Confessions 12 --- Exploding Heads

[Halebopp]

dan, have you tried Ping i15 or Mizuno MP-650 drivers? They're my two favourite drivers and their feel truly separates them from the rest

Funny you mention those. No, I haven't BUT....The MP-650 has been on my list to check out and a close friend swears the i15 will fix all my issues. Even my emotional ones.

 

There you go then! Lucky for you you can get them both for the price of one Epic head cover. :)

 

I had one of those range sessions yesterday... you go there planning to fine tune something with your irons and then work on your driver but you end up spending most of the time trying to make decent contact even with a nine iron. Not really confidence building that...

 

I should probably blame my work on half-swing shots with wedges onto the pitching green to start the practice session for making a mess of my full swing. Once I got fed up with the full swing and went back to work on the wedges, I started shanking a fair share of them. Oh well... maybe something good was left brewing inside of me for the next round.

[glk]

Nice round Matt. My best putting is 9 for 9. Shot 41 on front. Bogeyed 10. Then played -3 for last eight with back to back chip in birdies for a 34. Ended up with 24 putts. Out of the blue.

 

Been stuck between 77-79 for last 6 rounds. I know I should hold a pity party. Doing it every way. Always that slow start. Yesterday was bogey 3 of first 4. Then bogey 3 of last 4. Standing on 15 I offended the golf gods. Last 4 holes are real gettable at Holston and I pondered breaking par on the back. Bad thought. But I really scraped it around without a real quality swing so I shouldn't have teased the gods.

 

Begun working on pump drills. P5 and p6. Done enough stuff that I'm down to integrating it more naturally and pumps are the ticket. Swings intents are feel club behind me in transition. Or right shoulder to ball.

[dan360]

dan, have you tried Ping i15 or Mizuno MP-650 drivers? They're my two favourite drivers and their feel truly separates them from the rest

Funny you mention those. No, I haven't BUT....The MP-650 has been on my list to check out and a close friend swears the i15 will fix all my issues. Even my emotional ones.

 

There you go then! Lucky for you you can get them both for the price of one Epic head cover. :)

 

I had one of those range sessions yesterday... you go there planning to fine tune something with your irons and then work on your driver but you end up spending most of the time trying to make decent contact even with a nine iron. Not really confidence building that...

 

I should probably blame my work on half-swing shots with wedges onto the pitching green to start the practice session for making a mess of my full swing. Once I got fed up with the full swing and went back to work on the wedges, I started shanking a fair share of them. Oh well... maybe something good was left brewing inside of me for the next round.

 

Those are the range days when deep fried cheese curds & beer win out over other forms of self abuse like hitting balls the wrong way....

 

I've had good results, temporarily, with a few Mizuno drivers. MP-001, MX700, MP-600, and currently a JPX-800 with stock Exsar stiff shaft that is great other than the horrendous amount of spin it gives. I had heard the MP-630 non Fast Track was the cure all. Nope. Same with the M1 440 I overpaid for. Nopers.

 

So the MP-650 will end up coming here....the shaft is the kicker. (pun). Which one? The Fubuki? The Orochi? Something else? Should I reshaft the JPX-800?

 

I don't like the shaftorama-thon game but it has to be done.

[Matt J]

Equipment feels pretty good, shot an ugly 79 today with two doubles. 12 putts on the front, so short game is still working okay. A 37/42 is a little disturbing, but that's the way it goes sometimes. 2 3-putts again and 27 total. One penalty stroke. Got the pulls a little towards the end, too fast in transition.

 

Good to see Big Stu visit us. Congrats on the blades Stu.

[Pigems]

Ooooh man, the wheels came off big time on Saturday lol. Played a course in town here that I've never played before, and it was a nice course, but I forgot my golf shoes at home and had to play in my DC skate shoes, so I was grumpy to begin with. The Front 9 wasn't too bad, 2 doubles, a bogey and 6 pars. I hit some really good shots on the front(3/7 firs and 7/9 girs) the best of which was a blind(hitting up over the crest of a hill) 5 iron from the rough from 185y, it ended up on the fringe about 15' right on the pin for eagle, but yeah, I 3 putted for par. Then it got real bad on the back, I managed to save bogey on 10, 11, 12 and 13 after pulled/hooked drives, chunked/pulled approach shots. Then proceeded to finished double, double, double, double par lol. It was brutal, save for my approach shot on 18. It was my best shot of the day, pulled my drive into the right rough, was sitting 187y out to a narrow green, said F%#£ it and went for it. Pulled 6 iron and absolutely flushed it, ball stayed dead online and landed 15' behind the flag. Then I two putted for par lol. Man what a crap back nine it was(0/7 firs and 1/9 girs), I totally lost my focus and for frustrated.

 

Time to hit the range this week for a tune up, next weekend it's revenge ;)

 

Oh I tried the Bertha 815 fairway wood on the range before that round, holy hooks batman. I think it might need a stiffer shaft, the head it 206g compared to the 203g head that came on that shaft. It even feels squishy in a wiggle test with the 815 head on it, it's odd. It was plenty firm with the RFX head on it and it's from in my RFX 5w. Maybe I'll steal the Aldila RIP 70x out of my 910D2, it doesn't get much stiffer than that shaft lol.

[glk]

Might be a barista at the Starbucks about 5 miles from our house. Just part time. Ran out of fix'em ups at the house so now it's just cutting the grass. LOL.

Interview tomorrow.

[Halebopp]

dan, I don't know much about graphite shafts but the stock shaft in the 650 is Orochi Red Eye, which is supposed to be similar to Blueboard and Motore F3 if that's of any help to you.

 

I was working as an assistant to a rules official today in a (top level) national junior tour event. The rules official in charge wanted to decide the hole locations on Monday morning. It had been raining a lot over the weekend and it was still raining on Monday morning. The course is old and built on a swamp so the water just stays there, some fairways looked more like water hazards than fairways. The two of us and the head greenskeeper were lucky to find two acceptable hole locations for each green as the greens were in a truly bad condition. The hole locations were ok in case it rained more (or the course didn't dry). What happened was they got the greens dried up and in excellent condition. You couldn't believe the greens were the same but with only 24 hours and some hard work in between.

 

Needless to say some of the hole locations were really effed up for such conditions. It was a pain to watch the kids trying to putt on some of the holes as it was more about luck than good putting. Especially when the wet course played a lot longer and the players needed more club for their approach shots. After sharing the players' pain on some of the greens, we got flak from the players, some parents and the tournament director wasn't exactly happy either.

 

It certainly was a valuable lesson for me as far as figuring out what not to do. Decide the hole locations as late as possible, try to keep them away from the edges of the green - start off by putting most of them "somewhere in the middle" and then choose a couple of holes where there's a good chance to test the players. (Also, adjust the tees for the conditions, not only for the hole location)

 

The tournament director changed three or four hole locations we had planned for tomorrow so hopefully there'll be happier faces.

[BIG STU]

Equipment feels pretty good, shot an ugly 79 today with two doubles. 12 putts on the front, so short game is still working okay. A 37/42 is a little disturbing, but that's the way it goes sometimes. 2 3-putts again and 27 total. One penalty stroke. Got the pulls a little towards the end, too fast in transition.

 

Good to see Big Stu visit us. Congrats on the blades Stu.

Thanks I just went back to what I knew. This was some of the same bunch that got into my head with all the talk about MAWBB vs blades and the lead tape blah blah blah> One of my buddies that I sorta grew up around told me the other week "all you have ever known was Mac blades after you got off the Spalding kick and you did play those Power Bilt Custom Citation blades for years" He swears to this day that those Citation blades were custom and Mac copies. I told those guys if I heard any talk about my old lead taped blades I would not play with them any more. Did not hear a peep. BTW the antique blades kicked Word not allowed for the $$$$. Did not putt my best but not bad shot 71. Best round in a year. Worked on my putting about 6 hours Sunday between church and all. Came up with something new and no not a putter change went back to my rusty Scotty. I revamped my grip and method of stroke. Went from a lifelong arc putting to my version of a modified claw grip and straight through and back. Worked pretty good for me especially on the 10 ft in putts.

 

Of course De Ninny predicted I would be back to pure blades and as usual he was correct. I had been browsing on here but not posting because for some reason I felt left out. Not that anyone at all said anything and personally I felt I would be a hiprocrit posting on here while not playing real blades

[Matt J]

Stu you're always welcome here. Heck I play cavity backs.

 

Getting amped for our Club Championship this weekend. Shot a 78 from the tips today. Pretty ugly front with two doubles in a row, but was even on the back. 3 putt par on 16 from 25 feet hurt, stuffed one on 17 for bird, then got a bad laser reading on 18 and flushed one into the front trap :) Feelin' alright!

 

Hope the rest of the Confessioners are well.

[PapaJohick]

Stu come on brah, no need to feel left out. As has always been the confession way, contribute when you wanna, no matter what it is. Lurking is fine too haha. Also, this aint the blade forum. That is over in equipment haha. Just so happens that Ninja has gotten some people in here who just so happen to play them and I think that has gone down a bit as of late. Like matt said he plays CBs (nice ones at that), so does pigems, and GLK plays non bladed irons as well.

 

Shoot I am about to go to a THP event where I am going to be subjected (not in a bad way hahaha) to using non blades for the first time in over a year. With how my ball striking has improved/become more consistent it will b very fun to see how they perform for me in play. Who knows, they may just make the bag (especially in the winter/off peak times).

[Matt J]

I've been on a bit of deep dive as DeNinny used to call it, on swing weight.

 

Most of you know I have a loft and lie vise and have found most uses sets of irons I've bought have been super screwed up. I guess Ping was right to make custom lie in super durable SS.

 

Anyways, now with the prevalence of graphite and lighter steel I think SW is another huge issue with a lot of sets. And just about anyone can feel 2 points and a lot of sets are at least 2 if not a lot more, too light. That set of factory Titleist built CB's is C8. Way too light.

 

I think I'm going to MOI a set as I like a lighter long iron and a heavy wedge.

[glk]

I am to be a barista by the end of the month.

[Pigems]

I've been on a bit of deep dive as DeNinny used to call it, on swing weight.

 

Most of you know I have a loft and lie vise and have found most uses sets of irons I've bought have been super screwed up. I guess Ping was right to make custom lie in super durable SS.

 

Anyways, now with the prevalence of graphite and lighter steel I think SW is another huge issue with a lot of sets. And just about anyone can feel 2 points and a lot of sets are at least 2 if not a lot more, too light. That set of factory Titleist built CB's is C8. Way too light.

 

I think I'm going to MOI a set as I like a lighter long iron and a heavy wedge.

 

 

I've got a Small LL Machine as well and you are right Matt, most sets/clubs I've gotten have been way off. That TVD Vokey 58 is a 68* Lie angle lol, 4* upright. I haven't put much thought into swing weights in a while , all my clubs are cut short and my Driver is the only one with any extra weight added back to the head. Maybe I should dig into this a bit more and tinker with some lead tape again. Though in the past I find I can notice/feel overall weight changes more so than Swing weight changes in general. I like Heavy clubs, they keep me from getting to quick :)

 

 

[Pigems]

I ended up getting off work early today so I went back to Grandview for revenge on the back nine lol. Played some pretty mediocre golf over the front nine with a few nice/bad shots mixed in. I ended up with 4/9 girs, 3/7 firs and an ugly 21 putts for 44. But I only played there today to get back at the back nine, that was my main focus. On the back, played much much better than Saturday, went 5/9 girs, 4/7 firs and 15 putts for 39 on the back. The highlight being a 60' chip in from the fringe on the other side of the green for my only birdie on the day. Shot 39 on the back and finished the day off with a nearly identical approach shot into the 18th green. Standing 189y in after my drive, hit 6i but i Didn't get a great piece of it. I got lucky though and got a great bounce and ended up 12' from the pin. The putt stopped friggen 1", one effing inch short of dropping for birdie too. Man that would have been a sweet 38, but 39 will do. I got my revenge ;)

[Pigems]

Equipment feels pretty good, shot an ugly 79 today with two doubles. 12 putts on the front, so short game is still working okay. A 37/42 is a little disturbing, but that's the way it goes sometimes. 2 3-putts again and 27 total. One penalty stroke. Got the pulls a little towards the end, too fast in transition.

 

Good to see Big Stu visit us. Congrats on the blades Stu.

Thanks I just went back to what I knew. This was some of the same bunch that got into my head with all the talk about MAWBB vs blades and the lead tape blah blah blah> One of my buddies that I sorta grew up around told me the other week "all you have ever known was Mac blades after you got off the Spalding kick and you did play those Power Bilt Custom Citation blades for years" He swears to this day that those Citation blades were custom and Mac copies. I told those guys if I heard any talk about my old lead taped blades I would not play with them any more. Did not hear a peep. BTW the antique blades kicked Word not allowed for the $$$$. Did not putt my best but not bad shot 71. Best round in a year. Worked on my putting about 6 hours Sunday between church and all. Came up with something new and no not a putter change went back to my rusty Scotty. I revamped my grip and method of stroke. Went from a lifelong arc putting to my version of a modified claw grip and straight through and back. Worked pretty good for me especially on the 10 ft in putts.

 

Of course De Ninny predicted I would be back to pure blades and as usual he was correct. I had been browsing on here but not posting because for some reason I felt left out. Not that anyone at all said anything and personally I felt I would be a hiprocrit posting on here while not playing real blades

 

STU, my man, the founding father of the OGA is Always welcome!! Blades or not ;)

[BIG STU]

I've been on a bit of deep dive as DeNinny used to call it, on swing weight.

 

Most of you know I have a loft and lie vise and have found most uses sets of irons I've bought have been super screwed up. I guess Ping was right to make custom lie in super durable SS.

 

Anyways, now with the prevalence of graphite and lighter steel I think SW is another huge issue with a lot of sets. And just about anyone can feel 2 points and a lot of sets are at least 2 if not a lot more, too light. That set of factory Titleist built CB's is C8. Way too light.

 

I think I'm going to MOI a set as I like a lighter long iron and a heavy wedge.

I can tell you why most clubs you buy used are screwed up on lofts and lies.----- PGM school students or at least around here that is the case---- They teach them just enough to be dangerous---- I do not know how many sets I have had to re do that were way off--- A lot of those guys work at the big box stores--- Hey I know everyone has to learn but man oh man on a $800 or $900 set of clubs come on! Learn like I did on junk or your own clubs.

[BIG STU]

Stu you're always welcome here. Heck I play cavity backs.

 

Getting amped for our Club Championship this weekend. Shot a 78 from the tips today. Pretty ugly front with two doubles in a row, but was even on the back. 3 putt par on 16 from 25 feet hurt, stuffed one on 17 for bird, then got a bad laser reading on 18 and flushed one into the front trap :) Feelin' alright!

 

Hope the rest of the Confessioners are well.

Thanks Matt I would hate to even thinking about playing from the tips at this stage in life much less shooting 78 with two doubles. Oh I am keeping the Callys because they are good clubs unless I trade them for a set of Titleist blades. That may be a deal in the works

 

Edit; BTW you can screw up a set of Pings too just ask Conrad he bought a used set of either 55s or 57s and those things were screwed up. He bought them off the Bay and shipped them directly to me sight unseen and had me put them to the spec he wanted which if I recall correctly was blue dot. Lofts and lies were all over the place along with swing weights. Some jackass had bored them to .370 and had put stock Ping .355 shafts back in them for resale and they did not do a good job at that even. Had several not centered in the bore and everyone of them had at least 6 grams of tip weight except the 2 and 3 irons. They had never been touched or hit from what I saw and they were within specs. Some folks do not need to mess with clubs period if you catch my drift

[Pigems]

Stu you're always welcome here. Heck I play cavity backs.

 

Getting amped for our Club Championship this weekend. Shot a 78 from the tips today. Pretty ugly front with two doubles in a row, but was even on the back. 3 putt par on 16 from 25 feet hurt, stuffed one on 17 for bird, then got a bad laser reading on 18 and flushed one into the front trap :) Feelin' alright!

 

Hope the rest of the Confessioners are well.

Thanks Matt I would hate to even thinking about playing from the tips at this stage in life much less shooting 78 with two doubles. Oh I am keeping the Callys because they are good clubs unless I trade them for a set of Titleist blades. That may be a deal in the works

 

Edit; BTW you can screw up a set of Pings too just ask Conrad he bought a used set of either 55s or 57s and those things were screwed up. He bought them off the Bay and shipped them directly to me sight unseen and had me put them to the spec he wanted which if I recall correctly was blue dot. Lofts and lies were all over the place along with swing weights. Some jackass had bored them to .370 and had put stock Ping .355 shafts back in them for resale and they did not do a good job at that even. Had several not centered in the bore and everyone of them had at least 6 grams of tip weight except the 2 and 3 irons. They had never been touched or hit from what I saw and they were within specs. Some folks do not need to mess with clubs period if you catch my drift

 

 

I can't remember what thread it was in but I remember you and Rad talking about hose Pings and how mucked up they were. Didn't you have troubles with removing the shafts or something? Or was it bending them back to spec? I can't remember now.

 

I saw a thread last night or this morning with a guy asking if he should get the lofts and lies of his 19 year old irons checked as his pro had offered to do so. I can only imagine what the specs on those would be after 19 years of use. I honestly want to know what they checked out at just out of curiosity after seeing it :)

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1527836-loft-and-lie/page__pid__16012434#entry16012434

[BIG STU]

Stu you're always welcome here. Heck I play cavity backs.

 

Getting amped for our Club Championship this weekend. Shot a 78 from the tips today. Pretty ugly front with two doubles in a row, but was even on the back. 3 putt par on 16 from 25 feet hurt, stuffed one on 17 for bird, then got a bad laser reading on 18 and flushed one into the front trap :) Feelin' alright!

 

Hope the rest of the Confessioners are well.

Thanks Matt I would hate to even thinking about playing from the tips at this stage in life much less shooting 78 with two doubles. Oh I am keeping the Callys because they are good clubs unless I trade them for a set of Titleist blades. That may be a deal in the works

 

Edit; BTW you can screw up a set of Pings too just ask Conrad he bought a used set of either 55s or 57s and those things were screwed up. He bought them off the Bay and shipped them directly to me sight unseen and had me put them to the spec he wanted which if I recall correctly was blue dot. Lofts and lies were all over the place along with swing weights. Some jackass had bored them to .370 and had put stock Ping .355 shafts back in them for resale and they did not do a good job at that even. Had several not centered in the bore and everyone of them had at least 6 grams of tip weight except the 2 and 3 irons. They had never been touched or hit from what I saw and they were within specs. Some folks do not need to mess with clubs period if you catch my drift

 

 

I can't remember what thread it was in but I remember you and Rad talking about hose Pings and how mucked up they were. Didn't you have troubles with removing the shafts or something? Or was it bending them back to spec? I can't remember now.

 

I saw a thread last night or this morning with a guy asking if he should get the lofts and lies of his 19 year old irons checked as his pro had offered to do so. I can only imagine what the specs on those would be after 19 years of use. I honestly want to know what they checked out at just out of curiosity after seeing it :)

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...4#entry16012434

It was actually a little of both not so much removing the shafts but getting them shimmed back up and centered and getting the swing weight back to specs.

 

Now some older irons will surprise you for a lot of different reasons. Something like Ping Karsten 1s usually stay in check or Tommy Armour 845s. Depends on if someone hit them off of mats a lot or not. Forged irons that is another story all together. You better check them at the worst every 6 months or so. I could tell if one of mine was off by the way they hit. Good example those 2013 Cally x-forged I got to getting the steroid jerk with the 9 iron one day. I was not jerking anything else. Got home checked the 9 iron and somehow I do not know how it was 2* flatter than it should be. I adjusted it and the problem was solved

[Halebopp]

I did it, I did it, I finally did it, I broke 80 for the first time!

 

79, +8 on a course I hadn't played before!

 

We went to play one of the top golf courses in the country (Golf Digest has ranked it 4th in the Nordic countries, 53rd in continental Europe). Weirdly enough it was my first time playing the course, I've only been there once before to watch some tournament golf.

 

The greens were completely different from what I had gotten used to. They were hard and very slippery with false fronts but the ball rolled true and there were no irregularities or surprises. If you read the green correctly, you always had a chance, there was no lottery involved even though all the putts had quite a bit of break to them and sometimes even a slight nudge to get the ball rolling seemed to be too much.

 

My game plan was to hit hybrid off the tee but once we got to the course I found out the fairways were wide and with the scorecard having distances to all the bunkers, it was easy to determine which bunkers I couldn't reach or could carry over and play accordingly. I started off with a double bogey after one chip and three putts on the fast and hard green. After six holes I was +4 but then managed a triple bogey to go +7 after 7. At that point I had 1 GIR, 6 chip shots around the green and 15 putts. :D

 

Things changed slightly after that even though I didn't realize it yet as I finished the front 9 bogey, par for +8. The back nine started with four easy pars (3/3 FIR, 4/4 GIR, 8 putts), then I made a birdie with a putt from off the green to go 1 under on the back 9. Unfortunately it was followed by a bogey when my approach shot came up short and my chip shot from some tough rough came up way short.

 

Lucky for me I hit a great tee shot on the next hole, a par 3 and made the birdie to go 1 under again. That didn't last long either though as I three-putted the 17th leaving me at +8 after 17 and requiring a par finish. The 18th was a par 5, I hit a great drive, leaving me with a chance to go for it with the hybrid but chose to lay up with a 5 iron as there was water on the left and trees on the right. I hooked the shot slightly to 60 yards out. There was one tree on the edge of the LWH on the left leaving the branches on my line of play. While figuring out the shot I wanted to hit I kind of forgot about the branches on the way. Needless to say the ball clipped the branches but lucky for me the ball fell to the fairway. A very good chip shot left me with a testing 4-foot putt for the 79 but I made it (the chip was good considering the greens ) .

 

Even par back 9 and +1 for the last 11 holes. 2 birdies, 9 pars, 5 bogeys, a double and a triple. Even though the course was new to me and I hit the driver off the tee on every par 4 and 5, I finished the round with the same ball I started with. .

 

I think the score had a lot to do with a decent swing but also having no fear and no previous bad memories from the course. All I did was check the distances to the bunkers and play accordingly, just concentrating on a good swing one shot at a time. I was concentrating on hitting good shots rather than worrying about bad ones. And the good shots were there even though my heart was racing for the past five holes and my body shaking for at least the last three holes. :D

 

Now if I could've just replayed the first seven holes. :)

[Pigems]

Congrats HaleBopp!!! That's a great round right there!! And on a new course to boot, I normally play a few strokes higher at least on a new course. So that makes it that much better! Awesome round man, congratulation on reaching the milestone :)

 

I've only been able to break 80 3 times, two 79's and a lone 76. All last year too, my best this year is 80 with a couple 81's as runners up. I've got 20 rounds in so far on 10 different courses this year though bs playing 35 round at the same course last year. Maybe that's the difference, I dunno lol

[Halebopp]

Congrats HaleBopp!!! That's a great round right there!! And on a new course to boot, I normally play a few strokes higher at least on a new course. So that makes it that much better! Awesome round man, congratulation on reaching the milestone :)

 

I've only been able to break 80 3 times, two 79's and a lone 76. All last year too, my best this year is 80 with a couple 81's as runners up. I've got 20 rounds in so far on 10 different courses this year though bs playing 35 round at the same course last year. Maybe that's the difference, I dunno lol

 

Thank you! This feels a bit special, especially the fact I played the last ten holes at even par and getting up and down on the 18th to save the score. :)

 

My two memorable rounds this year have been an 80 with three double bogeys and a triple and an 83 with 44 putts (the greens were mostly sand) and my all-time favourite was last year, -1 after 12 and +10 for the last 6. :superman:

[Matt J]

I teed off with 15 clubs today in the Club Championship. Figured it out and declared one out of play on the 2nd tee box. I hit 7 greens on the front but had 4 3-putts for a 44 with the penalty. Came back with 38 on the back with two more 3 putts. Hit two long birdie putts on the back, so maybe I'll get a skin. I don't feel totally out of it at even par net, 10 over gross.

[Matt J]

Congrats, Halebopp! Hopefully the first of many.

[PapaJohick]

good round hale! thats awesome man. I hope I can soon. Too much rain here lately though and I haven't been able to play. maybe this week.

 

Sucks about the club matt, but not a bad round otherwise. GO LOW for your next one. You can do it!

[Matt J]

Well, the first round I hit a bunch of greens, but had a bunch of three putts, yesterday I only hit 6 greens, but I got up and down on half of those misses, carding a double after hitting a tee shot OB on a par 3, and one bird although I missed a 4 footer for another, so a pretty smooth 79, with the only major hiccup being the driver getting wayward on the last few holes.

 

That actually puts me in the lead for low gross in the second flight. I guess I got a lucky draw as I was the first seeded player in that flight. I tee off in a couple of hours for the third and final round. We play our original course on the last day which has wicked greens on the back nine. Although I play that nine more than most who avoid it because it's difficult.

 

I actually don't know how I feel about hoisting a trophy for the second flight. I really want to compete against the big boys, we have a member who plays that carries a plus 3. But, I guess crystal is crystal. Got a candy dish in the match play last year and it needs a partner.

[Halebopp]

Good luck, Matt! I hope it doesn't come down to those two shots for the extra club.

 

Thank you Papa!

 

Our club championships are next weekend, my aim for this week's rounds is to try to get the pre-shot routine working even on a familiar course, feel the shot before addressing the ball. With full concentration on the shot, any previous bad shots on that hole shouldn't be able to make their way into my head and swing. Another goal is to try stay away from going into the autopilot mode. Feel the swing and see the putt before you step up.

[PapaJohick]

Our club championship doesn't come into play until next month or October I believe. I'm almost at the point where I want to play on the championship division as there are usually only like 8 people in it. The biggest issue though is that 5 or 6 of those guys kill it. All scratch or low single digit guys. The guy who has won it a few times is like 65 and he hits it farther than I do (not saying much but the few times I have played with him made me feel kinda small haha).

Good thing about that flight is no sand baggers. Last year while I didn't shoot that great, it wouldn't have mattered if I did. A guy with a Course handicap of like 20 shot two rounds at like 81 and 83..... wtf.

At least if I play somewhat decent I won't come in dead last in the championship flight. There were two guys in that last year who shot high 80s both days so it wouldn't be like I was way away from the pack. Biggest issue is length. The course plays about 7200. Not completely unmanagble but there are probably 4-5 par fours that I would be able to reach in two with a 6 iron or less. Most would be driver 4 - 6 iron and two are driver like hybrid/3 wood from those tees for me.

 

Good luck Matt! Go get em!

[Halebopp]

Well, today was a crash-and-burn landing. I couldn't hit the hybrid to save my life, driver was missing at least 20 yards, irons were fat or massive hooks. I have to say the 5 wood worked brilliantly the couple of times I used it off the tee, chipping and long putts were also very good. I did get my act together for the last fve holes to stop me from starting to drink once I got home. :D

 

Now I have until Saturday morning to find my swing again and decide which clubs to use in the club championships. The hybrid was supposed to be a lock-in but now it has me wondering. Probably driver, hybrid, 5 wood, 3 iron, 5-PW for the easier course and 3 wood, hybrid, 3-PW for the tight one.

 

This'll make for an interesting and nervous couple of days to get my act back together. :D

[Matt J]

Thanks gang, I played poorly and eventually quit on the round. Unusual for me and something to think about. I actually just thought I'd take some time, a week or two, to regroup. But, I hit driver poorly and by Monday I wanted back out there. Shot low 80's both Tues and Wed. I play in so many low stake partner games there's always a little pressure on your game. I had more fun yesterday staying loose and hitting shots.