The Good Morning Thread

[Jim Shaw]

10 hours ago, Preeway said:

I caddy predominantly at a Dormie Network club outside of Omaha called Arbor Links. I also pick up a few loops at a new private club called Lost Rail. Love the work. Keeps me active and my ability to read greens continues to improve daily even when I’m not playing. 

i have never talked to a professional caddy, I had one at Bandon Dunes and really enjoyed the experience, interesting comment about green reading, can you expand a bit on that, like is it repetition being on the same greens or do you have a system for example, when I approach the green I take an initial look at the slope or no slope, and try to walk up directly in line with my putt, then I mark my ball and start taking in data, basically the "lye of the land around the hole and to the hole" etc. What is your routine when reading greens? 

[Erin B]

Good Saturday morning spies! Hope someone is gonna play today….hit some for me. I probably won’t play til Monday evening. Chillin in NC at lake Norman for the weekend, it’s warm, warmer than the Rockies…I’m not overly hot though which is weird. Every time I’ve been back to the East I’ve been overwhelmed by the heat. Not this year. It was in the 90s yesterday and I felt fine. Don’t tell the spousal unit, but maybe it’s time to move away from the Rockies. 

Have a great day spies!!!

[rkj427]

Good morning Spies on what is shaping up to be a sunny and warm day here.

No golf today for me, SWMBO granddaughter is have a high school graduation party, so that is in our plans.

@ILMgolfnut glad the flights went well, and best of luck playing today.

@Preeway safe travels back to home, and @TJ Hall enjoy your vacation.

Hope the rest have the best day they possibly can have, and that something fun and enjoyable is in your plans. 

[Preeway]

20 minutes ago, Jim Shaw said:

i have never talked to a professional caddy, I had one at Bandon Dunes and really enjoyed the experience, interesting comment about green reading, can you expand a bit on that, like is it repetition being on the same greens or do you have a system for example, when I approach the green I take an initial look at the slope or no slope, and try to walk up directly in line with my putt, then I mark my ball and start taking in data, basically the "lye of the land around the hole and to the hole" etc. What is your routine when reading greens? 

To some extent it is definitely repetition that makes me better every round but also getting better at picking up subtleties in the break. There are several greens where missing your spot by an inch or two on a long putt will be the difference between leaving the lag inside a couple feet or missing 10’ or more in the wrong direction. 

As for my style, I rely heavily on Aim Point. I will stand over the ball and at least two more spots down the line to determine the severity of the break and the degree of uphill or downhill. It’s still very much a work in progress for me but I have at least one person in a group who will say they had completely misread the break until I told them what to do. And they don’t believe me until after they hit their putt. That isn’t to say I never misread a putt but it is pretty rare these days. 

[EasyPutter]

Good morning MGSpies from the sunny warmth of WNY on this July Saturday with a quiet house completing the serenity of a weekend.  House jobs will fill in the time as will son's ideas of what would be fun, should be a great day!  Hope golf is a part of your day 

[MattWillGolf]

8 hours ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Good morning Spies from rainy Scotland! Flights uneventful, actually got some sleep on the plane, and clubs undamaged. Took me a while to get the WiFi situation straightened out, thus no post until now.

I got out for a late nine after dinner but left my rain jacket back at the cottage and of course it started raining. No hat either so by the sixth hole I couldn't see where my ball was going. This course is, shall we say, bouncy. If you keep it in the short grass it runs for a while. Pix below.

Tournament today at Dornoch but my tee time is 12:50. It'll be raining there too. But I'll have a hat, rain suit and rain gloves.

 

Good luck at the tournament.

[MattWillGolf]

Good morning Spies,

Working on my second cuppa. Not much on the agenda for today. I have the battery for my camera charging. We will drive down to watch the Blue Angels tomorrow. It’s another hot one in CNY. No golf today. Had golf league last night. Nemo my orange DF3 is getting much better for me. I am seeing more longer putts dropping. Last night was an 18 footer.

Wishing all a wonderful day!

[Byrnzee]

Good morning Spies!

Slept in a little bit this morning after a long day yesterday and quite a bit of wine last night  it's a beautiful day in Omaha and we're headed to the zoo shortly with my wife's family. For all the times I've visited here, I've never been to their zoo, which is supposedly one of the best in the country.

No golf on the agenda even though it seems like a great day for it. Will have to settle with just the one round yesterday. I can hear my clubs whining in the garage from lack of use... luckily I booked a tee time back in Chicago for next Sunday so I can look forward to that.

Drinking some coffee and watching Formula 1 qualifying before we head out for the day. Hope everyone has a great Saturday and if you're lucky enough to be golfing, hit 'em straight!

[Wheelieb]

Morning All,

Early start to the morning getting the second chicken run complete so we can reinforce the first one with 4x4 on the bottom. Already got today. Hope everyone has a great day. 

[Shrek74]

Good morning, Spies!!! Happy Saturday!!

Not much on the agenda today. Hopefully I can find some time to get to the range today to test the mini's with weight forward and a cog change or two. Tomorrow's round would be nice if I have a bit better control of it, especially to stay away from the right side like I do with the BRNR.

Got the butcher block counter for my garage golf workbench. Now to get it sanded and stained/poly'd so we can but it all together and I can start using it and stop paying to have stuff done to my clubs.

Have a fantastic day and weekend everyone!!

[William P]

Good Saturday morning Spies!

Slept in this morning as it was a long night! Got interested in an old TV series last night and binge watched until I realized it was 2:30 am... Coffee is still going down well though.

Good luck with your tournament @ILMgolfnut.

Enjoy your vacation @TJ Hall and keep 'em in the fairways and greens.

Everyone have a great day!

[JJBack]

Good morning forum! All the rain the last few days washed out the driveway on the family land. Spent the morning raking, shoveling, and re-grading the gravel to make it passable. 
 

Hope all the US spies had a happy and safe 4th. I imagine it would be tricky to golf with just one hand. 

Edited July 6 by JJBack

[JFish350]

Good Morning Folks

 

You all have interesting things going on and I live vicariously through everyone. Good luck in all you do, Golf, re-building driveways, vacations, weather watching, club building/testing spending time with family/friends.  

 

[BLSkee]

Happy Saturday!! Enjoy the course for me while I hangout with the baby girl and finish up some projects around the house for the weekend. 

I'll mix in some hacks in the sim tonight, but nothing like the fresh air, 95 degree heat, and 75% humidity in the Floridian summer

[TheOther1]

1 hour ago, BLSkee said:

[...]nothing like the fresh air, 95 degree heat, and 75% humidity in the Floridian summer

It can always be worse! 

Edited July 6 by TheOther1
Spelling

[Jim Shaw]

5 hours ago, Preeway said:

To some extent it is definitely repetition that makes me better every round but also getting better at picking up subtleties in the break. There are several greens where missing your spot by an inch or two on a long putt will be the difference between leaving the lag inside a couple feet or missing 10’ or more in the wrong direction. 

As for my style, I rely heavily on Aim Point. I will stand over the ball and at least two more spots down the line to determine the severity of the break and the degree of uphill or downhill. It’s still very much a work in progress for me but I have at least one person in a group who will say they had completely misread the break until I told them what to do. And they don’t believe me until after they hit their putt. That isn’t to say I never misread a putt but it is pretty rare these days. 

thanks for that...

[ILMgolfnut]

Where to start...

The #10 course in the world beat me unmercifully. I actually drove the ball pretty well, except for #7 and #15, but I had no short game at all, didn't make a putt and picked up on two holes (the first coming after I had already made two 10s by playing volleyball back and forth across those crowned greens).  

On #7, I sliced my first drive into the gorse, played a provisional which I smother-hooked into the deep gunch, and couldn't find either one. 15 was a big push-slice into more gunch, but the provisional was straight down the middle and I didn't even go look for the original; if I had found it, my chances of getting back to the fairway with two shots as far as my provisional were not good.

I played with a local and a guy from Royal Aberdeen; turns out they knew each other because they had both played in a seniors competition between the two clubs. The guy from Aberdeen is what I aspire to be as a golfer. He's not any longer than I am, but he keeps it in play, knows how to set up his next shot, and doesn't follow one bad shot with another. His score with handicap deducted was 70. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I gave myself net double bogey on the two holes I picked up and posted. Which left me with 122 gross, 98 net.

So now I get to go back up there tomorrow and do it again, in a Stableford on their second course. I can pick up when I get to net double bogey. That would have helped today. Maybe tomorrow I can actually finish the competition. My partners were nothing but encouraging, even as I hacked my way around. I tagged a drive down the middle on 15, probably 215 yards, outdrove both of them, and the Dornoch guy said "there's a little anger coming out there." Yeah, but I also hit it straight. And still made a 6 after three-putting. It was that kind of day.

Now that I'm through with my little pity party, I was amazed on the second time playing Royal Dornoch how undulating it is. I did not remember that from my round in the hurricane last October. The Old Course has bumps and mounds but is basically flat. Not RDGC. The hike up to the 7th tee will wear you out, which may have had something to do with losing two drives (and I had the box on 7 after my only par, and my only GIR). But even relatively flat holes have huge undulations in the fairway. More than once I was in the fairway and absolutely could not see the green because the hump in front of me rose up 15 feet.

Pix are below but 2D pictures don't capture how undulating it really is. The top picture here is #14, famous as "Foxy". No sand, no gorse, no water, doesn't need them. The plateau green is 10 feet above the fairway. I hit one through the green (on my fourth shot) and wound up making an 8.

Edited July 6 by ILMgolfnut
Adding pix

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Good afternoon spies and happy Saturday! Been on the lake all day and getting ready for a fun afternoon of more lake and then ski show and fireworks tonight. Should be a great day!

[Josh Parker]

4 minutes ago, GolfSpy_KFT said:

Good afternoon spies and happy Saturday! Been on the lake all day and getting ready for a fun afternoon of more lake and then ski show and fireworks tonight. Should be a great day!

Have fun!  Sounds like a great weekend. 

[MattWillGolf]

39 minutes ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Where to start...

The #10 course in the world beat me unmercifully. I actually drove the ball pretty well, except for #7 and #15, but I had no short game at all, didn't make a putt and picked up on two holes (the first coming after I had already made two 10s by playing volleyball back and forth across those crowned greens).  

On #7, I sliced my first drive into the gorse, played a provisional which I smother-hooked into the deep gunch, and couldn't find either one. 15 was a big push-slice into more gunch, but the provisional was straight down the middle and I didn't even go look for the original; if I had found it, my chances of getting back to the fairway with two shots as far as my provisional were not good.

I played with a local and a guy from Royal Aberdeen; turns out they knew each other because they had both played in a seniors competition between the two clubs. The guy from Aberdeen is what I aspire to be as a golfer. He's not any longer than I am, but he keeps it in play, knows how to set up his next shot, and doesn't follow one bad shot with another. His score with handicap deducted was 70. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I gave myself net double bogey on the two holes I picked up and posted. Which left me with 122 gross, 98 net.

So now I get to go back up there tomorrow and do it again, in a Stableford on their second course. I can pick up when I get to net double bogey. That would have helped today. Maybe tomorrow I can actually finish the competition. My partners were nothing but encouraging, even as I hacked my way around. I tagged a drive down the middle on 15, probably 215 yards, outdrove both of them, and the Dornoch guy said "there's a little anger coming out there." Yeah, but I also hit it straight. And still made a 6 after three-putting. It was that kind of day.

Now that I'm through with my little pity party, I was amazed on the second time playing Royal Dornoch how undulating it is. I did not remember that from my round in the hurricane last October. The Old Course has bumps and mounds but is basically flat. Not RDGC. The hike up to the 7th tee will wear you out, which may have had something to do with losing two drives (and I had the box on 7 after my only par, and my only GIR). But even relatively flat holes have huge undulations in the fairway. More than once I was in the fairway and absolutely could not see the green because the hump in front of me rose up 15 feet.

Pix are below but 2D pictures don't capture how undulating it really is.

Sorry the round didn't go your way. Better luck tomorrow. The game of golf is a fickle friend indeed. we've all been there. Hang in there and better luck tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your experience. Now a wee dram to warm the body and mind seems to be in order. 

Edited July 6 by MattWillGolf

[Preeway]

2 hours ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Where to start...

The #10 course in the world beat me unmercifully. I actually drove the ball pretty well, except for #7 and #15, but I had no short game at all, didn't make a putt and picked up on two holes (the first coming after I had already made two 10s by playing volleyball back and forth across those crowned greens).  

On #7, I sliced my first drive into the gorse, played a provisional which I smother-hooked into the deep gunch, and couldn't find either one. 15 was a big push-slice into more gunch, but the provisional was straight down the middle and I didn't even go look for the original; if I had found it, my chances of getting back to the fairway with two shots as far as my provisional were not good.

I played with a local and a guy from Royal Aberdeen; turns out they knew each other because they had both played in a seniors competition between the two clubs. The guy from Aberdeen is what I aspire to be as a golfer. He's not any longer than I am, but he keeps it in play, knows how to set up his next shot, and doesn't follow one bad shot with another. His score with handicap deducted was 70. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I gave myself net double bogey on the two holes I picked up and posted. Which left me with 122 gross, 98 net.

So now I get to go back up there tomorrow and do it again, in a Stableford on their second course. I can pick up when I get to net double bogey. That would have helped today. Maybe tomorrow I can actually finish the competition. My partners were nothing but encouraging, even as I hacked my way around. I tagged a drive down the middle on 15, probably 215 yards, outdrove both of them, and the Dornoch guy said "there's a little anger coming out there." Yeah, but I also hit it straight. And still made a 6 after three-putting. It was that kind of day.

Now that I'm through with my little pity party, I was amazed on the second time playing Royal Dornoch how undulating it is. I did not remember that from my round in the hurricane last October. The Old Course has bumps and mounds but is basically flat. Not RDGC. The hike up to the 7th tee will wear you out, which may have had something to do with losing two drives (and I had the box on 7 after my only par, and my only GIR). But even relatively flat holes have huge undulations in the fairway. More than once I was in the fairway and absolutely could not see the green because the hump in front of me rose up 15 feet.

Pix are below but 2D pictures don't capture how undulating it really is. The top picture here is #14, famous as "Foxy". No sand, no gorse, no water, doesn't need them. The plateau green is 10 feet above the fairway. I hit one through the green (on my fourth shot) and wound up making an 8.

Sorry to hear day 1 was a bummer but there’s always tomorrow. There’s a course here in NE that reminds me of what you are describing. Just not as intense. The odds of getting a flat lie in the fairway are slim due to all the slopes and undulations. In fact, the greens might be flatter than some of the fairways. The challenge of an uneven lie is what makes the course difficult. Playing it from the tips at 7,000 is a beast. Hoping for better luck for you tomorrow. 

[skraeling]

Project wall will be nearing completion this morning.  Got a large chunk of it done today.

Now that that’s all done:

Just some minor crap to wrap up, mostly filling in holes and placing an order for a few yards of dirt.

 

Edited July 6 by skraeling

[sirchunksalot]

4 minutes ago, skraeling said:

Project wall will be nearing completion this morning.  Got a large chunk of it done today.

Now that that’s all done:

Just some minor crap to wrap up, mostly filling in holes and placing an order for a few yards of dirt.

 

That looks great! 

[Fongle]

1 hour ago, skraeling said:

Project wall will be nearing completion this morning.  Got a large chunk of it done today.

Now that that’s all done:

Just some minor crap to wrap up, mostly filling in holes and placing an order for a few yards of dirt.

 

Looks fantastic! I've got a bit of landscaping work to do myself today, need to run a french drain down one the back walls and connect it into the downpipes, so not nearly as pretty as the job you've got haha

[rkj427]

6 hours ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Where to start...

The #10 course in the world beat me unmercifully. I actually drove the ball pretty well, except for #7 and #15, but I had no short game at all, didn't make a putt and picked up on two holes (the first coming after I had already made two 10s by playing volleyball back and forth across those crowned greens).  

On #7, I sliced my first drive into the gorse, played a provisional which I smother-hooked into the deep gunch, and couldn't find either one. 15 was a big push-slice into more gunch, but the provisional was straight down the middle and I didn't even go look for the original; if I had found it, my chances of getting back to the fairway with two shots as far as my provisional were not good.

I played with a local and a guy from Royal Aberdeen; turns out they knew each other because they had both played in a seniors competition between the two clubs. The guy from Aberdeen is what I aspire to be as a golfer. He's not any longer than I am, but he keeps it in play, knows how to set up his next shot, and doesn't follow one bad shot with another. His score with handicap deducted was 70. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I gave myself net double bogey on the two holes I picked up and posted. Which left me with 122 gross, 98 net.

So now I get to go back up there tomorrow and do it again, in a Stableford on their second course. I can pick up when I get to net double bogey. That would have helped today. Maybe tomorrow I can actually finish the competition. My partners were nothing but encouraging, even as I hacked my way around. I tagged a drive down the middle on 15, probably 215 yards, outdrove both of them, and the Dornoch guy said "there's a little anger coming out there." Yeah, but I also hit it straight. And still made a 6 after three-putting. It was that kind of day.

Now that I'm through with my little pity party, I was amazed on the second time playing Royal Dornoch how undulating it is. I did not remember that from my round in the hurricane last October. The Old Course has bumps and mounds but is basically flat. Not RDGC. The hike up to the 7th tee will wear you out, which may have had something to do with losing two drives (and I had the box on 7 after my only par, and my only GIR). But even relatively flat holes have huge undulations in the fairway. More than once I was in the fairway and absolutely could not see the green because the hump in front of me rose up 15 feet.

Pix are below but 2D pictures don't capture how undulating it really is. The top picture here is #14, famous as "Foxy". No sand, no gorse, no water, doesn't need them. The plateau green is 10 feet above the fairway. I hit one through the green (on my fourth shot) and wound up making an 8.

Great pictures and recap, although the results seemed to be far from your initial expectations.

Hope that both the weather and scores improve for you tomorrow, although as picturesque and knowing you are in the "home of golf" the scores really should not matter as much as the enjoyment of being there.

[skraeling]

31 minutes ago, Fongle said:

Looks fantastic! I've got a bit of landscaping work to do myself today, need to run a french drain down one the back walls and connect it into the downpipes, so not nearly as pretty as the job you've got haha

I had to do that bit first.  Best thing of the whole project forcing me to do it

 

 

[MattWillGolf]

2 hours ago, skraeling said:

Project wall will be nearing completion this morning.  Got a large chunk of it done today.

Now that that’s all done:

Just some minor crap to wrap up, mostly filling in holes and placing an order for a few yards of dirt.

 

That looks great! Well done.
I can relate. I was cutting new edging around my backyard lawn to lay mulch in beds around the lawn this week.
Signed, Everything hurts and I’m Dying.

[ILMgolfnut]

Good morning Spies! Another competitive challenge awaits. Today, it's a course I've never seen. I was just researching it on the RDGC website. Slightly shorter than the main course, smaller greens and tighter fairways. And my first Stableford tournament ever. I won't make any 10s today, I know that. Pick up and move on.

Had fun trying to find a place to eat. The clubhouse restaurant at my club stopped serving at 6 pm; I got there at 6:15. Takeout places nearby were cash-only and I couldn't find an ATM that could handle an American card. They kept timing out trying to contact my bank. Finally went in a local co-op grocery store and bought some things for dinner, and there I found a working ATM. So I can go back to the takeout places tonight. It's also laundry night tonight.

Speaking of that ATM, I went my entire 17-day trip there last year without ever seeing a pound note. Everywhere I went took plastic and I never saw any locals pay in cash either. So I've now seen the local currency. I was surprised to find it was issued by the Bank of Scotland. I thought all UK money came from the Bank of England, which I have seen on previous trips to London. 

[Northern Monkey]

Good morning all. No golf again today as going to see The Killers tonight so won’t have time. 

Great result for England in the football last night with us actually winning on penalties. Our record on penalties is abysmal previously so made a pleasant surprise. 
@ILMgolfnut hope you enjoyed the round yesterday even if it wasn’t one of your better ones and fingers crossed today goes better. 
Hope you all enjoy your Sunday and have a great end to your weekend

[Rob Person]

2 hours ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Good morning Spies! Another competitive challenge awaits. Today, it's a course I've never seen. I was just researching it on the RDGC website. Slightly shorter than the main course, smaller greens and tighter fairways. And my first Stableford tournament ever. I won't make any 10s today, I know that. Pick up and move on.

Had fun trying to find a place to eat. The clubhouse restaurant at my club stopped serving at 6 pm; I got there at 6:15. Takeout places nearby were cash-only and I couldn't find an ATM that could handle an American card. They kept timing out trying to contact my bank. Finally went in a local co-op grocery store and bought some things for dinner, and there I found a working ATM. So I can go back to the takeout places tonight. It's also laundry night tonight.

Speaking of that ATM, I went my entire 17-day trip there last year without ever seeing a pound note. Everywhere I went took plastic and I never saw any locals pay in cash either. So I've now seen the local currency. I was surprised to find it was issued by the Bank of Scotland. I thought all UK money came from the Bank of England, which I have seen on previous trips to London. 

Good luck today!  And at the very least.....have fun!

@Northern Monkey have a grand time! 

Good morning Spies!

Up early today, as I am going to play a round with one of my closest friends today. It's the first course I ever played on, and also the first time i ever landed an eagle! It's been well over a 16 months since I've played there, and looking forward to seeing what changes and progress they have made. It's a split tee box 9 holes course.

Hope everyone has a blessed Sunday!