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

[tolmij]

That looks much like my local course, plenty of trees but we also have plenty of water.

[tolmij]

Had a quote for solar panels today, they will supply 75% of our usage so will pay for themselves in two years, with a twelve year full guarantee. Only have to decide which inverter we will have currently, looking at reviews. $5500 all up with installation, we also receive money back when the panels are producing more than we use. Hopefully there will be more to spend on red wine?

[Fellaheen51]

Thanks. Not all the holes were as tree lined as the ones posted. Also, the course has a fair amount of bunkering, especially around the greens. Wasn't really captured in the pics. Didn't think to take some closer to the green ones . Was to busy trying to figure out where my iron shots were headed. And found a number of them on the day, what with the errant irons. Note to self: Don't use a never before played SW (58* Cleveland 900) without a trial run first. Took several poorly executed sand shots before I figured out that maybe I should use the "regular" SW.

A shot like that par 3 one is total luck. But part of playing at golf is the sensation one gets with the perfectly struck ball. It resonates in your hands and arms. Becomes part of why I play the game. Trying to repeat that sensation. A singular event. And when one is decidedly average, doesn't happen all that often. The shot was fun, but remembering the feel of the shot this morning.

The yellow ball was a Snell MTB Black. Has become my favorite ball to play. Really like how it performs off the tee and when I hit it correctly with iron and wedge. Been buying the yellows because: I know which one is a Snell in the ball pocket. No one else is using a yellow ball in my circle. Quick to identify which one is mine when playing.

Have found a few matte balls of late. Ambivalent as to the finish, can't say it makes much difference to my eye. A Volvik Vivid yellow (did not like), a couple of matte Supersofts. The matte red SS is a little to bright, think the other was a matte green. But didn't play it for very long before loosing it. Supersoft's don't do much for me. Seem to feel harder off the club face despite being a "soft" ball. Kinda feel the same about the Chrome Soft, didn't feel all that great for a premium ball. Certainly wouldn't spend my own dime on a box.

The next time I'm at the LGS, going to pickup a box of the Snell "Get Sum" balls to try. A low(er) compression 2-piece Surlyn ball that's relatively inexpensive ($21 per). Would like to try low compression balls again. Did the Wilson Duo thing, but they felt a little too soft. Try and squeeze out a little more distance off the driver without sacrificing to much of the feels. Idk. Have bigger issues than what golf balls I'm whacking around. But balls are yet one more sub-set of futzing with the tools.

 

[Michael C.]

Fella, luck is just practice meeting opportunity. Nice shot, my friend.

 

I'm going to play tomorrow. First time in well over 2 years. No expectations. Just going to try and have fun and see where my body and game are at. All my blood work is normal and I feel good. Strength and flexibility is coming around so.....

 

Here we go

[Conrad1953]

The Maxfli ball I was playing I bought on the 3dz for $30 deal at Dick's. I used to buy used Pro V1s 5 star (like new) at LostGolfBalls.com for around

$20 dz and I always bought enough to get free shipping. I did this for years cause the ProV1s were by far the cheapest tour balls you could buy there

because they had so many of them. I eventually began to distrust used balls though and switched to new. I was too cheap to pay for new ProV1s so

I tried all the other tour balls. Then one day I tried some 2 piece Callaway SuperSofts and I liked them a lot and have only played "soft" balls since then.

 

My "soft" urethane covered ball is now the Q Star Tour. I bought a bunch of the 2018 version brand new on Ebay for about $12 dz. They are a 3 piece

70 compression ball. I'm not sure they can get a multi layer ball any softer. Recently Srixon was doing a BOGO deal on the new balls and you could

buy all you want of the 2020 Q Star Tours at 2 dz for 32.99. I didn't buy any though because I have 8 dz of the 2018 version.

 

I've realized that I don't really need a multi layer urethane covered ball to play well. Actually I'm driving the ball further and straighter and hitting

more greens with a 2 piece surlyn covered softer ball. I just have to make allowances for a little more roll out on short game chips and pitches but

that has not been big deal. As far as approach shots, I hit the ball pretty high anyway and my ball usually stays pretty close to where it lands, unless

it catches a slope and gathers into a low spot; which any ball would do.

 

So I bought all these softer 2 piece balls at great prices new; like the Maxfli Softfli 3dz for $30. The Srixon Soft Feel BOGO where I bought 8 DZ for

$80......and I still have 4dz Callaway SuperSofts and some older ChromeSofts and B'Stone B RXS. Altogether, I now have about 40dz of these various

balls on hand so now I'm all stocked up on my favorite balls and have enough to last for years, lol.

 

It's funny to me because now, in retirement, and especially since this covid 19, I have this thing about stocking up on things.

[Conrad1953]

Here's hoping that good things happen as you ease back into playing. Hit 'em well broschmacker!

[Qqq123xx]

Seriously beautiful course. And tight.

[Qqq123xx]

Am eating a cantaloupe as I type and can't remember the last time I had one. Longggg time ago. And yes Spell Queen had to look it up.

[Conrad1953]

I saw an interloupe on the golf course the other day. Came from nowhere and just showed up on the 9th tee in front of us..but

was nowhere to be seen on the 10th tee thankfully.

[Qqq123xx]

Heard they're pretty tasty.

[Conrad1953]

Perhaps as the entree in a Donner Party happy meal box.

[Qqq123xx]

Ahhh I think I will let you buy one of those. Moi will pass thanks.

[Sean2]

I shot a 77 from the middle tees today, with three birdies, and one double (the day before I shot an 85 from the same tees). Funny game, golf, lol.

[tolmij]

Used the Callaway soft ball for a long time, I find I can control spin and flight much better

[Conrad1953]

Not moi either...........gross.......barf me out........gag me with a spoon.

 

[Sean2]

I can only get green side stopping spin with a premium ball. I get the best results with a ProV1x. Fortunately I find enough of them on my home course, so I don't have to pay for them...they are quite pricey.

[Fellaheen51]

@Conrad1953. Ha. 40 doz? That's ball hoarding territory. Think I'm sufficiently stocked when there's 4 doz sitting on the table in the garage, waiting for deployment. Currently only at two boxes. With one being a box of FG Tours that I'm hoarding for no apparent reason. Other than it's the last one of those primos and I don't want to lose them. So in need of supplementing inventory.
My curiosity has been piqued. Perhaps time to give soft(er) Surlyn balls a try again. My past experience has been mostly with Duos. The main issue I had with them was they felt too soft, especially with the putter. The putter in use for a couple of years now has a softer insert material. In combination, felt like I was putting a marshmallow. Generally prefer a bit firmer ball that has a certain "clickiness" in the perceived feel off the face of a putter. A distance control thing.
Like the idea of potentially picking up a couple extra yards with Surlyn. As I rarely check spin a shot onto a green with Urethane. Only by accident. Been browsing through TGW looking at possible candidates and deals in the low $20 range. All quite confusing sifting through the marketing verbiage. ("Spherically-tiled 342 cuboctahedron dimple." Huh?) Several brands do not cite a compression number, just say they're soft. Ok. How soft? Didn't find the Cally SS to feel all that soft when I tried a found one. The Snell Get Sum for sure, as I can directly compare with the urethane MTB. And another YTBD box to "stock up".
With the way I've been churning through balls of late, need to have a couple more boxes on hand. Checking the bag, the ball pocket looks to be a bit depleted yet again.
.
.
My head is beginning to hurt. Perhaps I'm over analyzing this. Think I'll pickup some TruFeels (priced right) and call it good. They do have Bill's "Seal of Approval".

[scomac2002]

@Conrad1953: what would possess you to post that video?
All this talk about balls has me wondering if it's high time I played a better ball than my current buck a ball option of the Noodle Long and Soft. I bought 6 dozen years ago and I'm finally getting near the end of the last double dozen. Despite the state of my game, I don't lose many balls. One of the advantages I guess of not being very long anymore. You can't hit it into the toolies!
Trained a new starter at the course yesterday. Talk about out of character for our course as he is only 36 and had worked at another course in a similar capacity. Rich is a very personable fellow. He's a Navy vet who suffers from PTSD. I think that focus is the issue. He probably needs someone to keep him on task which may or may not work out, but when you're shorthanded, you give the man a shot. Maybe it works out for both of us. He's only 5 minutes away and is willing to work on short notice so is the perfect swingman/fill in.
There was a thread over on the Classics section about a 79 yr. old looking to keep one set of clubs for the next 15 years and he was looking for suggestions as to what he should or could do. I took the opportunity to daydream a bit and suggested what i though would be my idea of a bag for all seasons if it would be the last that i would play and made my suggestions. The driver would be a ladies' Ping G2 in 14° with an NV55 shaft in A flex, so obviously a custom build. I've mentioned my old pal Walter a time or two and that's the club that he plays. Turns out he has a backup so I was talking to him yesterday and he said that he would be willing to sell it to me. I asked him what he wanted for it and he said $250! He was dead serious because he told me that's what he paid for it in Florida. I responded that was a lot for a 20 yr. old club! I had been thinking that I would be happy to pay $50 for the head and then do the reshaft myself. He said to me: Oh no, it's only a few years old. I bought it about 4 years ago and it was only a year old at the time. Must be a lot newer version than a G2 or else he is lost in the 1990's in what he thinks used golf clubs sell for. He said that he would bring it next week for my to try for a couple of rounds, to which I said that I would think about it and get back to him. Truth is that my thinking lasted all of two seconds, but i didn't want to be ignorant.
Walter is a really good guy and an excellent golfer, but it's pretty clear that he doesn't have a clue about equipment. I think that could be said about most golfers; they just go for what's hot on TV or what was recommended to them by a golf pro or friend. I have to remind myself about that occasionally that not everyone thinks like a WRXer!

[Sean2]

@Conrad1953 My home course is littered with hazards. Sometimes after a round I would go looking for balls in the woods. Right now I have around 50 dozen, and 45 of those are ProV's. I've scaled back my ball hawking as I am getting a bit too old to be fighting brambles, thorn bushes and what not. I still find the occasional ball though without venturing into the woods.
On Monday's my course doesn't open until 11, so I would sometimes look for balls on Monday morning. One day alone I found 223 golf balls. I would give the non-premium balls to a friend who know's the owner of a 9 hole course and he in turn would hand them out to underprivileged kids...the greens fees for those kids is $1.00.

[Conrad1953]

Perhaps that video was a little too uniquely SoCal in it's orientation, lol. It was the biggest hit Frank Zappa ever had; with his daughter

Moon Unit , at 14 years old, playing the role of "Valley Girl" as she chatted away. It was mocking those shallow, self absorbed teen girls

who lived in the "nice" part of the San Fernando Valley; particularly the city of Encino; with it's hilltop views looking down on the plebes.

 

If you listened carefully to what she was saying in her "lines", and how she said them, his daughter did an outstanding job of playing the part.

Again, if you didn't live in SoCal at the time, the song probably didn't make any sense.

[scomac2002]

I remember hearing that song on the radio back in the day, so I'm not unfamiliar with it. I guess I never saw the artistic merit in it assuming it was just another flash in the pan sort of thing even though Frank Zappa had a well established career at that point. That said, I never was a fan of his particular style of music.

[scomac2002]

Been sitting on 2 dozen Bridgestone e5's for at least a couple of years. I got them on clearout and thought I'd give a urethane covered ball a try that was designed specifically to increase launch. Maybe the extra spin might help?

Pulled a couple of clubs out of the stash this morning as I was in the middle of my golf course style watering routine. Up at 5:30 and moving the sprinkler around the yard every half hour of so. Why not try something old school around the greens for tomorrow's game to see if I can luck into something by accident? I added an old RAM Tom Watson BeCu 53° SW in place of the standard 56° clubs I've been using. Maybe there's some magic in that old wand that I used to use when playing vintage? I also decided to roll a few putts on the carpet using my Ping Zing MnBz putter and liked what I felt as much as what I saw. Nothing ventured, nothing gained; right?

[Conrad1953]

He was certainly an odd character; naming his kids Dweezil and Moon Unit. He had musical talent and did collaborations with

Zubin Mehta when Zubin was the conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic. Like you, though, I was never a big fan or followed what

he was up to much. I just heard things here and there.

[Fellaheen51]

"Who you jiving with that cosmik debris?" could have been applicable as I read through ball lingo.

[Conrad1953]

Here's most of the hoard, almost 38 dz. The rest are in my ball bag and cart bag.............

 

[billh17]

@Fellaheen51 : While I have not actually hit the Titleist Tru-Feel, me friend George has started using them , and he likes them.
He says he has gained a club in distance with them.Course....George has been a bit delusional when discussing the
distance he gets with any club. Been that way for a while. Since he was about 14 years old. George is now 75.
I tried the Duo...liked the Supersoft better. Tried the Q star...back to Supersoft. For some reason i started using the
Titleist DT Tru-Soft last year. Have no clue why. didn't see much difference in them. I think the Supersoft is around 38 compression.
The titleist Tour Soft is 65, if that gives you an idea of the difference. I think the ProV1 is at 90.

[scomac2002]

Holy snack-bars Batman!

[Fellaheen51]

Wait. What? A page or so back, swore I read that you...........Oh.........Nevermind. Thought I was getting a "one club more" ball rec from Brother Bill. Instead it was from Delusional George. Oh well. What I get for not reading the fine print more carefully.

Just returned from the LGS with a box of the highly recommended TruFeel (and Get Sum). Let the cheap ball shootout commence. If the TF's don't work out, guess it will be box 1 of my very own 40 box stash.

Just kidding of course.

[Sean2]

I have hit a lot of different golf balls, and perhaps it's just me, but off the tee they all pretty much go the same distance. It's around the green where I see a noticeable difference.

[Conrad1953]

I used to think that too. I learned that's not the case at all when it comes to individual golfers, and me in particular. How the ball plays from

tee to green matters a lot and all balls are not equal off the tee or with iron approach shots when you take the individual golfer into account.

Not only does distance vary by golfer/ball by as much as 10-20 yards and more on tee shots but also spin rate and spin orientation; which

also greatly affect shot dispersion, which also affects distance.......and, of course, accuracy.

 

Some balls just go further and straighter for some players than other balls do......and not by an insignificant amount.