phan52

Weiskopf played regularly in a PGA event in my neighborhood when I was a kid. You know that sound you hear when a top ball striker hits a solid drive? The first time I heard that sound was when I saw Tom Weiskopf hit a drive on the first tee. I was always a fan. Even got to caddie in a group with him back in the day before they all had their own caddies and he was the best. He chatted with us and was very comfortable to be around (unlike the creep I caddied for 😎). Wasn't aware of the drinking at all back then, although it turns out that his hanging around in the clubhouse with the members was legendary. He won that event (IVB Golf Classic) twice. RIP, Tom.

I think what Monahan proposed today is an excellent response. And the last thing that was going to happen on the PGA Tour was the ridiculous LIV format. That is the #1 thing that destroys their credibility.

This is the kind of competitive thing that you will never see on the pre-paid, exhibition LIV Tour. Theegala made some clutch putts down the stretch to advance to East Lake. Do you think this was important to him? Not only the money but the prestige. It's good that the best are getting paid more, but the PGA Tour is a meritocracy, and rightly so. Sahith Theegala advances to TOUR Championship after being on the bubble (pgatour.com)

Playing the #1 handicap hole, a long uphill par 4, I hit a good drive that gave me a rare look to the green. I hit a solid 5 wood that went past the pin and off to the side into a shaved area, about 10-12 feet off the green. I was about 40 feet from the pin and hit a beautiful pitch and run that was, at worst, going to be a couple feet from the pin, but it went in. Nice birdie on the #1 hole.

I belong to a Club with a fair share of vanity cappers, but there are far more sandbaggers. A lot of the vanity cappers won't play for much money and try to keep their cap at a level to qualify for championships, where they get immediately drummed out by the elite players. I don't get it. What's wrong with winning the A or B flight when that is the level of your ability? I think my cap is generally very accurate to my abilities. I play very little winter golf to keep my game intact so my cap usually goes up a bit in the spring and back to my norms by June. I play my best golf in the late summer every year so I end up with scores that will stay with me through to the end of the golf season and keeps my cap down. Which is also what I start with at the beginning of the next season.

41-47-88 Got off to a good start, even with a bad double on #2. But the back got derailed by three straight doubles with some poor execution of manageable shots. Lost my concentration in the 100 degree heat.

Patrick Reed will always be villain #1 to me because he cheats. Going to LIV just adds to it.

I can't think of many long time PGA Tour players who will move the needle less than Charles Howell III. The announcers are completely meaningless. They just add to the "exhibition" vibe, particularly Charles Barkley, who I love as a basketball analyst.

My short game is usually pretty good and I have to rely on it a lot to salvage scores. The worst feeling in the world is facing an easy chip or pitch and boning it across the green. It's like a two shot penalty.

My approach shot on a par 4 ended up against a fence that is a boundary. I had to take an unplayable and took a drop that was about 30 yards from the pin. Pitched it in for an unlikely par.

46-43-89 Weird round. In one four hole stretch I went birdie, triple (OB), triple (OB), birdie.

I like how LIV just dumps guys like Andy Ogletree (2019 Am Champ) when these guys sign on. Ogletree finished last in London and he is jettisoned to accommodate the Koepka's of the world. Too bad, but he made his own bed.

The ezLocator app is pretty useful when trying to figure out how close pins are to the edges and bunkers. Basically a pin sheet.

Being 70 years old, I have been playing the tees that are around 6150 a lot and my best score from there this season is 82. I try to play the regular tees (6500 yards) sometimes because all of our tournaments (outside of senior events) are played from those tees and I still want to stay competitive from those tees. I shot 44-40-84 from those tees yesterday and it could have been a lot better, as I had four three putts. Best ball striking day of the season. Looking forward to my next round and cleaning up those putts from 40+ feet.

I messed around with the game as a teenager, mostly playing with the other caddies on Mondays. I hadn't picked up a golf club for ten years when I started playing again when I was 28. I knew enough about the game that I could at least keep the ball in play but I couldn't score at all and my first established handicap was 27. I decided to take some lessons because I started playing customer golf and some of my guests were decent players. My pro told me that I needed a complete do-over and I wasn't up for that at the time, I just wanted some rudimentary stuff. So he told me he would teach me to play from 100 yards and in. We worked on that and I had nine hole playing lessons about a dozen times that first year. My handicap to open the next season was 17, ten strokes better. My driving and long to mid iron game was no different but I was proficient with wedges and the putter and my scores dropped a lot. Once I started to score better I got hooked.

42-40-82 My best round of the season by four shots. I was playing a first round Super Senior Club Championship match against a guy whose handicap is seven shots better than mine, but we play straight up with match play. He hit 10 of 11 of the first 11 fairways and 10 of 11 of the first 11 greens and shot 37 on the front. The only hole I won at that point was a birdie on the first hole. I was five down after 11 holes. He kind of lot his mojo at that point and started missing fairways and greens. I won 12 and 13 but lost 14 with a bad double bogie. Four down with four to go. Dormie. I won 15 with a birdie and 16 with a very tough downhill putt for par. Two down with two to go. He made a routine par on 17 and I had 7 feet for birdie to win the hole. I hit a very good putt but misread it slightly and it lipped out. I lost the match but I scared the you-know-what out of him. 😎

I love my rangefinder because the main number I am looking for in a shot to a green is not necessarily the pin, but the carry. How far do I have to hit it to safely reach the green? I WANT to know the pin number but I really NEED the carry number.

I don't like "advice" in the middle of a round so I usually don't try to give it. But I was playing the other day with a guy who has just taken up the game this season and has never taken a lesson. A very athletic guy with a pace to his swing that I envy but everything he hit started right and went farther right. I know he was frustrated and I suggested that he take at least a starter lesson. After he hit two OB right on the short 9th hole, he asked if I saw anything he was doing. I told him to strengthen his grip (it was way weak) but there wasn't much else I could tell him without messing with his head. After a 59 on the front, he shot 49 on the back and he was really encouraged. He needs to talk to a Pro but it felt good to help.

44-44-88 How the hell does one make three birdies and seven double bogies?

I think Tiger will win the PIP bonus for a number of years, since the other players owe him for the Tiger Effect on Tour prize money. They should have given him the whole pot in 2021.

I was swinging too fast and not finishing my backswing. The Pro said, "Let your backswing mature." That got through my thick skull. Good advice.

He is the only one who has a chance this year, so there's that. 😎

There was a guy we used to play with who had a vanity cap and liked to announce on the first tee that he was going to shoot par (72) that day. We would then secretly make bets on when he would hit his 72nd shot. It was usually around the 14-15th hole and the winner of the bet would shout Bingo! He never got on to what we were doing. He wasn't awful, he would usually shoot in the mid-80's, but it was impossible for him to shoot par.

I was at a USGA handicap seminar and I asked what we should do about the vanity cappers. He said, make sure to pick him up, bring him to the course and play with him. Just don't let him be your partner.

I am talking about Tiger. Vegas has posted odds for him as well.