cksurfdude

Just ordered Orange Whip's new "LightSpeed" speed trainer (from HoleInTheWallGolf; they're offering it -$10 less than everyone else plus free shipping). Had been looking at Super Speed's "C" speed trainer, but since I have two Orange Whips - regular and "Compact" - that I'm comfortable and happy with I thought the OW version would mesh better for me. We'll see!

That's what I've been thinking, too, after the two current guys...........................

So golfing-wise.. went out for 9 this afternoon, and here is my tale in three parts... The Good: 1st 3 holes - par, par, par. The Bad: 2nd 3 holes - double, double, double. ..and.. The not terribly Ugly but cudda been better: sloppy bogey, awesome par after a great recovery shot, sloppy bogey. Whatta CRAZEE game we play, huh??!!??

Not at all! My sympathies... And Congrats! on your great score! There are plenty of dog-crazy, and even a few cat-crazy, golfers in here so be totally comfortable sharing that .. and hopefully doing so makes it a tiny bit more bearable. I grew up with dogs, had an adopted (dog-like) cat for years and then got married later in life to a wonderful woman with 3 (THREE!!) kids and a Golden - loved that guy and used to take him for long walks every day, but unfortunately he developed an unnoticed stomach cancer (this guy ate EVERYTHING! ..I can tell you stories...) and died quickly at age 7.... Now we've got two big, happy, dopey black dogs and when either one them goes I won't be able to even think about golf the next day, much less set a PB...................

Not so great on the first hole - she still has two mental hurdles she needs to work through = getting nervous playing with other men, especially if they "look" like they're good golfers and they're hitting from the back tees; plus not "letting go" and moving on to the next shot if her tee shot is not a good one. After #1 she started loosening up and hitting the ball better, but her putting was off and that was frustrating her a bit. Then somehow on #10 she badly strained her lower back and chose to sit out the rest of the round (and enjoy watching me struggle).

Hmmm .. I have a few of those, will have to give them a try!

So I've seen a number of posts in here that start out with something like: "..a tale of two nines". Well... now I know what they mean! Played 18 about a week and a half ago but forgot to post .. maybe I wanted to forget, literally, about the back nine? (..ha ha ha...) .. in the past my 18 hole rounds have typically been a mix of ok and not so ok on each hole; with scores typically mid-90s but have had rounds of 90, 91, 92 but then too often more hi-90s rounds. Drove about 50 minutes East to where we could get a last-minute tee time; funny thing is I thought it was a new-to-us course but we get there and my wife says, "Hmm, this place looks familiar" .. sure enough, we'd played there two or three seasons ago, and unfortunately I remembered not liking it so much... It's one of those courses built around a community, so at one point there's a looooong stretch of path going past houses and crossing a road to get to a section of 4 or 5 holes followed by that same looooong stretch back to the finishing set of holes..... I didn't remember people walking last time we were there, so we took a cart (plus my wife likes walking 9 but not 18 soooo..). Anyway, I put all that stuff aside and play up front with my wife and just try to hit nice shots into the fairway and towards the green. First tee shot a low runner but into the fairway and in the right direction; second shot a bit thin and right but good distance left me pin-high uphill on the outside edge of a very wide fringe .. 3-putt bogey. OK, not worried, always have trouble adapting to faster/more sloped greens vs the munis I usually play on. Next hole, short Par 3, managed a par; third hole, short par 4, decent bogey; fourth hole, another Par 3, missed the green just to the right but got up & down for another par. (Hmmm .. we're almost playing real golf here!) Fifth hole, Par 5, a careful tee shot into the fairway followed by a good enough layup to a good position just over 100 out from a front pin - and I've got a good shot at it, as the green is open in the direction I'm hitting but fronted by mounds and bunkers along the left going uphill around the larger part of the green, thick rough on an upslope behind and water a short distance to the right. And as I'm standing over the ball sizing up my shot, waiting for one of our playing partners to finish his, I comment to my wife.. "Hey, I remember being in almost this very same spot after putting a few balls into that water right there trying to get up here!" Guess what happens next, on my straightforward 100 yd basically no obstacle shot? Yep. Splash! d'oh... Finished with a Triple. Followed up by a Double with another 3-putt. But... followed by two pars and a bogey on the Par 5 #9 after a mis-hit off the tee; for a Front 9 of +8 (Par 36), or .. as I like to call it .. "1-under bogey golf" Which I think was pretty good for me, on that course (slope rating 121 from the front tees), especially considering those two high-scoring holes. On to #10.. ..another short Par 4, another good enough tee shot into the fairway, another "almost" second missed the green but I pulled off another up & down for a par .. yea! From here, things fell apart. Not sure exactly what I "had" and then "lost", or what was "on" and then switched "off", but I started missing tee shots or putting them into trouble spots and .. the somewhat comical thing is .. I hit like EACH AND EVERY bunker on the rest of the back 9 .. TWICE!! Not entirely kidding here! - several bunkers I duffed the first attempt and had to do it all over again... (fwiw a few times I gave myself a lift/smooth out the deep footprints I was in/drop) Several high-scoring holes and somehow three bogeys later... ..we're on #18 and I say, "OK, let's try to finish in style." I hit a good tee shot down the right side but didn't see it bounce and/or roll to the right into a fairway bunker. From there I was just trying to lay up short of the green - ended up catching it "clean" and ball flew past my layup spot into the bunkers to the left of the green .. where I duffed the first attempt and left it plugged deep in very soft sand in the steep front face of the bunker under an overhanging lip... Punch it out, putt uphill over a ridge, left it short .. 3-putt... Oh, gee, almost forgot - first tee shot on #18 went way waaay left towards the OB fence; it was far enough away from where we were headed I just called it OB and re-tee'ed to yield me a grand total of 9 on the closing hole. Ouch. Back 9 total +21 (Par 35). Or: 2.625 times more strokes than the Front 9. Or, as I don't like to call it .. "way too many over bogey golf"... Hey there's always next time!

I have that same book .. and it's hilarious!!

I've had the red one for a few years, and have gotten a lotta good use out of it!

Maybe look into Club Hub? I haven't used their service, only seen it advertised.

Nice shooting - congrats!

Sometimes the land itself underlying the course is not conducive to walker-friendly hole routing. Last Summer played a course in CO that was on beautiful property, and there were some fun and challenging holes, buuuut ........ seemed to me that a lot of the holes were just squeeged into various spaces around the available property, with very few holes connected to the next and very long drives required way too many times, imho. Then add in constant elevation changes .. some quite steep, too .. and walking 18 becomes impractical (unfortunately). *Edit* Forgot to add at this course it was also a looong uphill and curvy drive to get to the first tee; plus a longish and steep downhill drive from 18 back to the clubhouse.

Hope it's good R&R and family time for you! And some *fun* golfing time, too

Buffalo... Zebras... Hyenas... ..as long as the beer does its job!

Can I justify / rationalize this post by saying I haven't been in this thread in a while...? Callaway Big Bertha CF19 6i with Recoil ZT9 like new from Callaway Pre-Owned. Starting to hit my 7i decently, but still not consistent enough with the 6i on-course, and then I go to a Tour Edge HL4 iron-wood .. so I have a bit of a gap in there. Hoping this one does the trick for me!

Finally got a range session in yesterday; place was BUSY! Wore a mask going in and out (..and wondering if I should've kept it on the whole time?). Main goal: see if I could hit a driver. Mission not accomplished. Driver will continue to stay at home. (I've been teeing off with my 3W, or a hybrid, on the shorter courses or forward tees that I most often play.) Experimented with two drivers, and different settings on each. Was better with the F8 .. with extra loft and extra weight .. possibly in large part due to the shaft - same Tensei as in my 3W and 7W which I've generally been hitting well. I'm still .. literally .. trying too hard to "HIT" the ball, vs making a nice swing thru the ball and focusing on good contact. Anyway the good news is I alternated drivers with alternate turns with a 7i, PW or LW and most of those shots were reasonably crisp and mostly on-target.

Way to throw down, JMike But serious note - isn't a *major* reason for developing a pre-shot routine to get your head into the next shot and SHUT OUT distractions??!!??

Love those "fun facts" about golf courses .. just one more item in a long list of reasons why traveling to different courses in different areas is such a great aspect of this game!! Oh and.. good round

In a funny coincidence.. my wife got me this fun tee shirt a while back....

Thx OG!! Dogs really can be incredible companions, and I'm glad to hear how much they've helped you .. it's amazing, right?

Thx for reading! Over the past few years I seem to have read too many news stories about VA doctors - whom I'm sure are all well-intentioned but I'm sure are all way over-worked - prescribing more and more meds to patients. IMHO it's important for the VA, as a medical organization, to research and test other treatments where suitable .. including service / therapy dogs.

OK making a bit of progress... Played the short 9 near me again. As I walked up towards the first tee the starter asked, "Am I a single" .. "yes", so he says you can go with those two guys - pointing up the first fairway where they're getting ready to hit their second shots. Usually there's a wait to tee off, so usually that's my time to do a few stretches, a few loosening up swings, put balls and tees into my pocket, start my GPS watch, get a glove outta my bag .. you know: all those little prep things that I imagine well-organized people do back at their cars, ie. well in advance of teeing off. So the starter gets their attention and they move off to the side; I grab my hybrid, one ball and a random loose tee and just go .. with a not terrible result considering the rushed swing .. decent contact but a high flare off the right side of the fairway. This course is pretty open; knew I wasn't in trouble and when I got up there saw I actually had a decent shot towards the uphill green .. which I hit the back-left corner of! Unfortunately that nice approach was followed by a 3-putt bogey .. d'oh!.... The next 4 holes: ..4 fairways, 2 GIRs, 3 x 1-putts and not one but two birdies!! (note even one birdie is a very infrequent occurrence for me) ... leaving me at even par thru 5 holes. (Again: this is a short, fairly easy course.) But then: #6... My nemesis hole: often my highest scoring hole there. And, yes - I've tried different tee shot and layup strategies on this hole, thx. Solid tee shot but turned left towards the front of the large fairway bunker at the inside of the dogleg left. Get up there .. no ball in the bunker, no ball in front of the bunker, no ball on the other side of the bunker.... Sheesh... Drop in the rough outside the bunker, hit a very solid PW towards the ridiculously-undersized way-too-small hard-to-hit green, but guess I gave it an extra bit of adrenaline after having to drop and watched it land long-left off the green .. chip on, left it short .. 2 putts .. double. #7... Uphill Par 3; about 140 yds that day with a light headwind. Another solid tee shot, got up there to find it long-right just off the back edge of the green. Chip on, a little too much rollout but still only about 4 feet away .. slightly pushed the fairly straight putt just past the right edge of the cup .. bogey. #8... Straight, short Par 4 starts downhill; popped up the tee shot a little but it still landed in the middle of the fairway .. good lie, easy enough approach to the green a bit above where I was .. thinned it and the ball ran through the green into the rough on the far side .. chip on trying to let it run back down towards the pin, which it was doing .. until it wasn't .. as the ball decided to take a hard turn to the right .. then I over-read the break on the first putt .. bogey. #9... Short Par 3 across a pond (which in years past has collected many, many of my golf balls). Worst tee shot of the day - with a 9i - that goes right to the back edge of the shallow bunker off the right side of the green. Bunker shot leaves me .. in the bunker .. next one is on the green .. decent putt but a bit firm and slides by on the high side .. double... So all my extra shots were piled into the last 4 holes, BUT .. I feel like they were all relatively simple mistakes that with continued .. especially short game .. practice I can continue to improve on; eg. just missed getting up and down twice in those last four holes. Putting was a bit streaky but had a lotta decent rolls with almost the right speed and line. And, as always .. bunker play definitely needs more work! But overall more good golf shots vs some not-too-terrible/still playable misses combined for a +6 (Par 35; approx 2,460 yds, unrated). Oh, PS: On a busy Father's Day it was a 2:15 round time, so yeah it started dragging in the heat....

Wow, "it's so weird" , but I could've written those exact same things about my golf game now..!! (..are you my long lost twin brother? ..ha ha ha ha...) Trying to hit the shots that I can to what I think are safe targets, but keep making too many seemingly simple mistakes. Well, heck, it's a work-in-progress!

Got a last minute tee time earlier this past week for 9 holes at a state park that has three 9s; each day two different 9s are combined for 18 while the third stays a 9-holer. They're decent courses but I'll only go once or twice a year as it's a popular spot so unfortunately a round's playing time can get e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d ... like a 3+ hour 9-hole round... Anyway, that day I was back on the "Blue" course where last summer I played one of my lowest 9-hole rounds to date of +7 (42/Par 35) .. which was not to be repeated this time, tho... Started off well enough with a good tee shot, an ok enough second that landed just off the front-right corner of the green, a good bump & run on to close enough to the pin for a 1 putt and the lone par of the day. After that my tee shots were a mix of a few ok, some playable/not in trouble but too many in-trouble/requiring an extra shot to get back into position fades into the right rough. Most of my follow-on shots were ok, tho I can see where I still need more work on aim and alignment - and picking a better line to allow for my left-right dispersion; which is really improving this year but still very present on those less than pro level ball striking days. Chipping was mostly solid except for one where I was pin high left, uphill of the green and on a bare lie, with the green sloping away from me .. took the 58 and actually caught it ok but landed the ball just short of my target on the fringe and the ball stuck there .. forcing a 2-chip to get on... (which grazed the right edge of the hole and kept running running running past...) Putting was, as seems to be the norm with me lately, a mix of really good with really way off (speed AND read) .. had two 3-putts but did manage to sink another 1-putt on the closing hole, so putt average/round still right at 2 putts/hole (good enough at this stage in my game). Overall... +12 with that 1 par, then 4 bogeys but 4 doubles. Oh -- round time was about 2:15 (4 people all walking); not terrible but there was a LOT of searching for lost balls amongst my three playing partners (all decent golfers) .. and strangely enough not me for once! .. but then we were pretty much on the heels of the group ahead so we could not really have moved all that much faster.