Serenity Now

In our Wednesday Men's Club tournament I had 195 yds uphill 2nd shot on Par 5 11th hole. Hit 4 hybrid with the prettiest draw ever and it landed and stopped 2 feet below the hole for a kick in eagle that lead to a 2 under 70. My lowest to date. I also won 4 skins and a KP so it was a nice day.

Ours was last 2 Wednesdays. I won it with 2 very good rounds of 75 & 76. For my reward I get to play against the winner of our VP & Secretary flights. Tomorrow I get to give 9 & 16 strokes with the winner going to SCGA Club Champions tournament in December. I shot 75 today so I am ready. Hope to do well byt giving that many strokes makes it tough. I will have to play pretty well to have a chance

I have the 21* Rescue Mid and it is one of my favorite clubs in the bag. Great from any lie. I bought the Burners in the 18 & 21 and ended up selling them as all I could do was hook them because of the offset. You can find the old Rescue Mids pretty cheap. Fantastic club

Got to play Trump National yesterday up in Palos Verdes CA. Had a great day with 2 of my buddies and our instructor. We played the blue tees which ended up being too short at 6300 yds. The views were unbelievable. The only thing I can compare it to is Poipu Bay in Kauai. There are a few really good holes but I thought the track was just ok. At 300.00 per on the weekend it is not for everyone. Fortunately for us it was comped. I am no golf snob by any means but thought it was over the top with a very mediocre golf course set in a spectacular background. I shot 81 with 3 doubles. Lots of trouble if you don't drive it straight. We are supposed to play Torrey south in 2-3 weeks so I am looking forward to that.

I have gone off as early as 5am in So Cal in the summer if it was a hot day. Get 18 in and still go to work by 9

Blown out of proportion. Rocco had no business being there yet, We were all cheering for him. What odds could you have gotten in vegas on Rocco? I will cheer for him again tomorrow like I did today regardless of what the announcer says. And he looks a lot like my pool man! Watching the front 9 tomorrow on ESPN with the real moron Berman will make us all beg for Johnny.

Go to a demo day and hit em all. You will be surprised that the ones you wanted may not feel as good as the ones you just hit cause they were there.

I agree that he will probably WD. Not the course to be playing 4 days with a hand injury. That is ok, it will just give Tiger & Phil more one on one chit chat time. I will be there on Thursday and hope to hear where they will be going to dinner together that night! Too bad Vijay is not in the threesome, there would be snow in June.

Mickelson shot in mid 70s last week according to the head pro there. In most cases, a guys's index is based on playing at his home course. Get him (most anyone) away from home and he is not going to shoot his handicap. Throw in a course like Torrey and you are talking unchartered territory. Last week, 20 guys who belong to my club went on an outing up to a new course that just opened and has the rep for being the most difficult course in Riverside County. Crap on every hole so guys were losing balls on every shot. In my group was a 3, 2 9s and myself a 7 and I was the only one to break 90. My buddy the 3 was 1 under after 2 holes and then took a 14 on the 3rd. I 4 putted 18 to shoot 88 with a quad on the first hole. I was happy to only have played with 2 balls all day. I won 100 bucks for low net and lost low gross by one shot. Only 2 out of 20 ended up breaking 90. The one guy who is a 9 at our course (allegedly) kept saying he could shoot 74 at home and ended up shooting 102 (with help from us that know the rules counting all his shots). Not knowing the course and hitting some bad shots (which us ams are going to do) on a track that is sloped at 145 adds up to a bad day for regular Joe. Now make it Torrey and that 102 goes up by 10 percent. I think that the Golf Channel should do a show like Big Break that has regular guys playing this weeks' tour stop on the Monday after the regular event. That would make for some good reality show moments. They could offer big prizes for any 10 hdcp who breaks 100 and any 5 who breaks 90. It would sure beat watching that cow Lori on BB Kaanapali.

Tiger is a smart guy and knows what Nike did for Jordan. As time goes by there will be more of a Tiger Brand in the same way the Jordan brand thing worked. Also the way Norman brand did under the Reebox umbrella. Tiger is not much for change so aI do not expect him to do anything rash. If you look at forged blades, they have not changed much over the years. I have a set of Haig Ultra's that my wifes grandfather played in the 50's and they look just like Titleist muscle backs although they do have aluminum shafts.

I am going Thursday and love the idea. I followed Phil on his first round at Sawgrass and that gallary was insane there. Cannot even imagine what it will be like with him & Tiger in same group. I am glad I am 6'2 so I will be able to see over all the short people. Gonna be an epic day!

Get there really early as it will be packed and parking will be a nightmare. I have heard that you park at Qualcomm and they shuttle you to the course which has to be at least a half hour. I am going Thursday and staying on my boat in Mission Bay Wed night and taking a taxi to Torrey to avoid the parking nightmare. You will have a blast. Walk around and take it all in. Watch some of the lesser groups ahead of the last few pairings as they are less crowded and you can see much closer up. I can't wait as it is gonna be fun

I recorded it on my DVR and noticed that it had gone 1 hr over so I figured it went to a playoff. When he blocked the tee shot on 18, I knew he melted down and that the playoff was going to be between Pampling and Clark. Both my wife & I gasped out loud when we heard it hit the tree and then saw it land on the green. One of the great shots I have ever seen. I think it needs to be put in perspective that it may be one of the defining shots of Phils's career. Had he gagged on that one, we would be talking about it along with the 06 US Open and he may never have recovered from it. By pulling it off, he may win a few more majors before he is done. Had he choked again, the scar may have been career altering (at least as far as majors go). Can't wait to go to Torrey and see him play on Thursday. Way to go Phil! Still don't know why my DVR went an hour over.

It could be very hot but you will be fine. Last Saturday it was 110 there and this weekend it will be 75. Take your entire shag bag as you are gonna go thru some balls. To say the course is penal is an understatement. Its a lot of fun but don't take it too serious as there are some nice forced carries of over 220 yards with wind. It will be a blast. Take lots of sunscreen too

Here in San Diego they call June weather June gloom. That means that its thick, dooey, heavy air at the beach. That translates into shorther ball flight. Problem is it's nearly 8,000 yards from the tips so I say no way is the 10 gonna sniff 99. I see the plan now: hit 8 iron 3 times to the par 4s and barely miss the green, chop it out and 4 putt for quad and then the real fun begins. Even if its close coming down the stretch, the pressure alone will make a 10 wet himself...even with no one watching.

I hate to say it but there are pro's that are going to shoot in the 80s in June with the US Open set up. Remember, those pros are not scratch golfers, they are plus 4s or plus 8s on the type of courses we play. They would come out to your 3 dollar nassau and shoot 65-67 on your home course having never seen it. One major factor that gets lost is they (the pros) have 2 thousand forecaddies to help them find their balls on every hole. We do not have that luxury so add in another half dozen lost balls during your round. If you teed off with an 8 iron and played everything as a double bogey hole and made a half dozen bogeys then you are in the ball park. That is if you can only double bogey the hole. What about the moose that's out there. I am playing Torrey later in the summer after they detune the course a bit and still expect to get hammered.

What goes around comes around. Turn it in to the pro shop or keep it & think about it when you get the shanks & wonder why. No choice at all. Do the right thing and the golf gods will reward you

Congrats. My buddy did the same thing about a year ago and then spent the next 6 months climbing back to a 4. He has again gotten it back to 0 afterr some hard work. Easier to get there than to stay. I played Rio Secco in Henderson one day a few years ago after they had just finished up the Southern Nevada Amateur. The greens were running at about 14. I putted off the green about 4 times and was actually happy about a couple of 3 putts. Get ready for a whole new level of course set up as you play some high profile events.

Just got home from 5 days in Jacksonville with my older son. He will be leaving next week for 2 years in Spain doing missionary work so it was our last getaway together for a while. I used some freq flier miles and a buddy of mine got me tickets to the Player's from Charlie Hoffman so it was not too expensive. I ended up losing my license when the lady took it at will call & I forgot to ask for it back. I called later and it was no where to be found. We played 36 holes the day we arrived (Monday) at Cimarrone. Decent course and you could not beat it for the price. 32 for first 18 and 25 for the replay. It was so warm that we played 36 in about 5 1/2 hrs. Water on every hole so what I saved in golf I donated with new HX Tours. Note to self to bring shag bag next time. Next day we played Hyde Park. Oldest course in Florida built in 1925 and designed by Donald Ross. Only cost 27 each. Great layout in it's original state. Could be great if they spent some money on it but we really enjoyed it. Wednesday we went to the practice round and took lots of pictures and got to talk to some of the players. Practice round is the way to go as there is no one there, parking is free and access is fantastic. We spent about an hour right behind the tee box on 17 watching a bunch of guys hit tee shots. Played St. Johns Country Club that afternoon. Fantastic track! It was 67 each as they bumped their prices (like most everyone else) for the weekend of the tour event. They had US Open Sectionals there and it was easy to see why. What a tremendous golf course. Hard but very fair and in fantastic shape. Thursday we got up at crack of dawn and went to the first round. Parking wqs a major hassle as we had to go to North Florida U and get shuttled to the tournament. It cost us about 90 minutes extra. For what the rest of the trip cost me I should have bought a parking pass on Ebay or Craigs list. We finally got to the course at about 8:30. Caught up with Mickelson, Sabbatini & Stenson on the 11th hole their 2nd. Mickelson's drive almost hit us on the fly as he blocked it left and when they walked up, Bones had us show him where it was. They both thanked us. I told Phil he better hit a good shot as we had come all the way from San Diego to watch him. He laughed and said he would try his best. The Marshall asked me if I knew him and I said no, but I was left handed. On 12, Sabbatini's drive missed my son by about a foot and we got to show him where it was and he hit a great recovery shot right in front of us. He was actually quite pleasant. We followed them their entire round. Phil left about 3-4 shots out there but finished at -2. It was amazing to watch how he & Bones work together. They are truly a team out there and Phil does not do anything without checking with him. We did not play golf that afternoon as we were whipped from all the walking in the 94 degree heat. Had a nice dinner at a Spanish restaurant that night. Never got to thank Charlie for the tickets and left before he melted down and tossed his putter in the lake. Flew home Friday morning and then spent the rest of the night watching the first round looking to see ourselves on TV. Finally saw that I need to lose about 20 as there I was on number 9 as Phil made birdie to end his round. Was a great trip with my son. We had a blast. If you ever decide to do a trip like that, make sure to go to the practice round. No other sport lets you get that up close and personal like that. Looking forward to the US Open next month as we have tickets for Thursday. My boat is in a slip in Mission Bay (About a mile from Torrey) so we will just sleep there and get up early and take a taxi to & from so we do not have to deal with the parking nightmare. Gotta get some practice round tickets.

I just spent an hour at Callaways test center here in SO Cal and ended up getting the FTI tour model with low CGI. I just hit it better than the FT-5. very expensive. I would not have got it had I had to pay for it

I am flying out tomorrow and will be there til Friday. Playing Monday the 5th & Tuesday the 6th before goiong to practice round Wednesday at TPC & then 1st round Thursday. Any good suggestions of places to play would be great. Bringing my son who hits it long but sprays it. Does not have to be to ritzy

I just spent 3 hours at Callaway's test center here in So Cal and hit everything they could put in my hands. The FTI Tour was incredible. It had the Diamana shaft in it so all told its about a 6 hundred dollar club. I have paid less for cars in my life. I did however order one as my buddy who has connections got it for me for the same price I paid for my last driver.

Make yourself a deal to get a new set when you break 80 or when your HDCP gets belw 10. Placebo effect can cost you thousands before you realize your a 15 for a reason. I Went thru 2-3 sets of forged blades before I had a talk with myself.

I organize youth baseball tournaments all over Southern California. Lots of free time during the week for my other passion.

Best golf purchase I have made ever is the Sky Caddie GPS. For most of us mortals, distance to front of green & back of green are the most important measurements. I have shaved 4 strokes off of my HDCP and attribute it to the GPS (and some hard work). Takes away the doubts.