[The Good Morning Thread]

2 minutes ago, MattWillGolf said:

That looks amazing. I’d love hear what it sold for as well.

It still has yet to go on stage today but thus far it looks like they do not post the winning bid information on-line .  Unlike when we attended Barrett Jackson a few years ago, the cars that had already been auctioned and brought back out to the viewing tent areas, also did not have sell price.  Barrett Jackson cars did and we had fun walking up and guessing what they went for before seeing the sticker.

Here are more photos of this car.  I'm guessing it sells between $180-200K because it's not the 67 model year and not a "certified/licensed" Eleanor.  Quite an interesting background story on that if you read article in my post/link above.

[The Good Morning Thread]

Bottom of the pot spies!   Our company left zero dark early this morning and I had to scoot over for my 0815 tee time.  We had a great visit and already looking forward to the next get-together .  We attended the Mecum Auto Auction in Glendale, AZ yesterday and, of all the great looking inventory, this one grabbed my top spot.  It's an "Eleanor" reproduction and I just love the way it looks. It is scheduled to go across the stage today and I will be interested seeing what it sells for.

[DataGolf vs. OWGR??]

Interesting discussions on this question testerday on The Golf Channel.  It sounds like many of the players on various tours think OWGR is no longer representative or accurate.  Several interviewed feel the decsion not to award LIV Golf points has pretty much rendered OWGR useless.  Ultimately not having many of the LIV players not playing against the PGAT fields, particularly in majors, lessens the acheivement of winning.  Do you think DataGolf is better?

 

[The Good Morning Thread]

Top of the pot spies!   Our family arrived safely and we had a great, relaxing evening.  They must be worn out from the drive as we've not seen a stir or heard a peep from the casita .  We'll likely take them on a tour of the community and stop at Cimarron GC for today's "pop-up" grill venue featuring pulled pork sandwhich and sides.

Have a great start to the week everyone!

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

On 3/1/2024 at 12:27 PM, RickyBobby_PR said:

The game has always been the same it’s just that we have strokes gained to prove that closer is better and the mentality laying up to a number is a bad approach

This is an interesting comment/point.  I could be wrong but it seems to me that, as the years have rolled along, grabbing the stick that gets one closest to or on the green has replaced the once, much more common, layup to a yardage.  The SG analysis is partly culpable.

[The Good Morning Thread]

3 hours ago, Erin B said:

Good Morning MGS Troops! Last night the spousal unit and I got to spend some time with our elected officials at the Lincoln Day Dinner. Harriet Hageman was our key note speaker!

The event was put on by the LCGOP to which I’m a part of as I’m a committeeman. Our governor and state representatives were there so we got to chat with them if we had any gripes and moans about our government. All in all a nice night. The spousal unit came home with a nice pocket bag, I came home about $700 lighter. I didn’t win any auctions for all the fire arms or the signed Josh Allen jersey which went for almost $2500. (I have golf to pay for damnit!)

picked up this and some new grips, have some work to do on the ol clubs today. Cheyenne must have pissed G*D off because this is the 9th day of wind 30 MPH or higher. 

Gusts are supposed to be around 70 MPH. I’m sure we’ll see some sleeping semis on I80.

Anyway, Zoey’s last game of the season is at 10 AM this morning so we’re gonna brave the wind and head over the hill to Laramie. Hopefully you all have better weather and can get some golf in. G*D bless you all and Happy Birdie Hunting!

In his younger days, my rancher/neighbor friend in MT used to drive hay trucks through Wyoming... and, way more than once, fretted every white knuckle mile .

[The Good Morning Thread]

Top of the pot spies!  Beautiful morning here in AZ, though like yesterday afternoon, will be a bit breezy. My sister and BIL arrive later this afternoon and will be spending the week visiting.  Tentative plans to attend the Mecum Auto Auction and a Texas Rangers spring training game but otherwise just hangout.  No one else in the family golfs... otherwise that would have certainly made the list .  Have a great day!

[Liv Golf Central Thread: Events and News]

So what's the current over/under on Rory cashing in?  Does he eclipse Rahm's contract if he does?  Is he playing hard to get and trying to get Yasir and Norman to the billion threshold? I've been a bit behind on some golf news and scuttlebutt and completely missed this rumor.  Clearly the "I'd rather retire than join LIV" stance from earlier seems to have softened a bit based on this quote;

"I think at this point, I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went to LIV golf at the start, and I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realise that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger Woods' position."

To be honest, I lost some respect for Rory for the manner in which he trashed those who made the choice to join LIV.  I am glad to see this change of position.  

  

[Liv Golf Central Thread: Events and News]

AK sporting a man-bun-like-doo and currently searching for something that resembles a tour level golf swing.  The long layoff is certainly showing. Maybe the welcome back party ran late and Pat Perez was assigned to be his chaparone .

I've read that his contract has performance clauses - any details of which I've not been able to find.  But it seems clear Norman's decision to award him a contract is quite speculative and largely based on a bet he'll draw interest... the overriding question "will his game return or will this be a train wreck?"

[The Good Morning Thread]

Top of the pot spies!   We drew 0652 and 0700 tee times at Granite Falls North this morning... a big shift from our typical 0900-1130 times this time of year.  Funny thing is that these will be considered late starts come July - Sept .  Spent part of yesterday getting things ready for company next week and I think "the boss" has run out of checklist items...

Spoiler

yea...no she hasn't .

Have a great Friday and weekend everyone!

[The Good Morning Thread]

8 hours ago, skraeling said:

“If the women don’t find you handsome they should at least find you not three putting”… or something.

I'm amazed how many times I make reference to the show and folks have not heard of it.  

 

[What's Your Go To Putter?]

With the PING B61 having been permanantly retired following the testing of the ER5V, it is now down to two.  The Odyssey AI-One Milled Seven T CH continues to be the "go to" but it has had a couple of brief timeouts for bad behaviour since assuming the starting role.

You know, until these two were introduced to each other I did not believe inanimate objects could sense a threat or be competitive .

 

 

[The Good Morning Thread]

45 minutes ago, EnderinAZ said:

Good morning spies! No golf for me today instead I will work on the A&M 9000 Putter Chipper Ball tester today. I hope to have it fully constructed, tested, and operational by the time the Maxfli Tour X balls show up. 

There are some claims Maxfli makes that I need to test, but to test I needed to take me out of the equation. I had to invent something to make that happen. Details: 

Hope golf is in your day somehow!

Love it!  Just a little duct tape and baling wire and that will be Red Green ready .

[The Good Morning Thread]

Top of the pot spies!  Well, I did in fact keep the scoring going at men's league yesterday, with a 77 gross/71 net, tying for 2nd place.  My only blem, which cost me outright 1st, was on the par 5 #18 where I managed to use 5 strokes from 67 yards.   I'm placing the blame on one of my playing partners who revealed my T1 position as we left the 17th hole... I do not watch our leaderboard.  It was a really solid ball striking and putting round.  The Odyssey Seven T CH was back in the bag after a brief timeout. 

With company coming on Sunday, I'm taking River over to PetsMart for a bath then our Honda over to the carwash for a clean-up.  Those are the two items I know of on my "honey-do" list... I'm pretty sure there are others I've not yet seen .

Have a great day everyone!

Edit... Best wishes Jason 

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

10 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Kyle Berkshire is another example. Added powerlifting to his routine and got faster and longer. Also started dominating the wld.

What did Tiger cause when he came on tour. More golfers including the veterans going to the gym, the vets were doing it to keep up with the young guys. Courses added length to try to stop Tiger. What did that lead to? More golfers getting longer to deal with the length. 
 

It was strokes gained at work before Broadie put it altogether for everyone to see.

BTW the ruling bodies changed the ods in 2003 from 103 to 120 mph to keep up with the faster swings. That combined with the 4600cc decision despite no manufacturer being close to that and the prov1  being 3 years old were all a promotion of distance by the RBs. They wanted more distance.

its the suits that are out of touch with the game trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube 

Interesting. So another case of those chartered with fixing the problem were (are) the problem. Worse is that it will do nothing to achieve their "stated" goal.  

TM's CEO, as part of his response to the rollback announcement, stated that they will continue to advance club tech to increase distance and forgiveness.  Presuming they and the others have more in the tank, what happens if those improvements/gains and continued physical strength and swing optimization eclipses the 33 feet?

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

2 hours ago, silver & black said:

Most of the advance in distance over the last 20 years  is due to advancement in training/workout/nutrition.... so. yes.... advancement in athleticism. You need look no further than Bryson for proof of what advanced nutrition and workout specific routine/s can/does make.... it aint the ball.

Equipment really hasn't changed all that much in 20 years (I know others will argue that) except for materials used and weight locations. Again.... I fail to see the reason/purpose for this roll back, at least for the stated reason/s.  Being the conspiracy guy I tend to be (I trust no power entity) I believe there is a much more sinister...lol reason behind this.

Anyone can feel free to flame me over my opinion.... I have thick skin... and I still think you all rock! 

 

One needs only look at Tiger, Bryson, Rory and many others physical stature transformations, from when they arrived on tour to mid/late career, to see that it is not all club technology.  While the club limits have been the same for the past 20 years, their still have advanced gains in distance and forgiveness. 

Just guessing here but I suspect it's a 70% physical strength/swing optimization and 30% club tech.  That means ~23 feet of the "excessive distance" goes to swole and ~10 feet to club tech. 

So you're thinking the nefarious element is to sell lots of new, neutered balls... then restart the distance race all over again?  Nah, they wouldn't do that...would they?   

[The Good Morning Thread]

Top of the pot spies!   Men's league at 1145 today at Desert Springs.  Hopefully I can keep the most recent 78 and 76 scores rolling .  I've come to the conclusion that labs like natural sticks, as in tree branch, better than anything money can buy.  I now have a stash of them, hidden in shrubs, all along our walking trails... and he knows which shrubs they are in .

 

 

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

10 hours ago, silver & black said:

Okay, if that is true.... does 15 yards keep courses from being over powered? Does 15 yards ensure the integrity of the game is upheld? These guys can hit any iron from 5 on down with extreme accuracy and distance control. What did/does taking 15 yards away accomplish... other than using a bit more club? I still don't understand what this is really all about.... well, I have my opinion on what it's really all about, but that isn't this discussion. 

Bottom line: 15 or even 20 yards is negligable to the pros who are really just that good. This roll back doesn't accomplish anything, other than.............................. a different discussion.

 

 

Spot on.  Those here on the forum who are supporting the rollback and have attempted to explain and defend it have come up worefully short.  But that's not surprising when neither the USGA or R&A have been able to defend their ridiculous rule change.  "Protect the integrity of the game" is a clever word salad and reminds me of another term that has morphed when the data used to support it is shown to be questionable.

Again, even if the tour average driving distance drops 15 yards, they hit more 9i's, and average scores go up X, how does that protect the integrity of the game? 

To be clear, I'm not opposed to throttling tour level golf hitting distance.  I am opposed to a global rule change that adversely affects 99% of golfers and will not, ostensibly, solve anything.  To me this seems more a pissing, power match between the ruling bodies, tours, and OEM's in which we have become the collateral fallout and could use an umbrella.

 

 

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

5 hours ago, Another Steve said:

Actually, no it’s not.  Put an obvious conformance mark on the ball visible from several feet and add a line item rule that at any time any official can ask the player and caddie to empty all pockets and allow empty/ search of the bag… first offense is DQ second is suspension. 

That is just flat out Draconian... I like it .  I too think this could be managed and were such consequences in place, word would spread and it would work.  

 

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

6 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The confusion is for the juniors and other ams trying to figure out where they want to play, possibly having to change balls on a regular basis. Monitoring the use of range finders is pretty easy. Monitoring and being able to look at every ball for every golfer to make sure it’s the correct ball is nearly impossible 

It's a game based on integrity. If folks are prone to cheat the system they will no matter what rules are in place.  As such I'm inclined to give very few points for this side of the reasons not to employ the MLR approach.  The more I think about it the more I feel the PGAT did us more harm than the stupid, needless ball rollback.  

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

2 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

I don’t think it’s less disruptive. Had the mlr been used by the tour then it would have been opened to everyone and there would be confusion at the amateur level for what legs and tournaments are using the rollback, then there is the logistics of having to police the balls at the local level which these organizers and tournaments don’t have the resources to do.

 

They don't have the resources to monitor conforming drivers, rangefinder settings, and other aspects anyway, so I don't see that as a big issue.  I also don't understand the confusion.  They employ other MLR's such as lift, clean, and place, sprinkler heads releif around the green, etc. without issue.  They show up for the event, get a run down on any rule modifications and play golf... we do it all the time.

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

6 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

An MLR doesn’t get created for just the PGA tour, an MLR is applied to the rules for everyone. Then the committee of a the event determines what if any MLRs are applied ie preferred lies, out of bounds is 2 strokes and drop where crossed, one ball rule.

The PGA tour isn’t going to go for an MLR that causes bifurcation which is why they said no to the MLR for the ball

But, short of simply freezing tech/specs where they are now, this is the most seamless, less disruptive path IMO.  Yes, I know there is the issue with cost of rollback balls that will not be purchased by the masses, but if the RB's and tour gave two $^^t's about those they represent and those that pay to watch them play, it seems a reasonable compromise.

I think you are right that the tour will never go for a driver size rollback or like distance reducing changes... so if that's the case, why accept the ball rollback?  And while the tour and OEM's may not initate litigation over the ball, I'd bet a kings ransom they will on the other changes.

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

3. currently in place and nobody has suggested going bigger. but the ruling bodies are coming for the driver when they can figure out how to not make it bad for all golfers

And, as noted in John Baraba's excellent "Alternatives" article, they are already discussing limiting driver size on tour (basically mini drivers) and possibly fewer than 14 clubs.  Those using any modicum of critical thinking about this know that the ball rollback will not safeguard the "integrity of the game".  So to all those who abhor the thought of bifurcation, are you also okay with adopting these changes...so you can play like the pros?

[The Good Morning Thread]

Top of the pot spies!   Getting ready to take River out for his walk/run then finish the day with a 1300 tee time at Granite Falls North.  I tell ya, this retirement schedule is brutal .  I also just added uBlock Origin extension (ad blocker) to resolve the sudden increase in forum ad pop ups.  It looks to be working (thanks again @TSauer!)  Hopefully having this s/w and AdBlocker Plus won't start a fire in the CPU .

Have a great start to the week everyone.

[Planned 2030 Golf Ball Rollback]

11 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

When the equipment and the ball along with the confirming specs are the same for 20 years and distance goes up it’s not the equipment. Really not that hard of a concept to understand. The USGA also admits it as the reason, so not that hard to believe when the data supports it.

Which begs the question "what is the real reason they are doing this?"  Is it to reduce average scoring on tour?  Will 30 feet shorter drives make Pebble Beach and the Old Course defendable?  Will it change "bomb & gouge" from driver/wedge to driver/9i?  Ultimately what really changes that will matter to either how the pro game is played, ecomomics of course operations, or otherwise?  Will new course layouts get smaller/shorter?  This whole vanilla "protect the integrity of the game" seems to be cover for something. 

If anyone has found some follow-up details from Whan and Slumbers, please share.