Report

Day 4: 12/13/2024 Okay, so I've already put in more mirror work on my priority piece today. It's starting to feel better. It's starting to look less rigid. I'm continuing to use the station right outside my office so every time I go in or out I can do a slow-mo PPJ in front of a mirror and I think that's really helping.  Tomorrow, I might dare to get out to the garage and try it on the mat, hitting some balls into the net.  Oh, and I almost forgot. I also rolled some putts around for like 40 minutes at The PGA Superstore. 😜

I’ve been playing a golf tournament in Vegas for the last 15 years or so. The tournament itself has been going on for 27 years straight (minus the Covid year). Every year the tournament has been played in late April or early May.  Our tournament holds up to 72 golfers. We usually get a mix of pretty much the same 100 or so guys that make up the field of 72. With the tournament having been going on for so long, some of the guys are getting pretty long in the tooth and starting to drop out. So, we are on a bit of a membership drive right now. I’m looking for guys who would be interested in playing in the tournament.  The tournament this year is May 1st through May 4th.  Here's our format:  We play off our handicap (GHIN is best), we do make some accommodations for folks who don’t have a GHIN. You can also play off your handicap as established by playing in the tournament itself. To do that you obviously have to have played in the tournament in the past.  We play off a quota system. Your handicap will be adjusted daily depending on your play.  We play (3) 18-hole rounds for a 54-hole tournament with the individual quota scoring system.  We also play a practice round and a horse race. Neither the practice round, nor the horserace are required, but the horserace is so much fun, you’d be crazy not to do it.  The Tournament Location: Since 2015 the tournament has been held at Bear’s Best Golf Course, LV Nevada. Before 2015 it was held at Primm Valley Resorts. This will most likely be our last time at Bear’s Best, as Bear’s Best is going private. We are looking at Paiute among other places for 2026. If you join this year you can be part of the decision making process for where to go in 2026.  The Tournament Costs: Fees: $565, of that $65 is administrative costs, which goes to running the tournament. $500 goes into a prize pool. All that money gets paid back out. Normally the top 20 or so get paid out, with the winner getting about 15% of the total purse.  The three rounds of golf cost $600. Which is $200 per round at Bear’s Best. That’s a negotiated price as during the time we play the tournament, a normal round at Bear’s Best would be $300/ea.  The Horserace costs $150. Money well spent. $100 of that goes into the prize pool (the top 5 teams get paid). The other $50 goes to Bears best to shut down the front 9 for us for a couple of hours on Thursday Night. We get the whole thing to ourselves, with a drink cart as well.  If you are interested in participating let me know via a message here on TST. If you want to participate and also bring another golfer/friend let me know as well. I’d have to vouch for you and your friend’s ability to play, keep a proper score, keep pace, have a handicap that isn’t a sandbagged HC, not cheat (there’s some money on the line, so we fully expect proper tournament play.)  If you want more information about the tournament, course, format etc and you think others would like the information too, feel free to respond to this post. There’s probably information I forgot to put in here. (Possibly a lot of information.) If you are interested in getting into the tournament, and playing, message me and we’ll work it out. We have a website on which you can sign up, as well as get additional information.   

Okay, as I mentioned I was planning on being near the PGA Superstore and I popped in with the sole purpose of rolling putts with the LAB putter. I walked in. The saleslady said "How can I help you?" I said "I want to putt with the LAB putter."  I tried two models: The DF2.1 and the DF3. To me they felt about the same. The DF3 can pick up a ball, so that's cool. And would actually be the reason I'd pick it over the DF2.1.  I did not like the forward leaning grip thing at all. Not even a little bit. The saleslady told me that a lot of folks don't like the "press grip". Then she said something interesting. She said words to the affect that the press grip also ruins the "lie Angle Balance" thing. She said kind of what Jim Harrington said. (I'm paraphrasing here) She said that "the revealer" works based on the axis of the shaft, but then they go and install the grip on a different axis, so, it wouldn't actually work if you put the putter in the revealer based on the axis of the grip, or something like that. She went on to say she thinks that's one of the reasons why they started offering grips which keep the same axis as the revealer. So, you can get them without the shaft leaning forward and with a more traditional grip.  Anyway, if I were to get one, I'd definitely avoid the goofy "press grip".  I tried a few of them and the one I liked best I'd describe as okay. I'm not really a feel player, but in my opinion, they don't feel good. With your eyes closed it was really difficult to feel how well you hit it. The saleslady suggested when I use it, I should look at the hole for short putts. I tried that and immediately decided that's a terrible idea. This is most definitely a putter where you need to look at the ball when you hit it.  But does it work? ... I have no idea. I picked up a PING PLD and a Tour Edge Wingman just to compare it. I noticed no difference in my ability to hit my line or control the distance. I spent about 10 to 15 minutes with each putter, rolling balls down a line on the green, trying to sink short and long putts, lagging up to targets etc...  (Granted I performed no scientific tests, just tried to roll a bunch of putts.) I did notice that both the PING and The Tour Edge "felt" way better. The Ping is $400, the Tour Edge is $129. The LAB is $450 to $500 for an off the shelf model and $620 for a custom built model.  Here's what I learned, if I was going to go in and just get a putter off the shelf, I'd buy the Tour Edge Wingman. Hell, it's $129.00, it felt great off the face and I was able to hit equally as many putts with it as anything else.  As a last note. I don't like that the custom model is $120 to $170 more. I feel like I'm getting totally screwed on that. I get it, if you were getting something that wasn't built from standard parts. But for that money you are just getting standard parts built to your spec. That feels like a very high adder. Makes me wonder if their plant could use my help in implementing some lean practices and one-piece-flow.  Anyway, there's my review. Granted no science was used during this review, but overall I give the LAB putters a resounding "eh". 

Seriously, Stu, bother. I was totally counting on you to have my back here.   

Peanut Butter w/ Chocolate Kiss Cookies are high on my list. Sorry, Oatmeal/Raisin are not on my list at all, even thought I do qualify as "Old Man"