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Everything posted by MountainKing

  1. 4:20 is acceptable on a weekend, 4:50 is not. Not at least having one ranger on the course? Come on. As far as the range, they can easily set aside bays to accommodate those playing with their setup. I know how this all works with the weather. A course that demands top dollar, should be able to sustain and recover quickly. That's part of why you charge. Putting people who are paying $100+ on mats to warm up is being lazy and cheap. They're advertising country club experience, mats is not it.
  2. Mistwood today. I was expecting a lot with how many people rave about this place, coupled with the price. I was pretty blown away by the practice facilities, although being on mats tho was annoying, if we had paid the mid summer rate I'd probably complain to the pro shop. There should be some grass available for those playing. Course conditions were outstanding, with the rain I don't think they've been able to mow the rough, it was almost unplayable if you were in it. Greens were fast, but held shots. Pace was miserable, 4:50. Not a ranger to be seen anywhere. The biggest let down. Next let down being the layout. The course just didn't do anything for me. It felt like it had an identity crisis in not knowing if wanted to be a links course, a parkland course or some tricked up Pete Dye course. The two par 5s on The front looked identical, the par 4s felt like stuff we'd see at Bolingbrook. My one buddy commented that some of the course felt like it was Carillon with some elevation and undulation. Unlikely we'll be back, although I would spend a day on the range there if it were on grass. My game, well. I had a great front with a 38. Had a couple good looks, could have been better. My back 9 I just fell apart. For some reason the pace was getting to me and I was just getting bored. Lotta dumb errors, too many double bogies ended in a season high 9 of 45.
  3. I have two friends that work as greenskeepers, neither golf, so their bags are empty. I
  4. There's not really any big name manufacture that makes a bad club regardless of what it is. They've all come a long way. Mizuno used to be an iron company, their woods these days are just as good as anything else out there. Callaway and TM used to be more wood companies, but again their entire lines are just as good as anything else made by whoever.
  5. Very possible for a good junior player to shoot a 68, then have something in the high 80's or even low 90's a week or two down the road. I've done it, it's the game. A huge gap from low to high doesn't really mean or indicate anything other than golf is golf. Look at Spieth, his career low is 61 and he's put up an 82 a few years back, Furky who put up a 58 has also put up scores of 79 and probably over 80 in his career. If the best players in the world can see these extremes now and then, junior amateurs who are still learning the process are for sure going to, and probably at a more regular rate.
  6. As real as it gets. They've historically made some of the best irons, and their current releases are some of the best things out there. If I didn't get access to TM gear at a discounted rate I'd probably have Mizuno irons in my bag.
  7. I'm almost certain that I stated this was unrealistic. Reading isn't that hard.
  8. I would like to see the PGA Championship on some sort of rotation showcasing exclusive country clubs around the country. The US Open, being an open championship, I always thought should be trying to showcase the best public golf in America. I know it's an unrealistic dream, most courses just don't have the space/amenities to hold a pro event, let alone a major.
  9. My fat a** probably does more damage to the green by walking on it than dropping the flag stick ever would do. With that, people still pull the flag out??
  10. The balata ball should come back and be the ball every pro has to play if there's a goal to roll things back. The tour guys would adjust for sure without much issue, but man you could really lose a shot with those type of balls. At the end of the day that would probably be enough to balance things out if you're looking to cut back distance. On top of it cutting back carry distance, you probably wouldn't see drives rolling 50 yards after landing either.
  11. I don't really think the USGA wants to do this, and whatever you call what they did this week, is kind of their way to come out and say "look we did something" without really doing anything. There's a lot of money tied up in distance. When you look at history, the long hitters generate buzz and get talked about, even when they're not winning. Look at a guy like Wilco Nienaber, his best accomplishment on one of the big tours is 68th place in the US Open. Yet he somehow manages to get air time and people talk about him because of how far he hits it. If he was just a guy who poked it 280, he wouldn't even be a blip on anybody's radar. Distance is a huge money maker, so I have to think somewhere behind the scenes there's people all over discouraging any real moves.
  12. How is that any different than them putting these guys on courses that extend nearly 8000 yards? At some point it's all manipulation to try and get a winning score around even par, at Merion they were able to accomplish it.
  13. Minimal to none for sure. You could put a 44 inch driver in all these guys hands and I doubt you'd see any huge drop in driving distance. Phil's mini driver is under 44" and he's still hitting the thing miles. This entire thing makes no sense. Basically "we're gonna make it look like we're doing something, but not really do anything". The distance thing is odd, most of the guys on tour these days are averaging 290+. You have to go 150 places deep on the driving list to find the handful of guys not hitting 290 (or what used to be considered long) on average last season. I looked up the top 20 in distance and out of the official 50 only 6 wins came from that group. If the USGA/Tour really want to do something, it's probably at the point where we need some regulation at the pro level. The real question is, does anybody really want them to do anything? There's a lot of profit tied into distance, and as a fan it's fun seeing some of the shots getting played. As far as not being able to play some old classic courses, Merion in 2013 played under 7k and had a winning score over par. Since that US Open we've only seen one other US Open have an over par winner. The modern behemoth of Erin Hills, playing at almost 1000 yards longer than Merion was destroyed at -16. That should be telling us something.
  14. Maybe the exact science is off, but I'd probably follow Phil's advice for speed training over Gary or Peter. Phil can show us the evidence that what he is doing is working, the other two cannot.
  15. I think the ruling is dumb, but there's been guys on tour in the 6'4" through 6'7" who played drivers short enough that this ruling wouldn't have impacted them. Guys on tour are a little more athletic than us AM's and aren't fighting their body as much when it comes to equipment. You look across the board, you'll se plenty of 6 foot tall guys using shorter than standard irons, Your tallest guys out there aren't adding more than a 1/2" on their irons.
  16. I can flight them, but they do sail a little higher than my previous set using the same swing. I've noticed I don't get the random balloon shots I would get on my last set when trying to hit a lower shot. The shot isn't as low, but it seems more reliable. I also agree on the flight of straight. I pretty much stick with my stock draw for everything, I'm not a shot maker or a mover of the ball so I never really gave these a solid test in that regard. I have noticed that a good shot with my last set would start at the middle of a green and fall to the left side, these start at the middle of the green and more or less hold that line. If only they could control my snap hook when that kicks in.
  17. I was born in Chicago and am of Scandinavian decent, and I despise cold weather. My season normally ends when the temps are below 60, especially if the sun isn't out. Sometimes I wonder if I was adopted given how my cousins and family over in Norway are always out screwing around in the snow. The only thing still keeping me in this area, besides my job, are my parents. Once they're gone we're probably going to bounce on out of here.
  18. One of the guys in our group loves his breakfast balls, but his rule is that if the drive causing the breakfast ball requires any type of looking he abandons it. I don't mind anybody using one, but I do mind them spending 5 minutes looking for a ball that they aren't going to play.
  19. Phil and maybe Bryson? I think more guys are using 44-45 than 46+, but I could be wrong that.
  20. It hasn't, they still have a full tee sheet. The course generally has a good mix of walkers and people in a cart, proof that either can play at a reasonable speed. Just played there this past Saturday at 1pm and they got us around in 3:40. They have multiple rangers out there that help keep things moving. The bad reviews are probably people who are pissed because they aren't allowed to do whatever they want to do, at the expense of everybody else. It's really not hard to play most normal courses in 4 hours.
  21. You'd probably have to pay the cart fee - but beyond that I don't see why it'd be an issue, they'd still get their revenue AND there'd be no wear and tear to their fleet. Reality tho, this probably for somebody who lives within a club/course subdivision where you see a lot of guys who have their own carts. GLWS - I'd love to see courses load up their fleet with these single rider carts and rid of the two seaters.
  22. I was a + back in high school and well into the + range into my 20's when I was playing comparative and could practice constantly. Now at 41 I'm generally in the 2-3 range and play about 50 rounds between Mach and Oct/Nov. I don't ever practice, I've been to the range twice this year. If I spent time practicing I probably could get back down to scratch or +, but I hate practicing and have no real desire to do it since I don't really compete anymore. I don't do much to change my swing, although this year I've made some changes in the name of saving my back. When I do make changes they're very small small changes at a time so it's something I can play through with minimal impact. I also don't make equipment changes often. This year I changed my irons out after keeping the last set in for nearly a decade, I had my fitter mess a bit with lofts so I could match up distance/spin to my old set. Like mentioned, it's a lot of work to get to a 0, but as long as you trust your swing and your equipment, you can be a once a week golfer with a low single digit.
  23. This is why Prairie Bluff has become our go to. Tee sheet was packed on Saturday, the 'Players Assistants" were out there doing their thing and keeping people moving. It's almost unheard of to get around anywhere on a weekend in under 4 hours, they have managed to do it every single time I've been out there this year.
  24. If you and @idchristoper want to see some gems, there's a thread about this in the rules section. Some of the responses gives you a good insight of the mindset of these people.
  25. Ravisloe is a solid track if you have an appreciation for old school design and Donald Ross greens. It's almost always in great condition as well. I always lay the caution because it took me a few rounds out there to really see it for the gem that it is. Most of the par 4's are 390- 405 and straight so they'll feel very similar tee to green, but man those greens are incredibly fun to test your game on. The par 3's are pretty solid as well. What course did you caddie at?
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