GolfSpy Barbajo

JohnSmalls · June 11, 2019

41 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

That was so cool!! thanks for posting it.

What course was that, that was the very first golf shot flyover, you know the one that seemed like it was a par 17...ha Man that looked tough.

Some of those view were spectacular, #2020MGSScotlandAdventure!

Thatt was #6 on the Castle Course - smacked it 3 bills on that one!

StrokerAce · June 11, 2019

56 minutes ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

that's awesome!

did you get in a pot bunker? how hard was it to get out?

did you find the 'gorse' (sp?) and is it impossible to find a ball in there?

look like the courses were in fantastic shape...did you have a favorite?

Pot bunkers? Several - got out okay (cousin had a few issues), but the ones in the fairway really impede your progress.

Gorse - nasty shit - if you're in, fuggehdaboudit....you're done. I lost one on the Jubilee course. It was nasty.

Favorites? Hard to say anything was grander than the Old Course - it was a treat. Kingsbarns and Castle were magnificent - although the greens at the Castle were kind of silly. For a hidden gem, Lundin Links was awesome -- and inexpensive by comparison.

silver & black · June 11, 2019

Jack from Halcyon Travel puts together videos for his clients - and he just got a drone so he wanted to try it out during our visit.

As long as you don't criticize the over-the-top swing (it got REAL bad during the trip) - I'm happy to share

Here's a link -- can't load it up on YouTube, they'll object to using Kenny Loggins without permission...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=103ymXdEGnxZQftUl5ZtydLejpIg-WwOO

fozcycle · June 8, 2019

32 minutes ago, Wedgie said:

Crap, I just wrote a big long email and it got lost. Lucky for you I’ll paraphrase. Do buy into the Matlby head rating system?

Wilson always seems really low even the D7s are considered “conventional”. I gamed the Ci7 irons for awhile and thought they were the most accurate irons I have ever owned. Problem was I couldn’t hit anything past the 8. Do you think these provide more foreignness than prior models?

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Don't really know much about how Maltby comes up with their ratings, but it all seems reasonable. Like our Most Wanted rankings, it serves as a good starting point when gathering info when searching for new irons.

As far as the C300 Forged go, the most similar iron I can think of is the Srixon Z-585. In terms of forgiveness they're very similar, and in terms of overall head size and sole width, they're damn near identical.

00sportsman · June 8, 2019

2 minutes ago, Wedgie said:

Thanks for sharing. I did read the article and if I recall Wilson said the gunmetal finish will wear over time. Do you know if they will have more of a chrome look to them after wear? Also you were rocking the D7s for awhile. Which of these two sets do you prefer? I really enjoy my Launchers but could use more accuracy from 7-GW and these may be the ticket if gapping would work.

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Right now I'd say I prefer the C300 Forged - only have a couple of round in with the D7's early in the year when the game was still off, so I can't give them a fair evaluation. But if you made me choose I'd go C300 Forged. I'd think a D7/C300 Forged combo set might be interesting, or even a C300 Forged/V6 combo set.

fozcycle · June 8, 2019

Hope you guys had the chance to read yesterday's blog on Wilson's new C300 Forged Gun Metal irons. The C300 Forged irons are in their second year, and Wilson - following industry trends - is jazzing them up a bit with a limited edition finish.

It's an interesting look - not midnight black like some of the others - and indoor pix make the irons look very different from outdoor pix, but to my eye anyway, they look great.

And to show how a different shaft can make a difference - I tried a set last year with Nippon Modus 120's and could never really get the feel, too harsh and could never really get comfy with them. Maybe it's age, but the stock KBS Tour 105's worked much better right out of the shoot - from the first PW on the practice range right through to my last GW approach on 18, I really enjoyed hitting these. Ball flight is still higher than I'd like, and distance was really not a ton different from my Srixon/C Taper combo, but much easier to hit and at almost 59 years old, I did feel better coming down 18. Does 20 grams per club make that much difference?

The MGS Players Distance Most Wanted comes out Monday - and the C300 Forged is in the mix. They finished 4th overall last year (not the longest, but accuracy was top notch) and it'll be interesting to see how the same iron fares in its 2nd year. Based on one round - which really isn't enough to fully judge but what the hell - I can see these staying in the bag for a while - at least until I get bored.

Enjoy the pix and fire away with questions...

ward · June 8, 2019

Big fan of Skechers, but the new revelation has been Inesis - the shoes named best value in this year's Spikeless Buyers Guide. They are, without a doubt, the most comfortable golf shoe I've ever worn - the Skechers are a strong, but very clear, 2nd. Waterproof, stupid comfy and I think they're only $79. Worn them for about a dozen+ rounds in all kinds of weather - so far, so very, very good...

June 7, 2019

He was quite the showman - loved his performance in The Last Waltz.

perseveringgolfer · June 6, 2019

7 minutes ago, perseveringgolfer said:

@GolfSpy Barbajo The St Rule trophy was just played over the NEW and OLD course. Thought it might interest you to see this as it's just gone up.

Awesome video -- Jen Saxton from ShotScope was in the field - she fired a -5 in her second round at the New Course and a -2 in her third round, but still finished back in the pack. She's one of the best golfers I've ever played with....

June 6, 2019

1 hour ago, ballplayer002003 said:

Same, I would rather skimp on the room to increase the golfing experience. If you spend tons of time in your room then you are doing it wrong. I am there to golf.

For the next trip I'm thinking of staying in the North Berwick area and focusing on the East Lothian courses - with a day trip to St. Andrews if we can secure tee times. Our guy Jack said the accommodations are much less expensive down that way and the courses -- North Berwick, Gullane and if we say our prayers and do good deeds - Muirfield - are amazing.

JohnSmalls · June 6, 2019

Okay, this looks pretty cool....

I've only used a caddy a couple times in my entire life; but probably should splurge going forward...How often do you use a caddy? https://t.co/yR9MNwcKnX
— Randy Otto (@randy_otto) June 6, 2019

GolfSpy_BNG · June 5, 2019

Tried the Tour V for the first time this year in a set of Lynx prowler VT's -- I like it a lot. It's fairly light (compared to C-Tapers or DG's) with a stiff tip for lower launch and reasonably low spin (not as low as the C Taper, but not bad).

I'm a fan...

Had Tour 90's in the stock set of Wilson D7 irons i demoed. Light, but launched REALLY high, as in Saturn 5 high - too high for me, but they did make the D7's very long. If you need help getting the ball up and generating spin, it's a great shaft. If you want a little less spin and want to keep the ball down, the Tour V is a better choice. They're very different shafts.

PMookie · June 5, 2019

13 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

One question, you stayed at the New Inn, how did that work out?

It was fine -- very simple rooms over a pub. We looked at it like we had a full service bar and breakfast counter in our basement. It was an easy walk to restaurants, and about a 20 minute hike to the Old Course - 30 if you walked along the shore by the old cathedral and castle.

It was very bare bones -- full bed and twin bed with a full bath. Desk with a hot water pot and instant coffee - plenty of room. Only thing missing was a mini-fridge for snacks or bottled water. The pub downstairs was fine - not terribly busy though, but fine. Heidi, the owner, made breakfast to order for us every day, and if we gave her enough notice she'd prepare a bagged breakfast for us if we were leaving early, as we did Saturday to play Kingsbarns.

We could have stayed in a nicer hotel - even had an option to stay at the Rusack right along the 18th fairway, but opted for less expensive lodging in order to get in more golf and say within budget.

Saturday night she had the European Soccer championship game on, with complimentary food laid out. Again, wasn't overly busy but it was a nice time. I played soccer in high school and can appreciate the talent of the best players in the world, but when you don't care who wins it's extremely boring to watch.

Enjoyed interacting with Heidi's regulars -- she seemed to know everyone.

JohnSmalls · June 5, 2019

1 hour ago, ballplayer002003 said:

Did you go through a company to set up your golf or did you do this all on your own? If you went through a company, can you tell us about it?

Another good question - we set the trip up through a British company called Halcyon Golf Travel (link here).

The owner and founder is a 23 year old Jack Sallis - a go-getter if ever there was one. I met Jack at the PGA Show in January. His company is about a year old and Jack has worked hard to make contacts in the golf world and thrives on putting together high end, bespoke travel experiences throughout the UK. Ours was bespoke, I guess, but we chose not to go the high end route -- preferring to sacrifice high end accommodations and other experiences for more and better golf.

Jack did not book the Old Course for us - by the time we booked the trip (mid-March) all the allotted tee times were long gone...so we did it the hold fashioned way -- showing up at the starter's pavilion early, waiting and hoping. But Jack did a great job putting the trip together and spent the first two days of the trip with us to get us settled and acclimated to Scotland - he even played with us at the Castle Course (he's a SERIOUS stick, even though I did outdrive him on one hole - not bad for someone 35 years older than him!!).

There are lots of good travel companies that can book a trip like this -- GolfBreaks is one, but there are tons. I personally like working with small outfits like Halcyon, and I like that Jack is so young and doing the work to make a name for himself and his company. That kind of initiative is worthy of respect, IMO. He's earned my business, that's for sure.

Already talking about a trip next year for my 60th - anyone up for it???

MaxEntropy · May 31, 2019

On 5/30/2019 at 1:57 PM, perseveringgolfer said:

Whats your honest opinion on the Old course now you've played it twice? (only once for me)

That's a great question - I wouldn't say it's anywhere close to the "hardest" course I've ever played - the way it was set up for regular play, anyway. You definitely have to think your way around it, and caddies definitely helped. I can easily see how holes such as #11, the one that gave Bobby Jones fits, can be a nightmare if you're in the wrong place. I got luck and parred it twice, but a couple of miscalculations could have been disastrous.

I bogied the Road Hole twice, both times from the middle of the fairway -- unless you're a hell of a long longer off the tee than I am and the pin is in the front - I don't see how you can get close. It's a tough mother of a hole. Playing 18 twice was interesting - first day was driver/9-iron; the second day was driver/3 hybrid, and I smacked both drives well.

For the first round, there was definitely an 78 or 79 to be had for me - I struggled both on and around the greens, and was fighting a major case of the lefts. Apparently, on the Old Course, that's not a horrible thing. My caddy told me right is where nearly all the trouble is, left my make the hole harder and longer, but you can play it. The only holes where right really isn't a problem is on 9 and 10, since they're side by each.

I didn't play particularly well my second round - still was able to scrape together an 86, but it didn't feel like a good 86. I did lip out 3 or 4 putts that were for either birdie or par (okay, one would have saved double), but it was a scramble the entire round. I shanked a pitch on 18 in front of a group of onlookers - and then 3-putted for a closing double which kind of sealed the deal.

So honest opinion? It's not a particularly hard course, but you do have to use your noodle and if you stay out of trouble and bring a short game, I don't think breaking 80 there under normal conditions would be all that difficult to do. The greens are on the slow side - but from what I understand that's normal for Scottish links golf, and if you're not hitting greens and your short game is giving you fits, it's going to be a long day. As my caddy said - it rarely plays the same way twice.

From the experience standpoint, it was magical - they build up the mystique big time (why wouldn't they?) - but to actually play on that course - and the New and Jubilee as well - where there's so much history - was something I'll never forget.

We played Lundin Links today - a really cool out-of-the-way hidden gem. Half the holes were designed by Old Tom Morris, the other half by James Braid - and they've been playing there since 1868. It was a really fun course, again right on the water.

We play Kingsbarns in the morning and Scottscraig in the afternoon tomorrow - then he head home on Sunday.

Golfspy_CG2 · May 30, 2019

Incredibly jealous.... lucky man!

Take Dead Aim

It gets worse. Wet, miserable day today- cousin Paul suggests on a lark we see if there are any Old Course cancellations. Bottom line,we tee off again in 30 minutes

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HardcoreLooper · May 30, 2019

Played 36 yesterday - the. Jubilee in the morning, the New In the afternoon. They’re similar but different,’if that makes sense - line twins with different personalities.

From the Jubilee...

From the New...

Shot a 79 at the New, 84 on Jubilee. We got some rain yesterday to make it feel like a real Scottish adventure.

Will be playing both again today.

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SteddyGolf · May 29, 2019

We did it! We had to get up at 2AM and hike 20 minutes with bags on the back to get wait in line in the cold, wind and rain for 3 hours, but we made it!!

Scratch the Old Course off the bucket list baby!!

I’m glad we did it this way instead of winning the ballot, because it makes for a much better story (to be shared later) - but it was everything you’d want it to be. Here are some pix to hold you over...

It was an awesome experience - shot an 83 with a triple on the front (damn bunkers!!) - and there was a 78 or 79 to be had. Bogeyed #1, pars on #11 and 18, bogeyed the road hole but nailed the middle of the fairway off the tee after busing one over the hotel - the caddy said it was “text-booook.”

Playing Jubilee and New today.

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deejaid · May 25, 2019

12 hours and counting!

Bag is set:

Driver: Honma 747/Sub 70 639D
FW: Srixon F-85 strong 3
Hybrids: Hogan VKTR 17, PXG 22
Irons: Srixon Z-85 combo set
Wedges: Cleveland 50 (bent to 49), Hogan Riviera 56/60

Cobra adjustable utility

Putter: Odyssey Stroke Lab, Bettinardi BB8

Balls: Srixon Z Star XV/Bridgestone Tour B X

The drivers are a gamble - just received them this past week and tried them on the range. I think I'm going to like them. Srixon Strong 3-wood flights lower than the Wilson D7, which should help. Stroke Lab putter is the starter with the Bettinardi BB8 a hunch as a bench player, just in case.

The Hogan 17 degree hybrid fits the gap between the PXG and the 3 wood nicely, and the Cobra is adjustable, which makes it versatile in case it's extra windy.

Now, I just hope the game doesn't take a dump over the Atlantic like last year.

Peaksy68 · May 23, 2019

7 hours ago, Peaksy68 said:

@GolfSpy Barbajo, you are now officially on my list of people I don't like. I'm jealous of anyone who is getting to play anywhere, let alone of your trip.

I'm not going to wish you a great trip, because I'm sure it will be sensational without my input. Hope you get the full spectrum of weather while your there so you can pretend your playing in The Open.

One last thing, no toilet pictures this time.

Haha! I! I'm glad to see you pay attention - can't help the toilet pictures. You can take the boy out of plumbing but you can't take the plumber out of the boy.

As for the list - I could make a lengthy list of people who have me on the list of people they don't like. I like that ist.

perseveringgolfer · May 21, 2019

46 minutes ago, perseveringgolfer said:

Thats a great itinerary, have you been before?

I really enjoy the New course for it's layout. Jubilee is also good with a tough last 4 holes. Kingsbarnes is just special.

Hope you get on the Old course, its not a patch on the others but the atmosphere is magical, especially playing 17 and 18 where you WILL have spectators.

Keep us appraised with pics and updates.

*edit* I liked the Castle course, some stupidly hard undulating greens (think Augusta on steroids lol) but a good test.

p.s The New inn will be fine, you're not far from anywhere in St Andrews

4

Made a pit stop in St. Andrews last summer - did get to play the New Course and stayed at the Golf Inn (loved the Fish 'n Chips!).

Really enjoyed the New Course, and this trip will be a full immersion into St. Andrews, with Kingsbarns a great treat at the end. I'm sure we'll be thinking twice about 36 holes a day by the end of the week, but we'll see how she goes.

Let me know if you're in the area - we can hoist a pint...or several.

bens197 · May 21, 2019

Getting ready for another installment of the Golf Trip of a Lifetime. My cousin Paul (known here as @3PuttPaul) and I are heading to St. Andrews this weekend, We leave Boston Saturday night and arrive in Edinburgh Sunday morning.

We're staying at The New Inn in St. Andrews - it's about a half mile or so from the golf complex. Here's the itinerary:

Sunday - June 26: Afternoon golf at an undisclosed location with Gavin Dear and +1 from ShotScope

Monday: 12:20 tee time at the Castle Course
Tuesday: Early tee time at the New Course, afternoon at Jubilee
Wednesday: 11:20 at Jubilee - 2nd tee time to be arranged at other St. Andrews Course
Thursday: Open - in case we get on the Old Course via ballot. If we get on another day, we'll reschedule golf to this day.
Friday: 10AM at Lundin Links - considered a hidden gem in the area - checked the website, it's right on the ocean, looks awesome!
Saturday: 7AM at Kingsbarn - if we're not golfed out, we'll find someplace for an afternoon round.

We have some flexibility on Monday-Thursday - with unlimited St. Andrews golf for the first three days of the week. We'll be on the Old Course ballot every day, and since the sun doesn't go down till around 10PM at that time of year, we'll try to cram as much golf in as we can.

We chose to trade accommodations for more and better golf - so the New Inn isn't right near the course, but it is near the water and looks to be an interesting place. Pub and restaurant downstairs with modest rooms upstairs.

We'll post pictures here and on social media, so hope you can follow along. It's gonna be a hoot!

As for weapons for the trip, here's what I'm looking at bringing:

Driver: Honma 747/Sub 70 639D/Tour Edge EXS (2 of the 3)
FW: Either Wilson D7 or Srixon F-85 strong 3
Hybrids: Callaway Apex 19, PXG 22
Irons: Srixon Z-85 combo set
Wedges: Cleveland 50 (bent to 49), Hogan Riviera 56/60

Also bringing Cobra adjustable utility iron (VERY useful in Scotland)

Putter: Odyssey Stroke Lab and maybe Edel Willamette or Bettinardi Baby Ben, just to keep the Odyssey on its toes.

Balls: Srixon Z Star XV/Bridgestone Tour B X

The trip was put together by Jack Sallis of Halcyon Travel from England. I met Jack at the PGA Show - we're interested to see how this goes. Maybe, just maybe, we can put together a MyGolfSpy trip next spring/early summer if enough of you would be interested. Lemme know either here or via PM if you are...

JohnSmalls · May 21, 2019

28 minutes ago, Wedgie said:

Cool, thanks for sharing. Any idea how much of their total business is in golf equipment?

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My guess is they're in the 130 to 150 million, but that's just a guess based on 2014 #'s of around 125 million.

Tim Clarke did tell me they're seeing considerable success this year with the D7 and they've far exceeded what they expected to sell with the Staff Model blades. They've already outsold projections...

palvord · May 21, 2019

Hogan can customize your irons to your specs - swingweight, lie, length, etc. Their shaft options cover a pretty wide range - you would probably be able to see which of their offerings best fits you in a fitting. You can also try a couple of irons, bent to your specs, for two weeks for about $20.

It's a little different, but if you're confident in the fitting, it's an option.

cnosil · May 21, 2019

Wilson moved from an office complex near OHare to One Prudential Plaza right in downtown Chicago. Got to visit this afternoon to interview Tim Clarke for an upcoming blog piece.

The new digs are first class and very new-age corporate. There are a ton of meeting rooms and very few private offices to promote interaction. And there’s a real “sports” vibe to the whole place that was lacking in their former long time office space.

That last picture is typical of some of the artwork. It was made out of red golf tees. There was another one that said Game On that was made out of red and white painted whistles.

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Posts posted by GolfSpy Barbajo