[What is the hardest shot in golf?]

Fried egg lie from a downhill lie in a greenside bunker - with water on the other side of the green.

[What bag do you use?]

Sun Mountain C130

[What's Your Go To Hat?]

Henschel Hats Breezer Aussie Hat https://a.co/d/amTB25X

[Tell Us Your Best Golf Story]

A few stories:

First Story:

When I was a young lad in my early 20s many years ago I worked at a department store. Back in those days retail shops were closed on Sundays and Mondays, so someone figured it would be a good idea to arrange a scramble tournament so that a few of the stores in the region could get together. There were probably 5 or 6 stores involved, and the participants travelled as much as 250 miles to get there, some perhaps a bit further. As I'm sure many would appreciate, the organizers arranged buses for transportation. My group had a nearly 4 hour drive each way, so we gathered, loaded up and started the drive pre-dawn. Most of those in our group were young males early in their careers. There were department managers, assistant department managers, manager trainees, etc. Generally a pretty good group. 

As they often did when gathering in groups, it didn't take long before the wobble pops and other adult beverages were flowing freely. By the time the bus rolled in, we were primed to roll off the bus. This was more than a golf game, this was a party!

Anyway, as the day wore on the partying continued. There were a few incidents of people rolling or falling out of power carts and many wayward shots but, to the best of my knowledge, nobody was seriously injured.

One of the incidents I still recall was more pathetic than funny, though to those of us who witnessed it the event was funny at the time. The General Manager of the store in the host city was actually a member at the course where the tournament was taking place. He had apparently pulled a number of strings in order to the course to allow a tournament like this to take place and was somewhat displeased at the various antics he observed that day. Suffice to say he was in a somewhat foul mood when an errant shot landed his ball just off the fairway and nestled in the trees on a dogleg par 5. I'm sure that didn't help his demeanour. After carefully assessing his lie and intended direction of play he took a mighty swing - and bent the shaft of his iron around the tree in front of him. Those nearby had a chuckle or two at his expense, but the one bearing the brunt of his wrath was his son as he was pursued across the fairway by his middle-aged father carrying the bent iron. Thankfully the young lad was quicker than his father and no damage was done. Well, at least not while witnesses were present.

Second Story:

This was at a corporate / customer golf event, where I was one of the customers invited by one of our suppliers. The supplier's local branch manager was on a par 3 and decided to allow the group behind to play up before his group putted out. Whether emboldened by alcohol or stupidity, he decided to stand by the flagstick, telling everyone in earshot that "it's the safest place to stand." Perhaps not, as he lost sight of one of the tee shots and the ball hit his cap right where the brim meets the upper portion, right above one of his eyes. He dropped like he'd been shot and has vision impairment in that ey to this day, probably 25 years later. Lesson learned.

Third Story:

My wife and I were paired up at a semi-private golf course with a May-October couple - he was easily mid-50s and she was probably late 20s - about 1/2 his age. Turns out she worked for him at his firm and was also his main squeeze. She seemed to be learning the game, but it clearly wasn't her first round as she was probably going to shoot about 110. He probably carried about a 20 handicap, so certainly no pro. Regardless, it appeared he fancied himself as the great keeper of wisdom of all things golf when it came to the play of his girl friend. 

I understand advice, but I don't recall her ever asking. Further, whenever he spoke to her he was incredibly condescending. You could tell she wasn't too pleased with how she was being treated, but was tolerating it for the sake of their relationship. My wife, on the other hand, was LIVID at how this young woman was being treated. It was all I could do to calm her down, hole after hole, and keep reminding her that killing the smarmy a**hole with a 7-iron wasn't worth it. 

To this day she gets revved up at the mere mention of his behaviour. Yikes.

[Sunmountain Sync or C130S Stand Bag]

I'm obviously missing something. Why would you buy a stand bag if you don't carry? Why not a cart bag? Serious questions, BTW.

[Is this mental]

On 5/12/2022 at 3:21 AM, BADFanBoi Scotty said:

Clearly need to golf in high heels mate. 

I hate playing punched greens. LOL

[What does the 'draw' hosel setting ACTUALLY do?]

I'm relatively new to playing a 10.5° PXG 0211 driver. Standard lie angle is 58°.

Because it's new and there's no PXG fitter anywhere close to where I live I've been going through the adjustments myself. This has been done through a combination of indoor and outdoor range work.

After mostly indoor work with a simulator with a launch monitor which gave me launch angles, spin rates etc., I ended up playing the "Small Minus" – This setting decreases the loft by 1° and decreases the lie angle by 0.5°.

After some time on the outdoor range and a couple of rounds I realized I was still getting the occasional big miss left. At that point I decided to go to the "Flat Minus" setting which decreases the loft by 1° and decreases the lie angle by 2.5°. This is the same loft as the "small minus" setting but a 2° flatter lie angle. That has helped a lot to take away the left side of the fairway / rough.

It's also worth noting that I've added about 6g of lead tape to the sole, taking the swing weight from D1 to D4. The lead tape is also biased slightly towards the toe, helping to stop the club face from closing.

All things considered the 0211 PXG is the best driver I've ever had.

P.S. I'm 6'2" with long arms (37" sleeve length). 

[PXG 0211 Driver - Maximum Safe Temperature?]

On 4/10/2022 at 8:55 PM, Bobbers said:

If it were me I'd get in touch with PXG; they seem to be pretty on top of their products, specs, etc.

PXG is taking the standard line of "any modification voids warranty and is not recommended" - even though their tour vans probably hotmelt heads on a regular basis.

[Counterfeit Drivers]

6 hours ago, Pouetvl11 said:

Well, everybody want to save money, people who don't know about golf will get fooled every time.

You have the one that see a deal that's too good to past up.

You have the one that know it's a fake and still buy it to look better than the next person but he don't understand that golf is a "rich" people sport so the next one might be a millionaire and don't care about your item.

You got the one that got a gift and the person got ripped off, like the Scotty Cameron example.

You got the one that bough used item on ebay, marketplace or other website and got ripped off.

I mostly see the first type, too good to past up:

We need to educate those people...

#1 Retailers have a profit margin around 30% so any deal that would be more than that could be suspect.

#2 OEM gives "gift" / rebate / bonus to people in the industry so those people will sometimes have a very good "legit" deal but will often not advertise them on the open market, will be more deals for their friends and family.

In canada those are the latest deal i've seen from OEM.

Mizuno lend full irons set to fitters for a year and you give it back after. 

Callaway gives COST and additional 30% rebate on their clubs for people working at certain golf club.

Taylormade distributor are able to get their employee around 20% rebate of retail price.

THere are tons of other deal but im not aware of them...

 

 

 

I don't know what he paid for his counterfeit Ping, but he probably could have purchased a real PXG 0211 driver for not much more $$ at today's prices. 

BTW, looking on AliExpress they have their "G425 Max" for nearly USD $195 with shipping. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004042549741.html

Meanwhile, the genuiine 0211 driver is selling for USD $225 + shipping. https://www.pxg.com/en-us/clubs/drivers/0211

[Counterfeit Drivers]

On 4/25/2022 at 3:59 AM, Riverboat said:

Harsh. All I can say is you must lead a very clean life... Except for the judgmental part. With all the horrible things everyday people do in their lives, buying a knockoff driver ranks pretty far down the list.

Let's be entirely clear on this - a counterfeit driver isn't a knockoff. IMO, knockoffs are a copy of a product that doesn't purport to be the actual product / real thing - that's a counterfeit. Example: Company XYZ makes a driver that's a dead ringer for a Ping 425, but sells it as the "Zoom 425". Counterfeits fraudulently hit the market labelled as 'Ping 425'. While some people will buy it with full knowledge they're buying a fake, others will get duped. Whether that's the first buyer or one who buys it used, the net result is not only money that doesn't go to Ping, but likely consumers who get a club that doesn't perform like the real thing and blame Ping for producing crappy products.

[PXG 0211 Driver - Maximum Safe Temperature?]

I have a PXG 0211 driver with hot melt that I'd like to move. My idea would be to put the head in the oven, soften the hot melt and have it resettle in a different position. 

What's the maximum safe temperature for this head that would melt and flow the hot melt without damaging the head?

[Pxg are they making money?]

On 2/27/2022 at 5:29 PM, cycleguy55 said:

I don't know, but I note the order page says "Products are usually delivered within 21 days (excluding weekends and holidays) from the date of order. It may change depending on the stock and production status. Please note that." IIRC, that was before I put in my location, so unless PXG's programmers have coded their website to check IP addresses or other location information I suspect that applies to all. 21 business days says to me that's 4+ weeks from ordering to delivery, so my estimate of mid-March may actually turn out closer to the end of March - I certainly hope not.

I do know I ordered it 5 days ago (February 22) and the order tracking says it's still "Order Received" and not yet moved to "Items Picked / In-Assembly".

It's now 8 days / 6 business days since I ordered it, and order tracking finally shows it "Items Picked / In-Assembly".

Edit: 2022-03-03: Notified today that it's been shipped. 9 days / 7 business days. Expected delivery is 2022-03-09 - that would be 15 days / 11 business days.

[Pxg are they making money?]

I don't know, but I note the order page says "Products are usually delivered within 21 days (excluding weekends and holidays) from the date of order. It may change depending on the stock and production status. Please note that." IIRC, that was before I put in my location, so unless PXG's programmers have coded their website to check IP addresses or other location information I suspect that applies to all. 21 business days says to me that's 4+ weeks from ordering to delivery, so my estimate of mid-March may actually turn out closer to the end of March - I certainly hope not.

I do know I ordered it 5 days ago (February 22) and the order tracking says it's still "Order Received" and not yet moved to "Items Picked / In-Assembly".

[Pxg are they making money?]

4 hours ago, DiscipleofPenick said:

Anyone gaming the 0211 Driver? For $199 that seems like a crazy steal for what should be a well made club

I just pulled the trigger on one earlier this week. I hope to see it mid-March or so. Standard length, midsize grip, EvenFlow 60g 5.5 Riptide CB. Order says "Tungsten Position F10", which I take to mean the weight is 10 grams. Looking forward to giving it a go in the local golf simulator.

[2021 MGS Ball Test]

On 12/29/2021 at 5:10 PM, Thin2win said:

I think this has been discussed a couple times, but I believe currently almost every tour player is using an off the shelf ball. A few years ago, there were more special blends. But I'm fairly confident that they are playing the same as you and me. 

Off the shelf, maybe, but I suspect the shelves in the tour vans (or wherever they're pulled to supply tour players) don't have the same production variations found on the shelves of golf stores and pro shops at the local golf courses. 

[taylormade]

TM's info on counterfeit clubs can be found here: https://www.taylormadegolf.com/shared-customer-service/customerService-counterfeit.html?lang=en_US

You could try submitting your club information and suspicions to TM: https://www.taylormadegolf.com/shared-customer-service/customerService-counterfeit-submission.html?lang=en_US

Let us know how it turns out.

[2021 MGS Ball Test]

Thanks for doing this - it's very interesting and insightful.

What I'd like to see now is a comparison of how the off-the-shelf balls compare to the 'same' balls played by tour players. What extra effort do Titleist, Bridgestone, Srixon, etc. go through to ensure the variances and inconsistencies are weeded out from the balls supplied to sponsored players?

[The elusive Fairway Wood Unicorn]

1 hour ago, Donn lost in San Diego said:

3 wood off the deck is by far the hardest shot, unless you like Tom Watson or some of the current ladies and  swing your driver off the fairway on par 5.  I still like my 2011 vintage Adams Speedline low profile (LP) with the wave tech speed slot on a blue Matrix Ozik reg flex.  The low profile and the fairly wide flat bottom works for me from fairway or good lie in the light ruff.  But a deep face club would give more confidence off a tee.  The Ozik shaft seems to fit my swing like a glove.

As your experience shows, the shaft is the answer.  I don't think there is much difference between heads that have the same basic design goal of swing speed and launch angle/spin design.   

I don't know if "3 wood off the deck is by far the hardest shot", but I find many golfers don't seem to adjust their swing for the different lie. When hitting it off a tee you generally want to be hitting 'up', whereas 'off the deck' means you need to hit down on the ball to avoid getting hung up in the turf, not much different than an iron shot. Many don't seem to be able to consistently make the adjustment.

It depends upon the setting, but I generally prefer a FW wood with rails and a taller face. Rails help keep it from digging in off the deck, while the taller face helps off the tee. 

[Shaft taper vs putter grip]

On 6/13/2021 at 10:12 PM, GoBuffs11 said:

Do some shafts taper more? I put a gravity grip on a friends Scotty and there is a noticeable gap at the bottom end of the grip between the shaft. I’ve put this grip on an odyssey and Taylormade with no issues.  Any ideas? I guess I could build up the bottom with tape?

I suspect the rubber ring at the bottom of the Gravity Grip is manufactured slightly larger than necessary to grip the reduced diameter of the shaft at that point. Shaft taper varies, but unless the bottom of the grip is actually moving around this is strictly an issue of appearance.

[Wedge Groove Sharpener]

These definitely help with worn grooves but, as others have noted, there's some effort involved in this process. I'd also mention some care and attention to detail are warranted as well. Take your time and be prepared to put some muscle into it and you could bring old wedges back to life.

[Bored-out Hosels]

On 4/24/2021 at 1:21 PM, Dave Tutelman said:

DIAGNOSIS: I don't think it was anything as sensible nor functional as a swingweight adjustment. Much more likely to be one of the other suggestions so far:

• Counterfeit.
• Botched repair or modification, so they just glued it back together quick and dirty.

PRESCRIPTION:

• The best I've seen among the suggestions so far is a properly fit shim.
• If you can't find one, let me critique the glass shafting beads. They might be part of a solution -- or not. They were intended to fit much smaller gaps than the .022" that you have near the tip of the shaft. (Probably more like .002"-.005".) They are not intended to be a thickener for the epoxy, but rather to fill the space between shaft and hosel when there is a loose fit. NOT a total misfit, which is what we have here. They may work as a thickener, and that may be adequate for this job, but I'd try a real thickener first. Which brings me to...
• Thickeners for resin glues like epoxy exist. They tend to be chopped (very short) fibers of something like fiberglass. I have used this for thickening the epoxy for clubs and tools. It is not at all expensive.
• Probably even better mechanically -- but considerably harder to execute -- is a fiberglass fabric shim. I can't give you a detailed step-by-step for this; I've never done it as a shaft shim. But I've used the principle for things that do get stress and vibration. If you can assemble it, I'm sure it will work well. It requires cutting a filler that fits the gap between hosel and shaft. Then you impregnate the woven glass fabric with epoxy and assemble the whole thing so that the glass fills most of the space and the whole thing is held together by the epoxy.

Hope this helps you.

When you wrote "fiberglass fabric shim" were you thinking of something like fiberglass fabric for repairing things like boats, something like fiberglass window screen (lots of room for epoxy), or something completely different? I can certainly see how a small piece of fiberglass window screen might do the trick. I haven't pulled out my digital calipers to measure the thickness of such screen, but it needs to fill 0.045"  (0.400" - 0.355"). Given the shaft is a 0.355", therefore a tapered tip, perhaps a couple of wraps would be necessary at the tip and a single wrap halfway up the hosel.

Might be easier to switch to a 0.370" shaft if the 0.400" is a straight bore and use a full depth single wrap.

Doesn't sound like fun to fix properly.

Edit: Based upon what I can see online, it appears fiberglass screen is about 0.25mm thick, or about 0.01" - so two full wraps would provide 0.04", while a single wrap would be 0.02".

[GPS vs Rangfinders]

On 4/28/2020 at 6:05 AM, UncleDanger said:

I use both. GPS is “always on” for yardage to layups and green center. Laser is used on par 3 and holes where there is a hazard near green that I need specific yardage info for.

Similar here, though I will occasionally pull out the rangefinder for hazards or obstructions on hole, not just par 3s. Primary tool is Garmin GPS watch, with secondary being rangefinder. New rangefinder has slope, so I may be using it more on hilly courses than I did the old rangefiner (without slope).

[Poll: Covid-19 Play Carts?]

Saskatchewan, Canada:

• Courses open May 15, in time for long weekend.
• Carts allowed: singles only, unless both riders are from same household. 
• Cups will be raised - contact with cup indicates 'made' putt. Flags left in hole. No ball washers or rakes in bunkers.
• Tee times 20 minute intervals.
• Restaurants and bars closed. May have window service. 
• Not sure about washrooms / restrooms. I'l probably take my own sanitizing wipes, hand gel, etc.

[Shaft length vs weight]

17 hours ago, ChitownM2 said:

Understood.  Based on your original post, you said you were looking to build "another" shaft for your driver, which I took to mean that you might play both depending on conditions or something else. If that was the case, I'd want the shaft lengths to match, especially if I was playing one shaft one day and then the next round playing the other. 

If you're making a permanent switch then getting it to your desired swing weight may be more important than the length depending on what you are trying to achieve.

Good point. I probably should have used "replacement" rather than "another".

[Shaft length vs weight]

2 hours ago, ChitownM2 said:

I agree with @jlukes, I'd match the length first and then if you don't like the swing weight you can try a heavier grip or a counter balance. I wouldn't want to constantly be messing with the length of my driver as it will probably lead to more problems than whatever benefit you are thinking you will get from changing shafts.

I've played a shorter driver before, at 44.5", so I'm not concerned about that at all.