Jan '11

Well my little vacation is just about over. I head back to work on Monday, somewhat reluctantly I must add. My bank account will be the only celebrating this occasion. Probably because I haven't been there since around the 17th of December.

On the bright side, my Yahoo fantasy golf team for a change, isn't dead last. Granted we've only been going a week, so there is plenty of time for the inevitable downward slide.

I've also played golf for 22 consecutive day's, some good, some bad, and some I'd rather not spend time recollecting. My first tournament of the year is 3 days away and my form is surprisingly half decent. No doubt I have peaked to early.

Sony Open I have put some cash on Stricker to take home the trophy, this will of course lead to him missing the only cut he won't make all year.

Till next time.

What do you know

I have blog, who would of thought. I may or may not have forgotten about it. I don't admit guilt for anything.
So what have I been up to for 12 months. I've been busy actually. Work is flat out, bought a house, got engaged. But more importantly, I made my first club championship final. So that was pretty awesome. Unfortunately I got the beating of a lifetime in the 36 hole final so that did suck. I really got to learn to hit straight off the tee one day. They start again in 6 weeks.
SO thats pretty much it at the moment, I'll try and remember to drop by from time to time, might even post something for a change.

And yes Tom, the 1 iron is still firmly in the bag.

Summer

Well work's over for the year. It's summer time. Time to play golf. And hopefully play it a half decent standard. The winter was a bit of disaster golfwise down here. Basically the weather was rat shit and I just couldn't be assed going out to play in that often after working in it all week.
On the plus side, the 1 iron is going like dream. If I can develop a half decent wedge game, and stopputting like a blind man with parkinson's. I may in fact be able to play this game with wanting to sever my own limbs periodically during the round.

Have a great Christmas everyone, try not to get arrested and drink a keg a week. Catch ya in '10

Sssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh

I have a 9 wood now. Don't laugh, well too much anyway. I may in fact be one of the few people on the planet now with a 9 wood and a 1 iron in the bag. A blade 1 iron no less. It make's absolutely no sense I know, but who care's. It works.

MyGolfSpy

Just thought I'd throw a post out there about one of the newest golf website's out there. If you want to be in the know about new product release's and prototype clubs out there, these guys are the guy's to visit.



www.mygolfspy.com

Is it just me?

Or are golf clubs getting cheaper. Obviously I'm not talking about brand new off the rack OEM clubs, the cost a small fortune. I'm talking about the ebay, auction site's and various BST's online for 2nd hand clubs. Maybe this has something to do with the recession thing that I've been hearing about.

I admit it, I do then to go through golf clubs like a hooker goes through boxe's of rubber's. But I'm finding that digging for that 2nd hand, used, ex demo bargain that we all look for is a little easier. People may just be selling just to get the cash for stuff they don't use.

I love it. I can buy more clubs now, for less money. Brilliant, I'm in heaven.

They get all the perks.

As we know The Open Championship is being played the week after next. Which of course is on the other side of the planet, from where all the pampered PGA Tour player's normally ply there trade. With the John Deere Classic (formerly Quad City Open?) on this week that would normally make for a pretty damn quick turn around. Finish at the JD Sunday night, assuming you make the cut of course. And you then want to be in the land of the Brit's by Tuesday morning at the latest.

The John Organizer's have come up with a solution. They charter a plane with a 100 seats, which will have you over the pond, direct flight of course by early Monday morning. Brilliant. The tournament committee came up with the idea to encourage more top tier player's to play there event, without having to stress and worry about there travel. Seats can be bought for $1250US with each player allocated 3. Of course the money goes to charity. It's cost's the tournament guys are 300K to put the plane on, but that is only half the price. The Canadian Open which the week after uses the same plan to get players/caddys from Britain to Canuckland.

Incidentally, it is also the same plane used by NBA team Dallas Mavericks. So head and legroom is a non issue. Unless there are some 7ft pro golfer's around that I haven't heard of.

Taking a lesson

Well to start I have to say this. I hate golf lessons with a passion. I've only ever had 2, and afterward's came away that confused and played that bad I just didn't play for a while. I'm a 3 marker at the moment so I know how to hit the ball. But my swing is somewhat, what's the word...hideous/awful/unreliable, you get the idea.

I'm getting a few tips off the club champ at my club, a guy who is robot on the course. Everything is flushed. And I can beat him occasionally. The best bit is he wants paid in beer, which of course I get to help drink.

Had the first one tonight. Apparently I stand to far away from the ball, Stand wayyy to upright. Have all my weight on my heels. And don't even get him started on my grip. Great, I've been here 10 mins, hit 12 balls and I'm ripped to shred's. It's just being back at school. Funny thing is I'm not the type of person who really likes getting told what to do. But after a few/many teething problems, I started to hit it pretty good. Sure standing that much closer to ball felt the clubhead was going to hit my toes and the grip end was going sever my nut's from my crutch. But the ball was flying a little straighter.

Damn it now I'm going to have practice more often or I end up in that dreaded place. Between 1 swing and the other. Otherwise known and Shankland. And my passport has many stamps from that over the last while so I'm in no hurry to go back.

TM resurects another old fav

First they bought back the Burner. Which incidentally I hated when I first seen it. The loved it when I hit it. Well they've done it again. Ladies and Gents please welcome back The Raylor.

Yes you read it right, the Raylor. Remember when it first came out. Everyone that looked at it went WTF is that. It was a hybrid before there were hybrids. Lots of people liked them, not a look bought them though.

Kenny Perry and Fred Funk were both spotted practicing with different versions at Bethpage last weekend. This week thru 54 holes Perry is 2nd and Funk is leading after 36 holes on the Champions Tour this week. Coincidence? Hell yes. But it sounds great. (TM better send me a cheque if they use that).

By the way. It's a great looking little club. Can't wait for it to hit retail.




First they bought back the Burner. Which incidentally I hated when I first seen it. The loved it when I hit it. Well they've done it again. Ladies and Gents please welcome back The Raylor.

Nothing like a beating

Hell I didn't even put up a fight today. If you've the read the post below you know what I'm talking about. It all started with a push/block w/ 3 wood off the 1st tee into the rainforest. And it didn't get any better. I never won a hole, had to scratch out halves just too survive. Had a chance on the 6th hole when my approach hit the flagstick at the base, carved out half the hole and still ended up 5 feet away. And No, the putt never even sniffed the hole. Smack me in the head with a SW please.
I proceeded to block cut after block cut off the tee to go down painfully and embarrassingly 6/5.

And yet I dragged myself out today for a 2 man scramble. Personally I hate scrambles. But after yesterday we decided it was just a piss up with golf clubs. We played crap, maybe a little/lot with a buzz going on a had a lot of fun. We shot -3 and finished so far out of the prize's it was laughable. I did see a 3 wood shank though, that made my day. I didn't know it was possible.

On the US Water Polo champs, I mean US Open. Hmmmm Rain delays suck, why you ask? Listening to the commentator's can lead to perfectly sane people blowing up the tv with a 12 gauge. Steve Stricker's my pick. Remember you heard it here 1st, or 4th or 5674th. Hell I don't care, but I've $$$ on him


# Just seen what Stuart Appleby had to say on Twitter today (no I dont have Twitter, I have barely evolved to Facebook.)Anyway it's a great quote.
"My pools drier then BethPage right now. Wetter then an otters pocket. Poor spectators will be in slop by the end of tomorrow."
That's gold, although he did miss the cut by country mile.

Winter Golf

Well for those that missed me (admit it, most of you are going "Who the fu*& is this") yes I am alive. And still attempting to play golf without wanting to kill myself in the the same 18 holes.

It is now winter again (dammit) down in this fine but freezing part of the world. That of course means winter golf. Which in turns means I play once every couple of weeks when the sky is blue and the temp above freezing. Soft you say. I work outside for a living, why in the hell would I want too go back out there for the 2 days a week I get too myself.

So back to the subject at hands. That means wet cold weather (obviously DOH dumbass), wet ugly crappy crappy lie's in the rough. clean and place in the fairway, (HA like I'm ever in the fairway, who am I kidding). Slow bumpy greens. But on the plus side not many other people are dumb enough to try and play golf those days so at least the rounds are pretty speedy. Of course that may be due in part to the bottle of rum ( nectar of the gods) that lives in my bag this time of year.

I'm going through a from slump at the moment. After getting my index as low as I have got it before I have seemingly forgotten how to hit a ball and breaking 80 is now a mission. To top this off I'm stuck in the position of having to pay No2 for my club this weekend in the local inter-club competition. I have no hopes the way I am playing as long I as I don't embarrass myself too much. Wish me well. If I fail in this endeavour there will no doubt be a drunken reply to this post tomorrow.

Wish me well, or least hope for the best.

Still alive

Yes I'm still alive. Been busy/lazy/couldn't really be assed.

More later. I hope..........

How good is -1 on tour

I found this post over at Golfwrx. Good reading


Here's something i did a while back for another forum, interesting statistics for sure

:As some of you know i am a Financial Analyst by profession. I sit around financial data all day long and practically LIVE in Excel.

So for fun i did a VERY BASIC analysis of how good -1 par on the PGA Tour really is.

If you could make the tour and average -1 par PER ROUND (total tournament score of -4 par) how would you fair?Note: these statistics do not include any majors or world golf championshp events, however all other events played this year (through the travellers, i haven't kept up with the data)

Here you go:
Best Finish: 4th
Worst Finish: T59th
Average Finish: 26.35
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 1
Top 15s: 3
Top 20s: 7
Top 30s: 4
Cuts Missed: 1 (Buick Invitational)
Total $ Won: $1,523,411
Best $ Won: $264,000 (finished 4th)
Worst $ Won: $12,720 (finished T48, note this is not the worst finish of the year either, worst is T59 but won more money)
Average $ Won: $76,171
Scoring Average: 70.05
Money List Rank: 24nd
Scoring Average Rank: 21st
FedEx Points Rank: 25th

Looks like if you could make the show and average -1 par each round you'd be sitting pretty good. This was a quick and dirty analysis and it was not adjusted for course level of difficulty. This was simply what could -1 par each round under any condidtion (except majors) produce. This one also includes the results from the Travelers. Lastly please note that i did not recalculate what this player would have won if they were simply added to the field. Meaning if 3 people tied for 12th and this new player tied as well the money might be a bit lower. I simply took the numbers and found if you were one of those people where would you stand on the PGA tour.

Also here is what someone else posted in this thread i started which is interesting about what -1 each round would get in regards to Q-School performance:In fact...-4 would get you through all but two of the first stage qualifiers (the other two it would miss by one shot). It would have gotten you through three of the six second stage qualifiers. You would have missed making it to the PGA Tour by two shots in final stage of Q-School. (8 under got in after six rounds). So still, -1 is pretty darn good.

The golf gods are conspiring

I've got the local pennant finals this Sunday. Semis in the morning and the (hopefully) final in the afternoon. BUT the golf gods seem to conspiring against me. I've had a bad week. First off we're working out of town at the moment and aren't home till about 8 so its dark by then so no practice. I managed to put neat little gouge in my left thumb from the bottom knuckle to the nail so that should make holding the club interesting. And to top it off I just remembered that after my round last week the shaft in my driver snapped when I was putting them back in my car, shut the boot lid on it.. Stupid I know so that means I'll be heading in with another of my drivers.. GRRRRRRRR I loved that one.

Screw it i'm staying in bed all day tomorrow !!!!!!!!!

Japan Issue Clubs

Not many people seem to know that Japan is the world epi-centre for golf technology. They are premier worlds clubmakers and what club designs are hot in the world now were out in Japan probably about 2 years ago (exclude square cos that ain't gonna last)

Their are many manufacturer's that the average everyday golfer have never heard off. The stuff is great buy I'm warning you now, be prepared to pay. This stuff isn't cheap. Be careful because are sometimes 2 different versions with only 1 of them meeting the COR rule.

If you want too know more head over to www.tourspecgolf.com and look in the pro-shop. These guys are based in Japan and are one of the top sources for Japanese golf equipment.


Here's a few pic's to get you started

Tigers Handicap

A friend of mine just sent this to me. Amazing!

Consider this...

If Tiger Woods played you, how many strokes would he be giving up to
make a fair match? The answer may shock you.

You may consider yourself a fine player with your 3 handicap. Or
perhaps you frequently play to your 15 handicap. You may even think that
Tiger Woods could spot you a stroke per hole and you'd have a close
match.

Turns out a stroke per hole would be about right if you were about a 3
handicap. And Tiger would still probably win.

The handicaps of our favorite PGA Tour pros remain a mystery. Sure, we
know they're in the "+" realm (which, oddly enough, means better than
scratch, but how far?

Calculations
PGA Tour courses don't have established ratings. Pros often play from
tees used only in PGA Tour events, the rough is grown extra long and
thick, and greens are sped and firmed up. Each of those changes has a
dramatic effect on the course rating and slope, making it difficult to
ascertain the true nature of a pro's handicap index.

Normally we apply a 0.96 multiplier to a person's average differential
in calculating handicaps. This is to help figure in the
"potential" of a player. A golfer with an un-adjusted handicap index of
5 becomes a 4.8 index after the 0.96 multiplier is applied. It would
make little sense, however, to take a plus-5 handicap to +4.8, so we
must instead divide by 0.96. That would make a +5 golfer a +5.2 golfer,
again figuring in the "potential."

At the Top: Tiger Woods
What does it take to be the top golfer in the world?
Here are the shocking figures:

Used | Date | Score | CR/Slope | Diff. | Tournament
> > * | 01/28/07 | 66 | 78.1/143 | 15.3 | Buick Invitational
> > * | 01/27/07 | 69 | 78.1/143 | 11.5 | Buick Invitational
> > | 01/26/07 | 72 | 78.1/143 | 7.7 | Buick Invitational
> > | 01/27/07 | 66 | 78.1/143 | 8.3 | Buick Invitational
> > * | 09/04/06 | 63 | 74.8/143 | 14.9 | Deutsche Bank
> > * | 09/03/06 | 67 | 74.8/143 | 9.9 | Deutsche Bank
> > | 09/02/06 | 72 | 74.8/143 | 3.5 | Deutsche Bank
> > * | 09/01/06 | 66 | 74.8/143 | 11.1 | Deutsche Bank
> > | 08/27/06 | 68 | 75.1/128 | 8.0 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
> > | 08/26/06 | 71 | 75.1/128 | 4.6 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
> > * | 08/25/06 | 64 | 75.1/128 | 12.6 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
> > | 08/24/06 | 67 | 75.1/128 | 9.2 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
> > * | 08/20/06 | 68 | 78.1/151 | 13.5 | PGA Championship
> > * | 08/19/06 | 65 | 78.1/151 | 17.5 | PGA Championship
> > * | 08/18/06 | 68 | 78.1/151 | 13.5 | PGA Championship
> > * | 08/17/06 | 69 | 78.1/151 | 12.2 | PGA Championship
> > | 08/06/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
> > | 08/05/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
> > | 08/04/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
> > | 08/03/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open

Average Differential: 10.6
Best 10 Average Differential: 13.2
Handicap Index: +13.75
Now, take a deep breath and read that again. +13.75. Tiger's WORST ten
differentials average out to +8.05.

Something like 10% of golfers ever reach single digit handicaps.
Tiger's not only done that (while still in the womb, no doubt), but he's
blown through the single digits on the OTHER side of scratch and is in
heretofore unexplored territory at +13.75. That may be the single best
handicap index ever!

Pick a winner

Byron Nelson won 11 tournaments in a row in 1945, a record that may never be matched. Which of the following records do you think is the most impressive?

• Nelson's 11-straight victories
• Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs
• UCLA's run of 10 NCAA basketball titles in 12 years
• Wayne Gretzky's 2,856 career points

Raise your Geek Flag High

Ladies and gentleman I have discovered the holy grail. It is the bomb!!! Damn I hate that saying, shoot me now people.. Ok back on topic.

Anyhow the grail is of course a new driver. Of course it is... this is me your reading about. Sure I just got a new Burner and I'm killing it...... but theres always that feeling that there could be something better out there.... Behold they mother of ALL driver and i bet 99% of you have never heard of it...

The Geek Golf Dot Com This.. It's a beauty and is THE up and comer in the driver market. They are a component company that is gaining a bigger name all the time. The designer is Steve Alamo who formerly worked for Bang golf among other golf industry names before striking out on his own.

I mated my 10.5' (yes I went up in loft) with a Graman UL780 Limey shaft. This is a killer combo and is the longest driver I've ever hit. I've been in places that I've never been to at my home course, the best part is that these places actually involve the fairway of the hole I'm playing..

Try one for yourself...

Favourite

Its official I have a new favourite pro golfer. Yep thats right Boo Weekley. I love this guy.

He's soo laid back he's barely awake. And to top it off he is one of the premier ball strikers on the PGA Tour. Big call I know but this guy is good. He lead the Nationwide Tour in GIR's last year with a massive 74.something%

He has always admitted putting he his weakness, as shown when 3 jacked at the Honda to lose the playoff . 3 footers still give him the shakes. Well I say your not real golfer unless your a little apprehensive over a 3 footer.... Anyway you don't have to worry about that if you chip in on the last 2 holes to hold out Ernie Els do you?

http://feed.insnews.org/v-cgi/feeds.cgi?feedid=144&story_id=2849429

Golf Course Facts

• Approximate number of golf courses in the world: 31,857.
• Proportion of humans who are golfers: 0.94 percent.
• Countries with the most courses per capita (minimum 500,000 population): Scotland (9,379 people per course), New Zealand (10,374), Australia (11,063), Republic of Ireland (14,127), Northern Ireland (14,353), Canada (15,480), Wales (18,321), United States (18,514), Sweden (21,295), England (27,725).
• Countries with the highest density of courses (minimum 500,000 population): Singapore (one course every 10 square miles), England (27), Northern Ireland (40), Wales (50), Scotland (56), Japan (59), Netherlands (75), Mauritius (87), Republic of Ireland (95), Denmark (117).
• Most populous countries where we could find no evidence of golf: Ukraine (population 47,732,079), Sudan (39,148,162), Yemen (20,024,867), Mali (11,956,788), Belarus (10,310,520).
• Most northerly course: Sondie Arctic Desert G. Cse., Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.
• Most southerly: Ushuaia G.C., Argentina.
• Most easterly: Tonga G.C., Nukualofa, Tonga.
• Most westerly: Faleata C.C., Apia, Samoa.
• Ratio of courses in the U.S. to courses in the African continent: 20 to 1.
• Amount of earth's land mass devoted to golf courses: 0.014 percent.