JoshAndersonGolf

I joined the forum in 2014. I was building golf clubs more back then and I started out in the club builders section. As an avid golfer I started to read the forum more and see the opportunities for me to test and give honest feedback on products. The first review I ever did was for Super Stroke cord grips (irons or woods). I was surprised that I was chosen to review the product, but happy to do so. I gave an honest review and it has lead me to many more great opportunities to review great golf products. Over the years (5 now) I have tested everything from rain gear to sets of irons. I have given what I hope are funny and honest reviews. Not every product is going to be the best for every golfer, but what I have learned over the years here is that you never know what will work for you unless you try it. My best round ever came while testing the Ping G700 irons. I would tell someone that wants to join this community that it is exactly that, a community. If you want to have great conversations and have honest feedback then this is the place for you. Golfers of all ability can come here and learn about the game and hopefully take something out of it.

Thank you Veterans!

I hope that my reviews help people make an educated purchase. We all like different looks of clubs and they will play different for everyone. As a tester all I can do is tell you how the club played for me to the best of my ability. There are so many great reviews by this members of this community, we all help the consumer make a better educated decision.

I am looking for something that will track without my phone on me during tournament rounds. I have no problem going back in on my computer and inputting the data as I will have pin sheets and such from each round. I will check out Anova and Decade. Decade sounds like the right application. Thank you for the response.

I have read the reviews, I guess I should look for the MGS Most Wanted shot tracking device.

So with that being said do we know what the best data collecting devices are?

I have looked around on here and there is a lot of good information on Shot Tracking and the devices to track them with. I want to know which ones are best for tournament play and if it is even legal to use these in tournaments? I do not like wearing a watch while golfing and could attach a watch to my bag. Another question is editing after a round, how hard is it to go in and put in your putting stats and distances? Does it take 30 minutes? Does it take 10?

I will say that knowing or walking or feeling the yardage is a skill. But a yardage is also common knowledge on a golf course and should be easily obtainable. I think the tour should do away with yardage books. I have stopped using mine and laser my yardages. Its quick and easy. This would speed up the game and make it more enjoyable for all.

I just picked up the Newport II this weekend. I love the feel of this putter and I can't wait to play with it again!

I will add my 2 cents. Demo days are not the best time to get fit as they are trying to see as many people as possible. A proper fitting will go through multiple shaft and head combinations for both irons and drivers. You as the buyer must have an open mind as well as something you might not think will work. I got fit for my driver at Club Champion. Do I hit this club well, yes, but do I think a shaft that was less expensive would give the same results, yes. I have the Accra Z465 shaft and I like it, but in hind sight I wish I was more informed as the consumer to try a less expensive shaft. In the end I think as the person buying the clubs you have to feel comfortable in what you are getting and have the performance match or exceed what you currently play to put new clubs in the bag.

Well it is disappointing to be saying that the competitive season is over. I played 21 tournament rounds this season and that is a very good amount. If I take out the month of May (weather sucked), I had an average of 72.94. 9 rounds of par or better. That is just under half of my tournament rounds. Here are some more stats Wins - 3 Top 5 - 3 Top 10 - 2 My best tournaments were finishes of T-22 in both the CDGA Amateur and the Illinois State Mid Amateur. My low round of the year was a 69 (-3). There were three other rounds I had it to -4 at some point during that round but could not finish them. I feel finishing rounds will be key to more success in 2020. Those 3 rounds all had rain delays as well, but you still need to be able to finish them. All 3 of my wins had at least one round on my home course. I would like to get a few more wins on courses away from my home course next year. This was the first year in about 5 that I decided to play an extensive list of events again. It was a great summer, but took some time to get rolling again. I qualified for 2 great state events and was very happy to win our city tournament. I need to work on finishing rounds of golf and my putting. It was great to do this thread as I enjoy coming here and writing about my events and reflecting on them in that light. I think it helped me look at my rounds from a different angle and not be so tough on myself. I will do this again next year and we will see if I can improve in some areas and maybe play better at the state level. I have almost 9 months until my next tournament. 9 months! Maybe I can plan a vacation around something in FL and get some more winter rounds in. But until then I will be around the site and working towards a better 2020. Thank you,

Thanks KC! Hope the wrist is getting better!

Yesterday concluded my 2019 tournaments season. This was a fun event as I actually got to play competitive golf with my wife. We had won the previous 2 couples championships at our club and were hopeful to get this one as well. Neither of us played well and we were 4 over through 9 gross. I knew we needed to finish strong. We started on the 4th hole (shotgun start) and we had 4 par 5's coming in the last 9 so I knew we could make up ground. She made a very nice par on the 18th hole ( long par 4 for the men). And that helped spur us along as we finished with an eagle on the par 5 3rd. We ended up at +1 (73) for the day and our 3rd straight couples championship. As for the rest of the year I am looking forward reflecting on the 2019 season and getting back to the gym as I have plans to come out in 2020 lighter, stronger and faster.

Where do we start? That was a lot of fun this week at the Illinois Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonebridge CC in Aurora, IL. The golf course design is very well done as most of the tee shots look narrower than they actually are. I did not have the opportunity to play a practice round this week, but thanks to google earth I had a good idea what to expect. Most of the fairways were 35+ yards wide with another 10-15 before any real trouble unless there was water on the hole. My first round I started on the 10th tee. I hit a poor wedge into this green but was able to get up and down. That gave me a nice boost and I started the day with 4 nice pars. We got to our first par 5 of the day and that lead to my first birdie. -1 throught 5. The next hole I was unable to make par from a divot in the rough and back to even. My 7th hole (16th on the course) is a great designed hole. 335 unreachable with how wet it was. I hit a good tee shot and even better wedge and got back to -1. Two more pars and I finish the front side at -1. We head to the 10th hole (1st) another par 5. Toady its a 3 shot hole, a good tee shot and wedge lead to another birdie, -2 through 10. The next hole a solid 3 wood and wedge and another birdie, -3 through 11. This is when the rain started. We had a two hour delay at this point. We come back out and I make couple of pars on 12 & 13, and we are rolling again. We get to our 14th hole (5th on the course). A solid par 4 with water all the way left. The green has a huge ridge running away from you and the pin was below that ridge. I hit a solid 4 wood to 104. Hit that wedge to a foot and we are -4 through 14. We can see that more rain is on the way and we are hoping for lighting at this point. Two more pars and I am -4 through 16 and 2nd place alone at this point. The 17th hole is a good par 3 with a tricky green. I hit into the wrong spot and rolled into the rough. A chip to 4' and a lip out lead to a poor bogey. Still have a good round going. The rain is picking up at this point. My umbrella broke in between holes and now my goal is to just keep my grips dry. We get to our final hole and I hit a very poor tee shot (worst of the week). I then punch out and try to lay up to make par the hard way. My lay up squirted right and into the rough. Never saw it bounce but never thought we wouldn't find it. After looking for 3 minutes (it goes fast) and its a lost ball. From there I hit the correct lay up and then onto the green and 2 putts for an 8 and an even par round of 72. I can't properly put into words my emotions at this point. Because of the earlier delay we have to go right out for our 2nd round. I was able to gather my thought for a i and made an opening par. The next 3 holes I hit good tee shots. Missed one green and had two 3 putts and I am 3 over through 4. Six holes earlier I was -4. I was able to make a birdie on the 5th hole (I birdied this hole every round). One more bogey and birdie and we finish the front nine at +2. Onto the back 9. I hit a good tee shot on 10 that ended up in a divot. A poor shot from there and I am now +3. I par 11 and 12. My 2nd worst drive of the event on 13 lead to another bogey. +4. I was able to bounce back on 14 with a birdie but gave it back on 17. I made par on the 18th hole to finish the day at +4. I was very disappointed with my score. I hit the ball much better than my +4 score for 36 holes. I made the cut (top 35) by 2 shots and had a very good chance of a top 20 finish with a good 3rd round. The top 20 are exempt to the 2020 event. So that was my goal going into the final round. The final round starts very well. A good tee shot, nice lay up and a wedge to 8'. I just missed that putt but had a stress free opening par. The 2nd hole much like the first. A good tee shot and wedge to 10'. Again just missed the putt but stress free par. The 3rd hole I pushed my iron and made a poor bogey after a very poor chip shot. +1 for the round. A par on #4 and we are off to my favorite hole. A good 4 wood off the tee and a wedge to 10' and I finally make a putt. Back to even through 5. The 6th hole is a 440 yard par 4. I hit a good tee shot and a solid 8 iron to the center of the green. 2 poor putts later and I make bogey. I hate three putting. The 7th hole longest par 4 on the course (470 yards). I hit another good tee shot. I have 188 yards into the wind. A solid 6 iron to the center of the green and I was please. But again 3 putts later another bogey. +2 after 7 and only missing one green. I am hitting the ball well and just need to keep doing that. The 8th hole is playing a lot shorter, a par 3 at 135 yards. I hit a very good PW to 8' and finally make that putt to get back to +1. Onto the 9th hole. I hit a good tee shot, good lay up to 71 yards and a wedge to 5'. Two birdies in a row and an even par front nine. I am please as I know I am hitting the ball well. I start the back nine with 2 solid pars and we head to the par 3 12th hole. Playing 175 yards into the wind over water. I caught my 7 iron a hair fat and the wind ate it up into the water. I know this is the club if I even thin it. I re-tee and hit it to 6'. I lip that putt out and make double +2 after 12 holes. I can still finish well. A solid par on 13 and we are off to the par 5 14th hole. Its playing into the wind and I hit a great tee shot. I have 237 yards to the flag slightly up hill to a green guarded in front by a bunker. I hit what I felt was a perfect cut 4 wood. I could see the wind hit it just as I thought. The ball hit a yard above the bunker and kicked back into it just under the lip. One more foot forward and I have an eagle putt. I did not have a good lie in the bunker. I tried to blast it out and the ball jumped up into the face and rolled back into my foot prints. A 2nd shot out rolled over the green and from there I was able to get up and down. A very poor bogey after 2 solid shots. I know I have 3 solid chances at birdie coming in if i hit the ball well. A good par on 15 & 16 and we head to the par 3 17th. 205 into the wind. I hit a 4 iron. Hit it very well and have 8' for birdie. It just slides by on the right and we are headed to 18 at +3. I know at this point in need an eagle to have a chance at top 20. Turns out that even would not be enough. The 18th hole was playing down wind. A 537 yard par 5 with water all the way right. I hit a perfect tee shot and have 224 yards to the flag. I hit a cut 4 iron to the front edge and have 25' for eagle. I hit my chip right by the right edge and have a tap in to finish my round at +2. I was happy to finish strong, but disappointed in my total score (+6) 222. I ended up at T-22 in a very solid field. There were past USGA champions in the field, if you look at some of the names this was truly a very good field. It would have been very nice to finish top 20, but it gives me something to work for next year. My stats are very telling. I need to learn how to putt. FIR - 73.8% (I will say the fairways were very generous). But if you missed you had trouble making par GIR - 72.2% (when you hit this many greens you will have lots of birdie chances. Man did I ever) Ave putts per round - 31.3 (this is about 3 putts too many per round). PPGIR - 1.79 [emoji36] Almost 2 putts per GIR. This must change if i want to compete. Just shows how important putting is. Total Birdies - 12 (4 per round) that is not a bad average Total Pars - 27 (exactly half the holes) Total Bogeys - 13 (5 from 3 putts) Total worse than Bogey - 2 ( 1 double, 1 triple) My take away is you have to eliminate your big mistake and putt better. It is simple to say if you do not 3 putt that's 5 strokes, but it is more than that. It is making more putts in the 8' - 15' range. I missed a lot of putt's there. This was my final big event for 2019. It is hard to believe that the season is over. I do have a fun event with my wife on Sunday that we look forward to each year. I have some time to reflect on the 2019 season and I will come back next week and write up my thoughts on how the season went. I already have plans to get back into the gym after labor day and try to come back in 2020 lighter, stronger and faster as I plan to use my super speed sticks all winter long. I want to thank MGS and the members here that have taken the time to follow along and read this all year long. I look forward to doing it again next year. Thank you.

I had it going early on yesterday. I was -4 through 16 and then the rain came. I did not finish my first round well and I ended up at Even par 72 for the first round. The 2nd round started in the rain and I had some issues getting the speed right on my putts. I had 3 three putts on the front nine. I ended up with a 76 in my second round and currently I am sitting at T-25 (+4) for the event. I tee off this morning at 8:30AM cst and you can follow along at www.cdga.org. A good round today and it will be a very respectable finish in a very good field. I will do a full write up on the event tomorrow.