On The Course - Round Report

Played on Sat and Sun. I recently purchased a Taylormade SLDR TP 9.5 with 6.3 Speeder 67 shaft. I also recently purchased a used set of Callaway X-14 pro series irons with uniflex shafts. Saturday was my best round in a long time. I hit ever fairway and shot 1 over. However, the most shocking thing was how long I was hitting this driver. I am not exaggerating when I say that I was hitting it 15 yards further. On the 15th hole I was 75 yards from the green and the closest I've ever been to that hole from the back tees is about 130 yards. Some of the drives I hit were MUCH further than before. At the same time, i will say that my swing was 'on' that day and everything was going well. Time will tell but this driver is the first one I've hit that is noticeably different.

What's odd is that I had hit the SLDR in the simulator before and thought it felt terrible. However, this particular one I purchased used for $99 just feels incredible. Very pure, good sound and trajectory is perfect. It suits me because I fight backspin with my drives. This one has cut backspin down by a significant margin and the result is long drives with a penetrating flight and lots of roll.

Sunday I didn't have the same amazing driving day but several of the drives were pretty damn long. On the first hole I hit wedge to the green and I'm usually 140 to 150 from the green. Time will tell. The first round out with a driver is always an odd one. The whole honeymoon period thing. I'm hoping that's not the case here.

Oh, and the X-14 pro series irons are great. I like them much better with the uniflex shaft than the stock rifle. Just a great feeling club with good distance and great looks. Like me.

FamousDavis wrote:Played on Sat and Sun.  I recently purchased a Taylormade SLDR TP 9.5 with 6.3 Speeder 67 shaft.  I also recently purchased a used set of Callaway X-14 pro series irons with uniflex shafts.  Saturday was my best round in a long time.  I hit ever fairway and shot 1 over.  However, the most shocking thing was how long I was hitting this driver.  I am not exaggerating when I say that I was hitting it 15 yards further.  On the 15th hole I was 75 yards from the green and the closest I've ever been to that hole from the back tees is about 130 yards.  Some of the drives I hit were MUCH further than before.  At the same time, i will say that my swing was 'on' that day and everything was going well.  Time will tell but this driver is the first one I've hit that is noticeably different.  

What's odd is that I had hit the SLDR in the simulator before and thought it felt terrible.  However, this particular one I purchased used for $99 just feels incredible.  Very pure, good sound and trajectory is perfect.   It suits me because I fight backspin with my drives.  This one has cut backspin down by a significant margin and the result is long drives with a penetrating flight and lots of roll.  

Sunday I didn't have the same amazing driving day but several of the drives were pretty damn long.  On the first hole I hit wedge to the green and I'm usually 140 to 150 from the green.    Time will tell.   The first round out with a driver is always an odd one.  The whole honeymoon period thing.  I'm hoping that's not the case here.  

Oh, and the X-14 pro series irons are great.  I like them much better with the uniflex shaft than the stock rifle.  Just a great feeling club with good distance and great looks.  Like me.

it's been scientifically proven that a correct shaft would be 95% of the engine's power... Great job + 1 is hard to come by... for me: NEVER

Well, haven't played for 4 and a half months and went to a links style course today. 25-30 mph winds and wetter then hell as there is still about 4 feet of frost in the ground. Closest course in a hundred miles that has opened up.

Stayed under a hundred which was my goal. Going again sunday so aiming for under 90. Jeez the short game sucked today.

I've been playing extremely well lately and if not for my putting would be a 1 or 2 handicap. I have never driven the ball better. I'm hitting the SLDR TP 460 and just bombing it straight down the fairway. My putting is OK in terms of very few 3 putts but I just can't seem to make birdies. My last 4 rounds have been 74, 75, 77 & 74. Good thing I'm working out and have 6 pack abs and a Greek-God like physique. Otherwise I might be getting worse rather than improving.

FamousDavis wrote:I've been playing extremely well lately and if not for my putting would be a 1 or 2 handicap.   I have never driven the ball better.  I'm hitting the SLDR TP 460 and just bombing it straight down the fairway.  My putting is OK in terms of very few 3 putts but I just can't seem to make birdies.   My last 4 rounds have been 74, 75, 77 & 74.   Good thing I'm working out and have 6 pack abs and a Greek-God like physique.  Otherwise I might be getting worse rather than improving.  

It makes sense you are killing the SLDR. You've mentioned being a high ball hitter and those low spin drivers work great for high launch/spin guys.

I hate to say it, but I think I'm done here. No teary-eyed walk off speech required. I'll check in once in awhile, but I just feel that the grand experiment has failed. I just joined at WRX, and I'm sure anyone on here who is on there will know who I am. At least until my inevitable banning.

WRX is a cool site if you need opinions on different gear and gear modifications. Don't know if I'd feel comfortable posting stuff there, though. As Ty said to Carl in this site's namesake movie, "...the pond would be good for you." This site is my pond. Algae and all.

Mongrel wrote:WRX is a cool site if you need opinions on different gear and gear modifications. Don't know if I'd feel comfortable posting stuff there, though. As Ty said to Carl in this site's namesake movie, "...the pond would be good for you." This site is my pond. Algae and all.

I get it, but our problem is the same as it was last year and the year before that. Nothing new. No new people, and each year more people leave. I miss actually talking about golf.

I like talking about golf too but right now I would actually like to be able to go play some fucking golf right here where I live. Signed up to play with my group last Saturday but Friday it snowed and covered all the courses with a couple of inches of snow. Signed up to play this coming Saturday just over the PA line on a course PKY knows well but the leader of our club may cancel it because it might be too cold. Damn. I just wanna go play me some golf. After I do, I'll talk about it.

Mongrel wrote:I like talking about golf too but right now I would actually like to be able to go play some fucking golf right here where I live. Signed up to play with my group last Saturday but Friday it snowed and covered all the courses with a couple of inches of snow. Signed up to play this coming Saturday just over the PA line on a course PKY knows well but the leader of our club may cancel it because it might be too cold. Damn. I just wanna go play me some golf. After I do, I'll talk about it.

I know how U feel... I went out to a local range one time when it was nice and warm, surprisingly I hit the ball better than expected, plan to visit the range this wk again... My first round with my gang is scheduled for Monday April 13th at the Deerfield GCC which is only 3 miles from home

Horseballs wrote:

Mongrel wrote:WRX is a cool site if you need opinions on different gear and gear modifications. Don't know if I'd feel comfortable posting stuff there, though. As Ty said to Carl in this site's namesake movie, "...the pond would be good for you." This site is my pond. Algae and all.

I get it, but our problem is the same as it was last year and the year before that.  Nothing new.  No new people, and each year more people leave.  I miss actually talking about golf.  

I'm still here. Not posting recently because I just endured the worst year of my life, but I never meant to give the impression that I bailed on you guys. I've been lurking a lot recently, just trying to get my head right before I start participating again.

See here's the thing HB, FD and myself never set our forums up to be permanent sites with growing membership, we were just trying to save what we had at GR - keep the core members together until we found a new home (or until GR got fixed). This site and the one I set up were only meant to be life rafts, just a place to keep us all together, because both FD and myself saw that as something worth saving. It saddens me to see so few of that group remaining here and posting, but it's understandable considering that most of us simply crave fresh conversation about familiar topics. Having a good influx of new members facilitates this. Unfortunately, GR is still broken and this place is hard to find unless you're looking for it. There's not much that can be done about either.

On WRX I'm Kevin Spencer. Maybe I'll start posting there a bit, I only ever used that account to troll them on LarryRSF (the R-U-Late, you probably remember that   ), but I suppose I could be serious if I had to. Not yet banned, anyways.

Keep checking in here, the clique just isn't the same without you. So many good times, so much fun. Such a shame, what they say about all good things...

Horseballs wrote:

Mongrel wrote:WRX is a cool site if you need opinions on different gear and gear modifications. Don't know if I'd feel comfortable posting stuff there, though. As Ty said to Carl in this site's namesake movie, "...the pond would be good for you." This site is my pond. Algae and all.

I get it, but our problem is the same as it was last year and the year before that.  Nothing new.  No new people, and each year more people leave.  I miss actually talking about golf.  

HB, try 4gea.com. There is some good talk and banter back and forth. My name is Club Champ over there.

Hey guys I'm a member over at WRX. It's not as fun as the old GR was but there is still some great discussion and a bit of banter. If it gets out of hand they'll shut it down but it's not as sanitized as we might think. As well as Horseballs there are other GR vets there too:

Me = Kiwihacker
Not a Hacker = playa
Oldplayer (same name)
Lord helmet (same name)

I've been nowhere near as proloific over there but as HB says it's great to talk golf again with new blood and the forums are as busy as ever. Incredibly the old "Blades vs Cavity Backs" arguments are still alive and well and there is at least one thread a week arguing the toss. Hilarious really. Anyway I encourage you all to join us.

The only problem is there are so many sub forums you might not even know another poster is posting. I post mainly in the Equipment forum and there is a lot of robust discussion there. Also some of these guys are legendary club ho's. And I'm talking the latest and greatest ho'ing. Not bargain ho'ing like FD or OP. These guys are literally buying the latest driver/irons every time there is a new release.

Anyway as I said I encourage you all to join. Hope to 'see you out there'.

Cheers
Kiwi

I'm still playing 4-5 times a week down here. I feel sorry for you guys up north with all the snow this year. My friends on Long Island tell me it's been a really bad winter and it look like the courses wont open until the end of April, everything is soo saturated.
I've really enjoyed my first full winter down here. Don't think I'm coming back up north till near months end.

Now my bud and I are looking around at clubs to join for next year. Alot of places offer a seasonal membership - just 5 months - and we are considedring a few.

I've been on WRX for a while now, and I find there are alot of folks without any kind of sense of humor. There are waaaay too many Tiger worshippers on the site. Someone posted up about Tiger's alltime best hits and I jumped in about how Elen and the 9 iron. Crap!!! did I get a ton of hate mail asking me to please leave the site.
And too many people keep asking the same questions over and over, like, "what's the best driver/hybrid/irons for me?"

Glad FD keeps this site alive. IT's kinda like my sobering up moment when I log on.


Don't worry Mongrel....warm days are right around the corner!

The word "warm" is a relative concept. After getting snowed out two weeks ago and frozen out last Saturday, it seems like I will finally get to play with my club group this Saturday. The temp is forecast at 45-56 and that is fine with me. However, the winds are predicted to blow around 22-24 mph from the NW and NNW. This is OK with me because I've always gotten along pretty well in windy conditions.

Outside my window on April 2nd - the day after fishing season opened btw, I can still find snow between 4' and 5' deep in my yard. There's still 3' of ice on the river out back. I have snowbanks along my driveway that are still 8' tall. It's barely started to melt, and most nights the temperature still falls well below freezing.

This is insane. There will be no golf in Snowva Scotia this year. Just random meteor strikes and Imperial probe droids here on planet Hoth. If there are courses open around here on June 1st, I will be quite surprised. Gonna be a good year for kayaking though, lots of water once this glacier retreats.

What really sucks about all of this though - the rest of the planet experienced a record warm winter this year, it was just North America getting screwed balls deep up the hiney. Thanks, global warming. Way to play favorites. Just for that, next year I'm going to deforest the planet to an even greater degree. I had 7 cord of wood, which has never not been enough to last a winter and then some, but it stayed so cold this year I ran out of wood 2 weeks into March. I'll have 10 cord for next year. Mother Nature will regret ever picking on me.

Seriously, this is probably the longest, coldest winter I can remember in all of my 40 years. Likely the deepest accumulation of snowfall, and for sure the thickest ice on lakes and rivers. I sure hope this winter is an anomaly and not some harbinger of winters to come.

Winter, I surrender. You win. Now fuck off and go away.

U play any round this yr yet Mongrel? I have my first T-time on Monday 4/13 at Deerfield GCC in Newark DE which was used to be one of the DuPont country clubs.... It's a darn difficult golf course, home course for the U of Delaware men golf team, now the Lady team also practices and plays there

Pky6471 wrote:U play any round this yr yet Mongrel? I have my first T-time on Monday 4/13 at Deerfield GCC in Newark DE which was used to be one of the DuPont country clubs.... It's a darn difficult golf course, home course for the U of Delaware men golf team, now the Lady team also practices  and plays there  

1st round of 2015 is in the books. This past Saturday, April 4. Winds steady at 20 with gusts into the mid 30's. Course played is my least favorite that was created from 200 acres +/- of rolling farmland (corn and soybean rotation) in the late '80's. Three times as many bunkers as necessary and they were all dug way too deep when the course was built. Fresh sand dumped into all of them recently. Worst bunker conditions imaginable. Played with new (to me) Ping G15 driver and it went remarkable well both into and with the wind. Only put on driver out of play and that was on a hole I should have used my 19* hybrid off the tee on. Putter was average to good. Played with Adams irons new to me that I never hit off turf before the round. Hit them OK off tees on the par 3's but bad off fairway and rough lies. Probably need to have lies bent a couple of degrees. Bottom line is I shot the highest round that I can remember recording. Buck and a quarter. 125. The b!tch is that my USGA Index will not go up even a tenth of a point.

After 36 holes, we were playing one more nine. 7 blue moons and going into the last hole. Up hill par 4 and laying 34. Of course totally fuck it up and end up with a 40. But you know what? I'm ok with that.

Stayed sober this afternoon and miss three birdie puts and end up with a 79 on the home course. So far with what has happened with my game, I'm optimistic about this coming year.

Probably the last Red Grange of my life. Would have liked to have made that last par putt on 18 but hit it a little too hard.

1.....2.....3.....4.....5.....6.....7.....8.....9.....out
385..155.330.350..213..415.360..340..485..3033
4......3....4......4.....3.....4.....4.....4.....5......35
5......3....4......5.....4.....4.....5.....4.....5......39

10....11....12....13....14....15....16....17....18.....in......out.......
500...400..220..460...170..470..410..97....370...3097..3033....6130
5.......4.....3......5......3......5.....4......3......4......36......35.......71
5.......5.....3......3......4......5.....5......3......5......38......39.......77

trombettista_vecchio wrote:Probably the last Red Grange of my life. Would have liked to have made that last par putt on 18 but hit it a little too hard.

1.....2.....3.....4.....5.....6.....7.....8.....9.....out
385..155.330.350..213..415.360..340..485..3033
4......3....4......4.....3.....4.....4.....4.....5......35
5......3....4......5.....4.....4.....5.....4.....5......39

10....11....12....13....14....15....16....17....18.....in......out.......
500...400..220..460...170..470..410..97....370...3097..3033....6130
5.......4.....3......5......3......5.....4......3......4......36......35.......71
5.......5.....3......3......4......5.....5......3......5......38......39.......77

An eagle on 13? Talk us through it!

WOW.... so good... such an enjoyable round

Kiwigolfer wrote:
An eagle on 13? Talk us through it!

Thirteen was built to be a birdie hole that looks dangerous but really isn't.  460 is short for a par 5 to begin with, but even at that, the hole is measured generously.  It assumes a very conservative drive angle over the water.  Also, the green is the size of a small continent, and the measurement is of course to the middle of it.  If you do go for it, it's surrounded by water on both sides with about nine or ten yards of terra firma available for a run on shot between the big pond that you drive over--it extends the length of the hole--and the smaller one to the left and front of the green.  You'd have to be perfectly aligned and a little stupid to try that.  The landing area for the drive is plenty generous, however.

I hit a huge intentional banana ball with my twenty-five year old Titleist PT 13º metalwood, taking only a conservative amount of water but winding way right around the fairway toward the green.  I had a perfect lie and hit the 23º PT taking advantage of the deep green to avoid a splash.  The lofted metal shot didn't go quite as far past the hole as I expected it to go, and it left me a pool table flat nine footer.  The putt wasn't exactly "nothing but net."  It wobbled into the hole but three is three nonetheless.

Even with spinal stenosis, I've had over fifty years experience available for hitting a ball off a good lie to or near a big green. That's not the hard part. Rolling the rock with nearly seven decade old hands and arms and legs and back is the real hard part.  I putted like a thirty-five year old, and at this stage, that's just catching a fluke lightening in a bottle, sort of like the 2013 Red Sox.  The 20 mg oxycodone I took for my back fortified the vodka-laced cranberry juice that I had for breakfast. One day that calms your putting. The next day, it makes it almost impossible to stand up. It's all up to fate.

Nice work trombettista! A 3 on a par 5 is great on any occasion as you say. Well done! Great round too! Good to see you still able to get the job done mate. Well done sir!

Thanks, Kiwi and Pky.