LeftyHawk

I attended my first LPGA event today. The Great Lakes Bay Invitational in Midland Michigan. I received quite an education while watching the players from the tee and the fairway. I've spent many years watching the male pro's on TV, release a Herculean force on the white orb, sending it 320 + yards down the fairway (sometimes not quite the fairway), 9 irons from 200 yards and such, and trying to apply what I saw to my game. It didn't work. I've even watched the female players on TV with out any luck. Seeing them live, in person gave me an entirely different perspective on the whole swing thing, driver and irons. I know from years of trying to understand the swing that speed, not force is required to gain distance and staying relaxed will give you control. Seeing the gals on TV doesn't do them justice, you really must see them live, in person to understand and appreciate just how graceful they are while achieving distance and control. I've always known you don't need brute force to hit the ball, but for some reason today was a light bulb moment for me when I could see the ladies up close and really see what they are doing. I would urge all of you if you have a chance to get to an LPGA event, GO !!!! you won't be sorry !!!

For me I'd say my 8i. That's probably due to the time I spent 1 season here in Michigan playing every other round with a driver, 8i and putter only!! I got Purdy dang good with that 8i on all kinds of shots. From 150 to chip shots. So that'd be the one club i would never part with...

I'm very interested in the wedges. Sending a PM. Chris

Just received Annika's book I found on eBay. Interesting discovery inside the front cover. Any ideas who Danielle is or who the 3 people who left a message in the book? Chris

You step up to the counter to pay for lunch at work and pull tee's out of your pocket instead of change!!!!

My only thought would be to just do a 4 man best ball.

Very cool photo. Getting your hands on his clubs would be even cool...er !!!

Looks like I'll be aiming for September..... Maybe the leaves will be turning by then....

Well, I really don't see any sort of avantage and it's a piece of his Dad he carries with him on the course. So I'm not saying anything, just not that big of a deal to me. Chris

I believe it's advise he'd gotten from his father, which would have been during those balata days. Just something he holds onto I guess. I can see cleaning the ball off once on the green, never really thought about a "putting ball" until I played a round with him Given the tech in today's balls it didn't make sense to me, but I was also curious as to what the rules were. I don't plan to say anything to him, it works for him and makes the game enjoyable for him. After all, isn't that what it's about ? Chris

One of the guys on the league I play on used what he referred to as a "putting Ball". What it was is the same ball he uses getting to the hole, but once on the green he switches it out for the putting Ball. My question for y'all in the know for the rules, is this acceptable? Personally I really don't care if he switches balls on the green. But some of us got to talking about it, so I thought I'd ask here. Chris

Thanks , now comes the hard part. Waiting for the clubs to arrive..

I've been chasing that little white orb since the late 70's. Started with a used set that was a little on the short side, I was told that they were cut down to shorten the shaft. Finding used left handed clubs in the late 70's was difficult to say the least. But I hacked and slashed my way around the course for almost 10 years with those clubs. Then I found another used set a little better fit for me, over the years I would find other used clubs that were better each time. I made a promise to myself that one day I would get myself new clubs. That day has finally arrived. I got fit by Ping and ordered a complete set of Ping G410's. Driver, 3 & 5 Wood, 20* Hybird, 5 thru LW irons. Not sure if my game will improve but I'll look good out there (LOL) It's like Christmas in June Chris

Lucas Bjerregaard -13

Kiradech Aphibarnrat -6

I also tend to stay away from those kind of events for that very reason. I've seen guys sandbag their scores to run their handicap up so when it comes to cash on the line they pull out their real game. When cash is on the line, it should be score vs score, no handicap! Chris

In a world of instant gratification, golf is one of those games that takes time and patience to aquire any kind of positive results. Unfortunately, I've seen, many want to play at the level they see on TV and when they try without proper instruction, equipment, and mind set, they fail on their first attempt, toss the clubs in the garage. Perhaps one idea would be to have something like an open house allowing people to try different aspects, like a putt,chip,drive event. Don't go on the course, that would spell failure from the start. The putt,chip,drive might spark an interest to explore the game further. Just my thinking. Chris

Z Grip ALIGN Ok, I've had the grips on now for a few weeks and have played about a dozen rounds with them, enough that I'm pretty comfortable with them. So I though it was time to update on what I've learned. Before going on the course I ran a few tests and took some measurements. As you can see in the first 2 photos I measured the "align" strip to be 1.16mm above the grip. In my opinion the "Align" strip needs to be a little higher. When I got word that I'd be testing the "Align" Z Grips my first thought was that it sounded like a great idea. This should make lining the club face consistantly a no brainer. In my mind the "align" strip would function like the laces on a football, which to my understanding the quarterback uses to put the ball in his hands in the correct position. I knew the real test would be on the golf course to see if that thinking was in the right direction. The next test was a Blind gripping the club test. What I did was had my wife hand me the clubs one at a time, I kept my eyes shut, and I was handed the clubs so that I grabbed the middle of the shaft. I know what you're thinking, the weight of the head will make it easy to line up the club face with your eyes closed. Not so, give it a try!! I have the grips set so that the "Align" strip falls right in the 2nd joint of my left hand index and middle fingers. I'm left handed, so this is my ungloved hand furtherest from the butt end of the club. I must admit, I was pleasantly suprised at how close the wedges were to being correct in my hands with my eyes closed. As I progressed thru the clubs I was getting better at lining up the club face with my eyes closed, and by the time I got to the driver I had it almost perfectly square. I will say thet I don't feel the "Align" strip at all in my right hand (the gloved hand). The only part of the strip that I am aware of both with eyes closed and open, is the 2 fingers of my left hand. Still needed to be tested on the course. Following are a couple of pics with my hands on the club; Now as for on the course in actual play; FIrst thing I noticed is that tempture makes a huge impact on feeling the "Align" strip Here in Michigan most days start in the 40's and doesn't get much past 55 later in the day. Because of this the start of each roung I coundn't feel the strip under my fingers. One big suprise was I found the "Golf Pride" logo on the top of the grip down by the shaft to be a valuable aid in linging the club face, that along with the line in the bottom groove on the club face (Ping Clubs) for cold weather play. As the weather warmed up I became aware of the "Align" strip in my 2 fingers and it served to confirm what I was seeing in aligning the club face square. So after palying several rounds the big question is do these grips help my game? With the testing I've done so far the answer would be yes....to some degree. HERES MY TAKE AWAY: While I wall admit the "Align" strips did help in squaring the club face, I found that working in conjunction with the "Golf "Pride" logo on the top of the grip made squaring the club face easier especially in cold weather. The grips themselves, "Align" strip aside are wonderful. They are very comfortable in the hands, the coloring helps the eyes focus on squaring the club face. They have enough "grip" so as not to let the club spin in your hands on a miss hit and you don't feel like you have to "peal" the club out of your hands after the shot. At this point in time I'm not so sure that the "Align" strip by itself will ensure that the club face is square, In my opinion the strip is too small to be felt across both hands. Perhaps if the srtip transition from the thickness it is at the shaft end to being much thicker at the butt end of the club it would help, especially through a glove. I found myself wanting to feel it through the glove, but it just wasn't there. Golf Pride is definitely on to something here, and it may very well work in much warmer temperatures. So to recal, Feel; 10/10. They feel comfortable in the hands and no fear of the club slipping. Looks; 10/10. The colors and design helped me with getting theing lined up. Do they help my game; 5/10. While the "Align" stirp helped in a small degree, the logo on top was more of an aid then the strip. Do they do what they say; 5/10. Again, they helped some, I do believe the strip needs to be more pronunced especally at the butt end of the club. I will add to this review sometime in August to see if warmer weather (hopefully) makes a difference. **** June 15, 2019***** After using these now for a couple of months I'd have to say I've confirmed everything I originally thought. The idea of the alignment strip in my opinion is a great idea, especially if you're having issues with hitting your target consistently. Even in the warmer weather I am not able to feel the alignment strip in my hands and only barley in the index and middle fingers of my left hand (remember I'm left handed and I stand on the other side of the ball). The grips themselves are wonderful, I have a solid, secure feeling between my hands and the club and no fear of the club rotating in my hands at impact. even in a light mist and light rain the club was still secure in my hands throughout the swing. Thanks again to GolfPride and MGS for giving me this chance to be a tester for the new Z Align Grips.

Z Grip ALIGN Let me start my story by telling you that I’m a 59, live in Michigan and I’m addicted to Golf. My first set of clubs were a used set of Ram Aries, I was 20 and had no idea what I was doing. With clubs in hand I headed to the driving range. Over the next decade I spent way too many hours trying to get a handle on this game of golf. As it turned out I was quite a hot head out there, I just couldn’t understand why if I was aiming at the flag, why it consistently went in the woods. I once wrapped a 5 iron around a tree because it failed to send the ball where I was aiming. After a few years of little to no success I left the game. Around the year 2000 I started dreaming about getting back on the course, being outside, fresh air, birds, green grass. This time it would be different. I managed to find a better set of used left handed clubs and set out for the driving range, still all the old demons haunted me, I couldn’t hit the ball straight if my life depended on it. Nothing but banana balls, the hot head returned and my driver bite the dust. While browsing through a used book store one day I came across a book titled “Golf begins at 40, How to use your age advantage” by Sam Snead. I bought it and that was my “Eureka” moment. Everything he had to say in the book really hit home with me. That lead to me reading everything I could get my hands on. I’ve had some great teachers through books, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nacklaus, Tom Watson, Dave Pelz and Gary McCord to name a few. I don’t remember where I read it but the one phrase that hit home to me was “the ball will tell you what you’re doing wrong, if your willing to listen”. WOW, that was a real awakening for me. From that moment on I became a real student of the game, trying to understand the physics of ball flight. I did a ton of research and reading on how and why that little white orb did what it did in the air and what affects ball flight. Turns out it wasn’t the club, it was me!!! Go figure. I finally have clubs that fit me, I start the season at about a 9 handicap and end the season around a 4, broke 80 enough times that I dream about becoming a scratch golfer. My bag currently is a Ping 400 driver, Ping G30 3 wood. Ping G30 19* Hybird. Ping i10 irons (4-PW), Ping Tour-S wedges (50,54,58) and a Ping Vault 2.0 putter. And here we are today, I was lucky enough to have been chosen by MGS to be one of the testers for the new Golf Pride grips with the “Align Technology”. As my current grips are older Lamkin I am really excited to give the Golf Pride a run. For me I am quite interested in how, or if, the Align Technology can improve my game. I will admit that I’m really skeptical of any “gimmick” that claims “game improvement” because, like Mr. Hogan, I’m a firm believer in the only way to improve is at the practice range. My first impressions of the grips were could they really do what they claim? On one level it made sense to me that the Align Technology would help with getting the club in your hand with the club face square, I mean after all from what little I know about football tech, I reasonably concluded that one reason for the laces on the football was to help the quarterback line up the ball in his hands the same everytime. I must admit I was rather excited when the grips arrived from Golf Pride. 13 grips came in the box, the black, white and red colors really make this grip stand out. And the feel was exactly what I look for in a grip, not sticky and not slick. I knew that when I put my hands on the club and hit the ball the club wasn’t going to rotate in my hands at impact. So for looks I give this grip a 10. The colors contrast nicely and with the design on the grip it’s easy for the eyes and hands to work together to get the club square in your hands. For feel I would also give this a 10. Like I said, it’s not “sticky” so you feel like you have to peel your hands off the grip and not so slick so as to allow the club to rotate in your hands at impact. The grips give you the proper amount of “grab” so the club is comfortable in your hands. I chose to put the grips on myself so I could control the variable of how the grips line up with the club face, I wasn’t confident that someone else would be as careful as I was. I will admit I was skeptical after the first club was finished. When I put my hands on it I really couldn’t feel the align strip in the under side of the club shaft. I went ahead and re-gripped all the clubs So now comes the testing part. Things I will be testing is; Do these grips “really” help with alignment? Do they do what they claim? Do they help or hurt my game? Until then...keep it in the short grass....

I try to play one "real nice" course every season. This one is the one I hope to get to this season. Looks incredible on their website.

The Bluffs Course is one of my "must play" courses here in Michigan. Thought I'd post this to see if anyone could offer me some information or insite to playing the course. I'm hoping to get there. Sometime in the first half of May. Chris

I was given this driver head, but as you can see there's some of the shaft left in the hossel. Any thoughts on an easy to remove it after heating?

Lucas Bjerregaard -15

My reason for the post is the box of Bridgestone TourB XS I bought, the side panel says "Made in Japan" That got me to wondering if there were any balls made in America Chris

This maybe, well, most likely is a dumb question but I got to wondering today if there are any golf balls made in America? From what I've been able to find on my own that answer is no. Chris