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I'm really not sure

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And Then It Happened

A few weeks ago, right before the really nice weekend we had, it happened. I was looking forward to getting in one last round without dressing up like an Eskimo. Sometimes at the height of our reveries, when our joy is at its zenith... when all is most right with the world... the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us. While climbing down from a lift at work, my right foot missed the last step and went to the floor bending my left in an awkward position. I spend the weekend resting it, but i
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

32

It Was the Pants…

I figured out why I was driving the ball so wall last week. I know most of you will think I'm crazy, but it had to be the pants. Every time I wear that pair of pants on the golf course, I drive the ball great. Now I need to figure out which shirt helps my iron shots. Socks might be the key to short game and underwear the key to putting. I think I am on to something here...
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

9

My Day at Valhalla

Today was my day at Valhalla. It was pretty chilly. After spending 20 minutes or so on the range with my earmuffs on to stay warm, I realized that it was going to be a rough day. Before @iacas gives me too much grief, the starter said that I was the only smart one out there. Thankfully it started to warm up halfway through the front 9. I would love to post a link to my round on Game Golf, but my unit would not stay on. I made sure it was charged before I left, so I guess another unit is now
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

4

First Eagle - 10 Year Anniversary

This memory came up on FB. 10 years ago I had my first eagle. I remember it vividly. My drive was pulled left into the rough behind a fairway bunker on #16. I hit a decent shot out of the spinach that landed short of the green and rolled on. I saw the ball disappear and assumed it rolled of the back. I looked for it for a few minutes and was getting mad when a thought formed in my head. Maybe... just maybe. Sure enough, it was in the bottom of the hole.
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

6

Killer Invites!

I got a call from my friend on Friday with some awesome news. We have invites to play Valhalla and Firestone CC in the next few months. That's the good news. The bad news is that my game is a total mess. I have only played a few times in the last 2 months and haven't been able to break 90. I plan to enjoy the course and the day no matter what, but I would hate totally stink up these nice courses. I tend to pick up my game when playing a nicer track, but I just don't have the goods right now. Now
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

8

25 Years and Counting

Today is a momentous occasion my friends. 25 years ago, my wife and I got married. She mostly puts up with my insistence to play this silly game called golf. I guess that makes her a keeper. She only accompanied me once to the golf course and rode along watching me play. This was about 21 years ago when she was pregnant with my son and overdue. I convinced her that riding in the golf art might help to induce the delivery of the baby. I really wanted an excuse to play golf, and that was the best
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

12

What I Miss - Rattling Sound

I was playing yesterday and putting into noodle filled cups, and it hit me out of the blue how much I miss the sound of a golf ball rattling to the bottom of the cup. It's such a distinct sound that marks the completion of "the hunt". It hit me when I "made" a 7' right breaking putt for par that tapped the flag stick and plopped lifeless onto the blue pool noodle. Normally I would give a little fist pump for saving a par like that, but it was almost depressing. I wonder if this is mentally killi
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

6

City of Dayton Closes 2 of 3 Golf Facilities

This has been discussed extensively in the Ohio Golf group the last few days, but the city of Dayton, OH decided to close 2 of its 3 golf facilities in light of budget cuts needed from the coronavirus pandemic. Kittyhawk is where I’ve played the most because it is close to my house and Madden GC is also closing. The city has been subsidizing these courses out of the general fund and they require significant capital investment over the next 5 years. The city will keep Community GC open since it t
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

1

Uncle Don

I want to take a moment to talk about my uncle Don. He is the guy who gave me my first swing lesson at a very young age. We were having a family cookout, and I had grabbed one of my days irons and was swinging it in the yard. He came over and showed me some things. I don't think my mother was too happy with him when I started making divots in her well manicured turf. This led to taking a few of my dad's "smiled" golf balls to the park up the street and hitting them back and forth every day. I wo
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

3

Down For the Count

It looks like I am out of commission for a while. I was playing in a Quota game yesterday, and my left foot started hurting me. By the time we made the turn, it REALLY started hurting. When I finished the 14th it was almost unbearable. I couldn't get any weight onto my front foot making it difficult to make a golf swing. I apologized to my partners and gracefully bowed out. I assumed that the neuroma on my left foot was acting up, but fortunately, that is not the case. Fortunately, I have a giga
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

11

Gatlinburg Getaway

I played in a quota game with @mcanadiens and Kittyhawk Men's Association Thursday 7/4, and did not make my quota by a long shot. I did get my second birdie of the year though. I had WAY too many blow up holes. View this round on GAME GOLF My wife and I took a long weekend in Gatlinburg, TN. Here are a few highlight photos from the trip. I did not take my clubs, but I would love to take another trip down there with them and play some of their courses.
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

10

Breakfast Egg Round (Scrambled)

What an interesting [partial] round I had last night. It's becoming very typical that I only play 5-6 holes when I go out. The older I get, the less patience I have. I simply could not get off the tee. I only had 1 decent drive on #12 which led to an almost birdie. The interesting part is how often I saved bogey/par when I was basically wasting shots off the tee. The first hole started with a low screamer that went a whopping 71 yards. I followed it with a Hybrid that missed clearing the bunker
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

3

Bizzarrer Week Memorial Day Tornado Outbreak

I thought last week was bizarre, but let me tell you about this week. I'm sure that many of you have heard about the tornado outbreak last Monday on Memorial Day. We now have 12 confirmed tornadoes in the Miami Valley. One was a strong EF-3 that did major damage. With all of this, there was only 1 fatality when a flying car crashed into a house killing an 81 year man who was sleeping. The most destructive of these was on a track to my neighborhood, but turned south a little about 5 miles west of
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

4

Bizarre Week

This week sure has been interesting. Monday started off on a high note when my Game Golf Live finally showed up. I got it charged up and connected to my phone. I bought it used from eBay for $40. It was missing some tags, but my clubs already have tags from my older unit. My first round attempt did not go so well. More on that later. Later that evening, my wife and I are driving up the street when she yells that the store we were driving past was getting robbed. I look over, and 2 guys in masks
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

6

Long Time

It's been a long time since I blogged on here. Life sure has a sick sense of humor. In October 2017, I was laid off from my job in FL and I moved back to Ohio begrudgingly. I spent most of the last year working on my house so that it will sell. There is still quite a bit to do, but it is getting there. My wife was diagnosed with cancer, but thankfully it had not spread. Working and taking care of a loved one can certainly suck the life out of you. With that being said, I bought a membership
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

4

Solid 3W Contact

I have struggled hitting my only FW metal from the deck for a while.The last few times I've played, I focused on contacting the ground at the point where the back of the meets the ground. It seems to have helped me make solid contact. I'm not sure why. Comments? Thoughts?
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

2

Loooong Day & Florida Golf

Yesterday was an excruciatingly long day on the golf course. It took nearly an hour to play the first 3 holes. My tee time was 12:18 PM. I looked at the clock as I left the course and noticed it was 6:17. O...M...G! To make matters worse, 2 women cut in front of the 3-some of men ahead of us on #10. I had enough and walked to the clubhouse and asked the guy where the starter was. He pointed to himself. When I told about the butt-in, he replied that he couldn't do anything because he was the only
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

17

Diamond Resorts International

This past weekend, I won tickets to the Diamond Resorts International charity golf tournament. It is a celebrity/pro competition here in Orlando to benefit Florida Children's Hospital. It's an interesting event with competitors from the LPGA and PGA (senior tours) along with celebrities. Some of the the celebs were really good, while others (Larry The Cable Guy) were not. My son and I followed Larry for a while on Saturday and he made pars and bogeys. The wheels apparently came off on the back (
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

3

Why?!!!

This post is dedicated to those shots that you desperately want back. Last Sunday, I crushed a drive to just short of the green. This is usually where I have a problem, but I hit a great pitch that rolled past the pin and left me with a 5-6’ birdie putt. It was downhill and I knew as soon as I pulled the putter back that it was too much and rolled it 5’ past. I lipped out the par putt and left myself with a tap in bogey. Why?!!! I didn’t care so much about making the birdie, but to take 4 stroke
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

12

Dear Santa

I have been a pretty good boy this year and practicing really hard, but of course you know that already. I’m still a bit creeped out that you see me while I’m sleeping and know when I’m awake though. I hope all the reindeer are doing well and the elves are working hard. It can’t be easy living in such a cold climate. Hopefully you at least have a golf simulator up there. Tell Mrs. Santa hello for me. I know it can be hard to find a good present for an adult, so I thought I would drop a few
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

5

Success

This showed up in my Facebook feed this afternoon, and like most things, it made me think of golf. In particular, it made me think of improving and swing changes.  I see it all too frequently. A new golfer hits a few good shots and thinks they have what it takes to play at a high level. I would be lying if said the same thoughts didn't go through my head almost 20 years ago when I started playing on a regular basis. I assumed that after a year or so of playing every weekend and hitting
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

4

Dissecting a Round

I’ve been looking for a quick way to analyze a round of golf to make sure that I am working on the right things. I looked at the LSW worksheet, but it was a bit more involved than I care for. I just want a quick way to analyze a round to see where I am leaking strokes. Here is a summary of the round I played yesterday.    Split the fairway with the driver although not exceptionally long and played a PW to pin high. Missed the birdie putt from about 10’ and tapped in for par.  P
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

22

Mentally Yours

There is a lot of discussions on here about the impact of the mental game. Opinions range from it being the most important thing about golf to it having no importance whatsoever. Bobby Jones said, “Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course... the space between your ears.” Ben Crenshaw said, “I'm about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That's the distance my left ear is from my right.” The movie Tin Cup is primarily about a psychologist who helps a driving ran
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

6

The Essence of Improving

When I was teaching drum lessons, students would complain that they weren’t getting better. I would ask how much they practiced since the last lesson and then listen to the excuses. I would tell them that if they really want to get better, they need to spend 3-4 days a week practicing for at least 15 minutes. Just taking lessons from me was not going to make them improve. The purpose of the lesson is for me to teach them what they need to practice, but practice is where things happen. I would ex
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

3

Man Up!

A lot of people are questioning the rules of golf these days. Just like many are calling for a simpler tax code here in the US (myself included), people think the rules are too complex to understand. I’m guessing that it isn’t so much that they are too difficult to understand than it is hard follow when you have to penalize yourself. The world we live in seems to be migrating further towards a philosophy of “Do whatever you want”. People don’t think that laws apply to them. We are self-centered
CarlSpackler

CarlSpackler

11
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    • dennyjones
      The Journey has begun

      By dennyjones · Posted

      That's impressive. It doesn't surprise me about Carl's being busy.   (I like Joe as an instructor).   As we turn into March, there are more golfers getting ready for the season.   I expect the golf courses to be busy also.   
    • GolfLug
      To the Brink and Back

      By GolfLug · Posted

      Brian, sorry I missed this post. So glad you came through ok. Hope we can get together and tee it up this summer on one of my work visits to the mitten. 
    • StuM
      My Plan and its Evolution

      By StuM · Posted

      I agree and should have looked at the calendar closer before I committed.  I guess I could call Joe and give up the freebie and stretch out the others.  I’m not sure of their policy but they are usually very client focused.
    • iacas
      My Plan and its Evolution

      By iacas · Posted

      It's your money… I'm just not sure I understand committing to paying for four but having them so rushed… I feel like paying for one a month might be a better long-term plan, even if you don't get the "fifth" lesson for "free."
    • StuM
      My Plan and its Evolution

      By StuM · Posted

      Yes, that is a concern since it will limit practice time between lessons.  I have worked range time into my calendar so there will be practice just not as much as I expect to need.  Joe and I discussed this and we will spend multiple lessons on similar aspects of the game and some of the lessons will be reinforcing the prior lesson, not necessarily introducing a new area to focus on.
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