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

[Conrad1953]

Rain has pretty much come to an end here. Tornado siren went off twice. A tornado

on the ground in Eclectic; about 10 miles from us. Don't know anything about possible

damage. All is well here in the homefront. Gonna be cold tomorrow (for us) H 44 L 27.

[BIG STU]

Sitting here waiting for the Big Snow. The evening news was full of "news." The governor of PA declared a state of emergency, and the National Guard is on alert. Blah, blah blah. One item related how in the event of power loss, food should be thrown out. Well, if a lengthy power loss is suffered, the refrigerator will warm up much slower. Hey genius experts, how about just boxing the stuff up securely and just putting outside in the sub 40 weather. No one mentions common sense anymore.

 

Hey, I grew up in an old house with no heat on the second floor. Wood stove in the kitchen and a modern gas space heater (vented) in the living room. Rest of house unheated. Went to bed with multiple blankets, feather tick comforters, and stayed comfortable. Even when we installed a new furnace in 1970, the upstairs was still chilly.

 

The world is just nuts.

 

PS: Now, if the toilets won't work because of the storm, that's SOMETHING to worry about.

 

Keep warm and dry, gents.

People do not have enough common sense anymore to think practical. When we had the last hurricane the news outlets were full of basically what I called common sense "tips" . When we have ice and snow here and freezing temps people panic. I do not. I have a wood stove and can cook on it and like you said if the power goes out and it is that cold I can store stuff outside either in the shop or one of the vehicles. When we had the last hurricane I had 10 cases of bottled water 48 bottles to the case and about 50 gallons in containers for cooking etc.

 

We had some friends down here some 12 years or so back. They were staying in Pawleys Island. Now hurricane Charlie was coming through and for some reason they stayed. well all the restaurants closed that Friday night and they got panicked. But the did have food. Now the hurricane hit but it was not that bad for us but restaurants had not opened that morning. There was enough wind they lost power in that high dollar condo they were staying in. I told them come on up to the house I had plenty of food. His wife asked "well what if you lose power? I told her no problem I have a wood stove, a gas grill, a turkey cooker and a generator. Now this was all after the storm had passed. Hey a little preparedness goes a long way. If I lived up North I would be prepared to deal with all of that too. Last winter when we had that bad cold snap for the week with temps in the teens one of the coil banks in the electric furnace went out. No problem I had the wood stove and plenty of firewood. Last summer they cut some hardwood trees down in the park and offered the wood for free. I did not play golf that Saturday and hauled 3 truckloads to my house and used the chainsaw to cut into stove wood size. Yeah I have about 3 cords stacked on pallets and covered behind the house. Usually in the spring the stores sell those bundles of firewood that normally sell for $5 a bundle for $1 a bundle to get rid of them We buy all we find. I think when that cold snap hit last year we had about 60 bundles. Trust me this spring these stores did not have any left over. But yeah today people do not have enough common sense to think outside the box

[tolmij]

My truck is in the garage...her car is on the single car side...small door...she does about 1 mph as she squeezes it in...only has 18 inches each side of the mirrors...i just stand there and smile...quietly..in an encouraging manner...bird feeders are full...so the bushy tailed rats and raccoons will be well fed..

not much left for the birds..tractor set to go...small plow installed...LET IT SNOW !

Ha, my dad called them bushy tailed rats too... :ok:

Here's what ya need, it's hilarious, my apologies if it's already been posted...

 

 

Better trajectory than your golf shots? :) :)

 

 

DW thought it was mildly cruel but funny, son almost fell over laughing.

[tolmij]

Sitting here waiting for the Big Snow. The evening news was full of "news." The governor of PA declared a state of emergency, and the National Guard is on alert. Blah, blah blah. One item related how in the event of power loss, food should be thrown out. Well, if a lengthy power loss is suffered, the refrigerator will warm up much slower. Hey genius experts, how about just boxing the stuff up securely and just putting outside in the sub 40 weather. No one mentions common sense anymore.

 

Hey, I grew up in an old house with no heat on the second floor. Wood stove in the kitchen and a modern gas space heater (vented) in the living room. Rest of house unheated. Went to bed with multiple blankets, feather tick comforters, and stayed comfortable. Even when we installed a new furnace in 1970, the upstairs was still chilly.

 

The world is just nuts.

 

PS: Now, if the toilets won't work because of the storm, that's SOMETHING to worry about.

 

Keep warm and dry, gents.

People do not have enough common sense anymore to think practical. When we had the last hurricane the news outlets were full of basically what I called common sense "tips" . When we have ice and snow here and freezing temps people panic. I do not. I have a wood stove and can cook on it and like you said if the power goes out and it is that cold I can store stuff outside either in the shop or one of the vehicles. When we had the last hurricane I had 10 cases of bottled water 48 bottles to the case and about 50 gallons in containers for cooking etc.

 

We had some friends down here some 12 years or so back. They were staying in Pawleys Island. Now hurricane Charlie was coming through and for some reason they stayed. well all the restaurants closed that Friday night and they got panicked. But the did have food. Now the hurricane hit but it was not that bad for us but restaurants had not opened that morning. There was enough wind they lost power in that high dollar condo they were staying in. I told them come on up to the house I had plenty of food. His wife asked "well what if you lose power? I told her no problem I have a wood stove, a gas grill, a turkey cooker and a generator. Now this was all after the storm had passed. Hey a little preparedness goes a long way. If I lived up North I would be prepared to deal with all of that too. Last winter when we had that bad cold snap for the week with temps in the teens one of the coil banks in the electric furnace went out. No problem I had the wood stove and plenty of firewood. Last summer they cut some hardwood trees down in the park and offered the wood for free. I did not play golf that Saturday and hauled 3 truckloads to my house and used the chainsaw to cut into stove wood size. Yeah I have about 3 cords stacked on pallets and covered behind the house. Usually in the spring the stores sell those bundles of firewood that normally sell for $5 a bundle for $1 a bundle to get rid of them We buy all we find. I think when that cold snap hit last year we had about 60 bundles. Trust me this spring these stores did not have any left over. But yeah today people do not have enough common sense to think outside the box

 

Similar to you Stew, DW could feed an army with the food we have stored, if we lose power we don’t open the fridges and they stay cold for days, we have a gas cooker and a gas BBQ. Our local arborist will drop off as much wood as we want, we only have to let it dry out, and we have 5,000 gallon water tanks despite what people say it’s drinkable but can be boiled if needed.

 

Be prepared, the Boy Scouts motto.

[billh17]

My truck is in the garage...her car is on the single car side...small door...she does about 1 mph as she squeezes it in...only has 18 inches each side of the mirrors...i just stand there and smile...quietly..in an encouraging manner...bird feeders are full...so the bushy tailed rats and raccoons will be well fed..

not much left for the birds..tractor set to go...small plow installed...LET IT SNOW !

Ha, my dad called them bushy tailed rats too... :ok:

Here's what ya need, it's hilarious, my apologies if it's already been posted...

[media=]

[/media]

 

 

Better trajectory than your golf shots? :) :)

absolutely ! mine look like a drunk redwing blackbird....liable to change direction/altitude with no reason or warning !

[tolmij]

My truck is in the garage...her car is on the single car side...small door...she does about 1 mph as she squeezes it in...only has 18 inches each side of the mirrors...i just stand there and smile...quietly..in an encouraging manner...bird feeders are full...so the bushy tailed rats and raccoons will be well fed..

not much left for the birds..tractor set to go...small plow installed...LET IT SNOW !

Ha, my dad called them bushy tailed rats too... :ok:

Here's what ya need, it's hilarious, my apologies if it's already been posted...

[media=]

[/media]

 

 

Better trajectory than your golf shots? :) :)

absolutely ! mine look like a drunk redwing blackbird....liable to change direction/altitude with no reason or warning !

 

Did an edit too late, read edit on previous reply.

[tolmij]

Fuming today, recieved an Email from our electricity provider notifying us of a 22% increase in price, they can get stuffed, looking for another provider.

[scomac2002]

Just got in from plowing the lane so DW could get in coming home from work. Chrissakes it's cold! It hurts when you are driving into it. We are sitting down to a couple of glasses of brandy trying to warm my bones and calm her shattered nerves from driving in this crap!

 

Wouldn't you know it when I went out at 10:30 to start the tractor wouldn't go. Started fine yesterday. My new charger/starter worked like a charm! Left the charger on trickle charge overnight to hopefully top up the battery. It's going to need all the amps it can muster over the next few days.

[Wriggles]

Snowing as I write. Maybe, 3" or so since earlier. Rained all evening, I'll bet the sidewalks and roads are pretty icy. Not going anywhere, may shovel some snow later. Pretty windy, also, supposed to be 15 degree high tomorrow.

 

The Club's annual meeting was scheduled for today, cancelled. Looking back, the stuff the board proposed to do about money, nothing was done. No attempts at loans, nothing. Rescheduled for next Saturday. If I wasn't expected to parrot the grim financial statements, I would not attend. I missed a meeting several years ago. My pal told me every question was sidetracked to my absent self.

 

If (more like when) the Club closes, I just don't know how much golf I'll play. Shelling out $15 or more for 9 hole green fees will deter my golf. Also, I'm used to the empty course. Public course golf is just unpleasant. From experience, singles walkers are not encouraged. Everybody rides, the 5 hour rounds are the norm. No more 9-18 holes in an hour and a half. Golf as I love it will cease to be.

 

I tell the missus I'll join an old men's league, play once a week. Don't know, leagues are filled with BS, dues, gambling, tickets thrown at you very week, and the usual cliques, cheaters and slowpokes.

 

We'll see.

 

At least, there's no 3 feet of snow out there.

[BIG STU]

Just got in from plowing the lane so DW could get in coming home from work. Chrissakes it's cold! It hurts when you are driving into it. We are sitting down to a couple of glasses of brandy trying to warm my bones and calm her shattered nerves from driving in this crap!

 

Wouldn't you know it when I went out at 10:30 to start the tractor wouldn't go. Started fine yesterday. My new charger/starter worked like a charm! Left the charger on trickle charge overnight to hopefully top up the battery. It's going to need all the amps it can muster over the next few days.

Is your tractor water cooled. If it is I am surprised that you do not have a block heater. Another trick I learned from the Canadians when moving heavy equipment up there is to use fire pots. Basically they use cut off 55 gallon drums with charcoal to heat up equipment and heat up the hydraulics. One time in the dead of winter I had to move a bowl scraper (earth mover) from Saskatchewan to Kansas City . They lit charcoal pots under this mover overnight and stored my detachable gooseneck trailer in their company shop that night. The next morning around 9:00 or so everything went fine and we loaded up despite it being sub zero weather. Guys taught me something.

[BIG STU]

Snowing as I write. Maybe, 3" or so since earlier. Rained all evening, I'll bet the sidewalks and roads are pretty icy. Not going anywhere, may shovel some snow later. Pretty windy, also, supposed to be 15 degree high tomorrow.

 

The Club's annual meeting was scheduled for today, cancelled. Looking back, the stuff the board proposed to do about money, nothing was done. No attempts at loans, nothing. Rescheduled for next Saturday. If I wasn't expected to parrot the grim financial statements, I would not attend. I missed a meeting several years ago. My pal told me every question was sidetracked to my absent self.

 

If (more like when) the Club closes, I just don't know how much golf I'll play. Shelling out $15 or more for 9 hole green fees will deter my golf. Also, I'm used to the empty course. Public course golf is just unpleasant. From experience, singles walkers are not encouraged. Everybody rides, the 5 hour rounds are the norm. No more 9-18 holes in an hour and a half. Golf as I love it will cease to be.

 

I tell the missus I'll join an old men's league, play once a week. Don't know, leagues are filled with BS, dues, gambling, tickets thrown at you very week, and the usual cliques, cheaters and slowpokes.

 

We'll see.

 

At least, there's no 3 feet of snow out there.

Yep I am watching the WC right now. Yep you guys seem to be getting it. As far as 5 hr rounds etc we are dealing with it now during our annual Snowbird Invasion. We could not get tee times booked at the courses we are group members at until around noon or so. We ended up playing a local POS course called River Oaks which all us locals refer to as "River Jokes" . Ended up the over booked as usual and our 10:30 tee time turned into a 11:00 start. I told Bear we would been better off booking a tee time at one of our regular courses. The staff at this course could not handle the traffic as usual. I told Bear if they booked there again I would not play period.

 

As far as these old fart leagues I will not play in them. Too much bickering and cheating. But if there was gambling I may be interested. The cheap retirees down here are so tight they would not bet 5 cents. The only one I would maybe interested in is a couple of traveling leagues that have some great members that is if I was retired.

[Wriggles]

Thought I'd check back in before I shut down the computer.

 

Stu, I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't like old guy leagues.

 

I'm thinking. Last year, I took a ride to another declining private club around 15 or so miles away. Really a snooty place, back in the Roaring Twenties or so. Huge robber baron homes surround the area, some very affordable, if you don't mind the shabbiness. (I like shabbiness.) Anyhow, a nice area, not really interested in undertaking a renovation project like those places. (To be twenty years younger, and as well off as we are now. An impossible scenario.)

 

But I digress. I don't know how much the dues would be, but I'll look into it, when my course closes. I'm sure that Club wouldn't like the smell of me back in the day, but like my Club, may not be too particular today.

 

Be kind of fun, hobnobbing with the old moneyed fossils.

[SixtySomePing]

Well the blizzard of all blizzards left us trapped in our cocoon, surrounded by about 3 1/2 inches of snow. Not sure what we will do, wait for July I guess. At least we have electricity, gas, and a few cans of soup, the ones you somehow buy but don't eat. Cream of artichoke hearts, flax & liver gumbo, alphabet chitlin, curry & chicken spam pasta ... after that I think we would snack on just various cardboard or carpet samples. No one in their right mind would venture out in that much snow...

 

I guess I could change grips on my clubs. Not to new grips, just change the ones I have from club to club. Maybe use the air compressor and blow them up enough to remove them so as to replace them to another club. I've not tried that method but i understand it works if you get the hang of it.

[scomac2002]

Just got in from plowing the lane so DW could get in coming home from work. Chrissakes it's cold! It hurts when you are driving into it. We are sitting down to a couple of glasses of brandy trying to warm my bones and calm her shattered nerves from driving in this crap!

 

Wouldn't you know it when I went out at 10:30 to start the tractor wouldn't go. Started fine yesterday. My new charger/starter worked like a charm! Left the charger on trickle charge overnight to hopefully top up the battery. It's going to need all the amps it can muster over the next few days.

Is your tractor water cooled. If it is I am surprised that you do not have a block heater. Another trick I learned from the Canadians when moving heavy equipment up there is to use fire pots. Basically they use cut off 55 gallon drums with charcoal to heat up equipment and heat up the hydraulics. One time in the dead of winter I had to move a bowl scraper (earth mover) from Saskatchewan to Kansas City . They lit charcoal pots under this mover overnight and stored my detachable gooseneck trailer in their company shop that night. The next morning around 9:00 or so everything went fine and we loaded up despite it being sub zero weather. Guys taught me something.

 

Yes, my tractor has a block heater and I have it plugged in all the time in winter. The battery was low is all. WE'll see how it goes today as I'll need to do a further clean-up at some point.

 

I think that my work from last night will be sufficient to get DW to church if she chooses. I'm not going to bother because I can't see myself jumping in the shower in the next half hour and then going out into below zero Fahrenheit weather. I'm half expecting that church will be canceled, but we haven't got the call yet.

[scomac2002]

Snowing as I write. Maybe, 3" or so since earlier. Rained all evening, I'll bet the sidewalks and roads are pretty icy. Not going anywhere, may shovel some snow later. Pretty windy, also, supposed to be 15 degree high tomorrow.

 

The Club's annual meeting was scheduled for today, cancelled. Looking back, the stuff the board proposed to do about money, nothing was done. No attempts at loans, nothing. Rescheduled for next Saturday. If I wasn't expected to parrot the grim financial statements, I would not attend. I missed a meeting several years ago. My pal told me every question was sidetracked to my absent self.

 

If (more like when) the Club closes, I just don't know how much golf I'll play. Shelling out $15 or more for 9 hole green fees will deter my golf. Also, I'm used to the empty course. Public course golf is just unpleasant. From experience, singles walkers are not encouraged. Everybody rides, the 5 hour rounds are the norm. No more 9-18 holes in an hour and a half. Golf as I love it will cease to be.

 

I tell the missus I'll join an old men's league, play once a week. Don't know, leagues are filled with BS, dues, gambling, tickets thrown at you very week, and the usual cliques, cheaters and slowpokes.

 

We'll see.

 

At least, there's no 3 feet of snow out there.

 

There is here...in places. It's difficult to say how much we got on the level; maybe 10"-12", I don't know. All I can say is that I'm darned glad we were well north of the storm track because they were talking upwards of 3 feet in the hardest hit areas. There are still a few flurries falling as I type. Not sure how much longer this will carry on. I do know that it's going to be hellish cold until Wednesday and then it might rain. I guess the easy part of winter; call it false winter, is now over as the long range is calling for cold and snow throughout the end of the month.

[scomac2002]

Thought I'd check back in before I shut down the computer.

 

Stu, I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't like old guy leagues.

 

I'm thinking. Last year, I took a ride to another declining private club around 15 or so miles away. Really a snooty place, back in the Roaring Twenties or so. Huge robber baron homes surround the area, some very affordable, if you don't mind the shabbiness. (I like shabbiness.) Anyhow, a nice area, not really interested in undertaking a renovation project like those places. (To be twenty years younger, and as well off as we are now. An impossible scenario.)

 

But I digress. I don't know how much the dues would be, but I'll look into it, when my course closes. I'm sure that Club wouldn't like the smell of me back in the day, but like my Club, may not be too particular today.

 

Be kind of fun, hobnobbing with the old moneyed fossils.

 

WEll, I'm a member of an old fart golf league, mind you I only played once in it last season. I did go to the wind-up luncheon in October and indicated that I planned on playing this year. WE'll see...

 

FWIW, I really enjoy it. There's no cheating or bickering, it's all good fun. A bit like OMP and the Dick with a fiver on the side only our Nassau is $1 a head with a quarter wagered for closest to the pin on our shortest par 3 -- ~120 yd. On a typical day the low net will go home with $15-$20, IOW enough to buy your lunch or cover your game whatever you prefer.

 

There was a stretch in 2017 where I won six weeks in a row or maybe it was six times in four weeks. Didn't matter as I was beginning to hear a few comments about sandbagging and ringer. That changed quickly enough as my spot dropped from a 12 to an 8 and the good luck I was enjoying with my flat stick disappeared. I think I may have won three times the rest of the way.

 

I really missed getting out with the guys last summer. I missed that more than the golf. I had planned to play the final week in October thinking that would have been appropriate to have bookended the season, but it was cold and wet the day of the luncheon. Four brave souls got drowned for their efforts while the rest of us had the good sense to stay warm and dry and just show up for the grub. It all comes down to the group that you play with. That's what I missed the most, be it golf or curling. It took getting hurt to figure all of that out... YMMV

[Fellaheen51]

We got ~ 3" out of the weather event. No big deal. Just enough to require heading out at some point and tidy up the driveway. Possible rain on Wednesday, need to clean off as much as possible to prevent the drive from turning into a curling rink. It's 0* so may have to don long johns when I head out. Then an afternoon watching playoff football and golf. Maybe even a short nap.

______________________

 

Need to get to the work bench as well. Have some grips and extensions to remove on a set of classic irons I'm planning on selling. Also, take some pics of them and a set of persimmons that I'm going to try selling off (rather than fiddling with them on a resto). Last day to take advantage of a 50% off selling fees, get them listed, see if there are any takers at my BIN, OBO price.

 

Installed the grips on the new irons with air. Yeah, easy. However, two began twisting on me while at the dome the other day. Don't know why either. Used three layers of masking tape as buildup, a fourth of blue painters tape. To a thickness in between regular and midsize. Why would two turn and the remainder not? Pulled them off and reinstalled all with grip tape and solvent. Now 100% sure they aren't going to move.

________________

 

Really enjoy playing in my Tuesday night league. Good group of guys. Competitive without anyone being jackasses. Everyone knows each other. Comprised of a number of current and retired firefighters from two neighboring departments. Skill levels from very good to very average. As close as I come to playing competitive golf, simply trying to play as well as possible on any given night. Take a few points for the team. Contribute $3 per into the Pins and Skins pool. Didn't win a dime last year. But you never know when a good shot or hole might occur.

[billh17]

I consider myself one of the very lucky people as far as golfing goes. There are a total of 9 of us that play golf,usually a group of 6 with the other three rotating in as needed,or whenever they want. We sometimes have all 9. The thing is ,everyone of us played Little League baseball. At the same time.

7 of us on the same team. All 9 attended the same Grade school...same Elementary school,and High School. We have been friends our whole lives.

There were 14 of us to start. Two died in Nam.......another from trying to get his Harley to climb the hill..off road...on a foot path...and two others

from heart attacks. We are just a group of guys who have known each other for a looooong time. We are truly friends. I dont believe I have ever

seen an argument . Maybe a disagreement or two,but never to the point of getting angry.......EXCEPT when it came to Carol....Everybody

wanted Carol as their girl.....none of us ended up with her....i think 5 of us knew her Really well.....but she married some guy from Arizona.

Anyway,we are all close,we grew up together,and we all think we are so fortunate . I do agree with the cheating,bickering junk in the old mens

league. They all seem very unhappy,or even angry that they have to show up to play golf. Want no part of that.

[Fellaheen51]

That's fantastic Bill. Lot to be said for having long time friendships. And can relate. Sounds a lot like my Wednesday group of a similar size. The majority of us have known each other since H.S. We still laugh at the same old stories and jokes. Bit of trash talk gets exchanged. "Man, that's a pitiful old man's swing". Try and best each other playing at golf. And once it's over, no one particularly cares who one or lost on the day. Small amount of coin gets exchanged in the clubhouse afterwards, over a burger and beer.

 

Think we all value the uniqueness of our friendships. Buds for life.

[Reasonability]

Leagues in just about anything, golf or otherwise seem to me to each have their own "personality". I suppose such things are or aren't the right place for the individual personality.

 

Have been on courses the day retirees from some major local employer were out there in mass. Five and six in a group. Random stops mid-round to crack open the lunch bags. Slow play to the max. Seemingly way more general goofing off than golf.

 

But there were plenty of them out there. Kindred souls. Laughing, arguing, golfing, eating lunch, and for them it was golden. As frustrating as it was for me to be stuck in their vortex, I had to tell myself it was their day to play. They made the tee times. Course management was evidently supportive of it. They had bonded in a way I couldn't understand and all I needed to know was to play elsewhere on Wednesday mornings if I didn't like it. Me? I personally wouldn't want or care to mix slow paced golf with socializing and mid-round dining. Not a fit with my personality. Clearly they see it differently. Less a matter of right or wrong and more about individual choice. More power to them. Not my cup of tea.

 

///////////////

 

Fella. You may recall I'm a fan of blowing the grips on. Here's what I've found along the way:

 

- The painters tape thing has rarely if ever proven reliable. I too have heard others swear by it. It's a crap shoot here for the exact reasons you point out.

- Ergo I personally use air to install over grip tape and solvent.

- Depending on brand and type of grip, the blown-on grips USUALLY blow off pretty easily when time comes to change them. But about half the time they're on there and bonded to the point I can cut them off faster/easier than coaxing the off. (And if so I still air the replacement back on).

- Mid-sized, Jumbos, Half-cords, seem to be examples of handles than are often easier to just cut off and trash versus trying to blow.

 

Just wanted you to know you're not alone in this world. No painters tape here either. Gave it a fair chance but no thank you on that one going forward. :)

 

 

[Reasonability]

Oh one more thing about blown-on grips. Just by way of sharing, I personally use a second grip (installed or not) as a side-by-side means of comparing how much I may have inadvently stretched and elongated a grip. Then as a final step I hold the club upside down and "thump" the butt end on the floor. Sometimes that endcap end isn't seated well and I personally hate the feeling of a loose and rubbery butt end mid-swing. A little thump and she's good to go. (I think using air sometimes backs the grip off the shaft a smidge as you pull the air hose away for a split second.)

[Reasonability]

Where are you guys on the latest rules changes?

 

A drop is now knee high versus shoulder high. An inadvertent double chip during one swing motion is no longer a penalty. You can stand on or touch the intended line of a putt, including fixing a spike mark. The flagstick can stay in while putting... yadda. What say you Grillesters?

 

FWIW. I land this way on it all. Any momentum in the direction of updating old, stodgy, stuffy, useless, rules is a positive. Hope they keep it coming.

 

Here's a current/common rule that's broken almost daily. A ball is deemed to be holed WHEN IT COMES TO REST in the cup. Ever notice a player tap one in and reach for it while it still circling around down inside the cup? That's technically a penalty.

 

So we still have a long way to go IMO, but at least there's hope on the horizon.

[scomac2002]

Leagues in just about anything, golf or otherwise seem to me to each have their own "personality". I suppose such things are or aren't the right place for the individual personality.

 

Have been on courses the day retirees from some major local employer were out there in mass. Five and six in a group. Random stops mid-round to crack open the lunch bags. Slow play to the max. Seemingly way more general goofing off than golf.

 

But there were plenty of them out there. Kindred souls. Laughing, arguing, golfing, eating lunch, and for them it was golden. As frustrating as it was for me to be stuck in their vortex, I had to tell myself it was their day to play. They made the tee times. Course management was evidently supportive of it. They had bonded in a way I couldn't understand and all I needed to know was to play elsewhere on Wednesday mornings if I didn't like it. Me? I personally wouldn't want or care to mix slow paced golf with socializing and mid-round dining. Not a fit with my personality. Clearly they see it differently. Less a matter of right or wrong and more about individual choice. More power to them. Not my cup of tea.

 

Bill,

 

Your little story reminds me of a group that plays every Friday morning at the course I was working at. It's the Piccone family. They usually have a couple of tee times booked. What makes it special is that often times there will be three generations playing headed by the 95 year old patriarch, John. I know this family well as they have a number of successful businesses in the community including a really nifty specialty grocery store in town.

 

They come to play golf, so there's none of the dawdling that you speak of. They aren't the best players, but that doesn't matter, they're out there having fun and getting a bit of exercise. It's the lunch part the jogged the memory. These guys bring their own food; a real spread that they set up on the patio after their round. The only thing they buy at the course are the drinks. The clubhouse manager is okay with it. I think she's sweet on Mr. Piccone. He probably reminds her of her father, but that's just a guess I my part. The entire family is so nice, so polite. I don't see how anyone could dislike them.

[Fellaheen51]

A couple of comments in grip install and removal:

 

1. Thought the purpose of installing with air was to eliminate the need for using grip tape and solvent? Shooting on a grip with air is "fussier" (starting, aligning) than simply sliding on a grip once taped and lubed. Then eyeball aligning for straightness after install. Takes about 2 minutes from beginning to completion. Not trying to be facetious, just curious. Perhaps I'll give it another go with using just masking tape. It seems to be a bit coarser to the touch. But if I'm installing grips for someone else, will stick with solvent and tape.

 

2. Absolutely. Got to have your butts fully seated. No squishy butts, ever. Never a problem with the current method of install. The first push is all the way on until the butt stops and some of the solvent squirts out the end. The pull the downstream end back in case if it's been elongated by the install. Most rubber grips seem to return to their proper length quite naturally by so doing. Have compared with another grip that's on the workbench.

 

One of the buds had grips installed by DSG last year. A pitiful job. Half the grips were not fully seated, not installed straight. Those expensive GP Align grips, don't know how he didn't notice when he picked them up. Gave them to me to get things corrected. Pulled all 13 of them off. Discovered they did not even remove the layers of old grip tape. Always start every grip install with clean metal, removing all vestiges of old tape. Cost him several beers the next time we played.

 

3. So far, never had much success trying to remove a tape/solvent installed grip with air. But almost always can remove grips with solvent and my trusty Golfsmith grip removal tool. Even managed to remove a SS putter grip that had virtually no give (that one surprised me). Some grips come off quite easily, others take a little more work. And old(er) cord grips are a PITA and not worth the effort. Tried saving some GP Classic Cords for repurposing. Tore them up trying to get them off. GP Tour Velvets are tricky also, they'er thinner. Easy to tear one, poke a hole if not careful. I'm seemingly always moving grips around from club to club, so get a lot of practice. Have a set of Lamkin Perma Wrap Classic's (the one's with the contrast spiraling) that have seen 4 different sets of classic irons. They're impossible to find anymore, not parting with them until they're completely worn out. Also salvaging good grips that I find while scrounging clubs at thrift stores. Obviously if a grip is worn out, I'll just cut it off.

[scomac2002]

Blowing on grips. I've done quite a few now, but always use double sided tape and solvent along with the air. The thing is that when you're putting .580" core grips on a lot of shafts these days you need the air just to get the darned things on! The TM Burner Plus irons that I regripped last summer with Royal XV grips all had to be blown on as I could only get them on about half way conventionally! Haven't had much luck getting grips to come off in one piece with air. I'm probably batting less than 50% in that regard.

[scomac2002]

AS far as the new rule changes are concerned, anything the simplifies and speeds up the game has to be welcomed. Our league has never played strictly by the rules of golf, treating OB's as lateral hazards to speed up play and improving lies on any plugged ball not in a bunker. There are some other local rules that apply over the RoG. The thing is that everyone is playing by the same set of rules so it's fair.

[scotee]

Where are you guys on the latest rules changes?

 

A drop is now knee high versus shoulder high. An inadvertent double chip during one swing motion is no longer a penalty. You can stand on or touch the intended line of a putt, including fixing a spike mark. The flagstick can stay in while putting... yadda. What say you Grillesters?

 

FWIW. I land this way on it all. Any momentum in the direction of updating old, stodgy, stuffy, useless, rules is a positive. Hope they keep it coming.

 

Here's a current/common rule that's broken almost daily. A ball is deemed to be holed WHEN IT COMES TO REST in the cup. Ever notice a player tap one in and reach for it while it still circling around down inside the cup? That's technically a penalty.

 

So we still have a long way to go IMO, but at least there's hope on the horizon.

Where are you guys on the latest rules changes?

 

A drop is now knee high versus shoulder high. An inadvertent double chip during one swing motion is no longer a penalty. You can stand on or touch the intended line of a putt, including fixing a spike mark. The flagstick can stay in while putting... yadda. What say you Grillesters?

 

FWIW. I land this way on it all. Any momentum in the direction of updating old, stodgy, stuffy, useless, rules is a positive. Hope they keep it coming.

 

Here's a current/common rule that's broken almost daily. A ball is deemed to be holed WHEN IT COMES TO REST in the cup. Ever notice a player tap one in and reach for it while it still circling around down inside the cup? That's technically a penalty.

 

So we still have a long way to go IMO, but at least there's hope on the horizon.

 

Agree Judge Reasonability! The drop rule was a non-issue for me but makes some sense although I was looking forward to the rumored 1" drop. We always tamped down spike marks unless in a tournament and often left the stick in. A double hit is such a bad shot I felt like giving myself a 2 stroke penalty for that.

 

I like the flag in. Gives me better focus and I am leaving fewer putts short. I might change my mind if they put in trick COR sticks that reject the ball.

 

Now if you will join me to petition the USGA and R&A to fix the obviously unfair divot rule.

 

Sign up at PFGUR.com Just say no to playing from divots.

[Fellaheen51]

Scotee and Sco have already voiced my sentiments. All make logical sense, and mostly what we've been doing all along. Never could figure out the big whoop with how one drops a ball. OB? I'll just toss a ball out in the general vicinity of where I'm suppose to be and go.

 

And yes to the dreaded double hit. With my abysmal chipping, it occurs once or twice a year. So pathetically bad, I should continue self assessing a stroke penalty on general principles. This seems to be a rule change in search of a problem. What about accidentally touching the ball, when addressing, while on the tee? Or the "Excuse me, I didn't really mean to do that" shot while practice swinging prior to swinging for reelz.

 

We sometimes implement (often on the spur of the moment) the "10 second rule" on the tee. That if one hits an extraordinarily sh***y tee shot, you have 10 seconds to run after the ball, grab it, and get it back onto the tee. With no penalty assessed. Makes for some laughs watching old coots running after the ball in the attempt. Doesn't happen to often, but every once in awhile.

 

Not addressing hitting out of divot was weak. Why should I be penalized by someone else's lack of course repair. If Tiger can get a boulder moved, I outta be able to move my ball two inches out of a divot. I do.

[SixtySomePing]

Where are you guys on the latest rules changes?

 

A drop is now knee high versus shoulder high. An inadvertent double chip during one swing motion is no longer a penalty. You can stand on or touch the intended line of a putt, including fixing a spike mark. The flagstick can stay in while putting... yadda. What say you Grillesters?

 

FWIW. I land this way on it all. Any momentum in the direction of updating old, stodgy, stuffy, useless, rules is a positive. Hope they keep it coming.

 

Here's a current/common rule that's broken almost daily. A ball is deemed to be holed WHEN IT COMES TO REST in the cup. Ever notice a player tap one in and reach for it while it still circling around down inside the cup? That's technically a penalty.

 

So we still have a long way to go IMO, but at least there's hope on the horizon.

I've been reading them pretty closely. There are some funny videos already of a few talented pros who are for fun taking advantage the wrong way of the double hit rule by going around a tree for example when it's in the way of them and the green. They hit the ball up once until it's clear of the tree, then hit it again towards the green while it's still in the air. The rule of course states the hit must be accidental, (in this example it was devised). Rule 10.1a

http://www.sportingnews.com/us/more-sports/video/koepka-dj-fleetwood-and-stenson-take-part-in-double-hit/1lgy8b4i9xtnx12ecy76lnkxsf

[tolmij]

In the high 90s again today, desperately need rain, no rain for a month now and everything is brown and dying off. Nothing on the horizon for at least another week. Stay warm Grillers, busy today will read and reply to posts later.