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Everything posted by RoverRick
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TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_APH's topic in Forum Testing Reviews
@Hoyoymac is 100% correct. While going through the process it’s tough to realize what's going on while it’s happening to you, but watching others go through the process is very enlightening. I’ve already given my opinion of the process, so other than to say how great it was to meet everyone, I’ll leave it at that. Also, for the record, @ZackS had the putter when I left so if it’s missing it wasn’t me. -
So yesterday, 1v1v1 We were playing skins and low net. I had 8 skins, but was giving one guy 4 skins strokes and the other 11. After 17 holes, they were ties and I was 2 back with strokes. On 18, I needed a birdie, and my 2 competitors needed to both bogey for a tie, or both double for me to win. I asked the score keeper to make sure. Because If I would have been in the lead, I would not have gone for the green with that pin position. It’s muddy and into a 20mph wind to an island green from 150. I took dead aim and missed it 33.5 yards left. One guy laid up, but the highest handicap hit the green but was 45’ away. I had a chance to tie if I made it and he 3-putted. I knew that a 54° middle of my shin high would fly 30 yards. There was a slope and 30 yards of carry would catch the slope and feed down to the hole. So I aimed 4’ left and made a confident swing. I had just told them I didn’t even need my putter because it was going in. (The reality was it didn’t matter if it went in the water. The putter was useless because unless I birdied, one of those guys was going to win $10 from each of us.) I hit the perfect pitch, it fed to the hole and dropped in on its almost dying roll. And so ends the Cinderella story. The high handicapper 2 putted from 45 feet and won $10 from each which really meant he just owed me $2 from the skins bet. The moral of the story is that it was not just a guess on my part. I shot the yardage, knew how far the ball would fly. Played it with my hit and roll pitch swing. (I didn’t cover this but I vary my AOA to impart different amounts of spin.) And read it like a putt from there. Out of 18 holes yesterday, I had 14 opportunities to PCP. 1 was perfect. 10 were excellent, and the other 3 were 2nd chances after a bad first attempt. So I got up and down, 71% of the time yesterday. But it wasn’t ALL guess work and ALL feel. While those 2 things play a vital role, it’s based off of rules and practice. Short game is not as sexy to practice as driver. But ask any competitor if he remembers any of your drives. I was paid the ultimate compliment on hole 12 when Dave said, “I’m getting damned tired of you getting up and down and winning holes.” As he slammed the pin in the hole after I retrieved my ball. Unfortunately, this was just the short game yesterday. It does not take into account the trees hit, fatted shots in the mud, or a sundry of other misses yesterday. I was still 11 over par.
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TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_APH's topic in Forum Testing Reviews
Don’t worry. Jon will sweat that alcohol out of you pretty early. -
TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_APH's topic in Forum Testing Reviews
Okay, and I want to putt with the LINK1 with the TPT shaft again. I just sold some clubs and have been lusting in my heart after that putter. You guys distract him ……. perhaps not. -
TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_APH's topic in Forum Testing Reviews
@ZackS. @Hoyoymac @William P I will be in Dallas tomorrow so will try to stop by and meet everyone. -
MGS FORUM MEMBER VCT CUP TOURNAMENT - ROUND 1
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_BEN's topic in MGS Virtual Golf Tournaments
Well, I went out and tried my hardest. I thought it was possible to go low today. -2 through 5 holes, in spite of a less than stellar driver swing. Sadly, it began to catch up starting on hole 6. I didn’t even come close to better than 80 or more than 3 birdies or 74 and 1 birdie. It doesn’t matter which of my scores are used, neither of them beat @Golf2Much and his net 66 even when combined with @GolfSpy_SHARK. I didn’t even look at @GolfSpy_APH’s scores. -
MGS FORUM MEMBER VCT CUP TOURNAMENT - ROUND 1
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_BEN's topic in MGS Virtual Golf Tournaments
Ironically, combined my first score plus your score gives us a 74 with 3 birdies, and my second score with your score gives us 74 with 1 birdie. I’m playing today and it will be a muddy mess, but only a 6 mph wind. Who knows how that will turn out? But since I can’t use my handicap that second score will be hard for me to beat because the second one would be a 68 with 2 birdies and an eagle with my handicap. -
MGS VCT - SOLO SCRAMBLE CHALLENGE
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_BEN's topic in MGS Virtual Golf Tournaments
It was a great week, but my playing partners probably wouldn’t have been to keen on the idea of me dropping another ball and taking the best. Also, the only thing worse than walking across a muddy fairway to get to your ball when it’s cart path only is having to do it twice. -
Congrats. 10k for a newbie like you is something. I don’t even have 7k in 13 years, but this is also not my job.
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What degree do you prefer for pitching wedge? 44,46,48?
RoverRick replied to flymonkkey's topic in General Q&A
The degree of the club, like the number, is immaterial. I want clubs that go straight and a certain distance. First, I don’t hit any clubs below 5 iron as far as I can. I want a 14-15 yard gap between clubs. So if my gap wedge goes 100 I want my pitching wedge to go 115, 9 iron 130 etc. But the degree of the club is only part of the equation. Club head design plays a vital role in that some 44° clubs may go shorter because they are designed to give higher launch and more spin. So my P790 PW is 45° but I don’t care. I can hit it straight 115 yards, “ear high”. I can stop “shoulder high” (that’s in quotations, because I feel ear or shoulder or waist or some other body part high, and it may not be anywhere near this part. It is just a feel. ) and hit it 100 same as my gap. Somewhere in between and carry it 108. I can also hit it 130, but I have no idea if it goes straight or 40 yards left. The only time I hit a mid or short iron full is to go over something and only if I can’t go under or around. -
What is your go to grip - irons / woods / hybrids?
RoverRick replied to Shapotomous's topic in Golf Balls/Shafts/Grips
I played my first round in the rain with these yesterday, and almost threw my 7 iron into the lake. Not on purpose, but they were so slick that club almost came out of my hand. I reinstalled the BestGrips this morning on my irons and wedges before my round got rained out. I’m undecided about driver, 3 wood and hybrid at this time, but since I am expecting new shafts for these, I will try both and then decide. After all it takes 5 minutes to swap them out. -
I just bought a new wedge. I played a 60° wedge since well into the last century. About 18 months ago, I bought a Hi Toe 58°. However, it’s time to replace it. I didn’t love the sole itself but found that 58° was better than 60°. Previously, I had Mizuno ES21 54 & 60. The ES21 is perhaps the best wedge no one plays. It’s hollow towards the hosel side to give it better balance. I wanted a 58° but with more bounce. So I bought a new-in-plastic ES21 58° wide sole 12° bounce. For $75 delivered. Since the are not popular, they are cheap.
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MGS FORUM MEMBER VCT CUP TOURNAMENT - ROUND 1
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_BEN's topic in MGS Virtual Golf Tournaments
Date 03/15/2024 Course Name Sulphur Springs CC Gross Score 74 Course Handicap 0 Gross Strokes over/under par 2 Net Score to Par 2 Net Score 74 Net Birdies or better Longest Drive SIM Round? The lesson from Jon Sinclair has really helped the long game. After chatting on the Rule of 12 thread last night, I told myself as I approached every green today “Putt when you can, Chip when you can’t, and Pitch when you must.” Today the weather was not good. Rain, cold, wind and had I not been in the running for low score bet I would have quit. While these putting numbers look impressive, 1,2,3,4,6,7,11,& 13 combine for perhaps 8’ of total putts. 5 of them I used the putter off the green but they don’t count as putts because it wasn’t a GIR. These are my best across the board strokes gained numbers since I have been using this app. I’m not exactly sure how it comes up with them, I sort of feel like my short game was better than that, and my approach shots were worse. But I’m thrilled with the direction my game is going. -
MGS VCT - SOLO SCRAMBLE CHALLENGE
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_BEN's topic in MGS Virtual Golf Tournaments
Awesome! I feared it was only a week, and rain last Saturday, fitting Sunday, golf Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, tournament Saturday and another round Sunday, I ran out of days this week to try this. -
MGS FORUM MEMBER VCT CUP TOURNAMENT - ROUND 1
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_BEN's topic in MGS Virtual Golf Tournaments
@GolfSpy_BEN I have a question about entering multiple rounds. I played today, cold, windy and raining. I shot a 74, with 1 birdie and 3 bogies. I had at least a par putt on every hole. My question is, if this was solo, the 74 today beats the 80 on Wednesday. But this is Match Play with a teammate so the 3 birdies may contribute more in spite of the 5 doubles I had. How do you determine which is used? -
MGS VCT - SOLO SCRAMBLE CHALLENGE
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_BEN's topic in MGS Virtual Golf Tournaments
I was just wondering how long this lasts, when I saw that it locks Dec. 31, 2024? Is that right? I may be able to squeeze this in after all. -
I played today and recited the mantra, “Putt when you can, Chip when you can’t, Pitch when you must.” There was one time I putted and may have been better off chipping, and 1 chip that might have been better putting, but since I made the following putts, it didn’t cost me anything. I shot a 74 and didn’t really make any mistakes. Cold, raining, windy, actually slippery at times. I almost fell twice and the club nearly slipped out in the rain, I didn’t hit everything perfectly, but that was a solid round.
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On my 45th birthday, as a 36 handicapper, not even a real handicap because I didn’t adhere to all the rules, I decided that I was going to become a scratch golfer by my 50th birthday. I didn’t quite make it and my index was 0.2 on my birthday. But I did have the chart listing distances with partial wedges. I hadn’t discovered the Rule of 12 and hadn’t yet heard of Raymond Floyd describing the chipping stroke as “putting with loft.” I no longer have the chart, since this was almost 15 years ago, but just having it was reassuring. I listed 8 different backswing lengths in the above post, but at the time I just had 4 swings with 4 clubs. 48°, 52°, 56° and 60°. More modern stronger lofts made that obsolete, and last year I replaced the final hold out loft of 60° with a 58°. I don’t mean the actual wedge but a wedge loft. I found that a 58° was easy open up and even close a little bit. I went to “trail side backswing gauge” verses clock system and added the other positions to 8 swings with one club. The 58° wedge gets a lot more use. But I still have the basic for all the other clubs are still there. I think the genesis for this change was I bought a TM High Toe 58° and fell in love with it. I didn’t love the bounce on it and in some situations that has caused me issues. But it is worn out now, and I just bought a new Mizuno ES21 58-12W wedge. It’s an older model, but new in the plastic. This is probably the best wedge no one has seen. They are available for less than $100 new. My long game has been suffering for a few years, but my short game has remained good. There are a number of methods out there, but the PCP method is the best. PCP is “Putt when you can, Chip when you can’t, Pitch when you must.”
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You say excellent pitching with the 58°, but define excellent. Is that hitting it in one-putt range? So you get the exact yardage to the flag? Do you just look at it and think, that’s 50 yards? The difference in being 47 and 53 is a 15’ putt. Granted few of us can routinely control our distance that well. But we can improve. The Dave Pelz Clock System works great. I see you have 4 wedges. Instead of using the clock, use your trail side: mid shin, knee, mid thigh, pocket, waist, ribs, shoulder, ear. That’s 8 different back swing lengths. Accelerate the same with all of them. Write it down on a score card or something. Practice this with one club. Then add another club. You can do this with all your wedges. Actually all your clubs. I know a waist high 6 iron is 126 yards. A 4 is 154. A 3 wood is about 175. Although with these longer clubs they are more bump and runs. But simply doing this with your 4 wedges you will have 32 different known distances. There will be some over lap. Maybe you just do knee, waist, shoulder, ribs. Perhaps you do those 3 and vary your stance or set up. Choking down on the club reduces it a couple of yards as does opening your stance, as does playing it more forward. Blah. Blah. Blah. The important thing is you have a system that you practice. You have it written down. At least initially. Let’s say you are 47 yards from the flag and your card says a knee high 50° goes 46y as a waist high 58° goes 48y. You now have 2 known options and can pick one after assessing the variables and have confidence in you choice. This can affect your course management also. Our 3rd hole is a par 5 that dog legs right. In 30 years I have 10 eagles and hundreds of doubles or worse. In addition to OB the entire way, there are 2 sand bunkers, 2 grass bunkers, 3 large moguls, and the green is long and skinny set at an angle. Yet, I still consider it a birdie hole. I make far more birdies here by hitting the wedge close from a perfect lie in the fairway than a flop shot out of the grass bunker. So I want to lay up to where I have a 50-60 pitch right down the throat of the green. I hit my 5 iron fairly well, so I just have to hit my tee shot 200 yards into the fairway. This takes discipline because everyone else wants to pound the driver. Most hit it OB, or into the 16 fairway behind a row of trees, or though the fairway, and then have a 200 yard shot to this green. I can just hit an easy hybrid, then 5 iron, and focus on my chip, either make the putt for birdie or walk off with an easy par. I may not win the hole, but I didn’t damage my score.
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I’m a long time user of the rule of 12. I’ve averaged 27 putts per round for the 10 months (the amount of time I’ve been tracking it, not the amount of time I’ve been using this.) I rarely 3 putt, so that means I have 9 1-Putts per round. How? I chip it close. While the rule of 12 does actually work, I modify it a little based on the fact that I ride in a cart verses walking. So I don’t have all my clubs with me. I may just have the 54° 9 & 8 iron and putter. I park to where I have to walk past the flag to the ball. I pace it off going to the ball and decide what’s best. While the Rule of 12 says get it on the green as soon as possible, if you know a 9 iron is 3:1 and an 8 iron is 4:1, 54° is 2:1. Just pick your spot and use that club. Usually, I’m not so far from the flag that I need longer chipping clubs, but it also works. Say I am only 5 paces off the green and 30 paces from the flag. 6:1 the rule of 12 says 6 iron. If all I have is a 9 iron, I pick my landing spot 10 paces from the ball. I played Trinity Forest on Tuesday. I had many opportunities to chip with longer clubs. However, I also subscribe to “Putt when you can, chip when you can, and pitch when you have to.” Trinity Forest has perfect grass like many courses fringe from tee box to green. And it probably runs about 10-12 on the stimp. The greens are even faster and smoother, but lots of undulations. I didn’t chip 1 time Tuesday but I did have some 30-40 yard putts. The other guys were chipping and if they hit the slope wrong it ran 20 yards past the flag or in some other direction. Your specific question was are there situations where you can’t use it. Absolutely. But we are back what to your order of choices should be, Putt, Chip (Rule of 12) then Pitch. At my home course, typically unless you are very close to the green, you can only chip from one side. The smaller the swing, the smaller the error. While we all want to put the ball in the hole every time, the true secret to lowering the handicap is minimizing the errors. A bladed 30 yard pitch typically goes twice as far as desired and you, or I , often have the same shot coming the other way. A chip, even bladed still ends up on the green, just not near the hole. And a bad putt is better than a bad chip, bad chip better than bad pitch. The Importance of The Rule Of 12 is that you have a tried and true strategy. A chip with a 9 iron has 1 part fly to 2 parts roll (3:1), etc. This should give you confidence that “all I need to do is land the ball here, and it will roll to there.” Aim left or right or add or subtract a club for slope. This will reduce the stress because all you have to focus on is chipping the ball to a spot and physics will take care of the rest. And if you can putt out of a bunker, by all means putt. It may make you look brilliant.
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TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_APH's topic in Forum Testing Reviews
Affect performance? Eventually, it could affect the performance, but it would take a lot of wear to cause that. Painted shafts have 2 coats of clear coat and then thicker coat of paint. These just have 2 coats of clear. I did have a VENTUS Blue that something fell on it and put a little scratch on it about 8-10” below the grip. A few weeks later, I hit a drive and in the follow through with my hands almost head hit it snapped into with a twang, and the head continued around and hit me in the back. It was like a paper towel core that unraveled in the middle and the two ends intact. I think his point was these are expensive shafts, and you want to protect them. He also said this is more of an issue with walkers vs riders. Walkers have the shafts more vertical. The head sticks out of the top of the bag and bounces with each step with all the weight on the end. This is an issue with any shaft. If it’s the stock shaft of a driver that you replace frequently, who cares. If it’s a high end shaft that you are likely to keep many many years and move from old head to new head , then you want to go the extra step to make it last as long as possible. I did not get the impression these were flimsier than other shafts, in fact stronger than other shafts, but also worth more effort to protect your investment. -
TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_APH's topic in Forum Testing Reviews
The bonus overlap was entirely @William P’s doing. I had plans to rush home and join my regular Sunday group. Not knowing what to expect. Of course, I was in no condition to play more golf and texted Bill Monday morning asking him if he was sore and exhausted like me. Also, my limited time on Jon Sinclair’s putting green seems to have had some benefits also. Both Tuesday and today my putting has been great. The PutterView gives you a line on the green. Tuesday, we had the benefit of caddies, and they confirmed my read. So I’m seeing the line in my head like the PutterView. Maybe this is just a plug for going to see a professional to improve your game. But why do that when you can get free advice from other hacks on forums and YouTube. (The voice inside my head, sounding remarkably like Dr. Phil, just asked, “And how’s that working out for ya?”) -
TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_APH's topic in Forum Testing Reviews
Not necessarily shaft related, but Jon Sinclair related. Both William and I were given some swing related areas to work on. Mine was to get my weight on my lead side and keep it there, even if I had to setup closed or open to the target line. I didn’t do this at Trinity Forest yesterday because with fairways running as fast as most greens and rough meaning a lost ball, I didn’t carry about the low carry numbers because it ran a long way. 60-70 yards. Today, on my course, I made some changes. Increased launch and carry and still had roll. I had 3 of 12 misfires, but no penalties, and probably 20 yard increase on the good ones. Since I was already getting 20+ yards with the bad swing and TPT shafts during the fitting, I’m very hopeful that the new shafts and swing combo will change my game drastically. -
I do my own grips. I usually remove the factory grips and add at least one layer of one sided masking tape and blow on my grips.
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MGS FORUM MEMBER VCT CUP TOURNAMENT - ROUND 1
RoverRick replied to GolfSpy_BEN's topic in MGS Virtual Golf Tournaments
I just got another one while posting and forgot to add my scorecard. Had to edit it. But tonight is alright. Morning and nights are usually busy and afternoons are generally a phone call at 2 pm that takes about 37 seconds. That happened on 11 as I was putting but played no role in the score. That 20’er with 3’ of break with the wind pushing it downhill was not likely to go in anyway. I had a 1’er for par.