RX Phoenix

i honestly don't dislike any of them, after all they are part of the great fraternity/sorority of golfers! we know the agony they are going through, the ordeal, it's great that there are so many different types out there, a lot of flavors. I've never even thought about disliking a golfer, cause when they play great golf it's inspiring. Remember Stephen Ames at TPC, that was awesome how he played, i wish i could play like that for one day. LOL The way they are off the course i don't care about, that's their business. Golfers are cool, all the ones i meet while playing, almost never a bad apple, the bond of shared suffering i guess.

Had a Ping G2 Aldila R when they first came out, it was good but not as good as the HiBore ProForce v2 S I got when they first came out, got to hitting that very long, but it is closed at address, doesn't sound or feel great, and is not very workable. Now finally have the R7 425 TP 9.5 and this is clearly a step above the HiBore. The sound, the feel, the workability, the consistency, everything is there you want in a driver. Set up inspires confidence, it feels good not to be swinging a 460 monster, don't really need the clubhead to be that big! I would say that this driver will be in my bag for the forseeable future, but you never know what is around the bend. The Fujikura Rombax shaft is really good, there are no negatives to point out with this driver, and one can configure the weighting any which way. If you have one of these drivers in your bag you better be able to hit it or else people will wonder why you spent so much . . . only to impress??? . . . but if you can drive the ball well it will be hard to find a better driver.

Focus on what your final swing move will be and that will unfreeze you.

How do you get in 6 fairway bunkers in 9 holes . . . i don't know but i did it today. Found bunkers i didn't know even existed. Funny thing is rarely do i get into bunkers, many rounds i have no bunker shots. It's that diabolical Johnny Miller, he finally bit me with his Eagle Ridge design! Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, sometimes you get the course, sometimes the course gets you, but i kept grinding to a 9 hole 45 with a quite a few excellent shots along the way, but the course was penal today, that was its mood, just like the weather, blustery, cold, sprinkling. Next time it will be a different story!

Welcome to the forum! Have to get to Utah and play. Had one round at the Ranch Golf Club in San Jose, (second highest slope in the world from the back), with an older man who hit the ball laser straight every time, wasn't long but he had an eagle then a string of 3 birds in a row and just tamed that monster with precision, it was an eye opener. But . . . who among us can hit the ball that straight and be so precise with approach shots LOL. ps, the man was a sandbagger, gave an impression of just being a hacker, glad there was no bet involved, was an engineer and figured out every shot so precisely it was amazing.

LOL, you're bringing back memories and i'm starting to break out in a cold sweat! If you don't have butterflies on the first tee there you don't know what is in store for you. I played with locals who play it several times a week, scratch types, and it beat them up, first time there it will crush you. 17 is a par 3 172, wind was up and a 3 wood leaves you short. Course can be a confidence breaker but it is PURE golf and leaves a lasting impression. I've got to get down there again soon! Ladies used to use it as US Open qualifier but complained bitterly, too tough so now no one uses it, it's a course in exile. I'd LOVE to see Tiger play it in the wind!

I fooled around with different weight set ups. Talked to a 'pro' who recommended I go back to the more neutral 2-12-12-2 as that would allow working the ball both ways. I took his advice and found out that this does work quite well. Do any of you use more exotic set ups? Question, can you change the weight set up during a round, I say that you can NOT do this. Do you set the club up differently depending on the weather or the course? Just Love the R7 TP 425, not easy to hit first time out, but now after 4 driving range sessions and one go round on a course I'm feeling very confident, best driver i've very hit by far. How do you like your R7 TP, i bet you love it LOL!

I had a similar situation with the Cleveland HiBore, some of the newer clubs are designed to hit it straight no matter what! Workability is a problem. Now I use the Tayor Made R7 425 TP with the 1* open clubface and it is very easy to work the ball with just small adjustments of ball position and clubface. What I found is that there is no need to overdo the set up like that which is necessary when trying to shape shots with clubs like the HiBore or Nike SQ which do require excessive adjustments.

They used to play the Q-school at La Purisima in Central CA but the wind coming through there made the course so tough in the afternoon that they had to abandon it. I played SJO from the tips and didn't have a problem with distance, but they tend to let the rough grow and it's a bear if you stray. Front 9 is not very tough, back 9 needs some local knowledge and can be tough. As for Pasatiempo, the course has been upgraded now and it's hard to imagine a better course anywhere, what a rush it would be to play a qualifier tournament there, unforgettable. Thanks for the correction on the total price being $5000, at the price of a very nice vacation I'd say money well spent for the experience. Weather will be nasty this week at SJO, raining right now, going to be cold, windy, rainy through Saturday, guys are going to be drained by the end of the week! LOL, thick, high, wet, rough!

As far as the driver is concerned: Step One: have a driver that has a 1* open face and NOT a draw biased club like is popular now. Step Two: keep it as simple as possible using ball positioning first and see how you do with this. Move the ball up in your stance for a fade, and set the club naturally with the 1* open doing the work for you, this will produce a slight fade. For the draw move the ball back in your stance and square the club with 1* closed at address, and try to hit the ball down the middle, don't try and pull it. If you want a bigger draw then that's when you need to do the V with your feet and club, but this can lead to many disasters. Same thing with a big fade, opening the stance can open you up to a lot of trouble. The pro's usually don't hit sweeping fades or draws, they just want a little bend and tail on it so that it kicks down the fairway in the right direction. The worst that can happen with this method is that you'll hit it dead straight which usually isn't too bad. Also the ball you use has an effect, the high spin balls like the HXTour56 and ProV1 will bend more then the ProV1x, HXTour, TP Red/Black

Before 1st stage Q-School there is a qualifier for that . . . $4,500, then Q-School is another $4,500, but hey if you can afford it it would be fun! Anyway, not this year for me, but I will be going as a spectator for the 1st round at San Juan Oaks in Hollister, CA, maybe catch the next great golfer on his way up. Any of you been to Q-School either as a participant of as a spectator? I'll post back here after Saturday's experience Then the finals at PGA West Nov. 30-Dec. 4, that's going to be exciting. Anyone here going to follow the Q-School this year and get an idea of who the hot rookies are going to be next year? We had a bunch this year with Camilo Villegas, Bubba Watson, J.B.Holmes, Troy Matteson, Sean O'Hair, etc. It is likely that someone out of Q-School will be a future star on the PGA tour and it will be fun to see them as they start out!

The Merry Mex: Lee Trevino I used to love watching him on Tour and greatly miss him. Could that man play?!! and yet he had us all laughing and feeling like it was all just a party. The one guy that could beat anyone, including Jack and I believe Tiger as well, he was so mentally tough and creative, one of a kind. He's the one guy I would like to play with if it was possible. Johnny Miller: Miller Time when he was knocking down pins. Tiger, following him around at a tournament is unforgettable, a virtuoso

Good observation JP. I wouldn't recommend snapping the leg and knee like Tiger advised, that could lead to injury! But making a conscious effort to stiffen the left leg seems to be of benefit it not carried too far. I'm going to use it now and see how my knee feels LOL!

1: PGA West Stadium: It's just an awesome experience 2: Pasatiempo: one of the world's best 3: La Purissima: Central CA, pure golf, beautiful, tough 4: PGA West Norman: takes your breath away 5: Eagle Ridge: Gilroy, really deserves to be put up there with the better courses, extremely scenic and brillant test of golf 6: Pacific Grove Muni: Want to experience how golf felt in the old days, this place will put you back into the 1920's 7: Callippe: Pleasanton, CA Magnificent oak hill setting, CA foothills at its best

I recall reading in Tigers Golf Instruction Book his secret if he really wants to bust a long drive he makes sure he straightens his left leg on the swing forward, almost snapping it straight. I thought I'd try that today and it worked very well. In fact I just used it as my one swing thought. Haven't really heard any instructors emphasize this move but give it a try because it seems to provide both more clubhead speed and keeps the flight path straighter. I'll keep trying this and let you know how it goes. Used my new R7 TP 425 for the first time on a course today, and now I know why it's the most used driver on Tour, this driver really deserves to be praised, never drove the ball so well, both long and in the middle of the fairway. Wow, that's how driving should be.

Hi Forum Members, This is my first Golf Forum, been on other forums but no one wanted to talk about golf, only politics etc. so I left! Just got back from a practice round where I A:B'ed the top golf balls. Here are some observations: If you really need a long drive, use the ProV1x, it will give you the best opportunity to max out. For a well behaved ball the ProV1 is tough to beat, but the Taylor Made TP Red is both long and well behaved. Who said you have to use the same ball on all the holes during a round? If you need to stop it over a bunker on a par 3 then use a ProV1 for its spin; long drive ProV1x, balance of spin and distance TP Red. If it's cold go for the softer feel balls like NXT If it's hot and you feel loose and swinging fast then the harder balls like ProV1x or HXTour. That's how I spent my afternoon, comparing these balls during SuperTwilight time on great course in the Bay Area. :) Look forward to some golf talk here, I love the game and have been following the proTour for nearly 30 yrs.