Random conversation thread

[stevemcgee99]

[color=#0000cd][b]Whoops. Meant to put this in Rounds With a Vintage Bag.[/b][/color]

Fun today at Oakland's Metropolitan course. Was there and ready to play at the end of nautical twilight but they wouldn't have any of that. First to tee off was a foursome riding cart path only. Placed in the second group, I finished 1 (par) and skipped 2 to get ahead. Played alone the rest of the way.

If I tee the ball low enough and remember to use my legs I really love the way the 2 wood drives the ball. Had some nice 2 irons today, too.
Jumped back on 2nd hole after the par 3 5th since I saw a big window. Jogged back to get on 6th before the guys caught up.

Screwed my second shot on that par 5 rushing myself, but the following 3 shots were very pleasing: 2 iron to within 20 yards below the hole (both drive and bad shot were not long at all), then a 6 iron chip that rolled just about as perfectly as it could have, and one putt.

A great even on the next par 3, too. But mistakes on 8, 9, and 10 made me think I should start taking coffee out there... Good shots in there, but man I forget how bad shots can be!

Drive on 10 was awesome. Two TERRIBLE shots after that, but surprisingly got me close enough on that par 5 to use the 4 wood and hit the green. Still was a mile away, though. No par there. Next 5 were all bogies (2 three putts, the others just missing greens).

Favorite hole, possibly in the Bay Area, is #17. Really happy with a par there. Drive was long enough but wind kept it off the fairway. No problem, used teh 2 wood again with just a great low shot, riding the wind into the center of the fairway to about 120 yards or so. Used the 7 iron over the pond and hit the green. 2 putts (second one just tap in). That felt great.

Final drive was probably my best, ended up just left of the fairway marker, which is a very straight shot for me. At this course, those markers aren't always 150 away. I think they're just to help people with poorer eyesight figure out where to aim. 3 iron was fine but just before my shot I adjusted aim closer to the green - mistake so I ended up short in a basin. A little more left like I 'felt' would have rolled on the green...

Taking a look at what was in front of me - 4+ feet up, and ridges all over the green, about 40 or so feet away - I decided to roll it and stay out of the wind. Good choice. Even with a mud appendix glommed onto the ball I got it up relatively close. Missed the putt and tapped in.

Great course. 3 hours.

[scomac2002]

I was just reading a discussion on another golf board talking about "doctored" balls like the Polara that are designed to cure slices. These things are expensive, like as in Pro V1 pricing. I've only ever run across one person that played them regularly and she swore by them as they were the only way she could hit a driver in the fairway.

The discussion revolved around how the ball really seemed to help some folks, but there wasn't a lot of examples.

I found one while playing back in the early summer. It sat in the bottom of my bag until one day when I was running out of balls, it got the call. As you might expect, it was a day I wasn't swinging the club particularly well. I'll NEVER forget that sensation of putting club to ball on that particular swing! Worst thing I'd ever felt in memory, golf wise! I must have caught it off the heel and blocked it to boot. I don't ever really recall seeing a ball flight quite like that where it almost appeared that it had a biased topspin. Went up and fell right out of the air. My first reaction was to check the driver to make sure it wasn't cracked!

I've hit my fair share of funky reacting shots over the years, but whenever I did you could almost guarantee that something was wrong with the ball; cracked, out of round or even a big gob or dirt on it. Not that time.

Is this what we've come to? To mechanically manipulate ball flight to the point that it removes all sensations of a purely struck shot. Life's too short to have to reduce golf to that level particularly when some reasonable technique can render the need for such devices redundant. Sure it takes work to get better, but are the rewards not greater for the effort than simply keeping the ball in play?

Looking back on the year, I really believe that my ball striking and my game in general improved, even if my scores didn't reflect that. I believe a lot of that had to do with the decision to play older clubs much of the time. They're smaller. The margin for error is less and the feedback is more pronounced and immediate. It allowed me to figure out what the short comings in my swing were and to take some steps to correct that.

I have been able to improve my tempo and smooth my swing out which has been helped by playing heavier clubs. I've been able to really improve my sequencing and timing by steepening the plane and slowing down the bottom end by changing my downswing trigger from the lead side to the trail side. I would never have figured that out without running across some "old school" techniques that I found buried in the threads here. End result; hitting the ball more consistently with more control and I even got a bit of a yardage pick up as a bonus. The best part of course is that the improved swing applies no matter what clubs are in my hands on the day.

[Wriggles]

I found a couple Polara balls in the last year. They go into the woods as well as any other ball. I play about the same no matter what clubs or balls, either well, poorly, or something in between.

A couple comments above mentioned the product cycles and such. I don't go into golf stores that much, but every year, a friend gives me a $25 gift card to Dick's. It's unbelievable how prices have skyrocketed. This year, I bought a $10 bag of tees, $13 pack of cleats, and a $5 grip. With tax, it cost me an extra $5, including rounding up for some touted charity. I recall one year I bought 8 grips at $3 each, now the lowest I saw was $5.

No wonder golf is declining. The industry has made people think expense is the most important part of the game.

[stevemcgee99]

[quote name='Wriggles' timestamp='1450623420' post='12743174']
No wonder golf is declining. The industry has made people think expense is the most important part of the game.
[/quote]

Good riddance. No offense, but there's too many on the courses as it is. And there are too many courses. I wouldn't mind the hyped-up new courses woven between houses to shut down and have the extra water (and skilled groundskeepers) to sift to the classic golf courses and muni courses.

I'd love to have equipment be something people purchase less frequently and get to know more deeply. And logos to get off players in tournaments.

[NRJyzr]

Most people don't buy clubs all that often. Don't let perceptions be led astray by the lunatic fringe of golfers that is the Golf Forum universe.

[HoldenCornfield]

Hey! I resemble that last remark.

[jbucher]

Today's round wasn't the best :-( My pitching and chip shots are lost. If some one see's them let me know.

MLK day wife has to work my nephew and I are going for a walk with our clubs. I will be taking the button backs and my laminate woods.

Jimmy B :smilie_wilson:

[Blade Junkie]

After all the rain we've had recently, it was great to have a dry forecast for the club comp at the weekend just gone.

 

What we weren't expecting though was losing the whole morning due to fog !

 

With play suspended, I had a good look in the bags of all the others competitiors, which you don't usually see all at once - just your fourball playing partners.

 

Well, we had 42 players camped outside the clubhouse waiting for play to start. 41 were playing cavity backs ... just me with blades ... :(

 

Over the year, there are probably about 200 golfers who play "regularly", and I can count on one hand the blade players these days ... me and my flavour of the month (week?) set, a 1 H-cap who plays MP33s, 5 H-cap who plays MP37s, and then a guy off 14 who has Titleist ZMs ... can't think of anyone else so that's 4/200 ... 2% !!! Sacrilege or what :)

[NRJyzr]

Infidels, all :)

[BIG STU]

As WC Fields said,

"There's a sucker born every minute."

Randy I thought P.T. Barnum said that?

[BIG STU]

Rugby,

Being an American lad, more properly stated, North American, breaking it down more, from the US of A, rugby was an odd game I watched on the early days of ESPN.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of being assigned to a project in Capetown SA. The hotel I was staying at was also housing the Aussie Rugby team while they were prepping for a match against the South Aftician team.

Long story short. ended up going to the game. Had a blast. Been a fan ever since.

Would have loved playing it when I was younger.

 

I was small when I played (played wing then dropped down a team and played scrum-half), so ended up getting squished by the big guys. Still, I like watching it, and it's a better spectator sport now then back when I played due to a slew of rule changes designed to keep the ball moving.

I was at the in-laws one time, and my (Japanese) father-in-law was flicking through the channels on satellite TV as usual. A Wales-vs-England rugby game came on (Six Nations), and I asked him to stay on the channel for a while. He shuts up and watches the game with me in silence for about 10 minutes. At last, he can't contain himself any further and he asks, "Are there any rules?"

I lost it.

My lifelong friend his Mom was full blooded Japanese. She had very good command of the English language. I have a lot of really good memories of her. I can remember growing up and she would have her sister sending products over like a Eureka vacuum cleaner. We asked her what Eureka meant she told us that is what a Japanese lady screams when a mouse runs across the floor. I was introduced to Ramen noodles long before they were common here in the USA. I also learned some cooking tricks from her that I use to this day like marinating steaks in Kikkoman Soy Sauce and using mushrooms. I also cook stock Ramen noodles with her seasoning recipe to this day. Man I can remember watching Tora Tora Tora with her and getting her to interpert what the Japanese pilots were saying. she was a little girl during WW2 and she pointed out things about the political climate in those days. Remarkable lady she passed about 10 years ago now

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Rugby,

Being an American lad, more properly stated, North American, breaking it down more, from the US of A, rugby was an odd game I watched on the early days of ESPN.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of being assigned to a project in Capetown SA. The hotel I was staying at was also housing the Aussie Rugby team while they were prepping for a match against the South Aftician team.

Long story short. ended up going to the game. Had a blast. Been a fan ever since.

Would have loved playing it when I was younger.

 

I was small when I played (played wing then dropped down a team and played scrum-half), so ended up getting squished by the big guys. Still, I like watching it, and it's a better spectator sport now then back when I played due to a slew of rule changes designed to keep the ball moving.

I was at the in-laws one time, and my (Japanese) father-in-law was flicking through the channels on satellite TV as usual. A Wales-vs-England rugby game came on (Six Nations), and I asked him to stay on the channel for a while. He shuts up and watches the game with me in silence for about 10 minutes. At last, he can't contain himself any further and he asks, "Are there any rules?"

I lost it.

My lifelong friend his Mom was full blooded Japanese. She had very good command of the English language. I have a lot of really good memories of her. I can remember growing up and she would have her sister sending products over like a Eureka vacuum cleaner. We asked her what Eureka meant she told us that is what a Japanese lady screams when a mouse runs across the floor. I was introduced to Ramen noodles long before they were common here in the USA. I also learned some cooking tricks from her that I use to this day like marinating steaks in Kikkoman Soy Sauce and using mushrooms. I also cook stock Ramen noodles with her seasoning recipe to this day. Man I can remember watching Tora Tora Tora with her and getting her to interpert what the Japanese pilots were saying. she was a little girl during WW2 and she pointed out things about the political climate in those days. Remarkable lady she passed about 10 years ago now

 

It's what my wife screams whenever she sees an insect in the house.

My in-laws were both born before WWII, and grew up during the post-war deprivation. They talk of scavenging for food and basically just being grateful for whatever food they could get their hands on. Their stories aren't that different from my parents's accounts of growing up in WWII in England.

[thug the bunny]

So, I travel a lot for work. I have noticed that there are always some hotels where I consistently make the wrong turn coming out of my room, or especially coming out the elevator. What is that?

 

Also, you ever get out of the elevator on the wrong floor with people watching? How embarrassing. I will just keep going until the door closes rather than jump back in...

[stevemcgee99]

[ScooterMcTavish]

Happy winter all. Think I'll be going snowmobiling this coming weekend.

 

Anyways, ran across a golf tidbit today, and now have a course to add to my bucket list (it's actually the only course on my bucket list - I'm a pretty modest guy).

 

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Kantarat+Golf+Course/@13.905565,100.6043772,1669m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m7!1m4!3m3!1s0x30e282881daca62d:0xf0100b33d0bffa0!2sDon+Mueang+International+Airport!3b1!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0xcbce5ec116cefd14!6m1!1e1

[oldschoolrocker]

Scott I think the extreme cold has frozen your brain. Hope your winter is going well.

[thug the bunny]

[media=]

[/media]

 

Thanks steve. I forgot what a beast Brian Regan is. I needed the belly laughs, it's been a long week! :~)

[BIG STU]

So, I travel a lot for work. I have noticed that there are always some hotels where I consistently make the wrong turn coming out of my room, or especially coming out the elevator. What is that?

 

Also, you ever get out of the elevator on the wrong floor with people watching? How embarrassing. I will just keep going until the door closes rather than jump back in...

Thug I hate to tell you old buddy that is known as a "Senior Moment" and it tends to increase as you get older----- sorry just saying :to_become_senile:

[Sean2]

As WC Fields said,

"There's a sucker born every minute."

Randy I thought P.T. Barnum said that?

 

It was. :-)

 

ps: speaking of WC Fields: May West once said to him, "My right leg is Christmas, and my left leg is New Years, why don't you come up and see me between the holidays."

[Sean2]

So, I travel a lot for work. I have noticed that there are always some hotels where I consistently make the wrong turn coming out of my room, or especially coming out the elevator. What is that?

 

Also, you ever get out of the elevator on the wrong floor with people watching? How embarrassing. I will just keep going until the door closes rather than jump back in...

 

Not me, I just get right back in the elevator. Screw it. :-)

[tannyhoban]

I spent a LOT of time up and down elevators last year between my sons couple plus months in the hospital and travel for work. And the most annoying constant was fighting to get OFF the dam thing. Folks waiting on the floor just come piling in as if the lift was empty. And when I jump off too early I just make a fast Uee, quick hands through the doors can be useful in such situations.

[stevemcgee99]

And the most annoying constant was fighting to get OFF the dam thing. Folks waiting on the floor just come piling in as if the lift was empty.

 

RULE: People get OUT / OFF before you go IN / get ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Why couldn't they have stuffed some basic 'how to contribute to civilization and keep us from being like starving mobs in devastated countries' lessons into Common Core???

[thug the bunny]

I spent a LOT of time up and down elevators last year between my sons couple plus months in the hospital and travel for work. And the most annoying constant was fighting to get OFF the dam thing. Folks waiting on the floor just come piling in as if the lift was empty. And when I jump off too early I just make a fast Uee, quick hands through the doors can be useful in such situations.

 

The worst is the NY or DC metro. You get up for your stop and when the door opens, you're greeted by a wall of the walking dead, each one with a single minded purpose: 'Me get on train!'. It then turns into a 4th and goal, with grunting and skulls clashing. How unnecessary is this? If you actually acknowledge the existence of other people, the rule is simple: they get out, then you get on. How did we even get this far as a species?

[stevemcgee99]

It's the difference between Japan and China.

[thug the bunny]

So, I travel a lot for work. I have noticed that there are always some hotels where I consistently make the wrong turn coming out of my room, or especially coming out the elevator. What is that?

 

Also, you ever get out of the elevator on the wrong floor with people watching? How embarrassing. I will just keep going until the door closes rather than jump back in...

Thug I hate to tell you old buddy that is known as a "Senior Moment" and it tends to increase as you get older----- sorry just saying :to_become_senile:

 

Sigh, yeah I know. Although, sometimes when we travel, the kids do the same thing, and I"m like 'HA!'. How does it feel?

[BIG STU]

I spent a LOT of time up and down elevators last year between my sons couple plus months in the hospital and travel for work. And the most annoying constant was fighting to get OFF the dam thing. Folks waiting on the floor just come piling in as if the lift was empty. And when I jump off too early I just make a fast Uee, quick hands through the doors can be useful in such situations.

 

The worst is the NY or DC metro. You get up for your stop and when the door opens, you're greeted by a wall of the walking dead, each one with a single minded purpose: 'Me get on train!'. It then turns into a 4th and goal, with grunting and skulls clashing. How unnecessary is this? If you actually acknowledge the existence of other people, the rule is simple: they get out, then you get on. How did we even get this far as a species?

Heck it is worse down here except they do it with motorized vehicles. Hey move we are on vacation and that stop light or sign in my lane of travel does not pertain to me. And for goodness sake do not slow down or stop at a caution light you will get knocked through the intersection. LOL the other week I was in my big truck behind this girl at a stop light she was just texting away. The light turned green and she sat I blew the air horn at her she flipped me off and sat right there texting. She finally took off hauling buggy and of course the light got me. About 4 stop lights later she had rear ended a Lexus. I cruised by her laughed blew the horn and flipped her back off

[birly-shirly]

That's pure poetry, Stu!

 

A little bit of karma like that goes a long way!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

And the most annoying constant was fighting to get OFF the dam thing. Folks waiting on the floor just come piling in as if the lift was empty.

 

RULE: People get OUT / OFF before you go IN / get ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Why couldn't they have stuffed some basic 'how to contribute to civilization and keep us from being like starving mobs in devastated countries' lessons into Common Core???

 

People trying to pile on to trains before other passengers have alighted is one of my pet hates. It drives me nuts, and if I am getting off a train, I have no compunction in steamrolling anyone who gets in my why as they try to force their way on.

[teevons]

On the pleasant side of things saw this beautiful cloud tonight playing with in law, picture does not do it justice,

damn golfwrx logo right in the middle of it!!

[jonnygrouville]

People wandering around in train stations or the tube whilst looking at their phones. Now they might be checking train times, but, whatever they're doing, get out of the bloody way! Are your homes that horrible you like sauntering around these places? Cold, damp train stations full of idiots like me?! Do you like being underground? I bloody don't.

 

But if I were to kick them out of the way, I'd be the one in trouble. Political correctness gone mad.