ChiefMikeOfficer

I'm going to bet that you somehow end up with Kamara on your roster again before week 2...

Me too - picked up two dozen to try them out. Already have more balls than I could possibly use in one season, but felt like I had to do it

Same here. Felt good going into the week. 5 MCs, capped off with a Paul Casey implosion over the last few holes to seal the deal. Nice season fellas - good luck the rest of the way.

You get any updates on the order? I keep looking at the direct Garmin website and it looks like it has had a couple delays (now says 5-8 weeks). I'm guessing all of the other retailers are going to see the same thing, if not longer.

Not sure why I keep thinking things like this but not acting on it (Hadwin was "lower risk"...). Higgo currently -6 and projected to be in the field next week (we'll see how the weekend goes); Hadwin at +4, which is 4 outside the cut line (but hasn't played yet today).

Sorry - completely missed that e-mail invitation. My team is in now.

If we keep the current format, I'd be interested in joining some discussions on scoring-related things for next season. Assuming we stick to a similar format, I'm interested in minor changes (not a complete overhaul) to the current scoring system if others are open to it and Fantrax allows those types of things. My main thought is that it feels a little odd that we have scoring based loosely on Modified Stableford ("make birdies to win"), but our end-of-tournament bonuses are based purely on stroke play position. At the same time, that MS-like style makes it more fun (in my opinion), so I wouldn't want to just make it "relative to par". Some quick thoughts, fully acknowledging that these things will not make scoring "perfect" (and that we'll never satisfy everyone): Bigger rewards for Eagles and bigger penalties for Doubles -- maybe not all the way to the Modified Stableford levels of +5 and -3, but closer (maybe Eagles +4, Doubles -2.5 or -3). Narrow the gap between erratic vs. steady rounds/tournaments. In a couple of the mock situations that I played out, a steady -5 stroke play score for the full tournament leaves the steady player 2-4 points behind players that get to -5 with more birdies and bogeys (without moving into the next tournament bonus level, the steady player would actually need to get to around -8 to top all of the -5 players). Maybe give a slight bump to pars and/or increase the penalty on bogeys by a small amount (so bogeys are -1.1 instead of -1). Note: in actual Modified Stableford, the steady player in my mock-ups would be getting smoked by these other guys - he'd actually need to get to -10 or more in stroke play to keep up with the -5 guys. Similar to what was mentioned before, maybe line up the winner's bonus closer to FedEx cup ratios (which are established consistently across three different "types" of tournaments). Making this too big or too wide of a gap would bring us in line with pick 'em and similar leagues, so don't want to do anything too big here -- but maybe bump the winner's share up to 25 points and cut back slightly on the 3rd-25th spots. Props/Achievements? Or is that too close to Circus? I'm thinking similar to bonuses given in a lot of Fantasy Football leagues (like "100+ yards rushing/receiving" gets a bonus) -- things like "+2 for a bogey-free round", "+1 for 75% GIR and +1 more for 100%". It'll be tough to decide which things are in vs. out and how valuable each achievement should be, but it could be a cool addition.

I'm part of the problem in that spinoff league anything that doesn't require agreement on a draft time feels much easier to get off the ground, at least in my experience of trying to coordinate leagues and similar things. Pick 'em shouldn't have the up-front issues, but could have people drop out or give up

Full-season Pick 'em leagues are fun too -- I'm in one now where you pick one guy per week and cannot repeat picks, and the standings at the end of the year are based on the actual tournament prize money you accumulate. I think the PGA Tour Fantasy Leagues (and their expert picks each week) do something similar, but they pick a larger team each week and can only repeat a pick so many times throughout the year (3-5x per player). Those are fun, but I like the week-to-week scoring format that we have for the Golden Ticket prize, so I'd be interested in joining a side league like this (or running it? Not sure I'm that ambitious, so quick plug to thank the commissioners for all of the work they do behind the scenes to make this league happen!).

I think I included him in my long list of hopeful add/drops, thinking I could at least get him if all the others fell through. Picked up Hadwin instead. He slumped a bit after the win, but I have an odd feeling that he's going to bust out again this week and people will be throwing FAAB at him again next week.

Oh I'm sorry, is this yours?

They can get them directly, and they should have given you the option -- sounds like an error by your fitter (judgment on intentional vs. unintentional is up for debate), or if they really don't have the option anymore, then it's a change in their offerings. When I bought my Mizunos from them in 2019, they said they could either get them from Mizuno or order them separately -- cost direct from Mizuno was no different from me ordering them, except they push for upgrades like PURE (pull/pure/reassemble added some cost per iron). That left three options on the table: "Same price as Mizuno", "+$300 for direct plus retro-PURE", or "+$600 to get shafts through CC" (rough estimates - I don't remember the actual figures). I chose option 2, and have no idea if it actually made a difference

Free gambling-style app through Golf Magazine's parent company. It started sometime last year, and I was introduced to it by the Subpar Podcast (great podcast btw, if you're into Tour player perspectives). They give you a fake $10k to start, and you place bets on live action during the televised Tour events (things like "Will Jordan Spieth hit the fairway on hole 10? Yes -150, No +150). It's usually a 1 hour window on Thurs/Fri and just over 2 hours on Sat/Sun (seems to line up with the back 9 for the final group). If you end up with the most fake cash at the end of that time window, you win the prize of the day (it used to be full tournament with prizes for 1st-3rd or 5th, but they dropped to one prize per round a couple months back). I've gotten lucky a few times and came out on top when the prize was Miura wedges -- ended up being $25 out of pocket for shipping and some time out of my day while the kids are napping anyway.

I've noted this in other longer posts here, but I think the best strategy (at least for woods) is to buy shafts from CC, not full clubs. That means you need a head that works for you first, and you don't necessarily get out any cheaper, but it makes the CC cost easier to swallow. That strategy is best for someone who actually wants an after-market / "can't get as an upgrade" shafts (it's like going to a specialty shop). CC is not nearly as good for someone that ends up in a stock or available upgrade shaft. They don't overcharge for after-market shafts, but their full club build costs are not worth the money (in my opinion). The last driver shaft I got from them cost me $30 more than I would've paid from another retailer that carries that brand (outside of fitting fee, which at this point is spread across multiple shafts and an iron set), and that $30 is only because I wanted to keep my old shaft with the adapter intact (I could've had them use my old adapter and not pay the $30 extra) -- I also waived the $15 for the grip because I had some extras in my basement and just slapped one on when it showed up. I had no problem with the price because they were my entry point to that brand -- the two closest Accra dealers to me are in Milwaukee (Club Champion) and Dubuque.

Just make sure there's a direct Add/Drop pair with someone in the Wyndham field and no naked Drops of higher-ranked players, and that the Add/Drop is something you'd consider making mid-season (so dropping someone like Xander and picking up Matt Every should be off the table) -- IMO that's the fair way to do it. It's a tough balance between keeping the league fun for everyone and keeping integrity in the playoffs. Playoff teams shouldn't get the ability to scarf up high ranked players for cheap at this point, so these guys shouldn't be dropped if it can be avoided. However, freezing teams or completely disallowing the add/drop simply because someone is out of playoff contention has the opposite problem (and makes it not fun for that team) -- they are still playing teams that are trying to improve position and competing with those same teams for the adds, so freezing a team would just give an advantage to anyone in playoff contention that still has them on the schedule. Something we could consider for future seasons is restricting Adds of a certain caliber of player at this point in the season (allowing you to drop them, just not compromising the playoffs by making a top-tier player available on waivers for the first time all year).

This last comment came off as more negative than intended -- it is a disappointment, but doesn't change my actual satisfaction. I've been fitted by them twice. I'm happy with the outcome. I think I went in with the right expectations, and I came away with good products that work for me. I didn't spend the $5k that others are saying, but did put up some good money, which I fully expected. I'm not in a location that has a ton of options for this type of fitting, but I expect I'd have the same experience at one of their direct competitors (a friend went to TrueSpec and it sounded very similar). Club Champion is not just a fitter, it's a specialty shop. They are an entryway into after-market and higher-end shafts that you might not find at other retailers. If you want to dive into what's possible with after-market shafts, pay up and go there (or to TrueSpec or Cool Clubs); if you're expecting to get fitted with stock products, you're not going to get it there, and that should be expected -- they view these products as inferior, and even call that out in their "are custom clubs more expensive?" FAQ. If you want stock shafts included outside of your gamer, go to a place that will actually apply the fitting fee toward a purchase -- that's a better use of your money (I think GolfTEC and PGATSS both offer this).

I was speculating based on the fitter's comments and giving benefit of the doubt because of that. If what you said is true, then it's even more disappointing - the fitter made misleading comments, and their dedicated build shop failed on 20% of the clubs I bought from them (excusable with varied builders, unacceptable with a dedicated shop).

Not technically a purchase, but still Club Ho'in -- won another one of these bad boys off of Chirp. Went with an all black setup, 54 bent to 55, Accra iWedge Tour 130, and a black Ion grip (know nothing about them, figured I'd give it a try considering all upgrades are included - might end up swapping with an MCC after a few rounds).

From where? I've been eyeing that up, but the direct Garmin site only has "email me when available".

It's called defense - if you take all the top QBs, you prevent the other teams from scoring a lot of points and don't need that many points from the rest of your guys. That strategy is 1/1 so far.

Don't give away the secrets. An Allen-Diggs combo is definitely not going to score many points so everyone should just leave them on the board for us Bills fans to take.

I'm in. No problem with paying $10 for a prize pool. I think it would be cool to use the money for more fun or divisional prizes -- the Golden Ticket itself is pretty valuable (even with a $10 buy-in).

Need to get it really clean, and even then, it may not be avoidable -- any kind of impurity can cause this in an environment like a Florida summer (e.g. saliva, maybe even the minerals in the water). Something similar I've noticed with ours: my wife sometimes puts lemon in her bottle, and even after washing, when I end up with her cap that flavor lingers a bit (and I think has contributed to the mildew-like smell). More thorough cleaning seems to help.

This last part is huge at this stage in the season. @GolfSpy_APH mentioned this in one of the posts above, but we were trying to work out a Hovland-for-Tony deal that we just couldn't get right. Neither of us were OK with a 1-for-1 trade for these two, but for very different reasons: he views Hovland as higher value overall (FWIW, so do I); for me, at 16th place, I can't risk another 2-8 week just to get Hovland as my long-term play, so I couldn't give up Tony without getting a decent player back that takes his spot in the field (both of us were actually trying to fill out a solid team for the 3M). Filling his "value" gap and my "playing" gap could have led to something that many view as lopsided, but it would've worked out for both of us given the timing -- if I was in the top 5, I wouldn't have cared so much about replacing Tony in the field, but I need every win I can get right now. We never got there, so hopefully Tony does well this week