Might as well get things started for 2025.

Forecast shows 52 on Thursday. Really trying to talk myself into taking the day off and playing. Course conditions will be awful, and so will my swing, but would still be a day golfing instead of working...

I've only been to hit balls virtually once this off season back a week before Xmas. Off next week on vacation somewhere warm but not picking up a club. Hopefully when back in February I can start going to hit balls under a heated bay.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Did get my round in yesterday. Obviously, it's not pristine conditions, and if we had a week straight of decent temps I wouldn't run out to play every day, but it was fun for a single day in January. Course was actually fairly busy, but I think there's only a handful that stay open through the winter, so if people want to play....

First time touching a club since mid-November. Finished with a 74 (+4). Sprayed the driver all over, but no rough anywhere with all the grass dormant. 3 birdies made up for some of the other rusty shots.

Nice start.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Going to an outdoor covered hitting bay tomorrow. I've gone to a golf dome a couple times this winter, but it will be nice seeing full shots.

Nice opening round fan!

_________________

Sure hope everyone got their new clubs before this week, because everything just got more expensive.

I thought about golfing virutally this past weekend when I had to come home from vacation early but just couldn't stomach the idea of paying $50 for an hour at X-Golf. Was hoping the temps would break this week but it appears it is going to get colder.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Guy at work is constantly trying to get me to go X golf and I feel the same way about with the added dislike of hitting off mats . They are terrible for my golf game. Gonna just have to wait it out another 6 weeks or so until the grass ranges open up.

_________________
Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Tony Romo's dad owns a range about 20 minutes from me just off 94 that has heated bays for hitting outside. It is off mats which is fine for what I am looking to do but hitting under a heat lamp when it is 50 and when it is 20 are two different animals. I miss hitting golf balls but not that much.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Heard from my golf buddy yesterday and sounds like they are changing what our local county pass is going to look like. Last year it was $1200 for unlimited golf and an extra $700 for unlimited use of a cart. Instead of doing a flat fee now it’s $15 a pop for each time you use a cart. If I play 70x the cart fee will cost me an extra $300. My buddy who is retired and plays about 200x a year it’s an additional $2300. I hope he still chooses to play but my season may look very different if he decides to play elsewhere. I’d likely stay because I like having two courses to play and I have no problems getting early tee times. I could also choose to walk a bit more which I’m not totally against. We’d heard for years that the pro was trying to make it uncomfortable for members because they feel like they lose money on the passes. I can’t believe they wouldn’t at least create tiers for cart usage. After 75 or 100 rounds then discount 50% or something.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Pretty cool piece about Sub 70 on WGN Sports last night.

https://wgntv.com/video/the-midwest-gol ... /10452872/

_________________

Got news earlier this week that one of my golf buddies who is in his 60s, had a heart attack and a stroke this week. Don't have a real good sense of what that is going to mean for him but my guess is he may be lucky to get back on the golf course everyday like he usually does. With my other friend on the fence about whether or not he will get a golf pass, this season could look very different for me. I don't think it would be a bad thing at all if I could walk more often and not have to keep up with a motorized cart. My wedges are getting a little old so will likely stop into my local Dicks to see if they have a Vokey SM9 or 10 in the loft and bounce that I am interested in. I am going to be taking out a hybrid and moving away from a 52 and 58 degree wedge to a 52/56/60 combo. I believe I will save more strokes having that extra wedge than the extra hybrid that I didn't use a ton. The 60 doesn't really need the sharpest grooves as I don't really use that on full swings but the 52 and 56 would be nice to get some new grooves in the bag.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

"We consider ourselves more consultants than salespeople."

This was 100% truth with my experience. I think I can safely say that almost any club I ever need in the future will be manufactured in Sycamore.

_________________

Ordered two Wedgeworks Vokeys with some custom stamping, bands and had them put on the grip I would have put on anyway. I also put a regular shaft on them rather than a wedge flex which I don’t generally do but it wasn’t an up charge. I looked for some SM9s but couldn’t find the grind and lofts I wanted. My buddy had another stroke yesterday and I just said Fuck It. I’ve always wanted some custom wedges and they should last me at least three seasons. Price tag was a bit more than I wanted but I never buy myself anything.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

My phone says 60 for Friday. Might as well go out and get full of mud playing 18.

Enjoy the wedges. I never really spend a ton of money on myself either, but since my dad died a couple years ago, I've done a lot more "fuck it" stuff to enjoy myself. Life is short.

Yeah that is kind of what I decided after thinking it through. Enjoy getting out to play. We are having a lot of snow melt up here in SE Wisconsin so starting to get hopeful that maybe by March 29th the course might be open. I need to get out and hit some balls outside soon, maybe Friday after work. I've swung the sticks once since end of October virtually and that is it. Least amount in an offseason that I can remember.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

New wedges arrived yesterday and overall I was very happy with how they turned out. The custom stamping that was done actually appears to have been lasered on the back and not hard stamped. Not a big deal overall, it came out looking clean. I made a slight mistake during the ordering process and put the wrong grip on one of the wedges. I sent a message to their website and they contacted me that Monday to let me know the error had been corrected so I thought that was great customer service. I got the 52 with the chrome finish and the 56 in the Nickel which is a shade darker. The 60 degree I am putting back in this year is black so I've always wanted the different finishes and finally got there. Probably paid too much when all is said and done but for as often as I have a 52 or 56 in my hand I think it will turn out to be a nice investment and will be fun to have sharp grooves again for a while.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I saw them on the secret Facebook page. Nice looking clubs.

_________________

Greens fees are out of control. MANY courses with $50+ "winter" rates. Seeing normal muni tracks that were $40-$50 on weekend just a couple years ago now at $70-$80+. Silver Lake near me is $85 to ride on a weekend. Its a nice track, but for that price I expect country club conditions and this place would fall well short of that. Most of these courses have also jacked up 1/2 cart riding fees and have not put water jugs back on the course since Covid. Not to mention range buckets are now $10+ for a "small"

Ridiculous doesn't even begin to cover it. Golf was always an expensive hobby in time and fees, but its getting beyond insane.

_________________

I got a new driver for cheap on rockbottomgolf.

If you’re willing to go last season’s models and have some flexibility, there are some good deals still out there.

_________________

I don’t recall Silver Lake to be that high line.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Well what did you get? I’m determined to never buy a new driver again. Got a used driver and three wood this off-season which are huge upgrades from what I had.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I got a Cobra Dark Speed. I suck at golf so just went with what I thought looked cool. It’ll surely help my game. But it was about 50% new and I’m a sucker for a perceived deal.

They have some iron sets right now for a similar discount.

_________________

Rock Bottom and Global Golf are great.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Texted a friend who is the pro at one of the county courses and he claimed that the courses will likely open up next week for play. I have to pick my wife up from the airport tomorrow so I plan on stopping by a driving range that has heated bays on the way up there. Temps look like they will be in the mid-30s but not too bad with the heater going.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Taking on Arizona trip in a few weeks (with 2 rounds scheduled), so told myself "no more afternoons off work to play golf".

74 degrees on Friday, and more courses opening. I now have a 1pm teetime Friday.......

Never got to the range after my wife's flight was cancelled and moved to the afternoon. Strongly considering going to buy my membership after work today. Hoping to get out this weekend if possible. I did rearrange the bag and decided to remove the 3 hybrid and keep the 5 hybrid rather than the other way around. I'll likely need to learn a new 1/2 or 3/4 three wood shot to cover anything that 3 hybrid would have handled which wasn't much last year other than long lay up shots or possibly going for one of the par 5s in two. Moving away from the 52-58 wedge set up.

2025 opening day WITB

9 degree Titleist TSR3

14.5 degree Titleist TSR2+

21 Degree Callaway Apex 4 Hybrid

24 Degree Callaway SuperHybrid (5)

5-PW Titleist T100 irons

52,56,60 Titleist Vokey Wedges

Scotty Cameron Del Mar or Coronado

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Playing this afternoon, played two rounds last week in Ohio in awful conditions. My home club is opening this Wednesday so hopefully will get rounds in Thursday and Friday.

Here's my season opening 2025 bag, might get a new driver...

AI Smoke Max 10.5, set to 11.5 Ventus Red TR Velocore

Paradym Triple Diamond 3 wood, Ventus Red 7S Velocore

Paradym Triple Diamond 5 wood, Tensei Blue 75

Apex TCB ('23's) 4-A wedge, Aerotech Steel fiber 110 CW

MD5 Full Face 54

PM Grind 19 58

Odyssey MXM 9 HT

Titleist left dash but did pick up a dozen Chrome Tour Triple Diamond to try when it's warmer.

Hey you want to get in as many rounds as possible before heading to the desert. Enjoy!

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami