EasyPutter

Good morning MGSpies from a not so dark downtown Buffalo parking spot by the office building where sunlight is enhancing the still glowing colorful lights on the buildings Stick Figure's Fall into the Sun on Pandora with it's regay bear reminding me of last night's open mic and the full rocking set we played to a full club, heady stuff when it's just for fun. Golf course wasn't as much fun with more golfers than I've seen this year so far and I could only count the 4 groups stacked pretty close in front of us. Impressive though was how everyone seemed to know when they could play without hitting into the group ahead. Smoke didn't gather it's and I know it was me so next opportunity comes this afternoon on the way home from work. Hope golf is a part of your day 22

Welcome to the MGS Forum as a participating member and great place for your first post! If you have been following along before you know this is the best place to get into the flow with regularly posting members, and hoping to see you posting here often, welcome in!

Nice lunch boxes! Can hear the sound of the handle and the latch on opening and closing, but that is not the kind of thermos I remember that came with those metal boxes Good post though for page 700 of The Good Morning Thread! That's an average of 1.5+ pages per day since we started this odyssey (not to be confused with the giveaway)

Good morning MGSpies from wet but not for long today WNY with dreams of golf this afternoon after workday is done network is coming up on that computer from basement central on a zero commute Monday, coffee almost ready and floating on the weekend memory of yesterday with 1st session for PGA HOPE south of Rochester that magically stopped the rain I drove through on the way there and light shower returned as I finished putting clubs away into the vehicle with everything still dry when it went in. Family band plays tonight at open mic so just going to keep rockin' the day! Hope golf is a part of your day 23

Not sure how I lost track of this thread for so long, but just had to share this one. Couldn't decide the NFL thread or another one but this is random but the BEST GOLF QUOTE of my lifetime from Keon Coleman in a Pre-Draft interview with the Buffalo Bills staff: Bills staff asked Coleman about his off-the-field activities and he mentioned he plays golf and he said this: "I'm Tiger WishHeCould, I'm not Tiger Woods." "It's controlled chaos. You're frustrated, but you can't get mad or you'll pull a muscle in your back trying to hit the ball. So it forces me to stay calm and just swing and have some fun." GO BILLS!!!

Good morning MGSpies from a wet after rainy overnight WNY that still has more rain left to fall before it moves to the east first Sunday in May. Yesterday was busy with everything not golf, joining my fellows here with such excitement as being chosen chauffeur by the center of the universe for getting a few things for son's refrigerator when I see him today, chosen from her preferred list of one. This morning is session one of PGA HOPE in Rush NY, representing as graduate mentor volunteer for any assistance needed. Hopefully rain doesn't preclude the session. Hope golf is a part of your day! 24

Ok had been an attempt to replace a duplicate post but changing it with adding a quote doesn't work! I totally agree with @Kenny B about the time requirement for forum testing, and want to emphasize it is no joke. I had my first few posts with energy and time from receiving my driver (link in the signature below) and life has conspired to keep me looking forward to the next opportunity to test it which might be tomorrow more likely Monday, I hope. And yes welcome in @Mrsbell89 as we enjoy our slice of life here in The Good Morning Thread and more is merrier for this awesome group of obsessed golfers as close as any friends I know!

Good morning MGSpies from a cloudy but warm WNY which I suppose should not be surprising but considering the winter and spring so far I'm not yet convinced the weather intends to be warm on this first weekend of May. Yesterday included such fun things as getting a ladder, trowel and blocks of wood out to remove a nest being built by the second floor bedroom air conditioner, and meeting niece and nephew for a hike after work to visit an Eternal Flame, hidden gem in a park not far south from Fort EasyPutter never visited until now, where natural gas escaping bedrock shale exposed behind a waterfall has been burning all my life. The flame is to the right of my shoulder in this photo and it is a natural phenomenon. No golf planned today as the family rock and roll band needs rehearsal for Monday night's open mic we are again all here to resume first Mondays of each month. Then cut grass or repair left rear wheel bearings, which should I do this afternoon as both need doing. No golf related on plan until tomorrow with the second PGA HOPE session I am volunteering for, this one at Southern Meadows GC close enough to son's RIT apartment I will be also dropping off his clubs and other things to him. Hope golf is a part of your day! 25

Admins please use that magic of yours to delete this duplicate post. This thread is long enough without a duplication.

Good morning MGSpies from a good weather morning in WNY and good for many things this first Friday in May mine getting logged in on the network for all things payroll as it is that time again to ensure everyone gets what's earned. Coffee will certainly help as mind was most busy last night after the Community Call and PGA HOPE first session followed by a drive that began in low angle sunshine arriving home after dark. Bedtime delayed helping son negotiate group work treachery that has again exposed exclusionary behaviors of group leader and 3 others unwilling to stand up to his actions - made for a short night strategizing how to mitigate effect on his final GPA. Sending all best thoughts and prayers for those with challenges of all kinds and hoping golf is a part of your day 26

I doubt there is any truth to the rumor the call your shot distance challenge is also while wearing oven mitts and an apron. @Kenny B any chance Martha would be schooling us on that? Or maybe it will be Jason @sirchunksalot with all that smoker experience...

Seriously? I already have a one under round on the card.

In all conditions except when the sky is white ball color, a white ball works better for me. Primarily white works better with my eyes to find sneaky and unruly golf balls who have made a bid for freedom, once the club has finished doing its job sending them on their way to where we all follow to continue sending the ball further along. I have begun to suspect collusion between the balls and the clubs. It appears they have something like a 19th hole confab going on, likely the product of overhearing conversations with my golf partners following a round. With all those unchaperoned hours, they have plenty of opportunity there together in the bag. So back to the topic, yes I keep a few balls wearing yellow jackets on-hand to go into service on overcast days.

Good morning MGSpies on a Community Call Thursday in the suddenly springtime masquerading as summer here in WNY the work computer is sorting itself onto the network while coffee is not yet ready but with most of the office away for the rest of the week there is no doubt going to be plenty to do before the end of the workday at 3pm when it will be time to regear into golf life with session 1 of the PGA HOPE program at Niagara Frontier CC at 6pm so that means (incidental music for the scene ) another drive time for the MGS Forum call on the way. Yesterday got out for 9 holes after work for what was truly the first summer round of the year in Buffalo and there was so much Smoke, the testing Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D made its debut in outdoor conditions and you can read about it just by using the link below in my signature and go to the last page if you go to it the same day this is posted. Hope golf is a part of your day! 27

The Vero X1 and X2 are perimeter weighted and the big difference is the compression value, essentially the X1 is better for my duffing as the X2 is more sensitive to club inducing a greater spin and my club control is likely to do some strange unexpected things with the X2, probably why the X1 worked better for me on the sim per the data the computer captured. The OnCore site is really good for information on all their ball choices. Go Bills!!! (I'm sure there are Bills Mafia in Oklahoma, we tend to show up everywhere.)

First on course drives were captured on the SwingU club tracker this afternoon. The first drive off the tee was in front of the clubhouse with other players gathering for their rounds. My playing partner Justin @just52887 was a witness to the first ever drive off a tee on real grass for the Max D and it could not have been a better strike. Straight and long into a Buffalo Blue sky, and visibly farther down the center of the fairway than I have ever hit a drive. I think it is safe to say that Justin was caught by surprise. The only disappointment was the immediate realization that no video was taken to capture the moment. At the end of the round, the SwingU app recorded the longest drive of the day at 172 yards with an average drive distance for 3 drives of 170 yards. For a comparison, the gamer driver Rattlesnake's average drive is 153 yards.

Me too! Not because I would aim for it, I would be aiming somewhere else, but I know @Yellow Ball is on this trip and no doubt he's going to be causing mischief riling up the rest of the balls to do his best at "being there" for us. No offense intended YB

Yesterday, golf life began after the end of the workday. It looked to me as I approached the OnCore Headquarters in downtown Buffalo, like the ground level clouds provided an aqueous induced smoke day (see what I did there with Ai Smoke?), "a sign from the Golf gods" according to playing partner Justin @just52887 I reacquainted with the OnCore crew and talked about the company, Veteran golf experiences, and MyGolfSpy testing. One of each OnCore ball was brought out for the ball fitting and test experience on one of their simulators I was hitting on and Full Swing was playing on the second sim screen, which for me was great because I am not a fan of being the center of attention hitting a golf ball. 5 shots for each OnCore ball; Vero X2, Vero X1, ELIXR, and AVANT first with the Rattlesnake and then with the Paradym Ai Smoke Max D. Some great shots with each club, some not so great but nearly all were fairway and only one sky shot rang off the rafters. Oops. Stats photographed from the main screen, total of 42 shots, lost track of numbers of hits so ensured minimum 5 for each ball. Review of results surprised us as I had always preferred ELIXR after being an AVANT user initially. The Vero X1 came up as the best ball response off both clubs. The software did not specify which ball was hit but knowing when it each ball was hit by which club the numbers tells a story. Top secret, these are not the stats you are looking for - move along. Today I went on the OnCore site to do a ball order and decided to give their online ball fitter feature a try. Entered my preferences for things like feel of the ball (firm or soft), swing speed and average carry distance. Half expecting ELIXR to pop up the fitter algorithm said my best ball fit was Vero X1. Best part of the experience was hitting the first golf balls that the Max D had ever hit and in the doing had captured visual evidence of an overhead camera with slow motion clubhead travel relative to the direct line to the cup seeing ball flight start and tee cone parting from the display, seeing analytics for direction of club face at impact, trajectory of ball, and immediate feedback of ball flight on the virtual driving range. Also good was video of my swing from good friend and OnCore co-founder that had my club doing things I did not imagine I was doing, thinking my swing was not as over the top as it obviously was, though the slower backswing does an amazing job and reducing the effect of the off plane swing and no doubt in my mind the Max D is effective at reducing the induced fade. We closed the place for the day and headed out making plans for our next round of golf. Gratitude for the support and encouragement can never be adequately said for the OnCore leadership who is committed to support to Veterans professionally and with personal investment of time and talent, and the generosity of actions over words. This is my hometown and true to the spirit of our region, generous outreach goes well beyond anything expected. Next play for the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D is today in about an hour. More to follow!

It's like a birthday Robert! Happy 1st day Retired @rkj427 time for golf

Good morning MGSpies on a very nice WNY morning indeed with so many positives going on, hot coffee in the mug, computer already going up on the network for the usual zero commute and knowing Robert @rkj427 has been checker flagged for winning the race to retirement on the first day of the new month! Not going to mention all the great camaraderie in the thread of mutual support for those in need of golf retail therapy, which I highly support and, I guess I did mention it Had a great day yesterday with more to follow about that in the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke thread when I get a chance to post there today, and a very nice dinner with grown up niece and nephew from the Carolinas up for a visit to their grandparents without their parents and who I have not seen in a decade +3 Golf should be 9 on the course this afternoon in forecast early summer weather, hope golf is a part of your day too! 28

Attention! Your attention please. We are at Tee-minus 29 days and all systems are GO! That is all.

Ryan's fitter story is an amazing technical marvel, so much there for a newbie like the tester writing this who has a much different fitter story... There was a golfer who had never had his own fitting but was now intent on getting one as soon as he found out he was selected to test the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D driver and read the conditions for the test, all of which must be agreed to, in order to accept the selection as tester. And a driver fitting was on that list of conditions. He knew his local Dick's SG was a club fitter doing a quick online search and even set up his fitting appointment thinking he was being on point by selecting the first available that fit his schedule. Then found out the next day he was the last one to get fitted, not fast out of the blocks at all. The instructions were good at Dick's SG online site with what to expect and what to have on hand and take with him. It was adventure carrying in his own bag of clubs, tags, towels and such hanging and banging like one of the caddy's at the PGA Championship last May. The golf desk knew his name and appointment time, a good feeling for the first time doing something. He said why he was there and the fitter went to get the appropriate club while he stretched and did some practice swings to warm up. He had his driver out and showed it to the fitter who took some notes. The fitter looked at his SwingU app data of FirstStrike Rattlesnake driver tracked shots. The fitter had him take a few swings to warm up then tracked 6 shots using a Callaway golf ball for the current driver stats. The results of the driver were reviewed for ball flight, ball speed, launch angle, ball spin, and a few other data points. He put down his Rattlesnake and was handed the Paradym Ai Smoke Max D to do an initial set of 6 shots. A pressure sensitive club face sticker was adhered to the Max D and the first swing was amazingly straight and 20 yards longer than the gamer went. After 6, the stats were reviewed and compared to the gamer. The big concern was a high spin rate in the 5000 range. Adjustment to reduce loft was made and another 6 shots with new club face sticker producing similar results, again analyzed. Then a lighter shaft was put on the club head, loft returned to standard and another 6 shots with a new club face sticker. The fitter wrote down the settings and suggested a slightly shorter shaft length by 1/4 inch, not a lot but his logic was agreeable. Then they talked grips, the fitter had noticed his fingers wrapped on the standard grip had fingertips pressing into the palm. The fitter handed him a thicker grip that felt good but left a gap where it was mentioned less gap is better. It was explained a standard grip with additional wraps of tape would make it slightly bigger and get fingertips to touch heel of thumb without pressing into skin. The final write-up was done while he put his clubs away and got ready to complete the hour (that didn't seem that long) fitting session. He paid the $30 fitting fee at the golf desk and understood the $30 would be taken off the cost of buying something from the golf department so not to lose the receipt. Again it felt like being some kind of caddy waiting for the next available checkout register thinking how in all the years going to Dick's SG had he never seen someone carrying their golf equipment like they owned it. Checkout was easy and then was out the door, no questions asked except if everything looked for was found. Fitting folder in hand, clubs were loaded into the vehicle, golf shoes changed out of, and sitting in the vehicle as it began to warm, he read the fitting report. He had done it, his first fitting and he had confidence in the process, and the approach of the fitter that gave him the confidence he had a good workup for what was to be built by Callaway and sent for testing as a custom fitted club. ... of course I couldn't write that in first person voice because (sniff) I know what a fitting is and "all of my fittings" have been really good. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. For all you golf obsessed do it yourselfers, like I was, you really ought to try a golf club fitting. It is a well spent hour doing what we love to do anyway PLUS you learn more than just what club(s) is/are good for your unique style of play.

Good morning MGSpies from an early dawn of cloudy skies that proves the season is changing here in WNY. Yesterday was vehicle repair maintenance but only half done as one job turned into two, just glad not to spend it on the current labor rate. Also got to the unboxing of the Smoke Max D because today I have something planned and the details are top secret so too bad y'all have to wait (practicing for the meetup) Blank & Jones' Nite Glow on Pandora going well with the coffee before heading into the office. Hope golf is a part of your day 29

Got it! Inspiration comes from many places and this time it goes to Matt @GolfSpy SAM Now while I might not be wearing my driver on my back like a backpack, I will be using another device of perspective(s) and that is all I am saying for now... More is definitely to come: or which is it? I don't know!!!

Good morning MGSpies from the beginning of what looks like early summer here in WNY on this last Monday of April. Taking advantage of the weather, only going to slog through the network morass of workplace issues for an hour on the zero commute before taking the rest of the day for driveway mechanics replacing rear wheel bearings on the prime mover Then maybe golf later on, maybe an unboxing to do, the day will tell. Stoked for Robert @rkj427 on his last Monday of career before retirement and color me envious. Thankful Jamie @GolfSpy_APH is taking us on his railway and golf adventure today and hope golf is a part of your day too! 30