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I usually ride, both because almost everyone I play with does. I'm old enough now, I generally only walk (with a push cart) when the course is fairly open and I'm playing solo. NOBODY I play with these days walks for more than 9 holes, and most of them don't play more than 9 at a time, regardless of whether they cart, or not. I love to play with my friend that introduced me to golf a few years ago, but he NEVER plays more than 9 at a time now, but we do "walk together." We played together twice this year and that's the only time my playing partners walked. Unless I'm pressed for time, I try to play 18 when I play and I have to play the last half solo more every year, when I play with my "old crowd"... One of the reasons I'm moving back to the local Country Club is the guys usually play a full 18, even though they all cart.

It seems like most "game improvement" clubs are geared to fix a slice, which isn't a good match for me either! I had a "Perfect Set" when I first started playing, but lessons rendered them completely useless for me, so they made a nice donation to First Tee

Evershady, How're you liking those Ping Glide wedges? I haven't been able to play much lately, but I'm enjoying mine more everytime I get on the course. It took a couple of rounds to get familiar with the distance differences from my old wedges, but I think they're the most versatile wedges I've played.

The search for the "Perfect Club" never ends

Got to play a round last night with the High Heat and I probably won't be making a full review with the stock setup after all. I usually drive the ball as long as, or longer, than the friend I was playing with and I thought the lower launch and more boring flight of the High Heat would work well in the high winds we had. The ground was still damp from some heavy rains a few nights ago, so there wasn't much roll-out. As it turned out, he was longer than me off the tee pretty consistently last night. Plus I was tending to pull my drives, and some were just plain old duck hooks... With the moist fairways, it was obvious I wasn't getting the carry distance with the High Heat, that I get with the Titleist/Paderson setup I've been gaming this season. Even with the loft of the Titleist set at 9.75* and the High Heat (non-adjustable) at 10.5*, I get a much lower launch with the High Heat and after comparing the shaft specs I can see why! I really should have purchased the 12* High Heat, since it's paired with the Fujikura Pro 63 which is MUCH lower loft and spin than either the Paderson or the Fujikura EXS shafts I've got in my Titleist heads! As I mentioned before, the High Heat is VERY straight but I have to setup a bit differently than I normally do because of the "draw bias" offset of the High Heat. For the right person, the offset and ball flight will work VERY well. I just think I'll be better off pulling the Pro 63 shaft and pairing it with my higher lofted 913 D2 head and saving the High Heat head for a later tryout with a different shaft. There's just not enough playing time left this season to set my current driver aside and really put the time in with another driver experiment

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, you're not the only one!

Just getting a chance to catch up after close to two weeks of no play (traveling and LOTS of rain since I've been back). Other than hitting a couple of buckets, I haven't been swinging at all. I did get a change to hit the range for a bucket this afternoon and I will say, the High Heat driver continues to impress. It looks like we may have decent weather thi weekend, so I'm hoping to get back on a course soon!

Get a golf job!!

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one, but there's not been a lot of press on it since the show. Once I started the evaluation for the Paderson shaft, I didn't want to get side tracked by another "toy" and I'd already written my review by the time the High Head was delivered. Now that I've posted the Paderson followup, I decided to put some time in with it. It's just been a range session and an on course practice round, but so far I'm liking it. Hopefully, I'll be able to play a round tomorrow before I hit the road. Once I've spent some quality time with it, I'll post a review.

I can't really say I bought this "lately," since I actually ordered it at the PGA Merchandise Show, but they weren't in production and delivered it during the Paderson shaft evaluation, so it's been sitting around for awhile. I took the Knuth Golf High Heat driver out to the range a couple of times, along with my Titleist/Paderson combo but I wasn't controlling it well right off the bat, so I set it aside until last week when I took it out to the range again and spent a little time with it. Maybe it was the lessons I took a few weeks ago, but this time around I was hitting it pretty well, so I took both drivers to the course today and since it was close to empty this morning I was able to alternate drivers. So far I'm rather impressed, as I was hitting more fairways and distance seems to be comparable, and sometimes longer, than I was with my regular setup. Unfortunately, I only have one day I can play (weather permitting) until next week but I'm going to spend some more time with the High Heat driver over the next few weeks and it might just go in the bag!

In a rare moment of sanity in my youth, I married a nurse

Getting old ain't for sissies... but it DOES beat the alternative! Just imagine how badly we'd be out of shape if we DIDN'T play golf.

SCARY!!! Rest up and pay attention to your Dr's. Prayers for you.

My Real Feel hitting mat arrived today, to replace the original mat in my "Caddy-Shack" I've worn out (now a stance mat). I can finally hit indoors again, without making my forearms "tingle!"

I have no idea why I'm scoring much higher this week on the front nine... I'm killing the back 9 and just can't get any consistency on the front. It was the other way around a couple of weeks ago - lol Guess I'll just have to keep playing and see what happens

OUCH!!!

Its been raining like crazy the past few days and the courses are pretty soaked. Stunk up the first few holes but finally got into a groove and managed to come in on the back nine at 2 over par to salvage an 84!

That shaft may be an oldie, but I think it's a goodie, myself. If it works, it works!

After a two day break, because of family stuff and overall, played pretty well despite getting rather "pooped out" in the heat, on the back 9. 4 over on the front, 6 on the back which is two below my handicap for the home course!! The loft adjustment on my putter and the "A" wedge from my new irons have really improved my scoring from close in this past week!

Trades would definitely be a consideration, as far as I'm concerned.

Sounds like my wife...

Great weather in Sioux Falls this morning, very little wind and high 70s/low 80s and I'm really liking the putter adjustments and Burner 2.0 irons. Honestly, I'm pretty happy with my bag today. I played out of town at I course I usually play 3-4 times a year (Bakker Crossing), and groups were backed up on the first tee. My partner had his flight home canceled late last night, so I was playing solo and got hooked up for the front nine with a guy who brought his two little girls along (he lasted 5 holes). Since he was playing blue tees and we were late getting started, I played blue as well. I really just wanted to get a round in with the Burner irons, so I wasn't too concerned about scoring. I didn't play too badly off the blues, so I was happy with bogeys. After my playing partner vanished after the fifth hole (I think the girls were tired), I went back to my usual white tees and normal distances and hooked up with another solo player to finish out with 3 pars and another bogey. Other than a couple of pulls with my fairway and a hybrid, my ball striking was really consistent. I then start off the back 9 birdie-par-birdie-par-bogey-par-par and I realize I'm having my BEST 9 ever, so I immediately bogey number 17... I'm still at even par heading to 18! The last hole is actually one of the easier ones, a fairly short par 4 dogleg right and I see my drive heading safely toward the left side of the fairway. I see a ball off that line, near my usual distance as I'm carting up the path and two guys in a cart are approaching from the next fairway. It's not my ball, but they said mine is further up. I slowly start back up the line and, as I'm getting ready to turn back, they yell for me to keep going. I drive past the "end" of the fairway where it doglegs right and find a ball behind a small tree 85 yards from the green. I double-check and, yep it's mine. I think the adrenaline kicked in - lol I hit a wedge off to the left of the green, chunk the chip, downhill putt goes about 9 feet past the pin and 2 putts later I'm in with a double. That's STILL my best 9 (37) and best overall score (79) on this course EVER On the down side, it's getting tougher to figure out what clubs I need to replace with something new.

Very windy day yesterday, probably not the best day for "high flying" irons, but the Burners are still impressing me. Got some practice in and played 6 over playing the back nine, which is right at my handicap. I just have to remember for distances, the Burner 5 iron is a "4", the 6 the "5", etc... - lol I was even hitting the Burner 4 iron (3 iron) really well on the range last night at my lesson, and I've NEVER carried a 3 iron!

I really didn't expect to come back from my trip to the Twin Cities with another set of irons, but I've got to admit that after a range session, I'm really happy I did. I've never been a "high ball" hitter with irons, but the 5i and 8i I hit at the course were high, straight and long! I know the lofts are "jacked up" one club up from my other irons, but compared the Burner 5i and 8i to my Alpha 4i & 7i, and they still seem to be longer (definitely higher). I'll find out more after my round today, but I may just be gaming these for (at least) the rest of the season!

Having the opportunity to get fittings at the "Big 2" fitters within a days drive from home, while I got to play a round with fellow MGS'ers, I was pretty sure I'd be bringing home some "souvenirs." What I actually ended up with though, was a complete surprise. While BarbaJo and I were calling the wedge fitting at Totally Driven an "Edel" fitting, that's not really what it was since they carry MANY different brands of equipment. I'll admit, I figured my fitting would come down to a choice between Edel or Miura, since I'm currently bagging a 60* Miura and I'm also favorably disposed toward Edel equipment. After looking over my current wedges and discussing my concerns, Adam had me take a few swings and setup a number of wedges for me to try. It was basically a "blind test," since he never told me what he was handing me and I didn't look at the back of the clubs to see what brand they were. In total, I hit 8-10 different wedges and there was one that I was consistently making the best contact with and had the best control for aim and distance. I was pretty sure I was going to be ordering a set of Miuras, since the wedge we'd selected felt pretty similar (but better) than the one I was currently gaming. I have never owned any Ping equipment. I'm not sure why, but once my set is shipped from the factory and inspected by TD, I'll be gaming the 54 SS* & 60 TS* Ping Glides! http://www.ping.com/clubs/wedgesdetail.aspx?id=18283 At 2nd Swing, I was pleased to find out that Thomas Elsberry, the same master fitter that performed BarbaJo's Tour Van and Wedge fittings, was going to be my Studio B putter fitter. I've been bagging a BBX 80 model Bettinardi putter this season, and overall I've been pleased with it, but I wanted to really find out what the best model putter REALLY is best for me. Thomas looked over the 3 putters I brought with me, discussed my game and concerns, and then fired up all the cameras and after having me practice a few minutes, started the session with me using my gamer. I was pleasently surprised to find out, my eye position with my BBX 80 is where it's supposed to be!! Thomas remarked before we started that my Ping, Odyssey and Bettinardi putters all resembled each other, so apparently what "suits my eye" really does - lol The flaw that Thomas pointed out was in my loft, which was causing the ball to "jump up" off the clubface. After adjusting the loft to 2*, we recorded my putts again and my ball was tracking much better. Next, Thomas setup a number of different putters for me to try using the specs that he determined work best for me (35" long, 70* angle, 2* loft). The primary difference between the putters were head styles and aim markings. Loe and behold, after trying over a dozen putters, my BBX was still the most consistent in putting the ball in the hole. Thomas went ahead and adjusted the loft/lie on my other 2 putters and I was set. Just knowing I'm using the correct specs, gives me more confidence in my putter than I had before. Now, before my fitting I'd traded in a number of clubs I'd accumulated for shop credit, fully expecting to use it toward a new putter. What to do, what to do? Last year, someone left a Taylormade Burner 2.0 five iron on the course and I was able to take it out on the range one afternoon. I really enjoyed it and had it on my "short list" of irons I'd like to try. Since they had a special on NIB Burner 2.0 irons with graphite shafts, so I decided to take them home. Now it gets REALLY good! I figured I still owed them for the putter fitting, since I didn't buy a putter, but 2nd Swing waived the charge since I was purchasing the iron set. AND I got a free iron fitting for the Burners before I left the store with them!! I was extremely pleased with my fittings at both Totally Driven and 2nd Swing. Highly professional, no pressure to favor any particular brand and I feel all three fitters were working with me to ensure that whatever equipment I'd be playing would be the best fit, for me. Good Times!!