Turkovic

Stepped back to the tips for only the 2nd time at my home course (Radrick Farms, Ann Arbor MI -6956 yds, 73.5/135) Shot a 78, what I consider the best round of my life, 8 fairways, 7 GIR, 27 putts. Wedge game was on today leading to 3 birdies and a few par saves I had no business getting.

Get the handicap down to a 6, which means breaking 80 more often then the 3 times I've done it in 3 years, this boils down to me hitting my 2 goals every time I tee it up: - No 3 putts - Nothing higher than a 5 on the scorecard - means I'm taking advantage of the par 5s and avoiding disastrous mistakes on the other holes. Even my with my rounds in the 70s I have never been able to accomplish both of those feats in the same round, the second is a lot harder than the first.

Under-rated: "Return from the Dead - Pt 1" - Bouncing back from a big number by birdieing the next hole. Good: "The One Up" - Playing with a Buddy, and following a great shot of his by sticking one inside of it from nearly the same spot. Better: "Return from the Dead - Pt 2" - Hitting a wedge shot close and making the putt to save par after a ridiculously bad tee shot. Goes double when playing match play with a buddy, talk about demoralizing. Best: "Return from the Dead - Pt 3" - Chip-in to save par when buddy thought he had the hole won, even more demoralizing then Pts 1 or 2.

For the year: Improve my putting - I'd like to start making more in the 4-8 ft range and drastically improve my lag putting, this is far and away the weakest part of my game. Each round I play this year, I have 2 main goals I keep in mind: - No 3 putts (focus on lag putting) - Nothing higher than a 5 on the card (take advantage of par 5's)

I'd actually have to say that is a pretty accurate representation, the 5-10 range fits me perfectly. I feel I hit the ball pretty solidly, with a lot of just misses that leave a lot of easy chips. Extending my "likely to make it" range and reducing 3 putts would probably save me 4 shots a round.

Sun Mountain Lightning

Depends on the season- Spring & Summer, nothing beats Bell's Oberon, Winter & Fall - Avalanche Amber Ale from Breckenridge Brewery in Breckenridge, CO. Had Yuengling while I was on a business trip and have to say that it was REALLY good, might be at the top if I could drink it more often.

228 yd Par 3, little down hill, into a slight breeze, hit 2H 7 inches from the hole! Made the putt, took my birdie and walked away smiling!

Got out for a quick nine after work, haven't had the time to squeeze in a full 18 yet. Shot a 37....with 2 3-putts and 2 missed birdie putts inside 7 feet!!!! Look out practice green here I come, I've got more rust to shake off. I hate wasting good ball striking rounds like that

A lot of the good courses in Michigan are in Northern Michigan, a good 3 hrs + from the Detroit area. If you're interested, the 2 University of Michigan courses are good tracks, both had been in the top 25 for years until recent newer courses pushed them out. Radrick Farms (the alumni course) was Pete Dye's first 18 hole Chamionship design and has routinely hosted qualifying for USGA events. The UMGC is the student course located directly across the street from Michigan Stadium. It is an Alister Mackenzie design that is a really fun track. You need to be playing with an alum to get on the courses, so if you're interested let me know.

I always take 2, my routine isd: - Pick my target - Take 2 smooth practice swings that brush the turf, no air only, no divots, each time looking at my target, (this helps me start to get centered on my goal) if the second one misses the turf I do two more. This helps me do two things 1.) It establishes my swing length for both short shots and when I'm stuck between clubs, and 2.) it helps me get a feel for the ground is with respect to my feet and my stance, this helps a lot on uneven lies. - Walk ~5 feet behind the ball and pick an intermediate target on the ground just in front of the ball - Walk up to the ball square the face up. - Square my feet up - Waggle and take one last look at the real target - Pull the trigger and hope for the best

I try to stay out of these things but couldn't keep quiet. 1.) The biggest difference between Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie is the mindset, whether it be the acutal person or their inner circle and that is simple. "Team Tiger" as it was called, put Tiger Woods becoming the best golfer in the world as the number one priority, most likely coming from Tiger's drive to be the best, and the money followed but was always treated as secondary. I thought I remember reading somewhere that Tiger held off building his new home in Florida until he could pay for it from the money he WON, not his endorsement deals, that spoke volumes to me about his mindset. Team Wie put the money first and didn't focus on developing Michelle as a player. You cannot deny her talent and her ability, but I question her drive. 2.) I really question the whole injury thing becuase not only was she out at the range the next morning, but ESPN reported she was at Bulle Rock(??) the site of the McDonald's this week playing a pracitce round! 3.) She has shown little or no respect to the other players. There have been complaints from several tournaments that she goes off into her own little world and completely ignores her pro-am partners who pay big bucks to be there. In addtion, since she is not a member of the tour she infuriates players by playing practice rounds in the week before an event when they are not allowed to. Call me, old fashioned but I would think the respectful and noble thing to do would be to abide by the same rules everyone else does.

Until Tiger wins 18 majors, Jack is the greatest, but when that happens (and it will...) it will be Tiger. Jack was a better driver, they are about even on iron play, Tiger has the much better short game, and they are both incredible clutch putters. Jack does lose points for being a Buckeye though :)

Nike Slingshot Tour 18 degree, great club.

That's correct all the TP versions have open faces, which is why I love my current driver (R5 Dual TP), for the record I switched from a Titleist 983E. My normal ball flight is a high draw, and my mis-hit an over draw, and the closed faces of the new draw biased drivers only compounded the problem. Plus TaylorMades offer the more conventional look you seem to be after. One thing to be careful of is the weights in the TM's, the R5 I got had draw bias weights in it from the factory, I switched it to neutral with the 2 extra weights it came with and haven't looked back.