MaxEntropy

I don't really have a problem being brand agnostic, although there are some brands I am not a fan of, but I am not dead-set against anything. Golf is a hard enough game for me that I don't feel like I can afford to give up any potential advantage equipment can give me.

A friend of mine won a radio station contest for The Open - 4 nights lodging and 3 rounds of golf in Myrtle Beach. By this time tomorrow we will be on the road. Weather looks a little iffy for Wednesday morning, but so far the rest of the week looks great. We are staying at Barefoot Resort and playing the Dye, Fazio, and Love courses and plan to fit in a 4th or 5th round somewhere else. I'm playing some pretty decent golf right now (for me) and hope that it continues....

Like everyone else, condition matters a lot. A few years ago I played the Riviera Maya Golf Club near Akumal, Mexico. I still rate it as one of the most enjoyable rounds I've ever played. Part was due to the immaculate conditions, but the other was something I never really considered related to the layout. Perhaps I picked the perfect tees for me, but there was a lot of trouble I avoided given my combination of length and the tees I picked - a lot of the trouble was either out of my range or I was able to carry it which meant that, for the most part, even when I was in trouble, it wasn't terribly penal, which made for a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, I still penalized myself a number of times, but overall I wasn't punished too terribly bad for the slight misses. I assume designers/architects try to take these kinds of things into consideration.

Looks like a fantastic time and the weather could not have been better! :jealous:

Please add some more pictures when you get a chance! Sounds like you have some great bags.

I had another good night in league last night, ballstriking was best it has been in a long time. Other than 3 shots, almost everything went exactly where I intended them to go. 4/6 FIR and 5/9 GIR and 17 putts for a 40 (+5) - 5 pars, 2 doubles, and a bogey. Two of the three bad shots led to penalties (1 unplayable lie and one shot OB). The greens had been aerated in the last week so we had the sandy rooster tails while putting so the ball wasn't rolling very well, but I still managed to lip out a few putts, so it could have been a great round for me. At times (most of the time?) I struggle with my tempo - I can occasionally feel myself trying to start the downswing when the backswing isn't finished yet, which I'm sure has some dire consequences on my timing, so I tried to consciously pause at the top like Hideki. I know it wasn't as dramatic as him, but it seemed to help quite a bit. Not only were shots flying straight, but my distance was good, too. I hit 3 fairways with my 3W and Arccos says they were 247 (uphill), 260, and 261. A friend and I are taking off to Myrtle Beach next Tuesday morning, so I hope I remember this when I get down there as it sure would be nice to play well on resort courses.

That makes a lot more sense.... I still hope all goes well!

The only time I've ever left a course mid-round I got violently ill and started vomiting on 7th tee which, at this course, was the absolute furthest away from the clubhouse. Every other time was weather related and it wasn't my choice.

Columbus is excluded, anyway. I sent an email to them to see if they would offer any reason why Columbus and NYC were not included, but the person who responded said it was purely a marketing decision and they had no idea either. Good luck on the surgery!

Just curious, are you or will you be in Bend? Seems like a long trip if it's just for a fitting.

The Stroke Lab shafts are mostly graphite and their advertised reason is it allows them to redistribute the weight of the shaft to allow for greater stability. I assume they can make the head a bit heavier and keep a similar feel by counter-balancing the shaft. The Stability shaft is intended to increase torsional stiffness so the head rotates less on off-center strikes, keeping the ball on line better.

For Srixon fans - they are having a buy 3, get 1 free sale on personalized balls right now, which brings the price down to $29.99/dozen for Z-Star and Z-Star XV. Get 'em while they're hot! https://www.srixon.com/us/balls/golf-balls/buy-3-get-1-free/

Have fun!

This is a great observation, that I had never considered, thanks for adding that info!

Congrats, guys! Have fun with the testing!