sp0rtsfan86

I said 80s.. ended up getting to 90 yesterday. Could have 3 in a row 90 degree days. I am not a fan.

Bunch of updates. First round was a 47. Had an up and down round. Two days later my parents came into town and got a round in with my dad. If not for him looking at me the clubs would go flying on the front. A 51 including a 6 on a 115 par 3, a 8 after being 225 out after the tee shot. On the back I slowed things down and started to play much, much better. Ended up shooting a 39 which is a 12 stroke difference. Had two birdies on the back. On Monday's men's league I had to play two 1v1 matches simultaneously, so one bad shot and I'd lose the hole twice. I went undefeated through the first 4 holes and got beat by two long birdie putts on 4. We ended up winning a ton of points that night. Played Tuesday and was again on fire early but completely faded on the back 9. Ended the nine with quad-triple bogey. It's frustrating but a product of my schedule which has me up at 2 am and usually exhausted all day unless I somehow get to bed super early. Also note to anyone: get a lesson if you're curious or wondering if they help. Guy I went to completely fixed my swing and has allowed me to enjoy the game again.

We finally broke into summer the last week or so. Lots of 80s and the humidity has returned. Should get near 90 late this week. I don't mind the heat, but the humidity is going to be something else.

Woodland was great all week. Also USGA had a solid tournament. Would I rather have the champion at -2 to-4 sure but changing the course to get a number shouldn't happen. Pebble had it's fair share of fun and challenges. More like this and less like Shinnecock

War of attrition right now. Still think -10 is the number. Then Woodland nails a wood. What a shot.

Worth also pointing out that there's maybe 2-2.5 months of intense heat starting June and going through September where you have to want to play. The best seasons for golf are late April- early June and September through October before the winter visitors get in. Courses are generally empty and the weather is not awful but still pretty hot.

Lived in Yuma 3+ years full time. It really depends on how tolerant to heat you are and how willing to deal with it. I've played in 117F before and can confirm it sucks. 105 is doable without any humidity but during monsoon season there will be at least 2-3 weeks where half the week is stay inside. Difference is you get plenty of sunny days to more than make up for the few days where heat keeps you inside. As for the courses, in summer they are generally empty. Mesa and Las Barrancas are ghost towns after noon in Yuma. PGA west I've played for 50 bucks in may when it was over 100 but had no issues with the heat other than drinking a metric ton of water. PGA Scottsdale is similar. Mornings can be busy, but never found a course too jammed in the morning. Then again I didn't play much in the morning.

I generally go by slope rating and try to play tees based on slope. I tend to play better on shorter ones, but also depends on rough. Side note: Longer southern courses where you can punch out through the rough vs northern with thick rough that eats balls make a ton of difference especially if I'm erratic off the tee and have to punch out a bunch. I do think there are tees with the same slopes but distances kill my score. I just haven't found that number whether it's 6500, 6300 or 6700 that I can't score as well.

Man Woodland is basically blowing up slowly. I sense -10 wins this thing with the leaders succumbing to stress and the course.

Counter point. At best the tournament will end 10PM on a Sunday. I have no chance of getting to watch the final without calling out tomorrow. (Luckily or unluckily I came down with a cold so called in sick). I do agree for west coast viewers they are awesome. (Chambers Bay I was on the West Coast and I loved getting a round in and then watching the entire tournament for the lead group.)

So after mens league played twice this week. Played 18 the day after. Started red hot with double, par, birdie, par. The double was no warm up so I was ok with it. Problem was my legs went dead around 7-8. After that I couldn't swing and shot 42/50. The day after I went for a lesson and got a complete overhaul. My swing was all hands and timing and when those two weren't in perfect unison, yikes. The round after was a complete disaster with a half dozen lost balls to the right, a ton of garbage shots that went nowhere and a couple 3 putts. I figured the round after would be bad, but that was some 20 shots or so worse. The range session after was productive and I actually was hitting hte ball well. Wasn't as good today, but felt some confidence return. Next round tomorrow should be interesting.

This has been the main project of the house outside from my perspective. The two pictures show how much the grass has filled in since early spring (bottom picture is from earlier this year when it was just coming in.) The grass is filling in really nicely, but probably need to overseed the entire grass during the late fall for next year. Also ignore the dogs pool.

Three shots stick out. I drained two 15-20 putts for par to win holes. Both were dead center and I knew coming off the face they were dead on line. The other is a macho drive into the wind. Caught a hill and ended up dead center of the fairway about 300 hundred yards out. For me that's a great shot.

I am finally down within 5 pounds of my lowest weight after putting on 15-20 pounds over the last two years. At my highest I was in the 220 range but 4 years ago I lost 40 pounds completely changing the way I ate, gained back 25 over Christmas and dating a girl the same year, lost 35-40 over a year and a half and then spent 2 years back in the 180 range. I've swapped schedules and now can go to the gym for two- three hours a day or hit the golf course which makes it a lot easier to get the required excersise. My advice to anyone is find something that works and keep using it. For me, it's low carb diet, but I also do carbs if I work out that much harder the next day.

I think I found a new thread to bookmark. Just bought a home in November. Besides changing out just about all appliances, I've replaced the garage door, and reseeded a ton of the back lawn. Two huge patches have now grown some grass. Hopefully the grass continues to fill in. There's still a bunch of spots that need to be redone.

Monday men's league ended up continuing the trend of really good rounds despite the strong winds that ended up being a side wind on just about every hole. I ended up driving or nearly driving both par 5's in two and cranked out a few really pretty putts including a few from 10-15 feet that were dead on line. I know it's about 3-4 years since the TIBA system came out and I bought it, but finally got around to using it. My word has it improved my putting in only two uses. Even taking an ESC 8 on a hole I managed to shoot 45. I'm finally turning the corner, hopefully.

I've paid 30 bucks a lesson and the new guy I'm doing is 50 a lesson. I think it really depends on the area and the amount of golfers.

I'm rooting for Phil this year. I mean the guy has to win a US Open right? I mean other than that, I'd root for DJ or Speith to be in contention, Koepka to be skinny again. However, I'm most rooting for the greenskeepers and USGA to not screw up the course.

Gamed an RXS and was pleased with the distance on it. I couldn't tell if it was my swing or if it was the ball but seemed like a got around 10 degrees more distance than a prov1x. I lost a decent amount of spin at the greens though.

I got back on the course Saturday morning for a match play after the disaster of the league round. The guy gave me 10 strokes and still beat me 4 & 3 which was about as through of a butt whipping as it sounds. He had three blow up holes including one where I self destructed off the tee and on my third shot. Otherwise I think he shot 76ish as a 11 handicap not counting the two or three big numbers. It's hard to beat a guy when he's that consistent, especially when your own game is not doing well. I found myself down 4 after 8, rallied to one down on 12 and then gave up 3 of 4 holes. I had about 3-4 holes stretch where I went par-par-bogey (par 3 over water) - birdie. I also parred a par 5 after hitting my second shot over the green. First round in a long time where I putted reasonably well, hit good chip shots and felt some confidence coming off the green. Hopefully the start of things to come . Total Round was 47-41 for an 88. I just realized I broke 90 for the first time this year. Huh.

I finally had weather and schedules break this way I could get 18 in. Walked all 18 Saturday. Shot 98. I used to be shooting mid 80s but just about everything has taken a giant leap back. I'm still waiting for my game to round into shape it usually only takes a month or so, but this year it's taking a long time. On the plus side my drives on the back finally gained some consistency. I think that and putting/chipping are going to be the main focus at the range. Idea is to back build my game and worry about irons when I can chip and putt.

Annoying weather has kept me off the course since Saturday. Rain Monday ended any hope of mens league. Tuesday and Wednesday were nice but made the decision to go to the gym an couldn't back out. Today another nice day but have a personal trainer session. The last time I played I shot a disappointing 96. I just can't get it going this year thus far.

Going back 5-6 years ago my home course required you to be a member to play in the tournament. Now it's anyone who has a county membership. There was no loyalty program, now it's expanding times and locations. Meanwhile, courses are closing near me in Indiana. I can't speak to the private clubs as I joined a public/sort of semi-private set up but I would imagine those clubs are also feeling the hurt. I will say this, golf needs to figure out how to turn the people who play 1-2 a year into addicts. Especially those who are younger. I don't see it fully as a stuffy crowd, I see this as more of an all over problem where golf needs to become more popular.

Got to play a few times over the past week. Mostly 9 holes rounds. Starting to play better for stretches, but still struggling mightily especially around the greens. The last round was an awful iron round where I missed a ton of greens.

Last week had 2-3 inches of rain. May add another 2 inches of rain this week. Last time I played on Saturday the course was soggy at best. It's going to be at least until the weekend that the course is playable.