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

[scomac2002]

I remember when we were in NZ visiting #2 son that Aussie Rules was on the telly 24/7. They were absolutely mad about it and it was bloody brutal! The All Blacks were on tour playing a series of games and those were tame by comparison to what went on in league play.

[SixtySomePing]

I remember when we were in NZ visiting #2 son that Aussie Rules was on the telly 24/7. They were absolutely mad about it and it was bloody brutal! The All Blacks were on tour playing a series of games and those were tame by comparison to what went on in league play.

yeah, amazing, no equipment needed, and no rolling around in faux pain like in soccer, just lots of smashing into each other and move on...

 

by the way, gotta love the king of all soccer pain memes, Neymar, hahaha...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6iyp6Vv5M

[scotee]

I remember when we were in NZ visiting #2 son that Aussie Rules was on the telly 24/7. They were absolutely mad about it and it was bloody brutal! The All Blacks were on tour playing a series of games and those were tame by comparison to what went on in league play.

yeah, amazing, no equipment needed, and no rolling around in faux pain like in soccer, just lots of smashing into each other and move on...

 

by the way, gotta love the king of all soccer pain memes, Neymar, hahaha...

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6iyp6Vv5M[/media]

 

I don't follow futbol but that is very funny :)

[BIG STU]

Another funny lit highway sign telling people to stay off their phones while driving, while I was passing

through Illinois today

 

GET OFF YOUR APPS AND PUT THAT PHONE DOWN AND DRIVE!

 

In GA it is now illegal to touch your phone while driving. Can not hold it or touch the screen if it's in a holder, can not even rest it on your leg etc. Not sure how they would know that but that's now the law.

 

So I watched the video of the i500s WRX had with Marty Jertson of Ping. After hearing I'm more

convinced they are mini hybrids essentially; which isn't a bad thing I suppose but I am less tempted

now by them. I think I'll stick with my MAWBBs and stay way from these TRAMP irons.

 

Mark Crossfield put up a review:

 

 

Mark is a contrarian of sorts and I'm sure everyone is familiar with his schtick, but it almost sounds like he is TRYING to not like these irons in his review.

SC is fixing to pass a law similar to the Georgia law. In fact some of our lawmakers are working with the GA lawmakers on that. Our states work well together on some issues. Had lunch with a friend from GA Saturday and he sorta gave me the gist on their law.

[tolmij]

I was listening to a podcast last night on the local sports radio station of a show dedicated to the fortunes of the local MLB squad and baseball in general. The host is a soccer fan having spent some time living in Germany earlier in his career so he has been running a segment in the show weekly where he gets co-host, former MLBer Kevin Barker to make picks of Bundesliga picks. I think the only reason he does this is to hear the South Carolina native Barker struggle with pronouncing the names.

 

Of course, the former pro baller is not about to get embarrassed so he has been doing his research when making his picks and has a fairly decent record. He picked all the WC games and I think he was right 2/3 of the time! So this week, the producer of the show decided that because no soccer was being played, Barker should offer up his picks for Carnoustie. That was met with a what the heck is Carnoustie? That wasn't so bad, but the show's host didn't know either! I was gobsmacked that a professional sports journalist didn't know the most basic stuff about golf! It left me wondering just what the heck do you do when you're down in Florida covering spring training. If he's not on the golf course then where is he? The dog races or a bar?

 

Not surprised he knew nothing about another sport, they do appear to be sport specific in their broadcasts, same in Australia no knowledge of anything outside their limited vision.

tol, I was watching some Australian football on one of my cable channels over the weekend. I will never understand it. I am attaching a women's game just to make it more interesting. Our football must be even more perplexing...

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

 

 

 

 

I think it was developed to keep cricketers fit during the off season, I agree though it’s a stupid game with no appeal to me whatsoever. They go nuts over it in Australia and I cannot see why. Don’t like it don’t watch it.

[thug the bunny]

Just a theory FWIW.

 

We put a sexy new club in hand. We SWING it with light grip pressure. We LET it do the work. We FEEL it doing its thing. We EXPERIENCE it and let it do whatever it was designed to do. Our hands are light on it's handle and we sense it's feedback. We even HEAR it.

 

After a little honeymoon period we might tend to pull the plugs on all of the above and slip into forcing it to do what we want - grip gets tighter and less sensitive to feedback. We stop hearing it. It's now an ugly baby.

 

New sticks can awaken our senses. An old faithful can be re-awakened, too even if it means it sits in a dark closet for a little spell while we get our own head out of our arse long enough to appreciate it again.

 

Now my sticks hold meetings with each other when I'm not around. They plan and scheme which end of the bag is going to get a little wonky for a while. They MUST have a picture of my putter with a goat or something cause there's every indication they've blackmailed her into submission. :haha:

 

It's OK though. Tomorrow's Plan B attack mode continues. Added weight this eve. (actually scotch taped a quarter on the backside flange). We're going to find (renew) some FEEL in that old girl. if I can't get that honeymoon revived, she's going to be sorry she listened to the other sticks. She and I had a nice talk this eve and she knows the deal!

 

Has anyone seen my lollipop? Elvis was here five minutes ago - on a blue pogo stick. It made a fart sound every time he hopped around the clock. Did I mention my putter has a quarter taped to it? .

 

I know exactly what you're saying Judge. I have always fell for that sexy young thing after my current sticks started getting a little worn. It was like clockwork - every 4 years or so. I told my Mac VIPs that it was true love forever but into the closet they went when I met this beautiful creature named Mac MT Pro MB. So that shows how I must have finally found true love with my W/S blades, as I have had them for about 10 years now. And even though they are a bit shopworn, every time I pull one of them (esp the long irons), I still think how beautiful they are and still feel the confidence from those little butter knives. I have pretty much kept the same index (guesstimated for the last couple years) since I bought them. Plus, I have a new unused backup set waiting! So I think I'm pretty much done buying irons thank goodness. It was a bit stressful kind of like being in the dating scene...

[Conrad1953]

So, anyone have any picks for the Open? I really don't have a clue. I'll go ahead and make 5 picks and

then all 5 of them will be doomed, lol.

 

Tiger Woods

Jordan Spieth

Patrick Reed

Dustin Johnson

Rory Mcllroy

 

Now, everyone else can feel free to win.

[tolmij]

Just a theory FWIW.

 

We put a sexy new club in hand. We SWING it with light grip pressure. We LET it do the work. We FEEL it doing its thing. We EXPERIENCE it and let it do whatever it was designed to do. Our hands are light on it's handle and we sense it's feedback. We even HEAR it.

 

After a little honeymoon period we might tend to pull the plugs on all of the above and slip into forcing it to do what we want - grip gets tighter and less sensitive to feedback. We stop hearing it. It's now an ugly baby.

 

New sticks can awaken our senses. An old faithful can be re-awakened, too even if it means it sits in a dark closet for a little spell while we get our own head out of our arse long enough to appreciate it again.

 

Now my sticks hold meetings with each other when I'm not around. They plan and scheme which end of the bag is going to get a little wonky for a while. They MUST have a picture of my putter with a goat or something cause there's every indication they've blackmailed her into submission. :haha:

 

It's OK though. Tomorrow's Plan B attack mode continues. Added weight this eve. (actually scotch taped a quarter on the backside flange). We're going to find (renew) some FEEL in that old girl. if I can't get that honeymoon revived, she's going to be sorry she listened to the other sticks. She and I had a nice talk this eve and she knows the deal!

 

Has anyone seen my lollipop? Elvis was here five minutes ago - on a blue pogo stick. It made a fart sound every time he hopped around the clock. Did I mention my putter has a quarter taped to it? .

 

I know exactly what you're saying Judge. I have always fell for that sexy young thing after my current sticks started getting a little worn. It was like clockwork - every 4 years or so. I told my Mac VIPs that it was true love forever but into the closet they went when I met this beautiful creature named Mac MT Pro MB. So that shows how I must have finally found true love with my W/S blades, as I have had them for about 10 years now. And even though they are a bit shopworn, every time I pull one of them (esp the long irons), I still think how beautiful they are and still feel the confidence from those little butter knives. I have pretty much kept the same index (guesstimated for the last couple years) since I bought them. Plus, I have a new unused backup set waiting! So I think I'm pretty much done buying irons thank goodness. It was a bit stressful kind of like being in the dating scene...

 

 

Both of you, silly as they come. ;)

[Conrad1953]

Don't know if anyone will be paying attention but since it's on later in the day...…...Barbasol Championship.

 

I like the opposite field/lesser events. Most of the big names are not there, of course, but nevertheless

there's a lot of drama as guys battle for Fedex points to keep their tour cards or get their tour cards. And

in many cases a player will win and the win will, literally, change their life.

 

For a lot of these guys; they won't get into these last 2 majors or the remaining Bridgestone WGC, so

these last few remaining lesser events before the playoffs are the last chances they will get to make hay

and secure a job for next year. It's go time.

[Spooky67]

Don't know if anyone will be paying attention but since it's on later in the day...…...Barbasol Championship.

 

I like the opposite field/lesser events. Most of the big names are not there, of course, but nevertheless

there's a lot of drama as guys battle for Fedex points to keep their tour cards or get their tour cards. And

in many cases a player will win and the win will, literally, change their life.

 

For a lot of these guys; they won't get into these last 2 majors or the remaining Bridgestone WGC, so

these last few remaining lesser events before the playoffs are the last chances they will get to make hay

and secure a job for next year. It's go time.

 

I'll check it out for sure.

[Spooky67]

 

Added weight this eve. (actually scotch taped a quarter on the backside flange). We're going to find (renew) some FEEL in that old girl. if I can't get that honeymoon revived, she's going to be sorry she listened to the other sticks. She and I had a nice talk this eve and she knows the deal!

 

 

My last long term putter was a Callaway i-trax. Used it for YEARS. But as our relationship started failing, I added a quarter or two into the head- it had interchangeable alignment aids and there was a quarter diameter cavity underneath. I played around with adding weight but she was never the same.

 

In my experience-limited for sure but I have never putter ho'd- a putter starts to fail for me when I replace the grip...it's just never the same.

[Conrad1953]

Xander Schauffele (SP?) is a great example of a guy who went from zero to 60mph in 6 seconds last year.

He had little status on tour as a rookie. Played in the qualifier and got into the US Open and finished 5th.

He got better status, got into more events and won in W. Virginia. Got into the Fedex playoffs and played

well enough to make it to the Tour Championship, where he did the unthinkable and won it as a rookie.

 

Don't know if all of you know this but any golfer who makes it to the Tour Championship is automatically

qualified for all regular tour events and ALL majors the following season. Not only did he make it but he

won it and became a star. He also got into the top 50 OWGR which got him into all the WGCs.

 

No wins for him so far this year but I think he did have a high finish at the US Open again. If one were to pick

a dark horse to win the Open this week, he might be a good pick. He has a lot of game and kinda lurks

beneath the radar.

[Conrad1953]

I think I'm going to try a mallet putter again. Probably an Odyssey as I have a fondness for their inserts.

Would love to try a new XO mallet but not at the prices they want for them right now. I'm actually thinking

of maybe finding a used 2 ball to try out. I've putted with them in stores before and liked them but never

did buy one.

[Spooky67]

I’ve got Tommy Fleetwood winning the Open.

 

 

I think I'm going to try a mallet putter again. Probably an Odyssey as I have a fondness for their inserts.

Would love to try a new XO mallet but not at the prices they want for them right now. I'm actually thinking

of maybe finding a used 2 ball to try out. I've putted with them in stores before and liked them but never

did buy one.

 

Lots of folks LOVED the Two Ball as you know, if the feel was there go for it. Putters are the only club I have always felt before I purchesed them. Maybe why I’ve had so few compared to other clubs...?

[Conrad1953]

Tommy's a great pick. That closing round at Shinnecock was impressive and, of course...……….the hair.

He's got the game to do it and has the tournament course record at Carnoustie......though he said the

conditions are a lot different now.

 

I've tried a lot of putters. I wanted to love the milled putters. Had a Scotty Del Mar and a Ping Redwood

but found the milled heads just too hot for me and I had a lot of long comebackers. Perhaps I didn't have

enough patience to stick with them. I even tried a Rife with the roll grooves many years ago. I just seem

to putt better with insert putters and like the Odyssey inserts best. I just have better distance control

with them. Each to their own, as always.

 

I do an have Odyssey #9 small mallet but it's heel shafted and the face rotates too much so I've stayed

with the #1, which is an Anser style. I even had a Ping with a center shaft. I thought I'd like it but on the

course it didn't work out.

 

In the end it's really all about having confidence with the putter in your hands and whatever putter gives

you that is a keeper in my book.

[Spooky67]

Tommy's a great pick. That closing round at Shinnecock was impressive and, of course...……….the hair.

He's got the game to do it and has the tournament course record at Carnoustie......though he said the

conditions are a lot different now.

 

I've tried a lot of putters. I wanted to love the milled putters. Had a Scotty Del Mar and a Ping Redwood

but found the milled heads just too hot for me and I had a lot of long comebackers. Perhaps I didn't have

enough patience to stick with them. I even tried a Rife with the roll grooves many years ago. I just seem

to putt better with insert putters and like the Odyssey inserts best. I just have better distance control

with them. Each to their own, as always.

 

I do an have Odyssey #9 small mallet but it's heel shafted and the face rotates too much so I've stayed

with the #1, which is an Anser style. I even had a Ping with a center shaft. I thought I'd like it but on the

course it didn't work out.

 

In the end it's really all about having confidence with the putter in your hands and whatever putter gives

you that is a keeper in my book.

 

Agreed. Well said.

[Spooky67]

Any thoughts on the driver testing at the Open.? Was Rory correct that TM was singled out? 16 out of 30 were TM......seems like he has a point, especially as he isn’t one to bring the drama.

[Conrad1953]

Any thoughts on the driver testing at the Open.? Was Rory correct that TM was singled out? 16 out of 30 were TM......seems like he has a point, especially as he isn’t one to bring the drama.

 

TM brags they have the most drivers out there on tour so why complain when they have the most

get checked? Sounds like much ado about nothing. All the MFRs make sure their drivers will pass

the test before they ever give them to a player to use in a tournament. From what I heard all passed

the test.

 

If any drivers actually were off a little with the COR it would likely be the retail ones IMO.

[Reasonability]

Rad I have to compliment you on staying well informed on qualifying data as well as keeping your antenna up - PGA or otherwise. Well done, Sir.

 

Don't have the data to back it up, but I wonder if the little "audit" wasn't targeted at longer hitters who happen to bag TM in the majority of cases. Also I suspect the Open is historically not about overpowering a course per se. But there's a chance for at least the first two rounds, just exactly that could happen. Is it a preemptive strike to get ahead of possible suspicion it was equipment and not talent that wins the Open?

 

I'm skeptical about this peek at drivers right before a major. Hard for me to buy it being simply about the ruling folks being on a general learning and exploring mission which is how it was propped up.

 

There's a dirty little secret that doesn't get talked about so much. If the face is as little as 3 degrees open or closed at impact, an otherwise straight shorter iron shot from 150 yards will miss the target by 15-20 yards. Put that math on a driver that flies 320 yards. It's in the weeds. So if clubs are ideally fitted to a pro golfer's swing to minimize/mitigate his swing errors then where does this end? Are we heading to the day when a club is not allowed to be fitted? COR is prolly a big deal but the ruling folks are going to hear the ice cracking all around them if they don't just accept that old courses, and old rules, don't match up with modern day golf in every way they might prefer.

[Reasonability]

The easiest way for them to reduce driver length is not clubs. It's the ball. I noticed no one at the Open was testing golf balls.

[Conrad1953]

Good point Judge. Perhaps they were being proactive in anticipation of complaints about 400+ yard drives.

 

Of course Mike Davis, the Dictator of Golf, will run to a microphone and blame the ball and say something

has to be done. The whole world will be aghast at seeing these Open rota courses shredded by tour players.

See, The R and A doesn't trick up courses the way Mike does. They let the score fall where it will.

 

Mike can't have that at HIS Opens. He'll fight back with ridiculous greens and if that doesn't work he'll roll back

the ball and, of course, believe he is saving these great old courses in the Open rota from being mocked by

modern tour players.....and, of course, outlawing the use of compasses on the greens, LMAO.

 

This is not the Mike Davis Open so I hope he keeps quiet and lets the R and A do what they do; which is run

a better Open than he does.

[Conrad1953]

The easiest way for them to reduce driver length is not clubs. It's the ball. I noticed no one at the Open was testing golf balls.

 

 

What do you think would happen if they found the Pro V1 non conforming? It would be a disaster. They would be

smart to not test balls on the eve of the oldest championship in golf.

[Reasonability]

Last one and I'll go away. BTW - Thank you Thug for one-more-time, sharing in a way that let's another golfer know he's not the only one who goes through this stuff.

 

Added about 5 1/2 grams of weight to the putter (in lieu of a quarter). Changed up the grip a smidge. And despite past success with a dead-handed putting stroke driven by the "big muscles", I shut all that down and moved to a slightly different stroke style. (Well spare everyone the gory details).

 

Today was much better. Green reading...still not so good. But speed was vastly improved. Took a dozen balls and splayed them over distances from 3 feet to 60 feet, over any/all random breaks and up or downhill runs. Took breaks and tried again since we don't get to play dozens upon dozens of putts during play. So I was trying to keep it close to being real as I could.

 

There's hope. Not ready to claim all-out victory but the patient had a pulse today. Tomorrow... a longer putter with a little larger handle is going for a test drive. Predisposed biases are not exactly healthy when true objectivity is the goal. But I confess that tomorrow's little test run is something I've got a jaundiced eye about. Maybe huge surprises are in store but once I configured a back-up putter for this, it sure felt awkward during little dry swings.

 

Added weight, tweak to the grip, and a variation on the stroke -- so far that's the front runner. STILL need to figure out how to read the putts much better. Having it go where I'm looking is half the battle. Picking a horrible line from the get-go has to come with this work or it's all for not.

 

How does any golfer go from not-bad to an atrocious reader of greens? We golfers rely on our imagination and have to trust our instincts.

 

OK - I see I basically cleared the room. Carry on gents. I'll slip into the shadows.

[Conrad1953]

You didn't clear the room Judge. Maybe I did. Who knows. Maybe it's bed time for some. I'm in

Wyoming. It's only 7:30 here.

[Reasonability]

Good point Judge. Perhaps they were being proactive in anticipation of complaints about 400+ yard drives.

 

Of course Mike Davis, the Dictator of Golf, will run to a microphone and blame the ball and say something

has to be done. The whole world will be aghast at seeing these Open rota courses shredded by tour players.

See, The R and A doesn't trick up courses the way Mike does. They let the score fall where it will.

 

Mike can't have that at HIS Opens. He'll fight back with ridiculous greens and if that doesn't work he'll roll back

the ball and, of course, believe he is saving these great old courses in the Open rota from being mocked by

modern tour players.....and, of course, outlawing the use of compasses on the greens, LMAO.

 

This is not the Mike Davis Open so I hope he keeps quiet and lets the R and A do what they do; which is run

a better Open than he does.

 

Mike Davis is so far up the creek without a paddle it's laughable.

 

Ya know how when a celebrity crashes and burns so badly in the public eye - it takes a PR genius to turn things around??? We've all seen it where some actor or athlete is blowing up on a massive level and they somehow pull out of the nosedive. Maybe they go silent for a while. Maybe they show other acts of good faith and are redeemed. Usually, they just turn on the jets about being a genuine and likable. But they're coached on how to turn it around and they do it.

 

The Mike Davis show, and all who sit at the table with him are in dire need of a PR genius. I tend to believe he (and they) know this. They may not have figured out that a massive PR team needs a phone call (yet) but they HAVE to know it.

 

Just backing off on silly rules is a step but it's passing that point of no return if they don't call in the big guns image-wise.

[Spooky67]

From my VERY brief time here, I don't see the room being cleared. I just see people coming in and out...?....I also see attempts at conversations go unheard at times...and different people chime in on different posts. Posts directed at specific comments sometimes go unanswered, or uncommented...that would be like speaking to someone at your table at the grille and the person not speaking back.?

 

I like it here. I like posting here and interacting with the group. Lots of knowledge shared in this thread for sure and it is awesome.

[Conrad1953]

I heard Brandel is picking Tiger. I never thought I would see that. I'll have to find the video of

that and watch it to make sure it's not an internet rumor.

[Reasonability]

From my VERY brief time here, I don't see the room being cleared. I just see people coming in and out...?....I also see attempts at conversations go unheard at times...and different people chime in on different posts. Posts directed at specific comments sometimes go unanswered, or uncommented...that would be like speaking to someone at your table at the grille and the person not speaking back.?

 

I like it here. I like posting here and interacting with the group. Lots of knowledge shared in this thread for sure and it is awesome.

 

It was something said that would have better been left unsaid - or at least with an emoji or "lol" to go with the sarcasm.

[Reasonability]

I heard Brandel is picking Tiger. I never thought I would see that. I'll have to find the video of

that and watch it to make sure it's not an internet rumor.

 

But there's another perfect example of a PR move. Brandel bashed the living crap out of Tiger, so badly, he had to come on-air and apologize for it. It nearly cost him his whole career. So what does he do now? He jumps on the bandwagon and embraces Tiger - couldn't be more complimentary. If someone hand't put a boot up his arse, he would never be caught alive showing Tiger one ounce of respect.

 

Nobilo, Lerner, lots of them are class acts in my worthless opine. Brandle is a mute button waiting to happen around here.

[Conrad1953]

I heard Brandel is picking Tiger. I never thought I would see that. I'll have to find the video of

that and watch it to make sure it's not an internet rumor.

 

But there's another perfect example of a PR move. Brandel bashed the living crap out of Tiger, so badly, he had to come on-air and apologize for it. It nearly cost him his whole career. So what does he do now? He jumps on the bandwagon and embraces Tiger - couldn't be more complimentary. If someone hand't put a boot up his arse, he would never be caught alive showing Tiger one ounce of respect.

 

Nobilo, Lerner, lots of them are class acts in my worthless opine. Brandle is a mute button waiting to happen around here.

 

Well, I just watched it on TGC. Brandel picked Tiger and Frank picked Molinari. I actually like Brandel.

I don't have to agree with him to like him but I must say when he talks, I listen. He always backs up

his opinions with facts or stats and when he says something he's always prepared to defend it. I give

him props for that.