xian

I'm sure Erik will have more to say, but I just heard this. The tour average for sand saves is 49.1 percent. The average today is right around 33 percent. We'll have to see how/if that changes over rest of the tournament.

Of course. I don't think demoing clubs is a substitute for a fitting. Apples and oranges as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah. I can definitely see that there's room for mischief. If they weren't associated with golfgalaxy.com, I wouldn't even consider using them.

I hadn't seen this site before today: http://www.golfclubdemo.com/ Seems like nice idea depending on what your needs are. Has anyone used them?

You didn't read about another stroke for distance because there is no allowance for dropping in the fairway after a lost tee shot. After losing a ball you must return to the point from which you last hit. Dropping near where you thought your ball went is not legal under the rules, but is often done to keep from slowing the course to a grinding halt.

Saw that on Yahoo.

Slightly OT: I look forward to your HX Pearl review. I'm very curious.

I shot a very nice (for me) 43 on the front today. That's a new personal best for 9. My putting was on, short game was not killing me, and I didn't hit into a single bunker. Most importantly, I didn't lose a single ball. It's amazing how many strokes you can give up just by spraying balls into the woods. Well. Not really that amazing. I proceeded to follow that up with a very mediocre (again by my standards) 53 on the back. Even there things were still working. I just mishit several tee shots. But I never panicked or got out of sorts. And best of all. I didn't lose any balls. I think that's a first for me. One round, one ball. It's really the little things that keep me going.

So I guess we can credit Jack either way.

I forgot to add: Ouch.

I'm actually surprised that we haven't seen this much more in recent U.S. Opens. The USGA doesn't have to deal with PGA politics and they are always searching for ways to test the best golfers in the world. Here's a question. The article mentions that bunkers were, at one time, regularly furrowed on tour. What happned?

Classic. Some people call it a Kaisershot. I call it a Slingshot.

Even if that's true, it sounds like whoever is buying them only going to receive a bunch of paperwork. I guess they will get trademarks such as 'Rifle' as well as any patents that RP had on shaft technology. However, it doesn't sound like they will be getting the RP plant, the former RP employees, etc. So it's not like one of those transactions where a new name goes on the building and everything else carries on as usual. Anyone could buy them and stamp the word 'Rifle' on any shaft they wanted.

http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=4951115

Ah. I missed that one. You mention the Epoch tees not being suitable on par-3s but you didn't give a specific reason why. Did you manage to break them? As I said, I used them on all the par-3s today and failed to break one. I will be trying the Zero Friction tees next so tha I can compare (plus they're cheaper). It's so odd that such a cheap piece of golf equipment made me so happy.

I played an entire round with a single tee today. After reading the Zero Friction tee review , I was definitely curious. I got a free 2-tee sample pack from Golf Gods and finally got to try them out today. They weren't the Zero Friction, they were these . Highly recommended. I only used one of them and hit down on it pretty well on all 4 par-3s. After the round it was no worse for the wear, just a little dirty. So, if you haven't tried some "alternative" tees, you might consider it.

The Blackmax may get slightly less press in the future because of the TM balls, but I would be surprised if they disappeared. After all, Maxfli is a separate brand that has plenty of valuable properties (e.g., the Noodle). Plus, they just signed John Daly up as an endorser and he will be/is currently playing the Blackmax: http://www.johndaly.com/news.asp?ID=56

I actually do this (or something very much like it) at all times. When I take a full backswing (i.e., coiling my upper body against my lower body and trying to get the shaft near parallel) I start thinking about power and tend to get way out of control. Taking a more abbreviated backswing prevents all sorts of bad things: focusing on 'killing the ball', swiping at the ball, deceleration, etc. If I'm not good enough to deal with a 'full' swing, I'm ok with that. I would rather give up distance than spray balls all over the place.

That's what I figured. Oh well, I guess that's one more thing I can put on the equipment wish list. You have the Bushnell Pinseeker, right Erik?

This is indeed the method advocated by Dave Pelz. I always had one question about doing this though. How do you get your yardages once you're within 100 yards? The chances of finding yardage markers (at the courses I play) is low.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/golf_ball It seems only sporting to yell 'Fore!' if you're going to be hitting into other foursomes. I hate when I hear balls slamming into the ground near me with no warning. Incidently, Sean Fister (3-time Long Drive Champion) talks about hitting drives into people (people standing on the greens of par 4s) and sending a couple to the hospital. Maybe a helmet/faceguard should be standard golf equipment. At least when playing the local muni.

Weird.

I too thought that face-balanced putters were preferred for straight-back-straight-through strokes and that toe-weighted putters were preferred for swinging-door strokes. Now, for a while, most face-balaced putters were center-shafted, but that's changed. Anyway, none of this has much to do with the line on top of the putter. Erik, did you ever contact Never Compromise to see what they had to say about it?

The weights are not adjustable if anyone was still wondering. At least that's what the flyer in the paper tells me.

There was a new year's resolution thread a while back and several people mentioned that a goal for the coming year was to really focus on each shot and make it count. When I am off the course, I think to myself, "Yes. Let's do it right and really bear down, focus, and stop throwing away so many strokes." Butt then, after a round I realize that I have flaked out on a huge proportion of my shots. My brain seems to check out for a few hours. So any tips or strategies that you all have found to be useful for making each shot count?