The 19th Hole

You don’t hit it where Bryson does just ask his caddie …. Oh wait…nvm.

This is what got me over the hump in my early days of trying to get better. My father tried for a long time before it finally stuck, but he always used to say to me "minimize the damage". Once I finally listened my scores got a lot better.

Be sure to remember when you pull out that new wedge that it might put a little more spin on the ball compared to the worn one. You don't notice it as much on the worn club as you have adjusted with it gradually, but then switching to a new one, you might need to put a little more into the shots to compensate for more check.

It used to be a running joke with my playing partners that I would hit my drive and be inside 100 to a lot of greens and they would say "Now what? You're too close...". Most of the time I would chunk or skull a wedge and waste a good drive. I have since put a lot of work into my wedge play so that I can confidently hit shots from various yardages inside 100 and know what the carry will be with that club/swing combo. I have it worked out to 3 wedges (60/56/52) with 3 ball positions (f/m/b), and 3 swings (.5/.75/1) this gives me 27 combinations of known yardages so I can capitalize on my good drives.

I agree. I choke down on all my clubs all the time for different reasons: be it accuracy off the tee, lower ball flight, Adjusting distance with an iron, ect... saying choking down doesn't work as a blind statement just sounds like they have not practiced it enough to see the possible benefits. That's like saying swinging a club lefty doesn't work because I normally swing righty. Clearly wrong, I just don't know how to do it...

This right here...I'm a 3.2 handicap right now and a flop shot is one of my specialty shots and still only use my 60* when I am inside 50 yards. I cannot for the life of me hit a consistent full swing shot with my 60*. For the longest time if I was anywhere near the green I pulled my 60* and tried to play the hero fly it to the hole shot. Sometimes it worked, most times it did not. Now when I miss a green I take my 60, 56, and 52 with me and evaluate the lie and shot that will best give me a chance to get up and in. you rarely really need to hit a true flop shot and will get more consistency from something like the 56*. As for brands, that is very personal. I play a Cobra 60, ping 56, and titleist 52. When I tried to swap to a Ping 52 I literally shanked 40% of my shots with it and ended up giving the club away and going back to my worn out 52*. That was a year ago and I still have not replaced it. Upgrading to new wedges really only helps if A) the ones you have don't fit your game, or B) you play in a lot of wet weather. In dry conditions you still get plenty of spin from a pretty worn wedge.

I Finished that bottle recently. I Thought it was just OK. I preferred the Ilegal Mezcal Joven a little more myself, and I am pretty sure it is a lower cost. For the Casamigos brand the Anejo is very good though. https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/mezcal/ilegal-mezcal-joven/p/113411750?s=1115&igrules=true

I think this is key. It is important to know WHEN to focus on different things. If you don't have a repeatable swing you CAN'T and shouldn't work on certain things. Once you have a relatively consistent motion you can start to tweak things to optimize it.

I play with a guy who comments after almost all my driver shots "yeah but it went too high"...Too bad I was in the fairway and further than him most the time... I agree with you. Just play what works for you.

I hit the ball around 110' high on most my irons and my driver can get upwards of 140', but probably avg around 120'. Most of the time this doesn't bother me too much. While I know I am loosing a bit of distance, I hit it far enough (for the courses I play) that it isn't worth changing my swing too much for it. When I play in windy conditions I can flight it down a little by hitting it more like a punch, but it ends up being "low" for me and about the same height as my friends normal flight. I guess thats why I have 14 clubs...if one is too short, hit the next one. I mess with ball selection a bit to get a lower launch (normally play a Bridgestone B XS, or AVX - but my last round was with the left dash and the height didn't bother me too much), and my driver is set up to a 7.25*.

What no Taylormade - So they can put like 6 more models out a year?

If you ignore the traffic, I find it hard to beat the weather...My Wife says we can't leave the area but at least that means I can golf 12 months a year...

They have it at a few of my local stores here in CA. It would just be a pricey bottle. Easily the most I would have spent on one. Might have to leave some hints for family to pick me one up as a gift or something...

That would be awesome!!...But you might be a bit of a drive for me from the SF bay area to MA. Lol....then again it is for some good drinkin...

Let me start off saying I am no Scotch Expert in any way. However, I can say that I mostly drink high proof bourbon/Rye (Bookers, ECBP, WTRB, KC12, Sagmore Cask rye, ect...) and have found a few scotches that I quite enjoy: Dalmore (12 and Cigar Malt - Both Great) The Balvenie Double Oak (I want to get a bottle of the Caribbean Cask to try soon and maybe down the line might splurge for the Portwood) Highland Park 18yr (I just picked up the Highland Park Cask Strength Release 1, but have not tried it just yet)

Well you must be doing something right with that handicap...Its not all about speed! I have an avg of about 108mph right now and peak at about 112mph when I get lucky...

I know you commented on the existence of the app, but why did you choose to go with the paper version rather than the app? This would help solve the issue of the distance being from some arbitrary location as it will track your location specifically. It does not help with the elevation changes though. (I use the golflogix app myself when on course for yardages on blind shots, hole layout, and stat tracker. I do not use the putting aspect of it, but if you know your balls location and the pin you can make it replicate your put line based on various speeds to give you an aprox aim spot (again I don't use this feature to see how accurate it is though).

yeah its a common thing when repeatedly hitting driver into a net that the ball can crack. These just did it faster than some other ones I have used.

Congrats on not getting into a fight with this guy...Can't promise I would have been as cool headed. Now mind you I would probably have used a few "unpolite" words, but that's kind of how I talk anyways. That said, as soon as he started commenting on My clubs, or the kids club choices it would have been open season for me to comment on EVERY decision/result. I can talk crap a lot without it affecting my game and have seen this result in the other person getting more and more mad just making them play worse and worse. If they finally call me out on it I point out why I am/was doing it. If they change their behavior I will too. I was recently playing in a small tournament and hit my drive right down the fairway, but I broke my tee. I tend to hit up on the ball at about a 8* AoA so I don't break many tees. I commented on it like "Ah S*!t", I broke my tee. That sucks!"...One of the other guys started to to comment on it while walking up to for his tee shot. He proceeded to loose 2 balls off the tee so I threw out a "well at lease you didn't loose your tee..". He didn't like that so much, so I made sure to point out not to comment on other people's games then... Had another guy in a turni a few years ago who on the first 1 tee made a point to comment on how he likes to keep it loose and not worry about stuff on the course. He proceeds to be a jerk for the next few holes. On about the 5th hole we are both on the green and he is away, but not quite ready to putt yet. He says I can go ahead, but I decline and say I want to see what your put does. He got mad that I was forcing him to play in the correct order and starts making comments on how we are not even on the same line and it won't help me at all. He putts and misses. Comments on how little help that could have been. I step up and drain the putt. I look up and say "Thanks for the read". He looses it and now on all my shots he is moving, talking, or doing something. By the 9th hole I had had enough so right in the middle of his back swing I yell. He stops and looks at me. He starts again, and I do it again. When he questioned me I pointed out his actions. Few holes later he ended up getting in a pretty heated argument with one of our other playing partners and almost got kicked off the course. Needless to say, he shot a bad round and we both kicked his butt on the cards. Anyhow, back to your guy. You should have considered making a curtesy call into the club to inform them on how he abuses his 9 hole membership too.

Thanks for the offer, but I already used them up in my home set up. They crack pretty fast on Sim play...

Nice to see that this has finally been resolved and congrats to the winners. However, comparing the first event to the 2nd shows that either The Grint or MSG can't handle this event well. Not only was there a significant delay in the results, the complete lack off communication as to what was happening (if anything) and then also not giving the criteria for how they were chosen (like they did the last time) is a real disappointment. I understand that this is a free contest and I didn't have to enter. I had never used the Grint app before this contest and was intrigued by it. However, the debacle of this event tells me that I don't want to use it going forward. Good luck to anyone that continues to try in these events (if they happen) you have 1 less competitor now.

I dig the GrandSport 35, but not so much the $350 price tag. Was hoping that being 3d printed with with the new plastic material inside would help keep the costing lower as well as help on the MOI. I was wrong...

Just booked a tee time for Sat. Lets see how it goes!

I use this style a lot when I play. I find that when I look down at the ball I cannot for the life of me keep my head still. I follow the club head back and then strike it poorly. But when I look at my target my arms move more freely. I also believe that my body is smarter than my brain when it comes to distance control. I heard it said once that putting is a very athletic motion. Think of it as if I am throwing or rolling a ball to that spot. My body just knows about how hard to throw it. I use this mental thought when looking at longer putts (how hard would I need to toss the ball, then putt with that arm speed in mind).

I want to like the New 2021 TPx5 ball...On my launch monitor it has consistently given me the best ball speed. That said, Every time I try to use it on the course I end up loosing it on the first shot (has happened 3 TIMES!!!). So I switch back to my trusty Bridgestone and play the rest of the round with it...Just cant seem to get that ball in play for some reason....