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OFFICIAL FORUM MEMBER REVIEW - KBS $ TAPER SHAFTS


JBones

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KBS Tour - Stiff

 

 

I'm liking the idea of the heavier shaft/lower flight of the $-Taper.

 

 

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Coming from using the same shaft you are I am definitely liking these more than the Tours. I think that they offer the ability to work the ball without it going way off course if you don't get it just right. My miss hits with the Tour shafts were more of a hook where these seem to give a more reasonable draw look on the same mishit.
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Coming from using the same shaft you are I am definitely liking these more than the Tours. I think that they offer the ability to work the ball without it going way off course if you don't get it just right. My miss hits with the Tour shafts were more of a hook where these seem to give a more reasonable draw look on the same mishit.

Good! I'll follow yours extra close. I knew one of you reviewers had mine before but I couldn't remember which one.

 

I have similar results with the Tours but the ball flies the other direction instead.

 

 

 

Sent from carrier pigeon using MyGolfSpy

In my ATumSBM.jpg Pisa, riding on a hXf3ptG.jpg 3.5+

:ping-small: G410+
:755178188_TourEdge: EXS 5W
:cobra-small: King F7 Hy

:ping-small: i500 5-GW
wxW5hk4.jpg Equalizer 56/60
:ping-small: Heppler Ketsch

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Thought this image would be. Helpful for folks wondering where these shafts sit in the KBS offerings.attachicon.gifmaxresdefault.jpg

 

This is a great chart for a basic understanding of their shaft line! How did I not come across this before? Glad you posted it up!

In the Sun Mountain 4.5LS 14-way bag:
Driver: :taylormade-small: M2 10.5° :: Accra FX260
Fairway: :taylormade-small: M5 19° :: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec 7X Blue
Hybrid: :titelist-small: TS2 21° :: Mitsubishi Black 80G50
Irons:  :taylormade-small: P790 (5-AW) :: KBS Tour 110
Sand Wedge: :cleveland-small: CBX-2 54° :: KBS Tour 110
Lob Wedge: :cleveland-small: RTX-3 58° :: TT Dynamic Gold
Putter: :cameron-small: Phantom X 5.5
Ball: :titelist-small: AVX
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got out to the range last night.  Really tight dispersion for me.  I also tried hitting a low shot, normal and high shots.  The c taper was easier to keep lower but the $-taper is still very doable for me.  

Driver : Cobra LTD pro x-stiff 9.5 degrees

3 wood: TaylorMade RBZ tour spoon 13 degrees

5 wood: Titleist 906F 18 degrees

Irons: Mizuno MP-64 $-taper 130

wedges: Mizuno S5 50,56 - Cleveland 60 degree 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 3

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got out to the range last night.  Really tight dispersion for me.  I also tried hitting a low shot, normal and high shots.  The c taper was easier to keep lower but the $-taper is still very doable for me.  

 

Tight dispersion is the name of the game! My last 2 rounds, I have decided to tee off with my 4i (longest iron I carry) on some of the short par 4s where I might normally tee off with a 5w.... This might just become a go to shot for me! My 4-iron is money off the tee (see what I did there? :P) and I am definitely seeing a tighter dispersion in my long irons with the $-Taper.

In the Sun Mountain 4.5LS 14-way bag:
Driver: :taylormade-small: M2 10.5° :: Accra FX260
Fairway: :taylormade-small: M5 19° :: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec 7X Blue
Hybrid: :titelist-small: TS2 21° :: Mitsubishi Black 80G50
Irons:  :taylormade-small: P790 (5-AW) :: KBS Tour 110
Sand Wedge: :cleveland-small: CBX-2 54° :: KBS Tour 110
Lob Wedge: :cleveland-small: RTX-3 58° :: TT Dynamic Gold
Putter: :cameron-small: Phantom X 5.5
Ball: :titelist-small: AVX
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Working on not coming so far to the inside on the back swing, and then trying to stay on plane in the downswing. Its just a new feeling so I don't quite have it figured out yet. I hit today though and it went much better. Had some pulls and pushes but getting some good straight flights too.

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Awesome start guys, can't wait to hear about it's performance and feel on the course.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

WITB:

 

Driver:   :taylormade-small: Sim2 Max w/ Fujikura Motore X F3 shaft

FW Wood:   :cobra-small:  F9 wood 14.5* 

Hybrids:  :taylormade-small: Sim2 Max 3 Hybrid & :nike-small: Vapor Flex 4 hybrid  

Irons:  :srixon-small: Z565 - 7 thru PW & ZU85 - 5 thru 6 with Recoil ZT9 F4 shafts                                            

Wedges:   :cleveland-small: RTX4 52*, 56*, 60* 

Putter:  Scotty Cameron M2 Newport

Ball:  :Snell: Black & :titelist-small: Pro V1

Bag: 2018 MyGolfSpy stand Bag & 2021 Greenside Golf stand bag

 

 

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I played horrific this weekend.  Was not because of iron play though.  Struggled off the tee.  Has anyone noticed any distance gains from these shafts?  I don't have any specific numbers yet, but I feel like I'm flying the ball farther.  The only reason I'm saying this is because I played a course this weekend I've been playing for years and I pretty know much which clubs I need to use for every single hole.  I seemed to overshoot most greens this past round.  Then really struggle with short game 

Driver : Cobra LTD pro x-stiff 9.5 degrees

3 wood: TaylorMade RBZ tour spoon 13 degrees

5 wood: Titleist 906F 18 degrees

Irons: Mizuno MP-64 $-taper 130

wedges: Mizuno S5 50,56 - Cleveland 60 degree 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 3

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I played horrific this weekend.  Was not because of iron play though.  Struggled off the tee.  Has anyone noticed any distance gains from these shafts?  I don't have any specific numbers yet, but I feel like I'm flying the ball farther.  The only reason I'm saying this is because I played a course this weekend I've been playing for years and I pretty know much which clubs I need to use for every single hole.  I seemed to overshoot most greens this past round.  Then really struggle with short game 

Where did you play?  Where do you play mostly.  Maybe we can get a round in together soon, I could bring my SC200 out for you to get some distances on the range if you wanted.  I'm up near BWI, but as has been discussed in the regional thread, several of us don't mind driving an hour or bit more to play in the area. 

:ping-small: G430 Max 10K 

:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

:titelist-small: SM10 48F/54M and58K

:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

:scotty-cameron-1: Select 5.5 Flowback 35" 

:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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Played at Reston national in northern va. I actually have a bay that I can grab some data from. Might try that this weekend.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Driver : Cobra LTD pro x-stiff 9.5 degrees

3 wood: TaylorMade RBZ tour spoon 13 degrees

5 wood: Titleist 906F 18 degrees

Irons: Mizuno MP-64 $-taper 130

wedges: Mizuno S5 50,56 - Cleveland 60 degree 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 3

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Played at Reston national in northern va. I actually have a bay that I can grab some data from. Might try that this weekend.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Cool...I played there last fall at one of our corporate meetings.   The course has really held up pretty well over the years, it had been a while since I played there. 

:ping-small: G430 Max 10K 

:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

:titelist-small: SM10 48F/54M and58K

:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

:scotty-cameron-1: Select 5.5 Flowback 35" 

:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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I played horrific this weekend. Was not because of iron play though. Struggled off the tee. Has anyone noticed any distance gains from these shafts? I don't have any specific numbers yet, but I feel like I'm flying the ball farther. The only reason I'm saying this is because I played a course this weekend I've been playing for years and I pretty know much which clubs I need to use for every single hole. I seemed to overshoot most greens this past round. Then really struggle with short game

I plan on going to a PGA superstore to find out sometime soon. Based on a few rounds I would say the short irons may have picked up a few yards but nothing crazy, 7-4 iron feel like there might be more change. We'll see.
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No one chose the black shafts?

Driver: :callaway-small: Rogue ST Max LS Tensei AV Blue S

3w/5w: :titelist-small: TSi2 Tensei AV Raw Blue S

4h: :mizuno-small: CLK 22* Hybrid Tensei CK Pro Blue 80HY S

Irons 5-PW: :mizuno-small: 223 Steelfiber PR 95 S

Wedges: :cleveland-small: RTX Zipcore Tour Rack 50, 54, 58 Steelfiber PR 105

Putter: LAB Link.1

Ball: :srixon-small: Z-Star Diamond

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No one chose the black shafts?

We weren't given the option. I would have loved to have seen what those looked like. But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth either. Seems performance in this case holds more weight than looks, of course you could probably say that for any of these reviews.
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I played horrific this weekend.  Was not because of iron play though.  Struggled off the tee.  Has anyone noticed any distance gains from these shafts?  I don't have any specific numbers yet, but I feel like I'm flying the ball farther.  The only reason I'm saying this is because I played a course this weekend I've been playing for years and I pretty know much which clubs I need to use for every single hole.  I seemed to overshoot most greens this past round.  Then really struggle with short game 

 

I plan on going to a PGA superstore to find out sometime soon. Based on a few rounds I would say the short irons may have picked up a few yards but nothing crazy, 7-4 iron feel like there might be more change. We'll see.

 

My distances appear to be fairly similar to before the shaft change, except for my miss-hits. The $-Taper seem to negatively impact me more distance wise on off center hits than my Nippon 950gh did. It's not a huge drop-off (no more than a couple yards), but it is something that I've noticed. Adding to that however, my miss-hits are staying more on target than they were previously, so what I lose in distance on those less than perfect strikes, I am gaining in direction.

In the Sun Mountain 4.5LS 14-way bag:
Driver: :taylormade-small: M2 10.5° :: Accra FX260
Fairway: :taylormade-small: M5 19° :: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec 7X Blue
Hybrid: :titelist-small: TS2 21° :: Mitsubishi Black 80G50
Irons:  :taylormade-small: P790 (5-AW) :: KBS Tour 110
Sand Wedge: :cleveland-small: CBX-2 54° :: KBS Tour 110
Lob Wedge: :cleveland-small: RTX-3 58° :: TT Dynamic Gold
Putter: :cameron-small: Phantom X 5.5
Ball: :titelist-small: AVX
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My distances appear to be fairly similar to before the shaft change, except for my miss-hits. The $-Taper seem to negatively impact me more distance wise on off center hits than my Nippon 950gh did. It's not a huge drop-off (no more than a couple yards), but it is something that I've noticed. Adding to that however, my miss-hits are staying more on target than they were previously, so what I lose in distance on those less than perfect strikes, I am gaining in direction.

my friend lives in an awesome apartment building that had a golf simulator in it for free. I'm going to try and get there tonight and get some distance number. Not 100% sure on the accuracy.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Driver : Cobra LTD pro x-stiff 9.5 degrees

3 wood: TaylorMade RBZ tour spoon 13 degrees

5 wood: Titleist 906F 18 degrees

Irons: Mizuno MP-64 $-taper 130

wedges: Mizuno S5 50,56 - Cleveland 60 degree 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 3

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Cool...I played there last fall at one of our corporate meetings. The course has really held up pretty well over the years, it had been a while since I played there.

yeah. Still in great shape for how much it gets played. It's the course I really learned to play on.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Driver : Cobra LTD pro x-stiff 9.5 degrees

3 wood: TaylorMade RBZ tour spoon 13 degrees

5 wood: Titleist 906F 18 degrees

Irons: Mizuno MP-64 $-taper 130

wedges: Mizuno S5 50,56 - Cleveland 60 degree 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 3

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Well. Friends simulator was broken but should be repaired next week. I know a simulator isn't exactly a track man but I should be able to get some decent data.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Driver : Cobra LTD pro x-stiff 9.5 degrees

3 wood: TaylorMade RBZ tour spoon 13 degrees

5 wood: Titleist 906F 18 degrees

Irons: Mizuno MP-64 $-taper 130

wedges: Mizuno S5 50,56 - Cleveland 60 degree 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 3

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Made it to the PGA Store today and jumped in the practice bay to get some numbers on a simulator. Spin and carry numbers are right around where I would expect them. Also, took the opportunity to do a head to head with my current Nike 6-iron ($-Taper 110) and a Mizuno 6-Iron (DG R300) that I've had since the Mizuno 6-iron challenge from a few years ago. I don't want to spoil the numbers though as they will be included in my upcoming Stage 2!

 

And speaking of spoilers..... What's this!?! :o

20170922_102800.jpg

In the Sun Mountain 4.5LS 14-way bag:
Driver: :taylormade-small: M2 10.5° :: Accra FX260
Fairway: :taylormade-small: M5 19° :: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec 7X Blue
Hybrid: :titelist-small: TS2 21° :: Mitsubishi Black 80G50
Irons:  :taylormade-small: P790 (5-AW) :: KBS Tour 110
Sand Wedge: :cleveland-small: CBX-2 54° :: KBS Tour 110
Lob Wedge: :cleveland-small: RTX-3 58° :: TT Dynamic Gold
Putter: :cameron-small: Phantom X 5.5
Ball: :titelist-small: AVX
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Made it to the PGA Store today and jumped in the practice bay to get some numbers on a simulator. Spin and carry numbers are right around where I would expect them. Also, took the opportunity to do a head to head with my current Nike 6-iron ($-Taper 110) and a Mizuno 6-Iron (DG R300) that I've had since the Mizuno 6-iron challenge from a few years ago. I don't want to spoil the numbers though as they will be included in my upcoming Stage 2!

 

And speaking of spoilers..... What's this!?! :o

attachicon.gif20170922_102800.jpg

well-we-re-waiting-o.gif

 

What's in the box. 

:ping-small: G430 Max 10K 

:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

:titelist-small: SM10 48F/54M and58K

:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

:scotty-cameron-1: Select 5.5 Flowback 35" 

:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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Anybody have previous experience with the KBS C Taper Lite or Modus3 105 to compare this shaft to?

:ping-small: G430 Max 10K 

:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

:titelist-small: SM10 48F/54M and58K

:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

:scotty-cameron-1: Select 5.5 Flowback 35" 

:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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Just normal c-taper

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Driver : Cobra LTD pro x-stiff 9.5 degrees

3 wood: TaylorMade RBZ tour spoon 13 degrees

5 wood: Titleist 906F 18 degrees

Irons: Mizuno MP-64 $-taper 130

wedges: Mizuno S5 50,56 - Cleveland 60 degree 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 3

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Anybody have previous experience with the KBS C Taper Lite or Modus3 105 to compare this shaft to?

 

Not with those shafts specifically. Here's a list of shafts that I have some experience with...

 

I only have on course playing experience with the following iron shafts:

True Temper Dynamic Gold S300

True Temper Dynamic Gold R300

Nippon N.S. Pro 950gh Regular

KBS $-Taper 110 Regular

 

But I was also fit into these shafts recently during a Titleist fitting event (indoor launch monitor only):

Nippon Modus3 120 Stiff

True Temper AMT Black S300 

In the Sun Mountain 4.5LS 14-way bag:
Driver: :taylormade-small: M2 10.5° :: Accra FX260
Fairway: :taylormade-small: M5 19° :: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec 7X Blue
Hybrid: :titelist-small: TS2 21° :: Mitsubishi Black 80G50
Irons:  :taylormade-small: P790 (5-AW) :: KBS Tour 110
Sand Wedge: :cleveland-small: CBX-2 54° :: KBS Tour 110
Lob Wedge: :cleveland-small: RTX-3 58° :: TT Dynamic Gold
Putter: :cameron-small: Phantom X 5.5
Ball: :titelist-small: AVX
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Not with those shafts specifically. Here's a list of shafts that I have some experience with...

 

I only have on course playing experience with the following iron shafts:

True Temper Dynamic Gold S300

True Temper Dynamic Gold R300

Nippon N.S. Pro 950gh Regular

KBS $-Taper 110 Regular

 

But I was also fit into these shafts recently during a Titleist fitting event (indoor launch monitor only):

Nippon Modus3 120 Stiff

True Temper AMT Black S300 

I only have experience with dynamic gold S300 and project X 6.0 flighted. 

Driver : Cobra LTD pro x-stiff 9.5 degrees

3 wood: TaylorMade RBZ tour spoon 13 degrees

5 wood: Titleist 906F 18 degrees

Irons: Mizuno MP-64 $-taper 130

wedges: Mizuno S5 50,56 - Cleveland 60 degree 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 3

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Stage 2 Review

 

Well, it's been about 6 weeks now since installing the $-Taper's and I've had a chance to play about 20 rounds with them.  Some casual rounds but also one under tournament conditions….more on that later.

 

General impression is that these sticks are similar to the other KBS Tour products I've used (KBS Tour and KBS Tour-V).  Not boardy, not noodly.  A nice smooth feeling when struck well.  My experience is that the V has a softer feel at impact than the $-Taper, and the $-Taper softer than the Tour.  I suspect the special KBS shaft balancing has something to do with the feel.  At least that's what I think based on the different swing weights I've had to use when switching from True Temper and Nippon shafts.  I don't know if they're truly counter balanced but the feel with KBS shafts is definitely better than the other shafts I mentioned.  

 

For me, this shaft launches higher than either the Tour or the V.  Not sure why as the KBS chart says it should be somewhere between the two.  But I'm definitely getting a higher trajectory ball flight.  As I said in my first post, I'm getting less spin with this shaft, so to me that's the best of both worlds - high flight with no ballooning.  I'm not able to measure spin but I'm judging this by not spinning balls on the green as much as with the Tour shaft (the highest spinning KBS shaft I've played).  And it appears that's translated into a bit more distance, maybe 3 yards.  Not a huge gain but nothing to sneeze at either.

 

It's hard for me to characterise dispersion since that's such an ambiguous term.  To me a that means that a shaft with good dispersion has little lateral variance with shots hit with a good swing.  If that's the definition than I'd say that the $-Taper is no better or worse than the Tour or V models.  Shot that I hit straight might vary 2 to 3 yards from the target.  When hitting a deliberate fad or draw, I say the same variance.  So very consistent.

 

At this stage, I'd say this.  If you're trying to decide among these three shafts and you're a feel player than I'd go with the Tour-V.  If you want a little more distance and higher trajectory and will sacrifice some smoothness than the $-Taper is for you.  I don't see that the Tour model really offers anything special when comparing these three.  I plan on doing a bit more testing between the Tour-V and the $-Taper for the final Stage 3 review so stay tuned.

 

Now, about the tournament play.  Our club has a Wednesday night 9 hole match every week during daylight savings time.  Somewhere between 15 and 30 players show up and we are paired randomly by handicap into 3 or 4 man teams.  Total team score determines each week's winner and each man has to get a certain amount of points based on his play the week before.  Points are awarded as such: 3 points birdie, 2 points par, 1 point bogie, 0 points otherwise.  So if say I got 14 points one week and then 10 points the next week, my points for the following week would be adjusted down  (in this case (14+10)/2 = 12).

 

So to conclude the year, we had a 5 man, 4 hole playoff made up of the top 5 money winners for the year.  Yours truly was in that top 5.  One man eliminated on each hole either by score or if tied then a chip-off or putt-off.  Now, I never win these things.  I always fold up like a cheap lawn chair so I'm basically playing for fun and a beer at the end.  

 

The first hole was a par 3 and I was the first off.  154 yards down hill, slight breeze into and from the left, pin middle left, hands trembling.  Factoring in elevation and wind I would normally go with a 6 iron (my 160 club), but knowing the $-Taper was flying longer for me, I went 7.  Smooth swing produced a nice little fade that started at the pin and rode the wind to about 10 feet, pin high.  Put made.

 

Par four next.  Nice drive puts me 172 from a middle pin, a little down wind.  Again, normally I'd go with a 5 iron but with these shafts chose the 6 and hit another nice fade pin high just off the green.  Chip and one put.

 

On to the next hole which is another par 4.  Drive it into a creek.  Just my luck and I'm sure I'm out of it now.  Take my drop and get a decent lie but 192 from pin.  Using my magic 5 wood (Titleist 909f), smack a low bullet that hits short of the Donald Ross false front green and bounds up to 15 feet.  The golf gods were with me.  Two putt and now it's down to me and another competitor at the final hole.

 

We move to a par 3 which this time is up hill and across a creek that fronts the green.  Pin is front and measuring 155 with a little wind off the left.  Pick the 7 again and hit it solid but drawing a little to the left, towards a trap.  Luckily, we get a little gust at the right time and I'm past the pin about 10 feet, just catching the left side of the green.  My foe is on about 10 feet short of the pin.

 

What happens next?

 

20171011_191343.jpg
 

Stay tuned for Stage 3…...

 
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