braz

...I was pretty happy to be playing at all. It was last Sunday, and after a stressful month and a week of terribly cold weather, we finally got a break and my father-in-law and I hit our course for the back nine. A couple of bogeys, a double and some other crap, and I think I had a par, too. Needless to say, the strained MCL changed my swing a bit, so I wasn't exactly keeping score.

With Big Break III: Ladies Only gearing up to start in a month, it's time to look at the field of contestants and pick your early favorite. So, who is it? Feel free to use any criteria you like, from the way they follow through with their swing to the way their shirts hug them when they coil during their take-away. Just let us know why you picked who you did!

I'm with you on being able to tell, but in the case of the DT SoLo's, there was no question for me. There was a clear case of... something that caused my slice to get worse or, in what must have been a miracle, actually caused me in some cases to hook the ball. I never hook the ball. ::shrug:: Go figure.

And that's why I'm trying to convince my wife to let me get a PS2 (no XBox for me -- I'm a Mac nut). I've got the Gamecube and love NBA Live and MVP Baseball. Personally, I'm into fantasy baseball and basketball, and WhatIfSports , but I'm also a bit of a baseball nut.

Alright, guys. My wife's family is from Seattle and Mt. Vernon. Next trip out, I'll have to look you two up...

I played the SoLo's and, in my experience with two dozen, I thought they were more prone to side-spin. (Based off of the number of hooks and slices I hit with those, compared with the Wilson Jacks, Laddies and Nike MoJo and Double C balls I also played over the past six months...) I'll be curious to hear what you think of them...

Hear, hear, and I wish I had remembered about the Laddie. I still remember giving one of my friends a hard time for playing the Precept Lady, and then Precept realized just how many golfers wanted the long, low-compression ball for better feel around the greens. If you can find two dozen Laddies for $20, buy at least four dozen. You'll love them, I guarantee.

It's fun. Typically I despise 'reality' shows - Survivor, Fear Factor and the like - but BB2 is a blast. Heck, my wife even likes it, and she's definitely NOT a golfer. So, that should say something...

Todd! Great intro, and good idea about hitting the golf lessons through the community college. I got four lessons from my club for Christmas last year, but they're typically too expensive for me to treat myself. I'll have to look to see if there are other options like that locally.

Haven't you guys been playing attention, or did you completely forget about Vijay's year? Masters - Vijay U.S. Open - Els British - Vijay PGA - Tiger I don't see Tiger pulling his act together enough to take either Augusta or Pinehurst this year. Vijay's been strong, and I think he'll continue to dominate. And, Ernie will sneak in there, too...

I knew there was a reason I liked you. Personally, if I'm drinking to drink, it's Guinness. Just not out of the can; after they put in the little rocket-thingy in the bottles, the cans just taste metallic. Sam Adams is good, Boddingtons, Harp, Bass. For a lighter beer, and especially when I'm in Antwerp, it's Hoegaarden with a little lemon. Or Jack on the rocks, when it's time to act like an adult and drink ...

You know, Aaron, if you spend a little more money - again, the Wilson Jacks I get are around $15 for 15 balls - you'll get a LOT better performance out of your golf balls. There's a Golf Magazine article I was reading not too long ago (dead tree version) that talked about the effects even a little exposure had on golf balls. Given that the used bucket are balls the grounds crew picks up, they're of questionable quality. The other option is the Big Box Sam's Clubs/Costcos of the world, and Wal-Mart. All three have really good deals on new balls. My personal best find was the 36-ball "bucket" of TopFlite XL 2000's for $19. That's getting awfully close to the $6/doz. price, and that's for new balls. (And, I'll avoid making the comment about how playing a TopFlite XL is like hitting a rock; if you're comparing to the used bucket, they're worth it.) Lastly, there are the X-Outs. Cosmetic and slight dimple differences at this point in your golf career won't matter and again, they're not reconditioned or used balls. Shop around a little. You'll be surprised at what you can find, and will probably end up with a dozen or two extra yards off the tee.

Cards with Johnson? I don't see it happening, especially with Steinbrenner on the prowl. Plus you hit the nail on the head - the Cards would have to empty their farm system to pull it off. It's like the Scott Kazmir trade the Mets pulled off last year. "We won't trade away our core young talent, because we're in this for the long run." "Hey! We're doing better than we thought! We could get Kris Benson! Trade away!" ::sigh:: I hate baseball, almost as much as I hate golf.

I'm far, far too cheap to play the Pro V1x's. If I find one, I tend to like them, but they're obviously not in the best condition when I find them. Normally, I play Wilson Jack Longs (they're Super Cheap!) but most recently I've found the new(?) Nike Double C. I bought a dozen before my Thanksgiving rounds, and they had excellent distance and good to great feel. At $15.00/dozen at K-Mart, both sides of me are happy.

Okay, I'll reluctantly admit to being a Mets fan, and as a result this Winter is suddenly extremely interesting. It appears my boys from Queens offered Pedro Martinez a three-year guaranteed deal, with an option for a fourth, that brings the total dollars to $50 million. Granted, we overpaid for Mo Vaughn (and Cliff Floyd, and Piazza, and especially the third year of Tommy Glavine's contract) but if this goes through, the Mets have a shot at being a contender for the NL East title. Any rumors or deals that have your hopes for 2005 rekindled?

C'mon Erik, you didn't check the TiVo before you tuned in? It was telling me Compilation 2, and I just threw up my hands and said, "TiVo, do your thing!" Was the behind-the-scenes stuff (other than the wives) any good, or should I just delete it?

...but to be honest, I've been called worse. When Erik mentioned that he wanted to start a golf website and needed some regular golfers to help him write content, I think I mistook 'regular' for 'bad' golfers and signed right up. I'm still not sure whether Erik keeps me around because he needs another warm body, or for the humor value. I turned 30 back in September, I'm a 27 handicapper, I live in Williamsburg, VA (one of the golf capitols of the East Coast, and a great historic vacation spot) and I'm a member at my local club. After being facinated with the game, I finally picked up golf almost ten years ago after leaving college because it seemed like the 'business' thing to do. I'm looking forward to hearing from more of our readers, and having a better way to interact with all of them! Thanks for stopping by!