TD22057

Overall it looks great. Is there anyway to get the posts to fill the whole width all the time? I'm running Windows 7 w/ the latest version of Firefox and the actual posts only use about 1/3 of the width of my screen which I find really inefficient (lots of vertical scrolling to read a thread). On the right side at the top of each page is a column that contains "Posts, Images, Birthdays, etc") which I don't really care about - and that space is then blank as I scroll down. Is there any way to turn that off? ps: It looks to me like it's one of the style sheet width settings. If I narrow my browser window down, at some point that column is hidden automatically. It's still annoying to me that I have to resize my browser every I come to the forum though...

Any decent golf GPS is going to use WAAS which has been consistently shown to provide ~1 m accuracy in the CONUS: http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/REPORTS/waaspan17.pdf My golf GPS might not be as good as the receivers used in the study but given the spot checks I've done against lasers, I'm more than happy to keep using mine.

I've really been enjoying using my Game Golf device this year. The best feature for me are the club stats that show dispersions and averages. Knowing what my normal dispersion is with a mid-iron for example really teaches me about where I need to be aiming to maximize my scoring (which is really minimizing big numbers for me). The current problem w/ these stats is that you have to play a lot of rounds to get good numbers and a few wild/bad/crazy shots can throw off the stats. So what I'd like to see are: - A way to manually remove a shot from the stats. double click, right click, or click "remove shots" and the click all the ones to remove. It needs to be fast (1 click, not 3) and easy. - A way to automatically remove shots from the stats by distance. Set a minimum distance as a function of club and if the shot is below that, remove it from the stats. - Show all the shots on the screen and color code the ones that are not included in the stats (current white color for used, maybe black for unused?) It would also be really nice if there was a club summary table. I'd like to see a table with all of the clubs down the left side and columns showing data for each club: - total number of shots taken - average number of shots per round - average length (yards) - length dispersion (std deviation in yards) - direction dispersion (std deviation in yards) - % of shots left and right of target (fairway or green center line) Having that kind of information in a nice summary would help me see general miss statistics (left vs right) as well as how much accuracy I can expect from each club so I can plan my aim points appropriately. Other misc ideas: - Modify the scoring web pages - they have very little information density. I have to click through menus to see par 3, 4, and 5 performance. All of that information that's in the scoring menus should be on one page. I never look at this page because it's too much of a pain to click through each item. - Course statistics on a hole by hole basic. Show me which holes I'm playing well on and which I'm not. - Course summary table. Table w/ course names down the left and for each show average score, hi/lo score, avg par 3, 4, 5 score, putts, etc.

I think that the real issue is that the CA farming areas that aren't really "farm friendly". 80% of CA's water goes to irrigation for agriculture. So even if every person cut their water usage by 50%, that's only a 10% reduction in total usage which isn't anywhere close to enough to help with the drought. Until the CA legislature gets serious about taking on the farmers and reworking the water rights craziness we have, nothing is going to happen. And yes, I know that means we'll pay more for food - and I think that's OK because that's the actual cost to produce the food. We've been subsidizing the cost of food via cheap water for too long.

I don't think so at all. I really don't want to carry my phone around the golf course - and where am I supposed to put my phone if it's raining? Game golf requires that I tag something - but I think that's a good thing. Adding shots w/ the web interface for the times I forget to tag seems a lot easier than removing shots that Arccos decided I hit just because I was moving the club around. I'm really hoping that the competition between the devices forces both of them to innovate a lot on the software and analysis side. That's where the real benefit is so hopefully having multiple products out there will make all of them better.

Cool - I didn't realize the app would let you select the measurement sources to use. I'll have to check that out. I wonder how accurate the absolute Google maps coordinates are? I found a few papers that did measurements in Africa and the Middle East and found ~1.5-3 m in Google maps but that may not be representative.

Here's my understanding: most (if not all) phones use a fairly low precision GPS chip. To get good GPS data, you one that get read wide area augmentation signals (good article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Area_Augmentation_System). SkyCaddie does this as well as read Japanese and European equivalents ( https://skygolf.com/global%20repository/support/faqs/Can%20the%20SkyCaddie%20receive%20signals%20in%20countries%20outside%20of%20the%20United%20States.aspx). However - phones also use cell tower locations to add information to their GPS solutions. So some times a phone is going to have better accuracy than GPS+WAAS - but then some other times it won't. It would depend on the number of towers and the geometry to them so it could change dramatically over a single course.

Titleist Performance Institute did studies years ago showing the same thing for golf. People using that technique gained more club head speed than those swinging a heavier club. They had people swing a driver upside down (hold on the to head and swing it) so you don't even need to buy anything to practice that way.

I bought the Golfsmith regripping kit that has solvent, tape, knife, etc. and it works great. Supplies are enough to do a lot of clubs. I've regripped twice now and still seem to have most of the supplies left. The kit isn't showing up on their web site anymore for some reason but I expect it's still in the stores. Here's the link to what I got: http://www.amazon.com/Golfsmith-Regripping-Supply-Kit/dp/B0012FHHGM

I was going to get AP2's to replace my 755's... then the RBZ Tour's came out and looked great so I was leaning towards those... then I hit the Callaway X-Hot Pro's and bought those instead. In my opinion, the XHP's are more forgiving than both the AP's and RBZ Tour's, look just as nice, and feel great. I did get KBS shafts put in as the stock one was too light for my taste. I'd recommend giving the Callaways a try...

My problem w/ phone GPS is that's just not a very good GPS. A dedicated golf GPS will use WAAS which gives it good accuracy pretty much everywhere in North America. My understanding is that there are no common cell phones out there that support WAAS. A phone is using a combination of a fairly poor GPS receiver combined with measurements from cell towers. If you have a good cell tower geometry, the phone will actually be better than just GPS - but it could be much worse and the accuracy could vary widely over a course. It's too bad because I think the cell phone apps are much, much better than the dedicated GPS software you get, especially with regard to stat keeping, ease of use, ease of data entry, etc.

Something to keep in mind: NASA's budget (~$17 billion) is a tiny drop of the federal budget. Check out: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/budget_gs.php There have been studies that show the average American thinks NASA's budget is 25% of budget when it's actually something like 0.4%. The top 3 items in the table above (pensions, health care, defense) are all each roughly $800+ billion. A 1% cut in any of those items items could increase NASA's budget by almost 50%. (I won't even start on the $450B we spend on welfare) Having said that - a big part of the problem is that the money is not really prioritized on a set of engineering or science goals, politics plays a huge part in it. And when they have to think long term (a lot of these robotic exploration missions are in development for 5-10+ years), it's hard to do things efficiently when the budget and priorities change as the administration and congress change. I personally think more of the money should be spent on robotic exploration and Earth sciences. IMHO, the shuttle, station, and the manned program where huge expenses without much return at all.

I got a ship notice yesterday and I only ordered a week and a half ago so they must be moving through the pre-orders pretty quickly. Tracking shows it's left China so I'll report back sometime next week w/ results. I did notice there was an update to the android app today (no release notes that I could see).

I have to disagree with this. None of these tools limit the depth or side to side motion of the cutting edge so there is nothing stopping you from making grooves wider or deeper than the rules require. This is even more true for post 2010 grooves if they have a rounded shoulder. I don't see how any of these tools will recreate the correct rounded shoulder after it's been flattened with use. I personally don't have any problem with people using these tools, but assuming you're getting perfectly legal grooves is a mistake. My irons are about 4 years old and definitely don't generate anything close to the spin I used to get. I ordered the x6 tool from http://www.par70.com/ last weekend and it arrived quickly. Seems like a nicely made tool with U and V cutters. When I started on my clubs, the grooves on my wedges were so flattened that the U (I have a old U groove irons) shaped cutter wouldn't even pass through the groove at all. After a few light passes (w/ motor oil) the tool passed nicely down the groove so it does seem to work well. I haven't tried them on the course yet but I expect a big improvement. FYI I don't play competition golf at all so I don't care if they're a little out of spec. Besides, if this tool lets me spend my $$$ on other things instead of new irons this year I'll be very pleased. Assuming this to be true, I promptly went out and bought a RocketBallz high loft 3 wood...

Well I couldn't resist any longer. I put my pre-order in today - hopefully I'm not too far down on the list.

Uhh - I think you mean: "really lucky people have it made". I doubt most golfers in LA or CA have a much of a chance to get on those courses (except Industry of course). Having said that, I was lucky enough to play the North at LACC last month and it was absolutely spectacular. No one has invited me to play Riviera yet... :(

I think it's the best measure of the overall "quality" of your golf. I use mine to set my high level goals for the year. I have other more specific goals as well (fewer 3 putts, higher GIR, etc) but I always have a goal for my handicap.

Actually - we just re-did our front yard with fake grass (we basically live in a desert so it's nice to avoid watering). It's a fairly new product and looks incredible. Each of the blades are different shades of green, reflect light differently, have slightly different lengths, and there is tan thatch woven into the base so it looks extremely real. People think our front yard looks fake from far away because it looks too good. Then we they get close and look at the turf, they think it's real - that's how good the stuff looks up close. We've had a lot people walking buy bend down and poke at the yard to try to figure out if it's fake or not.

That's pretty close - I think it was in the $8.50-$9/sq ft range when everything was said and done. A bit pricey up front, but with no more watering, mowing, and weeding, plus a putting green to practice on it was well worth it to me.

DO IT! I convinced the wife that we should get rid of the grass in our back yard and just have an artificial (sand filled) putting green several years ago. It always looks great and requires almost no upkeep. I use it 4-5 times a week and it has made a HUGE difference in my putting. Could I have improved my putting even more with the same amount of time at a real putting green at the course? Absolutely. The course has more variation in putts, longer putts, and a better roll. But the closest course to me is a 45 min round trip which means I never go there just to putt. Having the green in my back yard has been great because it's so convenient. I have a small (4'x5') area of fringe at one end that I use to hit chips as well. Basically the same length chip over and over but I vary the trajectory, spin, etc and I'm a better chipper than the 2 roughly scratch players I play with all the time. This is about 700 sq ft:

Yes - Their website is a little cheesy but they ship quickly and their mat is the best I've ever seen. I had a full size 3'x5' mat for several years that I used in my backyard before giving it to a friend (still in great condition). I replaced it with the 20"x36" + stance mat combo that I use inside. If I hadn't built my indoor net set up, I would have ordered the small 10"x30" hitting strip and taken it with me to the local ranges which all have terrible mats.

The problem will cell phone golf apps (at least IMHO), is that I may not get the accuracy I need for golf from them. Regular GPS isn't good enough for golf, GPS+ WAAS is and as of right now, no common cell phone supports WAAS. What they do use is cell towers and wifi signals to improve the GPS solution. That data can actually be better than GPS+WAAS or not, it depends on the number of cell towers, tower geometry etc. At least with dedicated GPS it's very likely the accuracy will be good - with cell phones it can be hit or miss. Some courses will be good, some other may not be good. I love all of the features those apps provide and wish the dedicated GPS's had them, but until phones get WAAS, I just can't see relying on them for yardage.

I just finished an indoor golf net and thought I would share. The room is about 14' wide and has 9' ceilings which allows me to hit up to a hybrid without any problem. It's mounted on one wall in our exercise room and I needed it to be retractable so the sides are mounted on tracks in the ceiling with rollers. The net itself is a custom order from http://gourock.com. They were great to deal with - I sent them a drawing of what I wanted, they sent me back a blueprint and a quote the next day, I agreed and had the net in my hands a week later. Getting the net set up properly required a bit of work after it arrived. There are heavy ropes around the perimeter of the net but the net is not stretched inside the ropes - so if you tension the ropes, it doesn't put a lot of tension on the net. This is fine if you have space, but since the back of my net is near a wall, it means that balls would be bouncing off the walls very easily. I solved this problem my mounting shelf brackets on the sides and the bottom, weaving fiberglass poles (reflector poles from Lowes - also useful as alignment sticks) into the net, and attaching the poles to the brackets with chain. This way I have a hard mount 10" out from the wall and the chain let me adjust the tension of the net. The hitting panel hanging in front of the net absorbs the initial impact and then the tensioned back wall of the net stops it from getting to the wall. Because the sides of the net are hanging on chains from the track, they don't really tension the top of the net either - I added an 8' long aluminum pole (from McMaster-Carr) which is woven inside the net at the top. It keeps the front of net from sagging and the net slides over it easily when it's pushed back up against the wall. The hitting mat is from http://www.realfeelgolfmats.com/ and is the best mat I've found. I'm really happy with how this project turned out. The nearest range from my house is 20 minutes each way and has terrible mats so I never bothered going. This way I can hit 30-40 balls per day in a short amount of time in the comfort of my home.

I have one of these: http://www.realfeelgolfmats.com/ at home. Like it a lot. Even bought the smaller version to take to the range with me (most of the ranges I go to have terrible mats).

Wow - that's quite a position he's taking (in some ways I'm sorry I read his site and all those replies). Sounds like he starts by saying they're clearing illegal and then when he get's called on it reverts to "it's not in the spirit of the game" or "it's removing all the skill from the game". Of course if you follow his logic, it leads to some interesting ideas... Using his logic, a table of distances for how far I hit each club would be illegal as it's giving me advice on what club to use. That clearly means that me knowing how far I hit each club is also illegal. So I propose that from now on, each player has to roll a dice to see which club they can hit for each shot. That way I can't unfairly use my knowledge of club yardages and real skill is required to hit a random club some specific distance.