Thursday, March 31, 2011

My Bag today

10.5° Octane tour Blur Prototype
17° Octane Redboard 73s
20/23° mx-700 YS-q hybrid 
5-AW RAZR tour vs-proto 85 stiff
54/59° CG-15 nippon 950 
2 Ball Mid/Belly
ProV1
Playerstowel

Kraft Nabisco.. and why the LPGA is good to watch for most of us..

In a word: Tempo. Love to see the hard and super fast greens at Mission Hills. Played the course once in 110 degree heat. Fattened my wallet with a few Benjamins that afternoon. Had to resuscitate one of our foursome with Coors as I recall. THE cure for heatstroke!

I have played some Championship golf on fast and firm courses and know what all the girls are dealing with this week.. hard to hold the greens even with short irons. When I played the Bridgestone RX I could never get enough spin on the ball to stop it with anything longer than a 9i. After a nice afternoon on Black Horse I swapped balls.. back to the ProV1. It putts better and is close enough in distance off the tee (a big thing for me) but I can stop a 6i on a green that would not be possible with a lower spin ball.. so what's the point? Championship conditions requires some adjustments.. most of our shots out there require an ability to control the ball from inside 130 yards.. Driving is critical as well.. you cannot play good golf if you can't drive the ball decently. But on a fast and hard course I can hit the ball lower off the tee and run drives out past 260 and my scores become a function of an ability to launch and spin the ball with my 100 mph driver swing speed inside 160..The Prov1 is a very versatile ball. It works for me and it works for the average tour player swinging at 112. I can hit that butter cut with it into greens and now with my new high launching irons I can take all the heat the summer will bring. But I need that Tempo .. that's the point. There is very little difference between my game and the typical LPGA tour player. My distances are very close to the ladies. I hit one more club than the longer hitters and am right their with the rank and file...   


It really helps me to watch the ladies. Have proven that with performance. Would love to hear what you do to improve your game away from the course and range. Sandra Gal really got my attention last week. Her tempo is superb. A female Ernie Ells.

I have been annoyed at the lack of HD coverage on the Golf Channel of women's golf. They say it's in HD but we know better. So this week I am happy to be improving by watching the ladies at the Dinah Shore. Really enjoying the tournament and I think there is a message for the LPGA here.. Better courses, set up tough. It's good for the game! The first Major of the year is here. I'm ready.. We punched the greens at the club yesterday...


































The view from behind the first green at Salinas Golf and Country Club.

Monday, March 21, 2011

WRX and Callaway get my vote for Great Customer Service

I hang out on golf forums. Longtime BSG guy from the early days and now a contributor when I think I have some relevant experience on WRX. Have played the game as well as a 2 and started someplace at well over 100 for 18 holes. Learned to play the game from a wonderful former LPGA pro and have appreciated the lessons in life that the game has taught me.. Have been given equipment to use by Taylormade and Callaway but have spent most of my "serious" playing days with Mizuno clubs in my bag along with  a Titleist or Taylormade driver. So I got a PM from the owners of WRX and they had a "deal" for me.. send specs and get clubs.. Hope you'll like them and say nice things. I did ...and got a fresh box of Callaway RAZR tour irons in a week and a half and after a very pleasant phone call with their customer service folks had a gap wedge to match a week later.

I love to look at Equipment Pictures and find some of the guys who shoot the pro tourneys at WRX to really do a great job . The latest from the Transitions Championships.

I have a bit of a collection on Photobucket. Some nice stuff over the years.  

What prompted the post was a simple transaction between Callaway Golf and myself and the awareness that everything sorta comes full-circle. I learned to play with x-12 Callaway irons and now am back using graphite shafted Game Improvement irons from the company that first helped light the fire within me.. Along the way there have been some triumphs and lots of fun. Some profound frustration too. Many years ago I got paired up with a couple of guys who told me they felt blessed to love golf as much as they do... Feel the same way.

It's that time of year.. can smell the Master's. No greater spectacular in sport for my money. Absolutely heaven on earth. Enjoy the walk. I don't really care what Tiger does. 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

latest  

Octane Tour Driver 10.5  Proto Blur
Burner 18 Redboard
20 mx-700 hybrid YS-Q
4-P RAZR tour vs-proto 85
52/58 CG-15 nippon 950
2ball white ice blade
proV1
Photobucket

...and a bag full of callaway!