Mr. 82

I believe that is factually incorrect, sir. Your meme should say, "DO YOU LIKE APPLES?" Because that ain't good news for the rich preppy HAAAVard a-hole.

Nice blog. Welcome to the forum.

Yeah, I've got too much time on my hands, but I made 12 of 12, so show me what ya got.

A lot in life will change with regards to this pandemic and social isolation, especially if it lasts a month or more. Many business will either not open back up, or be sold off to the highest bidder, if at all. Local restaurants and small businesses will be the first to go, and then it goes from there. Smaller manufacturers of golf equipment and supplies will be the first to go, and then we will be left with the biggest corporations, via the Titleist/Achusnet, Callaway, Taylor Made, et al. You'll probably lose a lot of the lower end competition if they are forced to shutter for a month or more, and ultimately if that happens, then the ceiling for the big guys actually goes up, because demand will eventually return for the product, while the supply and competition might be much more limited. Check the cash reserves of the public companies, and you'll see who will weather the storm without much more than a hiccup. But those who are in massive debt already, or just barely surviving in the normal economy will not be back when the dust settles.

I probably made a thread out of this some time ago, but frankly, I post too much here, so I wouldn't even know where to begin looking for it, but I have a 20+ year old Tour Edge mallet putter that I paid like $25 for back in the day that I put back in the back last year for awhile and was putting really good with it. I had a new Winn Grip put on it, and gamed it for awhile and I went around telling everyone what I paid for it, especially when they were all buying $400+ putters and putting worse than I was. Disclosure, I went out and bought a $200 brand new PING Sigma2 Tyne putter that I currently game, and I absolutely love it. But it looks as nice as anything, and I putt really well with it. What am I trying to say to you? Looks will play a part in the equation, but it ain't everything to me, that is for sure. It's the feel the putter gives you that inspires confidence that will make you feel like a better putter. For me the results always speak for themselves. if I putt good with a 20 year old putter that has chipped paint and scratches and dents all over the place, well, I will wear that sucker out. But a new putter had a better feel and look to it, and I love the fact that I can adjust the shaft up and down between 32 and 36 inches. I seem to putt a lot better with my new one, so it is what it is. Ultimately, if you are asking these questions, you will probably end up getting something else. But will you putt better with it? Test them out a lot and go with what helps you hole the most putts. Because at the end of the day, the scorecard does not have any pictures.

Well, I would try tightening my grip on shots like that, but it could be a number of things. My first guess would be the wrong flex in the shaft. Perhaps the shaft is too stiff, but again, without seeing what you are doing, it's really like trying to find a piece of chicken in the kitchen in the dark.

OK, so I got curious and looked this guy's handicap up. He's a 1.3 index. All of his last 20 scores are in the 70s. He posted a 79 recently, and I'll have to ask him about that one, because I honestly don't know how he doesn't shoot in the 60s every time. And man, you do not want to bet against this guy. We paired up as teams a few weeks ago, and I got stuck on the opposite team from him, and lost $14 to him in a $2 and $2 bet (holes/birdies). After getting my ass handed to me in that match I told everyone in our group that the only way I will be in the bet going forward is to be on this guy's team. I mean, he lives for these type of bets. Also playing enough golf with him, if this guy had a caddie that gave him some confidence I don't see how he shoots worse than 68. Most of his mistakes are purely mental, because he's always unsure of where to hit a putt, or what to do with a shot. But since we are in team matches we help each other out with shot selection and reading putts, etc. I honestly think he likes pairing up with me, because from the first tee to the 18th green I am pumping this guy up with confidence. I just simply tell him how great a player he is, especially compared to me, and I think he likes that. But the guy is so humble he never will tell you he hit a good shot. I mean, like the bomb he hit on #6 on Sunday he said, "well, I got a monster bounce in the fairway with that drive." He did, but dude, you're 80 yards past me easily. Enjoy it.

I tested these balls, and this is totally unrelated to my test, but on Sunday I played with a scratch golfer who I see once a week and we play matches with against the other guys. I mean, he hit 17 GIR on Sunday, and shot 71, and it was a bad round for him (if he had holed half of the putts that lipped out for birdie it would have easily been a 67. But this is normal for him. He's as pure a ball striker as I have ever seen, and he's not a big guy - around my size (5'9" and he's probably 165'ish). But his swing is so pure that he just generates massive clubhead speed that sees him send it 280 typically, and when he really catches it it's upwards of 300. He rarely misses the fairway, and he just is as solid a golfer as it gets. OK, sorry, background out of the way, this guy has been a ProV1 golfer for life. He's hit that ball since they introduced it and never thought twice about another ball. I mean why should he when the results he gets are just fantastic for his game? So Sunday I noticed he was playing a Bridgestone. I'm not sure which one, but I would assume it's the model they'd hand the Tour pros. A buddy of his had given him a few Bridgestone to test out and he actually liked it enough to put it into play. What everyone in my group was noticing with him hitting the Bridgestone was insane distance off of the tee. Our 6th hole is a 373 yard par 4 that plays from an elevated tee to a generous fairway. I've pounded some decent drives on this hole because you can get wind behind you. You can also get a massive wind in your face as well. I've hit anything from a PW to a 5 iron into this green. Sunday we had a little wind behind us, but not much. This guy gets up and absolutely smokes a drive. We all hit good drives, but his ball was way beyond ours. I ended up with 126 in and hit a nice PW to about 15 feet or so. This guy was maybe 40 or 50 yards from the pin with his drive. I estimated about a 320 yard drive, maybe further with his Bridgestone. I mean, he just absolutely crushed the thing. The other side of the coin with this guy is that he knows his distances with his clubs to the yard. He was standing over his approach shot on #16, and had about 90 yards in. He was trying to figure out whether to play his 60° lob wedge, which he said went 83 yards, or his sand wedge, which went further. The green is down about a half club, so we told him to hit lob wedge. He pured it as he always does and the shot went to the middle of the green about 10 yards past the hole. He just looked at me and said, "OK, I guess I need to reevaluate my distances with my clubs if I am going to be playing this Bridgestone ball." He wasn't even kidding either, as this ball just explodes off of the club face for him. He was so impressed with this ball and the distance gains off of the tee that he says, "I love this ball, but the only problem I have is that I have 5 dozen ProV1 sitting in the house." Just a story to share about the Bridgestone ball. I mean, if a lifelong Titleist scratch golfer is switching to Bridgestone, does that help you at all?

I'm right there with you. My problem is that I have about 8 dozen brand new balls sitting in the house here of various variety, and I don't even know if I will ever get to them. I mean, just last month I stopped counting the number of once hit (and lost) Pro V1/xs that I found in the woods or rough at my home course. Guys literally hit the ball once and lose a drive, and I end up finding it. So forgive me if I stick it in my bag and just play those. I mean, it's crazy honestly. I had so many of them, that the two guys I play with on Mondays I started tossing them 6 or 7 ProV1s for them to play because they were weighing down my bag too much. Yeah, I know, I should just shut up and keep that bit of information to myself. But what would you do if you saw a free (almost) brand new ProV1 sitting in the rough or woods that was just as good as new? Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say.

Good test. I've played both Snell and Vice, and I found Vice to wear out really quick and Snell to last a lot longer. Snell is a better ball if compared with the Vice, IMHO.

Still going strong here in North Florida/South Georgia. Kinderlou, my home course in Valdosta has closed the pro shop and restaurant, and you call for tee times. Only one person per cart now, so it's kinda weird seeing 4 and 5 carts per group on a hole. Dogfight on Saturdays went from shotgun to tee times in order to avoid having a large group congregate on the range. My Tuesday group I was forced to adjust, as we can't have a sit down dinner in the club after the golf. So we are collecting $20 cash at check in by the carts, and then shotgunning at 5:30 pm. It's a voluntary group anyway, so we'll see how many guys show up. Some of the older guys have self quarantined and one of the guys on our committee, who has cancer, has opted to stay home instead of play. We just don't eat after golf now, and have our devotional before we shotgun for golf, out by the carts. I'm actually playing more with the corona virus thing, because they closed churches, so I am not there on Sunday mornings now, so I played 36 holes on Sunday instead. I was looking at my schedule, and I could frankly play 36 holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday during this thing. I may wear myself out with golf, but what else can you do? I walked 9 holes with a buddy yesterday afternoon, and everything was normal there. The course is greening up nicely too with the warmer weather, so just as golf courses are getting into really good shape we have all this going on. I'm just going to ride this thing out for as long as they let us play. It's literally something new every day now, so I just take it one day at a time. But so far we are still playing golf, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Just an update. This club is just freaking money. I had several full 100 yard shots over the weekend, and every time I pulled this club out I stick it to within 10 feet of the hole. I mean, dialed in is an understatement. I'm actually now trying to figure out ways to give myself 95-100 yards into every single hole I play. It's so ridiculously good it's insane. Factor in that I love my 58° Vokey as well, and I may never play another type of wedge ever again. Why I didn't invest in Vokey wedges years ago makes me (almost) sick. This club is just nails!

I only hit it on full shots, but with the few shots I tested it with I really liked it. Two of my newest favorite clubs in my bag are both my Vokey wedges. Just really solid clubs all the way around.

yeah, well, it was easy to identify, and just as easy to put on ignore.

My course is still open. They closed the pro shop and have a limited call in option at the restaurant where you can call and order food and they will bring it to you. They normally keep range balls in bags in the pro shop, but are just keeping range balls on the range now. Our dogfight went from a shotgun start to tee times, spread out over several hours, I guess to avoid a large group congregating on the putting green and range at the same time. They also did this to the holes, I guess to minimize germs... They are also allowing everyone to ride solo in carts. I figure I'll just walk as that's what I typically do anyway.

Please don't feed the troll.

Working.

There are going to be a TON of people losing their jobs and livelihoods in the coming weeks, thanks to whatever this is you want to call it. Be thankful you are retired and the worst thing that has happened in your life is not being able to go to your club for food (that you can make from home). I'm really starting to get depressed over all of this. But if this is the worst that happens to you, well, consider yourself blessed.

Just got some emails from my club, which I hadn't seen any emails or anything from since this whole thing went nuts. They are asking everyone in our dogfight to make their own tee times and make their own groups, versus having the club pro pair everyone up when they arrive on Saturday. I won't be there this Saturday, so I don't know how it will go. They closed all Top Golfs around the country, so that option for me is dead. I also read in the news that several cities have put a curfew into effect. San Francisco is forcing everyone to stay inside 24/7 for the next 3 weeks or something? Columbia, SC has a 11 pm to 6 am curfew? Portland, OR has a curfew as well, along with Binghamton, NY? Personally speaking, I'm starting to get flat out depressed over all of this. My sister cancelled her trip, so I am sort of stuck at her house until I figure out how and when I will go home. My wife can't see her mother now, as the assisted living place where her mother is at has locked it down and is not allowing any visitors. I've heard in the past that if you do something for 21 straight days it becomes a habit and you then make it a part of your normal routine. If this forces people to change their lives for the next month or so, then my guess is that a lot of people will just make it the new normal, and a lot of restaurants and businesses will go out of business, and the entire economy will take a giant dump, which will make what happened in 2008 look like a picnic. I was planning on just doing my normal thing, but now with virtually everything shut down everywhere I'm just at the point where I'll work and function, but frankly, this isn't a way to live life. This Corona Virus may not kill many people physically, but it's going to kill a lot of people emotionally. This is not how we were meant to live as human beings.

Suffered???!!!! You went to the freaking Super Bowl in '85 and '96!!! Suffered???!!!! Try being a Dolphins, Jets or Bills fan. Now THAT is true suffering.

I found better options.

For the record, I rarely if ever reach any par 5 in two. And as was the case with all four birdies on both back nine par 5s in these two rounds, I just happened to stick my 58° lob wedge close enough to make 4 birdie putts. I think all four putts were within 15 feet of the hole, with the two birdies on the 14th hole being within 5 feet of the hole both days (Saturday I stuck it to within a foot). I guess that's why I got excited about doing what I did, because this just means I am making putts that I normally miss.