KCEE

I do have pretty good excuses: 2 hour round trip commute 3 days/week, wife just had 3rd foot surgery (also a stroke before that), taking care of elderly parents, et al. I thought with the last kid in college now I would have so much more free time, but I have less than ever. I will say that when I get out to play I fully enjoy every second of it no matter what I shoot though and that wasn't always the case. Parts of my game are ok. I have a RukkNet I use in my garage and in the backyard. Just focusing on tempo and contact without knowing where the ball is going seems to have helped my swing in some respects. I swing a rope and weighted clubs a # of times each week too. I have nice putting setup in my home office that also seems to have helped my stroke. I use various things like an Eyeline mirror, thin metal ruler and a target that requires speed and line be correct. I may hit balls in the net for up to 20 minutes, but usually practice is 5-10 minutes. I do miss short game practice on a real practice green and when I play that shows lol.

I've never even heard of CT National until now and I've lived in CT my whole life. Definitely have to check it out one day.

FWIW I've played the STF2, M890 and KE4 Tour TC, but haven't tried the newer ones yet. I currently game a KE4 Tour TC 4w and really like it. It doesn't have quite as much pop as my old XR16, but it's more consistent and easy to hit. It beat out some other very nice OEM fairways. I've had it for a while now though and it's making a bit of an odd sound as if there is a crack somewhere. Maybe time to try a new model, but I do like the shallower face height of the Tour TC. The STF2 and M890 are decent, but not in the same class IMO. They look a bit smaller than expected and the feel and sound just aren't as good. They work well enough and I love that they have the weight screws too, but I would probably hunt for a used OEM fairway instead.

This is just one man's opinion of course, but I find the TS1-IM much better feeling/sounding than the TS-1. Performance-wise they are both great heads, but for me the TS1-IM is much sweeter. I felt the same a few years ago when I went for a fitting and bought TM P770 irons. A few irons worked well for me, but the P770 was even better feeling than Mizuno and Titleist at least to me. The only other iron that matched it was a Miura, but luckily for my bank account the P770 was just as good. I'm currently debating between the TS1-IM and TS3, but I may try the TS4 and possibly make the decision harder.

Been a member a while, but hadn't noticed this New England thread and I really just lurk here. I tend to participate a bit more regularly at GolfBuzz and GolfWrx. How long have you been playing golf? I started the year I turned 30 (I'll be 58 this year) in an after work league. Really didn't play much at all until I hit my 40's and even then not a lot. I started playing a bit more the last 10 years. What’s your handicap or normal score? Currently at an 18. Last year was a bad year although I did shoot a 79. I don't have a "normal" score as I have always been streaky. When I play regularly (or practice regularly) I start playing decently (I was down to about a 12 at one point), but I haven't been able to do that lately. What do you love about golf? Everything really. I love the friendly competition and the fact that players with vastly different games can compete. I love the feel of a flushed shot. I even love building golf clubs which I've done for over 20 years.....winter can be long here. What brings you to MyGolfSpy? Do you already know any other Spies? I've been on MGS since it started, but just reading and lurking. I probably know some Spies from other golf forums. Where are you from? What is your home course? Born and raised in CT. I have been a member at Pequabuck in Bristol for the last 6 years. It's a semi-private course that no one knew about until the pandemic created a golf boom. What are the best and worst things about golf in your region? I love that many New England courses have a lot of character. The bad is that we have a relatively low amount of courses with respect to # of golfers. Also many courses (including mine) are woodsy tight; it's amazing how my driving distance increases when I travel to courses that are much more open. I think the pandemic may have saved a few courses including mine, but it's also made it hard to get tee times and like everything else costs have increased significantly. What do you do for a living? Director of Sales and Marketing for a small mfg co. We mainly make position measurement sensors and I started my career as an engineer so I enjoy the technology side of golf. How’d you pick your user name? Growing up my nickname was KC (my initials) and then in college for Electrical Engineering a dorm mate started calling me KC Double E and I for some reason I started with KCEE as a username online.

I've been playing a KE4 Tour TC 4w since last season and I love it. I had a Callaway XR16 fairway I loved, but the face flattened and there was a crack and I couldn't find anything that worked as well until the KE4....it doesn't have the mojo of the XR16, but it works much better than anything else I tried. It looks and feels good, I can hit it off the deck or tee, forgiving, long and you can easily adjust the weight. I did briefly try and STf2 5w, but thought it was just ok.

I have the KE4 4 wood and love it. It was the right gapping for me phasing away from a 3 &5w but giving me plenty of forgiveness and pop. I have the 4w as well and like it a lot. Beat out a Callaway Mavrik for a spot in the bag.

I've backweighted most of my irons the past 10 years if not more. I find it works very well for me in the 5-7 irons, but I had to be careful with the 8-P. I was ok with only 5-10g in the short irons, but when I went heavier it really seemed to throw me off. That said there is almost no way I could use anything lighter than say 95g in my irons. I haven't done this, but I've heard people have run lead tape down the underside of their shafts. Also there used to be some inserts that put the weight farther down in the shaft so that balance point of the club wasn't raised up a lot.

I joined a semi-private club 6 years ago when they offered a great 3-year deal. I'm at full boat now, but memberships run $500-$3000. I may just barely get my money's worth since I still have a full time job and a family, but if I lose a bit I think the benefits are worth it. If the price goes too high I will have to re-evaluate it, but I hope to play more next year as my youngest is heading to college and my oldest has graduated, gotten a job and moved away. I can get morning tee times and I don't have to put up with the 5+ hour rounds that several nearby popular public courses have. My course is a bit more "blue collar" and you can find a game with anyone. I have a friend that first joined a nearby fully private course and he hated how stuffy it was and didn't fit in any of the cliques. It is nice that the staff knows you and takes care of you as well. As a high 'capper I didn't think I would enjoy the tournaments, but I love them. They do cost more money, but are reasonable and a lot of fun. Some are geared more towards us higher indexes and I've even won a few. We're lucky to have a pro that does a great job with these events. I'm also not a gambler, but I do enjoy some friendly wagering here. Not on the scale of Phil, but I do seem to play better when there is a match and generally all money goes on the table for lunch and/or drinks. There are some downsides and maybe the biggest one is playing the same course. I do play other places at times, but not like I used to. I'm lucky my course is very challenging and I don't really get bored with it. I have some retired friends that get golf passes that allow them to play various courses during the week and if and when I retire I might prefer that.

I'm interested to read some reviews on the Elixr. I couldn't pass them up during a winter sale, but have only played a few rounds with them. So far the ball is impressive. It feels a bit soft to me and is a bit shorter hitting off the driver (not as short as the Kirkland 3 pc), but flies high off the irons and works very well around the greens. I don't like it quite as much as the Maxfli Tour or Vice Pro, but it was nearly $1/ball cheaper and it works well enough.

Our course drains really well so I rarely wear spiked shoes any more. I have a pair of Nike Roshe that are really comfortable, but I can slip at times in them. My favorite shoes have been the Adidas Code Chaos I've had for several seasons. They are comfy, grip well and clean up pretty easily. I paid too much in our pro shop for them a few years ago, but I bought the same pair this winter at DSG for only $40. I still see them for $60-$80 which is a bargain IMO. Also have a pair of Trues which I love, but the near zero drop is not for everyone.

I suck and I can feel the difference in some balls. Tried a Cally SuperSoft the other day and it felt nothing like the Maxfli Tour X and Vice Pro Plus balls I have been playing. It felt soft and heavy off the driver. I don't really care too much about the feel though, but just how they react on pitches and chips. I like a urethane ball and most will do fine, but some like the original AVX and current Tour B RXS are just awful around the greens IMO. They don't check well enough for small fast greens.

I seem to respond better to drills rather than swing aids. I hit balls L-L with my feet together and drills like that. I do like the Orange Whip and I have some of the Swingyde knockoff plastic attachments, but I need to make some swings with the aid and then some without or I'm just sort of reacting to the swing aid.

I've been using Oakley's with Fuse Rx lenses. The fuse lenses were about half the cost of Oakley's and I think they're better. I mainly wear them to find my ball since I can't see far away.

I've been using the Tour X for a while now and love it. I think the latest version performs a bit better although it does seem like it scuffs a bit easier. I was reluctant buying 4 dozen balls at once even < $100, but I'm sold.

FWIW the GripMaster leather grips are the tackiest by far. It's like pine tar is infused into them; nothing else is close. I like Pure and Iomic, but never found them to be that soft or tacky. I have been using CP2 Pros for a while now and they are the softest rubber grip I have tried and they are relatively tacky when kept clean. Recently tried some Sonar and they are definitely tackier than the CP2 Pro while still being relatively soft for a rubber grip.

I'm a fan of the Maxfli Tour X as well. Used to be 2 dozen for $50 and then you always had a $10 DSG credit. I bought 4 dozen for just over $100 recently so they have gone up, but so has everything else. I like the Tour B X , Snell MTBX and other similar balls, but I score about the same with pretty much all the "X" balls.

I struggled when drivers started getting really large as well. I was just settling into a 300cc head 12 degrees at 44" when everyone else was moving to 460cc. When I finally did get to 460cc I had 11* and 44.5" and it was relatively heavy. Two years ago I played 45" and last year I was at 45.75"...still might go back to 45". I had to adjust my setup for the driver with the ball teed more forward and I also try to get my shoulders tilted more (right shoulder lower than left assuming a righty). I try to feel like I'm swinging a bit flatter too. Definitely something you need to hit the range and experiment with and getting a lesson probably wouldn't hurt. I would much rather hit driver now since they are so large and forgiving. I only club down on the doglegs that I might run through with driver. If the driver isn't working I have TM Original One Mini 13.5* that still works really well. I don't carry it as far as the driver, but it's so low spin that it runs out almost as far. Might be a good stepping stone to a larger driver assuming the low spin works for you. Or maybe try to find an older driver 300-400 cc to start with.

I had a milder version of that trying CBD for golf. I think the problem was I took too much. I had tried the smallest dose of a full spectrum tincture and felt pretty much nothing so I doubled that (still relatively small) dose and felt horrible and played horrible lol. CBD doesn't really seem to help my sleep, aches or anything in my limited experimentation. I've found Turmeric and related supplements to help a lot with my 55 year old aches. Regular exercise and stretching is also vital for me. I stop either the supplements or exercise for 2 weeks or more and my body is NOT happy.

Even though I don't lose a lot of balls, I like the Maxfli Tour balls for a bargain "tour" ball. They always seem to be available at 2 for $55 and the $10 DSG credits are easy to come by. I like some of the other big name tour balls a bit better, but not enough to justify the price....and when I play a ProV it doesn't seem to help my score. I definitely want a urethane cover on my ball. I did really like the Kirkland 4-piece ball, but found the original 3-piece to be short hitting. I haven't tried the latest Kirkland ball yet, but I hear it is better and the price is certainly good. I like Snell also, but they weren't always available this year.

Really tempted to give this fairway a shot. Have always loved Maltby irons, but never cared for their woods. I gave up component stuff like Maltby and Wishon several years ago and currently have all Callaway, but I'm tempted to build a fairway wood, hybrid and irons this winter using Maltby.