matt_puttercup

I think the LAB tractor beam has me. Just a matter of time until I at least go for a fitting!

I turn 40 this July 17th, and am lucky enough to celebrate with 7 straight days of golf. Starting with Desert Canyon, then Gamble Sands x2, then my buddy’s member-guest at Meridian Valley CC (4x). Gonna be a marathon, but a blast!

There's a quote from 'Ferris Bueller,' which goes, 'How can I possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this?' And today was one of those days! 80 and sunny in the Seattle area, so I ditched the day job to go play at the local muni - par 71 (67.1 / 112). Ball striking is coming along, thanks in part to a massive influx of confidence in the Driver with the new Callaway AI Smoke Max (9*). Went 41-39 with 34 putts on greens that were punched days ago. Went 9/18 on GIR, with misses really close. Getting excited for what's to come!

My journey of putting self discovery continues!! The last couple of episodes of No Putts Given taught me that for golfers with stronger putting arcs, toe hang can be helpful. Well on the one hand, I have pretty strong arc. But on the other hand, I like the aesthetic of a mallet -- especially ones like the Spider that have lines down the middle of them. So I'm curious, what are your favorite mallet putters with toe hang out there?

Looking forward to see how the testers' experiences compares with mine! Bought the Max 9* back in Feb and am feeling more confident with Driver in hand than I have in a loooong time!

Good morning from Kirkland, WA! We've got some great weather right now, mid-60s and sunny, except with 20-30mph winds. So I got out for 18 yesterday and got in a few good shots, but also a few that took that wind for a ride!! Hope you all have a great weekend.

I went on a weekend Scottsdale golf trip back in late Jan and played Dinosaur Mountain (not technically Scottsdale, actually east Mesa), Sun Ridge, and WeKoPa Cholla. I have played WeKoPa a few times over the years -- both courses, Cholla and Saguaro -- and honestly, that's one of my fave places to play anywhere. Given my druthers, that's where I'd be, hands down. I love those courses. Dino Mountain was also very solid. Wasn't as big a fan of Sun Ridge -- it wasn't in as good of shape, and felt more residential than the others. I have also played Rancho Manana a number of times and while it's also residential, I liked it more than Sun Ridge.

I have never tried injections! You're the first I've heard to recommend them. I will keep those in mind.

I have fallen down the Instagram / Facebook golf tip rabbit hole many times!! And I have mixed feelings about it. There are legit good tips & drills on there, but it requires a couple of things to make it worthwhile. 1. You've got to know your swing, so that you have a decent shot at paying attention to what's relevant and ignoring what's not. 2. Once you do find a good drill on there, you've got to try it for a good number of times and let it sink in, which means ignoring pretty much everything on there for the duration, because one big swing change at a time is all that I can handle...!

My bugaboo is ceiling height--I max out at 3-hybrid. 3-wood and driver will knock my ceiling. =( good iron practice, I guess!

I've seen ads for the superfeet insoles and will give them a try! I wince at the thought of 36 holes unfortunately. I feel your pain!

I have a similar mini game approach as @bens197 -- I play 18 as 6 sets of 3, trying to shoot net Even for each set. As for delays, I recently heard about a "glove on, glove off" approach where as long as the glove is off, you're thinking about anything other than the golf itself, and once the glove is on, you're only thinking about the golf itself. So in a delay, I'd be trying to think as little about the golf as possible and not expending that precious limited reserve of focus. And depending on your situation (health, walking vs. riding), I think keeping loose with stretches and/or getting some sitting down in are helpful too. Beyond that, I might revert back to first tee strategy, which for me is clubbing up, choking down and swinging easy while I get my feel for the course going.

Wonder if Tiger is second guessing his foregoing of nocturnal activities. Or maybe it's working?

Love this!! Hit three balls every time around too!!

I've read Chicken Soup, but hadn't heard of the James Patterson trilogy -- will give those a read!!

#13 seems to be the consensus favorite so far!

The limits of time and space are relaxed long enough for you to play one, and only one, hole at Augusta. Which one are you playing? I'm going to go with 16, hoping for the accessible pin and my best chance at making an ace!

Some context for the question: With it being Masters week, I'm recognizing that I love how, because the Masters has always been played at the same place, it has this undiluted clarity compared to other majors -- almost like it's a bit easier to keep tabs on all the moments that have happened there because it's one less thing to have to remember which course was played in a given year. I was born in 1984 and learned the game from my late grandfather, who was born in 1929. That meant that in my earlier days of playing (pre-Tiger), I heard a lot about guys like Nicklaus and especially Hogan. Hogan was (and still is) my favorite player of all time, due in part to the fact that my first set of irons were 1989 Hogan Edge Forged irons, and in part to how I learned the game. My abilities aren't natural a la Byron Nelson, but require a lot of reps, a la Hogan. All that to say, I was fortunate to be taught by a man who shared the (American) history of the game with me, and value that history. And on my bookshelf is a copy of The Match, an immaculate book that weaves together an 18 hole match between the pros, Nelson and Hogan, against top amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi, as well as their individual backstories, and the overall backdrop of the inflection point where the meaning of pro vs. amateur status was set to change forever. The Match is my favorite non-instruction golf book. What's yours?

My friend is a member at Meridian Valley CC in Kent, WA. If you ever have a chance to play there, it's by far my favorite of the local private clubs not named Aldarra or Sahalee. My whole life I've a right-to-left ball flight -- I'm a righty, so it's either a draw or a hook depending on severity. I give myself about a 1 in 10 chance of executing a fade. Holes 1-6 are all right-to-left friendly, and then comes dreaded #7. Fade 100% required. Decent length par 4 (370-380 with +1 club elevated green with nasty false front and greenside bunker right). At this point I should just play it as a par 5. I bet my scoring average would go down. Because in the rare event that I do find the fairway, the approach is no guarantee anyway! Round wrecker, that one...

I have RypStick, and from a physical product perspective, it's nice to only have one item to manage -- although I was frequently worried I would lose one of the little weights. My only complaint was that I couldn't get it heavier at the top end. As for the programming, I did watch the stock instruction videos with Rypstick; and also watched the stock instruction videos for Superspeed (which they make available without physical purchase), and while I can't remember exact specifics, I liked the Superspeed programming better. If I was starting over, between those two, I'd probably lean Superspeed. No idea about Stack though.

I've had great consistency with Titleist AVX and it will remain my go-to for moments where I want to use my nicest golf balls. Although I feel like I saw/heard they made updates to it during the off-season, so I'll have to keep an eye out for any experienced differences.

Hello from another Kirkland-er!

I've seen the stat that the biggest difference between scratch and higher handicaps is eliminating double bogeys, as opposed to making more birdies, which even scratch golfers don't make that many more of. The biggest creator of double bogeys for me is driving accuracy -- I put myself in too many really gnarly places where making bogey is no guarantee. The second is probably putts of 50-feet+, where it might've even been better to miss a green and chip then to have a triple breaker... But in terms of immediate results and not having to engrain swing changes over months, being automatic from 5-feet and in goes a long way.

Nirvana!

Maybe short term pain for long term gain! If you like trying to curve the ball, the blades will be more responsive. I learned with blades growing up and now when I mishit my midsize irons I can see teenage me shaking his head in disbelief…