Kenny B

I don't remember EVER playing in the rain in the SoCal or AZ desert. I envision that the water runs off in arroyos, or whatever they call them, rather than soaking into the ground. Here in the E. Wash. desert it just soaks into the ground. Very sandy soil. We sometimes get a summer T-Storm that dumps a lot of rain in an hour and the course will be dry an hour later. Agree with loving the desert!!

Wine Valley Golf Club near Walla Walla Washington is one of the U.S. Open Local Qualifier courses. This course has hosted several major amateur events. The fairways are usually generous, but you do not want to miss any of them! The greens are as fast as anything I have ever putter on, except for Torrey Pines in 2008 before the US Open, and they are quite undulating. It's about 40 miles away and a fun course to play IF you play the correct set of tees. I've shot a million and I shot 78, one shot worse than my pro! As you can see from the photo of #5 par 4, there is not a single tree on the course. Oddly enough, my two toughest holes are this course are this #5, the hardest hole on the course, and #14 a par 3; the easiest hole on the course! On #5 that is not sand that runs along the fairway and by the green; that's a "wash". It cleaned my clock! The green on #14 is probably the most difficult to putt that I have ever experienced anywhere.

Snow and cold in the Midwest and NE, rain and wind in Florida; sunny and looking pretty good here in the great Pacific NW! My wife and I walked the course today. She struggled because of the 10-15 mph wind. I birdied the first hole; 170 par 3 straight into a north wind to an elevated green. Of course I had to say: "I could break the course record, theoretically." however, that ended shortly because I had all pars except one bogey until a birdie on the final hole. All in all, not a bad day on the golf course!

On the golf course you can tell it's time to quit when the sun starts going down. Getting up in the middle of the night to pee is the only time I HAVE to know what time it is.

I don't miss the cold at all! This weekend was great. Highs in the 60's; no wind and sunshine. Absolutely perfect weather. Wish I could say my game was perfect... But I can't. Saturday sucked, but today was a little better. Still trying to shake out the cold weather muscles. I have been stretching, but I need to do a lot more!

What's a hook?

I know the feeling! I have stayed at the Marriott across the street with the view of the Wynn course. Not a soul on it either.

Just had to play today! 70 and sunshine!! Woo Hoo! First time we have seen real sun for couple of weeks. Maybe it's coming your way back east! My wife and I walked enjoying the weather. She had rt knee replaced Nov 19 and she is playing about 3 strokes better than before surgery. I got a free 2-ball sleeve of the Callaway Chrome Soft balls, so thought I would try them out. I have never been fond of Callaway balls, but I could play this one. Nice feel off all clubs and worked well around the green. I even birdied a 200 yard par 3 that has an elevated green. I probably birdie that hole maybe 2-3 times a year. This was #2 and it's only Feb! Maybe this is going to be a great year.

Each week it seems like some pro shoots a very low round, and the next day has a miserable round. Can't remember who it was but someone shot a 61 on opening day and the missed the cut the next day. So, way to play like a pro!!

Lucky guy! I'm thinking about a golf trip late summer for my wife and I to B.C. Might have to check it out. Are you still planning a trip to Oregon in the spring?

I used a pocket watch when I was in school to put on the desk when taking tests. Since school, I have only had two watches; Seiko and a G-Shock, both are in the dresser needing batteries. Went to the cell phone about 5 years ago, and haven't looked back. Watches and jewelry get in the way of golf. So... thinking about it, I have had the same number of watches as I have had putters. 3 Amazing huh?

It's a good ball up here for this time of year because it's soft enough that it's not like hitting a rock; it flies pretty far at these temps; and it stops on the greens about as well as anything else, which isn't all that good! I still have a few 3UP 2S14 balls that I will also use this time of the year. Not a whole lot of difference from the Lady. I got the Lady in Yellow because my wife likes the yellow Srixon Z-Star but it's too hard at these temps. She likes the Lady a lot. BTW, she walked 18 holes this last weekend and was +9. She had total knee replacement on Nov 19. Glad you had a lot of fun and got to meet some great guys. I really wanted to go, but wasn't sure how well my wife was going to be able to get around without me. Turns out she really didn't need me.

Duo's are OK, but this winter I tried the 3UP 2S14 and the Bridgestone Precept Lady and the Lady won out. I like the yellow ones for the gray January days here.

I'm reshafting Macgregor M685 forged irons 5-8 with UST ProForce V2 95 graphite just to see if they feel similar to the SCORs. The 7-8 are 1025 carbon steel and the 5-6 are 4140 carbon steel. The 4140 irons are also hollow body with the face connected to the hosel. According to SCOR, these UST shafts are very similar to the Genius 9 which I have in the SCORs. If they don't feel right, it's just a few shafts and the Hogans are coming, the Hogans are coming!

How about Who's Online for mobile?

Nice round Rev! It's a great feeling to play a course where the legends of the game played. I had the pleasure many years ago to play Palmetto Country Club in Aiken, SC with a friend of mine who is a member. It was built in 1892 and the clubhouse and locker room are stunning. I can only imagine the conversations that took place there. My friend said that Ben Hogan played there a lot and there are three par 4's in a row that were among his favorites. I only wish that I could have played it with my current game instead of the one I had back then. I sucked!

It definitely does! I played nine holes yesterday and it was 25*. The ball doesn't fly as far, but the 50 yards of roll more than makes up for it. You can't land a ball on the green. The trick is to judge where to land the ball so it bounces on. Typically, I use one less club for the distance and play a low punch shot. I hit 6 of 9 greens with 2 short and one long. You would think that the greens would be fast since they are frozen, but not the case. They are very slow and putts don't track real well. No birdies.

Well then, it seems like you should have pulled that bottle out way before #14.

Sounds like I want to be there!

Nice round! I like the positive attitude. Develop a plan on how to get there, and stick to it. Practice with a specific purpose in mind. I have found that when you play, never think about the score. Don't even add up the score for the front nine until after the round. If you focus on the score during the round, you are not focusing on the shots. I had my best round (69, a lot of years ago), when my buddy was keeping score. I knew I was playing well, but I was just out having fun!

Very nice round in tough conditions RR. Sounds like weather we get up here frequently. I have been telling my wife nearly every round we play that a well-struck ball is not affected by the wind. Now I have backup! Thanks.

Hey! Sounds like my usual game. You mean all I have to do is hit my driver long and straight, hit fw woods and long irons good, keep hitting my SCORs great, and make putts; then I can be a 2 HCP? I'll work on that.

I have a timeshare condo in Daytona Beach and another in Orlando. I need to make reservations starting this Jan to get the unit I want for next Jan. So will have to pick dates in about a month. Probably late Jan or early Feb. I could split time in each, so would be closer in Orlando.

Most courses here are open if the temperature is going to stay below freezing. It's when it's below freezing, people walk and drive on it, then it warms to above freezing that the grass dies and it looks pretty ugly. My practice course doesn't care. Members go out before the course is open and when it warms up, there are brown tire tracks and footprints. Pro doesn't care; it eventually grows back, just looks ugly. But this is only my practice course, so I don't care.

Thanks rev. I've spent enough time in Florida to know that I would rather live in the desert! Too muggy and buggy; nice place to visit though. My wife and I want to visit the World Golf HoF, and since we usually take a golf trip in Jan-Feb timeframe, that might be our destination next year. No trip this year because she will just be getting back to golf after knee replacement.