How'd you play?

[JBones]

I hit driver, 3 wood, wedge on the 385 yard par 4 coming back the other way.

I'm going to give it a proper write up when I get a chance, but yesterday I played the Donald Ross Course at French Lick. Just for fun, we decided to play the par 5 15th from the tips; it was playing 665yds, uphill, dead straight into a 20+mph wind. I hit driver/3w/3w/9i, I missed the 8' par putt and made bogey, it was insane; I crushed my drive and it went 216 LOL.

[kygolfer1980]

Well, Weds' are our "Moonlighters'" inter-club swat, and yesterday was our final trip around the track called Oakmont for the season. I had a 75, which considering the past two weeks, was a decent score, though I took 32 putts(My ave. prior to my radiation treatment was 27.8). I'm still using the Nike Method 004 42" belly. I'm looking forward to the winter months to just work on my putting.

 

The rating/slope at Oakmont from the tips is 77.5/147, with a par of 71 from the red, white & blues, and a par of 70 from the greens(tips) & the "US Open" markers. We play the greens. The one stroke difference is on hole #9, which plays as a par 5 from the whites/blues(459/462 yds) & a par 4 from the greens/"US Open" markers(477 yds).

 

 

Bottom line, it's a bear. Though the most notorious sand trap is the Church Pew bunker, which sits between the third & fourth fairway, there are 196 other bunkers that can make for a very long afternoon..lol

 

 

I'm back on my home course this afternoon, though if today is anything like last Sunday, familiarity will definitely breed contempt!..lol. Oh yea, I broke even. It's nice to shoot 75 and not get skinned. Only at Oakmont..LOL

 

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever

 

Awesome Richard!!!

[RoverRick]

I rode in the cart around the Disney's Magnolia course today, the site of the Children's Miracle Hospital PGA Tournament on Nov. 8th. I had a great warm up on the range, and was booming the driver and hit the greens they had at 97, 127, 167, and 215 like 90% of the time. I had my clubs and swung at the ball but what I did was fell woefully short of what I would call golf. For a while the putter seemed like the longest club in the bag. I had a 9 on one par 4 and a lot of bogies. I think the score was, I had help because I can not count that high, 94. The course was not hard at all and other than the 9 there were no penalty shots. Lots of water but easy to avoid if you can hit the ball. If I play like this Tuesday RevKev will think I am the biggest liar on the planet.

[kygolfer1980]

I know I have those days. You will get it straightened out, enjoy the rest if your trip!

[BK in TEXAS]

If I play like this Tuesday RevKev will think I am the biggest liar on the planet.

 

X2

[GolfSpy Dave]

MF-ING DRIVER!!!!!!!!!!

 

Shot 85 (good for me )

 

Missed all but 1 fairway off the tee. And I mean missed. 180 yard forward mixed with 180 yard veer right all day long. The ball curved so much that it could have ended up behind me...

How can all other aspects be improving and the stupid driver continue to plague me. 3w may have sucked too, but it was just in the bag for decoration today.

 

[kygolfer1980]

Thanx much Ky. Well, I played yesterday and today and went 74(+3) & 72. I'm hittin the ball ok, I'm just not makin any putts. I'm playin in the swat tomorrow morning so we'll see how it goes.

 

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever

That 1.5 handicap at the courses u are playing would be about a +4 at my home course.

[revkev]

A 75 at Oakmont Richard - that's really stout - like the rest of the mortal world I've never played there but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night - well not really but my Wisconsin Pro has played there a number of times - he's a club pro in the land of Whistling Straits where he has also played tons of times and he's said - no comparison in terms of difficulty - Oakmont is that much tougher than Whistling -

 

Great job, I'm glad for you - someone here has to be playing well and if it's not going to be me why not you?

 

RR don't worry about it - We're going to have a good time regardless - I'm between clubs don't have a clue, etc., etc. In fact my final league handicap was a 6 - my regular index is 2.7 right now up from 1.5 before I started dinking with the new clubs - In league where it's just based on one 9 a week it's shot through the ceiling.

 

Actually I think the Magnolia Course is the most over rated golf course I have ever played in my life when you figure price for course - it's just blah da blah blah blah to me - we have a course here called Bardmoor - no difference between the 2 only they get 140 for Magnolia and 40 for Bardmoor - both have hosted tour events (Magnolia of course still does) both are in generally good shape, very traditional courses, they're fine but the price tag at Magnolia is a joke IMO. The gem over at Disney is the Lake Buena Vista course - shorter, tighter, more interesting, more memorable and since it's no longer part of the rotation its often available at a deal on Golf Now.

 

Rolling Oaks blows anything at Disney away at 1/5 the price. Your interest will be peaked and you'll play better and if you don't Craig is entertaining enough that we'll have a good laugh - assuming he's not playing well which is a pretty safe bet.

 

Oh and don't you know that Golf and Baseball are indentical? The rule in baseball is that if a guy is struggling the ball is going to be hit at him and he'll be up in the most important spot of the game - same thing with golf - if you forget to bring a club you'll have that distance at least a half a dozen times in the round.

[RoverRick]

No Dude, it's just that Texas tracks are a little diferent than Floridian tracks. Just imagine that you're back in Texas cuz center fairway is center fairway, no matter where ya play.

 

The best to ya

 

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever

 

It was really a combination of things. I was first playing a course I had no idea about. I did not look it up before hand. Then I thought I was playing one course and got sent to the other. Then the starter and some dudes I have never met are moving my stuff around from one cart to the next while I am on the first teebox. So I hit a poor first shot into the hazard and double bogey the first hole. I have a couple of pars and a bogey, when the three foursomes ahead of us turn into two sixsomes. Pace of play slows down and we spend 3 hours and 15 minutes on the front nine.

 

To top it off the guys in front of us were playing from the tips. And three of them could not hit the ball past the forward tees from there.

 

I complain to the starter. He tells me I do not know how to count because he would not allow sixsomes to play. I am not happy with is assertion that I can not count to 6 and discuss this with him in words that Mickey Mouse would not approve of. Then on the 10th hole, my partner calls me 5 times, I have the ringer off but still see it. I am concerned because what is so important that you call 5 times in 5 minutes when someone is at Disney. The answer is ..... nothing, he wants to talk about something that happens in two weeks in Bulgaria. I am so pissed that I made a 9 on that hole. I may not have counted all the strokes. I can not count that high. And by this point, my back is so tight from the stress that I apparently have a noticeable limp, because my playing partners start asking if I had just injured myself because I was limping.

 

Not to mention that I was supposed to pick my wife up at 3 and it was 5:30 when we finished. Of course she took the bus back to the resort so that was ok, but it still added to the situation. Disney may be the happiest place on earth but the 8-11 holes were not.

 

I have another tee time in an hour and I hope things go better.

[revkev]

I have a tee time in an hour - that's the operative phrase here - I have an appointment with my daughter and her spanish homework - want to trade?

 

Don't play at Disney - I could have told you this - it's slow, the courses aren't all that great - go a bit away from Disney and there are tons and tons and tons of incredible courses.

[Paul S]

I was in Albuquerque last week for work and got stuck behind a horrible group. Great course, really, but I couldn't play well to save my life (except with the driver) because my rhythm was shot... Can't even remember how high my score was, but it ended up being a 5 and a half hour round. Then to compound the problem I got pulled over in the rental car and ticketed for 10 over... In wisconsin that's not even enough to get the cop to put down his doughnut. This week I'll be in Hawaii and Guam, so hopefully I can put the clubs to use. At least this time I'll actually have playing partners, I think I've talked a couple of my coworkers into bringing clubs as well.

 

Paul

[RoverRick]

Waiting on 10 now. Shot 39. Do not have my best stuff and my back is limiting my distance but I can deal with that. Striking the ball much better.

[RoverRick]

Ended up with an 81. Double bogied 15 & 16 no good reason. But this has been a very enlightening trip. I, in no way, have the same swing that I do at home. My back is hurting and I do not have the club head speed or anything else that will warrant the x stiff shafts I normally play. I know this because I brought my wife's TMag Dual Rescue with a men's regular flex shaft and hit this club better than any. I can not hit this club at home because the shaft, which is how she ended up with it. Just for giggles, I put it in my bag and it was the best club, other than wedges and putter that I had. It is pretty simple though, just add a club and swing easy. I had a bunch of birdie opportunities and hit good putts that did not go in the hole but when you take into account that this is a PGA course that is two weeks away from a PGA Tournament, and even though I did not play the same tees as they do, it was still the same greens. I did not play that badly and had a great time today.

 

The only thing close to drama today was that they did not have my beer on the beer cart. That and the two doubles were the worst thing that happened. So I have no real complaints.

[revkev]

Usually it's 17 and 18 that gets you on that course - if you're still at Magnolia. Two weeks out I would guess that they wouldn't have tees set anywhere near where they will be for the tournament even if you were playing the tips.

 

Looking forward to Tuesday!

 

Craig was in church tonight and we made arrangements to meet for breakfast before taking the trek to mecca.

[BK in TEXAS]

Don't play at Disney - I could have told you this - it's slow, the courses aren't all that great - go a bit away from Disney and there are tons and tons and tons of incredible courses.

Exactly. Orange County National and Crooked Cat come to mind. It's been 10 years since I lived in Orlando though.....

[RoverRick]

I played Magnolia yesterday and Palms today. I would not have played these courses if it were not for the PGA Tournament coming in a couple of weeks. It is not often, well, I could play every year at the Four Seasons before the Nelson, but because they have the grandstands and tents up, I decided it would be really cool. Also I thought it would make the tournament much more enjoyable. I will not get to watch the tournament live because I will be out of the country but I will record it and watch it when I get back. If the tournament would not have been that close, I had already picked a couple of other places to play.

 

Both the courses were relatively easy, and I actually played the whole round with the same ball today. The two double bogies were simply poor shots back to back. However, I will admit that on three or four occasions I moved my ball. Twice with fairway shots I came close to the fairway bunkers. Since I get to play out of the rough all the time, I threw my ball into the fairway bunker and played it from there. And two or three times I did the same with greenside bunkers. I decided that moving out of a bunker would be cheating but throwing it into a bunker was simply practice.

 

I am ready to meet RevKev. At least now I can meet him without embarrassing myself.

[revkev]

Thick Bermuda rough or sand - I'll take the sand thank you - there's something - we could pick up the other guys ball and throw it once on each nine!

 

And thanks Richard I love you too.

[revkev]

But we Floridians always make our friends feel at home!

 

Can't wait for Tuesday just for the fun of meeting one of the forum guys. Still ticked that pneumonia and TS Debbie kept me from playing with Rookie last spring - I think we could have overcome one of those two but both were too much.

[Paul S]

I'm really looking forward to hearing about the round!

 

Paul

[revkev]

I played 15 holes today from the tips at my course. I played from there because Rolling Oaks is longer than my course from the tees that I usually play from but shorter than the tips and I wanted to get a feel for hitting some longer shots into the greens.

 

The good news was that I found my distance that I lost when I had pneumonia. It was hiding in the wet turf. We've hardly had any rain for two weeks and while I wouldn't call it dry the ball is finally getting some run off the driver. I hit the 250 mark twice when I wasn't hitting anything even 240 two weeks ago. Basically it was high 240's down wind low 230's into the wind that's pretty much my normal.

 

I hit that Adams 20 degree hybrid almost as long as I hit my 3 wood, consistently between 200 and 210! I don't hit it as consistently straight as I would like yet though. I'm tempted to leave it home on Tuesday but I'm thinking that this is a fun round and so I'd just assume stick with it. Were I playing competitively there's no way it would be in.

 

At any rate I was 3 over for 15 holes - not great but better than it's been lately so I'll take it. 10 pars, 4 bogeys, 1 birdie.

[revkev]

How many sets of irons do you have RP?

 

Well RR and I played today and it wasn't pretty. Since we were playing a match and I closed him out with a couple of holes left I can't say exactly what we shot - It wasn't 90 but it wasn't 70 either - I'm guessing low 80's - neither of us hit it particularly well but I was able to hole a few putts and get up and down an extra time or two I think as much because I'm accustomed to Florida grasses and he's not as anything else.

 

Way more important than how we played was the great time we had. We enjoyed a few laughs, a couple of beers and a beautiful day. And Mrs. RR, lady Jane, is an absolute delight.

 

I think the best golf moment of the day for me was using his hybrid on 17 with the tour stiff shaft and hitting the best shot of the day - maybe I have the wrong shaft in my clubs.

 

That KBS hybrid shaft is a great one, nice and light, just what I like.

[RoverRick]

I lost my pencil on the 7th hole. Lady Jane asked about it and I said that it apparently fell out along the way and I was not putting well enough to keep track. RevKev got off to an early lead, I had two or three really short birdie putts, and missed. (I missed a 6 foot putt by 4 feet. I swear that damned out broke two feet up hill and I played it to break that much the other way.) But I had some opportunities to tie it and did not. I parred two par 5's with up and downs and never at any point touched the fairway, and only used about 10 feet of the green both times. RevKev also missed a short putt for birdie, but every stinking time I thought I had a chance he would sink a long putt.

 

Honestly though, I was not much of a match. I do not think either of us were happy with the way we played but did not get too upset about it. Neither cared. I wanted to at least shoot low 80's and did that. Well, mid-low 80's'.

 

The shot he spoke about on 17 was funny because it was about 196 to the flag, I hit a nice smooth shot went about 200 yards center of the green. RK asked to hit it, he put one about 3 feet from mine. Obviously, it was the club. Most of the day we were neck and neck, that is when I completed swing and did not push it right. I have not been on the right side of the fairway in months, my miss is a pull. But today, and this week I pushed when I missed. Oh well, I had a great time.

[kygolfer1980]

I played 36 yesterday and it was so bad a questioned why I even bother to play this game a time or 2. I think I shot 97 in the first round. It was that bad! Lost about 8 balls the first round. Only positive was I hit my 2H to 10 feet on 18 and made birdie to save some money. Seriously thought about giving up on my swing change yesterday but couldn't do it. I just need to keep hitting balls and not playing, if only it were that easy...

[revkev]

I feel your pain Matt - I think we both have to recognize that changing equipment hurts and just deal with it for a while.

 

As Rick and I played the guy whom I brought with, Craig, said that my game is worse than when I was coming back from pneumonia. He's not quite right but close. I've got my length, such as it is, back but I'm all over the place. Craig also played with me last week when I shot in the low 80's - It's an adjustment time - I'm heartened by the fact that I'm hitting my SCOR wedges great - hit some really nice sand shots yesterday (had way too much opportunity - my wife asked me if I really played golf or if I went to the beach yesterday), some solid chips and pitches and the one full wedge I hit was inside the 10 foot circle -

 

We just need to work on it Matt - this is clearly a mental thing - I'm trying to steer all of those new clubs instead of just hitting them - we need to just do it so to speak and it will come around.

 

That's why I'm amazed at Richard that he can switch irons and still play so well - I need my universe balanced when I play. A part of that is having hit good shots with the club that I have in my hand in the past so that I have a positive mental imagine to draw on.

[RoverRick]

I feel your pain Matt - I think we both have to recognize that changing equipment hurts and just deal with it for a while.

 

As Rick and I played the guy whom I brought with, Craig, said that my game is worse than when I was coming back from pneumonia. He's not quite right but close. I've got my length, such as it is, back but I'm all over the place. Craig also played with me last week when I shot in the low 80's - It's an adjustment time - I'm heartened by the fact that I'm hitting my SCOR wedges great - hit some really nice sand shots yesterday (had way too much opportunity - my wife asked me if I really played golf or if I went to the beach yesterday), some solid chips and pitches and the one full wedge I hit was inside the 10 foot circle -

 

We just need to work on it Matt - this is clearly a mental thing - I'm trying to steer all of those new clubs instead of just hitting them - we need to just do it so to speak and it will come around.

 

That's why I'm amazed at Richard that he can switch irons and still play so well - I need my universe balanced when I play. A part of that is having hit good shots with the club that I have in my hand in the past so that I have a positive mental imagine to draw on.

 

After we left you yesterday we went to the beach. I took my shoes off so I could walk in the sand and had to dump the sand out of them, before we got to the beach. Actually, I think I was just in two bunkers, but they were deep and one was an impossible lie. It really did not matter though, because I had the conventional length putter and when I bent over to putt my legs went numb. This is very distracting. But I had a great time.

 

On the drive back, we decided to change the flight from Thursday night to this morning early. Left the hotel a 4:45am. No golf today but 9 am tomorrow.

 

Oh yeah, I switch irons all the time but it is more what you are used to. You are not the type to change very often so it is a huge deal. Me and Richard and Rookie change quite often so who cares. I have played two different sets in the same day and no big deal.

[revkev]

You guys amaze me - I've known Rookie a lot longer than I have the rest of you - I'd go bonkers changing clubs that frequently - I need to be in tune with my instrument I guess - used to be a professional trumpet player - I still use the same B flat trumpet that I had in High School - Once I had a C that I liked that was that - If I were still playing I'd have to upgrade the smaller ones becuase the technology has improved so much.

 

I'm still shocked by swinging that hybrid man - is that how all the KBS iron shafts feel or is it only their hybrid shaft or is it the extra stiff part - Even when I'm hitting the ball well I don't ever hit a 3 hybrid that high and straight, it's always more boring and with a noticable amount of draw - I still got plenty of distance out of it even with that high launch and we were into the wind on that shot from an elevated tee.

[RoverRick]

You guys amaze me - I've known Rookie a lot longer than I have the rest of you - I'd go bonkers changing clubs that frequently - I need to be in tune with my instrument I guess - used to be a professional trumpet player - I still use the same B flat trumpet that I had in High School - Once I had a C that I liked that was that - If I were still playing I'd have to upgrade the smaller ones becuase the technology has improved so much.

 

I'm still shocked by swinging that hybrid man - is that how all the KBS iron shafts feel or is it only their hybrid shaft or is it the extra stiff part - Even when I'm hitting the ball well I don't ever hit a 3 hybrid that high and straight, it's always more boring and with a noticable amount of draw - I still got plenty of distance out of it even with that high launch and we were into the wind on that shot from an elevated tee.

 

That was a KBS Stiff. The KBS Tours and Hybrids and wedge shafts feel about the same to me. I should have had you hit one of my wedges because two of them have KBS Wedge Shafts in them. I do not currently, but might before the day is over, own the KBS Tour shafts. I had some, but they turned out to be soft stepped not hard stepped. My problem was that I was using them at home, and they were too weak. I sold them. Now, I know that I can not use the same at home and on the road. I am going to get rid of my C Tapers XS and get some Tours. My "home" and "travel" clubs may turn into, "good" and "bad" back day clubs.

 

To me the KBS Shaft in steel and the Talamonti Shafts in graphite are head and shoulders above the rest. You should have also hit a ball with my driver. It is X Stiff but you still could have felt the kick. The first time I felt it, it scared me so bad I thought the head flew off. Since I have had that happen before and since I tried to stop my swing and did not have vary good results.

[RookieBlue7]

Rev, the KBS Hybrid is a nice progression to KBS Tours in irons because its so similar. I call it Kim Braly's signature feel. It's like a blend of TT and PX. If the C-Tapers felt the same, that's what I'd play instead of DG Tour Issues(need that flight but the C-Tapers are more harsh).

[RoverRick]

I'm still shocked by swinging that hybrid man - is that how all the KBS iron shafts feel or is it only their hybrid shaft or is it the extra stiff part - Even when I'm hitting the ball well I don't ever hit a 3 hybrid that high and straight, it's always more boring and with a noticable amount of draw - I still got plenty of distance out of it even with that high launch and we were into the wind on that shot from an elevated tee.

 

Kevin, The KBS Hybrid shaft only weighs 105 g. Weight wise they are close to the Tour 90's. The Tour 90's are the supposed to be the same except lighter, higher launching, more spin and greater distance. However, when I did my shaft test last spring, I found the Tour 90 to be higher swing speed, lower launching, lower flight and lower spin but longer than the KBS Tour. This is not what was supposed to happen, and actually double checked because i thought the numbers were wrong, but those were the numbers that I got. You saw my swing is nothing like yours so it means nothing.

[kygolfer1980]

My Scors have the KBS 120 shafts in them. I really liked them the other day even though I wasn't striking the ball well. I would estimate I was hitting them about 5 yards farther than my Grind wedges which have the DG tour issue shafts. I don't know if it was a fluke but something to keep an eye on.