dave s

I live near Akron and Firestone CC where the Bridgestone/Firestone WGC is held each year. The wife and I are empty nesters and would be more than happy to host a golfer or two for the week. How would I go about applying for and possibly open my home to a player or two to offer a home-away-from-home place to stay during the tournament? Is this something your mates would be interested in? Thanks. Open to any and all comments and advice. dave

Good read. Unfortunately, it sounds like something bad happened for you on just about every hole. It happens. The good news is that the more years you play and the more experience you gain the fewer times things like your described come up and bite you in the behind. You'll be able to think your way through bad situations and shoot yourself out of disaster holes before they happen with more experience. Weather was nice enough to play here in NE Ohio yesterday. I had a pair of disaster holes, one on each nine. One resulted in a NINE on a par 4 and a triple-bogey on a par 5. Also mixed in a couple of doubles on the card. Each disaster and the double bogies ALL began with an ERRANT TEE BALL. What I know MOST about controlling score, (or having a blowup hole) is that your tee shot dictates how the rest of the hole CAN be played. You HAVE to put a tee shot in play on the long holes and hit par-3 greens or green side at worst to score reasonably well over an entire round. dave

Let's get one thing straight: I DESPISE being cold in any way, shape or form. I live in NE Ohio where to me, it's cooler than I'd prefer about 8 months out of every year. My league begins on the first Thursday of April each year. For the first 8-10 weeks, (yes, into JUNE for Pete's sake!) the weather can be cold enough to layer on way to many layers to swing a golf club without restriction. Here's a few of the items I find useful: 1) Under Armor Cold Gear base layer. It has a mock neck collar, is stretchy and fits tightly to my body. Buy one size smaller so it fits your upper body like a golf glove. 2) standard long johns under whatever pants I choose to wear. The long johns are enough to keep the wind off my lower body and keep me warm. 3) A zero restriction outer layer that zips up to my chin. 4) My FJ rain- and wind-proof outer shell. Heck, even if it doesn't rain, it's impervious to wind. Zip up to chin. 5) Any longish ski type hat that covers ears and long enough to cover the back of my neck. That's about as good as I can do and still 'half-swing' a club enough to hit the dimpled ROCK around a course that isn't yet growing in April, May and early June in NE Ohio. I have winter gloves, but could use some down-filled mittens between shots. dave

The back 9 on my home course (league) has treacherous greens. Most with only one reasonable hole location per green. Cups are rarely cut in the 'reasonable location' on any green. #10 is driver, short iron and 3-4 putts. Diabolical green with usual pin placements. I've been in a group walking off #12 (a par 3) with a collective score of 23 strokes. Most greens have some sort of 'shelf' or 'pedestal' feature and hole locations usually end up there. Spots where it's very easy to 3-putt from 15 feet. Couple of greens have false fronts, (see #12 above) where if the the pin is in the front third of the green and your ball is deep, it's tough to stop the ball in, or close to the hole. Another course favored by many locals, (not me!) is loaded with false front greens and nearly every one is heavily graded downhill back to front. The false front areas run at like 10 on the stimp (sp?) meter which can run out 30-60 feet back into the fairway. The course is interesting, always in great shape but for goodness sake, who wants 3-putt every green? My group of homies all have the course on their 'don't play' list. Greens need to be at least FAIR with pin placements or it makes for a really long day and needless level of frustration. dave

Nice. Another convert. Welcome to a life-long game. I was hooked the moment I walked onto a practice green at about 7 years old. The smell, the velvety texture of the turf on the green ... intoxicating. Even to a 7-year-old.

My league partner has the Winn Dri-Tac on his irons. The mid-size version. They are so soft and 'sticky.' I'm going to try one on my around the green wedge for next season. If I really like them, I'll probably regrip a couple more clubs (fairway woods) then possibly go full set after my current grips wear out. dave

Wow! Now THAT is quite an accomplishment. Way to go, Erik. Keep up the good work. dave

Boy, that's too bad about that Grizzly down in Mason. I guess the guy can design and build a course, but he's certainly not going to hang around and maintain it, too. There are two up north in Ohio that I've played: Glenmoor CC in Canton and Barrington in Aurora. Both were in spectacular shape. Also have played all 5 nines at Grand Cypress in Orlando. Top-notch all the way around. Grand Bear in Saucier, MS was lush and in near-perfect condition about a month ago when I was there. You can tell when things are starting to get dicey because all pins are up in the front 3rd of the green. Grand Bear had them up front. Have never had a bad experience at a course that Jack built. Guess I'm just lucky. dave

You know Eric, my new golf name will soon become "Townstein." I know the guys I play with!

Yeah, it was just crazy to find that ball on the complete other side of the course. I mean, nobody else was playing a Phil Townstein ball with a red dot except me. And heck, at least I put the OTHER guy's ball back after I discovered the error. People (in general) don't put back ProV1s, I guess! dave For obvious reasons, I'd never put my own credentials on a golf ball. All my buddies would find them and I'd never hear the end of it! Tell me, did a family member with good intentions buy the balls with your name on them? Sounds like something my sister would do. dave

I've seen the driving distance = course length calculations and I play best when applying course distance to my personal driving length. 5800 on the extreme short side to around 6200 fits my driving distance. Much more than 6200 and par-4 holes become 3-shot holes and the par 5s adventure holes. We played Saturday to just over 6100 yards. Perfect for all of us. Par 3s were still long--one measured in at 204. At that length, I don't feel over-matched by the course itself and have opportunities to make pars and the occasional birdie when I'm able to string together a good drive, a reasonably distanced approach shot and make a putt. From that length Saturday, we shot 80, 82, my 85 and an 88. Had we played from the tips, (6650) three of us would have shot 90+. I'd rather shoot 85 than 95 any day, feel like I had a chance at a decent score and not leave feeling like I got beaten silly by a golf course. Jack and other proponents of the 'tee it forward' concept got it right. Making pars and having birdie opportunities during your round is much more fun than 3-shot par 4s all day long. dave

Third hole two Saturdays ago. Drove ball through fairway and into the rough of dogleg right par 4. Made mental note of nearest tree. Cart mate drives me right to my ball. It's sort of deep in the rough and not-so-good lie. Also blocked out by trees between me and green. I hack it out and back into fairway with a 9-iron. Drive to ball to hit third shot and discover I'd played a wrong ball. Called myself out and accepted loss of hole in our match. Quickly returned the ball to original spot, looked back right to another tee, left toward green ... no other golfers in sight. What a bonehead. Completely my fault for not identifying my ball. The original ball I was playing was a Titleist ProV1 logo overrun ball. It was marked with my usual red dot and the logo part said Phil Townstein on it. Here's the total kicker: I found the SAME Phil Townstein ball on hole #16!!! At least this time, I looked high and low, waited, asked a group if they were looking for any balls ... then retrieved Phil and put him back in my bag. After noodling on this most of last week, here's what happened: My 3rd hole was adjacent to #9 fairway. Someone teed off on #9, hit a hook drive into the same area that my ball went through the fairway and came to rest. That golfer hit my ball, and I his. Also keep in mind that the guy who played my ball, the Phil Townstein ball, was 6 holes ahead of us at the time he hit my ball. Finding the Phil Townstein ball on ball on #16 meant whoever hit my ball on hole #9 was long gone because they were 6 holes AHEAD of our group. So I most certainly didn't pick up a live, in-play ball of another player. Fast forward to just this past Saturday: I was playing a Callaway ball and my partner and I were getting clobbered. Already lost the front nine and were down 2 after hole 12 on the back nine. Time for a new ball. Open bag and the first ball my hand touches is the Phil Townstein ball. "Ok, you guys are in trouble now, Phil Townstein is up to bat!" Thirteen is a par 5. Down the middle, fairway wood to approach area, pitched it from there to 10' and made the birdie. Next hole par wins the hole. Next hole another birdie. Without any help from my partner we went from two down to three UP, won the back nine and overall by one hole! What a crazy game! Let's see how long Phil Townstein, (whoever he may be) can hang around and continue to help me play good golf! dave

Agree with this. Plus, the shirt tails are longer than Adidas or Nike. On the plus side, the material appears to be better quality with a bit more substance to it compared to say an Adidas Clima-Cool shirt. I have golf clothes from the big manufacturers. In terms of all-around quality, I would rank them as such: 1. FootJoy; Puma/Adidas (tie 2); 3. Nike. dave

I'll be down your way over the Christmas holiday season. Can we play in Central Florida that week? If so, let me know and I'll bring the sticks. dave

1. Gigging musician. My band plays what we call the 'festival season.' Band performs at outdoor, family-friendly events from Memorial Day through the end of September. We just finished up two weeks ago and played 12 shows this season. Revenues earned from playing shows each season pays for my favorite hobby which is ... 2. GOLF! Gig money pays for my league and pretty much all the rest of golf season rounds. 3. Photography. And you guys think golf is expensive? I have 3 lenses. I could fill three golf bags with the latest equipment for the cost of the three lenses in my camera bag. Shooting small town Ohio and other small town US cities is what I enjoy most. 4. Guitars. Don't even get me started on the number of guitars I've owned, bought and sold over the past 15 years. My current stable includes a vintage Rickenbacker 360v 12-string guitar and two Fender Custom Shop 1969 heavy relic models. 5. Travel that includes golf, gambling and good food. The wife and I go on 2-3 of such trips annually. We like FL, (Tampa and Orlando areas) MS Gulf Coast region and Phoenix/Scottsdale. We do a beach vacation to N Carolina each year but have found playing golf in hurricane like wind isn't 'our bag,' baby. 6. Watching / attending pro sporting events. Huge Cleveland (pro) and Ohio State fans are the wife and me. And those are the things that take up most of my discretionary time. dave

Exactly. From what I read here, and with some of my golf buds, the setup for more guys is starting to look like this: 1. Driver, 4-wood, 3 hybrid, 4i - wedges; 2. Driver 4-wood, 7-wood, 4 hybrid, 5i through wedges I don't know many that have the standard driver, 3- and 5-wood setup anymore. Most of my buddies have a 3-hybrid that if you look closely, has cobwebs and virtually no wear on the face or sole. I don't know if these are 'specialty clubs' used only on par-3s of a certain length or what. OTOH, some guys use a 3-hybrid religiously from the rough on long holes. My league partner is deadly with his 3-hybrid. Probably the most consistent club in his bag. Personally, I don't like have 'specialty clubs' or clubs that don't get used in my bag. I've gone down to 13 clubs this season and they ALL see playing time. 5- and 7-woods get the bulk of the work on 2nd shots on par-5s and long par-4 holes. I have a 5-hybrid on the 160 or so yards par 3 holes. Anything shorter than the hybrid, I know each club's yardage designation. I also carry 4 wedges for shots 115 and in so I can use a full swing with each. Don't need no steenkin' THREE WOOD! dave

We're scheduled to play Saturday 10/15. Mid-60s and dry. Sounds like a good day for golf in NE Ohio! dave

Played several Jack Nicklaus design courses. I really enjoyed playing them and played well for the most part. What I think his designs do best is: 1. present players of all skill levels and driving distances tee boxes that set up a player with a reasonable chance at a good score. 2. Reward good shots but not over-penalize not-so-good shots. 3. Make a straight hole pleasing to the eye. 4. Provide landing area targets from tee boxes that are obvious if you look for them. 5. Leave most of the course directly in front of you. What you see is pretty much what you get on a Nicklaus course. He doesn't try to 'fool' anybody. I can think of 5 Nicklaus courses played in the past 0-10 years. Most recently, (September 2016) Grand Bear in Saucier, MS. Enjoyed playing all of them, scored well and walked off feeling like I had a chance at a really good score. dave

O.P. is obviously a player with very good ball striking skills. An improvement area tour players work extremely hard at is proximity to pin on approach shots. Pretty sure if you do some research, you'll find a results table that shows proximity to hole in terms of feet from different yardage ranges. IIRC, from 150 yards it's like 16 feet is tour average. Look it up and see what you can. Would be interesting to see if I were as solid a ball striker as the guy who posted about not being able to putt very well. Get it close, knock 'em in. Pretty good strategy. dave

my only input here to be to make sure you have the right, best tools (clubs) for your short game. I made a couple of bonehead wedge purchases then called Titleist Vokey from their website. As soon as I said, I live near Firestone CC in Akron, the guy knew exact course conditions I'd face and recommended the right loft, bounce and grind for my 'around the green' wedges. So many people I play with don't have tools that allow them to get it close very often. It's tough to hit a wedge with a near flat sole out of 3-4" Kentucky bluegrass. OTOH, a wedge with the right bounce number and grind slides right through that spinach. If you're playing on bermuda, wedge choices might differ. For playing off really tight bent grass approaches and deeper (up north) roughs, I have the right tools to get the job done. Also, I used to use several clubs, (8-iron all the way through my most lofted wedge) around the greens to pull off any and all shots. This year I simplified things and use a PW or my 58* (most lofted) wedge. I'm much better with those two than trying to pull off an 8-iron pitch and run with good distance control. Lastly, I try to stay out of that 15-50 yard range at all cost. I'm good on the low end of the range from 15-20 yards or so, but the 20-50 yard range is a difficult shot for most players unless its a very straight forward pitch and run. If you have to hit a 40 yard shot from a tight lie, float it up and have it land softly, that a REALLY tough shot unless your name happens to be Phil. Make sure you have the right tools, first and foremost. Second, try to simplify the process and get really good with two clubs before introducing more. dave

Be sure to compare both the G30 and G irons before deciding. Longer, straighter and higher were the results for me on the G-series compared to the G30 irons. The G irons are still working quite well during on-course play. Still hitting them high, straight and close to the hole. dave

Ding! Thread winner. I'll add that the rangefinders, (I use a Bushnell) are invaluable when you get to 120 or so and closer. You have the EXACT yardages to pins when the shot really counts. Lucky for me, I have my short irons and wedges completely dialed in from practice USING my range finder. I know exactly how far each club flies and rolls out on a green. dave

Revenge. So many times, I've seen teams close out big playoff advances in Cleveland. Whether it's the CAVS, Indians or even the Browns, teams have celebrated on our fields and in our locker rooms. Nothing would make my Sunday more than seeing the Tribe close out the Red Sox IN Boston. And do it TODAY. It would be a day for the ages if somehow the Browns could beat the Pats at home and have the Tribe close out the Sox at Fenway. I'd have to punch myself in the face to make sure it wasn't a dream. dave

Same here. 3-wood is long gone. I have a 5w AND a 7-wood. Both are so much more reliable than a 3-wood. Actually, I kept the 3-wood in the bag for so long because my home course has a par 3 that plays from 188 - 210 from the tees we play. Now, I just hit the 5-wood and take my lumps. At least I know I'm not going to roll it or slice it off the planet. The 7-wood is my 170-180 club, the 5 wood approaches 200 on a rare perfect swing/hit. If anyone is considering going 'old man' like me, the long end of my bag is 6-iron, 5-hybrid, 7- and 5-woods. I'm staying away from any club with the numbers 4 or 3 anymore. Glad to see the OP found some love in a 5-wood. Good stick. dave

Great weekend for golf here in NE Ohio. Friday, played 'hookie' and took half day off work to enjoy a round in sunny and 80 degree weather. Saturday, not so warm, but sunny and breezy, low 60s. The big question about my game is why does it take 9 holes for me to warm up my old bones and start playing good golf? Start cold on #1 with no warmup, front side isn't good. Hit range balls and practice putting, front side isn't any better. Back nine score Friday: 40; Saturday, 39. Kept both rounds well under 90, had birdies both rounds and was low score Friday and 2nd lowest Saturday. Won all the cash on a Friday Nassau and skins on Saturday. Couple of exceptional holes: #9 Friday: Crushed a drive that caught a downslope leaving me 101 to elevated green. Wedge to 4' and made putt. Saturday on a par 5, drove ball into trees, punched out with 6-iron that still left 161 to green. 5-hybrid to 3 feet and made putt for birdie. My cart mate on Saturday is a 10 hdcp and a pretty good player. He only had his B game Saturday and I could tell he was getting frustrated watching me circle another won hole every other hole! Nice to be 'the guy' every once in awhile. Don't know about you guys, but we're certainly running out of golf days in Ohio. Sad truth. dave