HardcoreLooper

Ouch. That's pretty poor form then. It's amazing how many uncomfortable situations can be avoided by setting out clear expectations in advance. How hard is it for someone to say "Guys, the tee sheet is packed out today. So we're going to have to ask you to skip a hole if you fall behind pace. Be sure to keep up; don't feel bad to drop one and keep moving if you hit it in a bad spot." I've also got to wonder why courses don't do more to set up the course to play faster when they're booked solid. Cut the rough a little lower, nudge the tee markers up on longer holes, move the pins away from the edges a bit.

Yeah, I honestly don't think there's a right or wrong approach to it. It's really all about how you see the shot in your mind. If you can see it, you can hit it.

What expectation did the course set at the beginning of the round? If the pro shop or starter let everyone know that they'll be asked to skip a hole if they fall behind, then I don't have much of a problem with them enforcing a policy that they clearly explained up front. If this wasn't explained up front, then I don't love how this was handled, based on your explanation. The marshal certainly didn't seem to reinforce the expectations if he passed the group by and didn't warn them. I sell consulting for a living, and I harp on my consultants constantly that the biggest part of their job is setting and managing client expectations. What actually happens in a given situation is almost secondary to what people were expecting would happen. And CPO is the worst. I don't like riding anyway, but I'd almost rather not play if it's CPO and I'm forced to ride. I wind up taking my bag off the cart and carrying it half the time. Especially if I'm away from the cart path and my cart buddy is near it.

Oh, and don't miss in bad places. Seriously, if there's a place around the green you can't get up and down from, make sure you don't miss there. Usually means not shortsiding yourself.

For chipping (not pitching over rough, bunkers, etc.), most golfers I've seen fall into one of two camps: 1. Use the same club for every shot. The carry to roll ratio is usually pretty consistent, and you pick a spot to land your ball based on how far away you are, then roll it the rest of the way. 2. Get the ball rolling as soon as you can. Dump it on the front of the green and roll it the rest of the way to the hole. You pick the club based on how far you want to carry the ball and how it will roll out. I'm the latter - that's how I learned to play. Dumping the ball on the front of the green is generally fairly easy; you just need to pick the right club. My daughter hates to watch me chip; she thinks its ugly (especially when I get it close). She's the former - she hits everything with her 56. I have a small heart attack every time she's around a green, but she's pretty good at it. Figure out which way works for you and do what @Kenny B said.

Congratulations Jamie! We're lucky to have you on the Mod Squad.

Incredibly happy Alphard eWheels user here. It's absolutely silent. Couldn't ask for anything better. Sorry you had to endure that craziness!

Most golfers are great people. I play about half my rounds as a single. And while I love being able to walk and play in under three hours, I've met so many great people getting paired up or joining up with a group on the course that I love doing it. I can think of exactly two people I've played with in the last 10 years that I hope to never run into again. That's it. I love rooting for other people's shots (it's the caddy in me), and I dig watching how other people get the ball into the hole. You can always learn something from another golfer, even if it's what's not to do. I can't tell you how many people I've played golf with that I know I'd never get to meet outside of a golf course. Plus, I'm an introvert, and it's good to get out of your comfort zone and meet new people.

I used my original Sun Mountain 2.5 for about four years until it really faded out. I still use it for my classic set. Replaced it with another 2.5, and I have two more waiting in the wings. I do expect my older daughter to get sick of her bag at some point and take one of them.

It's about the courses for me. Riviera. Wish it were still the LA Open. Great move by the LPGA to grab that name. Harbour Town. Love watching the pros play that golf course. Houston Open at Memorial Park was pretty cool. Waialae. Love getting to see a Raynor design on tv. Looking forward to Congaree I miss the PGA tour event at Kingsmill but love the LPGA event there. Hope to see it live again next year!

The discussion isn't going to go away. Phil loves the spotlight, loves money, and loves tweaking authority figures. He's not going to come out against SGL/PGL. At minimum, he's going to use it as leverage. My personal feeling (no information backing this) is that we'll see appearance fees on the PGA Tour at some point. Stop the PIP nonsense, distribute that money to the tournaments, and let them use it to try to strengthen their fields.

Most of mine are still solidly in the bag. The 4 iron gets dropped for a hybrid quite often and the gap wedge has been replaced by a specialty wedge, but the rest are staying put. Your mileage will definitely vary in a simulator, as @cnosil pointed out. Also, some folks do tend to see knuckle balls off mats (https://blog.trackmangolf.com/mats-vs-grass-whats-difference/).

The wording may be specific, but what are they going to do if sponsors say that they'll invite whomever they please with sponsors exemptions, even if they're banned from the PGA Tour.

FWIW - I dumped the app long ago when you guys made the big change to the web version and implemented a solid mobile web presence. Haven't looked back. With limited resources, I don't hate mobile web only.

I don't support the idea of the PIP, but I certainly understand it. Losing the top 20 or so players on the PGA Tour to a rival organization would be devastating. How interested would you be in a PGA Tour without them? How interested would the average fan be? What's FedEx going to think? Other sponsors? People who shell out for pro-am spots? This is an existential question for the Tour. We're hearing things like $30MM guaranteed payouts to players. If the Saudi Public Investment Fund really is involved in the Super Golf League as people like Alan Shipnuck are surmising (based on the people involved it makes sense), their resources are nearly limitless. At what point do the DJ's and Speith's and Rory's stop saying no? Does Rory have a price? As for this being a social media contest, it's possible, I'm sure there'll be some serious shows of thirst, and there's always the chance of someone surprising sneaking into the list, but by and large it's going to be the top stars. And I'm sure they'll tweak the algorithm year over year to make sure the "right" players are compensated. According to Golfweek, here's who would have made the list in 2019: Not incredibly surprising. And basically who the Tour would be looking to lock down. Maybe not the 2021 Fowler, but the 2019 Fowler had a pretty decent year. Would I rather see more money go to caddies? HardcoreLooper says yes. Would I like to see a few bucks go to the First Tee? I'll be out there coaching all morning tomorrow; come and ask me. Maybe we could keep more of our really good paid staff instead of being a starter job for folks before they find something that puts more food on their table. So if the PGA Tour needs to take some of the crazy TV rights money and put more of it into the pockets of their biggest stars to keep them from leaving, I'd rather see them take that $40MM and give it to the tournaments to pay appearance fees. They could use it to attract big names, which would increase their ticket sales and other revenues and let them raise more money for charity. Stars get paid, charities get more money, weaker tournaments get a boost. Beats a popularity contest, doesn't it? If that money isn't going to any of the causes we've all talked about, it could certainly be deployed more efficiently.

LOL, I figured you got autocorrected. That's a gorgeous green.

My daughter now has PGA Jr. League on Sundays, so I'm out for weekend golf for a while. I'll be sneaking in after-work nines when I can, but that's about it.

From what I've seen, so many people have never been taught how to play golf. I'm not talking about swinging the club, I'm talking about how to get yourself around a golf course. It's something we have to teach the kids at First Tee - always be moving towards your ball as long as you're not interfering with others playing the hole. Plan your next shot while others are hitting. Based on what I see with kids playing Operation 36, we should all be playing tees that give us a reasonable chance of shooting 36 for 9 holes.

That is a sick looking biarritz. Where is it?

First round with the bag today. Pros: It's insanely light The webbing strap with shoulder pad is super comfortable to carry It's insanely light Cons: The rubber-backed nylon does not have enough body to stand at all - it needs a stay The toggle-button looks so good as a pocket closure, but it doesn't keep balls from spilling out It needs a water bottle pocket It needs a rangefinder pocket The PU leather trim around the top has no body; the bag is nearly two-dimensional when you carry it Even though there's more cons than pros in number, it's a great start and I really enjoyed playing with it. I haven't carried 18 holes in about 15 years. And there really is something to playing with a half set. I can't wait to take it back out.

If it's going to be opt-in anyway (and it should be), why don't we just create our own map and put pins in for where we are?

@edingc / @ncwoz - I'm curious if the nature of the trees plays any role in the decision making? The course where I play the majority of my rounds is lined with trees, and I look at these trees almost like out of bounds because: If you hit in them, you'll lose the ball about 50% of the time (lots of low limbs, bushes, scrub, and leaves) When you find the ball, it'll be unplayable about 50% of the time If you find it and it's not unplayable, you can't advance the ball significantly toward the hole So effectively, hitting it into these trees is a 1.75 stroke penalty on average. On courses where balls in the trees are generally findable and often can be advanced toward the hole meaningfully, I've stopped figuring them into my tee shot strategy. My daughter went to a golf camp at Michigan State a few years ago, and she remarked that you could actually find and hit the ball out of the trees at the courses she played.

OK gang, the I-64 corridor spies are looking at doing something in the Williamsburg area soon. If you're interested, put your availability in this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XjE9yWk8WwYNL14rN7DqES4_2RAkvEBJjOJ-Opp41fo/edit#gid=0

OK. I just realized that 5/9 is Mother's Day, so that's definitely a NO for me. @cnosil - No fans at the Pure Silk this year, right? @GolfSpy_THV / @Golfspy_CG2 - Are you guys in?

If we want to try to track interest, I created this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XjE9yWk8WwYNL14rN7DqES4_2RAkvEBJjOJ-Opp41fo/edit?usp=sharing I need to check with my boss to turn the MAYBE's into YES's And if we can get a better group on a Saturday, I'll see if I can get someone to cover my classes.