stiffiron

I was B-Fit for Bridgestone TOUR B330-S golf balls. 1. Rory McIlroy -13 2. Jordan Spieth -11 3. Jimmy Walker -10

The Spinner shafts that Rifle makes for wedges made for a nice change for me.

Automotive touch-up spray paints. Lots of colors to pick from. Any auto supply place will have a lot of choices. Practice a bit on an empty beer can till you can spray a nice even coat that doesn't run. Might also want to practice your masking technique too.

When was the last time the grips on your clubs were changed? Old grips will tear the blazes out of your gloves and hands.

I know how good Tiger is. I know how great he is. The guy is amazing. Incredible. I completely respect him as a golfer. But I don't root for him like I did for Nicklaus, or Trevino, back in the day. Tiger is just cold, and robotic. I don't bond with him. I'd rather root for a human. Rooting for Tiger is like rooting for Microsoft, or Standard Oil, or AT&T.;

I drove from Ann Arbor to Toledo once. Caught it really square and solid. It took me just over an hour... lol

I use the Winn G8 AVS XF, in the Black/Red combo. They're great. I don't have to wear a glove and I still don't get blisters or callouses. They feel great, and I can really hold onto the club. Cord grips rip my hands to shreds. Tour Velvets give me callouses. Softies wear out too fast.

I have a rangefinder--one of the less expensive Nikons, and I find it great. What I find it especially good for is the shots that are less than 110 yards. Am I 80 yards from the flag, or 65? Is it 40 yards to carry that trap, or 50? I find the sprinkler heads, and the tee-box yardages are fine for me for full shots. But I rarely find any yardages marked less than 100 yards from the green, and even if I do, those aren't yardages to the pin--they're to the center of the green. And from less than 100 yards, I'm going for the pin. And whenever I play with someone who doesn't have one? They want to use it all the time! That's the best endorsement right there!

Hi Fisherdude, Yeah, I got hooked from the Golfsmith catalog too. The little online videos are a nice help, too.

So far, I've made the putter, and two fairway metals. I've only hit them at the driving range, but I'm very pleased with them. Even though the savings are substantial (much less than half the price of new name-brand clubs), the quality is very, very good. The shafts especially seem much better than what you get from manufactured clubs. It's not very difficult. All you do is order the parts, and glue them together. You need to have a vise to hold the club while you put the grip on, and a rubber pad they sell so you don't dent the shaft with the vise, but other than that there aren't many tools needed. Last season I re-gripped all my clubs, which was surprisingly easy. So this year I decided to make a couple. I see you're a Wolverine fan. Did you ever play the U of M Blue Course?

Gee, I never heard that the courses in Canada are not nice. I've heard there are some wonderful tracks up there. Sure, they're iced over a lot of the year--just like here in Michigan. But I've heard they have nice courses there.

Maybe he just wanted to stay home with the little woman. You know, while she's still little?

I find the golf market very segmented. None of the big players (Acushnet, Adidas, Nike, Calloway) have found a way to dominate all the golf markets. For instance, Acushnet is ahead in balls (Titleist). Adidas is probably ahead in drivers, and maybe clubs (Taylormade). Nike has a nice mix of products (balls, clubs, shoes and clothes), as does Calloway (which probably leads in putters). If I had to choose from only one line, I would probably choose Nike. But I don't!! So, I buy Titleist balls. Nike shoes and clothes. Oddysey (Calloway) putters. And Taylormade drivers! The market is very fragmented. Who will dominate the whole thing down the road? The consumer!!

bump it up there to the top...

Yeah, it's horrible how much cheating goes on in motorsports. Those guys from NASCAR should have to go back and finish high school, and read an entire book, as punishment!! And I think his sponsors--DuPont, Pepsi, and Nicorette--should all be fined $400 million. That'll help keep them honest!

My goal is to break 70.

I've heard he uses old $100 bills to build up his grip diameter. Says it helps his "feel." His web site says he uses Tour Velvet, which is a Golf Pride product, I think.

Good eye! Very similar to a Wilson 8802!! The topline is just slightly thicker than the old Wilson. But this seems to aid alignment, so I'm enjoying it. And it's nice to go back to a solid face after years of the insert on the White Hot. They call it a Snakes Eyes Viper Tour 1. Nicely made. Good quality. Very shiny chrome clubface. But all the other surfaces of the head are nicely sandblasted to a matte (non-glare) finish. I tell you, this thing has turned me into the Ben Crenshaw of basement carpet putting!!

Well, you know, it is Sunday. Between church, and having a big family dinner, a lot of kids across this country are wearing clothes on Sundays they'd prefer not to wear!!

Hey, you're in California. You can do the work outside, in the driveway. Or on the balcony. Or at your Mom's house!

Yeah, the pain of the long Michigan winter can turn a guy a little crazy, golf-wise. I knew at the end of last season that I wanted to go to a shorter putter. I had taken some lessons that had really helped my putting late last season, and I was pleased. But, the new techniques had me gripping down to the metal at the end of the grip on my 33" Oddysey White Hot #8. So I was at Golfsmith, and I saw one of these: Almost exactly the same putterhead of what I've been using the last 6 years, but without the White Hot insert. Only 25 bones! A shaft was only $5. One of the really nice Orange and Black Winn grips was only another $6. I bought some epoxy at the hardware store, and boom--I've got a brand new putter for less than $40. Shiny, no dents or scratches, and it's made to my exacting new specification of 31-inch length! My carpet-putting has moved to a whole new level! So, then I read Tom Wishon's book: Which made me start re-thinking my fairway metals. So, now I ordered 3-wood and a 5-wood clubheads and shafts and grips from Golfsmith, and when those come in I'll make myself a 42.5 inch 3-wood, and a 41.5 inch 5 wood, D-2 swingweight. Anybody else having similar golf-disease problems?

I think the playing of golf is largely a sign of peace and prosperity. The players that are coming to the US tours to play are largely from the peaceful portions of the world--Australia, South Korea, Europe, Japan, etc. Let's hope the next crop of great tour players come from Afghanistan, Pakistan, The Middle East, Equatorial Africa, and North Korea!

I find John Daly really repulsive. I wouldn't want to hang around with him; I wouldn't want to play golf with him. I'd be afraid he'd have a heart attack, and he'd blame me for it!!

Ping makes really good golf clubs. If you get fitted by a Pro, you can have new clubs built to your needs in hand in less than a week. I really think Ping is the way to go in clubs.

Yeah, they were good fun, in a trashy humorous novel kind of way. Bit like Carl Hiaisen for golf...