Clubhouse Grille (*** NO LIV DISCUSSIONS ***) (*** NO POLITICS/RELIGION ***)

[braincramp52]

For us old guys that have lost quite a bit of speed I've personally found that 5 degrees separation in lofts is perfect even though I don't follow my own advice. I'm going to see how the Honma's work out for me when spring rolls around but I might get them bent to the 5° specs.

[Soloman1]

Japanese irons can pretty bendable, since they’re S25C steel. Changing the lie does affect the swing weight a little. Japanese clubs are usually 1* flatter than US spec clubs to start with.

 

Well, may not get to play today. It’s been raining since yesterday afternoon and my old, pathetic wheels have trouble with cart path only, if that’s the case.

[miamistomp]

20 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

More loft = more forgiveness. Do you hit a 4-iron as well as an 8-iron?

 

Many people need more loft. They need more spin and height.

 

I don't care about saving some tradition on lofts.

 

Clubs are designed for the ball to have the same height/apex. They just reach that apex at different distances.

 

When you learn a ball position at address based on less-lofted clubs, it isn't going to work anymore. If you're trying to follow Hogan's ball position graphic of where a 5-iron should be, it's no longer valid, since you have a 3-iron.

 

The PXG also have increased the length about a full inch, so the 7-iron is a true old 5-iron. But the lie angle is a little flat.

 

Most people hit the 8-iron the same distance as their old 6-iron, since that's what it is.

 

You may hit them farther because of different weight and/or shafts. Lighter weight = faster swing = more spin = more height = more distance = steeper angle from apex = faster stop.

 

Again, I don't care about lofts being jacked, but there are some compensations to be made to accommodate the change and maximize the  of return on your purchase! If you make believe you have a 3-iron instead of a 5-iron, you'll probably setup and swing better than thinking you have a 5-iron.

 

And buy a bunch of wedges . . .

 And that is why I like one length irons

[Soloman1]

9 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 And that is why I like one length irons

 

Yes, all my irons seem to go the same length now. 😉

 

 

[Conrad1953]

One of the guys I play with has an old beat up hybrid that he uses for everything from 40 to 140

yards, except out of sand. I've played with him enough now to see him use that club quite a lot 

and his distance control with it is pretty darn good. Better than I would have thought. He just 

moves his hands up and down the grip and swings using the good old clock method and the

feel he has developed over time.

 

Here is my own experience with a 60 degree wedge. I find it good in my hands for short sided 

shots out of sand or deep rough and that's about it. On full swings if I flush it I get about 70 yards

of carry. If I miss it, even slightly, that can easily drop to 40 or 50 yards, or a little thin shot that 

goes 100 yards.

 

Touch and I were having this discussion a few weeks ago, when I decided to upgrade from my

gorge wedges to glide wedges. At that time I was carrying a 54 and 60. With the 60 being of

limited use for me I decided to go with a 56 to replace both those wedges and add a club at

the higher end of the bag.

 

I figure, with practice, I should be able to hit any shot I need with the 56. I bought a glide 56

with the most versatile SS sole. I also found one with a graphite shaft to blend in better feel

wise with my Honma irons. These Glide wedges are pricey! With patience I found and bought

this one on eBay in near new condition over the Thanksgiving weekend. It's finally suppose to

be delivered Monday or Tuesday this coming week. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/354408562322

 

 

 

[BIG STU]

27 minutes ago, Conrad1953 said:

One of the guys I play with has an old beat up hybrid that he uses for everything from 40 to 140

yards, except out of sand. I've played with him enough now to see him use that club quite a lot 

and his distance control with it is pretty darn good. Better than I would have thought. He just 

moves his hands up and down the grip and swings using the good old clock method and the

feel he has developed over time.

 

Here is my own experience with a 60 degree wedge. I find it good in my hands for short sided 

shots out of sand or deep rough and that's about it. On full swings if I flush it I get about 70 yards

of carry. If I miss it, even slightly, that can easily drop to 40 or 50 yards, or a little thin shot that 

goes 100 yards.

 

Touch and I were having this discussion a few weeks ago, when I decided to upgrade from my

gorge wedges to glide wedges. At that time I was carrying a 54 and 60. With the 60 being of

limited use for me I decided to go with a 56 to replace both those wedges and add a club at

the higher end of the bag.

 

I figure, with practice, I should be able to hit any shot I need with the 56. I bought a glide 56

with the most versatile SS sole. I also found one with a graphite shaft to blend in better feel

wise with my Honma irons. These Glide wedges are pricey! With patience I found and bought

this one on eBay in near new condition over the Thanksgiving weekend. It's finally suppose to

be delivered Monday or Tuesday this coming week. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/354408562322

 

 

 

I have always been of the thought of keep it simple stupid. Back in the day I carried a PW of 48 to 50* and a Sw at 56*----- Now days is slightly different but then again not really yet far off. If playing any of my Mac blades my 9 iron is 47* so I carry the Vokey 50* then I have the Vokey 58*. With the grind on the Vokey I can play certain shots so it is versitile for me. The 50* I have more moves than Ex-Lax with. Now yesterday I had the KZGs in the bag and that PW is 47* so I kept it in. I just had to remind myself it was equal to the Mac 9 iron. I think I did use it one time. I do know I had the 8 and 9 irons dialed in yesterday along with the Vokeys. I still need to dial in the mid irons though.

You talk about the guy with the hybrid. We had an old guy at my former course that played mostly hybrids. He had a driver no FWs and like 5 hybrids with a Cobra Trusty Rusty 56 and of course a putter. He could really utitilize those few hybrids and he was in his mid to late 70s and could shoot near par every round. For me that little 24* 9 wood is getting like that. In fact I hardly use a 6 iron anymore and carry a 5 only to bump and run chip with. 

[touch]

What's for brunch? 

 

Scrambled eggs

Buttermilk pancakes w/ maple syrup 

rasher of bacon

steak strips with wedge potatoes, saute'd onions and red peppers, diced jalapenos, and cheddar cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by touch

[Qqq123xx]

19 hours ago, touch said:

 

No DMM, that house is so average. It only has 7 bedrooms, 9 baths, and one pool. Chateau Laurence has a dozen bedrooms and baths and two pools. 

 

 

Leaning Tower of Lawrence??

[Soloman1]

Sloppy, muddy and wet today, so I’ll try another day. Here I am complaining about rain in the desert. A little bit of rain and it turns into quicksand.

[scotee]

Snowing again😫

[scotee]

[touch]

5 minutes ago, scotee said:

Snowing again😫

 

[Hickory4ever]

59 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

I have always been of the thought of keep it simple stupid. Back in the day I carried a PW of 48 to 50* and a Sw at 56*----- Now days is slightly different but then again not really yet far off. If playing any of my Mac blades my 9 iron is 47* so I carry the Vokey 50* then I have the Vokey 58*. With the grind on the Vokey I can play certain shots so it is versitile for me. The 50* I have more moves than Ex-Lax with. Now yesterday I had the KZGs in the bag and that PW is 47* so I kept it in. I just had to remind myself it was equal to the Mac 9 iron. I think I did use it one time. I do know I had the 8 and 9 irons dialed in yesterday along with the Vokeys. I still need to dial in the mid irons though.

You talk about the guy with the hybrid. We had an old guy at my former course that played mostly hybrids. He had a driver no FWs and like 5 hybrids with a Cobra Trusty Rusty 56 and of course a putter. He could really utitilize those few hybrids and he was in his mid to late 70s and could shoot near par every round. For me that little 24* 9 wood is getting like that. In fact I hardly use a 6 iron anymore and carry a 5 only to bump and run chip with. 

I also like to keep things simple. The highest lofted wedge that I use is 56*. I have tried higher lofts but found results inconsistent for me. 
 

I rarely play hybrids in my modern set since I prefer to mirror my hickory and classic lineups. I do still have my 20* and 23* Adams Idea Pro hybrids which have served me well including a couple HIO’s. If I played more modern golf (not likely), they would probably be in the bag. Higher lofted woods and I have never got along and I doubt that will ever change for me. 
 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

I have cabin fever.  It's 31 degrees.  I found a course that's open.  I lined up two like-minded idiot buddies to play.  I'm putting on 4 layers and am gonna play.  Cover me... I'm going in.

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, touch said:

What's for brunch? 

 

Scrambled eggs

Buttermilk pancakes w/ maple syrup 

rasher of bacon

steak strips with wedge potatoes, saute'd onions and red peppers, diced jalapenos, and cheddar cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You must be at the office.  Not in your mansion or on the course.

[touch]

Before we go too much further into the month of December let me share a little gratitude for the month that just concluded 5 days ago.

Here are some numbers from November when on the 8th I celebrated my 61st birthday. I saw the number 8 many times in November. 

80,82,79,86,78,80,78,84,81. I played 9 rounds of golf. 8 of those rounds were played in fine weather for golf. I had 728 total strokes. My scoring average for those 9 rounds was 80.89. My current index is an 8.3. Yup all those 8's were dandy, but the number that ended up being my favorite was the number 1. See a little over a week before my birthday Conrad came up to Asheville to play some golf and hang out together. It was the best (early) birthday present I received. Rad was the 1 st Grille brother I got to play some golf with. We had one heck of a good time together for two days. Thank you Conrad. 

 

Photo- Me taking a selfie of Rad taking a selfie of the two of us. Just a couple of geezers having a blast! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by touch

[NJBigFish22]

16 minutes ago, touch said:

 

80,82,79,86,78,80,78,84,81.

Somethings wrong with this, then again I’m not too good at math or reading, but I see no 8 in the 3rd score you posted, 

[miamistomp]

 I am still using a Spalding Johnny Miller " finesse " 55* wedge

 

  Anybody else still carrying a golden oldie ?

[Hickory4ever]

3 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 I am still using a Spalding Johnny Miller " finesse " 55* wedge

 

  Anybody else still carrying a golden oldie ?

 
Everything in my bag is old including my Wilson R-90 SW. 

[BIG STU]

3 hours ago, Hickory4ever said:

I also like to keep things simple. The highest lofted wedge that I use is 56*. I have tried higher lofts but found results inconsistent for me. 
 

I rarely play hybrids in my modern set since I prefer to mirror my hickory and classic lineups. I do still have my 20* and 23* Adams Idea Pro hybrids which have served me well including a couple HIO’s. If I played more modern golf (not likely), they would probably be in the bag. Higher lofted woods and I have never got along and I doubt that will ever change for me. 
 

 

For some reason I always got along with high lofted fairway woods. Even back in the day when I could hit long irons including a 1 iron I still carried a little Laminate Northwestern 6 wood which if I remember right was around 24*. A friend of my old mans who was a Pro himself from Florida turned me on to some 6 wood tricks. I was also carrying my V-Steel 7 wood some 15 years ago when 7 woods were not that popular. Now days even on my vintage rounds I carry a 54 Louise Suggs Macgregor persimmon 6 wood. LOL it brings back memories of long time ago with the little Northwestern which split and cracked in the late 90s. 

Today was a sorta shop day after church. Got to talking to a friend of mine and ended up working in his shop. I had played the KZG CBs yesterday and even though they are great clubs I can not stand looking down at them. We got to talking about my Mac Hogans. Went back to the house and got them and the Muirfields. We checked the Muirfields and even though the Shaft bands say R they check a little stiff and a little heavy. We got down to the Mac Hogans in all their lead taped glory. I built those some 5 years ago now and had built them with #2 Apex shafts which are senior flex. I remember I put a lot of lead tape on them to feel them in the backswing. My bud told me and he is an instructor too that I was stronger back then and had a heck of a lot of Swing Speed. Of course I have lost a lot due to age and injury. Geez Louise I had those things up to like D-6. We pulled the lead tape off of them and they ended up like D2 with those shafts. LOL had to take the heat gun and razor knife to them. Ended up polishing them out and they look good. Did hit a few into the net with promising results. I will do a full range session in the AM and see. Like he said I can add tape as needed but did not need them to D-6. Yeah for now they are not rusty Mac Hogans any more

[BIG STU]

8 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 I am still using a Spalding Johnny Miller " finesse " 55* wedge

 

  Anybody else still carrying a golden oldie ?

Most of my stuff even front line are "Golden Oldies" Even the KZG CBs I played yesterday are 20 years old. 

[touch]

1 hour ago, NJBigFish22 said:

Somethings wrong with this, then again I’m not too good at math or reading, but I see no 8 in the 3rd score you posted, 

 

Tis true NJBF. But with you being one of the more keen and observant guys in the joint I would have thought that by now you would have noticed that my birthday recap appears on page 1388. 😉

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by touch

[touch]

4 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I have cabin fever.  It's 31 degrees.  I found a course that's open.  I lined up two like-minded idiot buddies to play.  I'm putting on 4 layers and am gonna play.  Cover me... I'm going in.

 

Winter golf warriors are the best!  Props and right on for giving it a go DMM. 💥 

I'm looking forward to your recap. 

[NJBigFish22]

1 hour ago, touch said:

 

Tis true NJBF. But with you being one of the more keen and observant guys in the joint I would have thought that by now you would have noticed that my birthday recap appears on page 1388. 😉

 

 

 

 

I know your affinity with 8, it works for you!  I was hoping 8 could work for me, but every time I ask my magic 8 ball something, I don’t like what that S.O.B. has to say!!

[Double Mocha Man]

39 minutes ago, touch said:

 

Winter golf warriors are the best!  Props and right on for giving it a go DMM. 💥 

I'm looking forward to your recap. 

 

Ground was frozen hard... providing a few 300+ drives.  By the same token the greens were trampolines, impossible to hold.  Played 9 with my two idiot buds.  On many of the holes my wedge would have been within 10 feet for birdie, but they all ricocheted over the green.  Lot of laughing going on. Birdied both of the par 5's by two-putting each.  For the weather and the wind I was somewhat happy with a non-normal 40.  The flask with the single-malt scotch helped me lean in against the cold.

[touch]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Ground was frozen hard... providing a few 300+ drives.  By the same token the greens were trampolines, impossible to hold.  Played 9 with my two idiot buds.  On many of the holes my wedge would have been within 10 feet for birdie, but they all ricocheted over the green.  Lot of laughing going on. Birdied both of the par 5's by two-putting each.  For the weather and the wind I was somewhat happy with a non-normal 40.  The flask with the single-malt scotch helped me lean in against the cold.

 

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

 

So probably no one in the group was able to get a peg in the ground all day, and on your 9 tee shots you just smoked 'em off the ground, errr I mean ice. 😀  And your approach shots were bouncing off the greens because of the frozen conditions. Yup rough conditions indeed. Glad to hear that the flask helped to keep the soldier warm. 

Edited December 5, 2022 by touch

[Double Mocha Man]

5 minutes ago, touch said:

 

 

So probably no one in the group was able to get a peg in the ground all day, and on your 9 tee shots you dust smoked 'em off the ground, errr I mean ice. 😀  And your approach shots were bouncing off the greens because of the frozen conditions. Yup rough conditions indeed. Glad to hear that the flask helped to keep the soldier warm. 

 

Funny.  'Cause nobody could get a tee into the ground.  Ron had his special adjustable winter tee.  Tom had a white rubber tee he stole from the driving range... and I forgot to bring either my winter tee or a hammer.  Borrowed tees all day.  Home now and my winter tee is in the bag.  Don't like to carry it over the summer because of the added weight.😄❄️

[Double Mocha Man]

7 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Funny.  'Cause nobody could get a tee into the ground.  Ron had his special adjustable winter tee.  Tom had a white rubber tee he stole from the driving range... and I forgot to bring either my winter tee or a hammer.  Borrowed tees all day.  Home now and my winter tee is in the bag.  Don't like to carry it over the summer because of the added weight.😄❄️

 

Here's that beauty!

[Soloman1]

Japanese golf course have a tool on tee boxes to set your tee in frozen ground. It looks like a big, thick hockey putt made from steel with a steel pin on the bottom and is about 2 feet tall with a handle.

 

It’s heavy, so just drop it a few inches into the ground and it makes a hole for your tee. Adjust your tee height using the armstrong or foot strong method.  Pretty darn handy and works.

[Hickory4ever]

7 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Funny.  'Cause nobody could get a tee into the ground.  Ron had his special adjustable winter tee.  Tom had a white rubber tee he stole from the driving range... and I forgot to bring either my winter tee or a hammer.  Borrowed tees all day.  Home now and my winter tee is in the bag.  Don't like to carry it over the summer because of the added weight.😄❄️

I frequently play in conditions like you describe at this time of year. I have rubber tees that sit on the frozen ground. A tip for the next time on how to play frozen greens, hit short of the green as the longer grass does not have the same trampoline effect. Run up shots work well.

 

I may encounter those conditions tomorrow as we have been very cold the last two days. Tomorrow will be game 201 for 2022, 106 with hickory clubs and tomorrow will be game 43 with classics. I have put my hickory sets away until the weather warms up.

 

I played 16 rounds in November, the cold snap slowed me down. The last 12 rounds have been with the 76’ Wilson Staffs and several different woods and a few with my 79’ Taylormade first generation metals. 6 rounds in the 70’s. It will be hard to continue that pace in December but I will give it a shot, what could possibly go wrong?