TD22057

I have a mat from this site: http://www.realfeelgolfmats.com/ and it works very well. I wouldn't say it's just like grass but it's light years ahead of the mats at any range I've ever been to. In fact I've just ordered the small version to take with me to my local range.

Current Ball: NXT Tour I bought a box of e5's after reading this article and I'm switching. They seem just as straight and long off the tee and generate a lot more spin around the greens.

I played NXT Tours for about a year and a half. Very nice ball, good balance between length and feel. I've since switched to the Bridgestone e5 which generates a lot more spin on iron shots for me and doesn't seem to cost me anything in distance.

I feel your pain. The courses closest to me have terrible mats - it's like hitting off hard ground. It's OK for a shot or too but it will bend your clubs and (at least for me) it will hurt you hands/wrists after awhile. Here's the solution I'm considering: Buy your own mat and take it with you to the range. If that's too much of a problem, cut the mat down so you only bring a 1' wide strip and lay it next to the mats they have. I'm not sure if the small version would move too much but it would be worth it to have a decent hitting surface.

Thanks - that would be good to know. We were thinking about the GolfTec trip to Pebble Beach but we decided it would be more fun to play Poppy Hills than the 3rd course (besides Pebble and Spyglass) that GolfTec was planning. That plus schedule flexibility and cancellation policy sealed the deal so we just decided to schedule a trip on our own.

Wow - makes me think google's algorithms need a little work. Of course there are a lot of businesses that would pay a lot of $$$ to figure out the thesandtrap's "make a post and go to the top of google's ranking" secret...

Some friends and I are thinking about taking a GolfTec vacation. I've searched around but can't seem to find anyone commenting on them and was wondering if anyone has any experiences to share? We're not interested in lessors or their "play with a pro" option - just a golfing trip. Thanks!

I agree he should have penalized - but I also don't think the PGA did the right thing w/ that rule for the tournament. They basically said "show prints and tire tracks" are in the bunkers and they said they will not be raked each morning (the rules quote said bunkers in the ropes are raked each day). So they are saying this is an area that will have people walking through it AND vehicle traffic AND they won't be maintained each day. If that's not the definition of a waste area, I don't know what is. On the flip side, Johnson basically admitted he and his caddy never read the rules sheet at all which is mind boggling to me...

I'm not a huge Pelz fan but that doesn't make him completely wrong either. At least he says "I performed this experiment and here are the results". I'll believe someone doing that before I believe someone who says "I played for x years and so I know better" - unless you thing Dave's just lying about actually doing experiments or the results...

Fairly scientific write up here: http://onpar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/...-hole-debates/ They measured ~1400 calories / 18 holes walking.

Not quite the 735's, but I still like by 755's a lot...

Be careful going the ebay route - I bought several FootJoy's there that were marked as cosmetic seconds (for about 1/2 price) and only about 1/2 of them were the right size - 1/2 were too small in various places. I'm skipping the ebay option from now on...

I went through a few drivers last year looking for something that worked. I had a Callaway FTi - it went straight but went nowhere on any kind of mishit. Tried TaylorMade but tended to hit everything low and left (I hate the standard closed club faces...). I picked up a Callaway FT-iq Tour from their preowned site and it is FANTASTIC! Very straight and mishits go a mile. I'm glad I grabbed the tour model (more open face and a little better shaft IMO) - no more fighting the low left misses. They're fairly cheap too - $150 or so, sometimes closer to $100 when the preowned site has a sale.

Another vote for the NXT Tour! Almost as good as the Pro V1 and much cheaper - my local Dick's had the for $26/dozen last week and several on-line places sell them for less than $30 w/ free shipping.

The error in the image based systems is map tie error. How do you tie the image of the course to the coordinate frame the GPS position is solved for in. Creating the course map by walking it with a GPS will always give you a smaller map tie error than overhead imagery. This also means that you might get very good agreement in between a sky-caddie and upro on one course and very poor agreement on another course. I'm guessing for most places that the error is small enough that it's fine for golf (or people would be complaining left and right about those systems). That doesn't mean it's good everywhere though...

Couldn't have said it better myself - I was dumb-founded they could print something this stupid. I'd like to see them repeatedly measure any of those angles to within 2 degrees.

I did this a few years ago but I don't remember the details - I think it was something like $100 and you got that back if you bought clubs within a certain amount of time.

Hey - everyone should be happy - they were paired together yesterday which makes that the best LPGA TV coverage day ever. I hadn't noticed in the past but Ueda has an absolutely beautiful swing (seriously - I am talking about her swing here).

The first amphibious cars episode is absolutely hilarious. I forget which season and episode (I'm on vacation so I don't have them in front of me). I've downloaded every episode from the original BBC broadcasts and I'd say the "middle" seasons (6-9 maybe) are the best (from memory so I could be a little off). http://www.finalgear.com/shows/topgear/

I'd be curious about the final cost - I thought they required that you stay in one of their hotels? Can anyone who played this year (I can still say that for a little while longer) comment?

I have one of the realfeelgolfmats at home (I used it for awhile w/ a net). It's pretty nice and WAY better than any mat I've seen at the range. The closest range to me has crap for mats and I've been considering taking the mat w/ me even though it's pretty big. I'm sure I'd get a few weird looks...

Seriously - watch the youtube video. Even if you can be completely, 100% honest when talking to the police (you can't) - it can result in an incorrect conviction. You were just in an accident - there is absolutely no way you can recall the facts w/ 100% clarity - you just can't. If you "be honest" and give your version, there is a high likelihood of the police finding evidence to the contrary. Not because you're lying to them, but because you made a mistake (or because their other witness or evidence is mistaken). Now the judge/jury will see you as a liar and you might be convicted or punished just from that - even if your account of the events are the actual truth. Your lawyer can present any statement you want to make to the police and it can't be used against you. It costs you and the system nothing to wait a few days before that happens (if it happens at all).

So what. They don't need to know from him - that's the point. Why? The accident was reported so he's OK there. He doesn't "have to talk to investigators" - that's the whole point of the 5'th. Only if it also gives him immunity. You can't be compelled to incriminate yourself - again that's the whole point of the 5'th. Perhaps I'm misreading your posts - but you it seems like you're saying that he has to talk to the police and that there's no downside to him doing that.

Of course the police want a statement - it's their job to gather evidence for prosecution. Tiger has no legal obligation to say anything to them exactly for the reasons you described - the police may end up pressing charges against either Tiger or his wife. Anything you say to the police at this point can only be used to incriminate you (see 5'th amendment). Any normal person in the same circumstances should be doing exactly what they are doing - refuse to give a statement and have a lawyer on call. IMHO, if the police are treating Tiger slightly differently, it's because they know they need to make sure they get this right - if they don't the media will have a field day. That isn't because of anything Tiger is or isn't doing - it's just the way it is because of the media.

I have to disagree with this - you should never talk to the police. Even if you have nothing to hide, are completely innocent, etc. etc. It can only harm you. Long but worth seeing: