4 – White Dogwood
·         Hole 12 – 155-yard, par 3 – Golden Bell
·         Hole 13 – 545-yard, par 5 – Azalea
·         Hole 14 – 440-yard, par 4 – Chinese Fir
·         Hole 15 – 550-yard, par 5 – Firethorn
·         Hole 16 – 170-yard, par 3 – Redbud
·         Hole 17 – 440-yard, par 4 – Nandina
·         Hole 18 – 465-yard, par 4 – Holly
The most famous stretch of holes (on an already famous golf course) is Amen’s Corner which is made up of holes 11 (White Dogwood), 12 (Golden Bell), and 13 (Azelea).
Water plays a big part in the make up of this stretch of holes with a pond which sits to the left of the 11th, a creek which runs in front of the 12th (plenty of balls in there every year), and a steam which runs along the entire left side and in front of the green of the 13th.
 
There are two other big parts of the build up to the first tee time on Thursday, one is the Par-3 contest and the other is the Champions dinner.
 


The par-3 contest is a laid back contest held on Augusta’s par-3 course in the build up towards The Masters where players will have a bit of fun and sometimes have their caddies and family members take some shots for them. It’s history dates back to the 1960’s where Sam Snead won the inaugural contest.
Around 1 third of the players who have won the par-3 contest have gone on to miss the cut at The Masters and no play has ever won the par-3 contest and gone on to win The Masters in the same year.

The Champions dinner is a tradition in which every former champion has dinner together and it is hosted by the champion the year prior.
This year The Champions Dinner will be hosted by Jon Rahm after win fantastic win in 2023.
On part that fascinates me is the host gets to design the menu. Generally, this means listing some of their favourite dishes and meals that represent their home country.
This year is no different with Rahm’s menu.


Field Highlights
·         Scottie Scheffler – The current world number 1 and the outright favourite to pick up another Green Jacket this year. Scheffler already has 2 wins under his belt this year and then came in back-to-back weeks in March; he also went 3 weeks in a row but he finished 2nd at the Texas Children’s Open. What’s almost more impressive than the back-to-back wins is the consistency of his golf and that shows with the 7 top-10’s in 8 starts.
If Scotty is in form (which all evidence says he will be) he will be incredibly hard to beat.
 
·         Jon Rahm – The newest scalp that LIV managed to get at the end of 2023, Rahm is the defending champ and current world number 3. His performance over at LIV has been consistent with his performance on the PGA Tour, so I don’t expect anything different in his first major as a LIV player. This year at LIV he has finished T-3, solo-8th, solo-5th, and T-8th, and this is off the back of some DP World Tour events at the end of last season where he finished solo-4th, T-9th, and T-5th. That’s 7 top-10’s in 7 starts.
Last year, Rahm opened his Master’s tournament with a double-bogey, so let’s not count Rahm out until the final whistle.
 
·         Brooks Koepka – Another LIV player that lit up at The Masters last year. Brooks was the only player last year that gave Rahm a run for his money for the whole 4 days and looked favourable to topple the Spaniard, but a final round 3 over par saw him finish T-2 along with Phil Mickelson. Koepka is currently sitting at 31st in the OWGR world rankings, which is not bad considering he’s been on the ineligible LIV Tour since 2022. Although, Data Golf (an independent golf data website) still rank all players regardless of the tour they’re on and they actually have him ranked lower at 44th in the world. Koepka’s recent form over at LIV has been hit and miss with a T-5, T-12, T-12, and solo-28th.
 
·         Rory McIlroy – All eyes will be on Rory (again) to see if he can complete that elusive career grand slam of majors. His record the last few times here is the textbook example of hit and miss; in 2020 he placed T-5, in 2021 he missed the cut, in 2022 he placed solo-2nd, in 2023 he missed the cut. Expanding on that pattern then this should be a year where Rory is firing and could put himself into contention.
He's already had a win on the European tour this year and his best finish of the season on the PGA Tour came last week at the Valero, so he’s trending in the right direction.
 
·         Joaquin Niemann – Arguably the best player in the LIV roster right now, Niemann has been on fire since the end of last year where he travelled Down Under and won the Australian Open. Since then he’s won the LIV Mayakoba event and also the LIV Jeddah event, along side that he’s also finished T-4 at the Hero Dubai Classic on the European Tour, solo-3rd at the International Series Open on the Asian Tour, and T-4 at the Hong Kong LIV event. Last year he finished T-16 here at  The Masters and it looks as though he’ll better that result this year.
The rest of the field can be found here.
 
It’s officially major season and I’m pumped to watch some high level, high stakes golf.
Who do you guys think will take home the green jacket this year?
Will Tiger make the cut?

What ever happens I’m here for it!!!
 
SPLATT

I just played my first round with my Paradigm Triple diamond and I had a great day off the tee. 

I just played my first round with my Paradigm Triple diamond and I had a great day off the tee. 

I just played my first round with my Paradigm Triple diamond and I had a great day off the tee. 

That's a nice looking club, I've liked driving irons for ever thanks I'm looking for one. If you decide it doesn't work for you I'd be interested in buying...

I just played my first round with my Paradigm Triple diamond and I had a great day off the tee. 

I find myself right in between @richk9holes and @cksurfdude above.  I don't like mats, but I like mats.  For all the reasons you both mentioned above.  The ability to work on the swing when I have 20 or 30 minutes by walking out to my back carport where I have my CCE mat and net set up all the time... gives me the ability to work on mechanics.  The downside, is not seeing the ball fly, so you have to trust how the contact feels.  And I also agree, you can get away with a little bit with a mat... though I feel the CCE mat is pretty good at providing good feedback on mis-hits.  On the other side, my home course range is grass... and I use that term a bit loosely.  it is tired turf and overly sanded, so bears very little resemblance hitting a shot on the course (any course).  So... I usually steer clear of the range at my course unless I am REALLY out of sorts.  I schedule my practice time... during off hours at the course where I can go out and play by myself and hit a few balls from various locations.  I realize I'm fortunate to have that ability... so I don't take it lightly, but utilize that fortune as much as I can.  
For putting, my course speed changes depending on the moisture and the day of the week... so I try to groove my stroke that day.. knowing tomorrow or the next day could be completely different.  My course tries to set up the greens at a 10 or 11 stimp... that speed can range from 9 to 13 depending.  Plugged and sanded greens... I put a 2 on the card and move to the next hole... I don't post scores when the greens are "in process".. those are practice rounds for ball striking.  It is even hard to judge approach shots into that type of condition, as the reaction on full shots into the green are not appropriate either.  A necessary evil to play nice greens the rest of the year though. 

I just played my first round with my Paradigm Triple diamond and I had a great day off the tee. 

I just played my first round with my Paradigm Triple diamond and I had a great day off the tee. 

I just played my first round with my Paradigm Triple diamond and I had a great day off the tee.