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Your basic tools for starter should not be too long a list. Most of the hobbyists build their tool inventory as they move along. Some tools are just too bulky / expensive to acquire unless one is doing volume and/or profit from it. There is no such thing as a work shop with complete tools. If you want to come close to a complete shop, think of $12-$16 K for all the toys + more. A budget complete shop is around $6K-$8K. Assuming you had already done the re-griping and have those done pat. The heat source to breakdown/soften the epoxy to separate the shaft from the hosel is the next tool. Propane torch , heat gun, mini torch.. all applicable. I prefer the propane torch with pencil flame head nozzle. These can be had at your local hardware store, or online. Shouldn't be too expensive. I like this option because it provide enough heat fast and concentrate at where it's needed. Most the professional golf club smith prefer this option. But all the other options work. The next larger purchase should be a graphite shaft puller/extractor. The manual extractor also works but the benefit of the hydraulic tool will be the separation of the heated hosel from the shaft immediately after the epoxy is broken down. This will minimize the heat damage to the tip of the shaft. Not to mention less elbow grease to operate. In my view, it'll be a great investment if you'll pull more than a couple of shafts each year. You can build one from parts, may have to have machine shop stamp/mill a few parts for you but most of the parts could be assembled from hardware store. Fully assemble unit often found under $200. Find one with the hydraulic unit could be unbolt and changed in the future, they won't last forever. A good bench vice is indispensable, you can improvise with the rubber paddings from hardware store or recycle parts from around the house. The "grip" which is the friction provided between the jaws of the vice and the graphite shaft should be enough , so you won't need to over tighten the hold and cause damage to the shaft. This is important because the lighter weight of the shaft all have thinner wall. Cracked shaft is one of the common mistake from the rookies. A piece of the inner tube from the bicycle tire added to the rubber pads wrap around the shaft, works well most of the time. + a good belt and disc sander / polisher. ( vacuum unit is optional but recommended for your shop's cleanliness and the health of your lungs ) Off you go with the heat source and a good puller. Of course, continue to add some tools here and there, like a kid in the candy store, never enough of the goodies.

After second thought, I admire him to have his golf swing posted on social media. Can't say much more about it except the obvious "old man " swing without much turn of hip and shoulders. The hesitation in re-gripping might be related to the subconscious fear of injuring himself. Sergio was totally another case, mostly between the ears, he rid of most of it now. He's not that aged yet is he ? Maybe he had some serious injury when he was younger. Probably hip and/or knee related.

It's more a challenge of between the long and the short sticks. Somedays my driver and fairway woods are more under control than the short irons, and vice versa. Somedays my putter could not miss within 10' and other days it could not find a cup larger than a barrel. Golf is Not a game of perfect ( there is a book written by Dr. Bob Rotella ) . Learn to play with your B Game or even the C game and then, you'll have a lot more fun doing it. Jack Nicklaus said, many of his winnings came with his B-Game. I had always treat the "hazards" of the game as a challenge when I was new to this game. I would be actually excited to have a difficult shot , like the tee ball found a unfixed divot in the fairway. It actually would give me a chance to practice such shot under pressure. I was told to pick it out of the divot by fellow golfers. I would not miss a chance to have a go at it. It's all how you look at it. If one keeps at it, the percentage of playing up to one's own standard will increase.

I had been looking into this for almost a decade now. No feasible way of doing it, unless we have a material which could be molded into the shape of a driver head. The weight and distribution of the weight could be customized during the process of molding the head. Should have a digital program to customize the process. Ideally, the material should allow normal play within minutes from the molding process. Imagine, this can custom make any spec under the Sun. Science Fiction, I know, at this stage. But flying, deep sea diving........ all came from thoughts not that long ago.

H2O

Private golf club/country club, whether it's equity ownership or not, all have special assessments. The price the members pay for having their own play ground. Club house , fitness room, shower/locker room , dinning facility, plus any other amenities. Swimming pools/diving pool. Sauna room/ massage facility , I had even seen one with bowling alleys , tennis courts............ All of the goodies need to be maintained and add improvements over the years. I know there was a local golf course which hosted the PGA Championship in the past has major exodus of memberships, because of a special assessment of over $80K for improvements. Equity membership means ownership, the members will pay for everything that ties with the property. including lawsuits. Personally, I stayed away from equity ownership, one has to pay the initiation fee to get in, and a hefty exit fee when selling/leaving the club. I enjoy playing the public daily fee golf courses ( and some of them are quite nice, just can't pick your company ), the leftover balance from paying the monthly membership due, could mean a few golf trips to dream destination.

Very true. Players have stuff in the bag for "just in case", rain gear, extra pair of socks, sun screen, snack...... anything you'd imagine that one might need for the 5 -6 hours on the golf course. Believe me, if they cold fit a honey bucket in the bag, it'll be in it.

They're, working with their smart phone ( supposed to be working from home ). There are app to cheat the attendance in case someone checked the activities on the account. I know a few bragging about an hour dog walk and two hours launch and nap break......... they treat the working from home as a semi holiday leave. The walked on waiting list at our local municipal golf courses used to be within 30 min. during the weekdays ( Monday-Thursday, since they charge the same rate as weekend rate for Friday ) Now, depending on the weather, could be anywhere from an hour wait to much longer. No tee time for the single golfer, and I could hear a lot of the single's name being paged to the first tee. Lots of "funny" names when the proshop page the walked on golfers. We could tell when some celebrity's names being pages, or some names from the popular game being announced. Must not want their real name to be announced just in casr their supervisors are also on the golf course.

I believe this phenomenon will also pass with the end of the pandemic. Problem is, no one could say when the end will come. I fear, when the inflation coupled with the depression of the growth of the economy.... we'll be in deep SHIP. The creating of the money ( which we had been doing for awhile before the pandemic ) and the basic industry to carry the banner is the Real Estate market ( which had the bigger bubble than the last crash from the savings and loan crisis). We can tell from the loosening of the regulation for qualifying of a mortgage loan.... not a good sign. We're even begging for foreign investment. Had seen loan for a non-citizen with only a foreign passport. what does that tell you ? Scary stuff if one understand that not just us, the second largest economic body in the world also riding on bubbles of equity value and real estate . we'll have no one to bail us out if the bubble burst. Sometimes, it's better to be ignorant. Burying our heads in the sand, and go play golf.

It is what it is ! I don't believe that you fudged your handicap index on purpose. It any doubt, contact your local PGA where you kept your index and get a final say on the issue. Personally, i would not worry too much about it. Since the handicap calculation should have factored in the seasonal condition on the golf courses. Just like if I play the same golf course over the year, my scores would be lower in the Summer when the turf is firm and the greens rolled true.

You have the right frame for mindset. However, both you and I know, the "businesses" are not run by the people in the business any longer. They all seemed to be run by those young hotshots newly graduated from some Ivy League graduate school. Hate to slam all of them into the category of heartless, but they were hired to be the butcher. Bottom line seemed to be the only goal. Don't be surprised your local healthcare industry is also running by the same type of admin. I know so. Every industry is on the cutting edge of highly competitive environment. On the other hands, I fully understood that they must capture the revenue on the commodity of seasonal income. When the Summer is over, it's over. Can't store it in the inventory ! I'm just kind of sad that, the only country in the whole world with this sports to be affordable by the average income class is gradually diminished into conforming with the rest of the world. Which means the average retired person no longer could afford to stay in this favorite pastime as they would like to. How could one be enthusiastic, If a retired person could only afford a handful of rounds golf each month. They worked hard all their life because they had obligations, no time nor the financial resources to golf as much as they'd like when they were younger. Now they'd love to golf after retirement but no financial means to keep them interested in the game. How could a retired person chose between a pot roast and a round of golf ? I'll tell you my choice. It'll be my favorite food and drink.

But , he is no Sergio ! Gets my head spinning watching his pre-shot routine.

Sincerely feel your pain. The quiet one often swallows and carries all the weight of life by his lonesome.

Same in our area, Many senior with fixed income are cutting back on their range session and rounds per week. Golf is one of the few activities which keeps the senior out of the house and get their exercises. Golf courses are eager to make up for the golf craze from the new population. They even denied the Summer program for junior golf. Why would they give discounted fee for the juniors while they could charge 4 times the green fees to these new golfers ? They run the municipal golf courses like they run a, for profit business.

Good students hates the ZOOM classes. It is easily fudged and cheated for better grades. Eventually, the cheaters will pay the price for not putting in the real effort to learn. However, the difference of current evaluation on the paper is doing no justice to those kids who did not cheat. Zoom classroom is the same as remote work place. I had seen lots of golfers on the golf courses -who looked suspiciously like they should have been at work. Many were busy on their smart phones between the shots. No accountability, and no consequences- until they get caught, of course. Too many are skipping lines ! Skipping the rightful duty and responsibility !

I'd imagine you won't have many choices of golf courses including 45 min-60min. drive each way. In our metro area, within an hour drive will have more than 2 dozen golf courses and some are very nice daily fee. I agree, not to see anything different than the usual NOS for the previous model year, practiced since more than a decade ago. Inflation is already here if you have no noticed. everything is higher in price excluding the paycheck. Some even rolled back on the company share of contribution to the 401K plan. Benefit cuts is normal. Tough time is on the horizon for the average salary earner. Not to mention the small businesses which has been suffering since more than a year ago. Shipping cost has also put a huge damper on the internet sellers. The good old days of no sales tax and low shipping cost is, behind us. I sincerely hope a major part of these new golfers will stay with the game. The charm of this game is still the same. What changed is the perception to the game from the people. The media had painted the picture of ease of the game. People see the 300 yard drive and 200+ yards 5 irons with the Tournament Players ........ they thought this game can be bought by taking a few lessons and get fitted for the equipment, and they could "buy" this game . As you stated, many of the golfers passed on from old age and personally I know quite a few quit the game because of economic reasons..... we'll need the new replacement to maintain the level which was built up in the last few decades. More are working in the industry related fields now than ever, and the reverse of direction will put a lot of us, in financial difficulty.

Here are a few clues to add on. Most the demand came from local public golf courses. Thus, difficult to get a prime time tee at one of the closed in daily fee golf courses. Most new golfers or the "returning" golfers on such golf courses, the time per round of 18 had been extended from the normal 4-4 1/2 hrs. to close to 6 hours. Course marshals are not eager to enforce the playing pace, because the golf courses are looking to rack up the lost revenues from 1 year ago. Green fees are up. No promotions for the local golf courses. Most the resort type, and the high end public daily fee type are sending out promotions for reduced lodging and green fees. This including some of the top in their class. What this tells me is this. Most the crowd on the golf courses now are new to the game or had not been a regular to the game. How to capture these and turn them into a regular patron, will be the key to the future economy of golf industry. The sudden surge of the golfing population was as simple as , this was the only outdoor sports that was available, did not require a long trip nor a lot of money. Basically, no competition except for hiking/camping. With the rising cost of the green fees and the gradual opening of the economy for other type of recreation. More are traveling by air now, more are going to the traditional destinations...... more are dinning out......... There would be a balancing point of supply meets demand and this craze will blow over . Let's face it, this game is not easy to be good. Personally, I don't see someone "enjoying" this game when they couldn't even advance the golf balls more than 150 yards to their intended target. It is still affordable, but tittering on the edge for people to say, wait, I could have done , other things . As for equipment ? All the high price tag and the "fitting craze" will also meet the reality of whether the average person will see this game as they wish to dump everything they have as disposable income into. A lot of them will go back to fine dinning, traveling and their usual activities. The issue lies with, the industry could not turn up more new golf courses over night. It take a lot of investment and time to develop a golf course. Many still remembered the wave of closing down the golf course not that long ago. As for golf clubs ? Personally, I'm not too excited to spend close to a Grand for a driver which will not last more than a few years. Not worth it to me for the extra 10-15 yards, I'd take one more club on the approach shot. The same principle apply, supply meets demand. The equipment world lost some of it's luster when everyone promised the same thing and way too fast to come out with new models. Unless there is an affordable new material involved, they're the same year after year.

After all the tinkering, all I want is a driver head with square to slightly open face in relationship to a fixed hosel. A tall order of some bulge and roll built into the face angle. Wonderful if it has the ability to swap shaft as fast as the adjustable hosel. I'm sure it could bring the cost of manufacturing down slightly ? After being able to swap shaft with a torque wrench, Kind of difficult to go back to the fixed hosel.

I had read somewhere that the adjustable hosel is not "true" to spec. Then why are all the professionals using the adjustable hosel, even, when they basically set on one setting and left it there ? The one major benefit for me, is the ease of changing shaft with the adjustable hosel vs. the old epoxy in fixed hosel. In the old days, we had to remove the shaft, epoxy in the new shaft and wait for the curing time ( normally 24 hrs. + ). So much easier to unscrew the head and insert the new shaft with the adapter in less than a minute. I leave the setting to standard most if not all the time since changing the loft also moved the face angle, which I hate. If the OEM decided to come up with a fixed loft and less adjustment , just for the ease of changing the shaft.... I'll be all for it. Can someone explain the fall-back on the adapter ? is it really just the BBTG ? I know Wishon people had discussed this issue in the past. Can someone put it in a simple layman's form ? Thanks. BTW, my favorite drivers are still the oldies from the 90's.

I agree that with the bag over one's shoulder, could walk right through the green from one end to the other without looping around the green. While push carts must stay on the flatter surface, one can carry the bag to anywhere that one can set his footing. I have seen caddies use push carts on the European/Asian Tour, but not caught up here just yet. Don't believe there is a rule against the use of a push cart in professional tournament. If anything, the use of a push cart might attract a few looks from other players/caddies in the field. I started carrying my golf bag before the double straps was invented. Then the double shoulder straps then the extra light weight bag.... finally gave in to the push carts,, I still carry my own bag with a shorter golf course when carrying only 7-8 clubs. Because it feels "free" to walk anywhere just like a taking a walk in nature instead of feeling like riding a bicycle in countryside with a push cart. Some other countries where a caddie is mandatory, the used of push carts ( single, double and even the quad bag carts ) were in use decades ago. Many country are using the battery powered push carts for the caddies now.

Don't be over bearing on your children unless you want them to be single all their life. I have known children grown up to be distant from their "helicopter" parents.

Sorry that your children have to learn the experience of not trusting anyone by their appearance nor by their position..... However, a great time for opportunity education. What others do have little bearing on what we should do. A little cheering and positive attitude could be contagious. I'm glade that you have put your children through disciplinary training through martial arts, it's benefit is to teach the children discipline through exercise. Not the fighting scene from the movies. I had also put my children through the discipline , not to "buy" the color of the belts but the regular training for their body and spirits. Of course, by looking back to human history ( by the way, history is more fascinating than any other publishing if you can find a period which you want to learn more), we are certainly not lack of the kind who are not conforming to keep the harmony in society. The age of a person has nothing to do with behavior, some of us won't/refused to learn through time and experience. We are more pronged by conditioning from our time period, if we put a white shirt in a bucket of re dye , it'll come out red. Look around us, what we promote now will shape our children and eventually, our society. The media has the major roll of influencing how we think and behave.

Certainly ! I view the situation could be created by conditioning. If "Uncle Roger" have to wear a blind fold in the gym, then he should just stay home. Often times the difference is a fine line between acting appropriate and inappropriately. One would be labeled, once crossing that fine line. I'm not going to tell the others how to live their life, however, the general idea of being a gentleman should be the same throughout the ages.

I guess in these days, not everyone is brought up to respect the others. Sure there were the different ones back when I was younger, but not as rampant as today. I believe the trending started from the Baby Boomer generation and progressed from there. Those golfers in the tournament sounds like the second generation from the Boomers. I'd get a good scolding from my parents when I was young for not being courteous to the others ( especially to strangers ). "Please" and "thank you" were almost as automatic as breathing, hardly hear anyone say nice things these days.

Yes, as the study of group behavior could probably explain some of these out of line action. Some dogs will be perfectly fine by itself but when grouped together, they'll exhibit aggressive behavior. We are, after all, one of the species of the animal kingdoms. If the basic needs were not met ( shelter and food ) , there would be low priority on the other desires. These guys in the group obviously do okay, to join a local tournament for party time. Obviously not serious golf tournament, to say the least.