Played my first round of the season Saturday at TPC Deere Run, wife got me a giftcard for Valentine's Day, rate was $65. Played the Blue tees and shot 80. Two horrible holes, 5 and 12. 5 is a par 4 that always gets me, took a 7 after hitting my drive right and punching out and then plugging one in the bunker. 12 is a par 3 and I blocked two balls into the hazard right of the green and walked off with an 8. Lost two balls, trying the new Callaway Chrome Soft, seemed to be fairly long and spun nicely.

New driver and fairway woods in the bag, TaylorMade Aero Burner TP with an extra stiff Aldila Rogue Black and Callaway X Hot 3 and 5 woods, worked pretty well. Hit 8 of 14 fairways and the 6 I missed, other than the tee shot on 5 were just off the fairway.

Course was in pretty good shape, cart path only and the greens had been rolled and mowed, rolled fairly well.

Looking forward to the season, ended last year on a good note and a good stretch of par or under par rounds.

Got out Saturday afternoon and the weather hovered just above 40 with a pretty decent breeze at times. Was comfortable all day though. I
purchased one of those thermal Under Armour shirts and it worked like a charm. Didn't have big expectations first time out but hit the ball
pretty well considering I hadn't played 18 since October. Made the turn in 37 with a couple lucky breaks and a few made putts. Back nine
the course evened things out with a couple bad breaks. I topped two drives partly because I had snot coming out of my nose in my downswing.
I also missed two four foot putts the last two holes and made bogey on each. Carded a 78. Only hit 4 fairways so have some work to do there.
9 greens so that was a decent start for the season. Greens were understandably slow but the course was really dry and I didn't see a lot of
damage from the winter. Probably won't get out until April now but was nice to get an early round in. I have a scramble tournament April 18th
and another May 2nd to work towards.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Not bad for the first round out, how did the driver feel on the course?

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

I only hit the driver a handful of times. It was a bit inconsistent. I hit it 6 times and hit one fairway. On the 11th I absolutely killed the thing and just
as it was starting to rise it hit a branch and went straight right into the woods. It will take a little getting used to but overall it felt good. Just need to
get used to it. I hit my 3 wood and 1 iron the rest of the time trying to get in decent positions for 2nd shots.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

That is a pretty solid score for first time out, in far less than pristine weather/course conditions.

I shot 82 at a par 66 course on Saturday. Some really good shots, a few really bad ones as well. Putted very well though. Only one 3 putt, and that was from a solid 50' out. I'm just inconsistent is all, early season growing pains. I was only planning on going to the range for a bit, but for a large bucket its $9, and it was only $15 to walk Stony Creek so I figured actually getting out to play would be more beneficial than hitting balls off the mats.

_________________

I see you've been around since 2006, but I think this is your firs post in the golf section. Welcome aboard! HOpe to hear more from you this season.

_________________

Had a great fitting/lesson yesterday with my buddy the golf pro. I met him at Club Champion on Ohio and Franklin...such a pleasure going downtown on a Sunday with no traffic. Parked right in front of the building.

CC is pretty amazing. They have every club head and every type of shaft you could imagine. Got to hit the JPX 850 Forged with several shafts. Turns out my club path is WAY inside which is why I am getting so many hooks and draws. Rather than try to fix my swing he decided to try taking me from my regular steel flex to a very stiff steel flex. Sure enough, I stopped drawing the ball and instead was hitting everything dead straight, but off to the right a bit. Much more consistent and predictable. Only problem with CC is they don't carry the manfacturer stock shafts so he put me in a comparable stiff shaft. I'm gonna go to Golfsmith tonight and hit the same club with the S400 shaft to see how it goes. IF all goes well he is gonna contact his mizuno rep and see if he can get me a deal on a set.

Then I got a lesson for the driver. Last season I lost the ability to draw the ball. He made two changes to my swing, one small and one massive. For one, I am striking the ball on the downswing..fine for irons but not for the driver. So he had me trying to stay on my right foot and hang back on the ball. Then the big change...he took my top hand and turned it inside quite severely, making it virtually impossible for me to hit the ball with an open club face. Sure enough, every drive after that on the simulator was 250-260 down the middle.


Looking forward to getting on the range and getting some practice in with these changes. Also looking forward to getting those irons, hopefully soon.

_________________

Never played there but that sounds like a solid first round of the season.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Oh they carry the stock shafts all right, they just want to put you into the premium shafts. They get their clubs from the manufacturer w/ the stock shafts and it's not uncommon for the stock shafts to end up on eBay. They push the whole spining/flowing of shafts, which may or may not make much of a difference. It is nice to be able to hit all the different head/shaft combinations, but I think when it comes irons, you definitely want to go through an outdoor fitting to see ball flight and, more importantly, turf interaction. Cool Clubs in Highland Park and Green Grass Fitting at St. Andrews get good reviews.

The best part of the Club Champion fitting for me was the SAM lab putting part. Seeing visuals and measurables of your stroke and path is really enlightening.

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

-Hank Kingsley

Developed a brutal snap hook the last couple of years and fixed it with the tip at the 4:00 mark of this video. Couldn't believe how bad my grip was since like age 12.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdSqf-ckHdU

_________________
Soccer 1,2,3
Spanish Honor Society 1,2,3,4
Forensics 1,2,3,4

"Smiles with Nostrils"

"...no Hmong, go find some blacks"

That's the point, they don't carry the stock shafts. They figure that if you want the stock shaft you don't need to be going to CC to get that, you can just go to Golfsmith.

I agree about going outside, but that doesn't appear to be an option this time of year. Cool Clubs in HP has outdoor fitting? I can't find any info on that location.

_________________

I know they did when I inquired in 2013.

Good to hear you got a fix for the slice. That had to have been maddening to deal with.

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

-Hank Kingsley

Just heard from my buddy that I can have those clubs for $625 cash money They retail for $999.99 before tax. SO basically I was just given the green light to go out and get that $500 new Titleist driver I want.

_________________

A buddy texted me at 6:30 this morning that he and his brothers were going out to play. I jumped out of bed and met them out at Gleneagles, White/Woodlands course. Chilly, but certainly not unbearable. Had my winter hat off by the 3rd hole, and would have been fine in short sleeves for the back 9. Took a few holes to loosen up and I flubbed a couple of chips early, but played the final 5 holes of the front 9 at -1, for a nice 42 on the front. 9th hole par 5, I had popped my drive up and barely made the fairway, so my 3rd shot is 188 yards out. I took a 4 iron as it was slightly up hill and into the wind, hit it about as pure as I can, and it ended up about a foot from the cup for a tap in birdie. Easily the shot of the round for the group. I've stuck some shots pretty close to the pin, but I don't think I have ever been that far out and ended up with a tap in.

Kinda lost it with my driver on the back 9 as I was in a bit more trouble, but my short game was pretty damn good for the most part. Got up and down with my 60 degree and a putt 5 different times-- twice for par and 3 times to save bogey-- on the back 9. 17th hole was about a 170 yard par 3, but it was probably playing more like 190 as it was into the wind. Put my trusty 4 iron 20-22' from the pin, about 10' off the green. I ended up pulling the pin, and one of the guys jokingly said, "Oh look at Phil Mickelson over here." I ended up sinking the putt . Two birdie rounds are pretty rare for me. Bad shot into a bunker followed by a poor putt on 14, and a horrible tee shot lead to a double bogey on 18, but all in all I was pretty pleased to shoot 44 on the back.

Couple lessons I had really are paying off. I'm hitting and chipping the ball better so far this year than at any point last year. I can only hope that I get a job soon so I'm able to play a couple of times a month to keep my game in check. Except the final tee shot of the day, every single one of my irons (non-chip shot wedges included) was really a pure hit. I keep thinking if I am hitting the ball this well in March, there is some real potential for some killer scores this coming summer.

_________________

I'm playing Friday and Saturday morning. Of course Friday I am off work and it is the coldest day of the week. Thinking about going to
practice putting and chipping after work tonight.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Amanda Dufner is back on the market.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-ce ... g-divorce/

_________________
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

I am not sure what you all would call my statement here but it seems being a golf wife can be a career opportunity taught in some schools for girls with looks.

_________________
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Boobs

_________________
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

Now that he's single, Dufner might have a new fan in the gallery:

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

-Hank Kingsley

Now I understand 1) he is playing like shit and 2) why he lost all of that weight.

I want to know the rest of the story though.

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

Frank, you're game is coming around.
Might be time to arrange a T-Bone vs Frank "battle at the bulge" type of event

I would gladly be a 3rd/4th in this type of thing. We need to have an annual "king of CSFMB" type of event

While you guys are doing that: me, cross check and dons piracy will battle it out for 100th place on the board.

_________________

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

-Hank Kingsley

This needs a little more information.

_________________
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

It would be fun to do some kind of a CSFMB event with an ugly jacket going to the winner. Something from the Craig
Sager collection perhaps.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Is that her in the dark hair? Also, the guy in the green shorts is holding himself, and the guy in the Cubs hat is trying really hard to suck in his gut.

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

They never seemed like a proper couple. She's 10 years younger than him and a notorious party girl. She was none too pleased a few years back when Dufner talked about retiring w/in 5 years.

She's a gold digger.

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

-Hank Kingsley

Sounds like she got $2.5 million for her 3 years of service, not bad.

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

Went to practice last night after work and the women's golf team from Carthage College were out there. Some nice looking lady golfers in that program.
Frustrating practicing on shaggy greens, almost a waste of time but it was still fun.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Look at the guys in that pic. Even the young Ben Finfer look alike is nothing special. Maybe she has a thing for fat golfers with money.

Hawger, all we have to do now is get us a shit ton of money!

_________________

Well, do you have any ideas?

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins