GolfSpy_APH

Thanks! A lot really and truly. I have talked to a few members here who have gone through visa's it is never easy. It is always a lot of paperwork and often not a very clear process. Often there are various routes to apply for and Covid certainly has made it more challenging from travel to amount of hours offices are open and more. In my case there was also a language difference which can provide some challenges. I am fortunate to have a very patient and understanding partner who has been able to roll with all of this over the last year as well as an employer who is very supportive in providing me with the resources and help that has been required along the way. In the end just very happy to have the family together and now imagine what damage I can do in Ftx now that this monkey is off my back! For good measure I'll add one last picture of the dogs because they always make peoples days better.

Okay I will keep this brief, but when I moved to Swtizerland there was a ton of stress with moving to another country during the pandemic along with my partner and our dogs came too. I had my permit, however she came on a visitors visa and wasn't able to find work and had to go back to Canada as her 90 days were up. She spent 4 months in Canada and came back end of February. Our family was reunited, however we still didn't have her visa sorted. Today that all changed! After months of paperwork, hoops, jumps, delays and more today we got a letter in the mail saying her Marriage Preparation Visa Extension has been approved so we can actually plan a wedding and have it when we want it. For reference she had 11 days left on this visitors visa until she would have had to go back and go through the nightmare that is Canada's quarantine system. This was incredibly stressful and a huge weight has been lifted. I already feel I have 10 times more energy and am happier. She is an incredible girl and I am so lucky to have her and now we can truly start planning out our lives here and although I still am waiting on my B (longer term residence and working permission), this was a huge hurdle and we are passed it. Thank you to @revkevfor reaching out last summer, it was really needed and very thoughtful. This is a great community and with that I'll end this. Cheers everyone and have a great weekend!

For those interested or may have missed it as it was put onto the main site here is a link with a brief overview of our numbers as testers from this. https://mygolfspy.com/superspeed-member-testing-final-results/ Although it does say final results, many of us are still doing the protocols or restarting them after the winter break. I will continue to provide feedback as well post here as my journey continues. I have some goals in mind and am hoping to use videos and the program to see where some changes I make effect my speed.

Still so early... I can't look at the live scores because I only had Sneds in the first wave. Next 4 starting now so I'll just enjoy watching and check the scores in the morning.

Hopefully not to repeat what I said in my other post, but we know there is a human element to it and I think MGS, mods and the forum community is pretty open as to what in general it takes to be selected. You have mentioned several of those points in your post as well as there are several threads on what it takes to be selected. The forum's mission statement: “MyGolfSpy's Community Forum aspires to continued growth while adhering to its core goal of being a place for serious, honest and fun discussion on both golf and life, and a place to go for product reviews - a true online ‘19th Hole’ where all are welcome and all members are treated with respect and friendship.” For some the opportunities come quicker and others it comes much further down the line. Pretty sure it took a couple years before I was selected for one and it was well worth the wait. There is so much that the forum has to offer and testing is only a small part of it. Yes, most come here to start with because of testing however as has been discussed in many threads it is the community and everything else that the site has to offer which keeps us here. Again a lot of the general guidelines are laid out as you have pointed out, from there provide value in the content you produce. It is one thing to have 1,000 comments in various threads it is another to have valuable content for the members here to read and react to. I still believe as a tester you have a big responsibility to the members, MGS and of course the OEM to provide a quality review. Whether you liked the product or not, a honest quality review is what you sign up for. Not just a piece of free gear (I want to be clear I don't believe you think that either, at all), with that there needs to be a level of trust and it is why I mentioned in my first post that a good intro, unofficial review can go a long way in helping members get noticed and gain that trust. I love seeing new people get selected as it gives me a chance to get to know them a little better. I have built some great friendships through this site and enjoy the community. I hope that all who are selected enjoy the process as well as can assist other new members in guiding them in the right direction to do the proper things to hopefully have them selected in the future as well.

Interesting breakdown. I know there is a human element behind it all and that we want to encourage new members join and be active as a chance to become a new tester along with MGS wanting to give new people a opportunity to test products. There are also others (like myself) who have been very fortunate to take part in multiple tests. They are a lot of work and a lot of fun. Another part of it (at least I feel) after testing once we become more selective in what we apply for. Again speaking from personal experience I likely won't be applying for another putter review even if I love the putters that are available. Although I loved doing the review it was very hard and difficult to quantify results. Plus I like the putter so I think it will stay in the bag for a while longer. I would be curious to know what all the Golden Tickets were used on? This is going back a little while, but there have also been testers where OEM's have got MGS to choose them privately (I remember there being a Bridgestone set and the Ping Blueprint Irons) these are likely outside of the 18 months you were looking at. Also there is the fact its important that the OEM get a quality review for the product they are giving away and for MGS it is important to select members who will provide that. In the end personally I feel a good introduction post, being active and taking interest in topics on the site (whatever they may be cooking, fantasy sports, CHA and more) will help get your name noticed. Doing a unofficial review on a product you have is another great way prove you have what it takes to do an Official Review. It certainly would have been interesting if there was a set formula, but much like golf there is a feel and rub of the green element and no way to predict what is going to happen or who will for sure be selected! Great job putting all that data together and good recap as well, it certainly was interesting to go through and see some of those numbers which came up.

Swapped out, thanks! I was debating on keeping him in as it was so makes that decision easier.

Anyone willing to sell off Brookes for a reasonable price?

I don't think there is any doubt in his talents. He has been a great team leader and put up massive stats over the years and taken the franchise to new levels. However if you look at the whole roster I can't see them competing for the championship so why continue down this road when you can reset and build a contender for the future.

Everything I have been hearing about this weekend is it will be a birdie fest so maybe some new high scores and from what I see a lot of teams without full lineups which could make for some big changes on our leaderbaord and hopefully I can climb up to within a few games of the top 3 again.

I haven't looked at the draft class for next year. I still wish someone like Josh Rosen (I know he likely will not be good at all or ever be a starter) would have been good to have at least as someone to groom behind Ryan as a bridge to make this strategy more viable.

The only thing wrong I can see with that deal is that we have both done a very good job of not having the same players so far and this would ruin that! You have even been ever so kind of continually trading away Morikawa to make sure we have good competing teams that have no overlap in players... when you got Hatton and didn't have him and this would ruin that haha

I have been an Atlanta fan since I started watching football way back and can remember being so excited for when they drafted Ryan and the potential he had as well as his first bomb TD to Michael Jenkins so it would be sad to see him go. He provided so many good memories and took us out of a very rough stretch, but sometimes its best to know to move on. Even trading back and getting Fields or Jones would have been good. Either way it will be a interesting few seasons and to see if Julio makes it to the season without being traded. Or another really bad season and good draft pick next year?

I am just going to add I love the trading involvement this year. Seems like a lot more engagement and deals it can be hard to keep up with. @Lacassem I like the trade and good value for both sides...

Atlanta I still think should have done a reset at the draft. For as much as I like Ryan and Julio and many others on the team it was a great opportunity to reset and look their future. The chances of them finding a replacement for Ryan now is going to be tough or they are going to need to get a project much like Carolina did with Darnold, which isn't all that appealing. I have a better time routing for a underdog team with young players, then a team which I feel has reached its peak and is grasping for something that really won't be that attainable. Even if Pitts may be a Fanatasy Beast in the future.

I still think a lot can happen between now and then. Although I started off good and had a lead for a little while I have gone 1-19 in the last two weeks. It is all about riding the highs and lows and some weeks just are too bad and well suck. Others are great and quite easy, it can be so hard to judge which is a lot of the fun. Still hoping to shuffle up the team a little bit, but that means potentially moving players not named Hovland, Spieth or Morikawa haha

Not necessarily a book, i still have serval golfers journal issues to go through. Have a nice display set up for them at home, but need to bring a few of them in to work and read in my downtime.

So trading up and trading away picks maybe not how you would do it again?

Out of curiosity, looking back at the draft for this year what is everyones favorite pick they had? The draft didn't go how I expected at all and I expected many players to be gone that were available much later hten I had expected. What is the pick they wish they could have back or would have changed? I know hindsight is 20/20, but it is interesting to see where certain players went and how they have performed this year. For me I loved my picks in 1/2/5/6 where I got my core of the team with Morikawa, Hovland, Fitzpatrick then Spieth. I know if we were drafting again Spieth would never make it to round 6 and I would likely have to pick between him, morikawa and hovland to get 2 of the 3. My middle picks are where I struggled a bit and maybe next season I would look at trading out of those 2 spots and trying to move up again into the second round. I picked Fowler who I am still holding hope for, but Zalatoris was there in round 3 and would have been amazing for my team. In round 4 I got Kisner who was solid for me last year. Truthfully I would change the pick now knowing he is having a down season, however there were no other names that really stood out. Maybe have taken Spieth and Fitz a round earlier each and maybe picked up Leishman in 6? Either way I am already planning my draft strat for next season!

In a way you are able to do that. If you reset tags you can rename clubs and it will keep you original data from other or older clubs you have used. This way you can look back at those individual clubs. I did this for my i210 review comparing them to the i e1 irons. Also for the various drivers and putters I have used. It isn't perfect if you are swapping back and forth constantly, but it does work and gives you the ability to compare the performance of your clubs when making changes.

That dog could eat mine in one bite! Very nice looking dog though! Haha plus as you can see he loves golfing and would have simply joined you for your round.

Hey I wanted him, I just wasn't willing to offer up to much for him.

DJ out for this week, hopefully it doesn't linger into the PGA.

Well now I'm very curious as to what it was!

Okay seems like there are alot of people active right now so rather then me sifting through trying to find offers and so on. Looking to pair Fowler w/Finau or Fitzpatrick. May consider doing all 3 depending on who is being offered. Whats the worst that can happen?