tdiii

At what age did you first break par and/or break 80? I've never done either, although I've come close to the latter several times. I expect we'll see pretty young ages for both as players who are decent enough to accomplish this probably started early and had some modicum of skills.

Totally appropriate to concede the putt. I do think it would be a little crappy to make a guy go through his pre-shot routine, line it up, take his stance, and then concede it. I would have probably apologized for the late concession and explained that my brain works slowly most times. It does raise a question for me: When is the last moment a shot can no longer be conceded? Obviously, if you concede just as he takes his putter back, he shouldn't breach the rules but completing the putt. On the other hand, he reads the putt, places his ball, and starts to approach the ball -- if you concede at that point, he can't complete the putt without it being improper assistance. Where in between those is the line?

Glad I'm not alone. I played several years ago on a cold, moderately windy day. At the turn, I looked at my buddy and said, "I'm a beaten man. I'm moving up to the whites." Had a lot more fun on the back, but still it was a death march.

I am very entertained by Crossfield and the muppets. I don't pay much attention to his club reviews because I'm very firmly in the Indian not the Arrow camp, with the possible exception of driver and, even then the right fitting probably matters a lot more than the clubhead. All of which I would think Crossfield (and, I'm guessing iacas) would agree with. His whining about TM did grow tiresome. I believe Crossfield is an honest guy and will do his level best to continue to review impartially. I'm just not sure it is possible. I analogize it -- very loosely -- to politics and lobbyists. Lobbyists have access to the politicians. Granted we can probably agree most lobbyists and politicians are less than scrupulous, but if we give them the benefit of the doubt, a lobbyist sits down with a politician and makes important points about a bill that the politician maybe hadn't considered. That affects his or her vote. Titleist has more access to Crossfield than the other brands, so it will have more opportunity to educate him and provide greater detail about its products. Moreover, he probably will develop relationships with and like the Titleist folks. Armed with all this knowledge, it will be natural for him - while fully intending to retain impartiality -- to sing Titleist's praises more than others.

My thing with Kostis is that he will analyze a swing and sometimes say something like, "and that's why he missed left there." And the reality, of course, is that he knew what had happened already. Just once, I'd love to show him a swing -- from any angle he wanted -- and ask where the ball went. Because I'm guessing he'd have no clue.

Do I get an award for getting my first eagle since returning to the game after am 8 year layoff this summer? The 4th hole at Fountaingrove, 490 yard par 5. Driver, 5 iron to 10'. Made the putt for my second eagle ever, and first since starting to play again a couple years ago. Looking to break 80 in 2018!

Had my chance to break 80 today. Played The Meadow Club, a 1927 Alistair MacKenzie design outside Fairfax in Marin County. Par 71. We played the Blue/White combo (71.4/133), about 6,450 yards. Shot 80, but had no clue. 41 on the front, 39 on the back. 3 putted 18, including a 4' second putt. We were kind of in a hurry and I just walked up and swiped at it. Only later did I realize I would have shot 79 had I made it. On the other hand, I surely would have yakked it anyway had I known of its import.

I think I have to bump the Preserve off this list with San Francisco GC replacing it (played there yesterday). I would bump one of The Preserve or Vintage, but beause The Preserve is a lot like Mayacama (or vice versa) but Vintage is very different from both, I have to bump Preserve from the list for variety. Mayacama gets the nod over the Preserve because it is walkable.

I kept waiting for something to go wrong, but I'm thrilled to report we got out to SFGC without a hitch. And just a spectacular day in San Francisco. Warm for December, sunny, almost no wind. The clubhouse is so old school, basic, but beautiful. There's no effort to impress with the interior but it just oozes class and history. They've retained their original lockers from the 1930s. The menu is basic, with no prices. Food was great, service quick. The course is just a phenomenal Tillinghast design. Very forgiving off the tee and then tough greens with brutal bunker complexes. There wasn't a silly hole on the course. The caddies are a salty lot -- exactly what I want in my caddy. Give me crap for a bad shot, but laughing along with me. One of our caddies looped for Phil Mickelson last week at the course. He wouldn't tell me what Phil tipped but it was north of $500. I didn't tip $500!

Yes, the course is basically unscathed. The greens had been punched the week before the fire, and now the course has been sitting there for 6 weeks with no one beating the cr@p out of it. During and after the fires, power was out to the area and all our irrigation control boxes melted. I think they have been replaced by now. We were able to get water trucks onto the course about 5 days after the fire to get waters on the greens or they would have been lost. There are many, many trees that have been removed and are being removed. The course is not yet open, but should be open by year's end. We lost our entry house, maintenance facility, all our maintenance vehicles and golf carts, the club house, and one of our bathrooms on the course, but our athletic facility is fine. So, now we need to deal with getting the new club house built, which may be a blessing in disguise as it was not very popular with members anyway and now we have insurance money to rebuild. Golf courses do pretty well in wild fires, it turns out. Mayacama had lots of trees burned and brush burned around it (as well as at least one bridge), but the course looked unscathed this past weekend.

In no particular order: 1) Bandon Dunes 2) Pacific Dunes 3) Portmarnock GC (the original old course outside Dublin) 4) Mayacama GC 5) Martis Camp (spectacular mountain course in Tahoe -- also my best round ever) 6) Rock Creek Cattle Company (so fun and playable, awesome Big Sky beauty in MT, and fantastic, friendly service) 7) Fountaingrove (home course) 8) Fall River Valley (goat track but fantastic layout and a ton of fun) 9) The Preserve 10) The Vintage Club (Mountain Course) I'm supposed to play San Francisco GC Wednesday, so I'm guessing The Preserve or The Vintage Club will get bumped off.

A few pics from Mayacama yesterday. Chamber of commerce day for sure. So quiet out there it got almost eery on the back nine. Spectacular condition -- so nice to play 18 holes and not see a single ball mark on a green. Only bummer was the signature 15th hole played as a par 3 because the fire took out a bridge crossing. Playing with caddies and walking is always a blast. I have to tip my hat to those caddies because it isn't an easy walk without a bag, let alone carrying two of them. Played like dog poo, but naturally the golf god's granted me a birdie on 18 to make sure I keep playing. Gorgeous clubhouse, tremendous service. Still looks like SFGC is happening Wednesday. *Fingers crossed*

I'm sure something will blow up in my face and this will all go sideways, but through good fortune and old fashioned begging, I am playing Mayacama tomorrow and San Francisco Golf Club Wednesday! A shame I've not touched a club in 3 weeks. I know I can take photos at Mayacama, so will share some of them. Not sure what the protocol will be at SFGC but if I can I will.

Good point, I was mixing stats there. So really just over 1 MPH of club head speed.

He was 180 on Thursday, 178 on the holes they showed it Sunday. Not sure if that is meaningful or not. Speaking for myself, 2 mph feels like a lot (I'm just over 100 and hit 104 occasionally). But who knows if he concentrated on swinging smoothly, if he was tired, or if the callibrations were different somehow. Don't know enough about the technology.

Except the results indicate that it was not reasonably likely it would roll back.

Except you'd gain an advantage whereas he did not. The ball never got back to the divot, nor near it. If I play a 50 yard pitch and step on the divot no one gives it a second thought.

Don Julio 1942. Smooth. Pure.

A- I haven't seem him drive the ball that well in at least 10, maybe 15 years. Makes me wonder if a lot of his driving woes have been on account of back problems. The chipping was poor to terrible though. Maybe with his health he can devote more time to it, but I wonder if he plays those shots with too much forward shaft lean. Of course, I'm a 13 and suck so maybe shouldn't get into technique. He probably lost a half dozen strokes on account of poor/mediocre chipping. I was a bit disturbed when a reporter asked him after his first round if she'd seen him take Advil during that round, to which he said yes. But then he lied, saying he wasn't in pain but it was just his doctor's orders. No way. A MD might tell you to take advil if you were having symptoms but wouldn't just have you take it if all was great. So, that bears watching.

Usually once or twice per round. Many rounds with none. Not even sure I've ever had a round with more than two. Typically it occurs in one of two situations: (a) a back pin position where you are dead behind the green; or, (b) into the wind where I'm playing an extra couple of clubs and the ball is untouched by it.

Long shot, I know, but I serve on the board of directors of a private club which lost its clubhouse in the Sonoma County wildfires. Wondering if anyone has been through this before and, if so, whether you could reach out to me privately to discuss the process and pitfalls offline. Thanks!

This reminds me of the old saying about poker where if you can't recognize the sucker within 5 minutes of sitting at the table, you're it. . . because, I can't say I've really been stuck with any truly odd ducks in my golfing life. . . so I guess it's me!

The only thing that gets to me is a sudden noise in my backswing. You can be talking during my set up and as i take my swing and it never bothers me. But if silence gets broken by a sudden noise, I'm a mess. Nothing else really gets to me. I suppose if someone did jumping jacks in my line that might bother me, but short of that I'm generally focused enough on the (nigh on impossible) task at hand that stuff doesn't get to me. My regular groups are all made of up of ball busters. We laugh at each other's misery, make fun of our screw ups and idiosyncracies, and celebrate the occasional decent result -- even when it might cost us a few shekels. I also try to keep things in perspective -- I'm not making a living at this stupid game and never will. I don't bet enough that I'm ever going to get hurt financially. And as far as competition, I grind over making the best swipe at the ball that I can, but don't get too flummoxed over the more likely mediocre results and certainly don't get to hung up on tourney results. As a net player, it is all very random -- except when it isn't on account of sandbagging, which I also have no control over. That's not to say I've never had a meltdown on the course. Absolutely, a well-chosen four letter word is generally part of my post-shot routine (right before reaching into my pocket for another pellet) on tight driving holes. Stupid game.

It seems that almost all the lack of strict adherence benefits the player; i.e., leads to better scores and, therefore, lower handicaps. The best example is conceded putts. Shouldn't we all be fine with folks who claim lower handicaps than they would have if they strictly followed the rules?

On cause/symptom he says it is a chicken/egg thing. It could be a cause or an effect -- I think he realizes some cures work for some people but not all. He has suggested sequencing (which I'm also working on); i.e., not initiating with lower body enough. Video discloses that, unlike a touring pro, my hips are only beginning to open at impact, rather than being well open. No swing thread. Yet.