Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round2)

[Holy Moses]

Golf galaxy in Vernon hills will pull grips as well

 

I think they have a special on club work going on now

 

Thank you for the recommendation. They pulled all of my grips and the tape for free. Even considering the drive, I might be using them for club work moving forward.

[Argonne69]

I forgot to mention that two weeks ago when I was packing my clubs into my travel bag for the trip to Florida I fished 57 golf balls out of my cart bag. WTF? I generally find more balls than I lose, but d*mn. I really should consider contacting the producers of Hoarders.

 

Sounds pretty heavy!

 

It is, even without the extra golf balls. My travel bag with clubs and shoes weighs in at 50 lbs. I carry a lot of, um, stuff in my bag.

[ldchristopher]

Bear and I sat in the parking lot as freezing rain turned into light snow this morning contemplating just how stupid we were going to be. The sleet/rain/snow subsided so we checked in at Whisper Creek and teed off. 18 holes and a few frozen fingertips later, round 90 was in the books. The real feel temperature was 18 degrees and I can confirm that felt about right. We both hit the ball really well and I honesty can't complain about anything. I found some funny golf balls, including a Top Flite X-Out (seriously, why not just steal range balls if that's the caliber of ball someone is gonna play?) and had some absolutely massive drives that went maybe 200 yards before the cold breeze knocked them right out of the sky. We were told by the guy in the pro shop that the pins would all be front and he wasn't lying. Every pin was literally one pace off the front of the green. I'd never seen any set-up quite like that. The fit-face on Bear’s putter got ice in the grooves and his towel froze, both of which were also firsts for the two of us. All in all, it was an enjoyable finish to the year.

[Schley]

I forgot to mention that two weeks ago when I was packing my clubs into my travel bag for the trip to Florida I fished 57 golf balls out of my cart bag. WTF? I generally find more balls than I lose, but d*mn. I really should consider contacting the producers of Hoarders.

 

Sounds pretty heavy!

 

It is, even without the extra golf balls. My travel bag with clubs and shoes weighs in at 50 lbs. I carry a lot of, um, stuff in my bag.

 

That extra ammo you fished out accounted for almost 6 pounds right there.

[games]

I forgot to mention that two weeks ago when I was packing my clubs into my travel bag for the trip to Florida I fished 57 golf balls out of my cart bag. WTF? I generally find more balls than I lose, but d*mn. I really should consider contacting the producers of Hoarders.

 

Sounds pretty heavy!

 

It is, even without the extra golf balls. My travel bag with clubs and shoes weighs in at 50 lbs. I carry a lot of, um, stuff in my bag.

 

Last time I flew Allegiant, their "oversize" checked bag weight minimum was 50#. I somehow fit balls, driver head, FW heads, and shoes in my personal carry-on (no charge; darn thing probably weighed 12# on its own). Put clothes in the bag pockets, stuck a Gold Flex in the bag to act as a "cushion" and came in at 48#.

 

Since then, Allegiant reduced their "oversize" weight to 40#. I fly to Phoenix on Monday. We'll see if I can get close enough where they don't bother with the additional $50.

[Argonne69]

I picked up a new Ping Pioneer cart bag for the upcoming season. This will be my first non-Mizuno bag in ages. Given that I no longer carry a Mizuno club in my bag, having swapped the MP-5's for Ping i200's back in May, the change is probably warranted. The bag feels a few pounds lighter, so it should be easier to stay under the 50 lb limit.

[dhartmann34]

I've played a few rounds here in Phoenix. Been pretty chilly, even for this time of year. While it's better than the Chicago area, I still would rather not pay $60+ (it's high time here) to play a very middle of the road course when it's 49 degrees.

So only 3 rounds on this trip. Conditions have been good. Played an interesting course up in wickenburg where target golf was the name of the game. And then a few here in the valley. Good to swing. Definitely too many layers of clothes though.

 

Thankfully heading to Florida Monday where the temps are much more to my liking and so are the golf costs. Gotta get in what I can. Baby H comes soon!

 

A few pics, although I've slacked in that department. One has hot air balloons if you look closely.

 

Here's to a nice holiday and Happy New Year for everyone!

[Schley]

I picked up a new Ping Pioneer cart bag for the upcoming season. This will be my first non-Mizuno bag in ages. Given that I no longer carry a Mizuno club in my bag, having swapped the MP-5's for Ping i200's back in May, the change is probably warranted. The bag feels a few pounds lighter, so it should be easier to stay under the 50 lb limit.

 

I thought you liked to walk? Or do you just have a push cart you use with it?

[Schley]

The overseeding really frames the fairway well doesn't it?

[dhartmann34]

The overseeding really frames the fairway well doesn't it?

It does!! Which helped a on that course because there are a bunch of blind, or mostly blind, shots... So seeing a sliver of green helped a bit. I want to get back up there in the warm season though. I'd like to take a little more time to admire the scenery. It was in the mid 40's with 20mph winds for most of our round... With a few sprinkles so we were rushing a bit.

[chisag]

The overseeding really frames the fairway well doesn't it?

It does!! Which helped a on that course because there are a bunch of blind, or mostly blind, shots... So seeing a sliver of green helped a bit. I want to get back up there in the warm season though. I'd like to take a little more time to admire the scenery. It was in the mid 40's with 20mph winds for most of our round... With a few sprinkles so we were rushing a bit.

 

... What courses did you play? I was heading out there for the winter last week but with the cold weather, I am waiting til next weekend when it gets back up in the 70's. I was out there all March and April last spring and played everyday but 2 of them, but this will be my first January-February stay and imagine I will have some cold spells to deal with.

[dhartmann34]

Wickenburg Country Club, Union Hills Country Club (Greens were fantastic), 500 Club.

 

Been pretty chilly. Guy I met at the gym said it's been 4-5 years since it's gotten this cold for a long period of time. No sun in the desert is no joke!

The overseeding really frames the fairway well doesn't it?

It does!! Which helped a on that course because there are a bunch of blind, or mostly blind, shots... So seeing a sliver of green helped a bit. I want to get back up there in the warm season though. I'd like to take a little more time to admire the scenery. It was in the mid 40's with 20mph winds for most of our round... With a few sprinkles so we were rushing a bit.

 

... What courses did you play? I was heading out there for the winter last week but with the cold weather, I am waiting til next weekend when it gets back up in the 70's. I was out there all March and April last spring and played everyday but 2 of them, but this will be my first January-February stay and imagine I will have some cold spells to deal with.

[Argonne69]

I picked up a new Ping Pioneer cart bag for the upcoming season. This will be my first non-Mizuno bag in ages. Given that I no longer carry a Mizuno club in my bag, having swapped the MP-5's for Ping i200's back in May, the change is probably warranted. The bag feels a few pounds lighter, so it should be easier to stay under the 50 lb limit.

 

I thought you liked to walk? Or do you just have a push cart you use with it?

 

Yeah, I prefer to walk, but I have a ClicGear 3.5+. One can get away with a few extra pounds when pushing a larger cart bag.

[getgolfed]

Bear and I sat in the parking lot as freezing rain turned into light snow this morning contemplating just how stupid we were going to be. The sleet/rain/snow subsided so we checked in at Whisper Creek and teed off. 18 holes and a few frozen fingertips later, round 90 was in the books. The real feel temperature was 18 degrees and I can confirm that felt about right. We both hit the ball really well and I honesty can't complain about anything. I found some funny golf balls, including a Top Flite X-Out (seriously, why not just steal range balls if that's the caliber of ball someone is gonna play?) and had some absolutely massive drives that went maybe 200 yards before the cold breeze knocked them right out of the sky. We were told by the guy in the pro shop that the pins would all be front and he wasn't lying. Every pin was literally one pace off the front of the green. I'd never seen any set-up quite like that. The fit-face on Bear's putter got ice in the grooves and his towel froze, both of which were also firsts for the two of us. All in all, it was an enjoyable finish to the year.

 

And I consider myself a bit crazy...

[Argonne69]

Another season has flown by. I managed 103 rounds for the year, one shy of last year's total. With only 3 local rounds in March, 4 in April, and 4 in November, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't hit the century mark for the 4th year in a row. The key once again was the multiple rounds played on eight golf trips. I've played over 500 rounds in the past five years, and 1000+ in the past 13 years.

 

I played on 88 different courses in 9 states (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, California, Alabama, and Washington), compared to 84 different courses last year. Of these, 60 were first time visits, one less than last year. I've now played on 491 different courses, and I'm on track to play the Old Course at St Andrews next April as my 500th. I added another 13 new local public courses, bring the total to 160. There's still 30 or more to play.

 

I didn't quite achieve my goal this year of lowering my handicap. Instead, I went in the other direction, and finished the year 2 strokes higher than at the end of last season. However, at the lowest point this season it was only 0.5 strokes higher than last year's best, so when the game is on it's still pretty good. I continue to have off and on days with the driver. Towards the end of the season the hook was rearing it's ugly head way too often. I was fiddling with swing weights, and I need to stop goofing around and just start putting a controlled swing on the ball.

 

My putting improved by nearly a stroke, but scrambling and GIR's more or less stayed the same at year's end. I did have a stretch mid-season where I was averaging nearly 12 greens, slightly ahead of last year's best. The Ping i200 irons I put in my bag in May are a bit more forgiving than the old Mizuno MP-5's, and with a distance gain of nearly 10 yards allows me to hit one less club on approach. Now, if I can figure out how to straighten out the driver.....

 

I was planning to replace my Callaway MD3 wedges with Ping Glide 2.0 wedges this season, but wound up with Vokeys. I still want to try the Pings. A Ping G400 Max replaced the Ping G400 LST mid-season. I dumped my G400 SFT 5 wood for a G400 7 wood, and my G400 4h with a G400 9 wood.

 

Consistency wasn't quite as good as last year, but overall I was pleased. I estimate that 1/3rd of my rounds were solo, and I play some very good golf when I'm getting around the course with no impediments. The low round of the season was a nice 69, and the high was a rough 91 at Tacoma CC, a tough private course that required precise tee shots.

 

The highlight of the season was my round at Chambers Bay. 'Amazing piece of property. My two rounds at Sand Valley weren't far behind. Torrey Pines South was fun, too.

 

Courses in the area were in OK condition for the most part, but the wet spring certainly struck a lasting blow. Green speeds never did move beyond moderate, and with a quick end to fall we didn't get the usual streak of uber-fast greens late in the season. 'No real issues with pace of play this year except for a handful of the usual suspects.

 

2019 has the potential to be a much different year for me. I'm currently scheduled to be laid off at work at the end of October. It could come sooner, or it might get delayed by a few months, but the end is near. I'll likely start looking for a job in mid-summer, but I'm not holding my breath given my age and the level of age discrimination in the IT industry. I read the summary of a recent study that found that 56 percent of workers over the age of 50 that have been with their company for more than 10 years will be pushed out of their jobs, and that only 10 percent will ever earn as much as they did during their peak earning years. If I can't find a job downtown by the end of summer, I'll likely sell my River North condo and head for the suburbs. 'No sense in paying high assessments if I'm unemployed and living on savings. In all, I think there's going to be a number of things that will impact my time on the course. I normally take 7 or 8 golf vacations a year, but with unemployment looming I'm likely going to bank most of my vacation after my Scotland trip and take the cash when I walk out the door.

 

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Happy New Year, gang.

[games]

I'm currently scheduled to be laid off at work at the end of October.

 

Tried sending you a PM. I work for a firm in the Loop (AON Center) looking for IT staff. If interested, feel free to send a PM and I'll respond.

[chisag]

Bear and I sat in the parking lot as freezing rain turned into light snow this morning contemplating just how stupid we were going to be. The sleet/rain/snow subsided so we checked in at Whisper Creek and teed off. 18 holes and a few frozen fingertips later, round 90 was in the books. The real feel temperature was 18 degrees and I can confirm that felt about right. We both hit the ball really well and I honesty can't complain about anything. I found some funny golf balls, including a Top Flite X-Out (seriously, why not just steal range balls if that's the caliber of ball someone is gonna play?) and had some absolutely massive drives that went maybe 200 yards before the cold breeze knocked them right out of the sky. We were told by the guy in the pro shop that the pins would all be front and he wasn't lying. Every pin was literally one pace off the front of the green. I'd never seen any set-up quite like that. The fit-face on Bear's putter got ice in the grooves and his towel froze, both of which were also firsts for the two of us. All in all, it was an enjoyable finish to the year.

 

And I consider myself a bit crazy...

 

 

... Yup. Whatever that was, and it sounds like they really enjoyed themselves, it dam sure wasn't golf. 50's was too cold for me LOL. Even though my lease starts the 1st of January I am waiting a few day before leaving for Phoenix because I didn't wanna drive 3 days and arrive to frigid 53/29* weather. By waiting a couple days I will arrive to 64/45* temps then into the 70's.

[St Jimmy]

Another season has flown by. I managed 103 rounds for the year, one shy of last year's total. With only 3 local rounds in March, 4 in April, and 4 in November, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't hit the century mark for the 4th year in a row. The key once again was the multiple rounds played on eight golf trips. I've played over 500 rounds in the past five years, and 1000+ in the past 13 years.

 

I played on 88 different courses in 9 states (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, California, Alabama, and Washington), compared to 84 different courses last year. Of these, 60 were first time visits, one less than last year. I've now played on 491 different courses, and I'm on track to play the Old Course at St Andrews next April as my 500th. I added another 13 new local public courses, bring the total to 160. There's still 30 or more to play.

 

 

 

 

You're either single or have the most understanding partner of all time.

[mci711]

Another season has flown by. I managed 103 rounds for the year, one shy of last year's total. With only 3 local rounds in March, 4 in April, and 4 in November, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't hit the century mark for the 4th year in a row. The key once again was the multiple rounds played on eight golf trips. I've played over 500 rounds in the past five years, and 1000+ in the past 13 years.

 

I played on 88 different courses in 9 states (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, California, Alabama, and Washington), compared to 84 different courses last year. Of these, 60 were first time visits, one less than last year. I've now played on 491 different courses, and I'm on track to play the Old Course at St Andrews next April as my 500th. I added another 13 new local public courses, bring the total to 160. There's still 30 or more to play.

 

I didn't quite achieve my goal this year of lowering my handicap. Instead, I went in the other direction, and finished the year 2 strokes higher than at the end of last season. However, at the lowest point this season it was only 0.5 strokes higher than last year's best, so when the game is on it's still pretty good. I continue to have off and on days with the driver. Towards the end of the season the hook was rearing it's ugly head way too often. I was fiddling with swing weights, and I need to stop goofing around and just start putting a controlled swing on the ball.

 

My putting improved by nearly a stroke, but scrambling and GIR's more or less stayed the same at year's end. I did have a stretch mid-season where I was averaging nearly 12 greens, slightly ahead of last year's best. The Ping i200 irons I put in my bag in May are a bit more forgiving than the old Mizuno MP-5's, and with a distance gain of nearly 10 yards allows me to hit one less club on approach. Now, if I can figure out how to straighten out the driver.....

 

I was planning to replace my Callaway MD3 wedges with Ping Glide 2.0 wedges this season, but wound up with Vokeys. I still want to try the Pings. A Ping G400 Max replaced the Ping G400 LST mid-season. I dumped my G400 SFT 5 wood for a G400 7 wood, and my G400 4h with a G400 9 wood.

 

Consistency wasn't quite as good as last year, but overall I was pleased. I estimate that 1/3rd of my rounds were solo, and I play some very good golf when I'm getting around the course with no impediments. The low round of the season was a nice 69, and the high was a rough 91 at Tacoma CC, a tough private course that required precise tee shots.

 

The highlight of the season was my round at Chambers Bay. 'Amazing piece of property. My two rounds at Sand Valley weren't far behind. Torrey Pines South was fun, too.

 

Courses in the area were in OK condition for the most part, but the wet spring certainly struck a lasting blow. Green speeds never did move beyond moderate, and with a quick end to fall we didn't get the usual streak of uber-fast greens late in the season. 'No real issues with pace of play this year except for a handful of the usual suspects.

 

2019 has the potential to be a much different year for me. I'm currently scheduled to be laid off at work at the end of October. It could come sooner, or it might get delayed by a few months, but the end is near. I'll likely start looking for a job in mid-summer, but I'm not holding my breath given my age and the level of age discrimination in the IT industry. I read the summary of a recent study that found that 56 percent of workers over the age of 50 that have been with their company for more than 10 years will be pushed out of their jobs, and that only 10 percent will ever earn as much as they did during their peak earning years. If I can't find a job downtown by the end of summer, I'll likely sell my River North condo and head for the suburbs. 'No sense in paying high assessments if I'm unemployed and living on savings. In all, I think there's going to be a number of things that will impact my time on the course. I normally take 7 or 8 golf vacations a year, but with unemployment looming I'm likely going to bank most of my vacation after my Scotland trip and take the cash when I walk out the door.

 

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Happy New Year, gang.

 

Hope everything works out for you. Sounds like another great year on the books though. On your mention of the Ping Glides, I have the ping glide forged wedges and love how they feel. Great wedge.

 

Do you track every round (greens, fairways, putts etc)? If so do you use an app or just track manually?

 

I started keeping count of rounds played and this was my 3rd year counting. Had my highest total, right at 70. I suspect next year will be my highest as I am joining the course I live on and will trying to play 4-5 times a week and have a few trips planned. Scotland - Old Course, New Course, Kingsbarns, North Berwick and 1 to be determined. Scottsdale in a couple weeks for 2 rounds. The goal is to hit either Sand Valley or French Lick for my birthday this year. We'll see what else comes up.

 

Last year highlights - Pebble Beach, Ocean Course, Bethpage Black, Arcadia Bluffs, Forest Dunes, Streamsong R-B-B. Bethpage and Arcadia really stood out.

[Argonne69]

Another season has flown by. I managed 103 rounds for the year, one shy of last year's total. With only 3 local rounds in March, 4 in April, and 4 in November, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't hit the century mark for the 4th year in a row. The key once again was the multiple rounds played on eight golf trips. I've played over 500 rounds in the past five years, and 1000+ in the past 13 years.

 

I played on 88 different courses in 9 states (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, California, Alabama, and Washington), compared to 84 different courses last year. Of these, 60 were first time visits, one less than last year. I've now played on 491 different courses, and I'm on track to play the Old Course at St Andrews next April as my 500th. I added another 13 new local public courses, bring the total to 160. There's still 30 or more to play.

 

 

You're either single or have the most understanding partner of all time.

 

Lol. I would use the term "accepting".

[Argonne69]

 

Hope everything works out for you. Sounds like another great year on the books though. On your mention of the Ping Glides, I have the ping glide forged wedges and love how they feel. Great wedge.

 

Do you track every round (greens, fairways, putts etc)? If so do you use an app or just track manually?

 

 

What type of sole grind to you have on the Glides? I like a lot of bounce, and I was looking at the WS on the 56 and 60's, and the SS on the 52.

 

Yes, I track every round, including score, fairways, greens, putts, scrambles, and par 3 scoring. I use a custom program I wrote (in Java) that uses simple CSV files for course and round data.

[chisag]

... For you guys that track your rounds, do you have any algorithms that take into account playing a new course? Wind? Temperature? Physical condition on any given day? I get tracking your game as someone new to figure out your weaknesses but after playing long enough to have a good die of strangers and weakness, I would think all f the above make numbers dependent on too many outside factors. I know my GIR's at Prairie Bluff can be radically different in 25 mph winds than 5 mph winds, and days when my back is stiff (which is one of the reasons I don't play golf in the cold) and I love playing a new course when it is 85 and dry with the ball is really flying as opposed to 65 and wet. So I am interested in how tracking helps you given all the above.

[Argonne69]

I don't make any adjustments for weather or conditions. I simply accept that my index will vary with the season. The program I wrote keeps a history of all stats (based on a 20 round rolling average), so I can see the ebbs and flows throughout the year. I've got a pretty good idea about how scoring changes due to equipment changes, and weather. Given that I don't play any one course more than a few times a year it's difficult to track progress at a single course. I think things even out over time. I tend to play more aggressively on the familiar courses, and much more conservatively on the first visit courses.

 

One thing I'd like to do is to scale the stats to course design. Hitting 6 fairways on a very tight course is probably better than hitting 11 fairways at a wide open layout. Same with large vs small greens. However, when one uses a rolling average over 20 rounds I'm guessing the course differences even out. 'Not sure how I'd even begin to address that, but I assume the course rating/slope already factor in the width of the fairways, and the size of the greens.

 

In addition, I generally move up a tee box in unusual conditions, which includes very wet conditions and extreme temperatures. The game is hard enough without beating your brains out in cold, windy, and wet conditions.

[B-Man]

25% of pre-owned gear at PGA Superstore Downers Grove until 12/30. I picked up a small "deal".

[taylorx300]

Great deals with the extra off, 718 AP3 with Pured OBAN ct115 5-PW was 400.00 in the new Vernon Hills store. They are getting a lot of CC trade ins.

[mci711]

Going to call tomorrow, but figured I'd ask. Anyone know if cinder ridge is open during the winter, weather permitting. (Saturday)

[mci711]

Also, can't wait to never pull a flag again! Ha

[dhartmann34]

Also, can't wait to never pull a flag again! Ha

Hate this new rule. Played yesterday down here in Florida and two guys wanted it in and two of us wanted it out. What a pain ... Definitely slows you down on the greens.

[Holy Moses]

Also, can't wait to never pull a flag again! Ha

Hate this new rule. Played yesterday down here in Florida and two guys wanted it in and two of us wanted it out. What a pain ... Definitely slows you down on the greens.

 

And the rule was intended to speed up play. I predict this rule won't be around long.

[dhartmann34]

Also, can't wait to never pull a flag again! Ha

Hate this new rule. Played yesterday down here in Florida and two guys wanted it in and two of us wanted it out. What a pain ... Definitely slows you down on the greens.

 

And the rule was intended to speed up play. I predict this rule won't be around long.

Yeah I don't see it speeding up play.... Unless a 4-some can miraculously unanimously agree to leave it in... Which I'd never agree to.

 

Only nice thing is when you knock it close and others aren't on the green yet... You can knock it in and not hear someone yell "you hit the pin, two stroke penalty".