• Notice regarding image hosts and attachments. See here.

Golf Thread

Just back from a few days away playing Eyemouth and Gullane (2 & 3)

Like booyaka said, the wind was ridiculous and only 1 person out of 16 played to their handicap once across the entire trip

Personal opinion - Eyemouth wasn't that good, but that is what I thought based on the layout with a lot of 90° dogleg holes. I did hit the longest drive of the trip on the 2nd hole at 340yds, but that was the only enjoyable bit as we also had a fair bit of rain that day as well

Gullane 3 was our second round (and my best score of 32 points) and an enjoyable one despite the wind. It is a lot shorter but the wind didn't let it play any easier

Gullane 2 was our final round and, again, another enjoyable course, but a lot tougher with being longer and the wind was stronger today as well

I know wind is always the decider when playing links golf, but I would like to go back to Gullane and play in slightly less wind lol
 
Middled!
1000011167.webp

Unlike the past couple of weekends where I must have looked like complete beginner. All it took was a change of drill on the range. Went back to an old one where I stick an alignment stick in an upside down range bucket and position it off my left hip. Stops me dragging my hands low and left on the follow through otherwise I'll hit the stick. Works a treat with my irons. Woods are a different story, practice swings are fine but as soon I put a ball down I always hit the stick. I'm telling you I'd be scratch if I played off my practice swings :p

In other news it's amazing what a bit of rain can do. Course really started to green up after last week's and given how much we had today will hopefully be back to full health in no time. Great timing for the greens maintenance which took place yesterday.
 
Played on Wednesday with the society, solid 37 points again, I'm sure I've 'complained' about this before but plenty of pars/bogeys that works for my handicap but few/no birdies and still the occasional double or worse. Better golf (almost said good!) is kinda boring :p

Today decided to sort out something I've been thinking about for a while, getting my lofts/lies checked and tweaked a little bit at the wedge end. Maybe a bit odd but have read a few things about Takomo irons maybe not having the best QC, for the most part I have no complaints although it's kinda got in my head with my 9 iron that just seems to have a tendency to go left... So get them checked and I'll at least have nobody but myself to blame.

On the wedge end decided to tighten up my wedges, currently the set PW is 47 degrees then I go 52, 56 and 60. I'm planning to use my recent-ish NCG/TaylorMade voucher on a new '56' as my last one I spec'd with a wedge flex which is nice for partial shots but I really don't like it on full shots which is a problem for my 56. At the same time I'm thinking of tweaking the lofts, basically getting the PW bent 1 degree to 46, then my 52 bent 2 degrees to 50.

Then ordered my new 54 degree, MG5 customised with some orange and this time with a stiff shaft for those full shots. I'll replace the 60 with a 58 <somewhen> but less concerned as that's purely a bunker/chipping club.

Do I need to tweak my lofts, no. Will it improve my game, nope. Will it sate my inner nerd for a bit longer, yep :D

Also finally booked a fitting (same time as the loft/lie stuff), firstly to check I should be 'stock' lies as that's the ideal time to bend if I should be upright/flatter, but the main fitting will be for a new fairway wood (or woods?) Been thinking about it for a while but finally got around to it so should be good. That's all booked for Monday afternoon, sorted out a little template for the guys (they'll love me!) with the stock loft/lies for the club as well as the 2 alterations I currently want, hoping to get them to mark down what they're currently at (if different) to have a bit of a record for the lols.
 
Last edited:
played at Penrith golf course, lovely course with a nice clubhouse. 11 of us turned up, of the tee was shocking for first few holes. Just couldn't string out together :/ 19 over par on the front 9 which was crazy as i set of with 3 triples, then a par then 5 over on one hole. After that i didn't play bad really, 0 idea how i turned it around from a mental standpoint. Finished 25 over par playing of 19 (course must be harder i guess). 14 over through 5 holes jeez haha finished with 31 points, 21pts on the back 9.

Putting was pretty decent all round, driving couldn't have been better once i got it going. Course management was generally good despite the rocky start.

Next works trip is to Carus Green in Kendal, not the best of courses but brilliant facilities.
 
Got a new shaft for my driver today so went and did a range session, actually did one yesterday too after booking the fitting but didn't bother mentioning it, main bit to note yesterday was I couldn't get my Garmin R10 to work, part mostly dead battery but also needed software updates so that was a pain.

Otherwise it felt good to just hit balls and try things, spent a bit of time throughout the bag trying to both turn it left and right, I think clubface control is something I need to work on, actually found the drills quite fun/doable, although the left is a definite pull-draw (out-to-in path + closed face basically) whilst the right is pretty minor fade mostly, feels weird to try to intentionally leave the face open after trying so hard to get the thing closed :p

Had a bit of a journey, still going I guess, with my driver shaft. I was fitted by Titleist into a regular Project X HZRDS Black Gen 5 60g, but then when I bought the driver I went 60g stiff partically cause that's what they had but also I felt my driver club head speed during the fitting (around 92) wasn't representative of my 'real' clubhead speed, I would've said ~95 at the time. That was fine really but I managed to break it in the car somehow and when replacing it I randomly decided it'd be good to try a heavier shaft so went a stiff 70g shaft, which was definitely a mistake. I then cut that 70g shaft down by 1 inch which was decent actually, made it much more manageable but now thinking I'm loosing out on some distance/wanting to try new things so I finally bought that original regular 60g shaft I'd been fitted into.

Anyway, today I got the R10 charged and updated and then went out both to check it worked as well as try the range at a local club I'm contemplating joining and of course the new shaft. The range had trackman so initially I got that setup and left the R10 in the bag, went through the usual warm up, few drills, trying to hit different clubs etc and then got to the driver and I noticed that the ball speed was showing as ~145 ish, which seemed high for me.

Last time I looked at clubhead speed I was ~97-98 with the ability to push it to just over 100 when really trying, this was just 'cruising' swings and with my delivery I thought I must be close to 100mph or even a bit higher to get those ball speeds. So out comes the R10 to check, also interesting to compare it to Trackman, and ballspeeds were close between the two (trackman rounds whilst Garmin gives to 1 decimal place but same same) but sure enough it showed the club head speed at around 101, cruising! Tried a few where I pushed the speed and got 103.5-ish on Garmin, ball speed of ~147, carry of ~250 (on both). Not bad! :D

So yeah, overall as well ignoring the speed for a bit the new shaft felt reasonably good to me from a brief test. Not sure I'll be out tomorrow, bit weather dependant, but if so I'm also at a course that's quite tight and doesn't really call for a driver much so not sure it'll be a good test anyway :p
 
One of those what could have been today!

35pts despite picking up a two shot penalty on seventeen when I played the wrong ball. What are the chances one of your playing partners starts playing a ball you lost during a previous round which has identical markings to the ball you started out with! I kind of new something was off as I thought my tee shot had landed further up but couldn't see a ball ahead. Never mind I'd lost the ball I started out with on the tenth after a lack of care and attention and was now playing one with different markings :o (a new sleeve of AD333's get labelled BAC/BA-/BA+).

Oh well, at least I was hitting the ball much better after my work on the range in the week. Short game was still on point and objectively 83 gross is a good score for me :)
 
Last edited:
86 gross round a very windy Royal Troon today (yellows) - played solid, holed nothing of note mind you.

Enjoyable day all round with 4 other mates.

Last game for a while - away with the family for 10days to USA for a wedding etc - Next game likely to be Spain trip 1st October. (5 days/ 5 games)
 
Played with the usual Saturday group.this morning and it was one of those 'what might have been' rounds

2 over gross on the front 9 for 19 points obviously lulled me into a false sense of security and I lost my swing for a few holes and only scored 13 points on the back 9 for a total of 32 (gross 81)

I did win nearest the pin on the 3rd hole, and had a few birdies, so there are a few positives to take into the competition round tomorrow morning, just need to remove the silly mistakes I made today
 
Equalled my PB off the whites today (81) thanks to a stellar back nine (+1 gross). Shame about the scruffy front but you can't have everything I guess. Birdied the eleventh for the second day running! A great 5w to inside 10ft to leave a near identical putt to yesterday on what's normally one of the toughest holes on the course :) Will get that index moving downwards again.
 
Awful round today in the society, didn't even get much chance to test my new driver shaft as the course is tight so only used driver 4 times, 3 tee shots and off the deck on the 17th for the lols.

Chipping and putting were both terrible though, 40 putts is so bad, putting has actually been decent recently but not today. Oddly Garmin doesn't count skulled chips but too many doesn't begin to cover it.

Onto the next, got another networking meeting on Friday at Broome Manor, should get a few more chances to try Driver at least :p
 
Terrible round today and it all started with a 3 off the tee on the 1st hole - no idea how I lost the ball as the 9th fairway is left of the hole and I hit a draw over the trees which I expected to be in the middle of the fairway. Ended up having to go back to the tee as it was a medal round and it just set the tone for the day

I could not get the pace of the greens today and left a lot of putts short, but playing the par 5 holes in a combined 5 over par (double, bogey, double, par) didn't help at all - both doubles were due to a lost ball off the tee

Only a single birdie today and I finished middle of the table with a nett 76(+4), with the winning score being a nett 68

I wasn't getting near that today, but I should have really been level or under my handicap by 1, possibly 2 shots
 
Had my fairway fitting today, bit of a recap but I've got a Cobra Radspeed 3w that I've never gotten on with, was ok off the tee but off the deck it just never felt right, then got and like Callaway Mavrik 5w and Paradym 7w, the issue with the latter is they always seemed way too close in performance.

Well, the Trackman basically confirmed that with numbers being pretty much identical for both, even down to launch and spin. Results were basically ~182 carry and 190-195 with roll out, decent but useless having both.

So then started trying other/newer 5 woods but didn't see any big updates, think the best was a ping but really didn't create much of a gap so then started looking at 3w. Ping G440 SFT first, which was ok to hit but high spin was hurting me so onto the Max which was decent, good hits seeing 195-200+ carry and rolling out to 220+. Callaway Quantum didn't really work, I'd tried the Qi4D previously and not got on with it, so onto the Titleist GTS2 & GTS3.

Also tried the Titleist GTS300 Mini Driver, that thing is a weapon when you tee it up even slightly, off the deck performance was 'ok' but didn't feel great as you're basically thinning it obviously. But seriously a weapon off a tee! Best was showing as 220 carry I think (off a tee), which arguably is way too close to my Driver so yeah... Did like it though.

Basically came down to the Ping G440 Max vs Titleist GTS3, both basically gave the same performance, in the end it was a question of looks (I liked both) but more importantly adjustment, played around with both loft sleeves and the Ping when lofted down could be ok but the face looked wide open, with the Titleist the hosel seemed better so could loft it down and not look too open or get it looking closed/square, actually lofted down and upright seemed the better setting.

So yeah, Titleist GTS3 set aside, gonna pick it up and pay once they're done checking/adjusting my irons loft/lie setup, also left them some clubs to get prices for as possible/probable trade ins.

Finally did try the Titleist GTS2 and GTS3 7 woods but arguably they were 'too good', did give some benefit over mine in terms of distance (seemingly mostly due to lower spin) but that just re-closed the gap a bit between clubs, not completely but given I want there to be a clear gap it seemed pointless to spend more for less gap so gonna stick to the Paradym 7w :)

That's 3 walls of text in 4 or 5 days, oops :p
 
stephenb said:
@SKILL Sounds like a comprehensive fitting. So what loft did you end up with on the new wood? Presume your 7w is 21 degrees.
Click to expand...

So the head is the standard 15-degree head, they didn't have a 13.5 to try (was thinking my driver is a 9-degree using A3/A4 depending where my swing is to loft up to 10.5 so be curious to try similar with a fairway), and we tried it in a bunch of settings tbh.

A1, which is standard loft/lie was solid all around. D2 which is -0.75 loft +1.5 lie (lie to offset the 'open face' from less loft) was also pretty solid if a little low launch, might be good for the links golf in a week or so :p A3 which is +1.5 loft and +1.5 lie (which I do often run on the driver) was actually kinda horrible to hit with the fairway. Can't recall the others we tried but think the plan is to start with A1 and tinker :D

Also yeah, good fitting really, that makes 4 places I've had fittings now. The American Golf at Broome Manor (meh), the local golf shop (ok but felt a bit 'passive', basically ended up just trying what I asked for and no real suggestions), Cumberwell Park which was this one which was good and Titleist themselves which was really good! :)
 
Last edited:
Had the day off as was supposed to be playing in a charity day that got cancelled due to not enough interest, so we arranged to still play at our home club with the couple who would have been joining us anyway

Frustratingly my back has decided to start playing up again today, but despite this I somehow managed to shoot a 78 (35 points)

I still haven't got back to the pace of our greens after our trip away last week and left a few putts short again, and only managed 1 birdie on the par 5 10th hole after hitting the green with my second shot
 
I'll try to avoid another Wall o' Text!

Just went and picked up my new 3 wood along with my irons/wedges which I'd left for loft/lie checks. The latter I produced a wonderful printout with the stock lofts/lies for the clubs along with a gap for the measured values and in two cases (PW and 52) a new loft setting (46 for PW, -1, and 50 for the 52). Anyway the guy doing it did fill out all the measured values and for a nerd like me that's perfect :D

The reason I wanted them checked was a vague thought that the 9 iron seemed a little off, tended more than others to go left, that and some worries about Takomo QC. Turns out there was a tiny bit of that 9 iron off, it was +1.2 degrees from where it should've been, others were also all a bit off but mostly like +/- 0.2-0.4 so not crazy really but definitely not 100% perfect. Oddly a club I hadn't considered was my 52 was at 62.3 vs the stock 64, so that was the biggest outlier in the end. All now set to the 'correct' values so that'll be interesting to see :)

With the 3 wood I dropped off some clubs for valuation/trade-in, my old T-24 56-degree, a fairly new MG5 56-degree (that I got with a wedge flex shaft that I didn't get on with for full shots), my barely used Radspeed 3 wood and a very very well used Mavrik 5-wood. Total across those was just over £250, kinda more than I expected honestly so happy with that. Plus the £75 I won at the Wiltshire Mens Divisional Championship I can almost call the 3 wood a 'free' club :p I paid £100 for the 3 wood (£369), a dozen balls and the loft/lie stuff.

TheCSSDoctor said:
Had the day off as was supposed to be playing in a charity day that got cancelled due to not enough interest, so we arranged to still play at our home club with the couple who would have been joining us anyway

Frustratingly my back has decided to start playing up again today, but despite this I somehow managed to shoot a 78 (35 points)

I still haven't got back to the pace of our greens after our trip away last week and left a few putts short again, and only managed 1 birdie on the par 5 10th hole after hitting the green with my second shot
Click to expand...

Hope the back's not too bad!
 
My back's away again, as well but trying to get anything through the NHS now is basically pointless. Between that and getting our new puppy, golf has basically been a write-off for the second summer in a row...

Plan was to treat myself to new irons this year but be as well as putting that off until the new year. Hopefully get a dry-ish autumn and winter so I can at least get some golf in over the next wee while. Might use it as a chance to scope out some new courses as our local rover ticket has become borderline hellish when trying to get a tee time.
 
First round out with the adjusted clubs and new 3 wood/bag setup today. Overall a solid result, +17 but that was with three triples and a quad (technically for a medal I'd be +18 but I apply the 'net double bogey' to my scores...)

Front 9 was real solid, hitting it really well with this new width/throw the club 'feel', Kinda messed up the 9th (double) with an awful drive but even with that I was +4 on the front 9, 2 birdies.

The back 9 other than 12-14 was fine, doubled the 18th but was +4 excluding those 3 holes which is where it all went wrong.

12 was longest drive hole and I went for it a bit but that just led to a terrible swing, sliced driver to the right safe but meh. All I could do from there was chip it out to try to get a decent 3rd but ended in a terrible lie that I don't feel like I deserved, did ok from that but then went for the green with the new 3w and topped it, then it seemed my head went, for some reason thought it was into wind but it wasn't and airmailed the green with my 54 and gave myself a chip from a downslope that I promptly skulled.

Then I think I basically lost my head for the next 2 holes as well. Maybe a bit unlucky on the 14th as a great tee shot with my 2 iron before a slight pull with my 7 iron got an awful kick and ended up OB, hadn't even considered the OB there tbh.

But yeah, overall hitting it reasonably well, especially when I was in that calm headspace when I wasn't overswinging or anything. 7 wood was interesting, I think previously I was maybe 'underhitting' it to give it that place short of the 5 wood or something because used it on a couple of shorter tee shots today and hitting it 200-215 total pretty regularly, partially that good swing thoughts but also just hitting it 'properly' almost.

3 wood had it's ups and downs really, topped at least 2 but hit a 246 tee shot with it which is noice.

Hit driver ~275-280 three times today, firm ground obviously but been a while since I had 3 that kind of distance, more often been 255-260 as the 'good ones' so that was nice to see, also got that confidence so on the 17th it was into wind with a ditch at 205 iirc, went driver rather than layup and was easily past it.

Overall solid though :) Might get out over the weekend but realistically the next 'proper' round I play will be at Wallasey next Thursday with the start of my NCG/Wirral/Prestwick adventure. Forecast looks a bit damp, especially Prestwick...
 
played today 20 points, it was quite difficult in the wind but i just generally played ****. Looking forward to the next lesson as i cannnot quite afford to loose about 8 balls a round. at least they're second hand i suppose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom