DannyDips

Is that baby yoda on the clubface? I can't unsee that now...

US Practice Pairings were out yesterday and looks like to me Stricker knows what he's doing. Finau, Brooks, Berger, English DJ, Morikawa, Xander, Cantlay Spieth, JT, Bryson, Scheffler I can see obvious pairings like JT/Spieth, Xander/Cantlay, Bryson/Scheffler. That first practice group you could pretty much swap and switch as needed. My concern for the US was who to pair with Bryson but looks like that has been decided. Now I'm curious who will play with DJ and if Morikawa is really a good fit for DJ? Again I feel like we have the best players but are somehow not going to get the job done...

I just got back this week from a weekend away at Grove Park Inn. Thought I'd give a brief review of the course, conditions and some interesting holes at The Golf Course at the Omni Grove Park Inn. The course is a par 70, 6055 yards from the tips, Donald Ross design. I played 18 holes with my wife and another couple played the first 9 holes with us. Since they were beginners, I played the front 9 holes from the white tees and the back 9 from the tips since its barely over 6k yards. The course was on the higher end of what I normally pay to play (around $150) but when on vacation with the wife I usually splurge a bit. The clubhouse was very dated with visible exterior repairs needed but it gave an "old school" feeling that was kind of enjoyable. The practice area was just a small green behind the #9 green and one range mat with a net to warm up with. It was crowded when we arrived but when I went to roll a few putts I had the entire area to myself. I could tell from the practice green the course was going to be in exceptional shape and the first several holes didn't disappoint. Since it was a short and tight course with not much warm up I hit an iron off the first tee and managed to find the fairway. I actually hit the ball pretty well the entire round, hitting 56% greens and 46% fairways (which are good numbers for me). I enjoyed how Donald Ross used the rolling hills landscape to place his tee boxes and greens. Even holes that seemed flatter would have elevation changes in the fairway or give you interesting lies to navigate. I would say the course was on the "tighter" end of courses I've played, even holes that ran beside other holes had landing areas that could get you into trouble, of course the tightness is a product of the short length. What I enjoyed most about the course was the large greens and tough pin locations. I consider myself a much improved putter but 34 putts and 2 three putts were tough to stomach. A couple holes had some sharp break right at the hole, both of those 2 three putts were short 3'-4' misses that broke outside the hole. While that's kind of frustrating it's also a lot of fun to test your skills on those short putts, and it wasn't every hole just one or two scattered here and there. Overall, it was a fun experience, great course even though on the shorter, tighter end. If you're visiting Grove Park I strongly recommend getting in a round.

I know isn't it? It was literally called the "Billy Horschel rule" by some when they pushed the selections back to after the Tour Championship... I think I've changed my mind. If Brooks can't go and Reed isn't fully healthy (which he isn't) Lets bring in a ticked off Billy Ho!

Billy Ho sure seems fired up to be the 13th man if Koepka can't go. https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2021/09/12/billy-horschel-wins-european-tour-bmw-championship-after-ryder-cup-snub/

Maybe. I get it, he can be cancerous with his comments and actions. But with the format he can only effect one other person, his partner and I feel like him and Bryson would be an awesome pairing. Plus he has that electric quality that drives the euros mad and gets under their skin. I love Webb too but his record isn't stellar and he's not been playing that well and possibly still nursing a minor injury. If Brooks is hurt, and that's a big if because I feel like he's a tough competitor, I'd almost rather see Na than Webb if its not Reed.

100% agree. Reed is electric in the Ryder Cup but he's not 100% healthy. While I like to have experience going into the RC. We've only won two in twenty years so I'm almost looking at the lack of experience as a pro. Lets get some new hungry guys out there and dominate.

You can't fault Stricker for any of the picks, besides Reed they were the next guys all on points. Reed's health is an issue and Webb hasn't been playing great. Kisner and Na were longshots to make the team, neither are coming in hot enough to out rank the guys who've been top 12 for the two seasons. My concern is who are the pairings. Spieth/JT is a given. I wish we had Reed to pair with Bryson, I feel like they would make a good pair. Most of the guys have similar games. Xander/Colin I think would make a steady pair that would ball strike the euros to death. If Brooks is really hurt Reed has to be the replacement, if Brooks is healthy then it says a lot about him wanting to be there and I like our chances.

I struggled with the driver for years, literally years until I did two things: Get custom fit for a driver and take lessons from a very knowledgeable pro. Afterwards, I realized that the driver is the biggest club in the bag and if you have the proper room to hit the best weapon you can have for distance. I also realized that shorter clubs dispersion almost always mirrors your drivers. So you’re not gaining anything unless you have significantly narrower fairways. There is nothing more frustrating than clubbing down and blowing the 3w into the same OB or hazard your driver would have gone in. I’ve done a little research on decade golf and Scott Fawcett. Really good course management stuff and I believe his rule of thumb is driver every hole that you have 65 yards between hazards. Seems like solid advice to me.

It’s pretty easy set up. You pick 6 golfers each week based on a 50k salary cap. There is a point system and most points wins. I play every week and spend a few dollars but I’m not a big gambler so I enjoy more the competition than anything. I’ll try and set up a league this week and post a link. Free to anyone to join and do Weekly contests.

With the new PGA tour season coming up I was curious if there would be any interest in playing a DraftKings Fantasy League. I play DraftKings DFS weekly, mostly just for fun, and I wanted to see if any spies would be interested in doing a free league next season. It looks pretty easy to create a league and set up weekly contests. If I remember correctly you do have to put $5 in a DraftKings account to begin (but if you're not into sports betting no one says you have to spend it). If anyone is interested or already plays DK and wants to join just let me know and I'll start a league and post a link here.

Haha. The “Honey-Do” list does take a hit for sure. I do spend most of my Skytrak time after the kids go down and before bed so it’s not usually a time when I’m busy getting stuff done around the house. I’ll say since the purchase I’ve never felt that feeing of “rust” when I do get time on the course.

I would strongly suggest a Skytrak or any Launch Monitor to anyone serious about getting better with limited time on the course, especially with kids. I probably get 400 extra swings in a week I didn’t get before the Skytrak. Best golf purchase probably I’ve had.

I’ve got a 6 and 1 year old (born same day 5 years apart). I have a wonderful golf encouraging wife (from Augusta). Golf during the first year after a kid is always hard, lots to do, take care of and usually a lack of sleep. Since the 6 year old was 3 I’ve been taking him with me every chance I get. It’s something we can always do together and I can get some swings in. The best thing for my game has been the purchase of a Skytrak year and half ago. It’s 4 times a week at least when I’m in the garage hitting balls after they’ve gone to bed. I also plan tournaments with my friends as it’s easier to get something on the calendar far in advance. The best thing is play when you can, practice when you can, and bring them with you when you can.

Does the DraftKings Fantasy Golf Millionaire Maker count as a contest? I could use a cool $1M.... This is a pretty sweet contest I wouldn't mind winning. Inside the ropes at a WGC event 5 hours drive away.... https://gleam.io/fJagk-QtgeMtAswG?l=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tngolf.org%2Fprimary-nav-pages%2Fjoin%2Fwgc-fedex-st-jude-invitational-sweepstakes-5928.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1i0TuFVqnBzG2d-75Y35CpPi9541Few6gJqeA6pI-gnE-ym1s7KABZcVM%26

Is it just me or doesn't the Open seem like the perfect book end to "Major" season? April with the Azaleas and end golf "Major" season with the OPEN? Seems very fitting and balanced to me. I think I like the new schedule more and more I think about it. Especially with Brooks/Spieth coming home with the win...

Cheers! I’ve had a super busy last couple weeks (Kids birthdays, holidays, etc.) but man the 921s are sweet. I get at least 4-6 hours of practice in a week on my Skytrak to stay sharp and I’m super pleased with the results.

I like a bunch of guys this week. Always seems like the big names spend such effort on the Majors the week after is sometimes a let down. My DFS lineups are filled with Casey, Henley and Anser. I think Poulter, Fowler and English will have a good week too. Fingers crossed...

This past weekend was my favorite golf tournament of the season I always play in, the Bobby Nichols Golden Eagle scramble to benefit Tennessee Tech Athletics. I was fortunate enough to play four years of baseball at TTU and I mark my calendar every year for this three day two man scramble event. I've also been blessed with the same solid partner for the previous six years. 54 holes of golf in one weekend definitely put the JPX 921's to the test, so I've jotted down some of my thoughts. Friday June 11th The course was very wet. Every par 3 (except one) was set at exactly 150 yards for all the hole in one contests, which falls between 9I and 8I for my yardages. Looking back over my notes I hit my JPX 921's eight times, three of those were punch out shots under trees. That leaves five solid, full swings, two with the 8I, two with the 9I and a 7I on the one par 3 over 150 yards. Three of those shots were right of my intended target, two were left and long. Which has kind of been my miss with my iron shots, they either spin off short right or they start at the target and draw long. I'm going to give myself some grace for Friday because the two weeks prior I had intended to practice and play a lot but was sidelined with an eye infection. JPX-921 Tours - GIR 0 for 5 Saturday June 12th The course (different course) was super wet... much worse than Friday. This course had par 3s set at various distances. I hit 11 shots with my irons, two 4I, two 5I, two 6I, one 7i, one 8I, and three 9I. The theme of this day was scrambling, only one of those iron shots found the putting surface and it was about 15 yards long. One was a punch shot, five of the 11 missed the green long, three missed right and one missed left. We really struggled as a team this day, it might have been the wet playing conditions or just a bad day but it seemed like we were scrambling all day long. Every time I made solid contact it felt like my ball was flying 10-15 yards longer than my intended distance, I'm not sure if it was adrenaline or altitude or miss calculating elevation change but lets just say everything was off and seemed to be consistently off over the green. JPX-921 Tours - GIR 1 for 10 Sunday June 13th We played the Saturday course again, much dryer conditions this day . The tournament flights the two man teams into groups with similar scores and maxes the Sunday score to diminish sandbagging. Our poor back 9 on Saturday put us in the sixth flight (of eleven) with 14 other teams, I knew we'd have a really good chance to win. Everything was sharper on Sunday. I hit twelve shots with my irons, 4I twice, 5I once, 6I twice, 7I twice, 8I once, and 9I four times. After Saturday, I played each club 5-10 yards longer and it seemed to work much better. I had seven GIR with my irons, three shots long, one right and one left of the green. JPX-921 Tours - GIR 7 for 12 Final Thoughts It still looks like I have plenty to work on after the weekend. I've always felt like the strength of my game comes from "Bomb and gouging" courses, by hitting it deep and then hitting solid wedge shots. Part of the reason I got these Mizuno Irons was to improve a glaring weakness in my iron game. I think the issue is two fold; distance control and start line. I need to work hard the next couple weeks on a consistent ball flight and consistent start line, I made a slight adjustment on Sunday that seemed to help and I'm hoping to have it all ironed out (Pun intended ) very soon. And just as an aside, we played well enough on Sunday that we got into a three way tie for first in our flight and after an alternate shot chip off... came home with the W.

I’m still stunned he wasn’t vaccinated already. I assumed the tour “strongly encouraged” players to be vaccinated. Isn’t that what all those TV commercials were all about? Getting everyone back to normal sports! I would have loved to seen him finish today.

Ryder Cup Tix would be an epic Father’s Day Gift!

Lessons are always the top of my list. Something I don’t always splurge on for myself but something that is an incredible gift and so very beneficial to my game.

They did not. They started with DG S300 shafts that matched my MP-15s. Then we hit probably 10-12 shafts on the driving range with a trackman to look at spin rates, trajectory, etc. As I had said above it was really obvious when the Nippon Modus 105X was put in. The ball just flew straighter and had very small dispersion.

I'm always rooting for Spieth and this seems like a good week for him. Another Finau win would be great too... if you count the Puerto Open as a tour win... It will be fun weekend to watch for sure.