Alf. S

If you think TV sport is now about fairness then I'm afraid you're mistaken. It is all about money and trying to keep sponsors/money men happy. The FedEx cup is exactly that, how can they keep interest alive up until the last tournament. With 6 wins and world number one then numerically we know who should win. Come Sunday if Scottie stumbles you could have any of 10 players could win it. Adam Scott winning, I love the guy but!!! I use to watch Formula 1 week in, week out until 2021. In the last race of the season, Lewis Hamilton was coasting to victory in the season ending Adu Dhabi Grand Prix and winning the championship. There was an accident with 5 laps to go with a Safety Car put out, once the accident was cleared the rules were that the race would finish with a boring procession. But money talked the back markers were cleared out the way to let Verstapen who had just changed his tyres to race against a tyre stricken Hamilton to win the race and the championship. The Race Director said "That's racing" but was subsequently sacked by the FIA and no further action taken. Why was it done, IMO because the sponsored wanted an exciting end to their showcase race. BTW if PIF get into the PGA Tour, the Tour Championship will probably end up being played in Abu Dhabi or Dubai!!

Date 08/28/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 78 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 123 Gross Strokes over/under par 7 Birdies or better 4 Longest Drive 275 Wind down to 10 - 15 mph and greens soft with the heavy rain recently. Couple of strokes better than Monday but should have been 3 or 4 strokes better. After 2 or 3 rounds of ~28 putts, today I started hitting greens in regulation and can't hole out from anywhere outside 3' for 33 putts.

I know what you mean I played a bucket list course last Thursday at Machrihanish and shot 93 of h/c of 8. Found it really tough and ended up in the local distillery ending with a few hafs of Springbank

It maybe just me but I like reading about the bad rounds more than the good. I think at the moment I can empathise more. Thing can only get better.

Date 08/26/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 80 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 123 Gross Strokes over/under par 9 Birdies or better 6 Longest Drive 248 Bounce game today, I seem to never stop tweaking my swing and setup. Striking the ball better but stats don't show it, lots of drives just off the fairways and approaches just missing greens. Low light was the double at 4, hit green in regulation but long, putting down the step in the green, misjudged the pace and de-greened, duffed the 1st chip, then chip and putt for 7. Started well with a chip in from just off the edge at 1.

Well done sounds like you had a great day. I love watching the kids play. I've got a PGA level 1 coaching certificate and use to coach under 10s (well try and get them started). At the club we have a good Junior convenor who has grown Junior and Juvenile membership from near zero to over 50 in 3 years. We now have a dedicate 6 hole course for the youngsters, shorten course for older kids, kids club lease program (Golfin) which allows the kids to progress to different clubs as they grow, teams now participate in regional and national competitions, fun days with golfing related games. It's all about getting them into the game, I have a 3 year old great nephew that I bought a wee set of clubs for. But alas after playing in our garden he would rather play with the Knights and Castle toys in the house and calls golf boring!!!

Managed to get a game at Machrihanish Championship on Thursday, depending on which magazine is in the world top 100 courses. It is situated on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland a good 3 hour drive from Glasgow. Just for a change this summer (not!) it was blowing a brisk 20-25mph. Front 9 is mostly down wind and back 9 into the wind. Didn't play my best, rough pretty heavy so if you went in it it was pretty much a lost ball, putting was a struggle moving from my normal parkland greens to the links. Just couldn't get a read. On the card it says it is 6245 yds but with the wind probably played more like 7000. I was totally shattered by the 15th walking the course. Ended up consoling myself with a dram and tour of the Springbank distillery, which is well worth a visit. Probably the most informative tour I've been on and has the whole process including malting thru to bottling onsite

I don't really have a stock club to chip with I alternate between the 52', 56' and my PW all depending on the lie, elevation, distance, green softness and wind. 56' I can manipulate better than the other 2 clubs, opening the face and playing it back in my stance. For longer chips the the 52' comes into play. Then in windy conditions and uphill chips the PW.

Date 08/25/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 79 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 123 Gross Strokes over/under par 8 Birdies or better 6 Longest Drive 243 Another windy day on the course but non-competition day. Wind made approach shots challenging, flew the 3rd and 6th with good shots, 8th was right at the pin into the wind and came up short rolling down the infamous Coffin hill. Putting a bit better than my mid week game so happy.

Been looking for a new putter for a while, I like heel hang putters and currently use a MacGregor type 7 clone which I do OK with but never feel comfortable with especially over 3-4' putts. I was looking for a more of a blade rather than a mallet, I also like having the alignment aids on the club I have tended to buy new clubs in the past but the prices recently I think are obscene. We have Golf Clubs for Cash locally which buys and sells clubs, they let you try a club for 14 days and return with full refund I started off by buying Odyssey Toe Up SB #1 Putter If you balance the club on your finger the head points straight up which is a bit weird I used it for a couple of rounds and just didn't like it, it felt light in my hands, I also like to align the putter, rest it on the ground and regrip. In this case the putter would tend to want to move to open. There is an old review here if you're interested https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/odyssey-toe-up-putter-review/ It was duly returned Next up Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K Triple Wide Putter My current putter is 35.5" but the only putter available was 34". After trying it in the shop I went for it. The putter is marketed as having a high MOI which should mean you get less mishits off the face. I would have to say that I felt the ball was definitely releasing off the face smoothly. I tried it for a couple of rounds and still liked the look and feel of the club but felt I was stooping over the ball due to the shaft length. I committed to keep it but added 1.5" onto the shaft. First round out with it yesterday and was really impressed, 29 putts which was OK but 10 single putts. I had two 3 putts which spoiled the stats but they were more pace related, racing the initial putts 8' by and me getting use to the putter. It is now my gamer. Again I found this on MyGolfSpy https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/2022-odyssey-eleven-and-tri-hot-5k-putters/

Date 08/17/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 85 Course Rating 71.2 Course Slope 126 Gross Strokes over/under par 14 Birdies or better 5 Longest Drive 243 Really frustrating day, was trying to bed in a new swing thought and had a new putter. Putter worked really well, doubles on 5 and 10 were both bad swings catching ground before ball on approaches from the middle of the fairway. 16th was me trying to hit the ball too hard off the tee putting myself in trouble and never recovering. And 18th, grr, I'm really getting p!ssed at the way people leave bunkers, rakes in the bunker up against the side that catches the ball, not raked. I landed in a deep unraked grove at 18, no way to get into the back of the ball ended up thru the green against the wall for another double.

I sort of get it, I was at the Glasgow Topgolf yesterday with 2 sons that golfed as juniors and now facing middle age play once a year and we had a good day, food was OK, games were OK with us all being competitive. Ended up playing Pebble Beach and birdie 7 and 8. It is not really for golfers, looking around the bays I struggled to see anyone that I would see out on a golf course. Mum, dad and 10 year son, group of muslim girls having a birthday outing, the young alpha males trying to swing the club as fast as possible and hitting the ball once in every 10 swings. But I don't think I will be back. For our golf, drinks and food it was £139. The boys were drinking dark rum(Kraken) and coke at £10 a drink, the golf in itself was expensive enough at £60 for 2 hours. My club has a swing studio that has a full Trackman setup that you can hire for 2 hours for £40, I think for our next outing it is there with a traditional Scottish "Carry Oot"

Another tough day on the course, wind 20mph gusting to 40mph, greens firm and fast, really difficult to hold the greens. GIR 11% but chipping and putting was really good. With the wind Holes 1, 9, 13 and 16 really playing like par 5s, I couldn't reach them with a good drive and 3w. On the 18th which is an exposed tee, it was tough just to stay over the ball without getting blown over. Putted great on the front 9, even for the bogeys I shaved the holes. Went a bit cold on the back and 11 was me being greed with a chip and failing short. Ended up in 2nd place for the comp and a cut from 8.3 to 7.9.

Date 08/10/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 80 Course Rating 71.2 Course Slope 126 Gross Strokes over/under par 9 Birdies or better 0 Longest Drive 251 Another tough day on the course, wind 20mph gusting to 40mph, greens firm and fast, really difficult to hold the greens. GIR 11% but chipping and putting was really good. With the wind Holes 1, 9, 13 and really playing like par 5s, I couldn't reach them with a good drive and 3w. On the 18th which is an exposed tee, it was tough just to stay over the ball without getting blown over. Putted great on the front 9, even for the bogeys I shaved the holes. Went a bit cold on the back and 11 was me being greed with a chip and failing short. Ended up in 2nd place for the comp and a cut from 8.3 to 7.9.

Semi final of the club Greensomes last night. We were giving our opponents 5 strokes and they were +1 thru 9 and 2 up on us. Started to play a bit better and by the 15th turned it around to be 2 up with 3 to play. 16th they were stroking and we could only bogey to their 5 net 4. Halved 17 with 4s. 18th we had 2 putts for the win from 30'. partner left it 4' short and I missed my putt. On to extra holes, halved 19th and then with the sun setting lost the 20th when they got an extra stroke to a 4 nett 3 birdie. Our record this year has been Fourball - Lost on the 18th to a guy holing out from off the green for birdie Foresomes - Lost in last 16 on the 19th hole Greensomes - Lost in SF on 20th

Worst round of the year yesterday 87 (+16). Tough conditions but that only contributed to some bad play. Struggled on the front 9 to hit greens in regulation and my chipping and putting wasn't saving me and struggle out in +7. With the wind my thoughts were that 3 of the par 4s were unreachable in 2 so maybe it wasn't so bad. Started back par, bogey, par still OK. 13th into the wind again unreachable in 2, 2nd shot it was 167yds to clear the ditch, I hit a 3W 200yds carry, it carried the ditch pitch straight right into gorse and gone for a double. Still soldiered on pared 14 and 15. 16 into the wind, left with a tricky chip for 4th, tried to be too cute twice and duffed the chips ended up with a triple. Doubled the 17th ann bogey the last feeling totally beat up.

In the UK we (i.e my wife and I) have been watching the Olympics avidly for the last week (like from 8am to 10pm) it is covered by the BBC and the coverage of the golf may as well be non-existent. They are only streaming 2 channels and swimming, sailing, tennis, badminton, shooting and archery have had more coverage. We might get the final hole shown if Fleetwood is in contention today, really poor. And is turning it into a non-event in the UK.

Date 08/01/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 80 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 123 Gross Strokes over/under par 9 Birdies or better 5 Longest Drive 255 I really need to work out a different strategy for the back 9 at the my club, another round dropping too many shots coming in specifically holes 12-15, double on 12, bogied 13, scrapped a par 14, bogied 15. This was from not really finding any trouble but playing shots from the semi and the ball sitting down. The 13th is a challenge for me The fairway slopes left to right and the bunker on the right is bang in range of my driver. Doesn't help that my natural shot is left to right, found it 3 times in my last 5 rounds. If I hit it up the left, it can get tangled in the rough and end up with me playing 190yds with trees blocking left, in to a left to right sloping fairway with my natural shot being a cut.

Out playing in the QF of the club Greensomes against the Captain and a Past Captain and giving them 8 strokes. Not been hitting my irons well for a while so decided to have a hit on the range before hand then had a pitching session for a warm up. Hit the ball the best for 2 years, chipping and putting well. My partner plays off 1.8 and hits the ball +30yds past me with driver. Tactics were, I drive and get the ball in play and he can then grip it and rip it. Worked really well, we were ~level par thru 16 and won 3 and 2. Makes a big difference if I'm playing 7i compared to a hybrid into some of the greens

Date 07/25/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 79 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 123 Gross Strokes over/under par 8 Birdies or better 5 Longest Drive 250 Bit better today, went out and hit some irons before the round which helped on my approaches also had a new putter. Holed a few long putts but also missed 3 from inside 4 feet. +3 going out and +5 coming in, finished bogie, bogie, bogie, double.

Date 07/24/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 82 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 123 Gross Strokes over/under par 11 Birdies or better 3 Longest Drive 280 Senior Open at the Club. Same story at the moment out in +3 back in +8 with sloppy bogies and 3 putts. Finished on a high at the par 3 last, hit the pin with my tee shot and holed the putt. Back out today and hopefully better time.

I'm normally a shirt tuck in guy but if I'm getting really hot I will untuck. I lost around 42lbs a couple of years back and since then the shirts tend to fit me better and I don't have the belly overhang that I used to have, much more comfortable with the shirt tucked in. BTW profile picture is me tucked in at 220lbs now around 180lbs.

No score from me this week, team golf. Got beat on the 1st extra hole in the last 16 in my club Foresomes ton Thursday and playing a team scramble today

Date 07/15/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 83 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 123 Gross Strokes over/under par 12 Birdies or better 3 Longest Drive 281 This game does my head in. +11, 0 GIR thru 8, then +1, 8 GIR for the next 10

Date 07/11/2024 Course Name West Lothian Golf Club Gross Score 80 Course Rating 69.7 Course Slope 123 Gross Strokes over/under par 9 Birdies or better 2 Longest Drive 270