Chas

Bob Costas has the right to make a fool of himself with his politically correct garbage as much as he likes, and we have the right to call him on it.

I'm thinking of subbing my 5W for my 3h - I don't see doing it for a 4i (too long).

Do you truly believe that you are benefitting from the ProV1 vs the old ball? If so, in what way and how much?

Bob Costas is a moron. Since the time I discovered this I've avoided watching him as much as possible.

^^^^^^^^ lol

The rules committee was incoherent on the matter - not good.

What? You guys are nuts if that's how you define the word 'controversy'. This really is most entertaining ..... lol

You don't see this as a controversy??? That is hilarious.

My respect for Chamblee just went up. He was right, Tiger should have been disqualified, and he had the integrity to say so knowing full well that the Tiger fanboys would go after him viciously. Well done Brandel.

I don't care who you are that there is fuuuuu-ny.

Now I'm feeling left out ......... same old avatar boo hoo

I see your point and would agree, except that I'm not talking crap balls here - I only pick up and retain balls of roughly equal quality to those I buy. I'm picky and I'm too cheap to buy ProV1's. :>)

Not a bad idea - I even have the very bag for storing them (small sleeve). Also, certain holes where there's a high known risk of a total loss, e.g. long carry over water on the approach shot. One such hole springs readily to mind .....

Yes but otoh, think of the entertainment you provided the other players by breaking that driver in such a spectacular fashion - I would have rolled around on the grass LMAO. Isn't it a bit selfish to deprive us of this sort of thing? ...... ;>)

Well it's a plausible hypothesis - he may not feel he's completely "ready" otherwise - not doing enough to prepare. Who knows what's really going on in his mind. Maybe he'll rationalize all the tinkering to us all at some point.

He is incessantly changing his putter/putting stroke, nothing new there really. I've never seen a guy so pi**ed off with his putting stroke as when I followed him for a few holes at Torrey this year. He kept pulling out the putter and taking practice swings, even when waiting around near the tee box.

I'm mostly a Phil supporter but I think there's some truth to this. But also, he seems to feel the need to tweak his game much of the time - he has said as much himself. Can't leave well enough alone, but then again I suppose he doesn't feel things are 'well enough' when he makes a change. He's a risk taker, that much is clear.

It's understandable. Sometimes it's hard to tell as to trolling and sometimes posters don't get the point across so well - myself included. I thought the poster above who used the phrase "benefit of the doubt" said it well. And heck, sometimes even if it is a troll (which I don't suggest in this case) it's still worth responding to as if it weren't..

This is my interpretation as well. Actually it's an interesting question. I normally hit at about 90-95% effort, which means that I do have a bit in reserve in a situation like recently where I had to clear a torrey pine tree with a hard 9i from light rough to get near the pin. I gave it the works, 100%, and got lucky. But really in normal situations I should be hitting at more like 70-80% effort since this would reduce my tendency to overswing and to go too far back at the top (even ungripping a bit sometimes). For some reason I'm finding it very very difficult to dial it back. So I would definitely try to back off the intensity a bit if I were the OP. Also, working with weights 2 or 3 times a week is really helping me with my strength and my stamina. I played Torrey Pines South a couple days ago and wasn't tired at the end (but I did use a cart). Then again I'm over 60 - YMMV.

lol Some of the people I play with would grab your sandwich out of the cart while you're off looking for that stray ball ...... ................................ not really. Actually it's the brazen ducks that grab your sandwiches around here, pesky blighters. Now that I'm more aware of the many rattlesnakes that lurk on the courses here in sunny San Diego, including a very large one spotted in light rough at a certain local track recently (I saw definitve photographic evidence), I'll be a tad more reluctant to scamper into the undergrowth to pick up a ball I see in there.

Thank you for this background dave, which does put matters in better perspective. And it's good to see that at least one person in this thread knows what they're talking about ...

Well sometimes you can't be absolutely sure someone hasn't just played the ball you find in the rough on the hole you're playing. Rather than wait 5-10 mins to be sure no one comes along, I'll just leave it there - I did this very thing today. Otherwise I grab 'em and use 'em, unless beaten up of course in which case it stays - why pick it up? I put 3 black dots on it and it's MINE - I'm not proud that way :>)

Torrey Pines, South course, VERY windy day. First hole, 445 yd par 4, dog leg right. Drove into light rough to right, then pushed 4h badly leaving ball behind a tall Torrey pine tree with a greenside bunker between tree and green (130 to pin). I pulled out my 8i but then realized I wouldn't clear the tree so switched to my 9i. Hit it hard and flush, the ball just skimmed the top of the tree and ended up maybe 25 ft right of the pin. Nice. Two-putted for bogie ..... but it would have been worse were it not for the 9i. Scored a 92, not bad considering the length and difficult conditions (15-30 knot SW wind much of the time). Blue tees: 7051, 75.3/137.

Here's another theory for you guys to ponder. Back in the high Middle Ages (14th to 15th centuries), jousting became the tournament pursuit of choice for the ambitious young knight. Prior to that, tourneys consisted mostly of a "melee" between groups of knights, which was much what it sounds like. In a joust, two knights attacked each other with lances astride their steeds, feet in stirrups (a relatively recent invention) and rear end securely placed in a deep saddle. The key point here is that the lance was always UNANCHORED in proper "sanctioned" tournaments. At some point it was shown that anchoring the lance to an appendage of the saddle provided a significant advantage in bringing down your opponent - makes sense - but this was felt to be against the rules of chivalry and hence verboten. NOTE: the analogy fails in that no clear advantage to the average player has been shown for anchoring a putter, an important distinction. But clearly, anchoring of the stick remains an unchivalrous thing to do :>)

OP: under those conditions you shoulda hit it 400+ ..... :>) [only kidding] p.s. I hit a 3W 285 yds once - downhill fairway, hard surface, light wind.