Jump to content
Check out the Spin Axis Podcast! ×
IGNORED

2024 TST Birdie Challenge


Recommended Posts

  • Administrator
Posted

Practiced on the front nine today (tried to birdie #8 but just made a par, was still somewhat practicing), and then played a bit more on the back nine.

  • Missed a 25-footer on 10.
  • Forgot I needed 11 still but almost made a birdie there.
  • Narrowly missed a birdie on 14 after a 54° approach.
  • Reached 15 in two with a driver and a hybrid to the back fringe. Missed the eagle putt, tapped in for birdie.
  • Missed a 20-footer on 16.
  • Forgot I needed 17 and didn't putt. Just hit some chips to practice.
  • Hit a decent drive on 18, a decent 8I to 18 feet, and drained it to knock that hole off the list too.

Not a bad day.

  • Thumbs Up 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator
Posted

Birdied #13 at Quail Brook, which is new. Blocked tee shot right which ended up being fine because I didn't hit it well enough to reach the fescue. Had 110 to the flag and was ready to hit a 3/4 GW to it (even tagged the club) but felt the wind pick up behind me so I decided to club down to the SW and hit it to 4'.

Lipped out a 15-footer on #17 for birdie for a tap-in par that also would have been new.

  • Thumbs Up 1

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Played my first round at my Home Course last weekend.  No birdies, but got 6 pars on the card, including three in a row from 15-17.  For me, a realistic goal is to Par every hole this year, so this was a good start, including the #2 and #3 handicap holes.

- John

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

I need… 1, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, and 17.

Today I:

  • Hit it in a bunker on 1 and didn't hole out (par).
  • Hit it just short of the green on 8 and didn't hole out (par).
  • Hit a 9I to 10 and just missed the birdie putt.
  • Missed the green on 11 and didn't chip in (bogey).
  • Hit 14 to 20 feet and didn't make the birdie.
  • Hit 16 to 15 feet and didn't make the birdie.
  • Didn't chip in on 17 after an indecisive second shot (par).

So… a lot of near misses. Giving myself plenty of chances lately. I'll get 'em.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Got a birdie on 11 yesterday. Had opportunities to fill a few more out (1 and 16 especially), but couldn't cash the 10 footers. 

6 holes left - 1, 4, 5, 13, 16, and 17. 

  • Thumbs Up 1

-- Daniel

In my bag: :callaway: Paradym :callaway: Epic Flash 3.5W (16 degrees)

:callaway: Rogue Pro 3-PW :edel: SMS Wedges - V-Grind (48, 54, 58):edel: Putter

 :aimpoint:

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator
Posted

Birdied #14 at Green Knoll but already had it on my composite list. Missed a 6-footer on #10 that would have been new.

I’m definitely making birdie at a higher rate this year than any other but it still feels like the composite list will be hard to complete. Still lots of golf ahead, though.

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

I bumped off 16 today during a playing lesson. I drove it between the two bunkers on the left, chipped it to three feet, and made the putt.

I birdied #15 too, so I'm now -6 the last six times I've played it. Hit another 5I to it today.

Played the whites on 1, 8, and 10 so those didn't count. Pulled it left on 11 and almost chipped in. Hit a PW to 12 feet on 17 and just missed the putt. Hit my tee shot on 14 to the back of 15 tee, so no dice there. 😄

1 8 10 11 14 17

  • Thumbs Up 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

I need… 1, 8, 10, 11, 14, and 17.

Today…

  • On 1, my alarm went off mid backswing, but I was playing a blue SuperSoft anyway and hit it okay, but just moved my ball up to where Sculley's was a bit as we were pressuring a threesome that jumped out ahead of us.
  • On 8, I hit a good 3W, a really good 9I, and lipped out the 12-footer.
  • On 10… good drive, god-awful second. Chipped to four feet.
  • On 11… pulled left onto a slope, chipped just past the hole to four feet.
  • On 14, left the 50-foot putt three feet short.
  • On 17, good 3W, good 9I, pulled the putt a few inches, so missed it a few inches left from 16 feet.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted (edited)

Knocked out 1 and 4 yesterday. Had a good look at 5 from about 15 feet, but just missed it on the high side. I also got an eagle on number 7 with a hole out from 177. Pretty good day! 

I need 5, 13, 16, and 17 to complete it. But I am now a little worried about needing to play 18 to get those last 3, especially if I'm still missing them in, like, October.

Edited by DeadMan
  • Like 1
  • Thumbs Up 1

-- Daniel

In my bag: :callaway: Paradym :callaway: Epic Flash 3.5W (16 degrees)

:callaway: Rogue Pro 3-PW :edel: SMS Wedges - V-Grind (48, 54, 58):edel: Putter

 :aimpoint:

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator
Posted

Birdied #7 at Quail Brook which is new. Flared my drive right onto the 6th fairway and couldn’t see the green. Played PW over the trees to the middle and the hole happened to be there. Hit it to 3’ and made the putt.

Missed a 3-footer for birdie on #14 though but I have that one already.

  • Like 1
  • Thumbs Up 1

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

Knocked out #11 yesterday. Made about a 12-footer.

  • Thumbs Up 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

Let's see if I can add any to the away course today… birdies on 9, 11, 15, and 18. The only one of those that counts is 15. I had the others. On the away, I still need… 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 10. Dang, I'm killing it on the back nine. Not so much on the front, ha ha.

  • Thumbs Up 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator
Posted

I still need 1-4, 10-12, and 15-17. I lipped out a 12-footer on 11 today, so just missed getting that one. I’ve already birdied the hardest four holes by handicap and none of the remaining holes feel unobtainable; I have haven’t gotten it done.

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

Birdied 5 at Cog Hill #4, so knocked that one off the list.

  • Thumbs Up 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

Made 7 birdies today, so you'd think I'd knock some off…

  • Horrible start on 1 today, so bogeyed it.
  • HIt a super high, floating 3W that left 195 in to a front pin on #8. Slightly thin toed it… to 12 feet and made the putt. So, knocked that one off.
  • Had about 30 feet on 10 after a driver up the right rough and an 8-iron, just missed.
  • Hit it in the left bunker on 14, didn't hole the bunker shot.
  • Hit it right over the flagstick on 17 to about 12 to 15 feet. There was an old brown ball mark right on my line that even if I repaired I didn't think I could get truly flat (sometimes they kinda turn into depressions), so I went just on the right side of it with very little pace and… missed it just high.

So a successful day for at least getting #8. Lotta chances on the other holes, too. They'll come.

  • Thumbs Up 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

After not managing to birdie it over the summer when we had all the run, birdied the long par 5 14th last week in midwinter .

Only the other long par 5 12th to go, Could be waiting awhile  😀 

You have to keep your second shot left of the trees on the right at the dip.

From the middle of the fairway, the big trees on the left of the green block about 70% of it ,  they are tall, I can clear them with a wedge ,but can’t get that close at this time of the year.

This green was originally a par three  to the right of the fairway . The original Green was just 100 yards past the dip , you then walked about 70 yards to the right to the tee and you could fire right through the gap to the par 3.

No longer the case as  most of it is behind the treesIMG_5760.thumb.jpeg.b133455afa7263743953e12ebf62c149.jpeg

  • Thumbs Up 1
Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator
Posted

Played Green Knoll today and added two new holes to the composite sheet.

  • Pushed my drive right on #10 into the rough on #18, had about 105 left to a front pin (left from my angle) and hit it to 3'.
  • Hit a perfect draw off the tee and ended up having 80 yards left to a front left pin. Was pulling my wedges slightly today so I aimed a little bit right and almost holed it. Had <1' for a tap-in birdie.

Lipped out a 4-footer on #1 for birdie, which not only would have been new, but would have closed out the front 9 for me. On the composite sheet I have #1, #12, and #15 left to go.

  • Thumbs Up 1

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Administrator
Posted

Birdied #1 today: slightly toe-drew a driver to the left center of the fairway, but had only 142 to the back flag. Chunked a 9I… that landed short of the green (I was playing it to land 10 yards on, so not too bad), and… it bounced up to just inside three feet. 😛 

I don't feel bad about it because I've lipped out a number of putts there after two very solid shots. Sometimes the Golf Gods pay you back. Karma is a god, Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend, Karma's a relaxing thought, Karma is a cat.

  • Thumbs Up 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    PlayBetter
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FitForGolf
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-20%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack/FitForGolf, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope. 15% off TourStriker (no code).
  • Posts

    • Day 470 - 2026-01-13 Got some work in while some players were using the sim, so I had to stick around. 🙂 Good thing too, since… I hadn't yet practiced today until about 6:45 tonight. 😛 
    • That's not quite the same thing as what some people messaged me today.
    • Day 152 1-12 More reps bowing wrists in downswing. Still pausing at the top. Making sure to get to lead side and getting the ball to go left. Slow progress is better than no progress.  
    • Yea, if I were to make a post arguing against the heat map concept, citing some recent robot testing would be my first point. The heat map concept is what I find interesting, more on that below. The robot testing I have looked at, including the one you linked, do discreet point testing then provide that discrete data in various forms. Which as you said is old as the hills, if you know of any other heat map concept type testing, I would be interested in links to that though! No, and I did say in my first post "if this heat map data is valid and reliable" meaning I have my reservations as well. Heck beyond reservations. I have some fairly strong suspicions there are flaws. But all I have are hunches and guesses, if anyone has data to share, I would be interested to see it.  My background is I quit golfing about 9 years ago and have been toying with the idea of returning. So far that has been limited to a dozen range sessions in late Summer through Fall when the range closed. Then primarily hitting foam balls indoors using a swing speed monitor as feedback. Between the range closing and the snow flying I did buy an R10 and hit a few balls into a backyard net. The heat map concept is a graphical representation of efficiency (smash factor) loss mapped onto the face of the club. As I understand it to make the representation agnostic to swing speed or other golfer specific swing characteristics. It is more a graphical tool not a data tool. The areas are labeled numerically in discrete 1% increments while the raw data is changing at ~0.0017%/mm and these changes are represented as subtle changes in color across those discrete areas. The only data we care about in terms of the heat map is the 1.3 to 1.24 SF loss and where was the strike location on the face - 16mm heal and 5mm low. From the video the SF loss is 4.6% looking up 16mm heal and 5mm low on the heat map it is on the edge of where the map changes from 3% loss to 4%. For that data point in the video, 16mm heal, 5mm low, 71.3 mph swing speed (reference was 71.4 mph), the distance loss was 7.2% or 9 yards, 125 reference distance down to 116. However, distance loss is not part of a heat map discussion. Distance loss will be specific to the golfers swing characteristics not the club. What I was trying to convey was that I do not have enough information to determine good or bad. Are the two systems referencing strike location the same? How accurate are the two systems in measuring even if they are referencing from the same location? What variation might have been introduced by the club delivery on the shot I picked vs the reference set of shots? However, based on the data I do have and making some assumptions and guesses the results seem ok, within reason, a good place to start from and possibly refine. I do not see what is wrong with 70mph 7 iron, although that is one of my other areas of questioning. The title of the video has slow swing speed in all caps, and it seems like the videos I watch define 7i slow, medium, and fast as 70, 80, and 90. The whole question of mid iron swing speed and the implications for a players game and equipment choices is of interest to me as (according to my swing speed meter) over my ~decade break I lost 30mph swing speed on mine.
    • Maxfli, Maltby, Golfworks, all under the Dicks/Golf Galaxy umbrella... it's all a bit confounding. Looking at the pictures, they all look very, very similar in their design. I suspect they're the same club, manufactured in the same factory in China, just with different badging.  The whacky pricing structure has soured me, so I'll just cool my heels a bit. The new Mizuno's will be available to test very soon. I'm in no rush.  
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.