MD/DC/VA Golfers - Twelve Monkeys Mental Divergence

[Gmen1204]

Current view

I'm sorry unless you're a Saints fan.

[dagoose383]

I know there are threads elsewhere, but I'd rather ask youz guys first.

 

Who here has a travel bag/case that they can recommend? Should I just get a hard case? Go with soft case and a stiff arm? Pros and cons of each? I have no idea what's best, I just know I'd prefer my clubs to show up all intact.

Club glove Last bag got my graphite shafted irons to Dallas in tact via southwest. Packed them well with a stiff arm

[dagoose383]

Current view

I'm sorry unless you're a Saints fan.

 

Cowboys all day!

 

And Miller Lattes all tonight. Playing golf all day tomorrow

[GoldenBellGW]

PS - dont buy that one thats $150, its a size up from the regular one. I just checked my past Amazon orders and I paid $179 for the one thats $230 now. Not sure why its gone up that much but you can probably find one on Craigslist. Or else wait until the next ebay coupon comes out - check the Deal or no Deal forum every so often.

 

Or Facebook Marketplace.

 

Thanks. I'll probably grab a Last Bag when I end up scooping one. Probably easier for storage too considering I live in a shoe box.

 

Think I got mine with one of the 25 off coupons from tgw for 170 or so. Might be paying a premium but I've never seen my or anybody's clubs damaged in one. Figure it was worth the money if nothing ever breaks that i would be paying just as much to fix or replace

[endlesswinterco]

Club glove last bag and stiff arm = 11 golf trips and no issues. I do pick extra towels around the heads to make that part of the bag full.

[Gmen1204]

Current view

I'm sorry unless you're a Saints fan.

 

Cowboys all day!

 

And Miller Lattes all tonight. Playing golf all day tomorrow

Sweet

[FAbb]

I've only flown with clubs twice. I borrowed a bag boy soft case with stiff arm from 2MT both times. I didn't take heads off the adjustable clubs or anything.

[dagoose383]

Who dat?

 

We dem boys!

 

How.Bout.Them.Cowboys........

 

This place is going nuts...

[misplacedtexan83]

PS - dont buy that one thats $150, its a size up from the regular one. I just checked my past Amazon orders and I paid $179 for the one thats $230 now. Not sure why its gone up that much but you can probably find one on Craigslist. Or else wait until the next ebay coupon comes out - check the Deal or no Deal forum every so often.

 

Or Facebook Marketplace.

 

Thanks. I'll probably grab a Last Bag when I end up scooping one. Probably easier for storage too considering I live in a shoe box.

 

Why not take your heads off? If you can take them off and put them in your carry one. Totally allowed.

 

I always do if i have a soft case. I have a Ogio hard case that has individual slots that is awesome. If you need to borrow let me know

[dcmidnight]

Had a great time yesterday checking out the new Pinecrest Learning Center in Alexandria. For those in the NoVa area its just West of 395, very easy to get to. The course itself, its really not much, I'd compare it to a step below the inside 9 at NW - no reason to play there if you've never been IMO. But they've built this sweet learning enter inside the old clubhouse. Three huge hitting bays, have to be ~20 feet wide each and then a separate room with a full simulator, Trackman 4, the works. One thing I loved is that its a completely separate walled off room, you can close the door, turn on some music if you want. The only other one in the area that I've seen is at WM and its sort of just setup right in the restaurant. Not sure if the one at BM is setup in one of those back rooms or not.

 

I had reserved two hours but got there @ 15 minutes early, they didnt care, the place was empty. The system itself was setup when I got there and the guy didnt even walk me down, just said have at it. They even provided metallic stickers for the balls I brought which was great. But to be turned loose on a TM4 for 2.5 hours with no one lording over you, legit heaven. The TM4 system has the range function - obviously - a bunch of courses you could play and then the Trackman Combine test which I finished up with.

 

Costwise I thought it was reasonable, $80 for two hours with the TM/simulator, the indoor bays are $15/hr. If you had a Mevo or something like that, $15 an hour in the winter would be great. Much better than going to a range where the $15 bucket of range balls has been sitting in a deep freeze for however long. The bays are huge, you could easily set one up with an ipad or whatever you were using.

 

Nice spot though, about 15 minutes there, 20 minutes home. They'll be getting more of my business.

 

Gamewise - man its humbling to actually start putting some numbers on things and look at holes in your game. And as I started to look at some of the results, it really does track with what I've seen the last 6 months. Maybe I'm just kidding myself and not wanting to work on things - dunno. But I always fancied myself as hitting all these crisp, straight wedge shots - which I do. But I really struggle on distance control. Which proved out - I can hit 50 wedge shots that all land right near the center line, perfect contact, crispy AF. But distance control = woof. Irons were the opposite - great distance control but just no accuracy.

 

Hybrids and driving iron, great. Driver, just still absolutely pounding, perfect numbers, zero issues. Numbers were as good as it gets for me right now. 108+ on clubhead speed, +3 attack angle, 2200-2400 spin, 265 or so on the carry. I cant ask for anything more. Will spend zero time working on driver or long stuff the rest of the winter. Will not shop for anything new for the long game in the offseason. (<probable lie)

 

The Trackman Combine is a pretty cool test, I wish I could do it every week. Its 60 shots. Three shots each at 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180 and a drive. Then they repeat that. You get points based on carry distance and I think how far offline it is - some sort of combination. My final score was 66.9 which estimated my hdcp at a 7. I clanked a few and chunked one iron shot but I guess thats kind of the whole point of the test. I definitely rushed the last series because I was running out of time, probably should have left 45 minutes or so to do the test.

 

But the other day I was reading City talking about his game and I was asking myself how is he ~five strokes better than me. And not in a, hey how is this jerk five better than me but more, how can I improve my game five shots more - is that even possible. Off the tee, long game - I would put mine up against anyones. Short game is good enough, putting is good enough. Well, this is where. Distance control with the < 120 yard shots and better accuracy between 120 and 200 yards. I left there yesterday a little humbled but very motivated for this offseason.

[gregh729]

Sounds great. Give me a day or two notice so I don't take the vanpool and I'll head over with you occasionally

[HighBoomingDraws]

Sounds legit. One of my main issues with indoor simulators is feeling way to cramped. Being as tall, lanky, and as wild a swinger as I am, I’m a mental midget in those things. Sounds like this place has huge spaces. Might check it out next time I’m in NoVa.

 

BM basically removes half the merchandise in the pro shop and puts the sim right there.

[TheCityGame]

But the other day I was reading City talking about his game and I was asking myself how is he ~five strokes better than me. And not in a, hey how is this jerk five better than me but more, how can I improve my game five shots more - is that even possible. Off the tee, long game - I would put mine up against anyones. Short game is good enough, putting is good enough. Well, this is where. Distance control with the < 120 yard shots and better accuracy between 120 and 200 yards. I left there yesterday a little humbled but very motivated for this offseason.

Do you have at least your basic stats. . .like really well-kept %fairways, GIRs, sand%, total putts.

 

GIR in particular correlates so strongly with scoring. These are top 9 guys in the Hive at the Grint. GIR falls off FAST.

 

 

 

Anyway, not too many guys would tell you I have great distance control inside 120. Well, actually, I make a lot out of how poorly I hit my wedges because it is definitely a flaw, but I actually don't have a lot of full wedges in on either of my home courses. But, my accuracy for 9 iron through 4 iron is, IMO, much better than a lot of people. And, when you're playing at 6800-7000 yards, you're going to have a lot of approaches in that range.

 

A huge thing I started noticing this year was that I was making SO MANY more pars than I used to. Never gets talked about because it's boring, but bogey avoidance is so highly correlated with scoring.

 

But, just saying "hit more greens" and "avoid bogeys" is putting the cart before the horse.

 

One needs to identify why they're not doing those things.

 

One last thing. . .my "par 3 accuracy" is like 64% (in my last 20 rounds). That's >10% better than Fabb or Dom or Bay.

 

And that's not just because they're "easy" at my course (they're actually NOT. They're kind of long TBH). I do it everywhere. . .

 

 

 

Occasionally I have great putting days, or great scrambling days, but it's all about keeping the driver in play and hitting irons on, or missing in good places.

[SullGolf]

DC that place sounds sweet, and the story pics look nice as well. Ill have to give it a try some weekend.

[Kent01putt]

Everybody does top 10, you did top 9 just to exclude me, thanks city lol

[FAbb]

I'd be hard-pressed to put my finger on exactly what keeps DC from posting lower scores more consistently.

 

I think his technical skills are very strong. If anything, he's focused too much on that stuff. He may be well served to focus more on skill practice.

 

Also, mental game.

[ceejay81]

If he played Hive events, that would knock 7 strokes off DC's score. It's science.

[dcmidnight]

but it's all about keeping the driver in play and hitting irons on, or missing in good places.

 

For me, its not just hitting GIR. Going back to the days when I tracked everything in GameGolf, I just dont love the "GIR" stat on its face. "First putt distance to pin on a GIR or fringe shot that you can frutt" is a stat I just made up but if it was real, I would suck at it.

 

Honestly I gave up on GG because I found myself obsessing over the stats too much.

 

So this is a small sample but I hit 12 greens in my last round at WM and felt like it was an good day in that regard. I hit the first six in a row but I think I was +2 on those 6 holes.

 

#1 - driver, lob wedge. LW good contact - went 40 feet long. Not good enough, cant be ~13 yards off from 80 yards out.

#2 - driving iron, 54*. ~ 30 feet long. Left pin, missed long. Slick downhill, 30 footer. 3 putt.

#3 - driving iron, 8 iron to 20 feet left. Good.

#4 - driver, wedge ~ 50 feet long, front pin, shot was almost over the back of the green. 3 putt.

#5 - wedge in, maybe 15 feet short/right. Good.

#6 - 6 iron, right pin, shot was pinhigh left side, maybe 30 feet.

 

I dont think its a logical conclusion to say "get better at putts from 40-60 feet" either. To me, thats a waste of time. I'd say I'm OK from that distance but I'm not going to obsess over it either. How reasonable is it to have tap ins from those distances at any high %?

 

Also, mental game.

 

Its this.

 

If he played Hive events, that would knock 7 strokes off DC's score. It's science.

 

Also this. Clearly a +2 in the making.

[aiyyer]

In case you are not familiar with Black Lab Golf, Chip Usher is the best. Quality custom putters at a great price and incredible communication.

I’m going to Savannah today and sent him an email this morning and immediately got a response - see below. Check out his website - www.BlackLabGolf.com. There are some collectors of his putters on this thread also.

 

“I am open this morning from 7am- 11.30am and this afternoon from 12.15pm -2pm.”

 

Thanks, Chip

 

--

Chip Usher

Usher Golf

www.chipandputt.com

www.BlackLabGolf.com

912-303-9650

[TheCityGame]

yeah, DC, you can't be having 30-40 feet that often with a wedge. You can every now and then. Don't need to be giving yourself tap ins but need to make the two-putt easy, and occasional sinks.

 

At WW the other day, I had a wedge in on the first 6 holes. I had

 

15 feet, (*bad), 30 feet, 20 feet, 20 feet, 18 feet. Roughly.

 

(*) was bad. I had 114 in, downwind, sort of a funny angle to a back pin. I tried being perfect with a sawed off PW and it did not go well. Should have just hit a 50º to the middle. (hole 4 might have been a 9?)

 

On the back, on 10 I hit a 70 yards wedge to 90 feet (made it), but then 12 feet on 11, 12 feet on 12. No other stock wedges in. So out of 9 wedges in all day, I had 20 feet or less 6 times.

 

But the other thing about those 9 holes was that I put a driver in very good position off the tee.

 

But, also here's the thing. . .I hit shots inside 20 feet with a 4 iron, 8 iron, 8 iron, 6 iron 13, 15, 16, 17. I also hit a 6 iron "close" but in the rough on 14 and got up and down. That's probably the toughest 5-hole stretch out there and I played it in 1 under. I probably played the first 6 holes worse than I should have, but played that stretch better than I should have. Sometimes you have to be very good. Bae hit two long irons inside of 5 feet that day and made birdie both times. How often are you hitting an AWESOME SHOT like that?

 

I forgot where I saw it last year, but a golfer was asking a better golfer what he had to do to get better and was told, "shoot lower scores". At some level (and at the level you're at, DC), that's all there is too it. You know how to hit the ball. You know how to get a putt to the hole. You don't shank stuff or chunk stuff. You gotta shoot lower scores.

 

Also, I think PQ has pretty poor distance control on wedges, but I've still seen him go low despite that because he has days where he's hitting greens with 6 iron from 190 and making putts and he has a good short game (when he's on. He hasn't lately.)

[SullGolf]

Since DC doesn't post on EagleGrintLLC, I don't know any of his stats. But I'd say his Trackman session does mirror my experience playing with him a lot, which is that he doesn't seem to hit as many greens as he should from the great spots he puts himself in off the tee. Tightening up that wedge distance control would be a perfect area to focus on.

[baddomes]

In case you are not familiar with Black Lab Golf, Chip Usher is the best. Quality custom putters at a great price and incredible communication.

I’m going to Savannah today and sent him an email this morning and immediately got a response - see below. Check out his website - www.BlackLabGolf.com. There are some collectors of his putters on this thread also.

 

“I am open this morning from 7am- 11.30am and this afternoon from 12.15pm -2pm.”

 

Thanks, Chip

 

--

Chip Usher

Usher Golf

www.chipandputt.com

www.BlackLabGolf.com

912-303-9650

 

Is this Tex's burner account?

[dcmidnight]

In case you are not familiar with Black Lab Golf, Chip Usher is the best. Quality custom putters at a great price and incredible communication.

I’m going to Savannah today and sent him an email this morning and immediately got a response - see below. Check out his website - www.BlackLabGolf.com. There are some collectors of his putters on this thread also.

 

“I am open this morning from 7am- 11.30am and this afternoon from 12.15pm -2pm.”

 

Thanks, Chip

 

--

Chip Usher

Usher Golf

www.chipandputt.com

www.BlackLabGolf.com

912-303-9650

 

Is this Tex's burner account?

 

Chip will be taking 45 for lunch today - in case thats when you needed to reach him.

[dcmidnight]

Since DC doesn't post on EagleGrintLLC, I don't know any of his stats. But I'd say his Trackman session does mirror my experience playing with him a lot, which is that he doesn't seem to hit as many greens as he should from the great spots he puts himself in off the tee. Tightening up that wedge distance control would be a perfect area to focus on.

 

So unfortunately I have to use the GHIN app for score posting and so far I just haven't bothered using it for hole by hole scoring or stats. Like I said I gave up Game Golf and I'm not sure the stats they track would really help too much anyway.

[Mizzy45]

I don’t care about the rules, this should never count as a stroke as it’s beyond his control. Not to mention the ball was never hit.

 

https://www.pga.com/news/golf-buzz/watch-john-senden-snap-driver-shaft-downswing-australian-pga?cid=pgacomsocial_fb_sf203216887&sf203216887=1

[2moreTerps]

but it's all about keeping the driver in play and hitting irons on, or missing in good places.

 

For me, its not just hitting GIR. Going back to the days when I tracked everything in GameGolf, I just dont love the "GIR" stat on its face. "First putt distance to pin on a GIR or fringe shot that you can frutt" is a stat I just made up but if it was real, I would suck at it.

 

Honestly I gave up on GG because I found myself obsessing over the stats too much.

 

So this is a small sample but I hit 12 greens in my last round at WM and felt like it was an good day in that regard. I hit the first six in a row but I think I was +2 on those 6 holes.

 

#1 - driver, lob wedge. LW good contact - went 40 feet long. Not good enough, cant be ~13 yards off from 80 yards out.

#2 - driving iron, 54*. ~ 30 feet long. Left pin, missed long. Slick downhill, 30 footer. 3 putt.

#3 - driving iron, 8 iron to 20 feet left. Good.

#4 - driver, wedge ~ 50 feet long, front pin, shot was almost over the back of the green. 3 putt.

#5 - wedge in, maybe 15 feet short/right. Good.

#6 - 6 iron, right pin, shot was pinhigh left side, maybe 30 feet.

 

I dont think its a logical conclusion to say "get better at putts from 40-60 feet" either. To me, thats a waste of time. I'd say I'm OK from that distance but I'm not going to obsess over it either. How reasonable is it to have tap ins from those distances at any high %?

 

Also, mental game.

 

Its this.

 

If he played Hive events, that would knock 7 strokes off DC's score. It's science.

 

Also this. Clearly a +2 in the making.

 

A GIR vs. handicap factor is that there isn't a single iron/wedge hole at Turf and there aren't many driver/wedge holes either. So City is making his GIR% hitting drivers and mid to long irons. Not iron/wedge.

 

I know everyone has talked about how good he has gotten, but I had to play consistently with City to REALLY understand how well he hits it. For example my eyes tell me FABB hits more shots really close than City. He hits more "wow" shots than city. But I'd actually guess they're pretty comparable iron players. City hits it to 20 feet over and over and over. It's so impressive.

[TheCityGame]

I don’t care about the rules, this should never count as a stroke as it’s beyond his control. Not to mention the ball was never hit.

 

https://www.pga.com/...7&sf203216887=1

You're probably right, but there's a bit of a todo being made over something I've seen ONE time in I don't know (how many golf swings have I seen in person and on TV in my life) a MILLION golf swings.

[dcmidnight]

But, also here's the thing. . .I hit shots inside 20 feet with a 4 iron, 8 iron, 8 iron, 6 iron 13, 15, 16, 17. I also hit a 6 iron "close" but in the rough on 14 and got up and down. That's probably the toughest 5-hole stretch out there and I played it in 1 under. I probably played the first 6 holes worse than I should have, but played that stretch better than I should have. Sometimes you have to be very good.

 

Its stretches like this that makes the difference. And at WM in that stretch I did 2-putt from 40,20,30 feet on three of those first holes. You just cant consistently leave yourself those distances (40+) and expect to two putt.

 

Bae hit two long irons inside of 5 feet that day and made birdie both times. How often are you hitting an AWESOME SHOT like that?

 

How often? Never. Zero percent of the time. So my 6 is my longest iron then a 5h and thats anything in the 195-210 yard range. I've hit one shot this year, at Carnoustie, on a 210 yard par 3 to a foot. So I guess I cant say never, maybe once a year I hit a shot like this.

[Sterling_247]

More middle of the green and less flag hunting. then work on making everything inside 4ft

 

Scratch golfers don't shoot low scores because they make a ton of birdies and hit it close all the time. They shoot low scores because they don't make the big numbers (doubles +) and take conservative plays when the situation calls for it

 

course mgt is what will lower your cap the most once you strike the ball reasonably well

[SullGolf]

Mizzy, when you break your shaft mid swing, I promise to look the other way so you can avoid counting it.