2024 SoSH Golf

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
15,656
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
I'd be so good for this. It's like my golf super-power. I could easily hit 300-400 balls in a day or even a single range session. For some reason, I just really don't get tired from swinging, and a few on here can vouch for me, but I do not swing easy by any measure.

Edit to add: In case you couldn't tell, I'm just jealous.
Your love for golf is def unmatched
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,432
Arvada, Co
Your love for golf is def unmatched
If only my skills could catch up.

Had my club championship this weekend, a 3-day event for the championship flight. I played 27 holes Thursday, playing 2 balls on the first 9, then had a lesson on Friday morning due to how bad Thursday went, and hit about 200 range balls before my actual round Friday afternoon. Shot myself out of the event pretty quickly. Then played 36 on Saturday. Then played 31 more on Sunday. Wish I was playing today instead of working :)
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
27,631
I'd be so good for this. It's like my golf super-power. I could easily hit 300-400 balls in a day or even a single range session. For some reason, I just really don't get tired from swinging, and a few on here can vouch for me, but I do not swing easy by any measure.

Edit to add: In case you couldn't tell, I'm just jealous.
It turned out that I handled all that swinging very nicely. It helps that I'm very active playing lots of sports at my age - usually with younger (i.e., college age) people. I think that proved beneficial. When we played that round of golf on Saturday afternoon, after a whole week of taking 400 swings a day, I was totally energized and didn't feel tired at all. That surprised me. I guess, though, it was just really nice to be on the golf course and not just banging balls on the range for hours on end.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
24,644
I played very little during the first half of the season, but picked it up considerably since August. Looking to squeeze in a few more rounds before the season goes caput.

I've achieved real progress this season--I'm not a good golfer but I went from dreaming of breaking 100 to breaking 100 in four of the last six rounds I have played, going as low as 92, which is only one short of my career low (a day of comical good fortune that will not be repeated).

The big developments for me this year have been changing my swing slightly on approach distances--I'm way more consistent (although still far from actually consistent) on being able to drop a ball on the green from inside 125 yards or so. It hardly happens all the time, but it's happening way more since I tinkered with my swing to get more appropriate loft. I also have been very good this season at approach putting--very rarely having to three putt as I've been able to get my approach putt into gimme distance quite frequently. I think that has really just come with more experience with my putter and getting a more instinctual feel for the power and read required on each green.

Next year I think breaking 90 is a tangible goal.
 

Leon Trotsky

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
2,993
Boston, MA
I went to Top Golf this past weekend, which was great fun and I highly recommend, especially with kids. But that is not why I am posting - I used their stock clubs and hit the ball extremely well, like the straightest and most accurate I have ever hit, for the entire 2 hours, with every club I hit, both off the tee and the mat. It was incredible. Is there something magic with their clubs? The balls? I know they want to make it easy for anyone to just pick up a club and go, but this was crazy. Can I get that out in the real world?
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
13,931
The Paris of the 80s
I went to Top Golf this past weekend, which was great fun and I highly recommend, especially with kids. But that is not why I am posting - I used their stock clubs and hit the ball extremely well, like the straightest and most accurate I have ever hit, for the entire 2 hours, with every club I hit, both off the tee and the mat. It was incredible. Is there something magic with their clubs? The balls? I know they want to make it easy for anyone to just pick up a club and go, but this was crazy. Can I get that out in the real world?
The Top Golf driver at least is ~20 degrees of loft, very short shaft, huge head and face:

91718

Seems good for hitting pretty moonshots that hang in the air but aren't really that long. Rick Shiels did a video about it.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDu1IjE9ijE


Irons seem to be big heads, lots of offset, light and bendy shafts. Probably great for smacking range balls around.

Callaway might make that stuff. They own Top Golf.
 

Leon Trotsky

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
2,993
Boston, MA
The Top Golf driver at least is ~20 degrees of loft, very short shaft, huge head and face:

View attachment 91718

Seems good for hitting pretty moonshots that hang in the air but aren't really that long. Rick Shiels did a video about it.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDu1IjE9ijE


Irons seem to be big heads, lots of offset, light and bendy shafts. Probably great for smacking range balls around.

Callaway might make that stuff. They own Top Golf.
Ha, makes sense. As our time was winding down I took the last swing with the kid-sized driver and even with that smoked it. I am pretty sure I hit it the same 220ish yards I hit with my normal clubs. Maybe I need some baby clubs ha.
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
27,631
This year I've made a discouraging, but important, realization. Up til this year, here's what my yardages have been:

Driver: 240-280 (big spread because I'm inconsistent), occasionally, under the right conditions, reaching 300, but it's all gotta be just right
3W: 230-250
5W: 220-235
3I: 215-225
4I: 205-215
5I: 185-200
6I: 175-185
7I: 165-175
8I: 155-165
9I: 145-155
PW (46): 100-140
SW (54): 75-100
LW (60): 40-60

So this year (54 years old) it hit me that those yardages just don't work for me anymore. Early in the year I thought it was just the cooler weather. Then summer came and I rationalized it by thinking, oh it's early in the morning (which is when I usually play). But nope, it's just my new reality. So I've forced myself to take one extra club for all my distances now. Now I'm hitting my 8-iron 145-155, my 7-iron 155-165, my 6-iron 165-175, etc.

It was totally depressing to come to terms with it. But I have to be honest, once I did, and once I made the adjustment, golf has been fun. Playing well, just taking one more club for the same shot than I used to. Instead of hitting that 9-iron into the green, I'm hitting the 8-iron, producing good results. I hit a high ball with my irons so hitting 8 or 7 or even 6 iron into greens isn't too big of a deal.

It was more me just coming to terms with age and decreased physical strength.

Also: I need to go to the gym to lift, not just play basketball. That too.
 

doldmoose34

impregnated Melissa Theuriau
SoSH Member
Hello boys… long time member who doesn’t come a round or post much anymore, but wanted to break my arm patting myself on the back
I finally broke 40 on the front at Widows Walk.. I’ve been a pass holder/member at the ‘walk since it opened. Got my index down to 13.7 end of last year but a couple months of real shitty golf had me finishing the year at 16.5, but back to the big day. It was last Monday, being semi retired I play 3’or 4 times a week with a crew of real old timers, usually riding with 84 year old Chuck who mercilessly breaks my balls and I give it right back. We’re like golf’s version of grumpy old men. I’ve probably shot 40 a hundred times, but when I get that number in my head I’ll finish double double. This time I was even thru 4 then went bogey bogey so I didn’t give the number a thought, good par on 7, hockey in a 20’er on 8 for birdie and after a couple shaky shots I had about 20’ uphill again for par on 9…. Right in the jar! So I’m thinking about the $20 or so I’m gonna pocket for crushing my quota when I post 5 on golf logix app and it shows 39 2 over

Finally
 

Pablo's TB Lover

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 10, 2017
6,649
Hello boys… long time member who doesn’t come a round or post much anymore, but wanted to break my arm patting myself on the back
I finally broke 40 on the front at Widows Walk.. I’ve been a pass holder/member at the ‘walk since it opened. Got my index down to 13.7 end of last year but a couple months of real shitty golf had me finishing the year at 16.5, but back to the big day. It was last Monday, being semi retired I play 3’or 4 times a week with a crew of real old timers, usually riding with 84 year old Chuck who mercilessly breaks my balls and I give it right back. We’re like golf’s version of grumpy old men. I’ve probably shot 40 a hundred times, but when I get that number in my head I’ll finish double double. This time I was even thru 4 then went bogey bogey so I didn’t give the number a thought, good par on 7, hockey in a 20’er on 8 for birdie and after a couple shaky shots I had about 20’ uphill again for par on 9…. Right in the jar! So I’m thinking about the $20 or so I’m gonna pocket for crushing my quota when I post 5 on golf logix app and it shows 39 2 over

Finally
Congrats! Feels great the first time passing under 40 for 9 holes. (On a real course, there are a few easy ones near me that you can get a cheapie 39.)
 

Pablo's TB Lover

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 10, 2017
6,649
A little late, but I went down to a wedding in Florida at a golf resort a few weeks ago. The parents of the bride arranged a great little scramble tournament a few days before the wedding, only 4 teams of 4 but it was a lot of fun. Or I should say, our team was 3 good golfers and the mother of the bride on the front nine. Then one of the good golfers had to leave for work, and the mother of the bride had to leave to prepare for the clubhouse event later on. So the very beginner girlfriend of the other golfer jumped in for a three-person scramble on the back nine...and of course just as I'd predict we shot -2 on the front then -5 on the back to win it. Lol
 

kelpapa

Costanza's Hero
SoSH Member
Feb 15, 2010
4,877
Down in Scottsdale this weekend. We are golfing at tpc tomorrow and we have a spotter. What do you tip that person?
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,432
Arvada, Co
Down in Scottsdale this weekend. We are golfing at tpc tomorrow and we have a spotter. What do you tip that person?
I assume you mean a forecaddie that will do a lot more than just find your ball off the tee, like read putts, clean your ball, rake the bunkers, etc.? If so, I will usually tip a forecaddie $100 myself, just to ensure they get at least that much but it also depends on if they were good, great, or sucked, and who else is in my group. If there are 4 guy in my group who I know will tip, then $50/man should be fine. If they were great, make it $60. It's their livelihood and they just spent 4-5 hours chasing your ball around. How much would you need to make to do that every day?
 

Oil Can Dan

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2003
8,541
0-3 to 4-3
Hello boys… long time member who doesn’t come a round or post much anymore, but wanted to break my arm patting myself on the back
I finally broke 40 on the front at Widows Walk.. I’ve been a pass holder/member at the ‘walk since it opened. Got my index down to 13.7 end of last year but a couple months of real shitty golf had me finishing the year at 16.5, but back to the big day. It was last Monday, being semi retired I play 3’or 4 times a week with a crew of real old timers, usually riding with 84 year old Chuck who mercilessly breaks my balls and I give it right back. We’re like golf’s version of grumpy old men. I’ve probably shot 40 a hundred times, but when I get that number in my head I’ll finish double double. This time I was even thru 4 then went bogey bogey so I didn’t give the number a thought, good par on 7, hockey in a 20’er on 8 for birdie and after a couple shaky shots I had about 20’ uphill again for par on 9…. Right in the jar! So I’m thinking about the $20 or so I’m gonna pocket for crushing my quota when I post 5 on golf logix app and it shows 39 2 over

Finally
That's great! I play Widows a lot and that course is no joke. Especially at this time of the season with all of the leaves. My last round there in November I had 7 pars on the front 9 but also two triples and a bogey.

Is Chuck the guy that sometimes acts as the starter? Used to be a professional and played a round with (I think it was) Palmer? If so I've played a round with him and he's a great guy!
 

Pablo's TB Lover

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 10, 2017
6,649
I remember when I first broke 40 over 9 at a mini golf course. It was early summer this year...
All joking aside, I turn into Happy Gilmore yelling at the clown on a mini golf course. Although short game strokes take up half or more of my game, for some reason my expectation is to get down in 2 at the most on every mini-golf hole. Then 5 putts later...
 

kelpapa

Costanza's Hero
SoSH Member
Feb 15, 2010
4,877
I assume you mean a forecaddie that will do a lot more than just find your ball off the tee, like read putts, clean your ball, rake the bunkers, etc.? If so, I will usually tip a forecaddie $100 myself, just to ensure they get at least that much but it also depends on if they were good, great, or sucked, and who else is in my group. If there are 4 guy in my group who I know will tip, then $50/man should be fine. If they were great, make it $60. It's their livelihood and they just spent 4-5 hours chasing your ball around. How much would you need to make to do that every day?
Thanks dude. It is a forecaddie. No idea what he does. Golfing 36 at talking stick today.
 

kelpapa

Costanza's Hero
SoSH Member
Feb 15, 2010
4,877
91 at the stadium which was a lot of fun. I have played champions a few times before, and a couple of people I talked to said they liked that more than the stadium. The experience was great. Golfing with a forecaddie was awesome.

Ended up playing 9 at Silverado afterwards. Have 18 more tomorrow at the Biltmore, then the Patriots game. Great weekend!
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
27,631
By the end of this past season, my official handicap index stood at 10.0.

95234

It was briefly at 9.7 but didn't take long for it to go back to the high 10's. Got it back down to 10.0. My goal for 2025 is to get it to 9.0 or even below. My dream world is to get my handicap to 6 or below, but taking just a few strokes off at this point is going to be extremely difficult.

Big key for me this year was adjusting my club distances. Ever since I was a teenager, I hit my 9-iron, for example, up to like 158 yards. Now I can't get it past 145...sometimes no more than 140. It took me a couple of years to acknowledge that the issue here is....me and my age. So finally this year I said ok, screw it, just club up one. And now that 145-150 shot is an 8-iron, not a 9-iron. It was humbling, but the right move, and my scores improved as a result. Also, better course management, not trying as many hero shots (though I still occasionally do it, and every once in a while they still work), and just looking to hit solid golf shots.

Hoping for a really good 2025.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,432
Arvada, Co
For years I played a set of Wishon irons that just had the lofts on them like wedges. It's a weird system to go from 9 to P to 52, 56, 60. I don't have a P wedge. I have a 46 degree wedge. I miss having that over basically random numbers on my clubs.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,432
Arvada, Co
Bryson's 7 iron is 25 degrees. His 9 is 35. The shafts are longer than traditional too. It doesn't stop the broadcasters from gushing over him hitting 200 yard 7 irons.
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
27,631
Bryson's 7 iron is 25 degrees. His 9 is 35. The shafts are longer than traditional too. It doesn't stop the broadcasters from gushing over him hitting 200 yard 7 irons.
25 degrees? I didn't know that. That's basically a traditional 4-iron. I mean, even with my reduced distances, I still hit my 4-iron 210.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,432
Arvada, Co
Yeah, he plays single length irons so the lofts all have be turned way down or he'd just hit spinny moonballs
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
15,656
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
Bryson's 7 iron is 25 degrees. His 9 is 35. The shafts are longer than traditional too. It doesn't stop the broadcasters from gushing over him hitting 200 yard 7 irons.
I intentionally buy my sets to try and get to more traditional lofts. People buying clubs don't pay enough attention to this. Manufacturers are decreasing loft and adding more offset to fool golfers into thinking they hit it further.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
13,931
The Paris of the 80s
I intentionally buy my sets to try and get to more traditional lofts. People buying clubs don't pay enough attention to this. Manufacturers are decreasing loft and adding more offset to fool golfers into thinking they hit it further.
Yep, a lot of buyers don't know. I know someone who bought a set of G430 irons last year, highest lofted is the PW at 41 degrees. Their first non-set wedge? It was either 50 or 52, whatever they had with their old set. That's a big of a loft gap even for a bogey golfer.

My old i3 irons has 34.5 degree 7-iron. Current g400s? have a 30 degree 7-iron. Not surprisingly, the g400s are about a club longer. Very forgiving on slight mishits though.

Oh, and I just looked on the Ping website. This year's model g440s have a 29 degree 7-iron... which can be POWER SPEC'd to 27.5. I suspect if I bought a new set a 6-iron (25.5 degrees) might be as low as I could go before moving to hybrids. The 22 degree 5-iron is really getting down there in loft.
 

TFP

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2007
20,474
Yeah - distance predictability and consistency with irons is a way bigger correlation to good golf than total distance is. It's important to know exactly how far your clubs go, regardless of the number on the bottom. I also almost never take a 100% swing with irons any more either, except in specific situations.

Driver is a totally different story though. Swing hard and launch it as hard as you can as long as it stays in play.
 

Doug Beerabelli

Killer Threads
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
I have have a set of Calloway irons from around 2012 that I replaced with a new set of version of the same set a couple years ago. Sent the old set to family place in FL. Went down over holidays and got to play a few rounds. Took a awhile to adjust to the fact the lofts were a club off from the new set. Many a golf ball got rinsed as a result.

I played equally mediocre, though. It’s the guy swinging them that’s the problem.
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
27,631
Pick up the latest edition of Golf Digest - it has the stuff from the Hot List Summit that I participated in this past November. I'm in there! :)
 

jmm57

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
1,516
Pick up the latest edition of Golf Digest - it has the stuff from the Hot List Summit that I participated in this past November. I'm in there! :)
How’d you end up being selected for that?

The first year I played golf was like 2006, and I started tracking a handicap from day one. Snuck in just enough rounds to have an official handicap of 36 at the end of the season.

The next year I finished at around an 18, imagine my surprise when I opened a Golf Digest issue over the winter to find myself listed as the most improved golfer in Maine :D an embarrassing feat when you are still an 18 lol
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
27,631
How’d you end up being selected for that?

The first year I played golf was like 2006, and I started tracking a handicap from day one. Snuck in just enough rounds to have an official handicap of 36 at the end of the season.

The next year I finished at around an 18, imagine my surprise when I opened a Golf Digest issue over the winter to find myself listed as the most improved golfer in Maine :D an embarrassing feat when you are still an 18 lol
I know a guy from the magazine, and I got an invite to the event. It was a total blast. Long hours, and a million swings over four days at the range, which wasn't easy, but so fun.

That's awesome about you appearing in the magazine, and don't be embarrassed about that at all. That's a huge and impressive improvement in one season!
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
27,631
You get to keep anything you tested?
Nope. That would have been awesome, but no. They did give me a bunch of stuff. Adidas sponsored the event so I got some good Adidas gear, which was really nice, including the nicest pair of golf shoes (or any other kind of shoes) I've ever owned.
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
27,631
Might anyone here be interested in a SOSH golf event this summer somewhere in New England? Nothing formal, not a tournament, just a day to play and eat afterward. (or maybe it IS something more formal and bigger...who knows)
 

Mooch

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
5,328
Fun league round today and a first time shot for me: Hit a tee shot on a par 3 to the edge of the water about 10 yards short and left of the green. Didn’t have a stance so I played a flipped over wedge left-handed and chipped in for a 2.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,432
Arvada, Co
Fun league round today and a first time shot for me: Hit a tee shot on a par 3 to the edge of the water about 10 yards short and left of the green. Didn’t have a stance so I played a flipped over wedge left-handed and chipped in for a 2.
Wow, that's awesome. Golf is stupid sometimes. How likely were you to chip in if was just a normal chip from 10 yards short?

I had a new experience today too. For the past several rounds I've been hitting my driver short and right. I almost never hit it short and right. My 3-wood was still fine off the tee and going further than my driver normally. It was really weird. Player 36 today and had the same thing happening all morning. Just terrible drives all day and nothing I could do to fix it. Hit the range between rounds and my buddy was in the bay next to me and said "your driver sounds funny" and I said, "Yeah, because I keep hitting it like shit". So he grabbed and it looked at it. The whole face was almost coming off of the club. The glue holding the face to the head had almost entirely failed. I've never had that happen. I had to use his driver for the second round and things were basically back to normal. Good thing I already had a new one on order. TaylorMade seems to have some manufacturing issues. This was a QI10 that was about 1 year old.