fourwaymiss

I hear ya. I'm based in Singapore now, where it feels like July/August in Houston all year round. Since it's like this all year, I guess my body's acclimatized and my hands don't get as slick as they used to when I first arrived. Just go with whatever you feel most comfortable with for the Stack! You're gonna be swinging for the fences every time, so you gotta trust that grip.

The factory grip seems to wear faster than a normal grip. Since it's a training tool, I went with a normal Crossline (that style is my typical grip). I had considered putting my gamers on, but the guy at the shop advised against it, since the pressure I'm putting on it with the max effort swings is NOT normal and it would wear out the gamers faster. So if you're normally a cord person, go for it! But I would worry about ripping my hands apart with full cord.

Date 08/23/2024 Course Name Amverton Cove Golf Resort Gross Score 89 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 121 Gross Strokes over/under par 17 Birdies or better 2 Longest Drive 232 First game while overseas for work! I have a second set (my previous 'generation' of irons, and I think 2 or 3 previous generations for my driver) that I keep over here so that I don't need to lug an entire bag back and forth. Can I just say that I totally remember why I upgraded? Amverton Cove is a nice little layout about 1 hour outside of metro Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. It's near the western coast, close to Port Klang. Running at about 5800m (6380y) from the tips, it makes up for the shortfall with LOTS OF WATER. I think I counted 14 times times where I was standing on the tee box and my new friends said, "There's water on the left.... Oh and also the right." The thrice demoted driver was not performing (are you surprised?) and I struggled to keep my tee shots in the short grass. The irons weren't doing any better and I was either too short or too long. (Hence my oh-so-appropriate forum handle.) The only thing that kept my score from ballooning out of control were the wedges and the putter. Nothing like gaining momentum after sinking a 4-footer to save bogey! Anyway, all was redeemed when I chipped in on the 13th from 14-ft for the lone birdie in the group today! (It only takes 1 good shot to bring us back for more punishment!) Must go explore other courses in the metro KL area now!

Date 08/10/2024 Course Name Orient Golf & Country Club Gross Score 86 Course Rating 75.9 Course Slope 134 Gross Strokes over/under par 14 Birdies or better 12 Longest Drive 230 75.9/134 I'm in Taiwan for a golf trip and played 3 rounds. (I'm only posting my best round. ) The weather in Taiwan is SWELTERING right now. I thought Singapore was bad being 1.3° north of the equator, but Taiwan has been brutal these past 3 days. And that heat really sapped me of energy to swing a club and focus. We played (in order): Chang Gung GC (長庚) Sunrise G&CC (揚昇) The Orient G&CC (東方) I'll have to do another trip report post, but to quickly summarise, Orient was in the best condition and we had the best weather (overcast for the back nine which helped keep the temp down). All the courses had a plethora of flora and fauna to gawk at, including the golden neck egret. Unfortunately, those were birds and not birdies. My driver was completely misbehaving, and I took my medicine for the first time and used 3W from the 4th hole onwards. Wedges were on fire, giving me 6 looks at birdie (only managed to convert 1). There was also a chip-in from 22 yds to save par! On the 16th, we had the course's mascot come over to watch us tee off: As we were chipping onto the 18th green, the skies opened up and it started to pour. I had better ball-striking on the back, but I scrambled better on the front. Resulted in a 42-44-86 and a new lowest differential for the round! Very happy with this round and a great way to close out our Taiwan golf trip!

Look forward to reading our testers' feedback to understand beyond all the advertising hype!

It would be awesome if Volvik has figured out how to get rid of this issue of the outer layer "oxidising" to a point where it's all sticky and gross. I've generally found these matte vivid balls to be easier to spot in the bright tropical sun here on the equator. Or maybe I just need to buy and use immediately, rather than buy and store for another day.

Date 08/01/2024 Course Name Forest City - Classic Gross Score 85 Course Rating 71.5 Course Slope 135 Gross Strokes over/under par 13 Birdies or better 8 Longest Drive 238 71.5/135 Driver was completely misbehaving today as we took on the blue tees this week (last week we played whites). Playing almost 500m longer, not having a reliable driver made the course a lot harder. But luckily the irons and wedges saved the day, giving me a chance to scramble and save par. 5 fairways hit and 5 GIRs. 3 doubles. Grateful again that the misses today were reasonably manageable, and the irons and wedges really saved today, for what is my lowest handicap differential recorded ever! Onwards and downwards!

That's a gorgeous course! But looks damned intimidating!

I stored them in a closet that has no airflow, but also is completely internal (no adjacent external walls), so any temperature fluctuations would have been minimal. They stayed in their original packaging (3 balls to a sleeve, 4 sleeves in the box), and the box had the normal cut-outs, so the balls were "exposed" to the air and weren't inside shrink-wrap or anything like that. However, I'm a bulk buyer, and I don't remember how it was sitting amongst all my other boxes of balls. When I finally pulled them out to bring to the course with me, I opened one sleeve to check the condition of the ball, only to find nothing wanted to roll out. It was stuck to the other ball, as well as to the cardboard sides of the sleeve. It was not a pleasant feeling/experience.

Congratulations, testers! I had a bad experience with these balls in my tropical environment here. I bought a box for myself and my buddy back in 2019, just before covid lockdowns started. Long story short, it was almost 2 years before we could play again. And in those 2 years, the matte covering oxidised and turned into this weird sticky goo that was really hard to wash off my hands and clothes and stuff. That turned me off these matte coloured balls, even though I love how easy it is to spot them on the course. Look forward to hearing the testers feedback on these balls!

Date 07/23/2024 Course Name Forest City - Classic Course Gross Score 86 Course Rating 69 Course Slope 131 Gross Strokes over/under par 14 Birdies or better 8 Longest Drive 288 69.0/131 Played the other 18-hole at Forest City Golf Resort up in Malaysia this week. Haven't played this 18 in over two years, so it was refreshing to jump on it again. Driver and putter were generally cooperating, but I still found myself out of sorts with my approach, only hitting 3 GIRs . Generally happy with how my game is trending. Still can't quite control the blow ups (4 double bogeys this round!), but now, even WITH the blow ups, the scores are reasonable. (That longest drive was downhill, downwind and likely multiple hops on the cart path! )

Date 07/07/2024 Course Name Tanah Merah CC - Tampines Gross Score 91 Course Rating 73 Course Slope 136 Gross Strokes over/under par 19 Net Score to Par 19 Birdies or better 8 Longest Drive 247 73.3/136 Was invited to a new course today - the Tampines Course at Tanah Merah Country Club. It's located alongside one if the runways at the international airport here in Singapore, so lots of planespotting while playing. The course was playing 6,423m (7,065yds) from the blues today, making it extra challenging. Between rain, threatening lightning and the beating sun, we managed to complete 18 on a relatively quiet day - I think everyone else bailed assuming it would be a washout. Can't really complain about my play today - some silly mistakes that should have been avoided if I didn't go for the hero shots. Putting was pretty good today - only 28 putts needed to get home.

Finally got a chance to get back onto the course! Hope this latest round is my third so that I can get into a flight!

Date 06/14/2024 Course Name Forest City Golf Resort - Legacy Gross Score 88 Course Handicap 14 Gross Strokes over/under par 16 Net Score to Par 2 Net Score 74 Net Birdies or better Longest Drive (Rating/Slope for the course is 69.2/117.) Great to finally get back onto the course after an unintended hiatus. Work and life got quite busy and just didn't have time to play a round. Drove across the border to Malaysia to play a round at Forest City Golf Resort - Legacy course. It's a beautiful Nicklaus layout that is fairly generous at the landing areas and greens. After a rough start (we arrived late due to a jam at immigration and customs), so effectively went from car straight to the first tee, I managed to get my driver and irons to behave properly. However, the wedge and putter didn't want to cooperate until the back nine, so there were quite a few frustration misses. Happy to report I got my first birdie in 7 months (now THAT is a depressing stat), from a random 21 footer from the fringe. But I'll TAKE IT! Can't wait for my next round!

I was surprised by the top recommendation, but the club and the shaft. I've tested multiple drivers on Hzrdus shafts and wasn't a huge fan of them - felt like I couldn't feel where the clubhead was. This is certainly making me rethink what my next big dog could be... 2nd choice was bit more traditional. Not sure why there wasn't a shaft recommendation for Option 2.