Random conversation thread

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

One ace after 40 years!? By that metric, I've got over 20 years to wait for mine!

A lad I played with as a junior had 3 or 4 of them before he turned 18.

[NRJyzr]

I got mine after 20 years, Catchy, perhaps you won't have to wait nearly that long ?

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

You offer a ray of hope, but the way I've been playing par-3s recently, the only hole-in-one I'll be getting is on a driveable par 4

[Foozle]

In 45 years of golf I have only holed 2 full shots. Both 8 irons.

First was a hole in one. I had probably been playing about 7 or 8 years so hopefully due another one soon!

The second was more amusing as it was at the 8th where the green was next to the clubhouse and the first tee so quite a crowd saw and heard me slam dunk my 8 iron for what they assumed was an eagle 2! They had missed the two drives I had pulled into water left meaning I was 5 of the tee and the hole out was for a double bogey 6!

[James the Hogan Fan]

He only plays a couple times a year, but I know he made it with his Ping Zings that he's been happily carrying my whole life. I'm really glad for him. As for me with my game how it is right now, I'm just happy to hit greens...

[Nomad Golfer]

No, that only makes them hopping mad.

Several years ago at a town in NSW called Wellington I was playing on the local course and about the 9th tee I noticed a large male grey kangaroo feeding in the middle of the fairway about 40 metres away. His group of females were on the right hand side lying down in the shade. Roos don't respond to the word "shoo" so I teed off. I mishit the tee shot and hit a fast worm burner which missed his head by not much but got his attention. Not wanting to tangle with this big male who would have given me a hiding in under 10 seconds I sneaked around the left hand side of the fairway inside the tree line. He never moved but watched me all the way to my ball. They can be a dangerous animal and can rip you to bits with their hind leg claw which is just like a Velociraptor's.

[Nomad Golfer]

I'll repost this at the bottom of the page where it should have gone in the first place. cheers

[Nomad Golfer]

Big Stu, do you know anything about this putter I picked up in a junk shop (extra club for mini-golf). It's a silver bullseye, round leather bound grip, Dunlop brand with the following on the top of the head. Arnold Palmer (in script) then a red shield with red star at the bottom, followed by 3 horizontal lines , K65 and last the capital "L". It's in v good condition and I suspect it may be a vintage worth keeping. I can take a photo tomorrow to help. cheers

[BIG STU]

Yep take a photo because your description is a new one to me especially Arnold Palmer and Dunlop on the same club

[tolmij]

Hi Nomad, Big Stu put me on to your posts, it’s a small world but Caboolture until recently was my home club, due to things outside my control I have not played for a while but am hoping to get back to it soon. Posted this in the Grill some time back it was my last game at Caboolture, DW is in the cart giving instructions. Hopefully some time in the future if you are still in the area we can catch up for a game, not that mine will be much good as I have not swung a club for some time.

I told Big Stu about our Kangaroo population, we have some large males that live on the course, took an American gent around once and he spent a long time with his camera snapping away at them, fortunately he kept his distance.

[Nomad Golfer]

Hi tolmij, small world indeed. I usually play at Bribie Island GC (Woorim) which you will know about. We prob won't be here much longer before moving south but you never know. My game is like yours, I have trouble remembering which end of the club the head is on. I see you are about my vintage and also use a black glove. Good to hear from you. Cheers

[Nomad Golfer]

Will do. Arnie had thousands of clubs so he must have lent his name to Dunlop at some stage

[tolmij]

Hope to be ready to play soon, had a problem where my immune system was attacking my body, went on in the background for ages until it suddenly came full on and then I could not literally get out of bed. Treatment is working well so try not to move south before we meet. Hope to meet soon cheers

[Foozle]

Arnie did indeed have an association with Dunlop at one time. I have a couple of sets of Dunlop Arnold Palmer PowerPoint irons dating from, I believe, 1964. I will try to post some pictures and dig out the history as an ex Pro friend received a set at the same time as Arnie so knows exactly where and when they were launched.

 

[Foozle]

Stu and Nomad, I attach some pictures of the Dunlop Arnold Palmer PowerPoint irons.

[Foozle]

Managed to find the info. Apparently they were issued to Arnie at the inaugural Piccadilly World Matchplay at Wentworth in 1964. Arnie won, presumably using these irons.

I personally don't find them very playable but then I am not blessed with Arnie's talent - I would gladly settle for 1% of that!

[Nomad Golfer]

Pics of the Dunlop/Arnold Palmer putter

[Nomad Golfer]

Thanks Foozle

[Nomad Golfer]

Thanks for the info. I was brought up on blades so I'm quite comfortable using them. I had a set of Dunlops around 1975 but can't remember model or what they looked like.

[Jiggered]

Lovely grips on those!

The Arnold Palmer Powerpoint appeared in Dunlop's catalogue for 1964 which ties in exactly with your comment earlier.

There was also The Dunlop Arnold Palmer Uni-Swing iron which appeared in the 1969 catalogue, see picture below.

And the flanged blade Dunlop Arnold Palmer putter crops up on ebay quite often. Mine has a similar grip to your irons.

 

[Foozle]

Jiggered,

Grips are nice! It is actually a very sweet set. I also have a slightly more "work weary" set of the same irons.

On Nomad's point, it is not that they are blades, I have also played blades all my golfing life, but of all my sets I find these quite challenging. My Pro friend believes he got the second set of these (after Arnie) but didn't play them very long as the ball flight was too low. CoG is probably quite high and they are very skinny on the sole.

Thanks for the pictures of the putter and Uni Swings.

[James the Hogan Fan]

Played today in pouring rain. Put together 7 pars in a row in a 'This is the round of my life' kind of day. My old reliable putter must have gotten wind of my new putter purchase. Wilson 8862 with leather grip. But anyway the MacGregor Jackie Pung #10 is having none of it, and I cannot miss. On Thursday I had a 25' birdie, today a couple of 8-10 foot par saves. Also had 2 sandies on the round, not bad.

My sticks are still a mix of Classic (putter), sooner to be classic (Hogan Apex 2003 blades), soon to be classic (Wilson Fybrids 3w-4hy), modern (driver R15, wedge mizuno), and brand new (Hireko component 64).

Season rolling along in Helsinki...

[scomac2002]

Played today in pouring rain. Put together 7 pars in a row in a 'This is the round of my life' kind of day.I remember doing that once. It was a surreal experience. Never been close to that before or after!

[Nomad Golfer]

Bet you enjoyed that James & Scomac, good days do happen otherwise we wouldn't persevere. It's winter here in Australia but in the temperate zone that means going down to 10c at night and pleasant 20-22c during the day - ideal for golf. Unfortunately I've been a bit crook with gastro and haven't been out to play now that virtually all restrictions have been lifted on our courses here. However the golf pro shop is open and I can browse and today while getting a suction cap for my putter (back saver) I happened upon a PING G10 sand wedge with graphite shaft in the recycle bin. This was handy because I'm short of a sand wedge for my regular bag and currently borrowing one from my Wilson collection. The pro asked that now I have a Wilson set, MacGregor set and TaylorMade/Titleist set, would I now be starting a PING set?. Funny. cheers from down under.

[James the Hogan Fan]

Thank god for Australia. I don't know if you're in Victoria or not but AFL has saved me from the corona sports depression.

That and thankfully in Finland the golf courses never had to close, and the season started early because of the mild (pathetic) winter. I'm finding a bit of a groove, put down an 80 on a course rated 74.5/146 today, after that 82 above.

[Nomad Golfer]

You're on a roll James !. I'm in southern Queensland about an hour's drive north of Brisbane, which is (relatively) covid19 free. Victoria has been shut down for 6 weeks after an outbreak and border controls here are very strict.

[Fellaheen51]

Test to locate.

 

This thread had disappeared. Found in a google search, a posting brought it to the top. 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Fellaheen51

[NRJyzr]

Well played.  :)

[James the Hogan Fan]

Some wonderful decorations in the clubhouse of the course I played this weekend. Not bad, in my opinion.

[Nomad Golfer]

Update:  Moved to new location Sunshine Coast Queensland and then buggered my back from lifting things I should not have. Managed to hit 20 practice balls the other day so I must be getting better. Sorry tolmij but I may not be playing this year.

Nearby courses still have restrictions e.g. bring your own buggy or only 1 person per hire, distancing, limited service in clubhouse etc. While under repair I've picked up a pair of older Cobra Hyper Steel M woods, #5 & #7 to add to the collection.

Watched the US Open right through and it was noticeably subdued due to few spectators - the buzz and excitement just wasn't there without the crowds. De Chambeau won by a mile and he can sure hit them that far, but if only he could stay on the fairway and get a bit closer to the pin!. Anyway in spite of that he worked hard at it and won  - congratulations.

With the northern hemisphere going into fall/autumn/winter, hope y'all getting in plenty of golf. Cheers, Nomad.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Nomad Golfer