SG11118

If you were really into it, you could also keep track of all the words they have used in the past and figure they are not going to repeat themselves - yet. It might eliminate a couple of options. I'm not that dedicated...

Generally, one club with many swings for me.

Not trying to be difficult, but did the USGA/R&A provide a rationale in 2016 for why the object needs to be artificial? I would assume it is to make sure your mark is absolutely identifiable to you so you re-mark your ball in the correct location, and not accidently in a location where a similar natural object is sitting? If that is the case, I would think that taking a natural object and humanly modifying it (drawing on it with marker, ripping it in half, etc) would be enough to make the object identifiable and turn the natural object into an artificial one.

I voted shaft - probably 75/25

Yeah. I've got two pre 2010s in my bag right now and have a tournament this weekend. That was why I was looking at it. One of the two is something I can trust for 85-110 yards. The other one is a 60 that I am comfortable with for the 1-2 times a round I need to lob ovet something. Everything else between 5 yards and 85 yards is a 2024 wedge.

I was doing a little research on the internet this morning, and it seems like Jan 1, 2024 wasn't really the deadline. It seems that 1/1/24 was the earliest that it could have been mandated as a permanent rule for all golfers, but that the USGA/R&A let that date slip, so Model Local Rule G-2 is still the only thing preventing clubs that were legal before 2010 from still being used. I found recent letters from both Shannon Kane of the USGA and Ian Scott of the R&A (Posted on GolFWRX) confirming that the groove rule is still only a model local rule. Grooves-Rule-Explanation.pdf (cybergolf.com)

Will be interesting to see what comes of this. Everyone likes the concept of the best players playing competitively against each other more often. However, they need to have mechanisms in place to replace the "best players" who are no longer the best players with players who are better. I don't like limited field No-Cut events with guaranteed money and guaranteed Fed Ex points. Quite often, these tournaments end up very uninteresting to watch. Events with an intermediate cut generally result in a better and more entertaining golf product, while also giving up-and-coming players opportunities to prove themselves better than the best players.

Had one of these rounds last Thursday. Second one of the year. Both were 15 par/3 bogey rounds without a birdie.

Driver off the deck used to be way easier 25 years ago when driver heads were less than 250 cc.

Congrats - It's fun to be able to bomb it once in a while. Tough to provide a whole lot of advice on your topic. There is quite a bit of difference between a 8 degree loft and a 11 degree loft driver, and there is quite a bit of difference between a senior flex shaft and an extra stiff shaft. You obviously have some good swing speed to be able to hit it 300+. Neither the loft of the shaft is going to be the reason you were hitting it 100 yards better than usual though. I'd assume that for whatever reason you were hitting the ball towards the middle of the clubface that day, and if you could do that similarly with your own driver, you'd be seeing a lot better results. Either that or your Nike head is damaged and you need to get rid of it.

More common to me than some of the past words have been. Still took me 5 to get it though...

Ha Ha. How do I donate to keep the Haggis safe?

One of the guys in my group was complaining about his grip alignment when we played the other day too. I had no clue what he was talking about. I guess if it bothers you, change it.

We allow our 75+ members to play their entire round from the senior tees including closest to pin stuff. Our 60+ members also get to play up a tee box for their rounds including the closest to pin stuff. Two of our par threes are really long, and most of our seniors would have no shot at a CTP on those holes. I don't have a problem with it. However, we'll usually only have one or two CTP contests on par 3s, and we'll have another 3 or 4 for second shot CTP on par 4s. Our pro tries to pick a few holes that give seniors a big advantage and a few holes that do not. It sounds like you maybe only have one CTP for the entire round which puts a little more premium on the prize?

What is your predicted likelihood of qualifying? If you feel that your typical score will get you qualified, I'd probably err on the conservative side with the first tee shot on a tough hole like this. If you think you are going to have to play two rounds that are quite a bit better than your typical round, I'd probably be more likely to try and be more aggressive from the get-go. Although with a 36 hole qualifier, I could understand the conservative approach on the first hole to avoid making the rest of the day meaningless. I can remember reading a Raymond Floyd book, where he talked about how to play a first hole, and the only thing he was trying to do was make the hole as easy / stress free as possible to start building confidence for the remainder of the round. There is a lot to be said for that.