5-ish Questions with GolfSpy Tim

[JBones]

 

This weeks 5-ish Questions are with Golfspy Tim, MyGolfSpys resident technology/gadget reviewer.

 

 

 

1.  How did you get started in golf? What lead you to MGS/becoming a spy?

 

I played golf through Jr. High, but then got more into racing mountain bikes from high school into college. In college I worked on the grounds crew at a course in northern California - played about 3 holes before giving up cause every shot was a slice into the woods - add that to the fact that the course I worked at seemed to be made up of stuck-up rich white dudes - I decided golf wasn't a game for me.

After I turned 29 a couple of friends started hanging out without me - turns out they were golfing - I was anti golf from my time spent working at the course in college, but when my buddies said I could come along, smoke a cigar and drink beers while driving a vehicle, I was in. Within a few months of playing the local public course with the guys I started realizing my gear ***** tendencies were spiking and I kinda liked the game.

Starting my research on gear I stumbled across MGS - signed up for a chance to win a free putter and got really into golf. Eventually an email from MGS came out looking for people with writing experience and eye for photos. I spent two years working as a journalist for a newspaper and work full-time as a photographer. Suddenly the opinions I had been forming on gear had a chance to be heard by more than just my buddies.

 

 

 

2.  What do you do off the course? How do you balance your personal life/professional life/MGS duties?

 

Off the course I work as a photographer. My specialty is adventurous and mischievous couples and indulgent weddings. I also spend as much time as possible on adventures whether it's mountain biking, backpacking, hiking, dirt biking, shooting guns and causing trouble. If I can't piss off a cabbie, no one can.

It's a tough balance being self employed twice, testing and allowing myself to have fun. My biggest fight is stepping away from my photography to allow myself enough time to play golf, test and write - it all comes down to scheduling and forcing myself to stick with it. Being a spontaneous person, that's a tough fight, but as I turn 35 this year with a kid on the way, my goal is to hold strong to a schedule that maximizes my free time.

 

 

 

3.  You seem to be the "tech guy", is there anything coming out in 2015 that has you really excited?

 

I love the tech stuff and I think there's some pretty cool things happening right now - the end of 2014 was exciting to see it all coming together and I think 2015 is where we're going to see tech starting to really come into it's own.

In the launch monitor department we're seeing gaps filled, prices coming down, and new tech performing better at lower price points. Sky Trak is a perfect example - a camera based launch monitor that costs less than $2,000 (initial testing is promising and I can't wait to share our launch monitor buyer's guide)

One of the more exciting pieces on the tech side is seeing products fill more than one need - eg: the Garmin S6 watch is a GPS watch that also captures your swing tempo and can be used as a practice aid for tempo.

Swing analyzers like Swing Byte, ZEPP, Sky Pro (the list goes on) continue to create buzz and have been put to use outside of their original intent by PING as a fitting tool.

And let's not forget Game Golf and ARCCOS - Game Golf was released and almost immediately answered by two other products - ARCCOS and CaddieOn.

I'm sitting back holding my breath with a grin waiting for the first release of a three-in-one GPS/Swing Analyzer/Stat Tracker - and with the rate that golf technology is moving, maybe that will end up being a four-in-one.

 

 

 

4.  What is your preference GPS or Laser and why?

 

And of course you'd come to me with a loaded question. Personally, I carry GPS - but maybe that's because I find myself on the wrong fairway without views of my target flag too often. I play with GolfSpy Dave and he carries a laser - between the two of us, we're pretty well off on a course for distances.

Personally, I love GPS and I trust it to be consistent and accurate enough for my game. Breaking down golf stats, I'm someone who shouldn't be pin hunting, I should be going for the center of most greens - GPS is perfect for this, and with a handheld or phone I can play a new course with visual previews of an entire hole as I reach the tee box and break things down without shooting into the dark.

So if you're gonna pin me in a corner, I'm gonna go GPS.

 

 

 

5. Do you think sometimes golfers get overly reliant on GPS or lasers?  What would happen If you had to play without electronic help?  Does all this gadgetry take away from the essence of the game?

 

a)  I don't know if I would say that golfers are overly reliant on GPS or lasers - but I do see a lot of players on the course who use one or the other and don't do a lot of thinking when they are using one. They find the number and then hit the club they think will carry the ball to that distance. Not exactly the ideal way to play golf and make shot selections. Too reliant? - maybe not, but do they make us lazy - yes.

There's probably an argument for GPS and lasers helping to speed up golf - but I can't say I've seen that be the case on the course.

 Though rounds without electronics are rare for me, every once in a while it happens. My first step is grabbing a yardage book. I'm kind of fond of yardage books - if there's one thing I'd like to collect from every course I ever play, that would do the trick. Playing with a yardage book slows down my ADD brain (not an easy feat) which kinda helps my game - but my ADD loves the speed of GPS, pointing to a spot, getting a distance and moving forward. I learned the game without GPS/Electronics and I wouldn't venture as far as to say that I've scored any lower adding electronics to my game… (am I allowed to say that….???)

c)  The essence of the game is a bit different for each person - why we golf - what we get from it - we might share similar stories and ideas, but in the end some people use it as an escape from all connections and don't want any electronics. I've heard people talk about the purity of the game and electronics getting in the way.

I think we're so far removed from that reality - I'm a black and white sorta guy - so if I was to make the argument that GPS/Lasers take away from the essence of golf, I'd go all the way to the point of arguing that there should be no yardage markers at all on the course, no yardage books - as these would all take away from being in nature chasing a white (or pink) ball around. Then we'd have to say using a riding cart or even a push cart is wrong, and modern golf clubs get in the way too - and driving a car to the course, sleeping in a home with electricity, or buying food from a super market. If we go down that road I'll need to buy a hickory set and only play balata balls (funny enough, it's crossed my mind, it sounds like a ton of fun - but I don't think that's the answer to golf for me right now and I don't think it's going to help fix what's broken in golf today)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kenny B]

C'mon Bones!  4-6 is 5-ish.  10 is 10-ish.  

 

Tim,

Are you and Dave still thinking about a trip up to Oregon, or will the new "addition" change any planning?  If you guys plan a trip, let us Northwestern'ers know.

[JBones]

C'mon Bones! 4-6 is 5-ish. 10 is 10-ish.

 

Tim,

Are you and Dave still thinking about a trip up to Oregon, or will the new "addition" change any planning? If you guys plan a trip, let us Northwestern'ers know.

I had so much I wanted to ask, but it's titled "5 Questions with...." Lol

 

In my defense, I kept them all related.

[fozcycle]

Tim, Let's go a little deeper on #1.....Who got you started in golf when you were a kid? Father, Uncle, or Grandfather?  Share a story with us.

[GolfSpy Tim]

Kenny - working on a Bandon trip for March/April (dunno if Spy Dave will join...) but before the baby comes (my wife is preggers...) I gotta knock out bandon and pebble.

 

I'll post in MGS before heading up!

 

Foz...

 

Golf... strange history for me. My grandpa was always really into golf as long as I can remember - at some point I think he took my dad or something - at the time we lived on 4 acres of hilly dirt/weeds... I decided I'd build my own golf course since I couldn't go with my dad and Grandpa - so... I grabbed my dad's sticks and dug out tee boxes and "greens" in the dirt winding around our property. It was the summer, and as soon as the summer was over, that kinda ended.

A few years later and I was staying with my grandparents and my grandpa took me out to golf - he pulled a hickory off the wall (displayed in his livingroom) and took me to a course - I only remember that he pulled the stick off the wall - don't really remember golfing specifically.

 

Give it another year or two (I think about the time I got to 6th grade/jr. high) my family built a home 1 block from a golf course. I was older and mowing lawns for money and I'd walk to the golf course and hit balls and once in a while play golf with my dad. I got my own set of sorts... I remember everyone telling me I hit it stupid straight. I loved that - I loved getting out with my dad doing something he and "the guys" did together.

I even setup a tee box in my front yard - we'd hit balls into the empty field across the street (toward the golf course) and as I got older, eventually we could hit all the way across the field to the golf course itself.

 

Then high school hit - I got into racing mountain bikes and competing in bike trails (video of me riding here)

Thought I was gonna go pro. Didn't play much golf anymore.

 

Went away to college, got a job on a grounds crew at a golf course (Mayacama) and couldn't hit a ball straight to save my life and learned that everyone who played golf hated me (I was on the grounds crew... I'm very kind to grounds crew because of this experience) - decided that golf was for rich and rude white people.

Learned that you can smoke cigars and drink while "playing" golf and I got back into it.

And here I am today... sitting shirtless writing a LONG response to a short question.

[revkev]

We love you Tim! When will we get a Southeast MGSer?