Monday, September 24, 2012

club fitting

if you go back in the history of my blog you will find a post "club review" that I told you about my irons...and how i was fitted for them. I continue to be impressed with the performance of these irons. i mentioned in that post that i thought there were bad clubs and good clubs; with most of the major brands being good.

a lot of you are aware of the club fitter that was playing on gwat in d flight...who offered a free spining as a raffle that i won. i had my irons and woods spined, noticeable difference. a lot of you are also aware that this particular club fitter had some issues, a head came off of one of the marines clubs as well as one of mine. due to this, i would not recommend this club fitter.

i am a self admitted tweaker...i like to tweak my car, swing and clubs. i have been through a few drivers in the 6 years of me playing golf...and finally i found a driver that i was actually hitting well...the titleist with the rip shaft. well on my trip to mb to tweak my swing, it snapped the shaft...omg, i did not just do that!

most of you know that i have also had several different pga teaching pro's... one who stole $300 from me, one who changed my swing about 12 times, another who stole $100 and one who wanted to change everything about my swing...and then finally joe bernat, who was gold...

all of the above is to preface this...

cow farmer suggests i go to his "guy" to get my titleist re shafted. so that is what i did. i go to see the shaft guy who's shop is located at a popular driving range on capital boulevard in wake forest, nc. he tells me that he is not just going to slap any old shaft into my club, he is going to have to "fit" the shaft to me. he interviewed me for about 30 minutes and then had me hit one of his demo clubs. i hit the demo club like a pro! he used a gizmo on the shaft to determine my swing speed...204, 206, 209, 211 and 214. we then went back to discuss the results and he told me that the shaft for me was a certain model...not the one that i just hit very well, but one that was similar in flex and weight. he is the club fitter...so ok. i decided to have him do my fairway woods and my hybrid as well...as this type of shaft is matched so all of them would "feel" the same. i went home that night and decided to not have the titleist re shafted but rather have him build me a club with the same head as the demo club...all in all an order of over $800. he told me it would take a few days to get the shafts and then a few days to build...i could not wait! i hit that demo club about 280 at the range with a nice little draw.

i got the clubs to the driving range as soon as i could...to find out that there was something bad wrong...short left, short right, low, high, a good one. I hit about 40 balls and would say 3 were good. omg, this has to be me...bad day. come back next day, same result. very frustrated, these shafts are not "fitted" to me...possibly a mistake in the fitting process? not sure...one more trip to the range...same result. I could pull my back up driver out in the middle of this mess and hit one right down the middle.

i call the club fitter and schedule a meeting...telling him the results of my 3 trips to the range. i get there today and he has a guy hit the club to prove to me that there is nothing wrong with the club...it is a good club. well the guy is a pga teaching pro that could probably hit any club in the entire place...i am thinking to myself, what the hell does this prove. i never said the club was bad, i just said i cant hit it... so i hit it...not bad but still not good. the pro then tells me that i have adapted my swing to fit my crappy back up driver an now that i have a good club all the defects in my swing are evident...he would be more than happy to help me with my swing. really did he just say that to me? so the club fitter takes me back to show me how crappy my back up drive was by putting it on the bench and flexing it..a bit of wobble...and i am sure he thought it was going to be more than it was.  then he put on the new club and showed me how straight it was. i explained to him that i was a bit disappointed that i was being told that the problem was my swing not the club. he told me i should take up the pro on his offer to give me lessons...i told him i was not driving an hour to get some guy who i don't know and at this point don't like to show me how to swing to hit these clubs...he said it would be beneficial and worth the time. i told him i was not going to do that...he then looked me in the eye and told me that i would need to get my swing fixed if i wanted to be able to hit his clubs.

i guess i will need two swings one for my irons and one for these super duper special clubs that can only be hit by people with super duper special swings...what a load of bs.

not once did the club fitter think that maybe he made a mistake or that we should check to see if the fitting process was correct, it is a shame that people cant admit mistakes, but instead go on the defensive and point fingers at other people. i don't have a perfect swing, not even close...i want to get better and will, but really a club that cant be hit unless you have a good swing...but my cheap tm driver i can? i don't think i missed a fairway at prestonwood with my cheap tm.

you can go to this place if you want, but my suggestion would be to run in the opposite direction as fast as possible. typical poor customer service, smile and be nice as long as everyone is happy, a little issue arises and treat you like poo poo.

until next time don't for get to golf your balls.

cga | 12 oaks | 4-ball

what a wonderful day to play golf! the marine and i played as a team today at 12 oaks in holly springs. those of you who have not played the course would like to know that it s a nicholas design...which translates into really hard. i am just thankful that nicholas and donald ross didn't team up to design a course...then you would not be able to hit a fairway and all your putts would be downhill...

so after a warm up on the best practice facility in nc, we were off for our round! i have played 12 oaks a few times in the past and have come to the conclusion that there are at least $50K in out of bounds, red hazard and yellow hazard stakes on the property. also i am still playing with my back up driver and woods..woot!

the marine and i ham and egged our way around this incredibly difficult course like pro's. i even went birdie/birdie...and that is a first! we had the pleasure of playing along side some other guys who were almost regular...one was a real talker and thank goodness was not in my cart.

the marine had just purchased a bran new hybrid, which he wielded successfully on all attempts...and at the end of the round we finished with a net 63. enough to put a flag in both of our hands (cga version of 1st place trophy) and two gift certificates for $80 each. the marine has a new shirt and i a new vest!

i now have a delima... you see on december 2nd this year the cga is holding its annual, tournament of winners, a large event held in pinehurst. to enter this tournament you must have won during the season...and now i have won twice...with different partners. first win at prestonwood with the cow farmer and now a win with the marine at 12 oaks. so i asked the td (joe), what do we do? he confirmed that the 3rd gets to play by himself or find another single winner of 4-ball from this year.



next time i am going to tell you about my driver and woods...so until then, don't forget to golf your balls.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

the river

another great day on the golf course, today was the river golf club, and in pretty good shape. today it was the cow farmer, puddin, the counter and myself...with a special guest...the cow farmers wife...more about that near the tail end of the story.

so puddin and i were a team and puddin was playing well today...as usual. the cow farmer struggled all day, but the counter and i believe that there was some self imposed pressure that was not normal...the toe is a little better but performance anxiety got the better of him today.

so puddin and i make the turn one up, not feeling like we are winning but rather we are being given chances. there were two highlights of the day..puddin chipped 3 times for birdie...three times! the highlight came at the tail end of the round, you should have been there.

after our drives on seventeen, puddin realizes he is supposed to pick up his kid...like in 5 minutes...so he is rushed to the parking lot, leaving me to play the last two holes by myself. thanks a bunch puddin...leave the c player against two a players! needless to say i lost the lead and ended up losing the back and the overall. the 18th was the best hole of all, the cow farmer finally came through with a birdie...we had been hoping he would do so the entire round...truth be told we were hoping he was going to have the round of his life and shoot a 59...but the birdie alone was worth the trip to the river.

so for those of you wanting to play a good course with some relative good greens for under $20...check out the river golf club. until next time don't forget to golf your balls.

ps tails we win

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

prestonwood | cga | 4 ball tournament

prestonwood is the location of the sas championship a champions tour; so of course you have high expectations of the conditions...and we were not disappointed. We were not allowed to hit from the grass on the practice tee, just mats...guess they were saving the grass for the pros. i must admit that a regular guy who has not been there would be a bit thrown off by the enormity of the place. there are three 18 hole courses that all start from one huge clubhouse, not sure about the square footage, but a small walmart could move in. absolutely beautiful building and surroundings...cant comment on the food, although there were two separate tournaments going on...the restaurant was closed?

the cow farmer and i were a team and the marine and the concrete guy were a team; and by the luck of the draw we were paired together...what are the odds? we also got to start on hole #9, so we toured the front nine on our way to the starting hole. so before we get started i need to let you know that the cow farmer broke the pinkie toe on his left foot the day before the tournament and I am still trying to get the swing changes from joe down pat, not to mention i am still with my back up driver. so my anticipation was a fun day in the sun with some buds. the marine let me know that he had packed a few pbr's for refreshments during the round...really pbr?

after both the cow farmer and myself had managed to hit some less than desirable shots on our first hole, the marine says, "hey, you guys want to play for our usual bet"? really? isn't that like kicking you while you are down?? but we still accepted. cow farmer struggled most of the day with the toe hurting and for some reason i brought my a game...thank goodness. seems cow farmer and i had each others back all day, i screw up....he would par or birdie and vice-versa. we ended up winning the thing...and that gives us an invitation to the year end tournament of champions, where we will wear our matching shirts we won at prestonwood!

                                     


winning is always good, but either way having fun is what it is all about. the next cga event i play in is at 12 oaks with the marine...we both have a special appreciation for that course, so it will be fun, with lots of refreshments! until then don't forget to golf your balls.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

all square

well the last thing you want in a golf match is all square, especially if you have a substantial amount of $ to win or lose. but in this case, the way the all square came about was something that made everybody smile! so here is the rest of the story:

it was a warm but overcast morning yesterday, i did drive from rocky mount to siler city with the top down the entire way...but was very concerned about our round of golf that was about to begin at the siler city country club. most of us met up for breakfast at a local breakfast dive called brownie - lu, don't ask me how they named it? but the food was good, pretty hard to mess up eggs. of course with a bunch of anxious golfers and a fine mist coming down outside we got a bit loud and did not notice the "usual"patrons looking at us like we were being loud and probably thinking where did these guys come from? but as usual we were oblivious to our surroundings...just having a good time and loving every minute.

after a good breakfast we headed off to the course, to get warmed up and prepared for the grueling match about to happen. we had discussed teams at breakfast and knowing each golfer pretty well from past tournaments, i knew how to keep it as even as possible. our two "a" players or team captains would be the cow farmer and puddin. knowing they would be team captains they drove in from raleigh together, to discuss their picks. after a long debate it was decided that the cow farmer would get first pick...and first pick he did get! after arriving fashionably late in puddin's stylish kia they announced on the putting green the first pick...as everyone waited to see if they were worthy, the cow farmer announced..."for my first pick, i choose the air force guy...to be on the other team! i am glad i was not drinking, i would have spit it out my nose i laughed so hard. you see the air force guy is the one in the crowd who takes abuse from everyone...but only because he is such a great guy and always has a pretty good comeback. the air force guy is also our d player...although there are some of us who claim bs and he bags a bit of sand. i should also mention that our 8 turned into a 7 when the grass mower had to pull out at the last minute...something about needing to sharpen blades or something...so teams ended up as such:

puddin's team:
the marine
the air force guy
the pirate

cow farmer's team:
the sheriff
me

excuse my manners, i should introduce the pirate. the pirate is a guy i met playing the gwat tournaments, a super regular guy who will drive you crazy with his tee shots, not sure if i have ever seen one out of the fairway. well anyway, i had not seen him in quite a while and he shows up with this horrible sun burn on his face...so of course i say, what the hell happened to your face? appears he was at a pirate game and had a few cold frothy ones and forgot about the sun...now the funny part is (for everyone but him), he had on his sunglasses...so he looks like he is red with a white mask! have no fear pirate, this too shall pass.

on to the match, i was in the foursome group...cow farmer's team and puddin. so we had a good idea throughout the match where we would end up. puddin was coming off a big win at riverwood, where he decimated the field, we were hoping for an off day. it was close through the entire round and at the turn we got a glance at the rest of puddin's team score....close. both teams sat at the number 10 tee and watched the huge carp as they swam around, one was so big his dorsal fin would expose above water at times resembling a shark fin. nature is always cool on the golf course. the cow farmer's team finishes horribly and the lowest score on 18 is a 6, so as we wait at the green for puddin's team we determine that all they need is a 6 to tie the match and no money will change hands. from where i was sitting it did not look like puddin's team was finishing strong as well...he goes to meet them at the green letting them know all that is needed is a 6! which puts the weight of the match on...yes you guessed it, the air force guy. at this point i should let everyone know that the air force guy is sometimes referred to as "silky smooth" because of his putting prowess. with a tricky 4 footer left for his six, he sized up the putt and rolled it in! all square.

this day reflects what golf is all about for me. it does not matter if breakfast was good. it does not matter who is on your team. it does not matter what the course conditions are like. it does not matter what the weather is doing. a round of golf with friends is fun!

if you think this was fun, wait until our next big outing...myrtle beach - 3 nights and 4 rounds at the big cat courses. october 25 - october 28, if you want to go let me know...pretty much a guarantee that you will have a blast.

until then, don't forget to golf your balls.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

northgreen country club

i moved to rocky mount in 1990 and one of the places to be was northgreen country club. i mean that place was always busy with golf, pool, tennis and restaurant. since i was a local business guy i attended several functions there and was always impressed with the quality. well not unlike a lot of smaller towns around our great country things started changing. the fist change that took place and hit northgreen hard was the hardee's buy out...a west coast company bought them (carl jr's.). this impacted the community quite a bit and mostly northgreen. the course slowly started slipping at that point; now remember i did not even play golf then, but being in the hotel business...heard quite a bit. i know it changed hands several times and basically got worse with each change. so you get the right picture the acc golf tournament was held there starting in 1980 and almost every year until i think 1994. so an extremely nice course and a very technical layout.

about 6 years ago? i think a couple of guys bought northgreen and started making these ridiculous claims that they were going to return northgreen to her former greatness...we just figures hype and watched. well the first thing they did was change all 18 greens...pretty good start, but that was about it. i know the guys were trying but we just did not see the fruits of their labor. they started losing all the greens...had the cow farmer down to play it with me...he said, "i ain't never coming back here". they lost all the grass in many fairways and i just watched, shaking my head. i knew that it was going to take a bunch of money to get this thing back to average let alone good. in fact it got so bad that i gave up...just went there to hit balls...and there was no grass on the practice tees half the time.

sometime around the first of june the guys made what i am going to call the best decision of their ownership...they hired a new super. now it just so happens that i know this guy and he is one of the most regular guys you could ever meet. since i was not playing there i had no idea...so one day i stopped over to hit a bucket and there he was...wth? long story as short as i can make it...he immediately attacked the greens with sand. those suckers were like walking on carpet with 4 inches of soft foam under it. they have already started firming up. he also has grass back in the fairways!

the marine and i went there yesterday for our second round of the day and when we pulled in around noon...there was only 4 parking spots left. i have never seen this many cars in that lot...EVER! i mean there were regular guys, regular girls, regular kids...it was crazy. they were all there to play the new and improved northgreen! i obviously don't know the business information about northgreen, but i would have to guess this was the best day they have ever had. i was so happy for them and their patrons. now these guys are father and son and both of them always have a smile on their face and take time to speak and have a conversation. yesterday, dad was on the grill cooking dogs and burgers for anyone who wanted one and son was at the desk...it was a sight to behold.

the course is not the best course on the east coast, but it has improved more than any course in nc in the last few months. i cant wait to see how it progresses...keep up the good work guys!

Monday, September 3, 2012

birchwood country club

played a round this morning at birchwood country club with the marine. i have played birchwood in the past, but they just replaced all 18 greens with some fancy new grass and had to go give them a roll. before i tell you how great the course was i need to mention the folks that run the place - randy davis (pro) and ashley leonard (asst pro) who not only do a fantastic job but take the time to give everyone who shows up a little time to make them feel welcome...i know right, when was the last time that happened at a golf course. the marine and i got there a little early and the clubhouse was closed...so we just grabbed a cart and took off, thinking that we would stop at the turn and and pay up. we made the turn and randy was standing out by the number 10 tee talking to all the members and guests, not sitting behind the counter waiting on someone to come in... last year i took a few lessons from ashley and she certainly knows the golf swing and how to convey that to her students. these folks are certainly regular!

the course was in fantastic condition and the new greens are awesome...probably the best I have played all year. the ball rolled like it was 100 lbs. no bumps at all! the course has many challenging holes with a finishing hole that you wont forget. get out and play this course it is certainly a well kept secret.