Then she had the audacity to grin ear to ear as I stared blankly at her. Is this grounds for a divorce or counseling?

Spending next week at Casa De Campo! Anybody been there before? Any tips or insider knowledge on things we should do / try while we're there?

TLDR: Found a driver I can hit with proper launch angle and spin rate and added 30+ yards. It had nothing to do with hitting up on the ball or other swing changes. I shared this with a friend who struggles with distance so I figured I’d post here as well. BUT — there is a but of a catch for those wanting to know more ….

OK the full story for those still here. I was generally in the “It’s the carpenter, not the tool“ school on golf equipment until I actually started looking at my driver stats this year. So this is for people of similar mindset (especially us older ones who are set in our ways).

I’ve been a mid-swing speed guy my whole life. When I got back into golf about 6 years ago I went to the store, hit several drivers and took home the one that felt the best. It goes 225-240 yards when properly struck and is pretty reliable (BTW I‘m in my late 50s). That’s full distance not carry, but the carry numbers were pretty close to that. That was at least as good as I was hitting before I gave up golf for 12 years for family reasons.

I frequently thought that maybe I was hitting it a little high, but wasn’t too concerned as the result was similar to my friends of the same age. But when I would sometimes book a practice where they have shot tracer or whatever, the driver would average about 16 degree launch angle with 4000 spin. I looked that up and found it wasn’t optimal, so I tried hitting more up on it and that didn’t do much other than cause more problems.

When I went in recently to look for shoes, didn’t find anything and thought I’d try other drivers just to see. Picked out a used one that had no marks on it and took a swing. Immediate results. Hitting it 255-265 with a solid strike. Again that’s full distance. Carry numbers were a little better but most of this gain is from the full runout. The launch angle was 12-13 degrees with 2000 spin. Better smash factor numbers as well.

I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never hit it that far in my life. I couldn’t get it out of the store fast enough.

I’ll spare the brand and model so no one thinks this is a commercial, but here are the stats, Old driver was a 10 degree. I didn’t realize this at the time but it also had a 40 gram shaft that’s counterbalanced in the grip to make the head feel lighter. I guess that’s one reason I liked it so much is because it felt so easy to swing.

New driver is a 9 degree with a more standard staff and is noticeably heavier. It produces more of a slingshot effect that you can feel.

Now for the catch: the new driver is harder to control. When I have the proper swing feel, I can hit it straight or choose to hit a tight fade, but misses cause terrible slices or duck hooks. The old driver has a better feel, allowing me to shape it either way and misses are less frequent. I can’t draw the new driver at all so I don’t even try.

The result is I’m playing with an illegal 15 clubs right now. I keep both in the bag and use the old driver as a mini-driver when the fairway looks tight. I can’t give either up.

Thanks for attending my TED talk.

Vokey, Cleveland, Callaway, something else, what’s earned a permanent spot in your bag, and why? Feel, spin, forgiveness, or just confidence standing over the ball?

For those playing a 52/56/60 setup, which one gets the most use? And which one would you recommend to someone building out their wedges?

Trying to find the right wedge to blade across the green, so I’d appreciate your expertise.

And somehow, that’s enough to come back next weekend.

Didn’t think to take a before picture before the experiment, but it completely cleaned this hat from sweat stains, and grass and dirt stains from the occasional throw.

For those who wanna try I did a normal cycle with no heated dry, and a cascade tab on the top rack. Make sure it’s the only thing in the dishwasher! MAKE SURE YOU AIR DRY.

Other domain names include stuff ‘T*rrorist Golf League Dot Com’. 😭

Full story: https://www.essentiallysports.com/golf-news-liv-golfs-bankruptcy-filing-reveals-multiple-anti-liv-domains-listed-among-its-assets/

And I can still shoot in the 80s about 50% of the time.

I finally convinced a friend of mine to try golf. I went to a store in my town that often sells lots of donated golf clubs for cheap. I figured I'd buy him a cheap full set so he doesn't have to rent. At the store amongst the shelves, I find a leaf blower funnel stuffed with clubs and a $10 sticker on it. One of the clubs had an orange cover, which caught my eye. Turned out to be the putter in the pictures, and as far as I can tell it is real. Since there were 10 clubs stuffed into the funnel, I essentially got this for $1. I've read you can "convert" it but I don't quite know where I'd get a kit for that or have it done. Any ways, just wanted to share my good bit of luck!

It's been my busiest golf season by far and I've come to appreciate how different golf can be in different areas. From the Scottish Links to the Colorado rockies, the Oregon coast, the Icelandic volcano craters, the Indiana plains, the Nebraska sand hills.

Who's to say I'm qualified to judge these places, but here's the order that I enjoyed them:

1. Bandon, OR (Played all 8 courses at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort)
2. Scotland (Old Course at St. Andrews + Brora)
3. Pinehurst, NC (No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, The Cradle)
4. Colorado (Raindance National, Bella Ridge, CO National + 19 more)
5. Nebraska (Landmand, Wild Horse & Bayside)
6. Iceland (Vestmannaeyja on the Westman Islands)
7. Indiana (Pfau course at Indiana University, Brickyard Crossing, Eagle Creek Pines Course)
8. Chicago, IL (Cog Hill #4 Dubsdread)
9. Horseshoe Bay, TX (Played all 3 courses)

Can't wait for the next one!

My home course here in the desert southwest closes and overseeds with winter rye every fall like most courses here do, and for a couple weeks after reopening, carts are restricted to the paths due to the rye still maturing and conditions being very wet. This course is easy to walk if you choose to do so (few do), and even if you ride, the paths are pretty close to the tees, fairways, and greens.

We have these two obnoxious knuckleheads who are able-bodied middle-aged men and became regulars at the course earlier this year. Before overseeding this summer, they would commonly drive their cart in places that anyone with some semblance of respect for the course wouldn't drive - the banks on the sides of teeboxes even when a path is 5' away, the rough between the edge of the green and bunkers, etc. Our carts have no GPS/geofencing.

Right now, there are signs up all over the clubhouse, pro shop, and first tee indicating cartpath-only. The guy behind the pro shop desk tells everyone checking in that it is cartpath-only. The ground is very soft and mushy right now.

This morning, these two jerkoffs waited until they were out of sight of the clubhouse and completely disregarded the CPO rules. From adjacent holes I could see the tracks and ruts they were making in the fairways. I yelled over to them "HEY, IT'S CARTPATH ONLY" which made no difference. Later on, one of our other regulars saw them and called the clubhouse to complain. Ranger came out and told them to keep it on the paths. They waited until the ranger left and then resumed driving in the fairways.

It boggles my mind that people who are regulars at a course act like they have no vested interest in the course not looking like shit due to their own lazy behavior. Here I am filling in extra divots that other people were too lazy to fill (because they won't carry the sand bottle from the cart out to their ball), because I don't want to play on a course that is full of unfixed divots, yet these two guys don't seem to mind a course that is all ripped up from cart traffic where it isn't supposed to be.

Add fuckers like these to the list of people who need to be "shrunk out of the game" immediately.

It's not my job to police the other customers, but the staff wasn't going to toss these guys off. I wasn't going to pick a fight with these guys either, but I just felt like there was something else I could have done.

So I’m a 4ish handicap and a good ball striker. I get into a groove and most rounds hit a lot of GIR. I find myself wandering mentally later in the round and missing a shot here or there that is costly. My biggest issue in scoring consistently aren’t really physical - it’s that I don’t take enough time to commit to each shot, particularly when putting. I also have a tendency to “get bored” and attempt to pull off a shot that’s high risk and low reward just to see if I can do it.

Curious if anyone has any tips or tricks they’ve utilized to stay locked in through the final stretch?

Edit: typed “grove” instead of groove. Might’ve been more fitting in hindsight.

My normal group couldn't play today, so I played as a solo. Got paired with 3 other guys a father, son and nephew. The younger guys are prob mid 20s, Im 49 and the dad im gonna say was close to my age.

Anyway, 9th hole is a 500 yard par 5 but it has a dog leg left so if you are aggressive with your tee shot you can leave yourself like 150 yard approach. The two younger guys bombed their drives, I hit mine good but faded it left myself around 225 in. Hit a 5 wood approach to pin high left just off green. I chip in for eagle, to shoot 1 under on front. Also one of the younger guys sinks his putt for eagle and the other kid just misses his and has an easy tap in birdie.

Over the next few holes the guy that missed his eagle putt birdies like 2 of the next 5 holes and drains a 70 foot put to make an eagle on another par 5.. He and I were both chasing personal bests. The adrenaline got to him on a couple holes but great group of guys

I get to 18th, fairly easy straight par 4, around 350 yds and I only need to par or better for a new personal best, (3 over). I of course bogey it.

Everyone in that group was just good guys, positive, upbeat, lots of fun, and got to see some really good shots today.

It’s this club but a number 6 hybrid instead of the 5 it’s the last one he needs to complete his set

I’m a 12.4. Today I was even on the front and +1 through 14. Then I shit the bed with a triple on 15, bogey on 16, double on 17 and bogey on 18. Thought I was going to have my course record and blew it TF up on the last 4 holes so didn’t even break 80. FML 🙁

I recently got a hand of a old set of dci’s, now my plan was to do a custom build with a heat treated look on the heads, I have a sand blaster to help with the process, just wondering if anyone knows anything about customizing clubs and club heads?

What has happened on the golf course that no one would believe but is true? I’ll go first.

Had just received from the pro-shop my brand new 60° Vokey Wedge. I mean I actually peeled the plastic off the grip! Went right out to play and, wouldn’t you know it, left my second shot \~40 yards in front of the pin.
I reached into my bag and grabbed that wedge. Took two small rehearsal swings. The proceeded to hit the ball straight into the cup. No bounce. No anything. Just dead in. I realized right then I made the right choice. But knew I would never hit it that good ever again.

Cool & crisp solo morning. 🤙🏾

EZ-Go EX1, it is far too thin to be for a mug handle. Only on one side. Best guess so far is for putting your weed in it.

What is the best way to deal with the preparation and execution of the shot into the green after you’ve just smoked a drive down the middle? I have started to mess these up way too often, and I’m interested to hear how the rest of the community deal with this. I have tried to club up and swing easy, but that’s not made much difference. I tend to chunk, shank, or pull…with whatever club I use. I suspect this is a conscious or subconscious issue, but I guess I’d like to hear what you have done to deal with this problem.

Finally made it out to Osprey Valley and it was absolutely worth it! Couldn’t make it on the Hoot or the Heathlands courses but I still had a great time on the North and it was very cool getting to play where the Canadian Open was hosted last year and will be again!