artful_golfer

We have already started talking about how this heat stuff is now going to affect my friend and we need to watch out for her.

Yes, she is ok. They got her cooled and hydrated; then ran a bunch of tests to make sure everything checked out. Sent her home last night with instructions to not go outside for a few days. We missed her not being able to play with us today. She's always there.

Thanks for caring. We did it again today. We are part of an active fun group of golf friends that play some kind of game almost every Sat and Sun. Today there were 26 of us braving the heat, but no walkers in this oven. I wouldn't want to walk in this heat, it's too far back to the pro shop if you need to quit. Everyone stayed hydrated and drove our carts from one shady spot to the next. One man even brought an ice chest full of new Gatorade flavors (like watermelon) and Gatorade golf towels to share with all of us. Used my umbrella on the greens to stay cool through #8 when a little breeze kicked up. Doesn't take much wind to tumble my umbrella down the fairway. I'd rather have the breeze. I almost didn't care about the heat because I played good for me with 41/48. Got kind of tired on the last 4 holes.

It was HOT! yesterday. I didn't play bad but I had a some blow up holes plus didn't putt my best which ruined my overall score. Like 3 balls in the water on one hole! Actually no one played exceptionally well in my ladies group because it was so hot. The index was 114 here in South Texas. We had to call EMS to send one lady I was playing with to the hospital. Once the heat starting getting to her it was surprising how fast she went from ok to big trouble - from one green to the next tee box. Another 114 index forecast for today. Drink plenty of water and stand in the shade my spy friends. Below: Part of my fun ladies group yesterday doing our Flamingo pose. We had to cancel our big Flamingo Tournament (because of COVID-19) but we all wore pink anyway for a play day. After play we had a putting and chipping challenge. For chipping, we had to land it in that Flamingo pool. Participating in our putting obstacle course challenge Love my LGA. Hot afternoon to be standing in the sun for a putting challenge! I'm the only one with an umbrella. 15° cooler under that canopy.

My husband played 9 holes with me yesterday evening. I had been practicing in the house with my 56° and 60° and then accidentally left them behind. That issue forced me to use my 46° ZipCore for all wedge shots. I was happy with myself to discover that I can do that! I had a little trouble with distance because I wasn't always sure how much of a swing to take. One shot was short (about a foot off the green), one rolled about 8 ft past the hole, and all of the rest were high and landed on the green at various distances from the pin but stuck where they landed. I think I'll use an earlier suggestion from @downlowkey to make the "Zippy" my go to wedge and practice getting good at several types of shots with it.

Thanks for the tip. Yes I am interested. Creativity always ranks at the top in my book.

Great visuals. Love the various creative edges you are applying to your photos!

Played yesterday and overall did not play my best (trouble with fairway shots) . . . but the shots I hit with my ZipCore were really nice. Since the ball stops immediately on the green I need to practice at judging the distance better. That's preferable to rolling too far. I'd like feedback about this: I not sure what to do about the varying weights of my wedges. Does it even matter as long as I can hit them or will it help me if the weights are more consistent. I have been reading about how some players like their wedges to be heavier and why. The ZipCore is my heaviest wedge and only one with a steel shaft. I'll start by listing my 9 iron so you can see the jump from it to the ZipCore. As long as I make sure to get under the ball (like I'm suppose to) I can hit and like each one. I have a tendency to hit all of my clubs low and a little toward the toe. It helps me to change the lie but I haven't done that yet with any of my wedges. 9 iron: 401 grams 46° ZipCore: 458 grams 52° RTX-3: 422 grams 56° RTX-3: 428 grams 60° Tour Action 900: 447 grams (oddly this one feels the heaviest)

I'm not accomplished enough as a player to hit all or even most shots consistently to be able to answer this but I wanted to know also. In the past most of my shots to the green had quite a bit of roll which frustrated me because I never could judge how much roll. I've only been able to play with my ZipCore twice and so far it seems like my strikes with it are stopping better on the green - I decided to try a small sampling test. I went out on my course (hole #3) in the evening so I wouldn't interfere with other golfers. I dropped 6 balls 60 yards out (60-70 yards is a full PW distance for me). Below is what happened. For the two off the green: one was barely off the back edge of the green and the other was 3 feet over. Those were user swing errors instead of Zippy errors.

Mixed. Father is full miniature Australian Shepherd. Mother is Cocker Spaniel & Bichon Frise. She definitely has smart herder instincts. When taking her through service dog training, after the first class they bumped her from beginner to intermediate classes. Then at the end of intermediate classes the trainer said she didn't need to finish advanced classes to be ready for her final test. The plan was to make sure she could fly with me in the passenger compartment without being in a pet carrier and then be available for nursing homes and our local fire department - but that was before COVID-19. She is my shadow

Yes, very well behaved anywhere in public. She is well trained, obeys and stays in the cart without being tied. Usually no one knows she's there. She'll even sit and wait for me to go into the Pro Shop, walk to a green or across a fairway but keeps her eyes lock on me like a laser beam. And she knows the cart doesn't move until she is sitting. She's quiet as long as she doesn't see a squirrel close by - we haven't been able to get past a couple of barks, a whine and stomping her feet for squirrels.

This a very short clip - sorry, but this was my playing partner yesterday. She loves the golf course and thinks the entire place is hers.

But you didn't quit! Good job!

It may be, but not compared to my prior wedges. That's all I have to compare it with.

These photos are a comparison of my PWs in the order I've acquired and played them (L-R). This first photo is of the soles. I don't know how much a difference a wider sole makes for most players but it sure seems to be a hindrance for me. Left to right: Ping Serene, Wilson D7, TaylorMade R7, and Cleveland ZipCore which plans to permanently send the others to the timeout bag. (Ping, Wilson and TaylorMade are each part of a full iron set. Wilson D7 is the 2nd best) This This next photo is a comparison of the faces and grooves. Cleveland claims the extra grooves are a plus and so far (even with what little I used it) my "Zippy" and I agree. Left to Right: Ping, Wilson D7, TaylorMade R7 and Cleveland "Zippy" ZipCore

I haven't had an issue with my watch connecting with the satellite but honestly I haven't watched to know how long it takes. I normally turn mine on when I finish my range warm up while waiting to head to the tee box. That can be anywhere from 5-10 minutes before tee time, but I turn it on and don't look at again until I get to the starting tee. A couple of times I forgot and it didn't connect until after I started. But it is a simple edit to add your first drive after the round.

Pre-Congratulations!

"soon to be fiance" Hmm . . . how do you know she will say yes?

My Wedge Quest Shortly after I completed a series of group lessons to learn the basics of how to play golf, an elderly gentleman at my club (Claud) asked our golf pro to recommend a tournament partner who was new to golf and fun to play with. He suggested me! So I participated in my first scramble only 3 weeks into playing. I learned a lot that day. I came home and told my husband that my golf goal is to play like Claud. He has a phenomenal short game. My husband explained that I would need to become a good wedge player. I have been progressing toward that ever since. Getting wedges I can hit well has been a journey. My wedges (PW & SW) in my first set of Ping clubs; the PW in my next set Wilson D7 irons; and the PW in my current TaylorMade R7 irons all have wider soles that I can't seem to consistently hit well. They keep bouncing off the ground and the Ping SW just didn't have enough loft. Then @downlowkey came to my rescue a couple of years ago. He gifted me a Cleveland RTX-3 52°/10 and 56°/11 that he no longer played with. I have learned to hit and like them. In the last couple of weeks he gave me another wedge from his past arsenal, 60° Cleveland Tour Action 900 which I intend to make my SW. With the addition of this new 46° ZipCore, I feel like I finally have a realistic opportunity to develop a full range short game like Claud. And all with Cleveland Wedges

Happy Happy Birthday! Hope it's a beautiful day.

The reason we decided to blow the grip on was because I'm not sure if 1 inch off is enough. We can remove this grip and reuse it. But we had so much trouble that my husband did plead with me to "just do it the normal way". We first tried a hacksaw on the shaft but it didn't even leave a scratch on that shiny steel. I was desperate to keep trying when my husband remembered our Dremmel tool. It got quite hot but worked.

The morning after we trimmed my wedge shaft, I was scheduled to play in a tournament at 9am. @GolfSpy Stroker warned us not to play without practicing first, but I was anxious and excited to try it. So without ever hitting one shot with it, I left my PW behind, grabbed the new 46° instead and joined my playing partners. Turns out the first couple of times I had the chance to use it, I was not the least bit confident so I switched to another club. That was a disaster because I was trying to make the wrong club work. When I finally used my new 46° ZipCore I was surprised and delighted with the result. I didn't know how much of a swing to take so it hit barely off the edge of the green . . . but it stopped immediately. I have a tendency to hit low to mid-high shots but this was high and soft. I laughed and thought how cool is that! No rolling past the hole or off the opposite side of the green. I know my playing partners were confused about why I was so happy. The next day I played again but with more confidence. I had 3 opportunities to use my new wedge. Two shots were on the green and again just stopped! The third one was a little short but that was user error when I hit it fat while my ball in a soft muddy area. I'm ready to now schedule some quality practice time.

My new wedge actually came in last Thursday night but I couldn't play with it until we adjusted the shaft length. My husband helped me and we trimmed it down 1" Friday night. It took until today for me to figure out how to put my video snippets together and edit it all. We don't have fancy club equipment or special clamps to hold clubs but we made it work. If you're interested in how we did it, my video is below. We ran out of daylight before we finished so I couldn't show you installing a new grip with the air compressor - it wasn't as easy as the how-to YouTube videos make it. A couple of times the grip just flew off with a loud pop.

Well that depends. Prime at what? Your driving distance might decrease but your short game and putting never has an prime limit. I know an elderly gentleman who recently shot his age all because of his phenomenal wedge game.

Ha, ha - I get it! It's called nesting. Ladies need to fix our nest.