Weather looks pretty bad this weekend but plan is to practice at Pine Meadow on Saturday. 6am tee time Sunday and I have
my first serious tournament on Monday in which the weather looks pretty good.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Golf league last night, shot a 43 with a triple and two doubles and a birdie.

Think I'm gonna sneak out this afternoon considering it might be the only chance to play all week and weekend due to the forecast.

Having some tee troubles now....a couple weeks ago I hit 13/14 fairways all with nice draws. Fast forward to last weekend and I was averaging 4/14 and fighting the slice again. Still keeping scores in the 80s since every other aspect of my game has been great, but making a living with punch out hooks and fades from trouble is not a recipe for long term success. Had one round where I shot an 83 with only 3 fairways and lipped out 6 putts.

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I attended a dinner in Milwaukee last night and just so happens there was a Golf Galaxy next door to the restaurant. I went in and browsed around and found a
set of irons I have had my eye on for some time for sale in the used clubs section. They were $350 off a brand new set. After looking them over and seeing they
were still in very good shape and only about a year old I asked if I could hit some in the simulator. I hit three 7 irons and three 4 irons. Clubs felt great but the
numbers off the machine really had me perplexed. The distances were way longer than my usual clubs and the ball speed didn't seem to jive with the distances
it was spitting out. I realize the clubs I play now are about 15 years old but I don't think technology has helped that much. Has anyone else found these machines
to be full of shit? The guy at the store claimed it was within a few yards of being accurate. I didn't buy the clubs but it was very tempting.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I have never even hit a golf ball in one of those machines.

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I had 20 yd gains on both irons with all 6 balls I hit. Something didn't seem right there.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I think the best way to approach the simulator is to bring your old clubs with you and hit them alongside the new clubs, that way you can compare and contrast which has better numbers without getting hung up on the numbers themselves.

I plan to do that with my driver next week.

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This makes sense. I didn't have my clubs with me and probably wouldn't have thought about it. I likely won't be in the market for new irons until the offseason anyway.
Did you ever make a final choice on a new driver or have it down to just a few?

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I tried out the Ping G30 and the Titleist 915D2 at the outdoor range at Chicago Bill's last week. I think I'm leaning to the 915, but I first want to hit the simulator with my old driver alongside to compare before pulling the trigger. Hopefully next week.

The way I'm hitting the ball off the tee in the last week I should either not waste my money on a driver or maybe the bad hitting means a new driver is exactly what I need. I'm leaning towards the former since I was able to hit my old driver perfectly well up until a week ago.

Hoping to get a lesson this weekend, swing has fallen off in a week.

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I looked at the G30s in person yesterday and it looked much different in my hands than in the magazines. It didn't fit my eye at all and I have liked the other Ping drivers I have
owned in the past.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

What iron model were you hitting? Game improvement and super game improvement irons have been decreasing loft and adding shaft length for a while, so that 7 iron is really a 6 iron for comparison purposes. Either that or the simulator is juiced (entirely possible).

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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

Is simulator Tiger's new nickname?

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Anybody manage to get out this weekend? I actually played on Saturday. Could not pass up $15.25 for Deer Creek on golfnow.com. Its a bit of a haul for me, but I figured even if I played 9 holes it was worth it. First 7 holes was great weather. Next few were pretty windy but not cold yet. 11th hole the rain started and didn't let up until about the 16th. I managed to play all 18, and shot a respectable 88 considering some of the conditions and trouble I found myself in off the tee by going right.

130 yard par 3 over water (playing more like 150+) that was dead into the wind and rain drops, put a 7 iron about 15' away and sank the birdie putt. Certainly the high light of the day.

Mizuno MP-15's. I just thought 195 yard 7 irons were a little ridiculous.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I got out on Sunday and shot an 83. I didn't hit the ball too badly but played the par 5's in 5 over which was unusual and had three 3 putts.
It was not a good omen going into my tournament yesterday morning. Played a course called Morningstar just south of Waukesha that was
built in and around an old gravel quarry. Pretty tough course, a lot of elevation changes, large greens and pretty darn quick as well. I hadn't played
in a state sanctioned tournament in Wisconsin since 1991 I think. The last one I played in, Mark Wilson was in the field for crying out loud.

As has been my M.O. in tournaments the last few years it was the day of the blow up hole. Started with two pars and then took a triple when
I hit a ball out of bounds off the tee and three putted the green. Made 3 more consecutive bogeys before parring out for a back nine 42.
Again started well with two pars on the front before bogeying the next two and making a double on a par three. Missed an eagle put on #7
by two inches short in the hole but sat at 9 over with two short par 4s left. Next tee shot in the water and made a double and then bogeyed
the last for an 84. I didn't hit the ball that badly but the two doubles, a triple and two three putts didn't help. Going in I thought a 77
would have been a good score and enough to qualify. Turns out a 78 would have made it. With 33 spots open to qualify it was a bitter pill
to swallow knowing I had it in me to shoot that with a few better swings. Overall it was good experience and shows me what I need to work
on before the State amateur qualifying on June 30th. I probably should have played a practice round at the course ahead of time but it is what
it is. The wind was also a factor. It was a 3-4 club wind most of the day. 67 won so looking at what I am up against in these things can be a
sobering experience.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Yes or at least walk the course.

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I admit it was pretty short sided on my part but they wanted over $70 for greens fees on the weekend and having paid $75 to get in the tournament I
was too cheap to lay out the money. It just comes down to me hitting a handful of bad shots in the end. I only used the driver twice all day.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

But if you feel more comfortable hitting those shots the chances of success are greater. All I am saying if you are spending the money to go and try to qualify then you need to spend the money to put yourself in the best chance to succeed.

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I will be playing the State Am course in the next few weeks.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

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$34 walking on the weekend and only 30 minutes away rather than an hour.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

You know you are my guy, but you are missing my point.

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I think I understand.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Good luck, Tbone.

Thanks Dave, I'll definitely need it. I have a month to work on things.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

my game has fallen apart in the last 2 weeks. All of the sudden, I can't stop hozzle shanking my drives. Never had that happen before. Had issues with shanks with other clubs, but never the driver. Problem is I can't stop diving at the ball. think this is all related to my back and inability to keep a proper spine angle. Shot a 50 yesterday in my 9 hole league.

Gonna head to the range today and work on it. If it doesn't get better it might be time to visit the doc for a steroid pack.

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Clearly the club is the problem, not you.

915 time!

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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

Might pull the trigger tomorrow on that...


Went to the range, it was like night and day. Back felt a lot better. Set up with a much more athletic stance with more knee bend, helped out tremendously...still fighting the slice, but not as bad and more importantly I"m hitting the center of the clubface again.

Decided to play 9 after the range session at Willow Hill. Shot a 39. 11 strokes better than yesterday. Gotta love the variance in my game...

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What a great story this is, and what awesome young man:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/ho ... 35301.html

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He shot an 88 yesterday. Nice story. A boy my step daughter went to prom with is tied for first going into the final round today.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Nice, I see you are hand picking her dates out nicely.

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