Siamese Moose

I played in an occasional mist this morning. It was only the second time in my life that I've been under par for 9, 1 under on the front (bogied 2, birdied 6 and 9). Slumped to a 40 on the (much harder) back 9, with 3 three putts, but birdied the last for 75, my best score in several years.

A follow up after a few more trips back: Until today, all of my sessions were on the grass tees. There, you use a phone app to display your results. The sensors have to "find" you first, which is done by the sound of hitting a few balls and then confirming which spot you're in. Today it is raining, so I went to the covered bays. Each bay has it's own monitor, and the location is preprogrammed. Today I found the results to be absolutely spot on. Is it +/- 1 yard, as they claim? I can't say that, but it's certainly close enough for me to use and be happy. I'm currently taking lessons to bui

Rob Westendorf, right handed, Cincinnati, OH First choice: 18* - Recoil ES 75 F3 Regular Second Choice: 3 wood – 14* - MRC Tensei CK Blue 70 gram Regular I currently play a Mizuno hybrid I am unhappy with. Index: 9.8

Almost 20 years ago my wife and I showed up for a round and were informed that the course screwed up our tee time, they had booked an outing, and we could only play 9. So we did. On the 7th tee I was 4 over. 7 is a very short straight par 5, and I made eagle. 8 is a slight dogleg par 4, and I birdied. 9 is another par 5. I hit two more good shots, and was on in 2 at about 12 feet. The entire outing was lined up in carts behind me in the parking lot, and apparently word got out that someone knew I was putting for eagle. When I made it I about jumped out of my skin when the entire outing explode

211 yard par 3 over water, into the wind (7-10 mph) today. This hole usually gives me fits, and the tees were back as far as they go today. Hit a cut off 3 wood to 12ish feet. Uphill right to left putt that screamed green light, and made it. First birdie on that hole ever! (Hueston Woods #16, Oxford, OH)

We've played what, four rounds together? Have you ever played the same bag twice?

I have a La Jolla that I got fitted for in 2005. (By Dana Upshaw. I know some of you know him.) At the time I tracked my stats obsessively, and after two months with it my putts per round had dropped by 5 strokes. Who else can say one club dropped your handicap by 5? . I have started a lesson program this year, and at the first session I was getting a bit tired, so we took a break and Steve said, "Let's look at your putting." After about ten strokes he said, "Don't ever let anybody change a damn thing!" I have a backup Cleveland putter that is essentially identical, but I got it only in case

I use a 44.5" driver. In the past I've never had consistent contact on anything longer. However, I have undergone a complete swing rebuild with an instructor over the last two months, and my new swing is nothing like my old one. My driving accuracy is way up (10 of 12 fairways last time out), but I believe I'm losing some distance compared to what I've gained elsewhere. My current driver is 7 or 8 years old (Wishon 919 with XCaliber Superlight), so it's time for a new fitting anyway. I'd like to see if I can now handle a longer shaft, but I want to try it on the course. For me, hitting on the

Total rebuild underway, there's hope! I'm in a long term lesson plan to build a new swing that is kinder to my 60 YO body and, I hope, better overall anyway. It's tough to get over 30 years of muscle memory, and so much of this new swing is vastly different from what I had been doing, but there are a lot of positive signs. With more time I believe I can get back to a 2. I had ballooned to 15. My current biggest issue is fighting an early release that my old swing needed to compensate for a ball position too close and too far back.

12 hours from Cincinnati to Atlantic City to play in "The Greg". If you are an expat of GEA, you know the tournament is in memory of Greg Milanowitz (sp?), who was murdered on 9/11. This year the tournament is on 10/24, and I'll drive only 10 hours each way. Fortunately, it's incredibly convenient that my mother in law lives close, so I get to visit and have a free room. My wife has yet to decide if she wants to spend 20 hours in the car to spend 24 hours with her mother. For me it's a no brainer. I'm driving 10 hours each way for one round of golf.

Actually, a 20+% increase in R&D in one year is a massive jump. I worked in research, albeit a different industry. It is very difficult to ramp up research efforts quickly. The toughest part is hiring qualified people with appropriate experience, unless you're willing to pay extraordinary salaries, which the bean counters never allow.

I went back this morning for my second try with Toptracer, and it was much better. The yardages it reported were spot on up to about 160 yards. Beyond that I think it was understating by up to 20 yards. I hit my 5 iron right at or a little past a pole at 183, but it showed my carry at 165. I have still not had the chance to speak with the staff, as I was there before the shop opened (automated dispenser with a range card). One difference might be on my first trip the tee line was as far back as could be, and the cameras were almost directly above. This week the line was very far forward. The c

I have two courses that get most of my rounds. One, where my league is, I think is underrated, and the rating and slope are too low (67.1, 106). The other is probably fairly rated (71.1, 126), but it's very well suited to my game, so I consistently score better than my friends. A few years ago, as an academic exercise, I calculated my index two ways, using only rounds from my league course, and then using rounds only from the second course. I can't find the file now, so I don't remember the exact numbers, but the difference was almost 5 strokes.

I guess I need to be clearer. I use my rangefinder to get my yardages to the targets. I always have. The balls are not restricted. I get the same yardages at the range as I get on the course. It's just the computer that is off.

The range got their new balls to coincide with the introduction of the Toptracer system, so they're pretty new. And to emphasize, I can hit a range ball to 150, and Toptracer says 133. And unfortunately, the difference is not linear. If I hit a partial wedge to 70, it says 40, if I hit to 200, it says 160, if I hit driver that carries between 25 and 250 (can only go by the markers, I don't know more precise than that, but on the course I can usually count on 240), it says 194. Until they get it calibrated better, I won't try to use it again.