PGA Mike

Bells - 2 Hearted Ale Stone - Arrogant Bastard Sebago Brewing Co - Local Harvest Ale Marshall Wharf - Big Twitch IPA

I always enjoy playing the Titleist ProV1 line of balls. I like the ProV1 X, not because I'm a super long hitter, but it spins less off the driver, FW's, and long irons than the original ProV1. I really like the trajectory, ball flight, & approach spin of the 'X' when I'm striking the ball well. Very boring / penetrating flight with very little baloon to it (unlike the DT Solo, which for me, soars into the stratosphere off of every club...?????) I like the Bridgestone B330 & E6 "Tobu" models as well. If they still made them, I would play the Precept EV Extra Spin exclusively. Fairways & Greens

Wahoo, Birmingham has some really good tracks in the price range you had mentioned (+/- $70). Bent Brook is a 27 hole facility on the W side of town. Always in good shape & has hosted a number of Dixie Section USGA events in the past. Great bentgrass greens. The RTJ courses are very good but expensive & crowded (especially on the weekend!). Oxmoor is in your price range but Ross Bridge is not ($125+ for out of state). Oak Mt State Park is a great old style layout and very affordable ($25 after noon) just S of town on I-65. Bermuda greens but rather lenghty from the back tees and quite a work out if you're walking in the summer. Tannehill National is about 30min S of town, another quality 27 hole facility and moderatly priced. A relatively new facility in Oneonta called Limestone Springs was in Golf Digest Top 50 public, but is about $90 during the week, about 45 min N of B'ham. Several very nice private clubs (if you have a reference from your club pro): Pine Tree, Heatherwood, Greystone, Alta Deana, Greyson Valley, Old Overton, Birmingham CC, even Shoal Creek if you've got some pull. Good luck in Birmingham, I'm sure you'll find somewhere to play!

Scotton..........you are killing me........"come to where the flavor is"......"everybody knows that girls that smoke are easy"........HA HA HA HA! There is just something about the smell of cut grass, cold beers, and cigarettes in a golf clubhouse lounge / grilleroom that smells like home. You dont have to like it, you just shouldn't say anything about it unless its YOUR club, ala Goldfinger: "What does your club secretary think about this practice?". "Oh nothing Mr. Bond......I own the club." Go tell Bobby Jones he can't smoke at East Lake or Clifford Roberts at ANGC and see what transpires. Ha...the 21st century & political correctness on the golf course....Scott you crack me up.........keep it coming! In the bag this weekend: MacGregor Sonic 8.5 deg PERSIMMON DRIVER w/ TT GD R300 Ram Oil Hardened PERSIMMON 4W w/ Rifle Percision 6.0 Wilson FG-17 3-PW w/ TT GD R300 Titleist Vokey 56 & 60 wedges Wilson 8802 "J" blade putter Titleist Professional 100's ......& if they'd let me wear my real spikes I'd click my way thru all 18.

Slow play is the achillies heel of our sport. I play in a 9-hole match play league in the summer and it ROUTINELY takes 2.5-3 hrs PER 9 HOLE MATCH . This is completely unacceptable. We are not playing for a paycheck, the club championship, or to make the cut. How it takes this long to play 9 holes is beyond comprehension. I have even started to play my weekely round during the week as weekend play is intolerable as well. Why every weekend duffer feels the need to pace it off form 140 or to plumb-bob his 100 ft chip I'll never know. Hit it, find it, hit it again. Very simple concept. No honors. Ready golf at all times. 4 balls in the air is not a problem. I occasionally play with some older gentlemen (55+) that play every day, and we can make it around 18 in approx 2:45-3hrs, WALKING. No one rushes. No one feels pushed. Everybody can play thier game and stay in a good rythem. Yet when we get behind HS students, JR collegiate players, or Bubba straight from the golf seciton at Dick's, it takes forever. Go to the range, go to the short course, PLEASE go anywhere but directly infront of groups that want to finish TODAY! 14 Fairways / 18 Greens In my bag today: Titleist 975D 8.5 w/ Graffaloy ProForce 65 S (tipped 1/2") Callaway V-Steel (15deg) R Taylor Made SS Burner 4W (19deg) 2,4-PW Titleist 962 TTDG S300, Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cords Titleist Vokey 256 & 260 Ray Cooke MX-1 Titleist ProV1x Ping Hoofer 3 Stand Bag Home Course: Sunset Landing GC 6900 - 72.1 - 125

F. Couples is #1 in my book. So smooth, so languid, so together.....it always looks like he is swinging about 50% but the ball goes a mile. Watch the Shell's WWOG episode where he beats up on Ernie in BC. Never broke a sweat and his swing never changed en route to a nice smooth 66. Also to include: Hogan, Snead, Olazabal, Els, Elkington, Singh, Lucal Glover, Chad Campbell, Franklin Langham, etc.......

I have toyed around with different lofts & shafts over the past few years and am thoroughly convinced that it is a matter of personal prefrence and your particular swing characteristics. You can fool around all day long with a launch monitor trying to get all your critical numbers (launch angle, spin rate, clubhead speed, etc...) into thier optimal range, but nothing beats taking a new driver out to a familiar course and playing with it. The one that you hit the most fairways with, knocks it straight down the sprinkler heads, & leaves you irons into par 5's is the one you'll put in your bag regardless of the brand, loft, or shaft. I currently play a old 8.5 deg Titleist 975J-VS with a Grafalloy ProForce 65-S (tipped 1/2") and it produces medium height ball flight and boring trajectory. I don't have alot of forced carries at my home course and I prefer the lower ball flight for my standard driver trajectory (draw). I do have an old 9 deg Callaway Great Big Bertha with the same shaft but -R flex (tipped 1/2") that I use whenever I have to hit driver with a higher trajectory (forced carries, hilly courses w/ blind landings, etc...). I swing it the same exact way as the other driver but slight change in loft, and most importantly the change of flex in the shaft, produce a much different ball flight. Play around wiht a few different models and options until you find whats right for you. Its out there, just keep swinging.

I'll keep my list to my home state of Alabama: #1 - Shoal Creek CC in Birmingham. Site of the 1991 PGA and just as beautiful today as it was then. A true southern masterpiece in terms of design and playability. A jem in every sense of the word. #2 - Birmingham CC (South Course) Could hold a major championship any day of the year. The grass is so perfect you dont want to take a divot. #3 - The Pennisula Club Gulf Shores My favorite of the Gulf Shores resort courses. Looks like Jacksonville or St. Augustine. Water, pines, spanish moss, and some of the best TiffDwarf Bermuda anywhere. And your at the beach! #4 - RTJ the Shoals in Florence Yes its a part of thr RTJ trail but until you actually walk out there and play, you have no idea what I am refering to. Stunning visuals to accompany 2 wonderful tracks. #18 on both sides is quite impressive back towards the cliff. #5 - North River Yacht Club in Tuscaloosa Always in tournament conditions this short (

I currently reside in NE Alabama and could play on average between 40-44 weeks of golf per year. There is the occasional week or two that dips below the freezing mark and we do get late season snow & ice. However, being in the middle of the Tennessee River Valley and on the foothills of the Appalachians, the spring, summer, and fall months are much more enjoyable than anywhere south of Atlanta. Being blessed with such a diverse climate in our community, we enjoy playing on both Bermuda and Bentgrass putting surfaces all year round. The summer & winter temps are mild for the "deep south" and the low cotton & soybean fields allow what seems like a constant breeze to always be blowing.

I am a cartographer in Huntsville, AL. Long days in front of the computer make golf that much better. U of A grad and loving the Tennessee Valley. Lots of great golf in this part of the country. In my bag: Titleist 975J VS 8.5 (w/ Grafalloy ProForce 65S tipped .5") Taylor Made V-Steel 15 (w/ Aldila NV 65S tipped .33") Taylor Made Bruner SS 19 (w/ TTDG S300 tipped .25") Titleist DCI 990-B (2, 4-PW w/ TTDG S300) Titleist Vokey 254.14 Titleist Vokey 260.06 Ray Cooke MX-1 (original) Titleist ProV1 Sunset Landing Golf Club - 6803 / 71.9 / 119