Spackler-esque

Terrible 93 on an incredibly windy day on a nice looking course (71.1/127 from the Blues). They'd just aerated the greens and laid down sand. Slow and bumpy. Yuck. Can't wait to play it again when the grass isn't hibernating and the greens are smooth and fast. Somehow managed to botch hitting 10/14 fairways by only hitting 2/18 GIR and having 36 putts. Ugh. At least it was relaxing.

Bridgestone used to make a really thick-soled long iron. There's a 2-iron at the local golf shop shafted with an Aldila NV-100S. Feels great. Easy to hit. Couldn't find anything about it one their website, however, so I doubt it's still in production.

Today Founders released this years batch of its Kentucky Breakfast Bourbon Aged Stout. I'm kicking myself for not taking a road trip up to the brewery and buying as much as I could afford.

J.J. Johnson - The Trombone Master Great album...

To start with, when you copy down spoken word you are not translating, you are transcribing, hence why a copy of a speech is called a transcript and not a translation. So, The Odyssey is a translated transcription as it was originally of oral tradition in ancient Greek and is now written in, well, many, many languages. To each his own. But being condescending is a way to seem like a giant pain in the ass, not to get your point across. Ahh, the beauty of literary criticism of ancient works, where as long as you can find one example you are never truly wrong because authors intent is, well, a little hard to really and truly know. You've reduced a culture down to one sentence. Good job. Too bad it doesn't work that way or Greek Civilization and other Classics courses and what-not would be very short and very boring. As I said, to each his own. If you're going to lay into Greek writing as a whole without actually making any worthwhile comment on The Odyssey or any other work of Classical literature, why post? That all depends on what you're trying to understand. If you want discourse that is still considered base philosophy and political science and that are pretty cool, go Plato. If you want to wade through Nietzsche and deal with his sense on morality, why not? Either way you're being force few someone else's view of the world, which was part of your problem with Greek literature to begin with. I don't know Nietzsche well enough to really provide a rebuttal other than to say that books are a lot like golf clubs: everyone likes something different and you won't know if you like it until you try it. Either way, staying on topic would be nice. So you prefer Roman culture to Greek culture, ehh?

That's cool that it's built into the terrain. Too often these monsters are just built for vanity sake and to force people into carts, as far as I can tell. If I had a chance, I'd like to give this one a chance. I will never say that spaced-out courses cannot be amazing, just that the concept is absurd.

If it's not busy and I'm just out to play a leisurely round (read: started in the morning and really don't care when I get done as long as I'm always moving forward and not stuck) then yeah, I'd walk it. There's more than just distance that would go into that decision, but with water and a couple of energy bars or something I think an 8 mile course would be an interesting experience. I'm not at all saying that I'd want to do it every round. That being said, I don't generally like these ridiculously spread-out layouts. It's just too disruptive to the flow of the game, IMO. I mean, several MINUTES from green to the next tee by cart? That's absurd. I'd rather just not play a course that's set up like that.

MX-200 3- and 4-iron (though I guess those aren't technically this year's new stuff) and an '09 Vokey so far. Replaced hybrids with irons and filled a gap. There might be more on the way, but it's hard to say. Until I tested my 905R side-by-side with an iQ and S9-1 F speed today I was thinking about a new driver, but the numbers (ball speed and launch angle) that were given were so similar and consistent across the board that I'm not ready to jump. Especially with the iQ and S9-1 F being hook machines for me. Stupid closed-face drivers... Maybe new irons to fill out my planned blended set (MP-52s and either -62s or -67s). A 4-wood's possible or a 18* hybrid. A Rife Abaco putter or Barbados Black heel shafted putter, maybe? Dunno.

Can't say specifically from surgery. A few years ago I subluxated and partially separated my right shoulder pretty badly. After 4 months I was back doing most things regularly. It still wasn't fully healed, just getting there. About a year later, after not continuing to do my PT exercises as religiously as I should've, I separated my shoulder again. The doc thought I tore my labrum, but after a dyed MRI and all that fun crap it was reassessed as just a bad separation. PT on that sucker took another 4-ish months before things started feeling really good again. I have continued to try to strengthen it, but a full year-and-a-half later and I doubt it'll get back to 100% anytime soon. I'd guess closer to 6 months after surgery. My big advice is not to rush back. Do all your PT and don't half-ass it. Continue a strengthening program after you're done with PT. Above all else, listen to your body and listen to your doctors. Best of luck to you.

It's called the abridged version, undoubtedly. I hate those things. First time I read Frankenstein and The Count of Monte Cristo they were abridge versions that I'd been given. I didn't notice as I didn't know the stories. Didn't notice the difference until I read the unabridged years later. At that point I was pissed off that I'd been given a shit copy. They quickly found their way into the garbage. The real version is split up into books. It's like chapters.

As much as I like Titleist and Mizuno clubs, I gotta agree with TCC and probably with what wedge player meant: Taylormade Smoke MBs are probably the best looking clubs around.

Skill over luck. Though I love it when luck happens to be on my side on any given day. I think it was Thomas Jefferson who said, “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” Works for me.

Not to be a bigger dick than you, or Phil for that matter... But Phil sure didn't "win" the Northern as much as other golfers worked harder than he did to gave it away. The truth is that when Phil plays "his way" he often blows it. He didn't win "his way" because he didn't play "his way." He didn't take driver off the tee at 18, instead taking a 3-wood off the tee. He won because he used his brain instead of his gut. And boy, his gut is a lot larger than his brain so I have no clue how the brain won out! Besides that, get a f'n life, man. It was a fun article. It made sense. You have no reason to be this offended by it. You're not Phil, so half the stuff you've spewed forth is conjecture at best. The other half doesn't make a lot of sense and is barely readable. You may as well be speaking olde tyme frontier gibberish for all I care. There are other threads discussing the merits of liking/disliking Phil. Personally, I think he's a twerp and am in the Steve Williams camp on this, except I extend it to Phil's zealots, too: Phil's a dick and so are his zealots. Lighten up, dude.

Love the multiple meaning here.

Natives were recommended to me by a friend who is now an adventure instructor (or something like that) out in the Tetons. I bought a pair of Silencers and I love'm. I went into a Sunglass Hut the other day and picked up a pair of Oakley's... Felt flimsy compared to the Natives. Lenses are interchangeable. All lenses are polarized. Lifetime warranty for normal damage to the frame and lenses (there is a processing fee). You can buy other lens kits. They don't fog up... There are a slew of both positive and negative reviews on REI's website with all the negatives complaining about lens durability in terms of scratches. In a year-and-a-half I have not gotten one scratch on my lenses through golfing, trail/road running, driving, and just daily use. Then again, I take care of them like I do my real glasses. I accidentally slammed (and the trunk latch on my '00 Ford Focus is bad, so I mean SLAMMED) the case right under my trunk latch. Case gave way a little, no damage to the glasses or the extra lenses stored in the top of the case.

Phil may be a "star," but so is Williams. Star caddie. Star Saloon car driver... He might be a bigger celebrity than Phil is, when you get right down to it. If I had to guess, the conversation was something like this: Phil: Good to see Tiger healthy and back on the course. Guess he didn't fire you, huh? Steve: Why would he? You're still a prick. I can only hope. Hah!

I actually went the exact opposite direction. Bought a 23* Nickent 3DX DC to replace my 3-iron when the graphite shaft snapped at the base of the hosel. Loved it. Got a 20*. Loved them both for about a year or so. And then I changed irons and lost all sense of feel for the Nickents (and couldn't hit the irons, either). Didn't regain it in the hybrids when I got another set of irons, so I decided to go the GI-long iron route instead and I could not be happier. Still considering a 17-18* hybrid, but I'd have to drop a wedge and if I'm over 200-210 out I really should just lay up to a distance anyway at this point.

43/43 for an 86 (+16) in breezy, cool conditions at the local muni. The round was doomed from the start. Hit my first fairway and stuck the approach within three feet, easy little uphiller for birdie. It could only go downhill from there, and it sure did! Hah! Whatever. I'll take it for my first round since the beginning of December. Been spending pretty much all my time on the range and not the course since then.

I was in the local golf shop the other day when the Powerbilt rep stopped by. The clubs he had were all last years models. They looked really nice except for the fact that they were all 1-2* closed. Didn't get to hit'm, just listen to the rep shoot the shit with some other club reps and the owner of the place about how he uses it and yadda yadda... They are conforming. Fuzzy is on board with them and apparently does play the club in competition (sometimes?). That's all I can say with any hint of truth.

Yes. Read that and a proverbial shit-ton of other Classical Literature. Became a hobby even though it was hardly a focus for my English major (more focused on editorial process and technical writing). The Iliad's great, too. But I like reading things like Ovid's Metamorphoses and Herodotus's Histories and the Dead Sea Scrolls more most of the time. History of the Peloponnesian War... Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire... All wonderful stuff.

Hmm... Before I added it up I was actually guessing around $1500, but then I realized that things not in my bag didn't count. Driver: $150 (Used) 3-wood: $120 (New) Irons: $200+$175 (New+Used) Wedges: $330 (3x New) Putter: $80 (An absolute STEAL new) Bag: $120 (New) Total: $1175 Everything else is either getting resold/traded in soon (G5 driver, 2x 3dx dc hybrids) and put towards new equipment or eventually re-shafted and maybe used (Nike Forged Pro Combo 3-PW that're 700+ miles away right now...).

Man... Narrowing it down to a few top beers is hard... I worked in a beer bar for almost a year-and-a-half and have had some absurd number of beers (well over 400) considering I'm only 24. That includes a ton of weird, rare Belgians... I've helped friends and family homebrew for six years or so, too. Best result from that was a Cherry Chocolate Imperial Stout made with fresh cherries and dark chocolate. Wow. Extreme Black and Tans (Dogfish Head 120 minute and World Wide Stout) might be one of the greatest things ever. Domestic Crafts: Three Floyds Alpha King and Pride and Joy; Oscar Blues Ten FIDY and Dale's Pale; Ommegang Hennepin and Witte; Avery Maharajah; and Brooklyn-Schneider Hopfen-Weiss. I know I'm forgetting a ton here. Belgians: Drie Fontaine (any of their Guezes...); Lindeman's Cuvee Rene Gueze; Troubador Obscura Mild Stout; Tripel Kamerliet; and La Chouffe Houblon and N'ice... and same as above here. Germans: Schneider Aventinus; Julius Echter Hefe and Dunkel; Weinstephaner Korbinian... same as above and above... Denmark: Mikkeler Black Stout (like getting hit in the face with a burnt log. So good), Struess IPA, and IPA Norwegian: Nogone O Dark Horizon, Imperial Stout, and Brown ale I really like English bitters and mild ales, but couldn't come up with any off the top of my head (Pride and Joy aside). Anything sessionable like that is a winner in my book. Beyond that, I'll drink damn near anything from PBR (as long as it's in a pounder) on up. But if it's reconstituted piss (read: most American macros) I'll undoubtedly make some wise-ass remark about it.

Trolling is a very standard internet forum term. It's the act of making an inane, off-topic, or controversial post to get a response. Hijacking a thread qualifies. So, someone who decides to go evangelist on a thread that mentions a driver called the Diablo when the discussion is what club did Phil use at the Northern would be a troll. Oops. Sorry, Three Putt. Those of us who responded would just be feeding the troll, as it were. (I'm not saying I never do this, just that I try to run everything through a filter so I don't.) I'm surprised that he showed the restraint to hit 3-wood. The Phil we know and love would've just hammered driver and bogeyed to lose it. (Winning today doesn't absolve him from the title of choke artist.) I watched from about hole six through twelve or so and he looked awful with driver. No control. Even the commentators made light of not knowing whether he was going to end up right or left when he swung it. That being said, I'm glad to see he didn't screw it up. When he plays well golf is more interesting to watch. Now if he can only figure out that FT-9... Well put.

I mean, I know based on the rest of your comments in this thread that you're not religious, but I still can't believe that you're seriously still trying to hump this argument into submission... If you're not religious, what's the beef? I assume you also boycotted Hoover for the Dirt Devil, Little Debbie for Devil Dogs and Devil Cremes... I'm sure with a Google search or two I could keep this up for days. My bet is that you'll answer, "No, I didn't" because the underlying argument here has nothing to do with the Devil. It's clearly irrational and borderline trolling. Get over it. The implication of the name, in this instance, is that it's a hot club and that it's so good it's cheating. Same with the balls. At least that's my educated guess from a marketing standpoint as I haven't read any of the official material on the products other than spec-sheets. Also, if Callaway'd sold its soul to the devil you think they'd have Tiger in their stable. Or at least Phil wouldn't be such a choke artist...

Objectively, the FPs are good forgiving GI clubs. They are lighter than the S9s, which doesn't take much. If you like the greater offset, thicker top line, and thicker soles, they should do you good. You're already playing AP1s, which are, in my opinion, better clubs. I wouldn't make the switch. I played the '07 FPs for a full season. I was coming off of Nike forged Pro-Combos with the stock graphite shafts, thought I wanted something more forgiving and with steel shafts. Well, I was right about the shafts, but the FPs looked and felt like shovels. Couldn't hit'm worth a lick. Never got comfortable. Finally got rid of'em the other day. Don't miss them at all. The Nikes on the other hand... Looking forward to re-shafting those next time I visit my parents and get a chance to pick them up out of their basement.