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

[Conrad1953]

Spooky, I think there are a few here who can relate to what you are going through. And it's absolutely fine that

you bring this up. This group is A++++ and super supportive and kind. I have not faced the situation in which

you find yourself. There's an old manager in me somewhere but these days he's out of touch and out of practice.

 

The only thing I've experience that comes anywhere close is when a company sent me to San Diego to bring a

branch office up to par. I did what they wished and was successful only to go into the office one day to find out

the branch had been sold and me along with it. The new owners had their ideas of how things should run and I

had mine; which were proven to work. After a year I left; still feeling a bit betrayed by the original owners.

 

I actually went into business myself in direct competition with them. I had not signed any non compete agreement.

They sent me threatening letters from their lawyers. I ignored them......but I had a problem anyway. I was way

undercapitalized and could not afford to carry receivables that took up to 90 days to pay. I failed of my own

volition, lol......it was after that that I started driving a truck and living a simple life.

[Spooky67]

Spooky, I think there are a few here who can relate to what you are going through. And it's absolutely fine that

you bring this up. This group is A++++ and super supportive and kind. I have not faced the situation in which

you find yourself. There's an old manager in me somewhere but these days he's out of touch and out of practice.

 

The only thing I've experience that comes anywhere close is when a company sent me to San Diego to bring a

branch office up to par. I did what they wished and was successful only to go into the office one day to find out

the branch had been sold and me along with it. The new owners had their ideas of how things should run and I

had mine; which were proven to work. After a year I left; still feeling a bit betrayed by the original owners.

 

I actually went into business myself in direct competition with them. I had not signed any non compete agreement.

They sent me threatening letters from their lawyers. I ignored them......but I had a problem anyway. I was way

undercapitalized and could not afford to carry receivables that took up to 90 days to pay. I failed of my own

volition, lol......it was after that that I started driving a truck and living a simple life.

 

I think simple is better. Maybe I should follow your lead and just simplify my current situation....like I said, I do not feel that I could be terminated, I am just struggling with our interpersonal views of each other and our differing views in the future of our department. Thanks for the advice.

[thug the bunny]

Spooky, I faced a similar situation about 5 yrs ago. I spent 10 years with a great organization with a great boss, and then a new CEO came in and my boss left, and our boss put an ambitious 28 yr old kid in as my manager. He probably made less than I did. Then began the reign of terror. People started to disappear left and right, all older well paid employees. Plus, their MO was to rack up a bunch of policy and procedure transgressions so that on one would challenge their terminations. Work became unbearable. My turn came, and yes, I received a nice severance package, but the important thing was I could wake up Mon morning not dreading the next 5 days.

 

I think if you're actually having trouble sleeping that is a clear signal your brain/body is sending that it is time to update the resume and explore other options.

[Conrad1953]

HHHHmmmmmm…………………...tempting...………..now forged. Sweet looking irons. Will wait to read on

course reviews. The price is probably going to be ridiculous though. Would have to liquidate a bunch of my

clubs to buy. Don't know if they are hollow or filled with something like PXG. Much cleaner look than PXG.

 

[Spooky67]

HHHHmmmmmm…………………...tempting...………..now forged. Sweet looking irons. Will wait to read on

course reviews. The price is probably going to be ridiculous though. Would have to liquidate a bunch of my

clubs to buy. Don't know if they are hollow or filled with something like PXG. Much cleaner look than PXG.

 

 

Wow! Ping making a move for sure, time will tell what's up with these beauties!

[Conrad1953]

HHHHmmmmmm…………………...tempting...………..now forged. Sweet looking irons. Will wait to read on

course reviews. The price is probably going to be ridiculous though. Would have to liquidate a bunch of my

clubs to buy. Don't know if they are hollow or filled with something like PXG. Much cleaner look than PXG.

 

 

Wow! Ping making a move for sure, time will tell what's up with these beauties!

 

Not on the Ping Website yet. Just looked. May not be available for awhile. Curious to know if they are injected with

some sort of polymer, like PXG irons. Only one screw; on the toe, not all that noticeable. The last forged irons they

made were the Ansers. Those did not sell well at the time due to price. I'm guessing these will be $200+ per iron.

[Reasonability]

Like Rad, I'd be glad to bounce ideas regarding whatever's on your mind. I don't quite understand the depth of your situation enough in all honesty to do justice to your concerns.

 

To be a little more specific. I've personally never seen a case where an employer couldn't get rid of an employee. Now it may be touchy for the employer in many cases when it comes to termination. Examples - Related to company executive leadership; "Protected Class" individuals as they say in HR; Legally binding Employment Contract, etc. So it can certainly be a sticky wicket to fire a worker in many cases. But I've never seen the case where once an employer wants someone gone... sooner or later they're gone.

 

So it becomes a matter of NOT firing someone in many cases and instead getting them to quit. Lots of ways to do that. Examples of that include:

 

A) Catching them doing things wrong (in writing) to establish a paper trail of performance issues

B) Elevating them to a position or rank they can't handle thereby setting them up to fail.

C) Exclusion from participation in a variety of leadership or group gatherings signalling to the individual they aren't important.

D) "Catch" them in the act of exposing the company to serious liability.

 

Most all of the above are intended to get the employee to quit which obviates the need for termination. This reduces the cost of unemployment claims, severance, and any culpability in how things ended. To pull it off - legally - the boss and his/her team need to be very careful about what they put in writing.

 

So excluding a privately held business where the boss is the owner - and even in 99% of those (fearing litigation and other backlash) I have haven't seen workplace environs where a person can't be fired... Instead it's a matter of HOW to get people to just quit.

 

Now with all that said there's a couple of things to consider before putting on a parachute and jumping. Jumping is an option and OFTEN it's a GOOD one... but before your leap....

 

A) In terms of conflict resolution... sometimes bosses settle into bad habits and it becomes a vicious cycle. They start saying and doing things routinely that are offensive and make people miserable... OR sometime the employee grows and ultra thin skin when the intent of the boss was actually to be helpful. Hard to believe two individuals in the same company could work together for all those years and start misreading their own actions and the reactions of others around it, but it absolutely happens. Sometime (not always) it's as simple as finding some quiet time to meet - maybe off the clock if need be - and just talk it out together. SOMETIMES. Conflict resolution can be a very GOOD thing if it's possible two people just got into habits that were escalating when the intent was never hoping the other would quit or get fired at all.

 

B) People fortunately or unfortunately identify themselves with the where they work or their title. That natural, and after a long number of years it's practically unavoidable. There's fear in re-inventing yourself elsewhere. There's ten reasons why a longer commute of different business culture, or something ugly is on the other side of that door you walk through each day. You see something in your home every day from refrigerator magnets, to post-it notes, to whatever it is you wear to work.... that reminds you that you're a company guy even when at home in the evenings and weekends. So we all get almost paralyzed by imagining all of that suddenly changing. Very natural. And here comes the biggie that has to be weighed against all that...

 

It's difficult to say which is worse... having a job you're miserable in...or maybe going unemployed or having to reinvent yourself. From my seat, at the point a job is ruining your life, at the point where conflict resolution is NOT going to work (for more than maybe a week before things get even worse), at a point where it's clear you actually could be fired one way or the other... then I'd go into the boss's office and tell them it's time to fire you cause you ain't leaving without a year's pay in the bank to get your life in order...and you for sure aren't going to cheat yourself out of filling for unemployment (which you can't do if you just quit versus being fired).

 

So in that instance, the misery of the job is putting a foot in the grave, there's no conflict resolution opportunity, and I'd just put aside worries about refrigerator magnets and reminders of the work at home...and go tell the boss if he/she has half a brain he'd fire you and serve up a very nice severance in the process.

 

A man can reinvent himself. (I've had to a couple of times). He survives it. Sometimes the burden of staying is going to end up getting you sick or buried before your time.

 

Sometimes its a heart-to-heart with the boss. People surprisingly sometimes never dream the individual would actually quit or file a law suit until they're called on it.

 

And btw... if you ARE in a hostile work environment... things being said that are demeaning, immoral, racist, whatever... you need to chronicle that stuff in writing. Cause at that point,,,where you can show a pattern of behavior.... you've got them by the gonads. You will own what they own and their accounts become your accounts. It's a real-live legal thing and you can make it stick if you keep good notes.

 

One more thing. I can swear on my ancestor eyes... whatever it is you do for a living... it's a J.O.B. It's not (despite how deeply you identify yourself with it)... It is NOT you. You happen to exchange a paycheck for services rendered.

 

Where would whatever constitutes you beyond the magnets on the fridge... be most productive, have the most considered opinion... look forward to going to work???? There's NO SHAME if it is being Greeter at Walmart for awhile, or taking a little time to figure that out, or staying where you are while you look elsewhere.

 

But it's the answers to those key questions are where you'll find the answers to the current (and temporary - despite all appearances) situation with your boss.

[Reasonability]

LOL - Well we all know Ping will not be offering a forged set of irons on the cheap.

 

PXG is in a position to claim very deep customization. While I don't know this, I assume a PXG fitting has a lot to do with the distribution of weights in all the drilled and tapped holes? I dunno to be honest.

 

Forgings are just not going to be as easily mass produced at a reasonable cost to the OEM. Forgings from outside the US have been tried by many to at least try and keep the costs down but pouring molten metal into castings and cleaning up the flash from the molds... can pump those bad boys our like candy (compared to forgings). And the casting mold can be shaped like a pretzel if they want which reopens that can of worms about blades versus cbs (and I'm personally all out of bullets on that topic one way or the other).

 

If we consumers will pay for it, I guess the club makers are well within their rights to sell us sticks that cost more than my old man's first car! lol.

[Reasonability]

Will be away from internet connectivity for a bit. Unless our out-of state and significantly aging relatives suddenly decided to have routers placed in their homes...Tuesday eve or Wednesday at best before we see much connectivity. On the upside for moi, golf will be played Monday on a course I grew up playing - in this case with an old HS buddy.

 

Be good to each other... and yourselves.

[tolmij]

If I was at the grille with a close friend and there weren't many people nearby I may talk about things that are a little more serious and deep. I usually keep things compartmentalized, so if a friend and I are playing golf and having a beer I talk about golf and beer...after the preliminaries are addressed "How's the fam?" etc. I figure that guys have their own heavy issues in life and golf is a great chance to get away, enjoy the game and some fellowship, and forget real life for a bit. At least that's my MO.

 

That being said, I will consult one or two of my good friends for some advice on more serious matters, but it's usually in the grille and a couple beers in. So here goes:

 

I have been working at my current job since 2004. I have had the same boss since day one. While it has been a pretty good run, my boss and I do not see eye to eye on most matters. That being said it usually isn't that big of a deal, but every now and then things go south, so much so that at times I have felt the need to explore other employment options. I have always weathered the storm and things evened out. But lately things have been bad enough that I'm 50/50 on staying or leaving.

 

Here's my dilemma: I love the organization I work for. I love my coworkers. I love the work I do. There isn't another place locally or even semi-locally with the same work environment. My boss would like me gone I believe, that being said I don't think it would be possible for her to remove me from my position. I could make much more money in other organizations but my work and work-life would not be anywhere close to the same, it would be a downgrade from my current situation. But lately I have trouble sleeping and I am not always happy to be at work because of my relationship with my boss. Of course these things happen in life, and I'm sure this too will pass.

 

But a small part of me thinks I need to leave. Most of me feels that if I leave I will regret it and I won't ever find another role like the one I am in. But a small part of me thinks I need to leave....

 

Have any of you dealt with similar circumstances and if so what did you do? Hope this isn't too heavy, but if you stay in the grille long enough this stuff comes up at times...lol.

 

 

The problem is you spend a great amount of time at work, to be there when the atmosphere is not right will not in the long term be good for your mental well being. Sometimes it is better to move even if the job initially is not as satisfactory and work at making the job as you would like it to be, it’s amazing how receptive a good boss can be if a new employee has ideas about how the work performance can be improved, it does not take long to fit in then have your say. Obviously being the new fella don’t upset the others.

 

The other consideration is if your present boss does not want you there she will eventually find a way to get rid of you, then it is on her terms, much better to leave on your own terms.

 

I know it’s easy to sit back down under and give advice, but from my perspective your post already shows signs of mental stress and it can only deteriorate as you are in a losing battle if your boss does not move on.

 

It’s easy to say but I have moved on for far less, not always to a better paying job but it always worked out as I was more inclined to give that extra bit to my new employer which long term paid off usually with a promotion. If you are good at what you do you will always come up smelling of roses with an appreciative boss.

 

 

 

And what reason says only shorter :)

[Conrad1953]

Those screws in the PXG irons are permanent and non removable. They are not used for fitting purposes that I

know of. They are there for perimeter and toe weighting to increase forgiveness. They must have some other

way of altering swing weight.

 

I would gladly play PXG irons if someone gave them to me, lol. It was a Ping engineer that designed them for Bob

Parsons anyway. The whole project had to be put on a shelf for a year while that Ping engineer waited for his

non comp agreement with Ping to expire. I think Ping could have made those irons originally if they had wanted

to. Like everyone else, they didn't see a market for them at the price they would have had to charge.

[Conrad1953]

Will be away from internet connectivity for a bit. Unless our out-of state and significantly aging relatives suddenly decided to have routers placed in their homes...Tuesday eve or Wednesday at best before we see much connectivity. On the upside for moi, golf will be played Monday on a course I grew up playing - in this case with an old HS buddy.

 

Be good to each other... and yourselves.

 

I hope you have a good time and that all are well.

[BIG STU]

Thank you Stu and Thugger. Can't wait to hear Stu's lead tape lessons learned and Thug makes a great counterpoint. :good:

 

This one's for you Stu. I'm sure you remember Waterway Hills: Robert Trent Jones designed. She's been gone for what, 10+ years now? Sitting there abandoned and overgrown. Sad to see some of those old ladies go.

 

 

And maybe one day you'll be part of scrapping this bridge - cool history attached to it.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=mDTTOUW6c0g

Waterway has only been closed for a year or two now. Have played it only one time and I guess the reason I did not play it more was silly. I am scared of heights and would not ride the chair lift thing over the waterway. There is sorta a urban legend attached to the place. They say that years ago the guy that used to come in first had to row a boat across the Waterway to throw the switches for the gondolas. On the way over he dropped his paddle and was swept down stream out of control went all the way down to Arrowhead Country Club where the maintenance guys heard him yelling and got him stopped and to shore. Talk about being up the creek without a paddle or in his case down the creek with no paddle.

 

That bridge I go by it at least 2 times a day or more sometimes. Our yard is just the other side of it off of Seaboard street. They ain't gonna scrap it the railroad is coming back in. RJ Corman RR Company is already hauling out of Conway at the lumber mill off of Business 501.

[BIG STU]

OK by popular demand and by special request by Mr Reasy aka The Judge

Lead tape lessons---- One disclaimer--- This is mostly my opinion and research and it may or may not work for you

 

It can influence ball flight by placement down low or high. It can also correct draw or fade bias depending on where you put it

Now if I am really fine tuning a set I will weigh 2 inch strips because the weight of different rolls etc can be somewhat different. They also make a high density which I do not use a lot because it does not let me even out the weight like I want to.

 

Now mostly I weigh up my clubs by feel and so does Bear--- really there is not an exact science to it just got to experiment and use basic physics.

A lot of weight placement has to do with what shaft is in the club to begin with and the player's swing speed. In the last 5 years or so I like a soft tipped shaft with the weight to help it kick at the bottom. Some shafts will not kick at the bottom if you put a whole roll in Ie: X-1000 or Project X 6.5s.

 

Look at all the manufacturers that use the adjustable weight kits-- They are not doing anything us old guys have not done for years with lead tape.Their way is a lot more expensive time you buy those little weight ports and wrenches etc.

 

Another use and we have known it for years it can deaden a hot face on a club. Some of the early Ansers with the slot cut into the bottom had hot faces. We just put a little behind the face to deaden it up some. Also those same putters the slot caused it to "Ping" and it bothered some me included so most of us put a strip across the bottom over the slit. That deadens the sound. One old hustler did that and his feel was so sensitive that it affected him. He ended up putting adhesive tape over the slot. When I was doing R&D work for Championship Golf with the Infiniti brand of products the Assure line of irons had real hot faces to me. Those heads were what I called Super GI irons. They had wide soles and a big cavity and a 2 piece face with carpenter steel. Trust me they were HOT and their CG was too high for me with certain shafts. I ended up with a lot of lead tape in the cavity to deaden them some especially the short irons. There were 3 sets of the experimental irons and their rep flipped when he saw all the lead tape on the one set. I had to explain it to him. For Tournament play I ended up putting extra glue and product badges over the existing ones to satisfy them and to tone them down. If their ads are still up you will see those clubs were played on the Grand Strand Tour and the Sunbelt Senior Tour yep I was the guy. My avatar pic is their staff bag and I think one of the experimental sets. I shot some crappy rounds with those things too.

 

Another use is for counterbalance. The old schoolers mainy Nicklaus made that famous a few strips down the butt end of the shaft made the head feel more lighter and supposedly increased swing speed. I never was a fan of butt weighting I like to feel the head of the club. But everyone's feel is different

 

You can also screw up with the stuff too. Bear found a battered set of MP-68s in a pawn shop for $35. Grooves were good but a lot of bag chatter. He could not hit them worth a plug nickel so he gave them to me. Now I hooked the snot out of them and I could tell by the feel they were slugged in the hosel as in tip weights. I can not stand tip weights. The ball flight was not as good as I expected either. There were no shaft bands and by looking at the steps I figured they were S-300s. I ended up counterbalancing them in the toe for the tip weights and putting some down low in the middle to get the ball flight up some. Ended up getting them too heavy. Now I can hit them and sometimes my natural feel screws me. They were too heavy and so I was hitting at them too hard and at my age causing my back to hurt at night. I really screwed the pooch on that deal. I took those clubs over to a guy's shop to put on the machine and they are checking out as hard tipped S-400s. Needless to say those are benched for a while until I rebuild them. In fact I put the 5 iron on my SW machine and I had really screwed up it was about E3 or so. Promptly that whole set went into the old Ping Staff bag in the shop

 

Really one has to experiment with the stuff and screw up. Hope I did not screw this post up too bad> I have trouble expressing my thoughts in written text. Reasy is good at that and when he gets off vacation he will know exactly what I am saying and can maybe clarify things some

[Fellaheen51]

HHHHmmmmmm…………………...tempting...………..now forged. Sweet looking irons. Will wait to read on

course reviews. The price is probably going to be ridiculous though. Would have to liquidate a bunch of my

clubs to buy. Don't know if they are hollow or filled with something like PXG. Much cleaner look than PXG.

 

 

Wow! Ping making a move for sure, time will tell what's up with these beauties!

 

Not on the Ping Website yet. Just looked. May not be available for awhile. Curious to know if they are injected with

some sort of polymer, like PXG irons. Only one screw; on the toe, not all that noticeable. The last forged irons they

made were the Ansers. Those did not sell well at the time due to price. I'm guessing these will be $200+ per iron.

 

The times they are a-changin'. For some, $200 per for an iron is no longer shocking, and becoming the new norm. The info embargo will be lifted on Monday (7/2), so the details should be forthcoming. But scanning the scuttlebutt in the Pre-Release forum, one can parse some details:

 

Hollow body construction, not foam filled. P790, T-MB fighter. Maybe Ping didn't want to go down the litigation path with PXG. Very tasty design if nothing else.

 

Likely two-piece construction. With a forged face and cast body. But still labeled as Forged. That seems to be the trend line these days. Wonder if they're going to be moving some weight around inside the body for forgiveness. While still keeping the external clean. Have to believe something will be going on.

 

Screw in the toe is for weight tuning.

 

Allegedly, these are there own niche. Not a replacement for other models (iBlade). Labeled in the GI category.

 

Very well executed design. Cleaner than the P790, didn't care for the slot in the soles of the TM's. The entire Ping iron line are the best looking irons in the market IMO. Save for the G700 which is hideously large.

 

You just know these will be pricy. Slapping a "Forged" badge on irons ratchets up cost all by itself. The market mentality is shifting to ever more expensive irons. So yeah, $200 per would not be out of line compared to the competition. Don't know if PXG is a target with these. They seem to as much about image as they are about performance vis-a vis the completion. PXG looks excessively "Blingy" in the flesh.

 

Wonder if Ping will stay with the Hydro-Pearl finish? Seems to be a lot of complaints that the finish wears off rather quickly making the clubs appear more used than they actually are. Owners have taken to scrubbing it off with Scotch-Brite pads to even up the finish. Last thing I'd want to do on a $1500 set of irons.

 

Be interesting to try these sometime in the future. One of the things I do periodically, especially in the winter months. Head to the LGS and swat some irons on their heated outdoor range. Tried the G700's last winter, didn't care for them at all (way to chunky). The i200's were quite nice, but they had stiff shafts installed. So difficult to get get much of an assessment, fighting the shaft and all. G400's are what they are, the latest rendition of the G series. Still have the wider soles, that I do not coexist with very well. Seemed not that much different than the i20's. The P790's were really easy to hit, no problem getting those up and away. But they're TM (irrational anti-bias) and way to expensive.

 

WTS, if I had excess capital around waiting to be circulated, these i500's could certainly be on the radar. With senior granite shafts please. Old Man's baller clubs.

 

We'll know on Monday if this is all speculating boolah.

[BIG STU]

So here's one I personally do not recommend by way of bought or homemade swing aids.

 

In one of his videos, Tom Watson uses a wire coat hanger bent into a small circle on one end and stuck the other end in the ground outside his ball. The circle end was positioned a couple feet above the ball, so his vision looks thru it to the ball The goal... to keep the head still.

 

Maybe for putting. Maybe for short chips or pitches. I love old Tom and am a huge fan. But there's no way I'm doing this coat hanger thing for normal full swings. Go look at any good golfer's video from face on. Watch his head at address, at the top of the bs, and down-through the strike.

 

Over and over you'll see the head move a little down and a little bit back moving into the strike. If I were dead set on keeping my head so still I could always be looking right through a loop in a wire hanger... I'd stiffen up the neck, force all sorts of tension into an otherwise flowing and dynamic swing.

 

Just one man's opinion... but a perfectly stock-still head during the golf swing is bad juju. But - for anyone who drinks from the fountain that says a stock-still head is a good thing.... Tom has your answer.

 

There are however some really cool things a simple coat hanger can be used for (IMO). More on that later.

Trust me I have brought a many truck home with stuff wired on with coat hangers. In fact I have 4 or 5 behind the jump seat on the big truck. I can just about get anything home with coat hangers, duct tape, wire ties and bungee cords

[BIG STU]

HHHHmmmmmm…………………...tempting...………..now forged. Sweet looking irons. Will wait to read on

course reviews. The price is probably going to be ridiculous though. Would have to liquidate a bunch of my

clubs to buy. Don't know if they are hollow or filled with something like PXG. Much cleaner look than PXG.

 

 

Wow! Ping making a move for sure, time will tell what's up with these beauties!

 

Not on the Ping Website yet. Just looked. May not be available for awhile. Curious to know if they are injected with

some sort of polymer, like PXG irons. Only one screw; on the toe, not all that noticeable. The last forged irons they

made were the Ansers. Those did not sell well at the time due to price. I'm guessing these will be $200+ per iron.

You can bet the farm if it has a screw on the toe it is injected with something.

[BIG STU]

Those screws in the PXG irons are permanent and non removable. They are not used for fitting purposes that I

know of. They are there for perimeter and toe weighting to increase forgiveness. They must have some other

way of altering swing weight.

 

I would gladly play PXG irons if someone gave them to me, lol. It was a Ping engineer that designed them for Bob

Parsons anyway. The whole project had to be put on a shelf for a year while that Ping engineer waited for his

non comp agreement with Ping to expire. I think Ping could have made those irons originally if they had wanted

to. Like everyone else, they didn't see a market for them at the price they would have had to charge.

If those screws do not come out then there are only two ways to alter swing weight Tip weights and you guessed it lead tape

[Fellaheen51]

OK by popular demand and by special request by Mr Reasy aka The Judge

Lead tape lessons---- One disclaimer--- This is mostly my opinion and research and it may or may not work for you

 

It can influence ball flight by placement down low or high. It can also correct draw or fade bias depending on where you put it

Now if I am really fine tuning a set I will weigh 2 inch strips because the weight of different rolls etc can be somewhat different. They also make a high density which I do not use a lot because it does not let me even out the weight like I want to.

 

Now mostly I weigh up my clubs by feel and so does Bear--- really there is not an exact science to it just got to experiment and use basic physics.

A lot of weight placement has to do with what shaft is in the club to begin with and the player's swing speed. In the last 5 years or so I like a soft tipped shaft with the weight to help it kick at the bottom. Some shafts will not kick at the bottom if you put a whole roll in Ie: X-1000 or Project X 6.5s.

 

Look at all the manufacturers that use the adjustable weight kits-- They are not doing anything us old guys have not done for years with lead tape.Their way is a lot more expensive time you buy those little weight ports and wrenches etc.

 

Another use and we have known it for years it can deaden a hot face on a club. Some of the early Ansers with the slot cut into the bottom had hot faces. We just put a little behind the face to deaden it up some. Also those same putters the slot caused it to "Ping" and it bothered some me included so most of us put a strip across the bottom over the slit. That deadens the sound. One old hustler did that and his feel was so sensitive that it affected him. He ended up putting adhesive tape over the slot. When I was doing R&D work for Championship Golf with the Infiniti brand of products the Assure line of irons had real hot faces to me. Those heads were what I called Super GI irons. They had wide soles and a big cavity and a 2 piece face with carpenter steel. Trust me they were HOT and their CG was too high for me with certain shafts. I ended up with a lot of lead tape in the cavity to deaden them some especially the short irons. There were 3 sets of the experimental irons and their rep flipped when he saw all the lead tape on the one set. I had to explain it to him. For Tournament play I ended up putting extra glue and product badges over the existing ones to satisfy them and to tone them down. If their ads are still up you will see those clubs were played on the Grand Strand Tour and the Sunbelt Senior Tour yep I was the guy. My avatar pic is their staff bag and I think one of the experimental sets. I shot some crappy rounds with those things too.

 

Another use is for counterbalance. The old schoolers mainy Nicklaus made that famous a few strips down the butt end of the shaft made the head feel more lighter and supposedly increased swing speed. I never was a fan of butt weighting I like to feel the head of the club. But everyone's feel is different

 

You can also screw up with the stuff too. Bear found a battered set of MP-68s in a pawn shop for $35. Grooves were good but a lot of bag chatter. He could not hit them worth a plug nickel so he gave them to me. Now I hooked the snot out of them and I could tell by the feel they were slugged in the hosel as in tip weights. I can not stand tip weights. The ball flight was not as good as I expected either. There were no shaft bands and by looking at the steps I figured they were S-300s. I ended up counterbalancing them in the toe for the tip weights and putting some down low in the middle to get the ball flight up some. Ended up getting them too heavy. Now I can hit them and sometimes my natural feel screws me. They were too heavy and so I was hitting at them too hard and at my age causing my back to hurt at night. I really screwed the pooch on that deal. I took those clubs over to a guy's shop to put on the machine and they are checking out as hard tipped S-400s. Needless to say those are benched for a while until I rebuild them. In fact I put the 5 iron on my SW machine and I had really screwed up it was about E3 or so. Promptly that whole set went into the old Ping Staff bag in the shop

 

Really one has to experiment with the stuff and screw up. Hope I did not screw this post up too bad> I have trouble expressing my thoughts in written text. Reasy is good at that and when he gets off vacation he will know exactly what I am saying and can maybe clarify things some

 

Good stuff Stu. Thanks for positing this. A couple of questions I'm curious about.

 

Recognizing that you adjust to feel, and not to a predetermined SW. Once you have a set of irons dialed in to your preferences, have you placed them on a SW scale and measured? Do they end up being a constant SW or are they progressive weighted?

 

The 8 iron in the Hogan Apex's feels different than the rest of the set. Indeed, it's SW is lower (D1) than the others that are generally right around D4. Don't hit the 8 as well as the 9 or 7. As measured on my less than precise GS SW scale. Think it was a head weight anomaly during the forging. But like a dummy, didn't weigh the heads before assembly. Where should I place the lead tape to bring up the SW without affecting the launch and direction characteristics? Up high on the back of the head? Or should I break it down and add a tip weight (even though you'e not a fan of them)? With the LW, soft tip shafts (Nippon 950's) don't feel the 8 iron head during the swing like I do the others.

[BIG STU]

OK by popular demand and by special request by Mr Reasy aka The Judge

Lead tape lessons---- One disclaimer--- This is mostly my opinion and research and it may or may not work for you

 

It can influence ball flight by placement down low or high. It can also correct draw or fade bias depending on where you put it

Now if I am really fine tuning a set I will weigh 2 inch strips because the weight of different rolls etc can be somewhat different. They also make a high density which I do not use a lot because it does not let me even out the weight like I want to.

 

Now mostly I weigh up my clubs by feel and so does Bear--- really there is not an exact science to it just got to experiment and use basic physics.

A lot of weight placement has to do with what shaft is in the club to begin with and the player's swing speed. In the last 5 years or so I like a soft tipped shaft with the weight to help it kick at the bottom. Some shafts will not kick at the bottom if you put a whole roll in Ie: X-1000 or Project X 6.5s.

 

Look at all the manufacturers that use the adjustable weight kits-- They are not doing anything us old guys have not done for years with lead tape.Their way is a lot more expensive time you buy those little weight ports and wrenches etc.

 

Another use and we have known it for years it can deaden a hot face on a club. Some of the early Ansers with the slot cut into the bottom had hot faces. We just put a little behind the face to deaden it up some. Also those same putters the slot caused it to "Ping" and it bothered some me included so most of us put a strip across the bottom over the slit. That deadens the sound. One old hustler did that and his feel was so sensitive that it affected him. He ended up putting adhesive tape over the slot. When I was doing R&D work for Championship Golf with the Infiniti brand of products the Assure line of irons had real hot faces to me. Those heads were what I called Super GI irons. They had wide soles and a big cavity and a 2 piece face with carpenter steel. Trust me they were HOT and their CG was too high for me with certain shafts. I ended up with a lot of lead tape in the cavity to deaden them some especially the short irons. There were 3 sets of the experimental irons and their rep flipped when he saw all the lead tape on the one set. I had to explain it to him. For Tournament play I ended up putting extra glue and product badges over the existing ones to satisfy them and to tone them down. If their ads are still up you will see those clubs were played on the Grand Strand Tour and the Sunbelt Senior Tour yep I was the guy. My avatar pic is their staff bag and I think one of the experimental sets. I shot some crappy rounds with those things too.

 

Another use is for counterbalance. The old schoolers mainy Nicklaus made that famous a few strips down the butt end of the shaft made the head feel more lighter and supposedly increased swing speed. I never was a fan of butt weighting I like to feel the head of the club. But everyone's feel is different

 

You can also screw up with the stuff too. Bear found a battered set of MP-68s in a pawn shop for $35. Grooves were good but a lot of bag chatter. He could not hit them worth a plug nickel so he gave them to me. Now I hooked the snot out of them and I could tell by the feel they were slugged in the hosel as in tip weights. I can not stand tip weights. The ball flight was not as good as I expected either. There were no shaft bands and by looking at the steps I figured they were S-300s. I ended up counterbalancing them in the toe for the tip weights and putting some down low in the middle to get the ball flight up some. Ended up getting them too heavy. Now I can hit them and sometimes my natural feel screws me. They were too heavy and so I was hitting at them too hard and at my age causing my back to hurt at night. I really screwed the pooch on that deal. I took those clubs over to a guy's shop to put on the machine and they are checking out as hard tipped S-400s. Needless to say those are benched for a while until I rebuild them. In fact I put the 5 iron on my SW machine and I had really screwed up it was about E3 or so. Promptly that whole set went into the old Ping Staff bag in the shop

 

Really one has to experiment with the stuff and screw up. Hope I did not screw this post up too bad> I have trouble expressing my thoughts in written text. Reasy is good at that and when he gets off vacation he will know exactly what I am saying and can maybe clarify things some

 

Good stuff Stu. Thanks for positing this. A couple of questions I'm curious about.

 

Recognizing that you adjust to feel, and not to a predetermined SW. Once you have a set of irons dialed in to your preferences, have you placed them on a SW scale and measured? Do they end up being a constant SW or are they progressive weighted?

 

The 8 iron in the Hogan Apex's feels different than the rest of the set. Indeed, it's SW is lower (D1) than the others that are generally right around D4. Don't hit the 8 as well as the 9 or 7. As measured on my less than precise GS SW scale. Think it was a head weight anomaly during the forging. But like a dummy, didn't weigh the heads before assembly. Where should I place the lead tape to bring up the SW without affecting the launch and direction characteristics? Up high on the back of the head? Or should I break it down and add a tip weight (even though you'e not a fan of them)? With the LW, soft tip shafts (Nippon 950's) don't feel the 8 iron head during the swing like I do the others.

I do not swing weight my own stuff I go strictly by feel. The only time I have ever ran a swing weight on my personal clubs is when I did a wedge test for MGS on the Renegar wedges. The old 588s I carry now. I think the 568 was around D7 or so and the 60* was around D-9 or so. I needed to know that because the wedges supplied felt light to me and they were. I had to get the Renegar wedges up to my weight to make an effective test

 

In your case as long as a tip weight does not throw you off go with it. If you do not want to affect the launch charistics and do the lead tape route go dead in the middle. Like I said do not concern yourself with the Swing Weight go off your feel

[Spooky67]

Like Rad, I'd be glad to bounce ideas regarding whatever's on your mind. I don't quite understand the depth of your situation enough in all honesty to do justice to your concerns.

 

To be a little more specific. I've personally never seen a case where an employer couldn't get rid of an employee. Now it may be touchy for the employer in many cases when it comes to termination. Examples - Related to company executive leadership; "Protected Class" individuals as they say in HR; Legally binding Employment Contract, etc. So it can certainly be a sticky wicket to fire a worker in many cases. But I've never seen the case where once an employer wants someone gone... sooner or later they're gone.

 

So it becomes a matter of NOT firing someone in many cases and instead getting them to quit. Lots of ways to do that. Examples of that include:

 

A) Catching them doing things wrong (in writing) to establish a paper trail of performance issues

B) Elevating them to a position or rank they can't handle thereby setting them up to fail.

C) Exclusion from participation in a variety of leadership or group gatherings signalling to the individual they aren't important.

D) "Catch" them in the act of exposing the company to serious liability.

 

Most all of the above are intended to get the employee to quit which obviates the need for termination. This reduces the cost of unemployment claims, severance, and any culpability in how things ended. To pull it off - legally - the boss and his/her team need to be very careful about what they put in writing.

 

So excluding a privately held business where the boss is the owner - and even in 99% of those (fearing litigation and other backlash) I have haven't seen workplace environs where a person can't be fired... Instead it's a matter of HOW to get people to just quit.

 

Now with all that said there's a couple of things to consider before putting on a parachute and jumping. Jumping is an option and OFTEN it's a GOOD one... but before your leap....

 

A) In terms of conflict resolution... sometimes bosses settle into bad habits and it becomes a vicious cycle. They start saying and doing things routinely that are offensive and make people miserable... OR sometime the employee grows and ultra thin skin when the intent of the boss was actually to be helpful. Hard to believe two individuals in the same company could work together for all those years and start misreading their own actions and the reactions of others around it, but it absolutely happens. Sometime (not always) it's as simple as finding some quiet time to meet - maybe off the clock if need be - and just talk it out together. SOMETIMES. Conflict resolution can be a very GOOD thing if it's possible two people just got into habits that were escalating when the intent was never hoping the other would quit or get fired at all.

 

B) People fortunately or unfortunately identify themselves with the where they work or their title. That natural, and after a long number of years it's practically unavoidable. There's fear in re-inventing yourself elsewhere. There's ten reasons why a longer commute of different business culture, or something ugly is on the other side of that door you walk through each day. You see something in your home every day from refrigerator magnets, to post-it notes, to whatever it is you wear to work.... that reminds you that you're a company guy even when at home in the evenings and weekends. So we all get almost paralyzed by imagining all of that suddenly changing. Very natural. And here comes the biggie that has to be weighed against all that...

 

It's difficult to say which is worse... having a job you're miserable in...or maybe going unemployed or having to reinvent yourself. From my seat, at the point a job is ruining your life, at the point where conflict resolution is NOT going to work (for more than maybe a week before things get even worse), at a point where it's clear you actually could be fired one way or the other... then I'd go into the boss's office and tell them it's time to fire you cause you ain't leaving without a year's pay in the bank to get your life in order...and you for sure aren't going to cheat yourself out of filling for unemployment (which you can't do if you just quit versus being fired).

 

So in that instance, the misery of the job is putting a foot in the grave, there's no conflict resolution opportunity, and I'd just put aside worries about refrigerator magnets and reminders of the work at home...and go tell the boss if he/she has half a brain he'd fire you and serve up a very nice severance in the process.

 

A man can reinvent himself. (I've had to a couple of times). He survives it. Sometimes the burden of staying is going to end up getting you sick or buried before your time.

 

Sometimes its a heart-to-heart with the boss. People surprisingly sometimes never dream the individual would actually quit or file a law suit until they're called on it.

 

And btw... if you ARE in a hostile work environment... things being said that are demeaning, immoral, racist, whatever... you need to chronicle that stuff in writing. Cause at that point,,,where you can show a pattern of behavior.... you've got them by the gonads. You will own what they own and their accounts become your accounts. It's a real-live legal thing and you can make it stick if you keep good notes.

 

One more thing. I can swear on my ancestor eyes... whatever it is you do for a living... it's a J.O.B. It's not (despite how deeply you identify yourself with it)... It is NOT you. You happen to exchange a paycheck for services rendered.

 

Where would whatever constitutes you beyond the magnets on the fridge... be most productive, have the most considered opinion... look forward to going to work???? There's NO SHAME if it is being Greeter at Walmart for awhile, or taking a little time to figure that out, or staying where you are while you look elsewhere.

 

But it's the answers to those key questions are where you'll find the answers to the current (and temporary - despite all appearances) situation with your boss.

 

Thank you for the post/info. I am hoping that my situation is the "A" you mentioned above. If I wanted to leave, I could have, on many occasions and made significantly more money. I still could if I chose to. Problem is, I want to stay. Hopefully this is just one of our cyclical bumps in the road. I'm scheduled to meet with her on the 10th and I have several point to bring up. We will see how it goes.? Thanks again.

[Spooky67]

OK by popular demand and by special request by Mr Reasy aka The Judge

Lead tape lessons---- One disclaimer--- This is mostly my opinion and research and it may or may not work for you

 

It can influence ball flight by placement down low or high. It can also correct draw or fade bias depending on where you put it

Now if I am really fine tuning a set I will weigh 2 inch strips because the weight of different rolls etc can be somewhat different. They also make a high density which I do not use a lot because it does not let me even out the weight like I want to.

 

Now mostly I weigh up my clubs by feel and so does Bear--- really there is not an exact science to it just got to experiment and use basic physics.

A lot of weight placement has to do with what shaft is in the club to begin with and the player's swing speed. In the last 5 years or so I like a soft tipped shaft with the weight to help it kick at the bottom. Some shafts will not kick at the bottom if you put a whole roll in Ie: X-1000 or Project X 6.5s.

 

Look at all the manufacturers that use the adjustable weight kits-- They are not doing anything us old guys have not done for years with lead tape.Their way is a lot more expensive time you buy those little weight ports and wrenches etc.

 

Another use and we have known it for years it can deaden a hot face on a club. Some of the early Ansers with the slot cut into the bottom had hot faces. We just put a little behind the face to deaden it up some. Also those same putters the slot caused it to "Ping" and it bothered some me included so most of us put a strip across the bottom over the slit. That deadens the sound. One old hustler did that and his feel was so sensitive that it affected him. He ended up putting adhesive tape over the slot. When I was doing R&D work for Championship Golf with the Infiniti brand of products the Assure line of irons had real hot faces to me. Those heads were what I called Super GI irons. They had wide soles and a big cavity and a 2 piece face with carpenter steel. Trust me they were HOT and their CG was too high for me with certain shafts. I ended up with a lot of lead tape in the cavity to deaden them some especially the short irons. There were 3 sets of the experimental irons and their rep flipped when he saw all the lead tape on the one set. I had to explain it to him. For Tournament play I ended up putting extra glue and product badges over the existing ones to satisfy them and to tone them down. If their ads are still up you will see those clubs were played on the Grand Strand Tour and the Sunbelt Senior Tour yep I was the guy. My avatar pic is their staff bag and I think one of the experimental sets. I shot some crappy rounds with those things too.

 

Another use is for counterbalance. The old schoolers mainy Nicklaus made that famous a few strips down the butt end of the shaft made the head feel more lighter and supposedly increased swing speed. I never was a fan of butt weighting I like to feel the head of the club. But everyone's feel is different

 

You can also screw up with the stuff too. Bear found a battered set of MP-68s in a pawn shop for $35. Grooves were good but a lot of bag chatter. He could not hit them worth a plug nickel so he gave them to me. Now I hooked the snot out of them and I could tell by the feel they were slugged in the hosel as in tip weights. I can not stand tip weights. The ball flight was not as good as I expected either. There were no shaft bands and by looking at the steps I figured they were S-300s. I ended up counterbalancing them in the toe for the tip weights and putting some down low in the middle to get the ball flight up some. Ended up getting them too heavy. Now I can hit them and sometimes my natural feel screws me. They were too heavy and so I was hitting at them too hard and at my age causing my back to hurt at night. I really screwed the pooch on that deal. I took those clubs over to a guy's shop to put on the machine and they are checking out as hard tipped S-400s. Needless to say those are benched for a while until I rebuild them. In fact I put the 5 iron on my SW machine and I had really screwed up it was about E3 or so. Promptly that whole set went into the old Ping Staff bag in the shop

 

Really one has to experiment with the stuff and screw up. Hope I did not screw this post up too bad> I have trouble expressing my thoughts in written text. Reasy is good at that and when he gets off vacation he will know exactly what I am saying and can maybe clarify things some

 

Great post!

 

I used to play around with lead tape a good bit, never really had a system just went by feel as well. If I'm being 100% honest I stopped using it because I couldn't stand the look. I don't have the latest or greatest gear and I am not afraid to play older clubs at all, but I like my stuff to look clean.....it's always better to look good than to feel good right..? LOL. Actually if truth be told, I haven't felt the need for it in many years. With the moveable weights in the M1 driver and M1 hybrid I don't feel the need to add anything. My irons feel fine. 3w is ok, as are my wedges and putter. But I always have a roll of lead around just in case.

[Spooky67]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

 

Just got in from 9 holes. Didn't score well at all-49-but struck the ball well, for me. Usually my score is in line with my ball striking, but occasionally I will have a round where I strike the ball well but don't manage to score well. Was very happy with the way I struck my irons, was ok off the tee, wedges were working well too. Missed three short putts and had some issues with course management as well as club selection.

 

Anyone else have days where you feel like your game is on but your score doesn't agree? I have always been the type of player that never has all aspects of the game clicking at the same time. I have mentioned it before, but I really feel that I should be scoring better, but I just seem to lose strokes due to carelessness. Now I also realize that I also lose strokes due to having a inconsistent swing but I just seem to find a way to give away at least a stroke a hole.

 

I will say that I find golf MUCH more enjoyable when I am striking the ball well, irregardless of score. I have had rounds where I can scrape out an average score even when striking the ball poorly, but I don't enjoy those rounds nearly as much.

 

Goal for this year is to break 90. May need a little luck for that to happen. Full rounds this year have been high 90s/low 100s. Home course is 6580 from the blues 72.5/141 lots of uneven lies, ball above/below your feet, lots of elevation changes, pretty tough course IMO, but it is always kept up very, very well and is NEVER crowded. We will see what the year brings.

[tolmij]

Hey Spooky, never be sorry for multiple posts, this is the Grille, the more the better.

[billh17]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

 

Just got in from 9 holes. Didn't score well at all-49-but struck the ball well, for me. Usually my score is in line with my ball striking, but occasionally I will have a round where I strike the ball well but don't manage to score well. Was very happy with the way I struck my irons, was ok off the tee, wedges were working well too. Missed three shot putts and had some issues with course management as well as club selection.

 

Anyone else have days where you feel like your game is on but your score doesn't agree? I have always been the type of player that never has all aspects of the game clicking at the same time. I have mentioned it before, but I really feel that I should be scoring better, but I just seem to lose strokes due to carelessness. Now I also realize that I also lose strokes due to having a inconsistent swing but I just seem to find a way to give away at least a stroke a hole.

 

I will say that I find golf MUCH more enjoyable when I am striking the ball well, irregardless of score. I have had rounds where I can scrape out an average score even when striking the ball poorly, but I don't enjoy those rounds nearly as much.

 

Goal for this year is to break 90. May need a little luck for that to happen. Full rounds this year have been high 90s/low 100s. Home course is 6580 from the blues 72.5/141 lots of uneven lies, ball above/below your feet, lots of elevation changes, pretty tough course IMO, but it is always kept up very, very well and is NEVER crowded. We will see what the year brings.

 

You hang in there and just enjoy being out on the course. The good scores will come when you least expect them.

I have had days ....more than i like to remember....when my score was not at all what I thought based on my shots.

It got me to playing with a notebook to write down all my bad shots and see if I could find a pattern. Sure enough

it was inside 110 yards. I played for most of a summer just hitting from the 120 mark in.... I won't say it made me a

great wedge player,because it didn't ! But it did take me from lost to at least knowing where i was at ! Now I am really

expecting to be on the green anything inside of 130....maybe not close to the pin,but at least on the dance floor ! Play

the game for the enjoyment and work on one thing until you can be comfortable with it...then pick another. It wont be

long before you are playing the whole round and paying more attention to the views than your scores !

[tolmij]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

 

Just got in from 9 holes. Didn't score well at all-49-but struck the ball well, for me. Usually my score is in line with my ball striking, but occasionally I will have a round where I strike the ball well but don't manage to score well. Was very happy with the way I struck my irons, was ok off the tee, wedges were working well too. Missed three short putts and had some issues with course management as well as club selection.

 

Anyone else have days where you feel like your game is on but your score doesn't agree? I have always been the type of player that never has all aspects of the game clicking at the same time. I have mentioned it before, but I really feel that I should be scoring better, but I just seem to lose strokes due to carelessness. Now I also realize that I also lose strokes due to having a inconsistent swing but I just seem to find a way to give away at least a stroke a hole.

 

I will say that I find golf MUCH more enjoyable when I am striking the ball well, irregardless of score. I have had rounds where I can scrape out an average score even when striking the ball poorly, but I don't enjoy those rounds nearly as much.

 

Goal for this year is to break 90. May need a little luck for that to happen. Full rounds this year have been high 90s/low 100s. Home course is 6580 from the blues 72.5/141 lots of uneven lies, ball above/below your feet, lots of elevation changes, pretty tough course IMO, but it is always kept up very, very well and is NEVER crowded. We will see what the year brings.

 

 

I know exactly how you feel about ball striking, my games are usually high 90s plus with some good nines but never a full 18. Satisfaction is the clean sound as the ball leaves the club and watching it soar away into the distance, or drop nicely onto the green and stop.

[Fellaheen51]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

 

Just got in from 9 holes. Didn't score well at all-49-but struck the ball well, for me. Usually my score is in line with my ball striking, but occasionally I will have a round where I strike the ball well but don't manage to score well. Was very happy with the way I struck my irons, was ok off the tee, wedges were working well too. Missed three short putts and had some issues with course management as well as club selection.

 

Anyone else have days where you feel like your game is on but your score doesn't agree? I have always been the type of player that never has all aspects of the game clicking at the same time. I have mentioned it before, but I really feel that I should be scoring better, but I just seem to lose strokes due to carelessness. Now I also realize that I also lose strokes due to having a inconsistent swing but I just seem to find a way to give away at least a stroke a hole.

 

I will say that I find golf MUCH more enjoyable when I am striking the ball well, irregardless of score. I have had rounds where I can scrape out an average score even when striking the ball poorly, but I don't enjoy those rounds nearly as much.

 

Goal for this year is to break 90. May need a little luck for that to happen. Full rounds this year have been high 90s/low 100s. Home course is 6580 from the blues 72.5/141 lots of uneven lies, ball above/below your feet, lots of elevation changes, pretty tough course IMO, but it is always kept up very, very well and is NEVER crowded. We will see what the year brings.

 

No apology necessary for multiple posts. Happens from time to time, especially from a mobile device.

 

A couple of observations in the spirit of the grille. The decent ball striking days but the score doesn't equate happens all the time. Very frustrating to look at the final tally and think, "I played better than that". But we usually can identify where the play went askew. And work on these aspects to improve. All to often attributable to ineffective wedge play and/or lackluster putting. Making a few putts helps cover some short game sins, but the two together leads to inflated scoring. A situation that I'm all to familiar with. Improving chip and pitch gets one closer to the hole. Give one a chance for a birdie, an easier opportunity to post a par or salvage a bogey. The one area of play where I need to put in some serious practice time to improved scoring.

 

Your home course is more than "pretty tough". At ~6600 yards with a slope of 141, it's extraordinarily difficult. Have you considered moving up a tee box to lighten the load some? Playing at somewhat less strenuous lengths and degree of difficulty is still rewarding. Plus, you may see your scores improving and the positive reinforcement helps with maintaining positive attitudes for the next time out. May help with improving some of the course management issues as well. No one in my golfing ask what yardage I played at if I was to post a decent score for a round. Move back as your skill set begins to improve.

 

The 'blow up' hole (aka bad course management) can really inflate a 9 hole scorecard. Less opportunity to recover. Easier said than done, but need to keep one's head in the game. Don't exacerbate a bad shot by attempting the near impossible recovery. Take your medicine, get back into position and move on from there. Makes a difference in not allowing a hole to get out of control. Play it safe, we're not good enough to be constantly trying the high risk shot. Cutting doglegs. Trying the 190 yard shot over water. Take your layup shots when they present themselves. Shoot for the center of the green rather than at the pin. Keeping one's head in the game is perhaps THE most demanding thing one can do over the course of play. I've become mentally tired long before I've become physically during a demanding and/or troubling round. (This is as much speaking to myself as to you Spook.)

 

More than anything else, continue to find the "fun" in the endeavor. If we don't find enjoyment in the pursuit, the eternal optimism of "today is going to be the day", enjoy the with whom and where, sort of defeats the purpose. All to many in golfdom are wrapped way to tight in chasing score. Trying to "beat" something or someone. And risk losing sight of the many facets of the game that makes it all worthwhile.

[Spooky67]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

 

Just got in from 9 holes. Didn't score well at all-49-but struck the ball well, for me. Usually my score is in line with my ball striking, but occasionally I will have a round where I strike the ball well but don't manage to score well. Was very happy with the way I struck my irons, was ok off the tee, wedges were working well too. Missed three short putts and had some issues with course management as well as club selection.

 

Anyone else have days where you feel like your game is on but your score doesn't agree? I have always been the type of player that never has all aspects of the game clicking at the same time. I have mentioned it before, but I really feel that I should be scoring better, but I just seem to lose strokes due to carelessness. Now I also realize that I also lose strokes due to having a inconsistent swing but I just seem to find a way to give away at least a stroke a hole.

 

I will say that I find golf MUCH more enjoyable when I am striking the ball well, irregardless of score. I have had rounds where I can scrape out an average score even when striking the ball poorly, but I don't enjoy those rounds nearly as much.

 

Goal for this year is to break 90. May need a little luck for that to happen. Full rounds this year have been high 90s/low 100s. Home course is 6580 from the blues 72.5/141 lots of uneven lies, ball above/below your feet, lots of elevation changes, pretty tough course IMO, but it is always kept up very, very well and is NEVER crowded. We will see what the year brings.

 

No apology necessary for multiple posts. Happens from time to time, especially from a mobile device.

 

A couple of observations in the spirit of the grille. The decent ball striking days but the score doesn't equate happens all the time. Very frustrating to look at the final tally and think, "I played better than that". But we usually can identify where the play went askew. And work on these aspects to improve. All to often attributable to ineffective wedge play and/or lackluster putting. Making a few putts helps cover some short game sins, but the two together leads to inflated scoring. A situation that I'm all to familiar with. Improving chip and pitch gets one closer to the hole. Give one a chance for a birdie, an easier opportunity to post a par or salvage a bogey. The one area of play where I need to put in some serious practice time to improved scoring.

 

Your home course is more than "pretty tough". At ~6600 yards with a slope of 141, it's extraordinarily difficult. Have you considered moving up a tee box to lighten the load some? Playing at somewhat less strenuous lengths and degree of difficulty is still rewarding. Plus, you may see your scores improving and the positive reinforcement helps with maintaining positive attitudes for the next time out. May help with improving some of the course management issues as well. No one in my golfing ask what yardage I played at if I was to post a decent score for a round. Move back as your skill set begins to improve.

 

The 'blow up' hole (aka bad course management) can really inflate a 9 hole scorecard. Less opportunity to recover. Easier said than done, but need to keep one's head in the game. Don't exacerbate a bad shot by attempting the near impossible recovery. Take your medicine, get back into position and move on from there. Makes a difference in not allowing a hole to get out of control. Play it safe, we're not good enough to be constantly trying the high risk shot. Cutting doglegs. Trying the 190 yard shot over water. Take your layup shots when they present themselves. Shoot for the center of the green rather than at the pin. Keeping one's head in the game is perhaps THE most demanding thing one can do over the course of play. I've become mentally tired long before I've become physically during a demanding and/or troubling round. (This is as much speaking to myself as to you Spook.)

 

More than anything else, continue to find the "fun" in the endeavor. If we don't find enjoyment in the pursuit, the eternal optimism of "today is going to be the day", enjoy the with whom and where, sort of defeats the purpose. All to many in golfdom are wrapped way to tight in chasing score. Trying to "beat" something or someone. And risk losing sight of the many facets of the game that makes it all worthwhile.

 

I agree with you Fella. I find the game fun for sure, I find chasing a better score fun and I find tinkering with equipment fun. I never get bummed out, I’m just intrigued by the difficulty of the game and how changes in performance don’t always equal changes in score.

 

Moving up a tee isn’t really an option IMO. I could do so but I don’t think it would change anything. Now I’m driver wedge, or 3w 9i/PW on par 4s. My issue isn’t length, it’s strike. I can misfit a PW as bad as a driver.

 

Blow up holes kill me. My last three rounds have had a 7,8,7 on the card. The 8 had two wedge shanks....

 

 

 

[thug the bunny]

Like Rad, I'd be glad to bounce ideas regarding whatever's on your mind. I don't quite understand the depth of your situation enough in all honesty to do justice to your concerns.

 

To be a little more specific. I've personally never seen a case where an employer couldn't get rid of an employee. Now it may be touchy for the employer in many cases when it comes to termination. Examples - Related to company executive leadership; "Protected Class" individuals as they say in HR; Legally binding Employment Contract, etc. So it can certainly be a sticky wicket to fire a worker in many cases. But I've never seen the case where once an employer wants someone gone... sooner or later they're gone.

 

So it becomes a matter of NOT firing someone in many cases and instead getting them to quit. Lots of ways to do that. Examples of that include:

 

A) Catching them doing things wrong (in writing) to establish a paper trail of performance issues

B) Elevating them to a position or rank they can't handle thereby setting them up to fail.

C) Exclusion from participation in a variety of leadership or group gatherings signalling to the individual they aren't important.

D) "Catch" them in the act of exposing the company to serious liability.

 

Most all of the above are intended to get the employee to quit which obviates the need for termination. This reduces the cost of unemployment claims, severance, and any culpability in how things ended. To pull it off - legally - the boss and his/her team need to be very careful about what they put in writing.

 

So excluding a privately held business where the boss is the owner - and even in 99% of those (fearing litigation and other backlash) I have haven't seen workplace environs where a person can't be fired... Instead it's a matter of HOW to get people to just quit.

 

Now with all that said there's a couple of things to consider before putting on a parachute and jumping. Jumping is an option and OFTEN it's a GOOD one... but before your leap....

 

A) In terms of conflict resolution... sometimes bosses settle into bad habits and it becomes a vicious cycle. They start saying and doing things routinely that are offensive and make people miserable... OR sometime the employee grows and ultra thin skin when the intent of the boss was actually to be helpful. Hard to believe two individuals in the same company could work together for all those years and start misreading their own actions and the reactions of others around it, but it absolutely happens. Sometime (not always) it's as simple as finding some quiet time to meet - maybe off the clock if need be - and just talk it out together. SOMETIMES. Conflict resolution can be a very GOOD thing if it's possible two people just got into habits that were escalating when the intent was never hoping the other would quit or get fired at all.

 

B) People fortunately or unfortunately identify themselves with the where they work or their title. That natural, and after a long number of years it's practically unavoidable. There's fear in re-inventing yourself elsewhere. There's ten reasons why a longer commute of different business culture, or something ugly is on the other side of that door you walk through each day. You see something in your home every day from refrigerator magnets, to post-it notes, to whatever it is you wear to work.... that reminds you that you're a company guy even when at home in the evenings and weekends. So we all get almost paralyzed by imagining all of that suddenly changing. Very natural. And here comes the biggie that has to be weighed against all that...

 

It's difficult to say which is worse... having a job you're miserable in...or maybe going unemployed or having to reinvent yourself. From my seat, at the point a job is ruining your life, at the point where conflict resolution is NOT going to work (for more than maybe a week before things get even worse), at a point where it's clear you actually could be fired one way or the other... then I'd go into the boss's office and tell them it's time to fire you cause you ain't leaving without a year's pay in the bank to get your life in order...and you for sure aren't going to cheat yourself out of filling for unemployment (which you can't do if you just quit versus being fired).

 

So in that instance, the misery of the job is putting a foot in the grave, there's no conflict resolution opportunity, and I'd just put aside worries about refrigerator magnets and reminders of the work at home...and go tell the boss if he/she has half a brain he'd fire you and serve up a very nice severance in the process.

 

A man can reinvent himself. (I've had to a couple of times). He survives it. Sometimes the burden of staying is going to end up getting you sick or buried before your time.

 

Sometimes its a heart-to-heart with the boss. People surprisingly sometimes never dream the individual would actually quit or file a law suit until they're called on it.

 

And btw... if you ARE in a hostile work environment... things being said that are demeaning, immoral, racist, whatever... you need to chronicle that stuff in writing. Cause at that point,,,where you can show a pattern of behavior.... you've got them by the gonads. You will own what they own and their accounts become your accounts. It's a real-live legal thing and you can make it stick if you keep good notes.

 

One more thing. I can swear on my ancestor eyes... whatever it is you do for a living... it's a J.O.B. It's not (despite how deeply you identify yourself with it)... It is NOT you. You happen to exchange a paycheck for services rendered.

 

Where would whatever constitutes you beyond the magnets on the fridge... be most productive, have the most considered opinion... look forward to going to work???? There's NO SHAME if it is being Greeter at Walmart for awhile, or taking a little time to figure that out, or staying where you are while you look elsewhere.

 

But it's the answers to those key questions are where you'll find the answers to the current (and temporary - despite all appearances) situation with your boss.

 

However Reasy, if you get FIRED you don't get severance. You get shown the door and that's it. However, when you get 'laid off' - I have become familiar with the term RIF'd (reduction in force) - you get a severance package, although they use that to make you sign a waiver that you will not bring any litigation against them. Also, at least in NJ, if you get fired, you are generally not eligible for unemployment payments. This may vary state to state.

[BIG STU]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

 

Just got in from 9 holes. Didn't score well at all-49-but struck the ball well, for me. Usually my score is in line with my ball striking, but occasionally I will have a round where I strike the ball well but don't manage to score well. Was very happy with the way I struck my irons, was ok off the tee, wedges were working well too. Missed three shot putts and had some issues with course management as well as club selection.

 

Anyone else have days where you feel like your game is on but your score doesn't agree? I have always been the type of player that never has all aspects of the game clicking at the same time. I have mentioned it before, but I really feel that I should be scoring better, but I just seem to lose strokes due to carelessness. Now I also realize that I also lose strokes due to having a inconsistent swing but I just seem to find a way to give away at least a stroke a hole.

 

I will say that I find golf MUCH more enjoyable when I am striking the ball well, irregardless of score. I have had rounds where I can scrape out an average score even when striking the ball poorly, but I don't enjoy those rounds nearly as much.

 

Goal for this year is to break 90. May need a little luck for that to happen. Full rounds this year have been high 90s/low 100s. Home course is 6580 from the blues 72.5/141 lots of uneven lies, ball above/below your feet, lots of elevation changes, pretty tough course IMO, but it is always kept up very, very well and is NEVER crowded. We will see what the year brings.

 

You hang in there and just enjoy being out on the course. The good scores will come when you least expect them.

I have had days ....more than i like to remember....when my score was not at all what I thought based on my shots.

It got me to playing with a notebook to write down all my bad shots and see if I could find a pattern. Sure enough

it was inside 110 yards. I played for most of a summer just hitting from the 120 mark in.... I won't say it made me a

great wedge player,because it didn't ! But it did take me from lost to at least knowing where i was at ! Now I am really

expecting to be on the green anything inside of 130....maybe not close to the pin,but at least on the dance floor ! Play

the game for the enjoyment and work on one thing until you can be comfortable with it...then pick another. It wont be

long before you are playing the whole round and paying more attention to the views than your scores !

That is basically how and why I play the game now. For sheer enjoyment. I could care less what I shoot score wise. Like yesterday. One of my buddies from MGS was down and we scheduled a round for the twilight rate. A younger guy ended up joining us and it was quite a treat. That young man is only 19 but is much more mature for his age. Pretty good player to boot. He was enthralled with the fact I play mostly vintage equipment and still carry and hit long blade irons. We had a big time do not remember the score per say. I know the kid said he only beat me by 2 shots or so. And yes I stepped back on the big tees with him. He was long and straight but he only outdrove me by 75 yards or so. Had a great ball striking day my short game was spot on. I sorta knuckled down on him after all I do still have some competitive drive. I did not want him to beat me that bad. Main thing was it was fun. My highlight of the day was on our 17th hole which IMHO is one of the toughest par 3s on this beach. It played 198 from the back over water and the wind is always in your face. I was sorta in between clubs there. I knew I could not get the hybrid there and the 5 wood was too much. My only option was the 3 iron. I flat out flushed it to about 30 feet or so on this huge green. The kid said that he did not see many people hit a 3 iron period much less stop it. I explained to him that the reason it stopped was because that was it. In other words I hit it as high and as far as I could and it dropped dead spent. Now hitting the green is one thing and putting on that green is tricky no matter how close or far. I did manage to 2 putt it. Anytime I hit that green I am ready to run to the 18th tee. Trust me I made my par and ran to the cart.

 

I have some folks from time to time ask me if i am going back to playing comp again. I will tell them at this stage of my life no. They do not know the dedicated practice you have to do to stay competitive. I ain't into that anymore. I hit balls to stay loose and to evaluate clubs when I want to. Now I did play my signature set yesterday. I have so much stuff that I have 6 different bags set up with different clubs etc. I also have balls,gloves and tees set up in those bags. In other words choose grab and go. That now is part of my fun. I am having more fun in golf than I have ever had period. In a few I may go hit that full set of 1954 Tommy Armours 925s that I scored a couple of weeks ago at Goodwill. Like I said fun fun fun