[Why do you golf? Has it changed over the years?]

I originally took up golf as something semi competitive to do after high school. I never played sports competitively as a kid due to having bad ankles but did love playing yard baseball and dabbled in some recreational softball. Never was good at any of those. 

My brother picked me up some clubs at a yard sale and I enjoyed getting out and trying to take him down. I can't recall it ever happening, but I enjoyed those times on the course. 

I played for a while and then hunting and fishing took over as my hobbies of choice for several years and I didn't play as often. 

I lost my brother who was my hunting partner in 2011 and my fishing buddy Allen in 2017 and really haven't done either since. 

I got back into golf somewhat around the time I started my current job in late 2011 to have something I could do to fill the gap I was missing in my life. I really got back into it around 2017 and discovered the forum in mid 2018 and that really fueled my desire to become obsessed with this game. 

I'm not really competitive against anyone, I just try to do my best against whatever the course is giving me on a particular day. I love the challenge the game presents and how no two days or courses are the same. 

I am appreciative of the friendships I've built over the years of playing, I've been able to share some great experiences with some wonderful people. 

 

[The Good Morning Thread]

3 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

except ash was falling from the sky!!

This reminds me of a story that happened a few years ago. 

One of my favorite book series is by Brandon Sanderson and it's called "The Mistborn Series". The opening line is "Ash fell from the sky". My wife and I were leaving the house and I want to say it was spitting snow, so I quoted the line for some humor. As soon as I did, a freaking bird got our windshield. Scared the daylights out of me. 

[The Good Morning Thread]

10 minutes ago, Dead Solid Bogey said:

That is very good news about your sister. Hoping for a fast and rather easy 6 week recovery for her……

NOW let’s do you… Very, very, so very selfishly  on my part; you need to take better care of yourself. I count on you starting the daily Good Morning thread. I don’t want to have to start looking at timelines to find the day’s starting point on the thread. So… besides that hard head of your’s you need to take care of the rest of you. 
  I can’t say for sure but I am pretty sure that your absences and tardiness in leading the Good Morning Thread is going on your permanent record. 
Take care my friend, take care. 

I do very much appreciate it, my friend. I'll promise to take better care of myself and my hard head (the ruler of the abode agrees with you about that) if you continue to do the same and get those hands and wrists back to normal. 

As the default first poster of the morning of the good morning thread, it is important to me and the health of the thread to have your humor and positive outlook on here continue on a daily basis. 

[Motocaddy M Series Carts - 2024 Forum Member Review]

You all did a great job on your intros and I'm looking forward to seeing how the trolleys work out for y'all. 

[The Good Morning Thread]

Good morning everyone!

I'm a little late to the party this morning as I'm still dealing with the crud and took the day off from work. I have a DR appointment to find out what's going on after lunch, so hopefully they'll help me get over the constant coughing and runny nose. 

My sister came through her surgery yesterday, so I'm very thankful for that. She's got about a 6 week recovery time and hopefully she'll be better than ever afterward. 

It's Friday, y'all! I hope you have a good one. 

[Forum Community Calls]

I really enjoyed what of today's call I could be a part of. I had to do all my communication through chat since I figured no one wanted to hear me coughing. 

My wife sent me off to be in the room so I don't risk getting them sick. 

[The Good Morning Thread]

Good morning everyone!

@Dead Solid Bogey I hope the medicos can get you straightened out before long and that you can get those hands and wrists taken care of. 

I'm feeling a bit under the weather this morning, I think it might be a rare case of allergies or possibly bronchitis. I've had a bit of a cough lately. I'm going to run into the clinic and get tested for Covid because my wife is going up today for my sister's surgery and we don't want to risk her getting sick.

I hope y'all have a good day!

[Master's Tickets: Would You Do This Deal??]

[The Good Morning Thread]

31 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

Speaking of weather. This just came out of nowhere! Sirens are going off!

I hope nothing major comes out of it. Stay safe. 

[The Good Morning Thread]

Good morning everyone!

I hope that none of y'all had to deal with the storms that were predicted to come through last night. I was worried at some point that the wife would wake me up because it got bad last night. I didn't think it did, I didn't wake up to the sound of thunder and actually slept good. 

Thanks for all the kind words, it means a lot. That's what I love about this community, it's the most awesome and kind place to be on the Internet. 

I hope you all have a great day!

[A shifting of priority/overcoming extreme competitiveness]

1 hour ago, Berg Ryman said:

I do think though you guys have hit on the two bigger issues here. First, caring too much about what others think. This comes down to I think a larger issue i have personally with a overdependence on validation from others. As I mentioned from the OG MGS trip thread, I'm pretty introverted, I don't have hobbies and likes that match with my age group and it has made it hard so I do perhaps place more concern as to how I'm perceived by others in my field and passions. That and the fact that I was bullied and singled out as a child due to my weight and that has been pretty much one of the things I still feel with that extreme chip on my shoulder in my work life as an attorney and in my other passions.

First off, thank you for starting this thread and for being open about what's going on with you mentally as you're playing this game. I think it's a good discussion to have and you've taken the first step in the healing process. 

I can relate to you, I'm also introverted, overweight, and I've dealt with a physical handicap my entire life and that's led to a lot of self doubt along with a competitiveness in anything sports related. I think it's a constant need to feel validated. 

I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous about the trip and being seen as a terrible golfer. The one bit of solice I have that going into this trip is that we're going to be hanging out with some amazing friends that I've never met in real life and look forward to getting to know on a more personal level. I have played a round with Tom and was nervous the first time I met him. He immediately calmed that fear and we had an enjoyable round. 

We're going to have fun out there and I look forward to meeting you and maybe bring grouped together at some point. 

[How'd you play?]

49 minutes ago, Sluggo42 said:

First game in a few weeks as I’ve been super busy with everything, but made a few great shots including a HIO, my 3rd ever

Congratulations on the ace!

[The Good Morning Thread]

@Preeway I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your father-in-law, Parkinson's is such a horrible disease and you'll be in our thoughts and prayers. 

I got the test results back from my skin biopsy and found it out was what they initially thought, keratosis. That's a major relief, my wife has been stressed. 

[Motocaddy M Series Carts - 2024 Forum Member Review]

Congratulations testers! We have a great group for this one and I'm looking forward to hearing how the Motocaddy works for y'all. 

[The Good Morning Thread]

Good morning everyone!

It's a tired Tuesday here, the struggle to get up and going was real. At least I've made it to work and can chill and wake up before heading in. 

Jamie, I hope everything goes good at the vet. 

@berkeleybob I love the photo!

I hope the rest of you have a great day!

[Share your Shot/Hole Of The Day!]

I meant to post this to yesterday, but my hole of the day was my first. I got to go off on the back 9 which immediately starts me off on my least favorite hole on my course, the par 4 10th. 

I hit a heely cut on my drive then pulled 8 iron from about 125 from the flag. I pulled it a bit and ended up short right on the green and then proceeded to two putt for the par. 

It's only the second time I've made par on this hole and the first was from the forward tees. This was from the green tees. 

[The Good Morning Thread]

@cnosil I'm glad to hear the doctor gave you the all clear to get out and swing again. I hope your problems are resolved and that you don't have any lingering issues after your surgery .

@MattWillGolf it's good to hear your wife is recovering nicely and I hope the positive trend continues. 

@EnderinAZ I hate to hear you are having issues with a hernia, hopefully they can get you patched up and back to normal soon.

@GolfSpy_BEN congratulations on the new job!

[2000 Posts, 9,900 reactions, a couple tests and lots of new friends]

Congratulations on the milestone Chris! It's been a pleasure to get to know you and I appreciate the contributions you've made to the forum. 

[The Good Morning Thread]

Good morning everyone!

It's a nice morning here with temps in the low 60's and I'm enjoying a cup of coffee getting ready for the work day. 

I got in an impromptu round yesterday where I played good and didn't score well. I lost four balls and couldn't chip to save my life and still shot a 54. The 4 hybrid was a beast yesterday, but I need to work on not turning it over and having it go left. 

The putter was the real star of the show, I had 16 putts and feel like it could have been better as I burned the edge on a couple of holes.

I hope you all have a wonderful start to your week!

 

[DIY Augusta's 12th Hole]

That looks great, Tom!

[How'd you play?]

A buddy of mine was texting me about his round this morning, so I got bit by the bug and decided to get out and play 9 at Flagstone this evening.

The course wasn't really crowded, but there had just been 3 groups tee off on the front so the owner gave me the choice on which nine to play and I decided to go off the back.

We all know I hate the 10th hole, so I decided to play from the green tees and had a better look and less pressure on the tee shot. I made only my second par on that hole after a decent drive and an 8 iron short of the green. I chipped it close and made the putt. 

Overall, I shot 54. I started out par, double, bogey. The double was the result of hitting a 4 hybrid too solidly OB and I lost another ball on 12 and 13. On 12 I pulled 5 hybrid into the woods and dropped another ball that ended up 7 feet from the hole and made the putt. 

Hole 13 ate my lunch, I lost a drive left, hit a monster hybrid (207) 35 yards from the flag and then proceeded to blade a chip 40 yards over the green, duff two chips, then pull the putter to just get the ball on the green. I two putted from there for a +6 10.

My chipping is garbage right now and I have no confidence with a wedge in hand. I did putt extremely good today, I had 16 total and was only a half shot from performing like a scratch handicap. 

I can't complain with the way I scored after losing 4 balls and taking 4 shots to get in the green from 35 out. It was an enjoyable day and I'm happy to see overall improvement in my game. 

 

 

[The Good Morning Thread]

Good morning and happy Easter everyone!

I'm just starting my day off by paying attention to the dogs and drinking coffee. It's going to be a fairly low key day here at the Chunks abode, just grocery shopping and I need to get the battery I bought yesterday out of the car trunk and into my mower. 

We drove down to Chattanooga yesterday and bought my sister-in-law a new computer. My wife was having problems with hers a while back and had to use the Munchkin's to download a Windows update and it crashed. We were going to pay to get it fixed, but it's probably 6-7 years old so we decided to surprise her with a new one. 

@GolfSpy_APH, I'm not sure what courses are on the MLM2, but I would think Augusta since the Master's is coming up. You could also choose from the Strantz courses like RNK, Tobacco Road, or Tot Hill Farm to prep yourself for the trip. 

I hope y'all have a great day!

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

Hit up the range today to get in some more time with the Mevo and work on not allowing my wrists to go beyond 90° on the backswing. I've always been a sucker in that way to the myth of creating more lag. 

I started out the day by warming up with a few partial wedges, picking out targets and working on trying to get close to them. I have a tendency to go a bit left and still see that as my major miss with them. 

Distances and speed with the irons are almost back to pre injury form and I just need to work on striking the ball better.

Driver was good, I was fairly accurate with it and feel like any misses I might have won't be as penal when I get on the course.

I'm also trying to add some variety to my short game by learning the toe up shot with clubs other than my specialty wedges. It's awkward so far and I need to learn to ease the tension on these shots. I'll give myself a solid C+ just because I did chip one in at over 40 feet with the GW. 

I was hitting those shots then trying to putt from where they landed and I'm starting to get some feel for distance back since I switched back to the Odyssey. 

As @cksurfdudesays "work in progress". 

[FlightScope Progression Series: 2023 Forum Member Review]

52 minutes ago, Owengeorge13 said:

I said I loved the unit other than the fact I couldn’t speed train with it.  It’s like Flightscope listened to me, no one listens to me, I’m a teacher.

I think this will be a big selling point going forward for the Mevo, so I'm glad they finally listened to you and added it as a feature. With speed training getting as big as it is, I think adding the ability to speed train along the the launch monitor part is brilliant. 

42 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

Great session!

Thanks! My game is starting to come along and I feel like having the Mevo is a big part of my improvement. 

[FlightScope Progression Series: 2023 Forum Member Review]

I posted up earlier as I was getting ready to leave the house to run errands and didn't get to go into details about my range session today. 

Other than being reminded every time I changed clubs that I needed to update the firmware, it went pretty good. 

I was hitting the ball decently well and getting consistent numbers from the Mevo. 

I did goof up and set the PW to pick up and was seeing some numbers I would love to see out of my PW. It was like 135, 132, and I was wondering what on Earth was going on. Then I looked at the bottom of my club and saw a 7... oops. 

I still see I need to work on making better contact with the ball to optimize the numbers I see out of my clubs, but I'm happy with the results. 

I'm going to have to get out and see how accurate the new speed training numbers are, I think that's a cool thing that FlightScope added to the Mevo.