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[Reesedw]

On 8/9/2020 at 1:35 PM, B.Boston said:

Anyone else try astrophotography?  I took some nice star pics up at lake in Maine. Thought you guys might enjoy them. 
 

a 20 minute exposure:

a 15 minute exposure at a lower ISO:

a 15 second exposure at a higher ISO:

and this one at the tail end of sunset with the Big Dipper visible. Also 15 seconds but a much lower ISO  

I do not try Astrophtography.. But I do normal photography.. Living in the PNW, Just outside Seattle, I have so much to Photograph.. Very cool...  I have tried to get some good pictures of the Moon a few times but they never come out worth a crap.. I use a Nikon D40x, about 12 years old but still takes amazing photos, I have a 18-105 lens that I use for most.. 

[GolfSpy BOS]

I do not try Astrophtography.. But I do normal photography.. Living in the PNW, Just outside Seattle, I have so much to Photograph.. Very cool...  I have tried to get some good pictures of the Moon a few times but they never come out worth a crap.. I use a Nikon D40x, about 12 years old but still takes amazing photos, I have a 18-105 lens that I use for most.. 

Moon shots are hard. I haven’t tried, but I’ve read you need a decent zoom and need to stack multiple exposures. To get the highs and lows right.


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[Reesedw]

13 minutes ago, B.Boston said:

Moon shots are hard. I haven’t tried, but I’ve read you need a decent zoom and need to stack multiple exposures. To get the highs and lows right.


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Heck I am not even Trying to get a close up of the moon, Just the moon within a landscape picture.. they never seem to come out decent.. 

Here are a couple of my pictures.. 

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Reesedw

[dlow206]

I thought something could only be trademarked once. Apparently not. Bowflex just released an exercise bike called "VeloCore". Both Bowflex and Fujikura have "VeloCore" trademarked.

[tony@CIC]

I thought something could only be trademarked once. Apparently not. Bowflex just released an exercise bike called "VeloCore". Both Bowflex and Fujikura have "VeloCore" trademarked.

Different/unrelated product.


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[russtopherb]

This is what used to be the 6th green on my home course. It closed 3 years ago now and was in the process of being purchased by the owner of another local course when THAT one had a costly fire. So the course has been overrun and there’s been no movement on a sale. Not even to a developer. 
 

I wish someone had bought it and kept it running. They’d be making a killing right now. 2 mins from my house and very easy to walk 9 holes. It’s where my son learned to play. 
 

[tony@CIC]

This is what used to be the 6th green on my home course. It closed 3 years ago now and was in the process of being purchased by the owner of another local course when THAT one had a costly fire. So the course has been overrun and there’s been no movement on a sale. Not even to a developer. 
 
I wish someone had bought it and kept it running. They’d be making a killing right now. 2 mins from my house and very easy to walk 9 holes. It’s where my son learned to play. 
 

That would take quite a bit of work to make it useable.


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[russtopherb]

That would take quite a bit of work to make it useable.


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At this point, absolutely. When it was about to be sold it had only been closed for a few months. Sadly a clubhouse fire at the potential new owners course threw a big wrench into things there.

The function hall there had a booming business too. It’s too bad.


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[tommc23]

I can't wait for my female dog to be out of heat so I can have both dogs together at all times again. 

[cnosil]

I love when the most wanted testing for players irons starts. Just so much fun hitting these clubs. Yes, they are a bit shorter but I do seem to hit them pretty well. Really interesting hitting the various categories and seeing how ball flight, spin, and distance varies. There are some great looking clubs in this years lineup.

[tommc23]

50 minutes ago, cnosil said:

I love when the most wanted testing for players irons starts. Just so much fun hitting these clubs. Yes, they are a bit shorter but I do seem to hit them pretty well. Really interesting hitting the various categories and seeing how ball flight, spin, and distance varies. There are some great looking clubs in this years lineup.

I'll take the half club shorter distance, I have with my set, to enjoy that sweet feeling of a ni e shot

[cnosil]

I'll take the half club shorter distance, I have with my set, to enjoy that sweet feeling of a ni e shot

I can find models that provide that good feeling across most types of clubs. I finished GI last week and many of the clubs felt
good. Maybe we get thrown off by the ones that don’t sound/feel great. I am pretty objective when it comes to clubs and performance but some seems so right about players irons and I seem to make better face contact. Perhaps it is something about the design but just a quick look at the numbers and it seems like the consistency is much better. Makes me kind of rethink the threads about people hitting players irons better than GI clubs.

[tommc23]

12 minutes ago, cnosil said:

I can find models that provide that good feeling across most types of clubs. I finished GI last week and many of the clubs felt
good. Maybe we get thrown off by the ones that don’t sound/feel great. I am pretty objective when it comes to clubs and performance but some seems so right about players irons and I seem to make better face contact. Perhaps it is something about the design but just a quick look at the numbers and it seems like the consistency is much better. Makes me kind of rethink the threads about people hitting players irons better than GI clubs.

I get no flyers from thick rough and I got them with the GI clubs I played over the years. I also really enjoy the consistency of all my strikes not matter if it's not the best hit I get the same distance it just feels worse and makes me focus and I enjoy that. 

[dlow206]

6 hours ago, cnosil said:

I can find models that provide that good feeling across most types of clubs. I finished GI last week and many of the clubs felt
good. Maybe we get thrown off by the ones that don’t sound/feel great. I am pretty objective when it comes to clubs and performance but some seems so right about players irons and I seem to make better face contact. Perhaps it is something about the design but just a quick look at the numbers and it seems like the consistency is much better. Makes me kind of rethink the threads about people hitting players irons better than GI clubs.

I'm curious how I would hit a Player's distance iron. When I go in for a real fitting next year, I will go in with an open mind and not assume I need a SGI iron. 

[chisag]

21 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

I'm curious how I would hit a Player's distance iron. When I go in for a real fitting next year, I will go in with an open mind and not assume I need a SGI iron. 

 

... Pretty much how I have always approached Demo Day at the PGA Show and every year I am surprised by a club I normally would not even look at. Golf is a very unique game and as the saying goes it is "80% mental and the other 20% is mental." If you stand on a tee box and think "I sure don't wanna go in the water on the right" your brain condenses that to Go-Water-Right. There is a point of diminishing return like a decent ball striker thinking MB's will make them a better player, but for most that play the game seriously, you have to believe in the clubs you are hitting. Obviously one of the reasons sooooo many constantly change putters. Probably the only club in the bag that is almost irrelevant if you have the right putter for your stroke. A $29 Tour Edge will putt just as well as a $399 Scotty Cameron when hit with a Putting Machine. But if you believe the Scotty will produce better results... it will. Of course there are feel, looks, balance and a few other qualities that can make a putter better for you, but by and large there is not much difference when hit with the same stroke.

... Clubs are the same. If you need or even think you need all the help a SGI iron offers, you will hit your best shots with a SGI iron. A GI iron splits the difference with a Players Iron and in my biased opinion, most should be playing a GI iron because it offers everything a decent ball striker needs. More ability to control flight than a SGI and more forgiving than a PI. All that said I never had a problem with a student wanting to move up to a PI if they have the ability to hit the ball around the center of the face and do not need assistance with hitting the ball high enough. Love a thin top line that looks stealthy? I remember playing MP33's and asking the Mizuno Rep if they have any tour issue irons with a thinner top line. He said they did not but did make quite a few sets for Darren Clarke that preferred a thicker top line because he felt the club was meatier and produced a better feel. That was an eye opener for me. 

... Of course a qualified fitting should answer any questions you have. How far you hit your irons, how high, how much spin and how often you mis hit it and how far offline that miss hit will be. Hitting shots and seeing the numbers usually influence us in a good way. Hitting a GI with a good trajectory, distance and finding the center usually gives us positive feedback to continue to hit good shots. Hitting a PI that does not do all of the above can quickly cure playing an iron simply for its looks, especially looks in the bag. And the opposite is true as well, if you have a better trajectory, tighter dispersion and great spin numbers with a PI than a GI, you will probably make better swings with it. Good luck with your fitting! 

[tommc23]

59 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

I'm curious how I would hit a Player's distance iron. When I go in for a real fitting next year, I will go in with an open mind and not assume I need a SGI iron. 

Hit anything and everything you can

[dlow206]

50 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Pretty much how I have always approached Demo Day at the PGA Show and every year I am surprised by a club I normally would not even look at. Golf is a very unique game and as the saying goes it is "80% mental and the other 20% is mental." If you stand on a tee box and think "I sure don't wanna go in the water on the right" your brain condenses that to Go-Water-Right. There is a point of diminishing return like a decent ball striker thinking MB's will make them a better player, but for most that play the game seriously, you have to believe in the clubs you are hitting. Obviously one of the reasons sooooo many constantly change putters. Probably the only club in the bag that is almost irrelevant if you have the right putter for your stroke. A $29 Tour Edge will putt just as well as a $399 Scotty Cameron when hit with a Putting Machine. But if you believe the Scotty will produce better results... it will. Of course there are feel, looks, balance and a few other qualities that can make a putter better for you, but by and large there is not much difference when hit with the same stroke.

... Clubs are the same. If you need or even think you need all the help a SGI iron offers, you will hit your best shots with a SGI iron. A GI iron splits the difference with a Players Iron and in my biased opinion, most should be playing a GI iron because it offers everything a decent ball striker needs. More ability to control flight than a SGI and more forgiving than a PI. All that said I never had a problem with a student wanting to move up to a PI if they have the ability to hit the ball around the center of the face and do not need assistance with hitting the ball high enough. Love a thin top line that looks stealthy? I remember playing MP33's and asking the Mizuno Rep if they have any tour issue irons with a thinner top line. He said they did not but did make quite a few sets for Darren Clarke that preferred a thicker top line because he felt the club was meatier and produced a better feel. That was an eye opener for me. 

... Of course a qualified fitting should answer any questions you have. How far you hit your irons, how high, how much spin and how often you mis hit it and how far offline that miss hit will be. Hitting shots and seeing the numbers usually influence us in a good way. Hitting a GI with a good trajectory, distance and finding the center usually gives us positive feedback to continue to hit good shots. Hitting a PI that does not do all of the above can quickly cure playing an iron simply for its looks, especially looks in the bag. And the opposite is true as well, if you have a better trajectory, tighter dispersion and great spin numbers with a PI than a GI, you will probably make better swings with it. Good luck with your fitting! 

Thanks for the thoughts. GI is probably the right class of irons for me. My Mavrik Max are a bit aggressive on the offset, probably too much. 

[sirchunksalot]

On 8/26/2020 at 7:44 PM, russtopherb said:

This is what used to be the 6th green on my home course. It closed 3 years ago now and was in the process of being purchased by the owner of another local course when THAT one had a costly fire. So the course has been overrun and there’s been no movement on a sale. Not even to a developer. 
 

I wish someone had bought it and kept it running. They’d be making a killing right now. 2 mins from my house and very easy to walk 9 holes. It’s where my son learned to play. 
 

That makes me sad, it's tough seeing a course devolve into ruin. I wish someone would come in and develop it. One of our two public courses went downhill a few years ago until a local developer picked up the lease about four years ago. It was a mess and it killed me to drive by it and see it grown up.

That developer got it back into decent shape, but never put the time or money on it to realize it's full potential. He let the lease expire a few months ago and fortunately someone swooped in and is in the process of renovating it. 

 

[tommc23]

1 hour ago, chisag said:

 

... Pretty much how I have always approached Demo Day at the PGA Show and every year I am surprised by a club I normally would not even look at. Golf is a very unique game and as the saying goes it is "80% mental and the other 20% is mental." If you stand on a tee box and think "I sure don't wanna go in the water on the right" your brain condenses that to Go-Water-Right. There is a point of diminishing return like a decent ball striker thinking MB's will make them a better player, but for most that play the game seriously, you have to believe in the clubs you are hitting. Obviously one of the reasons sooooo many constantly change putters. Probably the only club in the bag that is almost irrelevant if you have the right putter for your stroke. A $29 Tour Edge will putt just as well as a $399 Scotty Cameron when hit with a Putting Machine. But if you believe the Scotty will produce better results... it will. Of course there are feel, looks, balance and a few other qualities that can make a putter better for you, but by and large there is not much difference when hit with the same stroke.

... Clubs are the same. If you need or even think you need all the help a SGI iron offers, you will hit your best shots with a SGI iron. A GI iron splits the difference with a Players Iron and in my biased opinion, most should be playing a GI iron because it offers everything a decent ball striker needs. More ability to control flight than a SGI and more forgiving than a PI. All that said I never had a problem with a student wanting to move up to a PI if they have the ability to hit the ball around the center of the face and do not need assistance with hitting the ball high enough. Love a thin top line that looks stealthy? I remember playing MP33's and asking the Mizuno Rep if they have any tour issue irons with a thinner top line. He said they did not but did make quite a few sets for Darren Clarke that preferred a thicker top line because he felt the club was meatier and produced a better feel. That was an eye opener for me. 

... Of course a qualified fitting should answer any questions you have. How far you hit your irons, how high, how much spin and how often you mis hit it and how far offline that miss hit will be. Hitting shots and seeing the numbers usually influence us in a good way. Hitting a GI with a good trajectory, distance and finding the center usually gives us positive feedback to continue to hit good shots. Hitting a PI that does not do all of the above can quickly cure playing an iron simply for its looks, especially looks in the bag. And the opposite is true as well, if you have a better trajectory, tighter dispersion and great spin numbers with a PI than a GI, you will probably make better swings with it. Good luck with your fitting! 

The high trajectory and high spin I have in my swing makes me enjoy hitting blades. I did got into my fitting wanting a thin top line and that's what I got and I have had friends who hit my clubs who play GI clubs and be shocked at how easy they are to hit. Like Chisag said if your confident in the clubs you'll play better.

[cnosil]

3 hours ago, dlow206 said:

I'm curious how I would hit a Player's distance iron. When I go in for a real fitting next year, I will go in with an open mind and not assume I need a SGI iron. 

Part of the reason I enjoy being one of the testers is I get to try everything.  What I find is that I can get most any club to work well;  what differentiates club is feel and sound.  When I talk feel, I mean balance and how the club feels in the hands.  That was kind of what I alluded to in my original post on this....for me, players irons just feel better in the swing; not necessarily at impact.  When looking at what to play,  you have to weigh the good shots with the bad shots and how consistent the overall performance it.  As we test,  we are asked for subjective feedback on the clubs and I find that a difficult question to answer as I start discussing looks and sound neither of which address which club I hit best.  

[chisag]

4 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Part of the reason I enjoy being one of the testers is I get to try everything.  What I find is that I can get most any club to work well;  what differentiates club is feel and sound.  When I talk feel, I mean balance and how the club feels in the hands.  That was kind of what I alluded to in my original post on this....for me, players irons just feel better in the swing; not necessarily at impact.  When looking at what to play,  you have to weigh the good shots with the bad shots and how consistent the overall performance it.  As we test,  we are asked for subjective feedback on the clubs and I find that a difficult question to answer as I start discussing looks and sound neither of which address which club I hit best.  

 

... We are all unique and different but I know one of the things I found for myself was standing in one spot and hitting a club multiple times doesn't tell me how it will perform for one shot on the course when it counts. Testing shafts with the Pro's the OEMs will only let them hit it 2 maybe 3 times and if the numbers/trajectory/feel isn't there, they move to another because the Pro's have the ability to adjust their swing to fit the shaft and get the results they want to see/feel. I think that might be what you get to do when testing clubs? I do the same on Demo Day when a club launches a little low or high, I start adjusting my swing to get the results I like. There were quite a few times I fell in love with a shaft or club on Demo Day but found the performance was not the same on the course during a round. The worst was a Taylor Made R1 and original Ping LST. I was dialed in at the show and they both were just awesome. Back home on the course I was left-right, high-low and missing the middle once I started trying to compensate and the Ping LST was much louder than at the show with so many people making noise and hitting clubs all around me. So now I am more aware and try to only hit a club/shaft a few times without getting into a groove. Ymmv of course ...
 

[cnosil]

3 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... We are all unique and different but I know one of the things I found for myself was standing in one spot and hitting a club multiple times doesn't tell me how it will perform for one shot on the course when it counts. Testing shafts with the Pro's the OEMs will only let them hit it 2 maybe 3 times and if the numbers/trajectory/feel isn't there, they move to another because the Pro's have the ability to adjust their swing to fit the shaft and get the results they want to see/feel. I think that might be what you get to do when testing clubs? I do the same on Demo Day when a club launches a little low or high, I start adjusting my swing to get the results I like. There were quite a few times I fell in love with a shaft or club on Demo Day but found the performance was not the same on the course during a round. The worst was a Taylor Made R1 and original Ping LST. I was dialed in at the show and they both were just awesome. Back home on the course I was left-right, high-low and missing the middle once I started trying to compensate and the Ping LST was much louder than at the show with so many people making noise and hitting clubs all around me. So now I am more aware and try to only hit a club/shaft a few times without getting into a groove. Ymmv of course ...
 

That probably plays a part,  but the protocols for testing are generally 4 shots and then switch clubs with usually 5 clubs per session.  Between clubs you are switching things up on the GC Quad and between shots it isn't just rake the ball over as you have to keep the balls out of the sight of the GC Quad so it only sees one ball.   I do find clubs that I struggle to hit as I go through the various clubs and when I get back to the club during the rotation I still hit it poorly even though I may have hit the others well.   Even if I hit a club well as part of most wanted I would want to do more experimentation and fitting to set it up as an actual gamer.  

 

 

[Rickp]

Thinking about taking a few shots w the Barrett 50. Should be a hoot, haven’t shot a 50 cal since 1969.


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[JohnSmalls]

On 8/1/2020 at 9:36 AM, MattF said:

A hole and a couple of bags of lime...2 weeks or so and there's no evidence.

Are we cousins!?

[MattF]

1 hour ago, JohnSmalls said:

Are we cousins!?

As long as we're not kissing, we could be!

[JohnSmalls]

1 hour ago, MattF said:

As long as we're not kissing, we could be!

Hahaha I knew you'd go there.  Luckily I'm not from West Virginia

[dlow206]

Ugh, I have a sinus infection caused by seasonal allergies. As a chronic sufferer of sinus infections, usually I get them from colds, but not from allergies.

At least its not Covid, they tested me for that just in case and that was negative.

[Kenny B]

54 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

Ugh, I have a sinus infection caused by seasonal allergies. As a chronic sufferer of sinus infections, usually I get them from colds, but not from allergies.

At least its not Covid, they tested me for that just in case and that was negative.

I have sinus allergies every July-Sept for 50 years, and right now it's worse because of smoke from forest and brush fires in the area; swollen itchy eyes, sneezing.  Problem is now when I go to a public place, people think I have COVID.

[dlow206]

12 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

I have sinus allergies every July-Sept for 50 years, and right now it's worse because of smoke from forest and brush fires in the area; swollen itchy eyes, sneezing.  Problem is now when I go to a public place, people think I have COVID.

Allergies suck. I pretty much take allergy meds year around and also have had sinus surgery.

[Kenny B]

48 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

Allergies suck. I pretty much take allergy meds year around and also have had sinus surgery.

Unfortunately, I live in the worst place in the US for my allergies.  I can get in the car and drive for 2 hours in any direction and feel better.  So, for 3 months I'm miserable; it's worse when temps get over 100º.  Can't take most meds because of BP.