1par2win

The only criteria I use to determine "manliness" on the course is whether someone pays up at the end of the round.

For what it's worth last January a very similar subject came up. I e-mailed Titleist about the effect of cold on the driver faces. This is their reply. Must be cold in Minnesota :) I posed your question to our R and D group and here's what they had to say. One caveat is that if you hit way off center on the club face, it is possible to damage the welding. At the swing speeds under 120 mph it shouldn't damage the clubs. Our testing speeds for our air cannon are significantly higher than their swing speeds and we use a fairly hard golf ball. After a quick discussion with our research group and materials experts we agreed they are much more likely to damage the golf ball than the club face. So there you have it. Practice away! Sincerely, Cathi Cathi Donahoo Team Titleist cathi_donahoo@acushnetgolf.com 1(888) TITLEIST

Not taking a shot at Tomboys in particular but I never understood the whole "your not good enough to get mad" philosophy. While we are not TOUR level players the frustration and angst that come with playing this game is just the same. The frustration of three putting 18 to miss a goal by 1 shot whether it be for a 99 all the way to breaking par is just as valid for that player as McIlroy's drive on 10 at Augusta. The stakes are different but the feelings are the same. I guess I never equated getting frustrated with the game and skill level. It's all relative IMO. Not that I condone throwing a club or a tantrum. I find it sucks the fun out of a round if someone is stomping around and being angry. In my experience the very nature of the game curbs that kind of antics for the serious player. Well, at least most serious players anyway. I know a guy that is a fairly skilled player that probably goes through 2-3 drivers a season due to "driver malfunctions". Such is life.

I have been on a search that has evolved into a quest. I am looking for an "old school" look with todays design features. Simply put I'm looking for a leather version of the Sun Mountain Hybrid. Link to the SM bag is below. Anybody ever hear of anything like this? I think I am going to check into some local shops that specialize in leather products to see if I can get a quote. I'm sure the quote will be for an outrageous sum but man what a cool bag that would be! http://www.sunmountain.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view;=productdetails&virtuemart;_product_id=73&virtuemart;_category_id=9&Itemid;=18

Pfffttt. Is that all? My kids get me a huge bag of tees and a couple of golf gloves. So you keep your Open Champoinship rotation and I will sit here hoping I get natural colored tees instead of white....

Interesting topic. Got a couple of guys around the office here are the same way. It doesn't really bother me about the claims they make. Been talking about getting out all year and finally had something set up late in the season. My brother was along as the 4th and we had the over/under at what hole will one of the others will exclaim "This is the worst I've played all year" or some variation. We decided on #4 and I took the over. I lost $20 on the tee at #2. But on the plus side they were very good company for the rest of the round and to me that was/is all I really care about another player. I think a lot of people that make outlandish claims don't realize this. I think it would be more interesting instead of talking about the 300+ drives and 160 yard pw's (uphill, into the wind of course) that people make claims about how much they enjoyed so-and-so's company or how they worked out a swing issue enabled them to improve in some aspect of the game. That to me is far more interesting than reading supposed stats. Connections between players is never made up of driving or putting stats, it's about how we deal with the solitary nature of the game. Frankly, I do not know of anyone that really cares about how far I hit anything and that's fine by me.

Saw a guy once drop kick his 3 wood and must have kicked the shaft exactly on the balance point because it hardly wobbled at all in the air and landed right in the bag well on his cart sticking straight up wedged between the two bags. He yells "BS", walks over, grabs the club, and hurled it up in a tree where it bounced around the branches only to land on top of his cart. He just stares at it shocked of course and turns to us and asks with this wide eyed look, "are there really golf Gods?!?" We were all just busting a gut laughing. One of the strangest (and funniest) things I ever saw.

There are a few courses in MN that at this time of year that utilize shotgun starts. Not my favorite way but at least 18 groups are pretty much guaranteed to finish all 18 comfortably with a number of guys getting in 27. Anything like that in CO?

Signed, Minnesota

I own the 5 iron version and I'm skeptical about how effective it is for maintaining a proper swing plane. I can still go over the top and not break the hinge. What I do find useful is the hinge only allows me to take a smooth takeaway. I tend to get quick taking the club back (especially under pressure) and this device has helped that. I pick it up a few times a week and only for a few minutes at a time but that's enough to emphasize the smooth takeaway. For me it does translate out on the course as I notice I am getting a little quick I will remind myself that it's just like the medicus. So in that sense it works for me but as stated before I'm not sold on the other supposed benefits. My $.02

I did just this and funny, it was with a set of Mizunos too! I was playing stiff flex shafts in my Titleist's prior and felt like I had to work too hard to load the shafts properly. Since then I had found a set of MP-30's that had Rifle 4.5's in extremely good condition so I decided to try that out. Man, what a difference! After getting the feel of the irons on the range I decided to hit 3/4 irons shots just to facilitate better contact out on the course. Well, I shot an 80 the first time around and then a 78 with playing a more "controlled" game. Granted, something clicked in my swing about 6 weeks ago and have been striking the ball ball much more solid so I know my swing is better but switching to an R flex really helped my overall flight. It's a little tough to really get a feel for distance since it's getting cold and been windy as all get out lately but right now I am about 1.5 to 2 clubs shorter than before but my GIR's have dramatically increased. Like I said a lot of things are at work here but taking the step to a R flex shaft really did help. I also experienced a higher than normal ball flight but it's not difficult to flight the ball down a bit with these MP-30's. The one thing I should point out to the OP is that swinging slower as you put it isn't necessarily what's happening. I like to think of it is properly loading the shaft with a smoother swing, not slower. I suspect my distance will return with warmer temps (in about 8 months from now!) with the continued solid contact but for now my buddies can give me all the crap they want about hitting a 6 iron 150 yards but I have been the one making birdies.

I did a search and looked at most of the dozens of threads about this but I have only read a few accounts of what I have experienced with launch monitors. About every other month or so I go into a used club shop here in town and for kicks hit some balls with a driver and check out what the numbers say. My numbers are consistently lower than what I experience out on the course. I know many would say Trackman doesn't lie and normally I would agree with that however according to Trackman I hit my driver about a 180 yards with a 30-40 yard curve. On the course I am hitting a little over 60% of the fairways and total distance of fairways hit is between 225-240. This is verified with GPS (SkyDroid and before that a Garmin) and have been keeping records for over 2 seasons now. This wasn't the first time I have seen numbers like this on a launch monitor. Some sessions the numbers are a bit better than others but there is obviously something wrong with my swing with the driver. My irons check out. So do my hybrids and fairway wood. So what's the deal? Anyone heard of getting a really skewed number with one particular club? I don't think I am swinging for the fences. Seems like I am taking a normal swing. I am interested in tweaking my driver but it's rather pointless to use a launch monitor if I cant recreate my swing during a fitting. The guy in the shop that I have played a few rounds with said that he has seen some people have trouble swinging a club indoors. That makes no sense to me but that's what he claims to be his experience. Anyone else gone through or heard of something like this?

My brother uses one of these. I can't say I have had personal experience with it but he is happy with his. It took him quite a while to get really comfortable with it but I will say he has improved his putting over the last year. The one thing he struggled with and I have heard this from other people that used this putter is that longer distance putts can be tricky to get the speed right. But I have seen with my own two eyes someone that worked through the issue and is as good from 30+ feet as any other mid-capper I play with. Here are some links about this putter from this site. I would take people comments with a huge grain of salt however. If you like it and it works then do it and to hell with anything else! http://thesandtrap.com/t/7201/heavy-putter http://thesandtrap.com/t/52019/coming-back-from-the-heavy-putter http://thesandtrap.com/t/9198/the-heavy-putter Here is a link to a review of a B3 model. It may not be what you would get but it provides a lot of good background information about what Heavy Putters are all about. http://thesandtrap.com/b/clubs/b3_heavy_putter_review Good luck and welcome to the site!

Can't comment directly to the models you listed but why no love for the MP-30?!? I picked up a set a few weeks ago in great shape for a song and just love 'em! I always thought the whole Mizuno "feel" thing some users have is borderline cult like but I have to say after a few rounds and some time on the range I'm a convert. The only comment I can make is like any other iron whether it be a blade or SGI the shaft makes all the difference in the world. Find that and nirvana is sure to follow. Good luck in your search, it's a great feeling to find "it"!

This is the reply I received from Mizuno Customer Support. Might be somewhat interesting general knowledge for Mizuno s/n's. Hello Robert, Thank you for contacting Mizuno USA. Pictures of the clubs can be sent to this email address for authenticity and we did not have issues with counterfeit MP 30 irons. The MP 30 was sold at a time when the serialization system we used changed and we moved the number from the ferrule to the hosel. If the original serial number were on the ferrule and the clubs were re-shafted at any point, this number would have been lost. We appreciate your time and interest. Best Regards, Mizuno USA http://www.mizunousa.com Consumer Support Division 1-800-966-1211

First rule for distance and accuracy is solid contact. Second rule is solid contact. Once rules 1 & 2 have been firmly established you can work increasing your clubhead speed to achive more distance provided rules 1 and 2 are strictly followed.

I'm not exactly going to be carrying a sign and protesting but golf in the Olympics isn't something I'm all that interested in. I mean, this whole thing smells more like a financial deal than a competion. I suspect all the names above are in this to promote their course design buisness which is fine but I do not think they are doing this "for the good of the game". Besides winning a gold medal is fine and all but would any of the players listed above trade one of their major titles for a gold medal? Maybe they would but I doubt it.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I think the shafts in my set had been replaced at some point because there are no identifying marks on the ferrules. I still think it's odd to place s/n's on a piece part that can be replaced rather easily. Anyway, thanks again!

I have read somewhere that on some Mizuno's the s/n can be located on the shaft just under the grip. Might be a European model thing but it doesn't make any sense to me as shafts can be replaced (and ferrules as you mentioned) so all traceability would be lost. I had assumed that s/n would always be on the heads usually on the hosels for all manufactures.

Got a question for the Mizuno crowd. I joined the dark side last Friday (went from a set of Titleist's to Mizuno) and picked up a set (3-PW) of MP30's from a place called 2nd Swing. I got home and was looking closely at them and noticed that there are no serial numbers on any of the clubs. I was checking around on line looking for some information about Mizuno serial numbers and couldn't find anything about a set having no serial numbers. The place that I bought them from is very reputable and although I am no Mizuno expert I am pretty sure these are not fakes. 2nd Swing has a 30 day guarantee so I am not concerned with being out the money I spent. I plan on taking the clubs somewhere (just don't where quite yet) to verify their authenticity but I was wondering if anyone has heard on a set that have no serial numbers on any of the clubs?

This^^^ I grew up caddying for my dad and grandfather but never played myself. Just a way to make a few bucks as a kid. Never thought much about the game and when I got out of the Navy I was driving by a golf course near my parents house and literally felt like I was pulled into the parking lot. I sat there watching a few guys on the range and promptly went out and bought a out-of-the-box set from a local golf store. I can't explain it other that it was kinda like some sort of possession. This was nearly 20 years ago and haven't looked back since. I can't explain it to most non-golfers but it was almost like the game picked me and not the other way around. Either way, it's a part of me as my DNA. Granted I had a background in the game and already knew etiquette and the rules but it never germinated and until that one day out of the blue driving by the golf course...

Make sure you get some shirts like AK has that allows you to concentrate on your game and not have to worry about your shirt not performing. Seriously that's pretty cool that your going. How did you get an invite to something like that? Is it a full club fitting thing or what?

I tend to do this as well. Also I tend to "shut down" if I'm struggling. I figure it's better than complaining but I am trying to get more even keel socially when I am on the course. Interesting topic.

I received the 5 iron version for Christmas a couple of years ago and for me it really helped on my takeaway. I tend to speed up on the course and that leads to all sorts of issues so when I know my takeaway is getting quick I can think back to the speed of the Medicus and it really does slow my backswing down without having 10 swing thoughts. As far as the swing plane stuff and all that I have no idea if it works or not. I just refer back to it from time to time for my takeaway so for that alone it's useful to me.

Is there a drought of executive courses around the country? Around the Twin Cities area I can think of just off the top of my head several execs and a number of sub 5500 yard courses that are known as beginner friendly places to play. I certainly agree the three points you made are important and necessary for the greater health of the game but I'm not sure how 12 holes is significant as opposed to 9. Wouldn't it create problems with managing tee-times for a course if there was a 12 hole option? I don't know know if he meant courses that are dedicated 12 hole layouts or current 18 hole (or in the case of my home course 27 hole) layout? And would there be 2 cups sizes per green? Maybe I am reading too much into all this but it's more confusing to me than enlightening. But I will be the first to admit I am not a great course managing mind either. I just show up on time and play. Personally I was disappointed that there wasn't more support for the "Tee-It-Forward" program. A different topic I know but all the same I am glad ideas to boost participation and enjoyment are at least being tossed out there.