Saturday, November 18, 2006

Mini Tours

Man I knew there were a few of these around over in the US but damn not this many, and list probably doesn't even cover half them. I can think of a few that aren't even on the list..

http://www.google.com/Top/Sports/Golf/Organizations/Mini-Tours/


It'll be great if Greg Turner can continue to grow the GTNZ tour concept, I'd love to play in one of these

Q-School

Well US Tour School 2nd stage is underway in 5 locations across America. If you look through the scoreboards you will see the names of players you've heard of and even major winners. Just goes to show how hard it is retain a card after you obtain one.

Check out the leaderboards here http://pgatq.bluegolf.com/league/pgatq6/tours.htm?type=1

There are a few Kiwis in action and doing pretty well. Phil Tautarangi is T2 in Texas after 2 rounds, Michael Long is 10th in California. Grant Waite is probably gone being in 40th after 3 and only the Top 20 at each site go through to the gruelling 6 round Q-School finals.

Also check out in my links section Brian Quackenbush, he's playing 2nd stage and is doing very well. His site makes great reading. Hope he makes it. It'd be great to get an insider view of the Finals

Saturday, November 11, 2006

New Golf Book!, A must buy for everyone

Chapter 1 - How to Properly Line Up Your Fourth Putt

Chapter 2 - How to Hit a Dunlop from the Rough When You Hit a Titleist from the Tee

Chapter 3 - How to Avoid the Water When You Lie 8 in a Bunker (also seeChapter 8)

Chapter 4 - How to Get More Distance off the Shank

Chapter 5 - When to Give the Ranger the Finger

Chapter 6 - Using Your Shadow on the Greens to Maximize Earnings

Chapter 7 - When to Implement Handicap Management

Chapter 8 - Proper Excuses for Drinking Beer Before 9:00 a.m.

Chapter 9 - How to Rationalize a 6 Hour Round

Chapter 10 - How to Find That Ball That Everyone Else Saw Go in the Water

Chapter 11 - Why Your Spouse Doesn't Care That You Birdied the 5th

Chapter 12 - How to Let a Foursome Play Through Your Twosome

Chapter 13 - How to Relax When You Are Hitting Three off the Tee

Chapter 14 - When to Suggest Major Swing Corrections to Your Opponent

Chapter 15 - God and the Meaning of the Birdie-to-Bogey Three Putt

Chapter 16 - When to Re-grip Your Ball Retriever

Chapter 17 - Can You Purchase a Better Golf Game?

Chapter 18 - Rules Interpretation: "Loss of Ball is Penalty Enough..."

Chapter 19 - Why Male Golfers Will Pay $5.00 a Beer from the Cart Girl and Give Her a $3 Tip, But Will Balk at $3.50 at the 19th Hole and Stiff theBartender

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Belly Putters


Ok here's a fairly controversial topic among golfers. Me personally I've always been a streaky putter, either shit hot or stone cold. Unforunately stone cold more often than not...


After a particularly bad patch just before Xmas last year I pretty much gave up in disgust and bought a belly putter and a broomstick. Took the broomstick out first but that was a waste of time. It's far to long and it's actually bloody hard to use. Not too mention I carry my bag and it kept smacking me in the face when I picked my bag up..Mmmmmm pass.


Next onto the belly. Not what I'd call instant love but encouraging enough for me to continue with it and keep it in the bag ( a rare occurance for me). After a bit of practice over the new year I went out and top qualified for my club champs. Sure I got the mother of all spankings in the semi but meh... What do you do, I had the shanks. Even I can't blame the putter for that.


Now after what ..... 1,2,,,,,11 months of use I have to say I do feel a lot confident over every putt. It's more stable than a standard length putter therefore the stroke is a lot easier. I used to dread 6 footer's but they don't even really worry me now,, apart from the diabolical ones with 1 foot and a bit of break in em..


Don't be scared to try one, yeah sure you get a bit of shit in the beginning for using a grandpa putter but they get over it when they realise how many beer's they owe you..


Of course being the club HO that I am I of course have 3 of them, in fact I bought the 3rd last night.. After all it's never my fault when I miss, it's gotta be the clubs

Random thoughts

# Joe Durant continued his streak of good play on Friday with a 2-under 68. Durant has recorded 17 of his last 18 rounds at par or better, including 15 consecutive. During his last four and a half tournaments, Durant’s scoring average has been 68.17, compared to a scoring average 71.38 during his first 23 tournaments.

#Kiwi Doug Hollaway has made it through the first round of Q-School in the US. He finished at +3 for the four rounds finishing 14th, the top 25 moved onto the next stage.

# Brad Heaven will need a great last round to do the same, he is currently +10 with a round to go in 37th place. I'm picking the cut to be around +5. He'll have to have a stunner considering the lowest round all week is 68 at this qualifying locaton

Myths About Golf Equipment And Performance

By Dick Rugge Senior Technical DirectorUnited States Golf Association

1. Golfers with faster swing speeds get disproportionately greater distance benefits from new golf balls that have been introduced after 2000.
False. Physics, scientific tests, and actual results on the PGA Tour all confirm that faster swinging players have not gained a disproportionate amount of distance from modern golf balls. An example: Corey Pavin, the shortest hitter in 2000, gained about the same amount of distance from 2000 to 2005 (7.4 yards) as the longest (John Daly at 8.7 yards).

2. Golf ball distance is not currently limited.
False. Golf ball distance has been regulated since 1976 and golf ball rebound characteristics have been regulated since the 1940s. In 2004, the USGA updated its testing methodology to more closely reflect the athleticism and clubs of today's Tour pros. All golf balls played on Tour and the vast majority of golf balls sold have passed the USGA’s distance limit test.

3. Driving distance on Tour is increasing rapidly
False. While average PGA Tour driving distance significantly increased over the past 10 years, it has leveled off during the past three. The average increase since the level of 2003 to the current level in 2006 is only about 1 yard per year.

4. The longest hitters on the PGA Tour finish higher on the money list.
False. While some long-driving professionals have been very successful, on average, the top 10 driving distance players have actually been falling down on the money list in recent years. From 1980-85 the average rank was 64.2; in 2000-2005 it was 77.1. The second worst single year average rank on the money list of the longest 10 drivers was in 2004 with an average rank of 103.3.

5. Most of the PGA Tour professionals swing at 120 mph or more.
False. The average swing speed on the PGA Tour is approximately 113 mph. There are some who swing at or higher than 120 mph, but they are clearly in the minority.

6. The USGA ball test doesn't control ball distance well enough because actual pro golfer swings are different than the test method.
False. The test method employed by the USGA, using a 120 mph swing speed, is representative of the swing conditions used by the longer PGA Tour professionals. The USGA tests balls like the PGA Tour pros hit balls.

7. The average distance for 5-irons on Tour is more than 200 yards.
False. The PGA Tour Shotlink system, which records virtually all shots throughout the season, shows that the average 5-iron shot from fairway to green is approximately 185 yards. From the tee on par threes, the average 5-iron distance is about 197 yards.

8. You get more distance when you put topspin on a drive.
False. Every normally struck drive has backspin. Backspin generates lift and keeps the ball in the air. You can put topspin on a ball – but only when you 'top' the ball. It will go a very short distance and dive into the ground.

9. Accuracy off the tee isn’t as important as it used to be on the PGA Tour.
That’s no myth, it’s true. During the '80s driving accuracy was almost as strong a predictor of money-winning as putting. Today it has fallen to the lowest level ever.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

10 rules for golf etiquette

Now I'm not the golf etiquitte police or anything.God know's I'm no saint. I don't care what you wear on the course but there a few simple little things that just piss me off on a golf course. Here's few things not too do.... But I will admit #7 is quite cool

1. use your club to try to kill an animal
2. step in peoples lines
3. see how many times you can say the f-word in one sentence
4. talk while people are hitting
5. blame inanimate objects for your bad shots
6. cheat, never cheat ever, the penalty for cheating should be either the stocks, a tar and feathering, or a brick to the head
7. catch "mad air" while in a cart
8. run on the greens
9. fist pump, its not really etiquete, just a pet peave of mine when people do it. You may think you look like tiger, but chances are you just look like your retarded
10. last but certainly not least is... Coaching people, never be "the coach" unless someone asks, they probably are just humoring you by nodding after everything you say but they are really thinking.. if he doesnt shut up in 5 seconds im going to hit him with my 7 iron

How many forum users does it take to change a lightbulb?,

How many forum users does it take to change a lightbulb?

1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs

1 to move it to the Lighting section

2 to argue then move it to the Electricals section

7 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs

5 to flame the spell checkers3 to correct spelling/grammar flames

6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ...

another 6 to condemn those 6 as stupid

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp"

15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct

19 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum

11 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum

36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty

7 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs

4 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's

3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group

13 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too"

5 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy

4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

13 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs"

And finally 1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again.

Friday, November 03, 2006

BTW

As you can probably tell I was bored so I changed the scenery up a little bit

New Record

Yes it's offical. As of today I have acheived a new record in my golfing life.I have had the SAME driver in my bag for 6 months. This is unheard of for me. I normally change drivers pretty much on a monthly. Apart from a brief excursiuon back a R7 TP Quad I've had my Hibore fitted with a Graman UL540 in the bag for 6 months solid.

Damn thats impressive............ for me anyway