The Good Morning Thread

[Shrek74]

Good morning, Spies!! Happy Monday!

Just a chill day today, with nothing to really share. Here's hoping your Labor Day is chill as well!

[PrismFlopper]

Good morning hope everyone is enjoying there long weekends! As for me it was back to work. Hit some beautiful shots and post them so i can live through you, or bad shots i dont really care just wish i was out there too.
This will be your Monday safety brief: remember to leave early and have enough sleep or be well caffeinated, your choice, everyone is traveling back tired and hungover dont be a statistic. Airup the tires and always fill up with gas, use the restroom before you leave cause this train dont stop for anyone!

Back to your monday morning as you were!

Edited September 2 by PrismFlopper

[Rob Person]

Good mid morning spies.  I am laboring away on duty the next 2 days.  Because,  you know, someone, somewhere, always has to be up to no good...

For those who have it off, may your day be relaxing, refreshing,  and rejuvenating!

 

 

[Rickp]

2 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

In my opinion, 8:00 counts as sleeping in. Have fun getting out in the course with your son, that sounds like it'll be a good time. 

Exactly, sleeping in is 6am for us.  

[Rickp]

2 hours ago, GaryF said:

If you want a good ball with a soft feel try the Srixon Q-Star Tour.  Compression is in the 60s and a 3 piece urethane ball so should better off the tee and more green side spin specially with full and partial swing wedges.  I used for a few years before graduating to the Z-Star as I increased my SS.

Thanks, My neighbor is a Ball Hawk I’ll see if he has any.  He’s given up going out collecting but still has thousands of balls in his garage.  
I like comparing balls chipping & putting for my own amusement.  At my age my swing speed looks like slow motion.

[ILMgolfnut]

Happy Labor Day, Spies! A day of rain at the Casa, so no golfing activities. Going to do some stuff I've been needing to do for a while, and hopefully I can get some golf in tomorrow when the weather improves.

Nice work by both Scottie and Collin at East Lake. I saw some people complaining about the TC format, as though seeing Scottie listed at -30 was a personal insult. I guess you could fix that by putting the Fed Ex leader at even par and start the others over par, but they'd probably complain about that too. And if you start them all even, then it's just another tournament and everything Scottie did all year is ignored.

Kinda jealous seeing @Byrnzee reporting from Monza. Doubt I'll ever go to an F1 race, or really any race at all, but I've seen NASCAR tracks at Daytona, Vegas, Kansas, North Wilkesboro and Rockingham. That's as close as I've been.

Hit 'em straight and putt 'em straighter!

[ILMgolfnut]

2 hours ago, GaryF said:

Compression is in the 60s

Picking nits slightly, but the MGS ball lab has the Q Star Tour compression at 72 and Srixon reports it as 74. It's a softer ball, anyway. When I got fitted for my clubs two years ago and I asked the fitter, having seen my swing, which ball I should be using, he pointed me to the QST and the TM Tour Response, which is also a low-70s ball. Tried both, wound up going with the Srixon Soft Feel which is even softer (60), but now will try a harder ball and see what that does.

Edited September 2 by ILMgolfnut

[GaryF]

11 minutes ago, Rickp said:

Thanks, My neighbor is a Ball Hawk I’ll see if he has any.  He’s given up going out collecting but still has thousands of balls in his garage.  
I like comparing balls chipping & putting for my own amusement.  At my age my swing speed looks like slow motion.

Understand about the SS.  I’m 71 and just thru better technique and core exercises the last 4 years I’ve gone from 88 -> 92 -> 95 and now 98/99.  That will be my limit.

Another ball to try if you haven’t already is the Bridgestone e12.  I found it has a similar soft feel and driver distance but test showed that it rolled out several feet longer than the q-star with the same robot wedge shot.  It’s more durable and I think still a 3piece but with their own proprietary cover. 

[GaryF]

10 minutes ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Picking nits slightly, but the MGS ball lab has the Q Star Tour compression at 72 and Srixon reports it as 74. It's a softer ball, anyway. When I got fitted for my clubs two years ago and I asked the fitter, having seen my swing, which ball I should be using, he pointed me to the QST and the TM Tour Response, which is also a low-70s ball. Tried both, wound up going with the Srixon Soft Feel which is even softer (60), but now will try a harder ball and see what that does.

Well I was going by the MGS 2023 ball test that has it at 66 per the scatter chart:  (orange dot bottom left under the 70 at 166).

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/golfspy.t/viz/MyGolfSpy2023BallTest-public-scatter/2023BallTest-ScatterPlots
 

But to each his own. 

Edited September 2 by GaryF

[Rickp]

7 minutes ago, GaryF said:

Understand about the SS.  I’m 71 and just thru better technique and core exercises the last 4 years I’ve gone from 88 -> 92 -> 95 and now 98/99.  That will be my limit.

Another ball to try if you haven’t already is the Bridgestone e12.  I found it has a similar soft feel and driver distance but test showed that it rolled out several feet longer than the q-star with the same robot wedge shot.  It’s more durable and I think still a 3piece but with their own proprietary cover. 

The best part of my neighbors inventory is it’s free to me.  We’ve helped each other on numerous projects so it works out great ….

[cnosil]

34 minutes ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Picking nits slightly, but the MGS ball lab has the Q Star Tour compression at 72 and Srixon reports it as 74. It's a softer ball, anyway. When I got fitted for my clubs two years ago and I asked the fitter, having seen my swing, which ball I should be using, he pointed me to the QST and the TM Tour Response, which is also a low-70s ball. Tried both, wound up going with the Srixon Soft Feel which is even softer (60), but now will try a harder ball and see what that does.

That was the 2020 ball lab.  the 2022 was 66.   They haven't done ball lab for the 2024 model. 

[BIG STU]

Late for me I know. Had internet problems this AM.

Vintage round was great Sunday, and I found an old Macgregor driver in my stash I can crank.  I will detail over in the Virtual Thread.

Played the small money game today. Shot the exact thing there today I shot with the vintage sticks. But I had 2 good partners so we did win.

It is raining here now and I am taking the day off from playing tomorrow any how.

Tried to post over in the Virtual thread and I knew they shut it down this AM and have not put up a new one yet

LOL Shot 85 both rounds but with 2 birdies in the vintage round including one chip in with the vintage Hogan wedge. 

Edited September 2 by BIG STU
added to post

[Rob Person]

14 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

Late for me I know. Had internet problems this AM.

Vintage round was great Sunday, and I found an old Macgregor driver in my stash I can crank.  I will detail over in the Virtual Thread.

Played the small money game today. Shot the exact thing there today I shot with the vintage sticks. But I had 2 good partners so we did win.

It is raining here now and I am taking the day off from playing tomorrow any how.

Congratulations!!!

[GolfSpy_BEN]

18 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

Late for me I know. Had internet problems this AM.

Vintage round was great Sunday, and I found an old Macgregor driver in my stash I can crank.  I will detail over in the Virtual Thread.

Played the small money game today. Shot the exact thing there today I shot with the vintage sticks. But I had 2 good partners so we did win.

It is raining here now and I am taking the day off from playing tomorrow any how.

Tried to post over in the Virtual thread and I knew they shut it down this AM and have not put up a new one yet

LOL Shot 85 both rounds but with 2 birdies in the vintage round including one chip in with the vintage Hogan wedge. 

My apologies for the delay. I normally post the weekly thread on Monday mornings, but I had an early tee time today, because of the holiday. Should be up shortly. 

[ILMgolfnut]

40 minutes ago, cnosil said:

the 2022 was 66. 

When I Googled it, the 2020 lab report came up first, with the '22 below it; did not notice the dates. The '22 lab report said this: 

Quote

On our gauge, the Srixon Q-Star Tour has an average compression of 67. That’s just two points softer than the previous version, which is a relatively insignificant difference.

Which suggests that the '20 lab number was 69. It wasn't, unless there was a test in between that Tony knew about and we didn't.

[David Leighton Reid]

Happy Labor Day, fellow Spies!  Summer went by in a hurry, but we have some lovely 80 degree weather forecasted for this week.  

 

 

[GaryF]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

That was the 2020 ball lab.  the 2022 was 66.   They haven't done ball lab for the 2024 model. 

There are variations (  @ILMgolfnut)  not only between years but within batches.  Some OEMs don’t publish their compression numbers and some do and some intentionally vary from one year to another I suspect to improve a performance parameter.  The Z-Star I prefer is the 2021 version.  

What I find most helpful is the MGS scatter chart I posted earlier.  You can select one or more OEMs and also select driver or 7 iron with 2 or 3 swing speed selections.  When I’m searching for a new ball to try out, I find it’s very helpful to see what kind of ball speed, flight/trajectory and spin characteristics are generated.  My results might be a bit different but the trend is similar.  
 

[tdc1]

Another beautiful morning here in mid-Michigan.  Temps in the 60s, lots of sun, and little wind.  Perfect day for golf.  Unfortunately, my game decided not to accompany me to the course.  Played pretty miserably.  To be fair, I'm trying to get less rigid/mechanical/stuck in my swing.  I started playing a little over 30 years ago at the age of 40 and was taught to keep my front foot (left in may case) planted.  Over the years that has translated into a severe sway (on bad days) to sternum-over-the-ball (on better days) but always a restricted back swing with limited follow through.  I'm trying to give myself permission to be more relaxed throughout the swing and to allow the left heel to come up a little.  This is a work-in-progress for me and, so far, is easier to do with 5-hybrid down to wedges.  I'll see how it goes.

On a different note, one of my playing partners found a TP5x with the new 360° alignment aid.  He knows I like the Tour Response Stripe so he gave it to me.  Below are a couple of pics of the TP5x and the Maxfli Tour Max Align ball that I was a tester for earlier this year.  One close up, the other roughly from the point of view of the balls at address.  I will say the TP5x alignment is a little more visible on the putting green than the Maxfli (I added red sharpie to the Maxfli to see it better -- not sure I would need to on the TP5).

[chisag]

... I thought the worst of summer was over because Fall starts in September and nothing says Welcome Fall quite like 114*. 

[ILMgolfnut]

1 hour ago, GaryF said:

What I find most helpful is the MGS scatter chart I posted earlier.

I had not seen that scatter chart before. Not sure that it provides a whole lot of useful information, for me anyway, but your mileage may vary. However, the ball I'm going to try out is the green dot at the top right corner: Maxfli Tour X. We'll see if it gives me that extra 2 mph which should be 6-7 yards. Interestingly, when you tweak the scatter chart to give you carry or total distance on the X axis instead of ball speed, the Srixon Z-Star XV and Diamond come out a yard ahead of the Tour X, and 8 yards ahead of QST. Maybe the Z-Star will be my next experiment.

[GaryF]

36 minutes ago, ILMgolfnut said:

I had not seen that scatter chart before. Not sure that it provides a whole lot of useful information, for me anyway, but your mileage may vary. However, the ball I'm going to try out is the green dot at the top right corner: Maxfli Tour X. We'll see if it gives me that extra 2 mph which should be 6-7 yards. Interestingly, when you tweak the scatter chart to give you carry or total distance on the X axis instead of ball speed, the Srixon Z-Star XV and Diamond come out a yard ahead of the Tour X, and 8 yards ahead of QST. Maybe the Z-Star will be my next experiment.

There are a lot of parameters and ways to look at the chart.  For me, I want a higher launch and peak height to give me more carry on drives.  I had settled on the 2021 Z Star when playing in a team event - one of my partners got closest to the pin and gave each of us a sleeve.  plus the price was good for a 3 piece urethane and paid $34-38.  Then this year the price was suddenly $48.  But every once in awhile, a batch shows up on Amazon for $38.

I’ve never tried the Maxfli Tour but that looks like a ok candidate.  Lots of posters here swear by it.  I do want to try the Srixon Diamond as that fits my criteria.  It theoretically will give me higher ball speed.  I’ve seen sales on those but for 2dozen.  One other ball i tried and really like was TM TP5 (not X).  
 

Edited September 2 by GaryF

[Wheelieb]

As promised, here is my scorecard. Could have had more scoring opportunities had I not flew the greens or came up short. Only 3 putted once which was good. 

[Rickp]

1 hour ago, chisag said:

... I thought the worst of summer was over because Fall starts in September and nothing says Welcome Fall quite like 114*. 

Wow!!  Florida looking a lot better.  I don’t remember it going over 94 this summer.  Staying right around 90’.

[chisag]

24 minutes ago, Rickp said:

Wow!!  Florida looking a lot better.  I don’t remember it going over 94 this summer.  Staying right around 90’.

 

... Haha middle 90's were our night time lows. But it can be sooooo humid for you guys right? 14% humidity today and it has been in the upper 40's most of the summer, so it is much more bearable when it is this dry. Although anything over 110* still feels pretty hot in the direct sun with no clouds or shade. 

... It's just the price we pay for heaven on earth from October through March. 

[Rickp]

Just now, chisag said:

 

... Haha middle 90's were our night time lows. But it can be sooooo humid for you guys right? 14% humidity today and it has been in the upper 40's most of the summer, so it is much more bearable when it is this dry. Although anything over 110* still feels pretty hot in the direct sun with no clouds or shade. 

... It's just the price we pay for heaven on earth from October through March. 

Yup humidity can be downright miserable.  I don’t think FL has ever seen 14%.  It’s a tropical state and it’s what we signed up for.  
We were talking to our kids last week and going back to New England came up.  We cannot get the quality of life up there that we have here.  

[ILMgolfnut]

1 hour ago, GaryF said:

For me, I want a higher launch and peak height to give me more carry on drives.

I could use some of that as well. But in tweaking the scatter chart for those variables, the Tour X is a lower launch angle but a higher peak flight on the driver at my swing speed (low). The Tour S has higher launch angle than any of the Srixon balls but less carry than any but the QST. What does that mean? Dunno. Will it make any difference on the course? Hoping to tee up the Tour X tomorrow and start to find out.

[sirchunksalot]

2 hours ago, GaryF said:

I do want to try the Srixon Diamond as that fits my criteria.  It theoretically will give me higher ball speed.

I found one at the golf course and played it a few holes. I loved it up until the point I sent it deep into the trees. I've always been a fan of the Z Star XV as it's probably the longest ball I've hit up until the diamond. 

I'm one of the guys on here that plays the MaxFli and love them especially considering I can buy 4 dozen for the price of a little over 2 dozen of the Srixon. 

[chisag]

Just now, sirchunksalot said:

I'm one of the guys on here that plays the MaxFli and love them especially considering I can buy 4 dozen for the price of a little over 2 dozen of the Srixon. 

 

... What I found extremely interesting is Lexi Thompson and Ben Griffen are both playing Maxfli Tour balls on the LPGA and PGA Tours. They both didn't think it was equal to other balls but it outperformed every other ball for their games after intensive testing. I think this speaks volumes about the Maxfli's: 


“The reaction is usually the same,” Griffin told GOLF.com. “Their face lights up and they look at me and say, “Are you serious?” It’s a brand they likely haven’t seen in 15 or 20 years, so that’s been cool. It’s definitely sparked some curiosity out here.”

“Lexi drew my interest to the ball initially,” Griffin said. “I saw she was playing it and my caddie Alex Ritthamel, who used to caddie for Lexi’s brother Curtis, thought I should at least test out the Maxfli to see how it performed. A few months passed and I finally got my hands on some. I did some preliminary testing but wasn’t planning on doing much with the ball.”

That was until he saw the increase in ball speed and distance.

“It was roughly 8 yards additional during preliminary testing,” Griffin said. “Around the green, I didn’t see a ton of differences across balls. That’s when the distance side really started to intrigue me. There are certain weeks out here when distance has kind of turned into a priority.”

According to Griffin, he saw the benefits extra distance can provide during a practice round this week at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson when he easily cleared a bunker sitting 300 yards away by 10-plus yards.

“That was a pleasant surprise,” he said. “You see things like that and wonder why you didn’t switch sooner. Because of the positive results, it was a no-brainer for me. I definitely think it’s going to help me.”

[wheelman55]

Good morning!

[ILMgolfnut]

1 minute ago, wheelman55 said:

Good morning!

Welcome to the asylum  Good Morning Thread! You'll find the inmates to be friendly if a tad obsessed.