TR1PTIK

I'm heading back to Missouri for the Ozark Amateur this July! It's been 4 years since I first played this tournament and my game has come so far from then (even if scores don't necessarily show it). I've got more distance, more shots in my toolkit, and I've really been rounding into form as of late. With just shy of 2 months to prepare, I'm expecting to do much better than I did back in 2019. For those interested, here's the thread I created for the 2019 tournament: In it, you'll find a fun little course preview I typed up and the full breakdown of my practice round and 2 tournament rounds. It will be extremely interesting to go back home and play this course. I've spent the last 3.5 years playing much more difficult courses in Texas and learning how to hit a variety of different shots. I'd like to think I should do really well being back on bentgrass greens, but we really won't know until July. Just like last time, I'll use this thread to post about my preparation for the tournament and provide a full recap after it's all over. I'll be playing the first round with a longtime friend who lives up in Kansas City.

I play too many different courses to reasonably expect I could accomplish a birdie on every hole at any one course but I've always loved this idea.

You are definitely in the wrong place for that. Here is the signup thread for the Paradym Driver Test: And here is how testers are selected:

Nothing wrong at all with doing that and a lot of places charge for fittings because of this fact (crediting the fitting fee towards your purchase if you do buy). Just make sure whatever clubs you do the fitting with are similar in some way to the clubs you think you'd like to purchase - similar lofts, head weight (if that information is available), and general design so that you don't wind up in a scenario where the shaft is no longer a good fit because the heads are so radically different. Just communicate with the fitter upfront about what you are trying to achieve and they should help you. If you get any pushback, I'd advise going somewhere else. Your scenario isn't that uncommon.

Congrats testers! Can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of Takomo!

If you have access to your Trackman report then you can select/deselect the data shown. I'd recommend looking at dynamic loft, club path, face angle, and face-to-path numbers to get a better idea of what's going on. I agree with what others have said about getting some foot powder spray to check strike location as it would seem you most likely are striking low on the face based on what you've told us about shot shape. I also agree with the idea that you could stand to bring your angle of attack down once you figure out where the spin is coming from. It would seem from what you've shared thus far that your swing is nearly optimized for low spin bombs - positive AoA, plenty of speed, good efficiency, etc. - but you could find that the spin drops too much and you start to lose control of the ball. If you find that's the case, a person with your swing speed could afford to bring AoA down a bit to put spin back on the ball.

I've never used iron covers, but I've also never purchased brand new irons. I can't say for sure if I'd use them, but they'd certainly be a consideration.

Interesting day yesterday on the course. I shared a little bit in my post for the Week 5 VCT, but suffice it to say that I felt like garbage yesterday. I started the round off with a triple and thought, it's just going to be one of those days and this is just as good as I should expect based on how I feel right now... Well despite continuing to feel terrible in some form or another for most of the round, I never made worse than bogey after the opening hole, had a birdie, and an eagle, and fired a 40/41/81!!! If I'm honest, I do feel a little bit bad about the eagle as it involved a LOT of luck lol. I hit a great drive on the Par 5 Third and felt comfortable going for it with 5-iron. Unfortunately, I caught it a touch thin with some push and it never looked like it had a shot. The ball hit the last tree lining the right side and shot out left onto the green. I had a solid 15 feet or so to get in for eagle and just drained it! I think what I'm most proud of from yesterday though is that I put in a (mostly) quality finish. I knew standing on 16 tee that a break 80 score was possible and challenged myself to try and make it happen. The tee shot on 16 was phenomenal and left me with 101 yards. I nailed the yardage but had pushed the wedge a touch and was off the green. I putted through the fringe but didn't account for enough break and the ball fell about 4 feet below the hole. It was a straight putt going back up and I was aimed dead center. The ball was tracking until it hit a weird blade of grass or something and bobbled offline, lipping out on the left side. Bogey... 17 was a solid hole and I thought I had jarred a 20-footer for birdie, but it just missed left as well. 18 was a much more interesting hole and required a lot more effort. The tee shot was lousy with a chunky 3-iron that put me well outside of where I wanted to be. The green wasn't even reachable but there was a tree in my line and I didn't want to give up a comfortable third shot. So, I took on some risk and decided to try and play a low, hooking 3-wood to navigate around the tree. I turned my hands over as hard as I could but clearly not early enough as the ball just went dead straight. I got good distance out of it, but I was in amongst some trees again hoping to get over the one in front of me with 8-iron. I bailed on the shot and end up hitting a bit of a smother hook that nearly went OB left of the green. Thankfully, it stayed in and I hit a good pitch onto the green leaving about 6-feet or so. It was a pretty slick right-to-left putt and I dropped it dead center to save par . Other highlights included the best strokes gained performance I've ever had!

Date 05/05/2023 Course Name The Golf Club at Fossil Creek Gross Score 81 Course Handicap 10 Gross Strokes over/under par 9 Net Score to Par -1 Net Score 71 Net Birdies or better 5 Longest Drive 316 I did not feel good yesterday. First truly hot day of the year and I was already somewhat exhausted by the time I reached the course. I spent the first 6 holes feeling like I was on the verge of passing out. Got some food at the halfway house before teeing off on 7 and started to feel better, but my chiropractor adjustment from Thursday still left me with a stiff back as my muscles continued to recover. Despite all of that, I managed an 81 with an eagle and a birdie on the card without any assistance from my handicap. *Side Note* I used the Golfshot app last week (and only Golfshot as I forgot my Shot Scope). I have to say, I was not very impressed. It did a great job of helping me keep score and tracked most shots without me having to do anything. However, to gain any level of accuracy meant a lot more manipulation than I've grown accustomed to. Probably just as well, I use enough tech on the course as is lol.

Agreed. The only question would be (depending on the model) is the sole width and how that may or may not affect the player. My understanding is that the 301CB & MB have a wider sole than what you'd typically find on other irons within the same category. I've never seen them in person so I could easily be wrong, but that is my understanding.

Well, thanks to the MGS newsletter, I'm now impatiently waiting for a Shot Scope Pro L2 Rangefinder. Glad I jumped on that deal quickly after receiving the update this morning that the L2 is sold out!

I'm hoping to play tomorrow morning. Sounds like I'll be downloading the app sometime today!

Definitely plan on playing these for some time (though I might experiment with Snell again). Being able to pick these up locally is such a huge bonus for me. I know some other DTC brands can be found in stores, but you can't get the bulk pricing which kind of defeats the purpose.

Congrats testers! This will be a good one!

Right now, all aspects of my game are trending upwards though some certainly more than others. I was starting to doubt my abilities with the flatstick based on how it performed last season (trending slightly down most of the year), but it's clearly getting better. Tee shots have always been a strength but gaining +1.11 strokes against my goal handicap was a bit unexpected. Short game seems to swing a bit more than any other skill, but overall tends to land closely behind putting. Approach play is my biggest weakness by far and I think it has a lot to do with my proximity as lately I've been hitting plenty of greens - enough to break 80 anyway. Some wedge work will certainly go a long way for me as that is what cost me several strokes last round.

While I would love to be here right when the announcement is made, I think I'll keep my eyes shut for another 2-3 hours. Quality sleep has been hard enough to come by lately. On the other hand, if I'm already up...

Me since the announcement... but at the same time I'm energized like this guy!

I needed a good white shoe and to help keep them looking good I placed the following order on Amazon:

Certainly not as many sets as the OP, but I've had a few. Here's a look at the irons I've used and just assume that the rest of the bag changed around them because it pretty much did every time lol! MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear Titleist DTR Titleist DCI 990 Titleist 670MB Titleist 735CM Nike Vapor Pro Combo Bridgestone J40 CB

I just picked up some Puma Ignite Elevate spikeless shoes and they seemed to be every bit as grippy for me in dry conditions. Time will tell how they perform when it's wet, but they are extremely comfortable and served me well during my first round with them.

Date 04/21/2023 Course Name Mansfield National Golf Club Gross Score 83 Course Handicap 9 Gross Strokes over/under par 11 Net Score to Par 2 Net Score 74 Net Birdies or better 5 Longest Drive 338 I should have been paying closer attention, I could have put a decent round down for last week. I'll certainly be looking to participate more for Season 2!

I received some money for my birthday last week and along with a $10 credit was able to pick these up from Golf Galaxy. They are fantastic! Now I just need to buy two more pairs - black/grey and blue.

Another great round ruined in the home stretch today. Went 42/41/83 gross (42/40/82 net). I didn't feel like I was hitting the ball quite as good I was last week and the putter certainly wasn't as hot, but I was cruising along just fine even with 2 penalties on holes 4 (OB) & 5 (unplayable). I really started to heat up on the back nine and was even par through 7 holes, but apparently I'm struggling with the shorter shaft length of these TM wedges and bladed my 58* straight over the green and OB for the second time this round to earn myself a triple bogey and then a double on 18 after a misplaced drive and poor approach effort. I had at least 3 full(ish) 58* wedges and caught every one of them thin sending it well beyond the green. I either need to spend some time working on staying down and through with the shorter length or put an extension in... On the bright side, I absolutely lit up the driver today - especially late into the round. I had four drives over 300 with the longest at 338 !!! I only managed 6 fairways but when I was off it wasn't by much and a few of those missed fairways were simply because I hit it through which was kind of crazy. Approach play was so-so and managed 8 greens, but the bladed wedges certainly didn't help. Short game and putting were solid with strokes gained of -0.82 and -0.15 compared to a 5-handicap on Shot Scope. I'm really hoping for a continuation of this trend and to start seeing scores dip below 80. There was so much meat on the bone today between penalties, bad wedges, and a 3-putt. Not too bad for someone still recovering from a car accident on the 10th.

I've been reading through some of the old challenge threads as I've never paid close enough attention before. The skills aspect of this whole deal has me very intrigued and would be great for my game even if not selected.

Is there a cut line?