The Golf Thread - 2016!

The Golf Thread - 2016!

Author
Discussion

Rosscow

Original Poster:

8,723 posts

162 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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All this talk of blades, I'm going to significantly lower the tone!! Seriously considering swapping out my 4 iron for a new Ping Crossover.

I'll wait for the upcoming Ping day at a course near me and give it a whack/get fitted for it. It looks intriguing and could be a decent club to swap for my not overly confident 4 iron.


MitchmachineUAE

602 posts

171 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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I've just been at the Ping demo day and had a shot with one of the crossovers. Managed to get it to shape left to right, something I never manage with my hybrid. Distance wise there isn't much in it and it is very confidence inspiring standing over it but I think I'll stick with my 4 hybrid for now. Might re visit it as a replacement for my 3 hybrid though.

I did part with some cash and ordered the new G Series LS Tec driver, so it was quite an expensive foray down to the golf club tonight. hehe

HaplessBoyLard

1,546 posts

187 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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Reshafted my broken 3 hybrid today. Absolute doddle.

What was left of the old shaft pulled out with just a minute heating the hosel with a heat gun set at 400 deg.

Slide the ferrule over the new shaft, mix the epoxy glue and add some shafting beads, fill the hosel with glue and push the new shaft in.

Just got to cut to length now and get a grip put on it.

Give it a go if you're thinking about a new shaft in a driver/wood/hybrid.

Rosscow

Original Poster:

8,723 posts

162 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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Massive golf withdrawal symptoms, today!

Yesterday afternoon was glorious and light enough to play until 5pm. Today looks to be a good one as well, and I can't play! punch

Rosscow

Original Poster:

8,723 posts

162 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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KentLad - these could be for you!

http://www.smithforgedirons.co.uk/

Made in Maidstone, you can get have a go at Hemsted Forest (and custom fitting). Much cheaper than a main brand equivalent.

kentlad

1,073 posts

182 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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Rosscow said:
KentLad - these could be for you!

http://www.smithforgedirons.co.uk/

Made in Maidstone, you can get have a go at Hemsted Forest (and custom fitting). Much cheaper than a main brand equivalent.
Wow. They are actually beautiful. Cheap too! Less than half price of the Titleist equivalent. Might have to get down there and test them out and see if the quality is high. I'll keep you posted. Off to Paris next week, unfortunately organising this weekend so can't get out for a round. Nightmare!

It's a lovely day for golf today, I feel your pain!

cheddar

4,637 posts

173 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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I had the best golf experience of my life yesterday watching world No1 Lydia Ko play at Clearwater Resort.

This was the pre NZ Open pro am and although it was free entry and parking and a stunning sunny day there were initially only 6 of us following the group round, we could even walk up the fairways with the players rather than stand outside the ropes.
Lydia was teamed with All Black player Israel Dagg and they were playing against Japanese billionaire Haruhisa Handa and Ian Cook from NZ golf.

The course looked treachourous to me and when Haruhisa found 10 bunkers in 10 holes he said "I spend more time in the bunker than I do with my banker". It didn't phase Lydia though, her golf was millimetre perfect and just so effortless, she was 6 under through the first 6 holes and 9 under for the round.

To give you an idea of how cruisy it was Israel Dagg had no Caddie or even a trundler, Ian had a random caddie who I think was spectator and as we walked down the 9th I was chatting with Ian's caddie and he said that he couldn't do the back 9 and would I like to takeover (are you f*****g kidding me), I didn't do it because I wanted to watch Lydia rather than rake bunkers and endlessly look for Ians ball in the rough (he's not a great player).

Sorry, I have no photo's or autographed golf ball but I do have the memories and I'm almost speechless at what I witnessed from a girl who is likely to become the best ever female player in the history of golf or possibly the greatest regardless of gender.
If you ever get a chance to watch her then do it, I'm fairly certain you'll be as amazed as I was.

boxsey

3,574 posts

209 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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Rosscow said:
All this talk of blades, I'm going to significantly lower the tone!! Seriously considering swapping out my 4 iron for a new Ping Crossover.

I'll wait for the upcoming Ping day at a course near me and give it a whack/get fitted for it. It looks intriguing and could be a decent club to swap for my not overly confident 4 iron.
I took my 4 iron out of the bag a while ago and replaced it with a 4 hybrid. I now use that hybrid way more than I ever did the 4 iron because it's so much more forgiving. It's longer than the 4 iron used to be responds well to going down the grip. So these days a 'full 4 iron' is a 'little 4 hybrid' and almost always turns into a better shot than the 4 iron used to.

My guess is that the crossover is aimed at those players that won't switch to hybrids but may be tempted by something that is more iron like. You've nothing to lose by trying it! smile

Rosscow

Original Poster:

8,723 posts

162 months

Tuesday 16th February 2016
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Was driving past the golf club and it just happened to be lunchtime..... swift bucket of balls? Why not! Lovely and warm - polo shirt weather!


HaplessBoyLard

1,546 posts

187 months

Wednesday 17th February 2016
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Feel like my form from last summer/autumn is finally returning.

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Edited by HaplessBoyLard on Wednesday 17th February 18:50


Edited by HaplessBoyLard on Wednesday 17th February 21:29

Rosscow

Original Poster:

8,723 posts

162 months

Thursday 18th February 2016
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Nice! Consistent - I bet the 3 putt on 16 went down well hehe

HaplessBoyLard

1,546 posts

187 months

Thursday 18th February 2016
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Rosscow said:
Nice! Consistent - I bet the 3 putt on 16 went down well hehe
Considering it was from 10 feet, not especially madbiglaugh

I went for the birdie, hit it 3 ft past and yipped the return putt. I couldn't sink a birdie putt all day (obviously), but sunk a couple of 20 footers for par on 5 and 6, so I guess it evens out.

Weather looks awful here on the weekend weeping

LHRFlightman

1,929 posts

169 months

Saturday 20th February 2016
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Three ball at Hoebridge this afternoon. Four hours of wind and drizzle but very happy with 33 points off 16. That's my second round in 8 weeks and my 3rd round in 3 years.

Getting the bug again so looking forwards to seeing if i can get back to sigle figures by the end of the summer. Lots of work on the short game, under 100 yards, needed.

Rosscow

Original Poster:

8,723 posts

162 months

Saturday 20th February 2016
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Shot 83 today, 38 points off my handicap of 16.

But, I left the course feeling that I'd played poorly. Left so many points out there. I'm better than 16, I think I should be about 12. Need to win a couple of comps ASAP. I had 34 points walking off the 14th green - 1 point on each of the last 4 holes was very frustrating. No blobs though.

Had the privilege of witnessing the best club golf I've seen. Playing with a guy off of 4, he shot 1 under the card to score 41 points. Some fantastic golf in tough conditions - it was windy!

Noodle1982

2,103 posts

105 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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Good afternoon chaps! After buying some clubs a few months back and spending every spare hour either down the driving range or watching youtube tutorials my first round on a full course is getting closer now the weather is actually looking half decent!

I did consider a new set of unbranded cheap clubs but im a sucker for labels and had read many times about people suggesting you're better off buying decent 2nd hand clubs so i spent a bit of time reading reviews and waited for some bargains to crop up and ended up with...

Wilson D100 irons (5 - sw)- ex demo £90 ebay. All the reviews stated how forgiving these are so it was a no brainer.
Taylormad R1 Driver - like new £65 ebay. Reviewers mentioned the distance THEY were getting with the club......that was enough for me smile
Taylormade SLDR 21' hybrid - like new ebay £35. I wanted a matching hybrid to the driver but as they didnt do an R1 hybrid so it was the SLDR.
Odyssey Protype 9 milled putter - like new £33 ebay. Wasnt fussed on which putter i got and this one seemed like a bargain.

Hopefully ill soon be able to post about my first experience on an actual course....







HaplessBoyLard

1,546 posts

187 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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Noodle1982 said:
Good afternoon chaps! After buying some clubs a few months back and spending every spare hour either down the driving range or watching youtube tutorials my first round on a full course is getting closer now the weather is actually looking half decent!

I did consider a new set of unbranded cheap clubs but im a sucker for labels and had read many times about people suggesting you're better off buying decent 2nd hand clubs so i spent a bit of time reading reviews and waited for some bargains to crop up and ended up with...

Wilson D100 irons (5 - sw)- ex demo £90 ebay. All the reviews stated how forgiving these are so it was a no brainer.
Taylormad R1 Driver - like new £65 ebay. Reviewers mentioned the distance THEY were getting with the club......that was enough for me smile
Taylormade SLDR 21' hybrid - like new ebay £35. I wanted a matching hybrid to the driver but as they didnt do an R1 hybrid so it was the SLDR.
Odyssey Protype 9 milled putter - like new £33 ebay. Wasnt fussed on which putter i got and this one seemed like a bargain.

Hopefully ill soon be able to post about my first experience on an actual course....
All good gear. You've done the right thing going 2nd hand for your first set. You should wait get back close to what you paid for all of that when you upgrade.

Go in to your first round with no expectations. Just enjoy it for the learning experience. Are you playing with any more experienced players?

Have you had lessons?

marshall100

1,124 posts

200 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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Thought I'd just drop this in here:



That's my brother, just added the US Hickory Open Championship to his World Hickory title, bit of car nut as well, though his MGF would suggest not.

Noodle1982

2,103 posts

105 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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HaplessBoyLard said:
All good gear. You've done the right thing going 2nd hand for your first set. You should wait get back close to what you paid for all of that when you upgrade.

Go in to your first round with no expectations. Just enjoy it for the learning experience. Are you playing with any more experienced players?

Have you had lessons?
Playing on my own (which i quite like the idea of, to get away from everything for a few hours) with zero professional lessons.

When i've visited the driving range ive purposely placed myself in a bay next to someone who i see is hitting the ball well and strike up a conversation with them and get some advice. That seems to be working well so far and a few obvious faults in my swing were mentioned as well as just recently my grip. The irons i have no problem hitting straight and consistently, the hybrid straight most of the time and the driver having the obvious slices. The new grip (which all the tutorials also seem to promote) is almost like starting all over again but i do feel an improvement on the impact with the ball, its more 'crisp' is the only was i can describe it but the grip still feels somewhat unnatural.

bodhi

10,333 posts

228 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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DuncanM said:
The biggest myth in golf is how hard blades are to hit. I will never go back to cavities now that I own blades.

True fact coming up, majority of pros still use blades, in particular, the players who aren't sponsored, so buy purely on choice, use blades.

Blades are more accurate for dispersion, proven by tests on Iron Byron.

There are more reasons to but blades than not, do it and you won't regret it smile
Precisely, there are plenty of reasons to use blades - as you mention dispersion, but also distance control, feel, and of course, the looks of the clubs themselves. I bought a set of Nike Blades in 2004 - before then I used to change clubs every other year, but the Blades have been in my bag since that date, and the only thing I can see myself changing them for is another set of blades.

On a similar note I currently find myself in Santa Barbara, California for 2 weeks of training and a Sales conference (hard life i know) which has been pretty full on, but we did manage to get some down time at the weekend, so naturally I went for a game both days. Played a local course call the Glen Annie up in the hills, fantastic yet punishing trek, where being slightly off line can find you searching for golf ball amongst the rattlesnakes. Played 10 holes on Saturday and ended up 3 over, which I was pretty chuffed with as it was my first round in 2 months - the Sunday was less good however, finishing mid 90's. Waiting on every shot due to the challenges of the course didn't help, nor a 15 minute wait whilst they brought us a working buggy, but was a fantastic afternoon.

Some of the views were epic however, for instance this was from the top of the course:



How was this related to the blades discussion? As the only real negative was the rental clubs, brand new Taylor Made R5i (iirc), and it was impossible to judge just how far the ball was going to fly. That was my excuse for some of the lost balls anyway smile

http://www.glenanniegolf.com/

Definitely worth a play if you find yourself over here.

DuncanM

6,109 posts

278 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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bodhi said:
Precisely, there are plenty of reasons to use blades - as you mention dispersion, but also distance control, feel, and of course, the looks of the clubs themselves. I bought a set of Nike Blades in 2004 - before then I used to change clubs every other year, but the Blades have been in my bag since that date, and the only thing I can see myself changing them for is another set of blades.

On a similar note I currently find myself in Santa Barbara, California for 2 weeks of training and a Sales conference (hard life i know) which has been pretty full on, but we did manage to get some down time at the weekend, so naturally I went for a game both days. Played a local course call the Glen Annie up in the hills, fantastic yet punishing trek, where being slightly off line can find you searching for golf ball amongst the rattlesnakes. Played 10 holes on Saturday and ended up 3 over, which I was pretty chuffed with as it was my first round in 2 months - the Sunday was less good however, finishing mid 90's. Waiting on every shot due to the challenges of the course didn't help, nor a 15 minute wait whilst they brought us a working buggy, but was a fantastic afternoon.

Some of the views were epic however, for instance this was from the top of the course:



How was this related to the blades discussion? As the only real negative was the rental clubs, brand new Taylor Made R5i (iirc), and it was impossible to judge just how far the ball was going to fly. That was my excuse for some of the lost balls anyway smile

http://www.glenanniegolf.com/

Definitely worth a play if you find yourself over here.
Great post mate, looks lovely out there!

Yes, spade clubs feel horrendous after using blades. Awful things.

Also, reckon you've saved ~£5000 by playing blades?

Go blades! wink