Kenny B

When I started playing golf 24 years ago, I shot scores that start with 7... for nine holes. Nice round! I am a 9.4 and shooting a score that starts with a 7 is rare for me. However, I am going to say that it makes a difference if you play the same course all the time. Other than my 9-hole practice course, I don't think I have played the same course this year more than 4 times, but I have played 17 different courses!

I find it really amazing that we can sit down at the end of the day and remember the shots that occurred on each hole; at least I can. In some cases I would like to forget them but they linger on. However, when my wife and I play, she can't remember anything after the round. She's a good golfer, 19 HCP and has been playing since she was 8 years old. Her dad was a scratch golfer and club champion at three country clubs in Spokane and Hayden Lake. She had 5 brothers and an older sister and they all played golf. So why can't she remember the shots that happened 5 hours after the round ends? We talk about the round in the evening and she doesn't remember the shots she took that saved par on the hardest hole on the course. I guess playing around with me is not that memorable.

Well, I didn't have a so-so round. This was probably my worse round of the year. 95. I started with 4 straight bogeys, then got off the bogey train with a triple, followed by a double!! Didn't make a par until #8. The back nine was a little better where a few good chips and putts saved me a few times. Apparently, I can't play golf at 7am.

Played early today with my wife to avoid the heat. Hit the course around 7am but had no rhythm, driver was shorter than usual, chips kept checking up on the soft, wet greens, and didn't have any close putts. Just a so-so, OK but not great round. I don't think I am used to playing in the morning yet, having played most rounds after work around 5pm. The course is different, certainly this old body is different!! Tomorrow, my wife and I are traveling up the valley to play a course we played about a month ago. Nice track, but with a 7:04am tee time, I wonder if I will have another so-so round.

Glad it's working out. I wish I had an instructor close. My instructor lives in OKC in the summer and Orlando in the winter. That's one of the problems with traveling to a golf school and having a swing that no other instructor wants to work with (or I don't want them to mess up). He is going to have a class in Vegas at the end of September, and I can drive there in just over 12 hours!

If that's the new Platinum edition of a Lincoln, I think there is a "K" after the $50.

First off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers, and Cheaters from Taft to Bush . It would be interesting to see what the update for Obama would be like.

My wife and I got up early and hit the course at 6am. It was already 78* but that's a lot better than that the 112* that it's supposed to be today. Had 3 birdies in the first nine holes. The #2 hole par 4 has been mine lately. I own it. I have birdied that hole the last four times I've played it! After the 3 birdies... Nothing! Haven't played much in the morning lately, but for the next 10 days, the forecast is for temps from 107-114*. Guess I will play early for a while.

How could they be in Georgia? I think they were at Chambers Bay!

The game is easier from the fairway... and cheaper!

Still trying it against the Snell. I like them both. 10 dozen??? I wouldn't live long enough to use them all.

Well, I tweaked my back; which means I still has a muscle there! I tried to play yesterday after work and I could barely bend over to pick up a ball. Looks like I will just have to watch golf all day long this weekend. Darn!

My wife and I traveled up the valley to a course that we play a couple of times a year. We were invited by another couple that we play with occasionally. I think I mentioned sometime ago that I really don't like playing with them, but we do it anyway. The guy thinks every shot should be perfect, but he is a 14 and guess what... they're not! He then turns into Mr. Negative. Well, he doubled the first 4 holes, so we are off to a great start! It always affects my game when he gets this way. The gal is OK until she has a few beers, then she gets bitchy. I shot 41 on the front with a triple bogey (amazing what one little sh*nk will do to your score; and a 44 on the back with 2 doubles. (The bitching got worse as the beers kept flowing.) However, it was the first round that I really tried out the Sonartec 3W and 7W. They are working great!! My wife borrowed the 3W for some long second shots and poked a few out longer that she could with her RBZ Stage 2. I might have to keep and eye out for one for her.

Bill, glad that you are getting out more. I do not spend much time on the range at all. I only go there when I feel like I have to work out a particular swing issue. My practice course is only a few minutes away and I go there at times when I know that not many people are on the course; usually just after lunch on weekdays or at dinner time. If I am playing with my wife, we will play a normal round but when we hit a bad shot, we will drop another ball or two and hit until we get it right. (If you haven't read it already, get a copy of The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle) When I practice alone, I will head to a part of the course that I usually frequent during a round and practice certain shots. We have one par 3 that plays either 165 or 195, and I miss the green more often than not. So, I will spend 15-20 minutes in my usual miss areas and hit 6 balls trying to get the contact right to get the ball close. I try different SCORs to see which one works best depending on the distance and lie. We have one par 5 that is reachable for me only if I hit a great tee shot and fabulous second shot with a helping wind. So I will head to my normal layup area (~40 yards) and hit my 6 balls from different lie areas again trying to see which club works best to get to certain pin positions on the slightly elevated green. I've found that I have a higher % of shots on the green with a low punch shot with a PW than trying a high LW. But I do both shots anyway. This hole is also the one where I will head to where my tee shot usually ends up and hit FW shots. I do this particularly when trying out clubs. This week I was trying the Sonartec 4W and 7W I bought recently. They are in my bag because they are stupid easy to hit straight with a slight draw and I am more consistent than with my RBZ FW and hybrid. I like this kind of practice because it gives me more confidence when faced with these shots when playing, because I've hit hundreds of those shots rather than just a few from playing the course.

I found them on eBay. Both are the LS-99 high launch heads which works well for me. The 17 was an Aldila NV ladies flex in nearly new condition. The 23 was at 2nd Swing and has a regular flex Graphite Design Red Ice shaft. The head could use a little cosmetics, but it's not bad. Sonartec isn't around anymore (RIP 2010, I think), but the design lives on in the Japanese Royal Collection line of clubs, but man those are expensive.

Got out yesterday afternoon on my practice course for a quick nine, and I do mean a quick nine... The temperature was 105* with no breeze. I was the only one there. Imagine that. I spent most of my time working with the two Sonartec fairway woods that I recently bought, Stupid easy to hit, but have to replace the shaft in the 4W. The 7W is perfect.

Bought two Sonartec fairway woods; a 17* and 23*. I think I have finally found something to kick my RBZ 3W and 3H out of my bag. I am replacing the shaft in the 17 with a Hiskei Wave that I had lying around.

Well I finally made it out for a round on Saturday. It's been 3 weeks since I last played because, as I posted in another thread, my Dad had a stroke at the end of April and I went to help my Mom care for him. He's doing well with rehab and getting some strength and coordination back in his right arm and leg, so I drove home on Friday. Saturday I played with my wife and another couple in a charity scramble. I played like crap! Couldn't get off the tee, couldn't hit approach shots, couldn't putt. It was awful! "I shoulda stayed home and played with myself." It's a good thing my wife showed up. She had a stellar game. Playing from the chick tees, we used her drive almost every time. (The other couple are fairly new to the game, which is nice speak for not very good). Here's the funny part... We get to #7 a 140 yard par 3, and there is a tent set up with a guy there wearing a Dixon shirt. Yeah, remember Dixon. They are one of the golf ball sellers named the the Acushnet lawsuit. The deal is for $10 you get a Dixon Earth ball and if you get an Ace, you win a trip to Vegas. If you put it on the green, you win a sleeve of Dixon balls. I've aced this hole twice in the last 10 years, but not this time. I got a sleeve of balls though, only one in our group! That birdie, and another on the par 4 #8 was the only help I gave to the team. BTW, we finished 3rd. The poor Dixon kid. He had just applied for this job and has really no experience. I mentioned the Acushnet lawsuit against Dixon and others, and of course he new nothing about it. I wonder how long his job will last.

I liked Troon North, but that was a lot of years ago. There weren't too many houses there then. I expect there are plenty now. If you want to try a nice course that is not very expensive, give Vistal GC on South Mountain a try. It's one of my favorites, the people that work there are very friendly, and the price is a lot cheaper than Troon. I've had some good rounds there.

When my buddy's wife goes with the girls for a few days, I swear he lives at the golf course! It's the only time he has peace and quiet.

I hope they gave you a reduced rate, at least to offset the cost of the balls you lost. I really hate Cart Path Only. I end up walking more than if I didn't have a cart, and I always have the wrong clubs when I get to my ball. I played the Camelback Padre course in Scottsdale AZ last fall after they had a rain a couple of days earlier. Carts are included in the green fees. There was really only one hole where it was too wet to drive on the fairway.

Oh so close! I like the consistency. All it takes is just a couple more good shots (or a couple less bad ones) over 18 holes and you're there! Once you get there, it's easier next time.

I do feel sorry for those around the country with tornados, floods, rain, lack of rain... Our weather if fairly predictable, and not too severe most of the time. We do get the occasional volcano eruption, but I'll take that every hundred years over a tornado. Unfortunately, my practice course conditions are not weather related. The pro and owner only does enough to keep it relatively nice looking, but the fairways end up being more like every other course's rough, and the greens are very slow. He likes to keep the grass long in the summer because he has minimal well water to irrigate with. The space between fairways is dirt, weeds and rocks that he just keeps mowed enough so you can find your ball! I have tried playing from there and it's a great way to ruin clubs, so I don't anymore. No other course has anything like this, so I use a "foot wedge". This is why I don't keep score there anymore. It's OK for practicing everything except hitting off tight lies, bunkers (we have none) and putting. I can putt pretty well there,because I'm used to it, but I have to spend time practicing on other courses putting greens. Oh well! It is what it is... Cheap to play!!

Believe me, it's not old age! I'm old and have only had 4 putters since I started playing, one being a lefty only because I like to practice once in awhile from that side.

Our practice 9-holer is a bit rough at times depending on the weather and the all volunteer grounds crew. The pro who owns and runs the place does not mark "ground under repair" so we have a new designation the we use in certain spots: "ground needing repair" which is basically ground that you would not see at any other golf course in the area and can be designated by anyone at any time.