Jeepthrills

I got in my second round of the year on Sunday. I know, sad, but true. My schedule has been out of control. I am working 60-70 hours per week right now. I did do something that I have never done this week. I went to the range with just my SW, PW and 8 Iron and hit a medium bucket of balls. I was able to work on distance control and it seemed to help. Unfortunately, I could have used the work on the rest of my game this week. Last week I was strong off the tees and shakey inside 120. This week I was OK with the short game, but it took me a while to get to the 120 range. Last week I was 9 over through 4 and played the last 5 1 over for a 45. This week I played the first 4 in 5 over with a bad double on a 2 footer that I slapped at. I felt relatively good going into the home stretch. With two par threes and 2 par fives comming up. After a dicey bogey on the first par three, I looked to make up for it on a reachable par 5. It's a sharp dogleg right with bunkers and a forest on the right and trees left. The fairway slants hard to the right, so you need to keep it up the left edge to have a shot at the green. I hit one 310 here last week. I aim up the left side to accomodate for my fade and absolutely crushed it. It hit the last tree and sounded like a cannon shot. The ball deflected back and left at a 45 degree angle. It flew back about 125 yards and ended up just shy of the 17th green. When I got there, the only play was back up 17 to an opening that would allow me to go accross to 15 and still have a sot at getting home in 3 or 4. I hit a perfect 4 iron that looked like it was going to set me up nicely. It hit a branch about the size of a pool cue and shot straight down. Now I have to puch through the trees. It hit a branch the size of my wrist. Straight back 30 yards behind me. Now I try to go over the trees and hit another great shot that clips the last tree and falls into a bunker. At this point I am slightly pissed and try to hit my 4 iron again to get it inside 100. Hit the lip and left it in the sand. Finally get it out to 120. Hit the green from there (short game practice pays off). Two putts later I have my 9. Bogeyed the next par 3. I hit a 300 yard drive on 17 and turned it into bogey. Caught a tree on my approach (go figure). Got to 18 needing 5 to shoot 49. Top my tee shot and only advance it 125 yards. Hit a good lay up that went a little too far. Had to try and fade to the green. Not easy for me with a 9 Iron. Hit it dead straight. The ball was about 3 inches from a tree root. I was staring at 50+. I hit a great pitch to two feet and made a routine par for 49. I can't wait to play Sunday. My league starts in three weeks. Finally I will have an excuse to play twice a week. My wife is my partner in the league.

Here's the beautiful thing. We weren't sure how to proceed, so we agreed that I would put from both places and look up the answer after the fact. I marked the short one first and lined up the long one. I rolled it in from 30 feet. The short one was actually a tougher put. I barely made it. Not bad to Eagle the same hole twice in the same round. I just missed a hole-in-one there last year. The ball hit the flagstick and dropped two feet from the cup.

Flap's story reminded me of another one. I drove the green on a 295 yard Par 4. I was about 30 feet from the pin. My wife hits her approach onto the green and deflects my ball to 10 feet. I roll in the putt for Eagle.

That 1 second seemed like 1 minute when it was actually happening. I was about to walk out the door at my in-laws to go home and I told my wife to wait until after his chip. I can't believe what I would have missed.

It was a 140 yard par 3. I hit a short, high pull. The ball came down on the cart path and shot straight back up. It came down again on the path and bounced sky high again and into a tree to the left of the green. The tree kicked it straight to the right and it came to rest five feet from the hole. I was laughing so hard, I almost missed the putt. Hey, a birddie is a birddie.

I would like to see them just play 18 holes. She did a nice job saving herself out of the trees, but lets see what they can do for a full round. I really don't see any of them being able to compete on tour right now. $896? That's not a whole lot. At least she looks good. Oh wait, did I just judge her by her physical appearance? I highly doubt that's why she is on the show instead of the girl with all the piercings on her face that they showed last week.

I agree with you about her. If she could just keep her mouth shut, she would be so much better off. When she first said that people just see her as a Barbie Doll and judge her on her looks, that was fine and probably true. However, when she keeps saying it, it makes her just look like a bitch. She has talent, good looks and an agressive game. If she tried to be a little nicer, she could open up some huge doors for herself. Can you imagine the endorsement deals she could have with that package. She just needs to learn when to stop talking. Vijay and Barry Bonds are the same way. Learn when to keep your mouth shut and people will like you. Clearly Cindy is the best player, but I don't think she would have a chance on tour. She has no length, but she keeps comming through. If it comes down to her and Danielle, I think she wins on the mental game. If it's Pam and Danielle, I will go with Danielle. I will stick by my earlier thought about the whole group. If we flash forward 5 years, I think Pam will be the best of them all.

I got out for the first time this year. Michigan can be pretty unpredictable. There have been a few good days earlier this year, but lack of time kept me on the shelf. Anyway, I split the fairway on the first hole then knocked a nine iron twenty yards over the green and into the bushes from 130 out. I guess my SpeedStik is working. Made a triple bogey 7. Solid par on a 200 yard 3. Followed up with a three put from 6 feet for double and again from 10 feet for a quadrupale on the next. Nine over after four holes. Not a great start to the year. However, I managed to get it together and play the last five one over for a 45. All things considered, it could have been way worse. I hit the ball pretty well off the tee and got my distance under control. The accuracy should come with repetition. The biggest upside was my new driver. I got a Titleist 983K from one of my clients. He bought it last Summer and couldn't hit it. It probably doesn't have 10 rounds on it. I hit it three times. First one was 275 yards in the first cut. Second was 310 in the right side of the fairway. Third was 295 right down the middle on an uphill par 4. I can't wait to get out this Sunday.

I got TIVO last April and I don't know how I lived without it. It was very usefull during the first eppisode of the Big Break when they went swimming. I unfortunately watched it start to finish because I have a client Wednesday mornings that is always talking about it. If I don't watch, he will tell me everything. I am already looking forward to BBIV.

I hate recap shows. They built up the show for the last two weeks with teasers saying we can't tell you who wins, then they waste an hour showing me everything I have already seen. The only cool thing was the footage of the casting interviews.

Great. I would love to see it happen. If anyone is interested in doing somthing in the Summer, Gaylord here in Michigan has some great courses. It is also only a short drive to some other top courses like Arcadia Bluffs and Bay Harbor.

I am an Exercise Physiologist and I run a Personal Training Club in West Bloomfield Michigan. I am very fortunate that many of our clients have memberships at the top country clubs in the area. This has allowed me to play Oakland Hills North and South, Franklin Hills C.C., TPC Michigan and Detroit Golf Club. I was also lucky enough to have tickets to the Ryder Cup this year. It was great, but what made it better is that I could actually know exactly what they were up against since I had played the course 3 months earlier. It was the same way at the Ford Senior Champioship at TPC. It gives you a whole new perpective as to how good these pros really are.

I bought the Nike SP-5 last Spring and it is the best shoe I have ever owned. I walk and carry my bag 90% of the time and they came out of the box as comfortable as they are today. I will absolutely buy another pair when the time comes. I have always worn a tennis shoe style, but I am lucky enough to have clients that take me to their country clubs and I needed something that looks good with a pair of nice pants as well as shorts. The entire SP line fits that to a T.

We had a brief warm up this past weekend. It was near 60 on Sunday. Only problem is we got about 8 inches of snow about a week ago. It's getting tougher to deal with the weather now that the PGA Tour is in full swing and I am watching these guys on TV each week. I think I can hang in there another few weeks, but it's going to be a battle.

I have watched every eppisode and at first I thought Pam would be an early casulty. However, after 5 weeks, she has done nothing but step up to the challange. She may still be a long shot to win it all, but I think if we could jump ahead 5 years from now she is the most likely one of these ladies to be a success. It's getting tougher each week to try and figure out who will be next to go.

I found the forum under a search and it looks like a great place. I look forward to talking about golf with all of you. I'm a huge fan of the game and all of the tours. I also love the Big Break.