My bad, Mascoutin in Berlin. Really nice 27 hole layout, definitely not worth the $72 its listed for though especially when Lawsonia is up the road and charging $65.

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Low T Therapy

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

"Birdie to Bogey in Two Strokes" would be the title of my biography should it ever be worth writing.

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Getting out Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I think I need to buy something at the store for back
relief tonight.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

46-42-88 at Mascoutin (Berlin, WI) today. Struck the ball really well, but didn't make any putts. Only 4 3-putts so not disastrous, but didn't make any putts and had plenty of good looks. 4 birdie tries inside 10 feet, didn't make any of them. Also chunked a couple chips early. If my putting and chipping get back to where they were at the end of last season I'll be flirting with 80 the way I'm ball striking.

Most importantly, the back feels good! Steroids must be helping cause I'm not doubled over in pain after playing. The real test is tomorrow when I get up and go to the course. heading to Lawsonia to take on their Links course, one of the better courses in the entire USA. Probably the most intense greens of any course I've ever seen. All of them are on elevated plateaus 20 feet above the fairway with near vertical drops on most edges. on top of that they have multiple tiers and mounds and are lightning quick. End up on the wrong tier and a 3putt is a good score. I've never broke 90 on the Links, hoping to do so tommorow, but it would be a huge upset given how bad my putting has been this year.

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Pretty good day with Chus, Furious and Hawg at my stomping grounds. Weather couldn't have been better,
pace was phenomenal ( 4:10 ), course was in pretty good shape and the company was outstanding. Chus
got off to a good start on the front but had a few troubles on the back. Overall for the amount of golf he's
played I thought it was solid. Furious struggled early but came back really strong on the back and probably
had a legit shot to be low 80s if not break 80 if he had his back nine game early. The driver came alive.
Hawg putted and chipped pretty well but had a few unforced errors which I anticipate will be fixed by Monday
when we attack one of the best munis in the country. I played pretty good but couldn't get the putter going
enough to overcome some mistakes on the back including a double on the last. Really enjoyed the day and
hopefully we'll do it again in the future and play the Blue course. Thanks again for coming up/down guys.
I'll play with you anytime, the golf is taken care of.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Sounds like you guys had a great time, sorry I missed it. next time.

I, on the other hand, was busy having one of the best rounds of my life. 40-41-81 on the famed Links course at Lawsonia. My previous best score on this course was 91. Played by myself at 9:00, didn't see another person till the 10th. I feel like an idiot cause I've been playing this course for 30 years and it wasn't till today. that I figured out the right way to play it. The place is famous for its plateau elevated greens that are surrounded by steep drop offs into bunkers on most sides. If you are a little off going at the green it will roll of the side into big trouble. Well, today I finally realized something. The only safe miss on any of these greens was short. Miss it short and it will still roll up pretty close to the green given the firm and fast fairways. So today I made a conscious decision to go with one club less on every approach shot.

It worked like a charm. On #2 I was 155 yards out shooting downhill to a green. Normally that would be my 8 iron so today I grabbed my 9, hit a perfect shot to the fairway near the green, it bounced and followed the contours of the fairway and rolled right up 2 feet past the pin. Easy tap in for birdie. That's how it went all day. instead of going for greens i was going for the front and letting it roll up. Had another birdie later on where i used a PW and once again put it on the fairway and it rolled to 15 feet. Rolled that in for the birdie.

Finally got the putter going today. Only 1 3putt on greens that are famous for their 3 and 4 putts. The key was that I really took my time reading and concentrating on all putts.

Also helped that my only miss off the tee was right. Figured that out early on and had the fade controlled off the tee all day. Hit 50% fairways and my misses were never too far away. Also had 50% GIR.

Don't know if any of you ever get out by yourself, but I don't think there's any doubt that you play your best golf when its just you and the course. No socializing, no screwing around. Just concentrating on your game and the next shot to take.

I've scored lower than 81, but not at a course like lawsonia. The 83 I scored last summer at University Ridge in tournament conditions was pretty impressive as well, but today might've been better.

Either way I'm just psyched that just a week ago I shot a 107 after playing two days in a row. A pack of steroids later and my back feels great and I had one my all time greatest rounds.

Playing the Woodlands course at Lawsonia tomorrow with my wife and dad. This will be the polar opposite in terms of concentration.

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48-41 at Tamarack. First rd of the year.

Might play again before August.

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Nice shooting shakes I'd tend to agree with you on playing alone. I was by myself when I had that
career round earlier this season. I was just in a zone and in my own little world. Golf for me is one of the only
chances I get to be social with people I actually enjoy spending time with so I try to play with someone whenever
I can.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

74 (+4) this morning. Hit the ball pretty well but a late double bogey hurt. Gonna be beautiful again today.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Nice after your 73 yesterday you are on quite the roll. I had a great time yesterday and T-bone played extremely well. Furious got it going on the back for a nice 39 and Chus was rolling with the driver for a while and played better than he anticipated and it could have been even better. Look forward to getting together again. Nice round Shakes, and yes we said we would include you next time. Spanky may be invited, just depends on it that score was real or not.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

42-43-85 at the Woodlands course at Lawsonia. Back felt fine, just a little sore which is a huge departure from the past 6 months. Played with my wife and dad who both shoot north of 125 so staying focused was an issue at times, but overall very happy with my performance. A week ago I shot 107, this weekend I went 88-81-85. I'm no longer standing on the ledge threatening to jump.


Feel great heading into next weekend's Golf Week Am Tour 2 day Major at Bowes Creek Saturday and Highlands of Elgin Sunday.

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Played Washington County Golf Course in Hartford, WI which is about 30 minutes NW of the city
with Hawg and a couple of other guys from his area. The course is a hell of a layout and very
challenging. The greens were very quick but true and really no unfair mounding so it was just
a very fair and difficult test. I managed to scrape together an 80. I got off to a rough start
and was +6 after 7 holes but managed to play +2 the rest of the way. Hawg played very well
and his putter was pretty hot. He beat me with a very solid 77 and I think that was with two
double bogeys. I'll definitely go back again and now that I have a better understanding of where
to hit the ball, hopefully I could score a little better. Was a beautiful day and never got a drop of
rain.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

48+43= 91 at Silver Lake north course on Saturday morning. Teed off at 5:55am, which was nice because I had a ton of shit to do after golf, but it was actually a touch too early for me. Usually I like to hit a small bucket and putt a little bit to warm up, but didn't get to do that this time and it showed with 2 doubles to start off. Single bogeys the rest of the way out until a par on the 9th hole. Triple on the 10th, double on the 12th (bad drives compounded by more mistakes), but had 4 pars on the back 9 which was great. I figured if I had warmed up like I usually do and I had more than 4 hours of sleep I probably would have been more like 45 on the front. Overall I was fairly happy to end up with a 91, especially with the 4 pars on the back 9 on what is a pretty tough track.

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Went to Golfsmith today to look at a hybrid to replace my 4 iron. Ended up buying 2 hybrids, one to replace the 4 and one to replace my current hybrid.

Got a Calloway X hot and a Taylormade Slder.

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So after sleeping on it I went and returned the SLDR hybrid and got another XHOt2 hybrid so now I have two of them, one at 19 degrees and one at 22.

Got a huge weekend for golf. Playing tomorrow and Sunday in the Chicago Cup, a 2 day Major in the Golfweek Am Tour. Tee off at 12:42 at Bowes Creek tomorrow and then Sunday we play at Highlands of Elgin. Tee times for Sunday are based on the standings after day 1 so the leaders will be in the final group. Pretty intense.

Gonna head over to Glencoe after work and get a practice round in and get some swings in with the new clubs.

My goal for the weekend is a top 10 finish (60 competitors in my division).

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I'm gonna show up and heckle you like that guy did in Happy Gilmore


8:36 tee time tomorrow morning at a place called Tuckaway in Crete. $30 for golf, cart, and range balls on GolfNow so if its not the best place just won't go back. My wife got her starter set today via UPS and has her final lesson next week. She really enjoys it, and her coach says she is doing very well. We'll play at least 9 holes on Father's Day weekend in Michigan.

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If you're going to Crete pay the extra $18 and play Balmoral Woods. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

If you want to heckle come on down, you're allowed to have spectators on the tour. I'll bring an extra golf glove so I can sign it and give it to you after my inevitable shank shows up and I blast one into the spectator

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I love my X-Hot Pro 3 Deep I got in the off season. Took me years to find a 3 wood I could hit off the tee
and off the ground and at 13 degrees it really goes when I hit it well. I never owned a Callaway club before
that and I have been impressed.

Really liking my Adams driving iron as well. It is essentially a hybrid 2 iron. I was so opposed to hybrids
in the past but really liking this Adams a lot. Another club I hit a lot off the tee and can also hit off the
ground if needed.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Good luck!!!

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

50-47-97 at Bowes Creek in day 1 of the Chicago Classic. Currently tied for 2nd to last.


Just a fucking terrible day. Played 9 holes at 2 over and the other 9 at 24 over. At one point I triple bogeyed 5 holes in a row. Got punished for every single bad shot I made. If I was in a bunker it was plugged or up against the lip. Or a couple times I managed to end up in the grass around the edges of the bunkers which was 3 feet thick. Instant triple bogey (the max score you can get on the tour). Pulled some shots left, all of them ended up in trouble. Greenside rough was burying balls and I had trouble getting it out all day. Drove the ball pretty good for the most part, lost 2 drives OB. It was just a case of 9 good holes and 9 bad holes, usually the result of one bad shot.

Might win a skin though. 175 yard par 3, uphill and into the wind, playing about 190. Pin tucked in the back corner over a trap. Took my first swing with my new 4 hybrid and put it 18 feet right of the pin. Downhill putt, rolled it in perfectly, turned into the side and died in the cup. If it didn't go in it probably would've stopped an inch past the hole, that's how perfect the putt was.

My 4 some was awful. All 4 of us are in the bottom 7 on the leaderboard.

I did putt well though.

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Played early yesterday. Just didn't have it and wasn't that into the round. Kinda going through the motions, I
guess I had other thing on my mind. Finished with an 84. Lost a few balls and took an 8 on a par 5. Still was
nice to get out and walk 18, it was beautiful out. Worst part was the mosquitos made their first appearance
and they were really awful.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

43-49 at Tuckaway on Saturday. Weird course. Fairways and "rough" were dry as a bone, but the greens were in really good shape. Almost every hole that wasn't a par 3 doglegged at least once, and there were several blind shots and/or shots to uphill greens.

It was fun to play something different, but some of the holes really just didn't make sense. Like #5...uphill blind tee shot, to a low valley that bends around water to the right, then uphill to the green. #17 went right a little bit, then left, then back to the right around a pond with a green way in the back 'corner' of the hole. It was just stupid at times. Despite that, played pretty well on the front 9, pretty poorly on the back 9. I did putt well all day, the only 3 putt wasn't even really a true 3 putt as I putted from the fringe from about 50' then pushed my 6' par putt to the right. Perfect weather though...just a little bit of wind, sunny, and almost no humidity. For $30 it was cool to try something different, but I wouldn't go back there.

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45-48-93 at Highlands of Elgin in Day 2 of the Chicago Classic. Another bad performance. Finished 41st out of 47 in the standings. But, did win $118 for my birdie on day 1.

Started out great yesterday with 3 straight pars. Then got to a par 3 and made a stupid mistake and hit an 8 iron instead of a 9. ended up over the green in the shit, instant triple bogey. Next 3 holes were all 3 putt bogeys. Followed that up with 2 pars and another triple where I hit my only bad drive on the front. So basically I hit 7 GIR on the front and was 9 over to show for it. On the back I lost concentration at the start and went triple, double, triple. Played the last 6 holes at 4 over. On the day I played 12 holes at 5 over and the other 6 at 15 over.

For the weekend I played 21 holes at 7 over and the other 15 holes at 39 over. Pulled several approach shots, I'm assuming I was too amped up and swinging too hard?

Just an awful performance.

I think when I do the next one I'm going to get a push cart and walk the course. See if that makes me play better, take away some of the distractions of cart golf.

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http://www.golfgleneagles.com/

They have a special on 4th of July week. From Monday June 30 thru Sunday July 6th, $100 gets you unlimited golf w/cart on either of their 2 courses. You can make tee times as well.

Anybody interested in doing this? I figure if you play at least 45 holes (preferably 54) over those 6 days you're really coming out ahead. I would probably play at least 36 holes over that weekend anyway. I live about 6 or 7 miles from the course, would be more than happy to have a little drinking/grilling session at my place after golf.

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Fine, I'll go play with myself then!

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The Organization That Invites & Then Berates Non-Attendees.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Got out early Saturday morning. Really struggled early getting off the tee and hitting greens. Not sure if
my timing was off or what but couldn't shake a big hook until the last 6 holes or so. Was in three bunkers
which was pretty rare. My sand game and overall chipping has been my achilles heel this season. I
haven't made the time to practice as much as I need. Anyway I carded an 81. Have plans to play this
Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday. Weather has been perfect on the weekends.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

50 + 41 = 91 at Broken Arrow (east & north course) on Saturday. Front 9 was pretty bad, three double bogeys, a snowman, and not a single par. Then went birdie, par, par, bogey, par, bogey, bogey, bogey, triple bogey. Should have been a much better round. Putted and chipped pretty poorly on the front which really did me in. Irons were pretty good all day and off the tee wasn't too bad. Outside of the triple bogey to the end the round, really was pleased with the way I played the back 9. Hit 5 greens in regulation on that back 9.

Have only broke 90 once so far this season (except for a par 66 course) so really not all that pleased with the season thus far. Will likely only do 9 holes this upcoming weekend (with the wife!) so hopefully I can shoot low to mid 40s for that.

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