Playing Hickory Golf

[Kirasdad]

Ah...niblick talk. Love it.

 

A good authentic niblick is like a needle in a haystack. As Bob Georgeade (hickory club eBay dealer, and a great guy) said to me a few years ago at Mid Pines "You know John, almost all of these damn things are diggers, it's just a question of how much."

This is essentially true, so, as previously stated, rather than than searching endlessly for a 90 year old club that plays like a Vokey, maybe we learn to play shots like they did. That's all apart of the fun, is it not?

 

One guy that doesn't seem to have any problems with this hickory thing is Teevons. Tim and I played Oak Valley near Redlands, CA yesterday. It's a course that is used for many college events, NCAA qualifiers, etc. It's a 132 slope from the whites so a pretty salty test especially when one is bagging ten 85-95 year old clubs. It's a modern course but plays nicely for hickory. There are no forced carries and the fairways run out. So Tim shows up and complains in a genial fashion that he is sore from spending the week building a fence. Then on number one he realizes that he has left his Aleve in his car and is worried about playing in too much pain. So he proceeds to shoot an effortless 76, easy peasey, lemon squeezey. He hit it great the whole day. This made me comment that he either should go into the fence business, or maybe, on second thought, I need to go into the fence business.

 

A great day of golf. Beautiful California spring weather, low 80's with a nice breeze. Since I am in Chamber of Commerce mode I encourage all of you of the hickory persuasion to sign up for the SoHG US Open in Monterey. First time this premier hickory event has been played out west, Del Monte is a terrific old course, and hey...I am playing in it.

 

Hope to see you there.

 

 

[Jiggered]

Sorry, another restoration question, woods this time.

 

I've recently acquired what I hope will be my driving wood, an Anderson & Blyth brassie.

While cleaning up the head I thought I noticed a bit of gold infill in one of the letters and further cleaning revealed that it was still all pretty much there under the polish and grime, see pics before and after cleaning below.

 

My question is, what is the best way to finish the club for play while retaining the gold lettering?

I've been using Birchwood Casey "Tru-Oil" for the shafts as recommended by Hickory Golf Workshop, is this suitable for wood heads or is there something better?

[majic]

Why would you use any oil on the shafts? The best finish is a Spar Urethane. Period. I think this is also the best finish for the heads. A quality Min Wax Spar Urethane will last forever and seal the wood from water and oils that can damage the wood fiber.

[Jiggered]

Why would you use any oil on the shafts? The best finish is a Spar Urethane. Period. I think this is also the best finish for the heads. A quality Min Wax Spar Urethane will last forever and seal the wood from water and oils that can damage the wood fiber.

 

Thanks for the reply Ted.

The Tru-Oil is what I saw used on the Hickory Golf Workshop videos on YouTube and so without better information that's what I used on my shafts,.I've never heard of Min Wax Spar Urethane before.

 

To be fair to Hickory Golf Workshop it goes on easy and does seem to give a good, hard finish. What are the problems with it Tad?

[Blade Junkie]

Why would you use any oil on the shafts? The best finish is a Spar Urethane. Period. I think this is also the best finish for the heads. A quality Min Wax Spar Urethane will last forever and seal the wood from water and oils that can damage the wood fiber.

 

Tad - Minwax products are not available in the UK - only in USA, Canada and Australia.

 

Anyone got any idea what would be an equivalent product/brand that you can actually buy in the UK ? As an island, we have a lot of boats, so I'm pretty sure there most be several equivalents for doing boat spars, which was the original usage of "Spar urethane" I believe.

 

Chris H - what do you use ?

[stixman]

Nothing fancy, of that you can be sure.

 

Shafts get a wipe over with Boiled Linseed Oil. Contrary to myths perpetuated, it doesn't 'seep into the wood and cause splits', it's exactly the same deal as old fashioned oil based paint.

 

They then get a spray with the basic clear gloss laquer you get from automotive shops. It's cheap, easily applied, looks good,tough and scratch proof, and finally' if it's good enough for Stixman's Volvo and Northern weather, well it's good enough for his clubs.

 

Heads get either the aforementioned spray or Matt Poly spray, depending.

 

And,for what it's worth, and you are still reading, the stain I use on shafts is a concoction of iron filings, scrap hosel pins and the very finest white wine vinegar! Looks horrible and smells worse, but it works.

 

You want to get that old hickory shaft finish and not have something that looks like it wuz made in China for some undiscerning overseas market, then use the above mentioned stain and follow it up with black shoe polish to bring out the black bits in the grain. Wipe off the excess polish, lightly sand again to remove any grain raised by the stain, and spray away.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention before staining,, wet the shaft to raise the grain and then sand it flat, repeat. It's said that this seals the pores in the hickory. Whether that's true or not I couldn't say but it leaves a great surface prior to the staining process.

 

You shouldn't get an old man started like this, Geoff.

[Bella Woods]

When I first started refinishing hickory clubs/shafts I used boiled linseed oil as well (mostly due to reading

Bob Kuntz's club restoration book). The knock on it that I have heard is that it weakens the shaft eventually

(more whippy) but I never really noticed it.

 

Anyway, I started using shellac on them and lately a combo of shellac and the Helmsman Spar Urethane (clear satin)

that Tad is talking about. You can put poly over shellac, but not shellac over poly........

 

Stix - have you ever tried gilsonite/asphatum? It does most of what you mention above in one step. Thinned of

course with spirits, and I hear it is what old time club guys used (or some form of it) when making their own stains.

[stixman]

Gilsonite/ asphaltum is unknown to me, possibly only available in the USA, sounds like something synthetic from the coal industry. ha ha.

Seriously, I'm a product of post WW2 deprivation, a generation reknowned for our 'make-do-and-mend' and resoursefulness. I would never knowingly use a proprietory product if there was something I could use based on recycleable material. My stain comes from Alick Watt's recipe, timeless from Lothian clubmakers before golf was established in the US.

 

Boiled linseed cannot penetrate wood. Just like paint it covers the surface wood with a flexible and impervious layer. generations of boat builders (like me) are OK with this. It's easy, I suppose, to confuse boiled linseed with raw linseed, which is another gether all-to-thing !!

[Bella Woods]

I take it Alick Watt is an author and golf historian? Sounds like he knows his stuff....

 

Gilsonite was discovered in the 1860s so it goes way back too, and it is present in

various spots all over the world - large operation in Utah in U.S. It was originally

marketed as a lacquer/waterproofing product.

 

With all due respect - i have to disagree on boiled linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil and

Tung oil are specifically marketed as wood penetrating products/stains etc. And one

of the knocks on Boiled linseed oil is that it gives little protection from water and mildew.

Tung oil gets better marks for this.......

 

Interesting concoction you have though and sounds like it works good. Yes, raw linseed oil

will never actually dry totally.

[majic]

Geeeez. I guess there are many ways to finish a shaft. I use most of the time to get the look we want a "wiping stain". Wiping stains are alcohol based finishes so they dry fast. It also penetrates well into the wood.

You should before final sand wet the shaft surface. The loose fibers will jump up and when you final sand the shaft will be very smooth.

Stix and Wally I love your comments

[stixman]

I take it Alick Watt is an author and golf historian?

 

Yes, he wrote the cornerstone book 'Collecting Old Golfing Clubs', published 1985.. He was part of a dynasty from North Berwick

[Bella Woods]

I'll have to check out the book and see what else he has in there....

[Jiggered]

I thought I'd finally got my hickory play set completed having just finished the brassie and bulldog(?) and added them to the bag, see pics below.

 

Went out for a quick 18 this evening in preparation for the Central England Hickory Championship tomorrow at Luffenham Heath, playing in the same group as Geoff. The bulldog played well but the brassie was always right, I guess I need to adjust my swing a bit if I'm going to play with this club. Think I'll be tasking my James Paxton as back up.

 

Clubs from left to right:

Anderson & Blyth brassie

G Pedler bulldog (at least I think it's a bulldog)

T Stewart 2 iron

Brunswick jigger

Gibson mashie

Leyland Birmingham Rubber Co mashie niblick

Gibson long faced mashie

Cochrane niblick

Unmarked putter

[jonnygrouville]

Lovely set of sticks.

 

Have fun kids! Play well. Wish I could be there with you, but thoroughly stitched up here, like the proverbial kipper.

 

[Jiggered]

A very enjoyable day in good company at Luffenham Heath for the Central England Hickory Championship.

 

The course was well suited to hickory, not too long at 6,139 yards from the yellow tees which were in use on the day and on many of the holes it was possible to run the ball in.

 

The only downside was my erratic play, On the front nine I think I went score, no score, etc. (Stableford) and it wasn't until the tenth hole that I put back to back scores down, Couldn't get my irons going until well into the back nine and suffered with my usual short game woes. Ended up with 25 points which was an improvement on my last hickory comp so that's a plus!

 

Geoff played a steady round but I'll leave it to him to fill in the details.

[Bella Woods]

Nice looking set of hickories Jiggered, sounds like you had a good time at the tournament.

[Jiggered]

Thanks Bella, yes, I had a great time and looking forward to the next one.

[Blade Junkie]

Geoff played a steady round but I'll leave it to him to fill in the details.

 

Right, where to start ... :)

 

Got up at 5h30 ... drove to Solihull (2.5 hours) to collect a Kinbag that I bought on eBay last month. This is a quirky Swedish integrated bag/trolley design from the 80s. A bit like a coffin, but always fancied seeing what they are like, and my back and hips are killing me from carrying on consecutive days at the moment so this might be the answer.

 

Then another hour and a half on from Solihull to Luffenham Heath GC, arriving about 10am. Creaked out of the car, stiff as a board, and bent over like an 80 year old. Note to self "get back to doing yoga and pilates" ...

 

Not looking too promising at this point for a good round, but had a bit of a putt, and a few swings in the nets, and figured I'd be Ok to swing freely after 3 or 4 holes.

 

Luffenham is a nice little course, and as Nick said, stretches out to 6,139 yards par 70 off the yellow tees, which was what we played. There is a blue tee option at 6,563 that they use for The Open Regional Qualifying, and the mark is generally par or better to get through to the next stage of Qualifying, but Par always makes it. So it's challenging ... large greens with big slopes, and while holes are short, they are "tactical", alot of dog legs, alot of bunkers, nice firm running turf and great for hickory basically. Original architect was Harry Colt, and 15 of the holes are more or less unchanged from when he did them back in 1911.

 

Here is the club website for additional info http://www.luffenham...amheath.org/ - the course and heritage sections in particular are an interesting read.

 

On to the round, and I was delighted to be part of a three ball with Jiggered. One of the members told us "stay out of the bunkers" as a last piece of advice before we tee'd off, armed with our hickory bags, enthusiasm, optimism, and a course planner guide as our tools for the job at hand.

 

I had a mixed bag of 14 clubs, 9 irons, mainly Stewarts, but a couple of Nicoll irons for good measure, wooden mallet putter, and Jack White Sunningdale driver, Cochrane Spoon, and the trusty W.Jeffery bulldog.

 

1st Hole: 336 yard par-4 into the wind: Nick (Jiggered) started with a lovely drive straight down the middle, which was to be a recurring theme of his round. I duck hooked mine with a stiff wild swipe into light rough about 140 yards away. A poor shot but short of any trouble. Lining up the Bulldog from 210 into a stiff breeze (20-25mph), I hit a reasonable shot .. but straight into the first available bunker to hit into on the course (so much for following good advice LOL). This bunker was about 40 yards short of the green, and I got out, but not very far, and had another chip onto the green and a 2-putt for a double bogey. Not a great start. Nick made a bogey 5, after missing the green short.

 

2nd Hole: 388 yards Par 4 into the wind: I then cold-topped my drive on the second 50 yards into the rough, short of the fairway, and at this point I was thinking I was in for along day ... managed to hit a good Bulldog and a Mashie from 120 onto the green and two putted for a bogey., which settled me down a bit.

 

3rd Hole: 336 yards, Par 4. Hit a nice drive on the 3rd to leave about 120 yards in, and hit a Spade Mashie onto the very front of the green, but a long way from the hole, and then 3-stabbed for another bogey.

 

4th Hole: 378 yards, Par 4. My drive was a nice "power fade" (you could call it a hacking slice as well) which left me about 180 and again I pulled the bulldog and hit it into the greenside bunker. Splashed out, again not very far (the big flange of the Howitzer was proving hard work to get through the sand). Drilled the first putt about 4 feet past but made the one back. Bogey.

 

5th Hole, first par-3, 152 yards into a 2 club wind. Hit the Bulldog off the tee, but didn't fully commit to it, thinking it might be too much club, and it went right and into a greenside bunker, about pin high. Got out, but too much bounce in a bunker which proved to have little sand, and went long and left a 20 footer and 2 -putted for bogey again. 5 holes played, 3 bunkers ... "stay out of the bunkers" burning my ears ...

 

6th Hole, 460 yards par 5, back into the wind. Another slice into the right rough. A Spoon that I got a bit under, but landed middle of fairway and left me about 170 yards for 3rd shot. Went with Bulldog again but didn;'t quite get through it, and hung it out to the right about 20 yards short of the green. Nick was in a similar spot on this hole, and nurdled his Jigger to 3 feet. Suitably inspired, I hit a running Mashie Niblick to a foot ! Par for me - first par. Hurrah!

 

7th Hole: 355 yards, par 4 dog leg left. I hit my drive a little thin, but it just cleared the gorse and ran out to about 160 in, downwind. Nick hit a good drive 20 yards further with the camber taking it into the left rough. I hit the Jigger, which I've been hitting well recently, but topped it into the rough at the end of the fairway. Then air mailed a Niblick through the back of the green, followed by an indifferent Niblick chip back that completely failed to negotiate the left to right slope on the two-tier green on any sort of decent line, and slithered away to leave me lying 4 and 15 feet from the hole. "You can still make that for a 5 and 2 points" said Nick. So I did :)

 

8th Hole: this is a great little short par-4 at 306 yards, dog leg left. Nick again buttoned one staight down the middle and the camber brought it around the dogleg to leave him about 70 yards to the pin. I pulled my drive, and was lucky to jump out of a fairway bunker and end up in a good lie on the top of the bunker. About 100 yards in. Because it was a lush uphill lie, I went with a two thirds swing Spade Mashie, thinking I'd have to drop it about 25 yards short and let it run on. Executed the shot perfectly ... and watched it die in the apron. Chipped on, looked good to start with, but accelerated when it reached the green, and raced on about 10 feet past the hole. Made the putt for the par, and cashed another get-out-of-jail-free card.

 

9th Hole: 160 yard Par-3. Again into the wind, blowing into us and from the left. I hit 2-iron - we all ended up right of the green. I chipped over a bunker with the Mashie Niblick and left it about 6 feet short, and made another one. Four single putts in a row, and the Wooden putter was helping me grind out a front-9 in 42 (+7) and on handicap as far as Stableford points were concerned. At this point I figured I might have a chance to win if I could shoot par on the back nine. (this event has both Scratch and Nett Prizes, with the Scratch obviously a Medal-format, and the Nett based on Stableford Points).

 

(To be continued)

[rwc356]

Thanks for the great recap. Can't wait for the inward nine.

[ebeer]

Had the opportunity to play in the AGS Invitational at Bandon Dunes over the Memorial holiday weekend. I cannot say enough about the quality of the courses at Bandon Dunes. I've yet to bucket list trip to Scotland, but many of the participants have experience there and could not get over the similarities. This hickory tournament was a different format than most here in the US. The focus was less on competition and more on the auld experience. Players were separated into 4 person "pods" who played together for the entire 36 holes. The first 27 holes consisted of three 9 hole matches (one each against your pod mates). The final 9 holes was a competition between the two players with the best pod record which declared the pod champion. Format was match play, mesh balls required, 9 club max original only, no marking, no cleaning, with stymies in play. For the competition, there were 5 winners - one from each pod. But nothing beyond that. It was a really fun weekend, met some great guys, and played some truly outstanding courses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kirasdad]

Wow, Eric, that looks spectacular. I SO want to play Brandon. Looks like Chris MacIntyre was there. He got me in to hickory six years ago. I bought my first three clubs from him, two of which I still carry. I am not at all surprised that you used the auld rules with Mac around. He's pretty hard core.

 

I am going to Monterey. Hope to see you there.

[ebeer]

Wow, Eric, that looks spectacular. I SO want to play Brandon. Looks like Chris MacIntyre was there. He got me in to hickory six years ago. I bought my first three clubs from him, two of which I still carry. I am not at all surprised that you used the auld rules with Mac around. He's pretty hard core.

 

I am going to Monterey. Hope to see you there.

 

Bandon is a must do. We're at a real advantage being on the West coast, even if that still means you're still 16hr drive away. The folks at Bandon a running a fabulous golf resort. There are 4 regulation length courses, 1 par 3 with 13 holes, and a top notch practice facility that includes a free 9-hole par 3 course called Shorty's. The larger par 3 course called the Preserve is actually one my favorite of all of them, just amazing. There are free shuttles taking you between any of the courses, restaurants, and on premise lodging. Employees are unbelievably friendly with service across the board making my trip an outstanding experience.

 

The hickory gang was a fine bunch of players, and the auld rules were really fun. Mac brought ton of gutty clubs, and we ran an informal gutty competition on the short course. Ken Holtz played a fabulous stymie, chipping over a ball straight into the cup to win the hole.

 

I'll be in Monterey for the USHO, look forward to seeing you.

[Blade Junkie]

Good write up and great pics from the Bandon Dunes event. I've had that on my bucket list for a while, but couldn't get the time off work for this one - hopefully next time. I like all the "Auld Rules" you were playing. I have played stymies in a hickory comp before and it is alot of fun, albeit people tend to get carried away trying to stitch you up, even to the detriment of their own score :)

 

As promised, on to the back nine at Luffenham Heath.

 

One nice thing at Luffenham is that there is a half way hut with free drinks next to the 10th tee. Alas that didn't stretch to anything particularly worth drinking, but various squashes and a cold water dispenser were nevertheless very welcome.

 

10th Hole: 367 Yards, Par 4. Reasonably tight driving hole but Jiggered and I both thrashed one down the middle into the breeze about 220 yards. One of my better drives of the day. Neither of us hit a particularly good second, and my third, while a good bump and run, did hurtle past the hole a fair bit leaving me about 15 feet back. Hit a putt on a good line, at way too much pace, but it hit dead centre and dropped, so a bit streaky but another up-and-down and a par on the card.

 

11th Hole: 424 Yards, Par 4. Quite a long hole, but downwind, and a double dogleg, so some care was need with the drive to allow you to go for the green. One of those tees that I was a bit fidgety and uncomfortable on, and as a result hit a drive with the worst shape possible for the hole and watched heart in mouth as the ball hurtled towards deep rough and trees on the right. We thought we had a line on it, and that it had stopped before the trees on the course boundary, but I hit a provisional anyway, which was smothered/topped about 160 yards up the left first cut of rough. The first drive was about 185, so both were pretty crap :) Fortunately Nick has eagle eyes for a ball in the rough, and managed to spot mine a good 10 yards away from where I thought it had gone. Good man ! I hacked out from a horrible lie with a Spade Mashie, which squirted left after the long rough wrapped around the hosel, but came to rest in the middle of the fairway about 220 yards from the green. At this point I am still about 80 yards behind the huge drive of our third player Chris, who had hit it 300 yards and almost through the fairway - comfortably the longest drive of the day in our threeball. I grab the Bulldog, and I'm just thinking "get a six and score a point - keep yourself in it ..." and what did I do .. hit one of my best shots of the day, onto the green, pin high and leaving a 20 footer for par ! Didn't make the putt, but this was one bogey that felt like a birdie !

 

12th Hole: 145 yards - par 3. Hit a beautiful high Mashie shot that I thought was going to be too high and short, but it landed pin high on the green and rolled through the back and down a shallow bank (slightly raised green). Chipped back to 3 feet and made the putt. Another Par.

 

13th Hole: 472 yards - par 4. They set the tee up about 20 yards forwards to give us half a chance, as this is a pretty long hole for hickory clubs. Big dogleg left, so a draw required for best position. I hit a good one, straight, leaving about 220 in again. Another Bulldog. feeling confident as I'd been hitting this club pretty good, and hit another good shot, right out of the middle but slightly too left and it rolled into the greenside bunker. Got out again but left a long putt 30 feet or so. And managed to two putt for a bogey. Acceptable score on a long par-4.

 

14th Hole: 345 yards - par 4. Hit a good drive right out of the middle, leaving 140 yard approach. Hit my un-named club, which you'd consider as either a shallow face Mashie, or a Lofter. Hit about a 6/10 shot in terms of timing, but well enough that it landed 10 yards short and rolled 10 yards on, leaving 25 feet for birdie, which never threatened the hole but was a safe two putt. Par.

 

15th Hole: 382 yards, par 4, and another one into the wind. Starting to think about the potential score now, feeling it might be in with a shout in these blustery conditions and on a strategic course with difficult greens. Hit another fairway, albeit not very far, and sliced the approach wide right and short, leaving a pitch of about 35 yards over a bunker. Hit a decent shot with a Mashie Niblick, but it ran about 18 feet past, and I two-putted for a five. Bogey.

 

16th Hole: 401 yards, downhill Par 4. I added up my score on the tee and realised I really was putting together a half decent score. Hit a drive that started middle but curved violently towards the first fairway bunker on the right, and looking for all the world like it was on the beach. Not a good shot - the bunker is only 172 yards from the tee :) Got a good break, as the ball had stopped a foot short in fluffy grass. I looked at the shot I had left and yes it was another Bulldog required, and hit it really solid again, about 220 but again into bunker on the left side of the green. This shot was alot shorter than other bunker shots I had earlier in the round, and I made a much better fist of it, leaving myself an uphill 8 footer for par. I thought it had a touch more break than it actually had, and missed it left. Or I might have read it right and just gunned it ... bogey anyway ! Two holes to go !

 

17th Hole. This is probably the "signature" hole on the course. 188 yard par-3, down hill, alot of trouble short of the green, probably playing about 165 yards normally, but a 2 club wind made it I reckoned a 190 shot. Which of course is my Bulldog :) Hit a great shot on a great line and it landed just short, but kicked right and rolled up the green leaving me a 20 footer for birdie. Up to now, I'd been relying quite heavily on the course guide, which had little maps of all the greens, with arrows denoting all the slopes, large arrow for big slopes, and little arrows for smaller ones. I'd been doing what I was told, and been putting pretty decent, so there was no reason (I thought) not to trust the little map again, even though to my eyes, the slope went the other way. I was thinking "trust the book, make this 20 footer and par the last and you'll shoot 80, that will have a chance!". Promptly hit an awful putt that was weak, started left and went further and further away from the hole, leaving me 10 feet for par. Probably the worst birdie putt anyone has ever hit. Promptly followed by a miserable par attempt that slithered past on the right never looking remotely close. As I trudged dejectedly off the green, I realised that I'd had the course guide map of the green the wrong way up. A 3-putt Bogey - one hole to go. 77 shots to here, Par for an 82 !

 

18th Hole: Another good hole. Downhill par-5 544 Yards. I'm mad on the tee ... I'd putted well today but felt I'd left a couple of putts out there on the last two holes. Managed to channel the anger into a long (for me) straight drive down the middle, and then a Bulldog second, and I have 110 yards left on a very good angle to get at the flag. Hit a 3/4 Spade Mashie thinking the ball would bounce and run downhill onto the green, and it didn't. It hit a soft spot and stopped. Now I had a tricky up and down, on a very sloping green. Hit a Mashie Niblick chip - really good shot ... great line (started it about 10 feet right of the pin) and great pace and it came round on the pro side to about 4-5 feet. Very makeable putt .. but I over borrowed it (I was seeing lots of break, a cup outside, but actually I think it was left edge firm), and missed it left, so a disappointing finish after doing the hard work in 2 shots, and a 4th straight bogey for an 83.

 

I thought that was a respectable score for a first look at the course. "Steady" as Mr Jiggered described it ... general avoidance of trouble and big numbers rather than one of those memorable "ball-striking" rounds.

 

When you break it down, it didn't read great ... no birdies, 6 Pars, 11 Bogeys and 1 Double Bogey. 2/7 fairways on the front nine, 5/7 on the back (7/14 overall). Just 3 GIR - one on the front and two on the back, and I managed to three-putt two of those LOL. 32 Putts for the round, with a good stretch from 6th-12th of six single putts in seven holes, which kept me on track to grind out a score.

 

Total 83 (+13) ... 38 points on Stableford (11 handicap steel, plus 4 "hickory" shots), 3 points for a net birdie, 2 points for a net par, 1 for a net bogey. So 2 under "handicap".

 

And you know what ? That was good enough to win the event ! Both Scratch and Nett ! Won by two on the medal format, and by 5 on the Stableford. Golf is a funny old game ...

 

Absolutely thrilled to win the scratch format .. only the second time in my life I've done that, both this year and both in hickory, and dead chuffed to finish ahead of the 9 golfers with handicaps of 5 or less.

 

Sorry for rambling on ... if you're still awake after reading all that, here's the pots : a very handsome trophy !

 

 

 

If you get the chance to play a round with Nick (Jiggered) he's good company ! Good driver of the ball as well !

[Jiggered]

Nice write up Geoff, and bits of it made me think I'd played a half decent round after all!

 

Very well played, I only described your round as steady as I didn't want to steal your thunder.

[Blade Junkie]

Nice write up Geoff, and bits of it made me think I'd played a half decent round after all!

 

Very well played, I only described your round as steady as I didn't want to steal your thunder.

 

Cheers Nick. I think "steady" was the right word on both counts then :)

[Kirasdad]

Well done Geoff. I have shot several of those kinds of rounds where I half feel good about it, and the other half is mad for frittering away strokes here and there, especially coming home the last few holes. Then I remind myself that it's hickory golf where frankly, for most of us anyway, anything under 85 is a pretty damn good score, and indeed it was as you took home the hardware. One thing that is interesting to me reading your thorough accounting of your play, it seems, at least from my interpretation, that you are hitting your bulldog off the deck farther than your driving brassie on many occasions. Is that the case? And if so, why do you think this is occurring?

[Blade Junkie]

Well done Geoff. I have shot several of those kinds of rounds where I half feel good about it, and the other half is mad for frittering away strokes here and there, especially coming home the last few holes. Then I remind myself that it's hickory golf where frankly, for most of us anyway, anything under 85 is a pretty damn good score, and indeed it was as you took home the hardware. One thing that is interesting to me reading your thorough accounting of your play, it seems, at least from my interpretation, that you are hitting your bulldog off the deck farther than your driving brassie on many occasions. Is that the case? And if so, why do you think this is occurring?

 

Thanks John. Good observation on the bulldog, and the cause of much consternation on my part LOL. I think what it boils down to is that I try too hard to hit a ball on a tee peg a long way ... which brings in a bit of tee box anxiety, and swing errors from trying to go at it harder than I probably should. Plus the driver is 43.5" and the Bulldog is only 41", so that might be factor as well. And the driver is about 10 degrees vs 18 on the Bulldog, so I might get better launch angles and more carry from hitting the bulldog off the deck than I do trying to sweep the driver off the tee, especially for the speed I swing at. It's also interesting though that the Bulldog off the tee is alot shorter than the Bulldog off the deck. Probably all part of being 11 handicap !

 

When the swing is "on" I am definitely getting further out there with the driver, but Luffenham was not one of those days. At times I envy the likes of Dustin Johnson with not much going on in his head. Too much thinking is no good for golf, and believe me I have a full on shouting match going on between the different factions in my head most of the time, and it is the obnoxious little man telling me I am no good who has the loudest voice :)

[oldschoolrocker]

Great detail Geoff,

Enjoyed the read. The psychic distance of the piece really drew me in.

Long live the Bulldog. I acquired one from Tad during my hiatus and find that off the tee I get best results when pegging it no more than 1/8 inch, or, roughly 3mm. All contrary to established norms, but, we are all a bit non conforming here, are we not.

Also, teeing the ball lower with my driver/brassie has also resulted in better results off the tee. Not quite as low as with the Bulldog.

[scomac2002]

Well done Geoff. I have shot several of those kinds of rounds where I half feel good about it, and the other half is mad for frittering away strokes here and there, especially coming home the last few holes. Then I remind myself that it's hickory golf where frankly, for most of us anyway, anything under 85 is a pretty damn good score, and indeed it was as you took home the hardware. One thing that is interesting to me reading your thorough accounting of your play, it seems, at least from my interpretation, that you are hitting your bulldog off the deck farther than your driving brassie on many occasions. Is that the case? And if so, why do you think this is occurring?

 

Thanks John. Good observation on the bulldog, and the cause of much consternation on my part LOL. I think what it boils down to is that I try too hard to hit a ball on a tee peg a long way ... which brings in a bit of tee box anxiety, and swing errors from trying to go at it harder than I probably should. Plus the driver is 43.5" and the Bulldog is only 41", so that might be factor as well. And the driver is about 10 degrees vs 18 on the Bulldog, so I might get better launch angles and more carry from hitting the bulldog off the deck than I do trying to sweep the driver off the tee, especially for the speed I swing at. It's also interesting though that the Bulldog off the tee is alot shorter than the Bulldog off the deck. Probably all part of being 11 handicap !

 

When the swing is "on" I am definitely getting further out there with the driver, but Luffenham was not one of those days. At times I envy the likes of Dustin Johnson with not much going on in his head. Too much thinking is no good for golf, and believe me I have a full on shouting match going on between the different factions in my head most of the time, and it is the obnoxious little man telling me I am no good who has the loudest voice :)

 

I have posted this before. When I have that little war of words going on inside my head during a round.

 

[majic]

When the ball is put on a peg we think we have to sweep it away but when it's on the ground or teed very low we tend to make a solid blow and probably in your case less spin-more distance.