Read some good things about the new Ping drivers. I know when I played mine in the early 2000s
they were a lot of fun to hit. Forgiving and they would go for days.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

What course did you play in Rockford? I'm guessing Aldeen?

Ingersoll. I still go up there quite often to play with high school buddies.

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Tremendous practice green session before work today. The TaylorMade Ghost Stingray putter is back in the bag. The Ping was okay on slow greens, but the TM is 350g at 34.5", plus my preferred grip. I experimented with a few different grips in the off-season - nothing felt as good as the Winn ProX 1.18.

Distance control and aim are right on again.

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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

Weather looks iffy at best for Saturday. Figures

Have an early morning tee time so hopefully there is a 4-5 hour window before noon that allows for some play.

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Yeah, looks like a pretty constant rain up here north of the border but I also see mostly light green radar only. Might be tempted to put on the
rain gear and try to get 18 in but I'll decide later in the week. Sunday looks dry but cool for us so that appears to be a go.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

The forecast is looking worse and worse for Saturday

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Furious will be playing the Links of TBD Sunday afternoon.

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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

Heading out both mornings. Going to be cool and maybe a little wet but should miss rain tomorrow morning. Might get a little on Sunday early.
Just glad it is going to work out both days.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Hoping to maybe get a window for 9 holes in the AM. I don't really care about the cooler temps, but I am not playing with rain on top of that. Overall, the weekends of 2018 have been absolutely brutal weather wise.

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Other than getting off to a slow start, the weekends have been fine the last month. I've been out ten times on weekends this year which is tracking
3 rounds behind last year. Hope you find that window for 9.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

They all cant be Chamber of Commerce type days Franklin!!!

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CSFMB: Home of the small minded

I had a slow day yesterday and after looking at the weekend forecast decided to leave the office early for a round. Couldn't make any putts and scuffled my way to an 85.

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Rain gloves and proper rain gear are a must.

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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

Wet and chilly weekend but got in 18 both mornings. Lots of standing water yesterday. Moved up a tee box so that 7000 yds wouldn't
play like 7300. Both rounds had some hiccups on the front side but played very solid on the back both days. Things looking up overall.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Played with the head pro of the golf complex I belong to yesterday. Got to chatting about golf shoes and I told him that I really liked the ones
I have been wearing but that the last pair I bought started falling apart and the sole was coming apart. He told me to bring them in and that
they should be lifetime warranty. He's going to help me send them back to Foot Joy and he said they usually send back brand new comparable
shoes. Definitely worth a try.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Got out Saturday in between the rains. Shot 86 (39-47) at Coyote Run. There wasn't many people around, so I played a second ball from the back tees on the back 9 and shot 44 with that. Only two real wasted shot. I really tried to concentrate on a smooth, 80% swing. The ball went plenty far enough. Overall, Saturday was by far the best I hit the ball this season. Despite the rains, the greens were still pretty quick and outside of a few low areas and in the rough, there was not much water at all on the course. Was in great shape.

The winds really kicked up on the back 9. As a single, they started me on #10 so I could get around quick. #6 is a par 5 with a creek running before the green, so its difficult to get there in two anyway, but I hit a really good drive, and went 4 iron, 9 iron, wedge into the green. The wind really held the ball up. Then #7 come back along the previous hole. A par 4 with water long and left and being down wind, I hit a 3 iron off the teem. It had to go at least 240 yards. I'm sure there was a lot of roll, but I couldn't believe I hit an iron that far even if it was wind aided. Chipping and putting was very good (only two 3-putts). Had two birdies and 7 pars overall. Excellent 27 holes in scores, fun, and confidence in my swing going forward.

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Ravisloe on Friday with Franklin.

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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

REALLY tempted to bug out of here about 10am and use a half day to play golf over at Shepherds Crook. Been itching to get out over there
and looks like a perfect day.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

My clubmaking guy at the PGA Superstore recommended grip solvent for cleaning my Iomic Sticky 2.3s. The results were pretty incredible - these things are like new again and I'm on my 3rd season.

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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 and played Shepherds as a birthday gift to myself yesterday afternoon. I play 90% of my rounds early in the morning and
so I really had to hustle to get to the course and make my tee time and felt a little out of sorts. Not really an excuse for my uneven
play. Course was in beautiful shape although they had taken on 4 inches of water since early in the week and it still hadn't drained so
it was very wet. A couple of the pins were in ridiculous spots, even for that course as well. Hit 12 fairways for the day which was very
solid but only 5 greens as my irons were just awful yesterday. 40-40 - 80. As always I highly recommend this track if you are in the
far north burbs and like a links style course. In the summer these are some of the most challenging greens around. It's a nice wide
open layout and makes you hit some pretty fun shots into challenging green complexes.

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Rush(ing) sucks, Tbone. Never a good feeling when you are late to the first tee.

Really looking forward to tomorrow. I haven't played Ravisloe in a couple of years, and with recent rains coupled with it being somewhat early in the season, I am expecting to be in great shape. Hoping I can keep most of my drives in play and when I get into one of the MANY tuff bunkers at that place, I can get out in one swing. A sub 95 score would be excellent.

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I usually like a good 30 minutes to putt and stretch and get my mind right. I didn't decide to leave work until 10:30. Had to run home to let dog
out, change clothes and get to the course to tee off by 11:30. I paid and hit two or three putts by 11:25 before hitting the tee. The nice thing
about that course is that the first couple of holes I can hit 1-iron off the tee as they are pretty short. Just never could get anything going. I only
made two pars in a row twice, otherwise it was bogey-par-bogey-par. Hard to get any momentum that way. For as well as I got off the tee I should
have played at least 3-4 shots better. Of the 12 shots hit in the fairway off the tee, I only hit the green 4 times. That hurts. I've been keeping
all my stats since 2013 and I've only hit that many fairways one other time the past 5 years.

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Yep. A bit of warm up and a good frame of mind is key for a solid round. I've been there before, where you rush and then you don't seem right by the 3rd or 4th hole. By that point, I've probably already hit a couple of poor shots.

On weekends I like to arrive at least an hour early to hit a few balls, and chip & putt. When I go off at first light, I'll generally play a two ball scramble the first 2 holes to get loosened up. I'll take a couple-three practice putts on the first and/or second green as well to get the speeds down.

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Shot a 79 on Saturday despite a triple bogey on a par 3 and taking a double bogey on #18 from 150 yds out in the middle of the fairway off
the drive, and two three putts. Could have played yesterday but decided to stay home. My guys got the golf in before the rain came at
about 9:30 but I was happy with my decision.

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Got to Ravisloe on Friday with plenty of time to hit the range and short game areas. Furious and I were paired with a pair of Kevins. Much better playing partners than the last time he treked south. The course was in tremendous shape. Plenty of sand in the bunkers, fairways were mowed and were near pristine, the greens rolled true and were nearly free of ball marks, the rough was a bit hard to hit out of, but not impossible to get the club on the ball for the most part. I started out hitting the ball pretty well. A couple of bad chips drove up the scores on a couple of the first holes, but I was able to right the ship with back to back pars on the par 3's of the front 9. Then the wheels started to fall off. Shanked a couple of drives, topped a couple of others, chunked a few irons. It was pretty poor. Sort of pulled it together with a stretch of bogey-par-bogey-par-bogey on 13-17, but ended with a triple in the rain. Shot a disappointing 103, however given the course, the company of the group, a couple of cold Founders, and the weather (for 15 of the 18 holes) it was still a good day overall. About 2 weeks ago I had found a $45 hot deal time which is an absolute steal for that course.

Was able to rebound with a 79 at Stony Creek (par 66) on Saturday. On a whim, teed off with a buddy and 5pm and we were able to get all 18 holes in. Lost a ball on #15 and three putted two of the final three greens as the beer was starting to get to me so I should have shot more like a 76. Had enough good drives and crisp iron shots to get some confidence back in my game after a somewhat woeful display on Friday.

Furious loved Ravisloe. He struggled out of the gate, but by about hole 8 turned on the jets and I think he shot a 40 (41?) on the back 9 with two birds. We both would love to get out and play that course again this season.

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yea, Ravisloe is a great old time Donald Ross course. A real unique gem in Illinois.


Tough course, but not unfair. I had one of my best rounds ever there a couple years ago when I shot a 77. The next time I went out there a month later I shot a 106.

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Absolutely a scorable course. Furious and I both had a good amount of unforced errors that put us in position for big numbers. It's a thinking course for sure.

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What a great golf experience. I'm ready to get back there soon.

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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

I'm intrigued. Is there just one set of back tees or do they have multiple tees? No scorecard on the website.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami